Inko didn't know what it was that Toshinori was going to tell her. Though, maybe that was part of the fever talking? She had no idea, but knew that for now she had to return to her duties. Though before she did that, she had to go and check on that little boy. He had refused to speak since she brought him to the castle. The young woman wondered if the boy was still worried about her and Toshinori.

Though, she couldn't tell him anything.

At least, she couldn't at the time. It just seemed as if everything that had happened lately was throwing her for a loop.

Everything that was happening, it confused her yet at the same time she couldn't help but reach up and touch her chest. Right over her heart, feeling it beat quickly in her chest. Looking up, the young woman frowned as she tried to think on what it was that she could do about this. It just seemed, that everything that was happening was making little to no sense to her.

The kiss…

Toshinori trying to tell her something.

It was all rather confusing and it bothered her a great deal. Closing her eyes for a moment, Inko tried to think on what she could do. On what she should do.

"Inko?" came a tired voice, causing her to look up and blink as she saw Shouta looking down at her. Inko just looked up at the man with confusion on her face. "What are you doing here?" asked the raven haired man.

"I was going to go check on the little boy." Inko said with a frown.

"Good luck with that, he hasn't spoken to anyone. I've had Zuko tending to the child, he really wanted to make sure that the boy was okay." Shouta mumbled before letting out a soft sigh. Rubbing the back of his head, the young man looked at the green haired woman before asking "Think you can help? He may come out of his shell more with you around since you did save him." Shouta tilted his head, looking rather exhausted. When was the last time this man slept at all?

Blinking her green eyes at the young man, Inko nodded her head a little. Honestly, she had been wanting to check on the little boy so it would make sense. She wouldn't feel any better until she was sure that he was okay. Plus, they would need to learn his name.

"Alright, let's go…" Inko said with a small smile before walking with the tired man toward the one room where they had the little boy resting in. They figured that he was nervous around other people, at least the way he was clinging to Inko the whole time.

The young woman looked up at Shouta as she saw just how tired the man was. It made her wonder what was keeping him up right now. "Um, Shouta, may I ask you something?" asked Inko.

"Sure."

"Did you sleep? At all?"

"Not really, it's hard to sleep with all the patrols that had to be increased, along with the fact that the boy's room is next to mine so he screams himself awake from nightmares." The man all but sighed softly as he mumbled about how tiresome it was but at the same time, it seemed that Shouta was at least comfortable knowing that the boy was okay. He was safe but had a lot of problems of his own for the most part. Inko couldn't help but be curious as to what it was that the boy was having nightmares about.

Inko reached up and gently touched the man's arm, drawing his attention. "Do you know what the nightmares are about?" asked Inko.

Shouta could only shake his head. It seemed that even he had no idea what it was that was bothering the boy. It made her wonder what it could have been. What made the boy suffer from such nightmares in the first place? For a child to have so many nightmares, to have dreams that would make the boy wake up in the middle of the night all but screaming out for help. It reminded her of when Toshinori had woken up from his own nightmare while he was suffering from the fever.

"Shouta, may I ask something else?" asked Inko.

"Yeah."

"Does… does the king suffer any nightmares? About his family?" Inko asked softly.

"How much do you know?" asked Shouta, a sharpness to his tone. She could understand, so far no one knew that she knew anything about Toshinori's past. Such as his family's demise. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, the young woman looked up at Shouta and gave him a calm yet concerned gaze.

"He had a nightmare while he had a terrible fever. He had relieved the memory of his family's death, and it caused him to wake up screaming. He told me about how they died, what they were doing before they were killed and…" Inko frowned as she looked up at the raven haired man. "He still blames himself doesn't he?" asked Inko.

"He does. He doesn't show it, but he still blames himself for not being strong enough. It was why his master, was able to train him. She saw potential in him and had seen the injury that he had gained in order to protect his family. Even going so far as to keep fighting until he could no longer get back up." Shouta mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head and let out a soft sigh. He did still blame himself for everything that had happened to his family, Inko wondered if she could help him move on from that completely. It was the only way for him to move on, that much was for sure.

Shouta sighed softly as he looked down at Inko and gave her a tired smile. "But, he has calmed down since you came here. You seem to bring out something in him that no one has ever seen in him for a long time. He seems… happy." Inko blinked at that, the king was happier with her around? But, how could that be? The man almost never showed any emotion to anyone anymore but… then again he smiled… he's frowned. He has been expressing himself through anything but his eyes lately and it made her wonder if she was really changing the king.

