Midoriya stirred in the bed as strips of light coming in from the double windows surrounding his bed stretched across his face. The sound of ringing from a bell somewhere in the distance caused him to scowl.

He groaned as he rolled onto his side and grumbled, "Five more minutes."

The incessant ringing continued until Midoriya forced himself to open his eyes as he sat up in bed. He turned his head to see that the bell strapped to his wall was ringing, the clapper in the middle of the bell jostled from side to side. Midoriya glanced up at golden words floating in the air above the bell. The golden lettering spelled out a single word.

'Kitchen'.

Midoriya was impressed by the brilliant usage of magic. He didn't have much time to admire it before he pushed himself off of the bed and quickly changed out of his clothes and into a fresh pair that looked presentable and smelt clean.

He quickly went over to the basin filled with water and bent his head as he dipped his cupped hands into the water and lifted his hands to his face to splash the cool liquid against it. He repeated the motion a few more times, until droplets of water were dripping from his face and rolling down his neck.

He dried off his face with a towel that he found, a towel that was as soft as Shueian bread itself.

Midoriya rushed down to the kitchen where the chef and Tsuyu greeted him, they quickly handed him a golden tray upon which was placed Todoroki's breakfast and morning tea as well as a tiny jar of sugar. Balancing the tray in his hands, he raced up from the basement to the section of the palace where the prince slept. A droplet of sweat was already racing down his chin as he wondered why the palace had been designed with so many steps. He finally came to stand in front of the prince's bedroom door that was a few feet away from his own.

He balanced the center of the tray with his left hand as he rapped his knuckles against the door before reaching out, grabbing the knob and twisting it. He pushed the door open as he stepped into the room and felt his eyes go wide once more.

The prince's room was nothing like the bedroom he was staying in. He thought his bedroom had been extravagant, but the prince's own….there was no word that could begin to describe it. The room was nearly two times the size of Midoriya's, with a large bed that could easily hold five or more people. The bed was pushed up near the wall where Midoriya could see the outline of the door that connected his room to this one. Dark, red rich satin sheets covered the bed, hiding the lower half of the figure who slept in the bed. Midoriya's cheeks reddened as he took in the shirtless form of the prince. His back was pressed against the bed, a pile of pillows underneath his head and surrounding him.

Todoroki had his right arm tossed over his stomach, the faint outline of abdominal muscles was apparent beneath the fall and rise of his chest. His left hand was snaked underneath the pillows that he rested his head on, his head was turned slightly so that the red locks of his head brushed against his forehead and covered his right eye, leaving his left exposed to the open air. Midoriya was a little bit surprised to see the prince's mask was absent from his face, he half thought the man wore it while he was asleep as well. Glancing around, Midoriya spied the white mask on the nightstand table next to the bed, within reach of Todoroki's fingertips when he woke up.

Midoriya tiptoed over to the small circular table in the room that was a few feet away from the large windows that lead out to the prince's own balcony that overlooked the palace gardens. He set down the tray onto the table, a dark wood that had running lions carved into the sides, then stepped away from the table, tiptoeing around to the side of the prince's bed. He stared down at the prince's sleeping form.

The prince's chest continued to rise and fall as he shifted in the bed and groaned.

Midoriya held his breath, thinking the prince was awake, but as he waited a few moments with bated breath and the prince had yet to stir. He let out a small sigh of relief as he daringly glanced down at those red locks that hid beneath it the secret that the prince felt he needed to keep locked away from the rest of the world.

Midoriya lifted his hand and reached out towards the prince's face.

Carefully.

Slowly.

Midoriya's fingers hovered just inches away from the prince's skin; he could feel the warmth radiating off of his skin; a gentle heat that reminded him of the warmth one got from basking in the sun. A sharp shout of surprise was wrenched from his lips as he found himself being pressed down into the bed, his cheek was pressed flat against the plush, satin sheets of the bed as his right arm was pressed awkwardly against his back. His right shoulder burned with the pain at the awkward position that his body was being forced to contort to.

