A lot of my fanfiction files were lost (full details are on my Twitter Agirl2223) so I'm working on rewriting a bunch of shit *including this story and Call Me... Deku*
Thank you for your patience and support!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Learn To Breathe
Chapter 3
Todoroki had met with Midoriya several times since he'd happened to see him at his special cove again. Each time they'd tried to communicate for a while before Todoroki would settle in the shallow water and let Deku bring him shells and other ocean items to look at.
But learning a new language that was meant for underwater creatures was harder than he'd ever imagined. He'd need more than just a weekly brush up with Izuku if he wanted to actually become fluent, and Shoto really wanted to so that he could understand what the carefree Mer always mumbled about—so that he could properly thank him for saving his life… in more ways than one.
For once, luck seemed to be on his side. Not long before his ship had been destroyed, he'd heard palace guards talking about a boy brought in that showed signs of being something other than strictly human. Apparently, that had been his only crime.
Shoto snuck down into the dungeons to see if the rumors were true, slipping by the underpaid and disinterested guards until he found the cell. "Are you Eijiro Kirishima?" he whispered.
There was movement in the darkness, followed by chains rattling. Eventually, a redheaded teen stepped into the torchlit area and nodded, keeping his eyes down and averted from the person he knew to be the youngest Prince of Endeavor.
Todoroki leaned forward more, glancing around to make sure no one had taken notice of them. "Are the rumors true? Is there really Mer in your lineage?"
The teen seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually, he nodded again, his arms braced in front of him as if he'd be struck for being truthful. From what Todoroki could see, he probably had been beaten a few times already.
"If I help you get out of here, you serve me, do you understand? You'll do whatever I tell you to without question or hesitation. Do you accept?" Todoroki continued, barely able to keep the hope and excitement out of his voice. He waited impatiently for Kirishima to respond, resisting the urge to tap his foot.
"I… My life is yours, Prince Todoroki…" Eijiro agreed, though he'd yet to raise his head up.
"Guards!" Shoto snapped, making both the captive and the now flustered men flinch. "By my order, this boy is to be let free. You will tell no one about it under penalty of death."
The two scrambled to obey, unlocking the door and cuffs that kept Kirishima restrained before shuffling away in fear of the young heir.
"Come," Shoto ordered, leading the dirt, grime, and blood-covered boy out of the dungeons. He took him straight to his room, telling maids and other servants to get his new attendant cleaned and dressed before bringing him back.
It was a long shot, he knew, for Kirishima to be of much help. According to the arrest records, neither of his parents exhibited any signs of being anything other than human, so his connection to Merfolk was grandparents at best.
Still, he might have better luck with some of the pronunciations or at the very least be a close confidant that could practice conversing with Shoto. Languages were always more easily learned that way.
After what felt like an eternity, Eijiro was brought back into the room. He bowed deeply to Todoroki before standing up straight for the first time since they'd met. It then became obvious how he'd been discovered; he had sharper teeth than even Deku had, and blood-red eyes.
"So, how far back in your family history was the… crossover… with Merfolk?" Shoto asked, getting straight to the point.
"Uh… My grandfather was one of 'em… I can't… I err… My mother didn't show any signs but I got the eyes and teeth I guess… But I don't turn into one of 'em if that's what you want… I got gills though…" Kirishima answered, rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Interesting... So, you can breathe underwater then? Were you taught any of their language by chance?"
Eijiro nodded slightly, tension still in his shoulders as he kept his gaze away from the Prince. It was an understandable reaction, seeing as he'd been pretty well hidden away or kept within small circles for the majority of his life. The first and only other time he'd been asked questions like this had been the day he was arrested for treason.
"Excellent. You will teach me what you know and communicate in my place when I instruct you to. Furthermore, you will tell no one what I've ordered you to do. You owe me your life and you will pay with it if you even think of betraying me, Kirishima." Todoroki stated, his voice as cold as ice.
Eijiro let out a nervous breath, not understanding in the slightest what was happening. The only reason he could think of was that the Prince was continuing with his father's deranged desire for genocide and wanted to learn more about the 'enemy'.
Kirishima didn't like it, but he wasn't going to upset one of Endeavors' princes, especially not the one that was said to be most like the Hellfire King himself. That bastard of a man had attacked half a dozen other cities, burning them to the ground without mercy for any caught in the blaze so that they could be absorbed into his kingdom.