"Inko, there is one thing that I should tell you. You may not really understand it but just listen alright?" Shouta said, causing her to look at him in confusion. "Whatever the king does, such as when he risked his life to save you back there… anything he does that he does for you… it is for you."

Huh? What was that supposed to mean?

"We're here." Shouta said, causing her to frown a little at that. Looking up, she saw that they had indeed arrived at the room.

Nodding to the man, she slowly opened the door and blinked as she saw the little boy curled up in a ball on the bed. Zuko sat in a chair next to the boy as he tried to talk to him. "Wanna hear a story about me and my older brother?" asked Zuko, the little boy just looked at Zuko with a frown. "You see, my brother and I, we're kind of orphans you see. When we lost our mom, he helped our dad to raise me, to help me fight and train me in the way of swords and hand to hand combat." Zuko said with a smile on his face.

"What happened?" asked the boy.

"Well, even though I had him and our dad it wasn't the same. He knew what it was like to have a mother's love, I didn't. Dad did his best to raise us, but we lost him when I was sixteen." Zuko said with a soft sigh before he leaned back in his chair. "It was hard, being just my brother and I but we still looked out for each other. Him helping me with my quirk and of course with something else." Zuko leaned in closer to the boy as he said "I have one thing though that keeps my parents close. I keep a very special item with me that keeps them close to my heart."

"What is it?" asked the little boy.

"Their rings."

"Oh."

"I know it doesn't seem all that special but sometimes, just having one thing from your family or loved ones is enough to keep them close to you. To keep their memories alive. Do you have something from your family?" asked Zuko with a smile.

"No… I ran away from home… for my safety." The boy trembled.

Inko felt like maybe the boy was being overwhelmed. "Hi, how are you feeling?" Inko whispered gently, causing both Zuko and the boy to look up in confusion. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

"No, it's okay. I was done speaking anyway." Zuko said with a small smile on his face. Well, at least from what she could read of the young man. He still wore that mask, hiding his face so she couldn't read him like she could Toshinori. "I should get going." He reached over and ruffled the boy's hair before getting up and made his way out of the room. "He's still a little fragile but, he'll feel better seeing you and the king." Huh? "I'll go get him."

Wait what?

Before Inko could ask him what had happened, Zuko was already gone. She couldn't help but frown as she looked up at Shouta and saw the man just simple shrugging his shoulders. It seemed that even he didn't know what was going on. Shaking her head, the young woman made her way over to the bed and took the seat that Zuko once occupied.

"Hello sweetie. Are you okay?" asked Inko with a small smile on her face.

The little boy blinked as he looked up at Inko and crawled over to her before curling himself up in her lap and wrapping his arms around her. Inko blinked a little before wrapping her arms around the little boy. "I'm Inko, I'm a slave here in the castle. What's your name?" She whispered softly.

"I'm Tenko…"

"That's a cute name for a sweet little boy." Inko whispered softly. Running her fingers through his hair in the hopes of soothing him. The little boy sniffled a little, it seemed that he was still shaken up by everything that had happened lately. She knew that she had to be careful with this boy, there was no telling what would happen should she push herself to ask him what it was that had happened before he came here.

Tenko peeked up at Inko and blinked his red eyes at her and sniffled a little. "You won't leave me too will you?" He asked softly.

"No sweetie, of course not. I'll be here, there are many people who will want to protect you, who would want to keep you safe." Inko said gently, a soft smile on her face as she rubbed his back in soothing circles, much like how she had for Toshinori after she had finished bandaging him up.

"No one will hurt me anymore?" Tenko asked with a frown on his face.

Inko just gave him a soft smile as she nodded her head to him. "No one will hurt you, I will make sure of that." She nuzzled the little boy's head as she let out a soft sigh. "No matter what happens, no matter what may try to get in my way, I will do everything within my power to keep you safe Tenko." Tenko looked up at Inko and blinked his red eyes as they filled with tears. It nearly broke Inko's heart to see such a sight on such a young boy.

"As will I." came another voice, causing Inko to turn her head and blink as she saw the king walking into the room. Inko couldn't help but stare at him with wide eyes, he shouldn't be up and about yet! He was still healing! There was no way that he could be on his feet yet here he was. Tenko looked up at Toshinori and seemed to cling to the green haired woman as if he was afraid of the massive king.