There was a hand on the back of his head that forced his cheek into the bedding and kept him pinned there.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Midoriya shivered as Todoroki's breath tickled the shell of his ear. There was an edge to his voice, accompanied by the deep growl that rumbled in his chest and left as his words spilled out from his lips. Midoriya winced as his right arm, still pinned down by Todoroki's grasp was shifted slightly, putting more strain on the muscles in his shoulder.

A lump formed in the hollow of Midoriya's throat as his thoughts flickered towards the rumor of the young noble woman who lost her life for attempting to do what he did. Midoriya cursed underneath his breath; his actions were stupid, even more so not well thought out.

He would be lucky if he got to leave this room with his head.

"For-forgive me, your royal highness," Midoriya stuttered out. "I was just attempting to wake you."

Midoriya didn't know what was going through Todoroki's head as the prince kept him pinned to the bed. The pressure on his arm and head let up and Midoriya dragged in a deep breath as he rolled onto his back and sat up. He rubbed at his shoulder as he watched Todoroki quickly move towards the nightstand next to his bed. He quickly picked up the mask and affixed it onto his face, his broad back preventing Midoriya from seeing a glimpse of his face.

"Find me something to wear." Todoroki's deep voice rumbled through the silence.

Midoriya glared at Todoroki's back as he pouted and reluctantly pushed himself off of the bed to find clothing that the prince would wear. It was going to be warm, he thought to himself as he walked over to the prince's closet.

A big wooden monstrosity that seemed it couldn't hold all the clothes of a single person within it. A nice warm day with a gentle breeze coming from the south. He wondered if he would be able to smell the salt from the sea from here. His eyes went wide as he pulled the closet doors apart. A wide assortment of jackets, vests and shirts were neatly hung up and tucked away into the closet. An assault of colors from the deepest of reds, to the lightest of blues and the starkest of whites graced the closet. Midoriya knew that within the drawers that were placed right next to the closet that he would find an assortment of pants and undergarments that boasted the same large quantity as the interior of the closet.

He remembered back to the day of intense training he had endured. With the temperature today it meant that the prince should wear light colored clothing so as not to attract too much heat to himself. So that meant any darker colored clothing would have to be cast aside for now. Reaching in he plucked out a simple white shirt and a blue tunic that was long enough that it would come down to the prince's knees and had a long collar that would cover his neck, gold embellishments decorated the front of it.

He turned, spotting the prince out of the corner of his eyes, sitting at the small table as he partook in his morning tea, before setting the porcelain cup down and reaching towards his toast. Midoriya laid the garments down onto the bed as he turned back to the closet. He shut the doors as he pulled out the drawers and quickly plucked out a pair of white pants that would go well with the shirt. He moved to the drawers again, opening them until he found the one that contained an assortment of belts. Midoriya took a simple black one out and laid it down on the bed also.

He stood near the side of the bed, silently as he clasped his hands behind his back and stared at Todoroki.

"Prepare my bath." Todoroki barked out the single order without so much as glancing up from his breakfast to look at him.

"Yes, your highness," Midoriya replied, already wondering for the millionth time that day how he would survive working for the prince.

He rang for the chamber maids, and waited nearly 20 minutes until there was a knock on the prince's door and several maids standing outside carrying heavy copper jugs full of piping hot water. He led them to the prince's personal bath chamber. A large room with cream colored tiles, potted ferns and rich smelling flowers. There was a shelf of sweet smelling liquids and essential oils pushed up against the wall, another large window that lead out to the balcony was also present in the room.

In the middle of the room was a large cast iron bathtub, with claw foots that reminded Midoriya of the paws of a lion. The maids quickly poured the jugs into the tub, until there were a few inches of space separating the edge of the water from the tub. Midoriya quickly picked out a few of the liquids and added a few drops of them into the water before returning to the bedroom.

Todoroki shoved the last corner of the bread into his mouth and gulped down the last dregs of his tea.

"Your bath is ready, your highness."

Todoroki stood up and snapped his fingers in Midoriya's direction before moving away from the small table and heading into his bath chambers.

Midoriya stepped into the room after the prince and quickly averted his gaze, a blush rose to his cheeks as in the corner of his eyes the prince began to disrobe. Midoriya could hear the clink of a belt buckle as it hit the floor and the soft swish of cloth as it soon followed after, before the loud sloshing of water reverberated around the tiled room.