"Uh… Sure thing Prince… I'll do my best." He finally responded. He stood awkwardly for several minutes as silence overtook them before a loud growl erupted from his stomach. Kirishima paled and gripped his torso to try and quiet it.
Todoroki eyed him for a moment, taking in his appearance. He could tell from the looseness of his new clothes that he hadn't been fed consistently, and his cheek was off-color from a still deep bruise. The only reason he'd been kept alive this long was that he wasn't considered an adult and therefore his execution had been put on hold until he turned eighteen.
Shoto stood from where he sat at his desk and swept past his newest servant to the grand wood doors of his room, barking an order for food to be brought in. "Eat first then you can settle into the servants quarters attached to my room. We have somewhere to be early tomorrow morning."
Kirishima followed the prince through the secret paths as quietly as possible, eyeing his back with curiosity and apprehension. Right before they'd left the castle, he'd been instructed to only refer to his master as Shoto or really anything other than his title and last name.
He reasoned it was probably so that they could go wherever it was they were headed without being recognized, not that it would really help. The prince's appearance was a dead giveaway and he wasn't going to fare much better with his teeth and eyes so obviously unnatural.
But he'd do whatever Todoroki wanted because he'd saved him from that godforsaken dungeon and so far taken good care of him. He even had his own room since no one else could stand to be around the young Prince for more than a few months.
"We're here; remember what I told you about using my family name or title and try to keep your reaction under control," Shoto stated. "Wait for me to call you."
Kirishima nodded and did as he was told, waiting patiently for his next instructions. Soon though, he saw a small shadow swimming closer to where the Prince had waded into the water. He bit his tongue to keep himself from calling out, praying that he wasn't letting his master fall prey to a bull shark.
"Shoto!" the figure exclaimed, popping up like a peppy dolphin.
The two touched foreheads for a few seconds before Todoroki turned around and pointed at him, saying 'Kirishima' slowly, his voice enunciating each syllable with care. Midoriya stuttered over the name a couple of times, and swam a little closer, eyeing him over the water's edge.
"Uhhh…" Eijiro mumbled, looking between Todoroki and the Mer frantically as he entered the ocean. It finally made sense why the prince had rescued him from the dungeons, but now he had so many more questions that he wanted answers to.
"You said you knew some of their language. See if you can converse with it… its name is Izuku." Shoto ordered, though his voice was much softer than he'd heard it in the whole day he'd served under him.
"My name is Kirishima. Can you understand me?"
"You speak Mer? Ah! This is so cool! Your legs aren't transforming into a tail so I guess you aren't full-blooded but I can see you have some of our kinds blood in you! How do you know Shoto? Are you two friends? Can you talk to him for me? It's really hard to understand human tongue… It sounds so weird you know? Gah… sorry! Word vomit!" Midoriya responded happily, taking a moment to press his forehead against Kirishima's as he had with Todoroki.
Eijiro took a deep breath to calm himself, wracking his brain to translate the quickly spoken paragraph and remember everything his mother had told him about Merfolk etiquette. He held still during their greeting, knowing that the gentle headbutt was their way of saying hello and goodbye.
"He talks a lot and some of it's a bit hard for me to understand…" Kirishima explained to Shoto, giving a nervous grin. "But I think we can talk to each other pretty good. What'd'ya want me to ask 'em?"
"Tell it that you're going to be helping each of us learn to communicate, and answer anything it wants to know unless it has to do with my family… I think it should be obvious enough why with what he is and what's eventually expected of me." Todoroki responded.
"Uhh… right bro... got it! Okay… umm… I'm here to help you two learn each other's languages since I'm okay with both."
Midoriya grinned widely and shimmied his tail, moving back towards Todoroki. "Can we swim while we learn? There are some really cool reefs near here I could show you!"
After translating, Kirishima was surprised to see how soft the prince's face became, and even more to see him agree. Maybe there was more to his behavior than just frigid anger. He hoped that Todoroki would tell him how this unusual friendship had come about.
Todoroki sat beside Eijiro at his desk, fighting the urge to simply throw his hands up in defeat; the redhead certainly wasn't dumb, but, academics were not his strong suit. They'd been working for hours on basic reading skills already and there wasn't much progress being made.
"Again Kirishima," he sighed, tapping the page harshly. "I won't have an illiterate servant."
The redhead scrunched his eyebrows together, staring at the words with intense concentration even though it didn't seem to be helping him much. He'd come from a poor village, born into the lowest class; there simply hadn't been anyone to teach him until now.
