Lit candles that lined the room cast shadows across Midoriya's face. A light breeze filtered in through the window, allowing him and the figure lying propped up on the bed to hear the chatter of the guards in the palace courtyard as they prepared to change rotations with another group.
The light danced off the face of the man lying in bed. If one were to come into the room their eyes would be attracted to any number of things that were shoved against the walls or the plush rugs that littered the floor. Gold and red lacquered objects seemed to occupy the space; an oil lamp burned dimly on the small table that was near the bed. They would, however, never notice the gaunt man that was lying on it. The bed was low to the ground, a style that had originated in Shuei since the founding of the country; it had been placed on a low platform and reached Midoriya's knees, red lacquer insets depicting deer were carved into the wooden frames that lined the bed. A thick mattress had been placed upon it and thick feather pillows seemed to take over much of the bed. A silky curtain that was a soft shade of red lined the bed as well; it was slightly drawn open so that Midoriya could see the hands of the man he was speaking to and very little else.
Silence passed between them as the lights in the room flickered from the gentle breeze that floated through the open window. The breeze rustled the curtains and for a brief second Midoriya held his breath as the man lifted his hand and brushed the curtain that was hiding his features aside with the back of his hand, revealing the emaciated face of a man with angular features that seemed to highlight his own frailty, currently struggling to keep himself upright in the bed. His limbs and neck were long; his body drowning in clothes that were made several sizes too large for him and hung off of his thin frame. His bright blue eyes were like a beacon in the dim room as the lights flickered and glinted off his blond, spiky and disheveled hair, two bangs framing each side of his face.
Midoriya noted the dried speckle of blood that stained the corner of All Might's mouth.
All Might opened his mouth, intent on repeating the words that Midoriya convinced himself were simply a trick of his own mind. He lifted his hand as his fingers curled inwards to his palm to form a fist, covering his mouth and coughing into it. Even from where Midoriya was standing, he could hear the air forcing itself out of All Might's lungs as he coughed, speckles of blood flying into the air and coating his fist.
Midoriya took a step forward, but All Might immediately raised a single hand ordering Midoriya to stay where he was positioned. He obeyed and slid his foot backward so that he was standing still.
The coughing fit subsided and All Might drew his fist away as he reached for the handkerchief that was hidden in the folds of his dark yukata. He wiped the handkerchief against his mouth and placed it back into the folds of his clothes as he turned his head to stare at Midoriya.
"Do you know what I am asking of you, Midoriya?" All Might's voice was grave and there was a distinct sound of rattling inside of his chest that caused his words to come out with a wheeze.
Midoriya shook his head fervently. Shock warped his face, "I understand, but All Might I-I can't—"
It was All Might's turn to shake his head, his vibrant blue eyes locked on Midoriya's green own.
"Midoriya, I need you to be my spy."
Midoriya had only been a young child when he accompanied his mother to the palace. He had been 3; old enough to walk by himself but still wary of the people around him. He buried his face and little fists into the vibrant and luxurious fabrics of his mother's wine red kimono that had seasonal flowers spread across the back and sides. His mother looked absolutely stiff in the multiple layers of fabric that she wore and was unaccustomed to wearing. It was only a few months since she had become a member of the court, working as a royal scholar for the palace. Her fingers tugged at the edges of the long cloak-like kimono's sleeves that dragged against the ground with each movement that she took.
Midoriya glanced up nervously at the palace guards who passed them by as they guarded the castle from any attackers or intruders who wished to interrupt tonight's function. Inko gingerly placed her hand against her son's back as she pressed him a little tighter against the fabric of her kouchiki. She moved slowly for fear of tripping over own two feet. They passed underneath the gates that lead to the palace grounds, revealing a cluster of nobles and influential people dressed in their greatest and most expensive attire that easily boasted their wealth and statuses. The clothing of the nobles was both native to Shuei and foreign to the respective kingdoms and countries the guests came from.
Midoriya couldn't place where any of their foreign guests came from, save for that their features and the strange sounds that reached his ears weren't related to Shuei at all.
A servant quickly ran up to Midoriya and his mother. The woman looked slightly older than his own mother and there was a flicker of curiosity in her eyes that vanished as quickly as it had came as the woman bowed in front of them both.
"If you please follow me, I'll escort you both to the garden where our other guests are mingling before the main hall opens up."
Inko nodded as she allowed herself to be lead to the gardens by this servant. The gardens were extravagant, to say the least, they made the Midoriya home look like it was a hut instead of a decently sized home that worked for the two people living in it. The gardens stretched for what seemed like the length of a single street. Exotic flowers and plants decorated the garden, a little bridge carried guests over a pool of clear water that exposed the koi fish living in it. Izuku turned to see a bamboo stick seesaw back and forth as water slid in it and tipped over onto dainty white flowers beneath it that turned as clear as paper thin sliced fish. Izuku pulled away from his mother as he spotted other children huddling up near the water to toss pellets of food to the koi.