"I'm not going to wait until this water is freezing cold for you to perform your duties." Midoriya turned his head slightly to see Todoroki's eyes coolly staring at him. "To think Shueians are so used to nudity, but yet here you stand like this is the first time in your life that you've seen a naked body."

Midoriya kept his lips firmly pressed together as he turned and grabbed a clean bathing rag from a hook off of the wall. There was a basin of cool water set up on a smaller table near the shelf of liquids and a bottle that contained soap. He dunked the rag into the cool water before ringing it out slightly. He then dumped a small droplet of soap onto the rag—the smell of roses wafted upwards to his nose—he then rubbed the rag together as the soap began to sud and cover the thick rag in bubbles.

Midoriya moved towards the prince and kneeled down behind him. His knees were pressed together as he rested on the backs of his heels. He gulped as he pressed his left hand against the prince's shoulder, slightly shifting him forwards so that his back was exposed. He pressed the cloth against the prince's skin, for a brief second marveling at the paleness of his complexion. Midoriya dragged the rag in small circular motions until the prince's back was covered in soap, then wordlessly removed his left hand and instead used it to grip the prince's left wrist as he raised his hand and washed the prince's arm and underarm. He repeated the same motion with the prince's right wrist. Standing up, he made his way to the side of the tub, and reaching out, avoiding the prince's gaze as he pressed the rag against his chest. He could feel the contours of Todoroki's muscles through the fabric he held in his hand.

He dragged the rag across his skin until Todoroki's chest was covered in soap. He pulled the rag away only to let his eyes flicker to Todoroki's face as the prince's hand shot out to wrap around Midoriya's slender wrist. Midoriya shifted his gaze away from Todoroki's face as the prince's brow raised slightly on his chiseled face.

"To think that a Shueian would be nervous about touching another's body when your country is so keen on having other's bathe together." Midoriya had been avoiding touching any part of Todoroki's lower half. He kept silent and was about drop the soapy rag into the bath water when Todoroki's grasp on his wrist tightened causing him to wince.

"If I wanted a servant who wouldn't respond or think for themselves I would have plucked one from among my father's household." His grip tightened a little bit more. "You may speak."

Midoriya dipped his head into a little bow. "In Shuei, it's common for people to bathe amongst one another, but to touch another person's body...it's different."

He felt his face heating up as Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes raked over his face. "Then what of the notorious bath houses in Shuei that are popular in the seedier districts? Where pleasure is merely a fingertip away?"

Midoriya averted his gaze, a blush rising to his cheeks. He shook his head as his lips twisted into a nervous smile. "Tha-that's different."

A low chuckle rose from Todoroki's throat as he studied Midoriya's reaction. "I can't believe that a person nearly a year younger than me is a virgin."

The tint to Midoriya's cheeks grew darker at Todoroki's comment. It wasn't unnatural or uncommon for Enten's nobility to take bed mates once they reached the peak of their youth or even after getting married. It wouldn't be uncommon for Todoroki by this point in his life to have taken several bed mates by now.

Midoriya glanced at Todoroki at the sound of the bath water sloshing against the tub. Todoroki climbed out of the tub, creating a picturesque scene of droplets of water rolling off of his body and down into the tub below. Like the few watercolor drawings that Midoriya had seen as a young child of foreign gods rising from the sea like monstrous titans.

Letting out a little squeal, he quickly shot to his feet, dropping the rag into the bath water as he quickly turned and fetched a towel from another hook. He thrust it into Todoroki's hand without so much as turning to look at him. "Here, your highness," Midoriya mumbled as he felt Todoroki take the towel from his hand.

He kept his back to Todoroki as the prince dried himself off before using the towel to wrap it around his waist. The two of them quickly walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where Midoriya quickly went about getting the prince dressed in the clothes he had already laid out.

Midoriya was buttoning up the golden embellishments on the front of the prince's vest when there was a knock on the bedroom door. Todoroki had barely called out for whomever it was at the door to come in when it swung open to reveal Yaoyorozu standing underneath the arch of the door.

She was dressed in her armor, her cape wrapped around her shoulder. She walked into the bedroom and quickly dropped down onto one knee before Todoroki.

"Momo, what is it?"