He stumbled over another sentence, recognizing some words that he hadn't before though still struggling to remember most of them. "I… I'm so sorry, Prince…" he whimpered, tears already brimming in his eyes. "Please don't send me back to the dungeon. I'm gonna get it, promise!"
Todoroki sighed heavily again, rubbing his tired eyes and aching head. "I'm not going to re-imprison you, Kirishima. I just meant that you will have to learn to read and write eventually."
What he didn't say was that it bothered him greatly that everyone—including the redhead—seemed to fear him and what he might do should he be angered. Even if half of him looked almost exactly like his father, he didn't want to emulate the vile man at all.
Eijiro sniffed and nodded, the leather-bound book squeezed tightly in his hands. He took a deep breath and tried again, repeating the same paragraph that had been halting his progress all morning. Just as he was about to ask Shoto to help him with a particularly long word, the door slammed open, startling both of them.
"Shoto!" his father boomed, stomping across the room in large, angry strides. "What is this beast doing out of its cell?"
Kirishima scrambled out of his chair to his knees, cowering before the King as he shook with fear. His eyes were tightly shut, tears slipping through completely now as he held himself low and unthreateningly.
"He's my new servant, father," Todoroki stated coolly, though he also had tense posture.
The man growled and kicked at Eijiro, knocking him to his side where he remained curled and shaking in terror, whimpering in pain. "This bastard creature has no place in my castle aside from the dungeon! If you've gotten rid of yet another servant then you should have found one more suitable!"
"It's valuable to me… It speaks Mer and can breathe underwater." He responded, gesturing to the redhead.
Enji roared in anger, the sound so frightening that even Shoto and his father's guards flinched back. He reached down and yanked his son up by his collar, eyeing him with enraged turquoise eyes. "What use is that filthy language to you, my perfect creation?"
The youngest Todoroki didn't break eye contact even though he desperately wanted to gulp and look away. Instead, he kept his resolve firm, straightening his shoulders with pride. "I'm going to use him to speak with the Mer's should one ever be found. With his help we can convince them that our vendetta has ended and then when they least expect it, crush them."
The fury in his father's face began evaporating into a crazed smile, his smirk making Shoto want to hiss in disgust. Enji released him, laughing darkly. "And here I thought you'd turned against me, son. Very well… you may keep the halfbreed for now. Just so that it always knows its place."
"If you noticed, it was crying when you came in…"
The man laughed again, sending another rough kick into Kirishima's shin so that he could hear the boy yelp in pain once more. "Filthy mutt…" he chuckled, swishing his cape as he turned to leave.
Both Kirishima and Shoto stayed where they were until Enji's pounding stride was out of earshot, the only sound in the room being the redhead's whimpers. Todoroki sat back down in his chair, letting out a shuddering breath.
"Get up, Kirishima…" he ordered gently, turning so that he could face the boy.
The redhead kept crying, but slowly forced himself to stand and hobble back into his own seat, settling himself down gingerly. He flinched when Shoto reached out to touch him, gritting his teeth against what he assumed would be another harsh blow.
"I'm not going to hurt you..." Todoroki assured softly, "I just need to see if anything is broken so it can be set…"
He moved more slowly this time, grasping Eijiro's discolored arm and examining it slowly. He moved to the boy's leg next, clicking his tongue at the deep bruising there. "Did my father manage to hit you in the ribs? Or were you able to block most of the impact? Take off your shirt so that I can see."
Kirishima hiccupped and lifted his shirt, exposing his frail, malnourished torso. There were bruises littered everywhere there as well, but also gashes from being whipped. Shoto ground his teeth together in anger, glaring at the damage.
"Why were these not tended to yesterday?" he seethed, flickering his gaze up to where Eijiro was desperately looking away.
"I'ma m-mutt…" was his only response, the degrading name falling from his lips with sadness.
Shoto huffed and got to his feet, taking Kirishima's hand as he dragged him along. "I have a bunch of medical supplies over in these drawers from when I'm injured during training. While I don't intend to harm you, should you ever need something you are free to use whatever is here. Now, hold still… We need to put something on these cuts before they get infected."
Eijiro whimpered out a 'thank you', removing his shirt and pants so that Todoroki could help him with his injuries. He kept his eyes down but wanted to look at the Prince… he wanted to know which part of him was real. Was he actually friends with Izuku or was he doing as he'd told his father and preparing to finish the genocide that had started so long ago?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Thank you to everyone who has commented! :)