Toshinori gave the boy a small smile before reaching out and ruffling his hair. "I will also keep you safe my boy. No one will harm you so long as you are within these walls." Toshinori whispered softly before pulling his hand back. His cape covering his arms and hands much like they always did. Inko couldn't help but stare at him with soft yet concerned eyes. He shouldn't be pushing himself like this.

"Are you okay though? You got hurt because of me." Tenko said with a sniffle.

"These injuries are nothing to me my boy. I'm a lot tougher than I appear." He chuckled a little, trying to assure the boy. Inko couldn't believe that Toshinori was willing to show his emotions in front of Tenko. Maybe, it was to assure him. To make sure that the young boy wouldn't worry about anyone just because they saved him.

"Okay…" He whispered softly before clinging to Inko a little. Sniffling a little as she looked down at the boy and frowned a little. Turning her gaze to Shouta, she saw that he was shifting side to side a little. It seemed that he was a little nervous as he looked between the king and herself.

"Shouta, can you take him to get something to eat? Maybe a new change of clothes? I want to speak to the king." Shouta blinked a little, apparently not used to someone asking him something who wasn't the king. Nodding his head, he carefully lifted Tenko into his arms. Yet, Tenko whined, not wanting to be separated from Inko so soon. "It'll be okay sweetie, I'll join you soon enough." Tenko sniffled a little before Shouta walked with the boy to get some food.

"Inko, why did you ask him to take the boy?"

"Tenko, his name is Tenko." Inko pointed out with a frown on her face. "And I asked him to take him because I want to speak to you."

"Oh?"

"Yes! You shouldn't be moving around! You just got over a fever!" Inko pointed out with a glare before marching up to him. Narrowing her green eyes, she added "I can see you struggling to stay on your feet. If you were still so weak then why leave your bed?"

"Because Zuko asked me to help with Tenko. It seemed that he was still worried about me getting hurt so I had to come to reassure the boy." Toshinori pointed out with a sigh. Staring at her with a frown on his face, Inko still couldn't get over him showing his emotions around her. "Inko, I am a strong man do not doubt me on that."

"I don't doubt your strength. But I do worry about you, you need to rest." Inko said with a frown on her face. Tears filling her eyes as she stared at the blonde king that stood before her. Toshinori blinked his blue eyes before he reached up and gently cupped her cheek against the palm of his hand. It made Inko wonder why he was giving her such a tender touch. "Toshi?" She whispered softly, holding onto his hand as she gazed up at him with watery eyes.

"Inko." He began, causing him to look away before closing his eyes and took a deep breath. As if to calm his nerves. "You are the only person I would ever listen too. The only person, who could give me orders that I'd be willing to listen too as I know you would care about my well-being and nothing more." Inko looked at him with wide eyes. Not sure what it was that he was trying to say. "Just know, that just as how you wish to look out for me, I want to look out for you. I want… I want to keep you safe."

"Safe? But from what?" asked Inko.

"Anything that would want to harm you. Regardless if it is your body, or your heart. I will do everything within my power to protect you." Toshinori whispered softly as he leaned in close to Inko. His eyes lidded much like the other two times he grew close to her. Inko felt her heart beating widely within her chest, feeling something that made her want to be as close to him as possible.

"Toshi…" Inko whispered softly.

She couldn't help but lean into his hand, it seemed right to be this close to him. To feel his warmth, to feel this safe with him. If she was honest with herself, Inko had never felt safe with anyone, not like this. There have only been two people that she had felt safe with and so far those have been Toshinori and All Might. The only people that she could trust besides her best friend.

Toshinori leaned closer to her, to the point that she could feel his breath against her lips. Was he… was he going to kiss her? Was this what he really wanted? No, it couldn't be, she was a slave, he was a king. It couldn't be, she knew that better than anyone.

With reluctance, Inko turned her head away, causing Toshinori to frown at her in confusion. "Inko?"

"I… I don't know what it is that you are trying to play at with me my king." She could see Toshinori flinch at the title. "But… it… it can't be. I know this is nothing, I know that better than anyone. I'm sorry, but I have to go, I need to go see Tenko." With that, she moved out of his reach and made a mad dash out of the room. Not knowing that she had left behind Toshinori in his own despair.

Though what she didn't know, was his vow…

"Inko, I promise you that I will show that my feelings for you are true… that I do love you and nothing will ever make that truth change."