Midoriya was buttoning the last button on the vest, and he raised a single brow at the casualness in which Todoroki referred to Yaoyorozu with. His thoughts flitted back to Tokoyami's words about the possible nature of these two's relationship.

"I'm sorry, Todoroki. But you have a meeting with the king."

A scowl fixed itself on Todoroki's face, his eyes darkening as a smoldering fire bloomed in his eyes.

Midoriya forced himself to keep his attention on Todoroki's clothes—making little adjustments here and there—as he found himself perplexed about being in the king's presence so soon. He supposed the king would want to see the type of personal servant his son had gotten in his employ.

Midoriya remembered very little of King Enji from his childhood. There were very few times he had been in the king's presence unless his mother had to accompany All Might or he needed her presence. The little he did remember of the man was that he had an intimidating presence that had made Midoriya hide behind his mother's robes and press his face into her side.

"I'm not going," Todoroki growled out as Midoriya pulled his hand away from his clothing and clasped his hands behind his back.

Yaoyorozu frowned at Todoroki, her mouth turned downwards into a look of absolute frustration. "This isn't something you can get out of. The king personally asked for your presence and—"

"Then tell the old man that I'm not going."

"I can't do that." Yaoyorozu let out an exasperated sigh. "Remember? I'm going to be the one who gets chewed out."

Todoroki rolled his eyes before glancing at Midoriya.

"It seems today is your lucky day. You'll get to not only be in the presence of a prince, but a king's as well."

Yaoyorozu stood up from her position on the floor as she escorted the prince out of his chambers with Midoriya closely following behind them. They walked down familiar passageways and descended stairs until the three of them were walking down the familiar hallway that lead to the throne room.

There were two guards in golden, gleaming armor who stood at either side of the door. They wore similar red capes like Yaoyorozu's own, but instead of a golden pin with a sun hovering over snowcapped mountains they bore the emblem of the king. A phoenix flying over a burning sun.

The guards glanced at Yaoyorozu and snickered as they glanced at one another.

"Isn't it a little too early for to be playing knight, Yaoyorozu?" The guard on the left snickered in her face.

Yaoyorozu glared at him as she stepped in front of the prince.

The guard on the right snickered at the comment. "Ehh, I don't think she's playing a knight, but a different role instead." The two guards laughed loudly at the joke as they both leered at her. "How about you abandon the prince for the night and come play with us instead?"

Yaoyorozu scowled as she rested her hand on the pommel of her sword. "I'm your superior, treat me as such at once and I won't seek disciplinary measures against you."

The knight's laughed, tossing their heads back at the threat of a disciplinary action. The guard on the left cocked his head to the side as he took a step threateningly towards her. "Sweetheart, obviously you don't really understand how being a knight in this castle works." He reached towards the pommel of his own sword that was strapped to his waist. Suddenly he let out a sharp scream as he quickly jerked his hand away from his waist. A solid block of ice creeped up his right thigh and stretched towards his waist. Midoriya followed the path of the ice and saw that it started from the edge of Todoroki's foot. There was a slight chill coming off of Todoroki's side that surprised him.

Todoroki's eyes were narrowed at the guard, a dark storm simmered behind them. "Are you threatening my guard?"

The smile quickly dropped from the face of the guard whose leg was frozen in a solid block of ice. His skin turned pale as if he were staring into the face of death itself. "No-no. Just making a little joke is all."

Todoroki kept his cool as he walked closer to the guard, until their noses were nearly touching. "A joke? Threatening my guard is a joke?"

The guard trembled under Todoroki's fierce gaze. "N-no, your highness."

Todoroki glanced away from the man and towards the other guard who stood quivering beside the door. The guard quickly turned and pushed the doors that led to the throne room open. Todoroki let out a displeased noise in the hollow of his throat as he brushed past the guard and into the throne room; Midoriya and Yaoyorozu quickly followed behind him.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he found the throne room that he had been in just yesterday was packed from wall to wall with the bodies of what appeared to be several of Enten's nobles and noted figures.

He immediately felt uncomfortable as many of their eyes shifted towards the crown prince, especially him. It made him wonder if this was simply a meeting between the king and the prince or if this was a gallery in which everyone would be a witness to the humiliation of the royal heir.