He looked up at his mother who nodded her head and lead him over to the other children. Her hand still pressed against his back as he craned his neck and stood on his toes to see the fish. Just a little bit away from them were a pair of young women, dressed head to toe in cream-colored dresses that seemed to be the new trending style in the kingdom that bordered Ingeniumu's forests. They whispered to each other, their eyes flickering back and forth from Inko's face to her son before turning to each other and tittering behind their hands.
Inko pressed her hand a little bit more firmly into her son's back and gently lead him away from the pond just as another servant came out into the garden to announce that the main hall was now open and they should all proceed there.
The whispers seemed to follow them both as they reached the main palace. As Midoriya and his mother entered all talk seemed to halt in the waiting room just outside the main hall. Everyone glanced at them and immediately turned away as if nothing had happened.
"I heard that that boy—" A woman to the far right of the room whispered before she was smacked on the arm by her companion.
"Don't, they're probably listening." Her companion whispered back harshly.
A man and his wife on the opposite side of the room whispered to one another as well, their voices just loud enough that the others around them could hear and this included Inko as well.
"What is she doing here? I thought this party was for those of noble lineage and not the help." She hissed out the single word as if she had just consumed something horrendous.
"Dear." The man quickly chastised his wife.
Inko's fingers curled into the fabric of her kimono as another servant appeared and announced to all the guests that they would be lead to their respective seats.
Inko and Izuku were lead inside the main hall. Tables made from smooth oak that had been waxed to a glossy sheen lined the hall with chairs made from the same material as well, replacing the low tables and mats that were usually used for guests to eat from in consideration with the many foreign dignitaries that graced the palace halls and were unused to many of Shuei's cultural norms.
Inko and Izuku were lead to a pair of chairs that were placed behind a table that allowed for the vantage point of the main table at which the leaders of their country and other kingdom's including their respective families sat.
Inko helped her son into his seat as she nervously glanced at the table where the royals had yet to be seated. She took her own seat as a couple—an older man and his wife—sat in the two empty seats beside her.
The woman was dressed in a high-backed white gown that had lace trimmings around the color and the hem, thousands of pearls were sewn into the fabric and her white colored hair was piled atop her head in a manner that seemed if she even moved slightly in a single direction that the momentum her hair seemed to possess would cause her to tumble over.
A servant loudly announced that the rulers of the kingdom's of the land were entering the main hall. Inko tore her gaze away from the main table as the rulers began to walk in. Izuku's eyes began to sparkle as All Might walked into the room and towards the table, his taller and bulkier stature easily set him apart from the others.
The servants soon set about serving the first course. Izuku knew some of the servants who flitted about the room, they played with him and kept him company whenever his mother had to come to the castle and was too preoccupied to keep him in her sight. They placed down small bowls of soup for the first course. A pumpkin based broth that had chunks of meat and potatoes floating on the surface, tiny bubbles of oil floated along the surface as the various spices that were used in the dish seemed to cause it to shimmer.
One thing Shuei was known for was the spices the country produced along with other goods as well.
Izuku frowned at the soup as he picked up his spoon and lightly slapped at the surface of it with the back of the metal cutlery.
His mother lightly smiled and she leaned close towards him. "Izuku, you know if you eat all of your food, you'll grow up to be as big and strong as All Might."
At the mention of his hero's name, he reluctantly nodded and dipped his spoon into the soup before leaning forwards and placing the spoon into his mouth.
At the mention of All Might's name, the old woman besides his mother seemed to perk up. The old woman leaned back in her seat and glanced at Midoriya. "Do you look up to All Might?" She asked.
Midoriya nodded and hummed in response.
The old woman let out a small chuckle as she smiled at his mother. "Well, I do suppose it's good for little boys to have a role model in their lives...especially if they don't have a father around."
Inko stiffened in her chair; her own smile slightly faltering.
Midoriya glanced up at his mother and frowned, the spoon still stuck in his mouth. He removed it before asking his mother, "Do I have a dad?"
Inko coldly glared at the older woman, her words were like chips of ice as she spoke. "My son has a father. He died serving our country."
The old woman huffed indignantly, a feigned apologetic look flashed across her face. "You'll have to forgive me, but some other ladies and I were simply talking earlier and it just seems a little strange to us that a young woman like yourself is a widow at such a young age, even stranger still that you didn't take your husband's last name?" The woman raised a single silver brow. "I have a niece who is married to the head of the palace guards, so I'm quite familiar with many of the knights in our countries employ. What did you say your husband's name was?"
"I didn't." Inko curtly responded. "His name was Hisashi."
The old woman hummed to herself, her eyes narrowing slightly. "How strange. I've never heard of that name before."
A grim smile stretched across Inko's face. "He served near the border."
The old woman nodded as a younger woman next to Midoriya leaned towards him. The golden ring on her right ring finger had an emerald in the middle that sparkled brightly. "How old are you?"
Midoriya held up three fingers on his left hand as he stuck his spoon back into the soup.
The woman cooed, "3 years old. You must be excited about knowing your Quirk by now."
Midoriya frowned, he tipped the spoon so that it was submerged underneath the soup. Midoriya pouted, his face scrunched up in a sullen manner. "I don't have one," he mumbled underneath his breath.