He glanced up at the marble dais, in the king's throne was a hulking figure of a man. His shoulders were broad and even just sitting on his throne, Midoriya could tell that he was tall. He wasn't as tall as All Might, maybe less than a foot shorter or so, but his bulky frame was similar to the man when he used his Quirk. He wore a long, red tunic that reached his knees, a golden belt was wrapped around his massive waist with black pants loosely hugging his waist as well. A red cape lined with snow white fur was wrapped around his massive shoulders and pinned together with the country's emblem.

A well-trimmed beard and mustache graced his face, the same fiery red coloration as the short, spiky red hair on his head, or so Midoriya assumed as the king's beard and mustache were consumed by fire. His bright blue eyes gleamed with the same vibrancy as Todoroki's left one.

Midoriya's eyes slightly widened as he glanced at Todoroki from the corners of his eyes. A person's Quirk was either a combination of their parents own or a singular Quirk from either parent. His mind was racing to put the information together, like a jigsaw puzzle that had been upturned, letting all the pieces fall out onto the floor into a pile that he had to root through. Just for a few brief moments, Midoriya was reminded of the fact that he had to yet to see the Queen. He glanced up to where her throne was near the king's own. It sat empty, and even though it was clean and appeared to be polished often. He got the impression that it looked unused and had been that way for quite some time.

A malicious grin pulled at the edges of the King's lips as he sat opposingly upon his throne. A god sat comfortably in a world that was entirely of his own making.

The king's gaze swept over the room as he took in the banner houses that filled the room along with the other nobles, dignitaries, royal scholars of medicine, science and literature that had come to lavish him with praise as well as the dozens of servants that were meant to attend to his and his guests needs before settling on Midoriya—or at least to him it felt as if the king's gaze had settled directly upon him, even though he attempted to make himself small—especially in this room where his social status made him as insignificant as a gnat—he stood behind Todoroki, the prince had 4 inches of height against Midoriya who could easily stand behind him and be glanced over.

Midoriya's breath hitched in his throat; an invisible hand that pressed down upon his trachea and squeezed—just enough pressure so that the blood began swimming in his head and it was difficult for him to breathe. His shoulders and back were weighed down by the malicious aura that wrapped around him like wet wool, an aura that smothered him and choked all the air out of the room. It felt like he was being pinned down to the floor, like a bug pinned by a cruel child that was filled with glee at the prospect of pulling its wings off.

His eyes darted left and right as ice water ran in his veins. Not a single person looked or felt uncomfortable. They were chatting amongst themselves, a hum of noise that throbbed in his ears and was beginning to become overbearing. He glanced towards Yaoyorozu, whose blank expression was as smooth and polished as the armor she wore, though her eyes were tempered with years of drilled practice. His gaze shifted to the prince's back; he couldn't see his face, but from the tense bunching of muscles in his back, Midoriya could almost taste the displeasure that rolled off of him at having to face his father.

Again he glanced up to the dais where King Enji sat, his eyes—the color of pools of water when it froze over the moment winter dipped its finger into it—were devoid of any warmth; a cold, icy tundra that gave Midoriya the same cold feeling that he'd had just moments ago when he had felt Todoroki's quirk.

Somewhere in the distance, a servant called out that this meeting between king and prince would begin.

But to Midoriya, this didn't feel like a meeting between father and son, but an execution.

…and one that Midoriya unfortunately found himself an unwilling participant in.

A/N: You may be wondering why this chapter is longer than the previous one; well I was originally going to split this chapter into at least 2 parts but found that there wasn't any easy way to do it + there's no scene breaks that exist within this chapter for me to easily do so. So you guys get the full chapter instead! A great addition to the usual Friday updates.

Also sorry this update came a date late! I was out pretty much all day visiting the pokemon center and the Jump Store in Osaka, Japan + I didn't have internet connection with me since I stupidly forgot it with me before I went to the train station. So I didn't have any means of uploading this story until now. But please enjoy the fact that it's super long!

Also bless Midoriya in this chapter. Things don't get easier for him in a foreign kingdom and he only learns to blush more at the casual sexuality that exists within Enten. Hopefully he doesn't die from it before we get to the angst.