"What?" The young woman leaned a little closer to him, her brows pressed together.
"I said I don't have one." Midoriya grumbled a little louder this time. He shifted his spoon in the bowl, ripples traveled across the liquid.
The young woman leaned away from him, a placating smile stretching across her face that was as hollow as the words that she told his mother. "I'm sure he's just a late bloomer." She smiled and exchanged a glance with the old woman. She excused herself from the table, a second later the old woman did the same and stood up from her seat and quickly made the few steps away from the table to where the young woman stood.
Inko could hear them both whispering behind her.
"Fatherless and Quirkless? She might have been better just abandoning him at the steps of an orphanage altogether."
Inko could feel the dryness of her mouth as a servant announced that a troupe of exotic dancers from lands beyond the sea would be the entertainment for the evening. A gift that had been provided by the Kingdom of Enten.
The doors to the hall flew open as what appeared to be a dozen female dancers dressed in vividly colored fabrics sultry danced their way into the room. The clothes they wore came in hues of fiery red, burning oranges and dazzling golds. They carried sheer pieces of fabric in their hands that were wrapped around their shoulders, tiny bells jingled on their waists as they moved their hips and danced around the tables and towards the main one where the royals and their family sat. A troupe of musicians, undoubtedly from the dancers' country followed in. They took their place near the back of the hall, on a large mat that had been provided for them. They took up wind and string instruments with one of them having a pair of drums; the instruments looked strange and foreign, unlike anything any of the guests had seen within their own kingdoms and neighboring countries.
The music began to play, a strange cacophony of sounds that blended together in a single, beautiful harmony as the dancers twirled around, wrapping the sheer fabric they carried around themselves. Their faces were obscured by the same sheer fabric that they carried, the only thing one could see were their eyes. The bells on their waist clanged together with the music as they moved and danced around the tables.
The song soon came to an end and the dancers stilled their hips as a gasp rose up from the tables when servants brought out pairs of curved swords and presented them to the dancers. The metal shined underneath the light as each dancer took up the twin swords and resumed their dancing, albeit a little faster this time as the musicians began to play a tune that caused the guests teeth to clatter inside of their skulls. The dancers turned to one another and crossed their swords and twirled, each time their sword clanging against another as they danced in a complicated formation.
Inko gasped as a few of the dancers jumped in the air, twisting their bodies as the swords seemed to bend and shimmer.
The dancers pressed together as one of them— who Izuku suspected to be the lead dancer—pointed her right sword outwards towards the main table. The other dancers followed suit as the song began to pick up to a dizzying speed. The dancers twirled and spun as they pressed closer to the main table until they were standing directly in front of it. From the main hall doors more dancers appeared with sheer fabric, they rushed towards the dancers with the swords and lifted the fabric in the air, this fabric was a little larger, almost the size of a sheet. The dancers with the fabric converged on the ones with the swords and wrapped around them in a circular formation. They spun around and danced before backing up and dancing around the girls with swords, the sheer fabric obscuring the guests view of the dancers with the swords when suddenly a scream rose out from the hall.
The dancers broke apart as one of them—the suspected lead—pushed through the formation and quickly raced for the main hall doors as the guards who looked every bit as confused as the guests attempted to intercept her. The dancers were freaking out as they rushed away from the main table in all directions. Someone was shouting for a doctor which caused the guests to become even more confused as many of the guards rushed to the table as well. The guests began to murmur to one another as Inko's brows pushed together as she attempted to understand what was going on. Someone was crying as the royal guards for each royal house rushed towards the main table and surround their leaders and their family—attempting to get them away and out of the main hall.
And that was when everyone could see it.
All Might with his right hand pressed against the table, his guards quickly rushing to his side to obscure the fact that his left hand was pressed against his side. A bright red spot was rapidly spreading outwards from beneath the tips of his fingers, staining the fabric a darker color. The edges of the fabric seemed to have a green tinge to them that was in direct contrast with the darker hues of the fabric. His face seemed pale and beads of sweat dotted his skin as the medic came rushing into the room.
Everyone knew instantly what was going on.
The sound of chairs scraping outwards and clattering to the floor reverberated in the hall as guests began to scream and rush towards the doors. Guards and servants alike looked alarmed as they attempted to calm the fleeing guests.
Midoriya glanced up at his mother, fear worming its way into his heart. He glanced up at his mother whose eyes were intently focused elsewhere, her fingers were dug into the fabric of her clothes, her knuckles were white to the point he could see the bone underneath them. He followed her gaze towards the main table, her eyes were focused on All Might's form as he sat slumped in his chair.
He glanced up at her face and would never even a million years forget the emotion that burned in her eyes.
His mother was terrified.
For the first time in his life he had seen his mother truly terrified.
A/N: So I'm finally back on this site after a number of years and I'm uploading a fic here that I've already posted on A03. I hope you guys enjoy it and please leave me reviews or faves telling me how you feel!
Also please tell me if the formatting is weird in any place since this site messed up my formatting to the point I had to redo it twice. This fic will also update every Monday and Friday EST.