Since All For One hadn't wanted the gold or jewels, Izuku wanted to return them to the treasury before anyone noticed. By fortunate coincidence, the first artifact Izuku needed was also in the treasury: the crown of the prince. His own crown. Izuku would not have been willing to give up his father or mother's crowns. They were national treasures. And his dad would never forgive him if he lost one of his mother's keepsakes. But a new crown was created for each prince to reflect his own interests and talents. They were temporary. And since the crown belonged to Izuku, he figured he had the right to take it.

That meant he needed to get into the treasury again. He did not think it would be wise to pull the same trick twice. Instead, this time he would need a friend to help with a distraction. Luckily, one person already knew about his mission.

Izuku approached Aoyama after class. "Hi! Can we talk alone?"

Aoyama's gaze crept to Izuku's right hand, covered by a white glove. His ears turned red. "Oh, of course, Your H-Highness."

"Just call me Izuku, please."

Aoyama followed Izuku back to his room. Once they were alone, he said, "I take it the deal went well." He could not stop looking at the gloved hand.

Izuku nodded. "It's as you said, All For One is kinder than he looks. He only asked that I spend time with him."

Aoyama looked confused. "I thought for certain he would want more than that."

Izuku smiled. "I think he's lonely. Oh, and I have to retrieve some ingredients for him. Did you need to do that?"

Aoyama shook his head. "No, it was a very simple ritual…um. But I was only a young child when I got my magic. I don't really remember. All For One had the ingredients on hand at the time, but maybe he doesn't have any more left for you."

"That makes sense." Izuku pulled out the list. "I need to get into the treasury. Could you help me?"

Nodding rapidly, Aoyama said, "Oh, yes! Anything you need!" His anxious gaze crept to the clock on the wall.

"Do you need to be somewhere else?" Izuku asked. "Sorry, I don't mean to keep you." Aoyama often seemed a bit nervous around him, presumably because he was the prince. Izuku wanted to set him at ease. He was careful not to abuse his power to make anyone become friends with him. It was also possible that Aoyama was just a very jumpy person.

"Oh!" Aoyama startled. "Uh, I'm having a celebration dinner with my parents. They just returned home after being…away…for a while."

"That's great," Izuku said, smiling. "You should spend time with your family. We can carry out my plan tomorrow."

"T-Thank you, Your Highness," Aoyama said, bowing in gratitude. His eyes flicked anxiously towards the hall, tailfins twitching. "If you'll excuse me, Your Highness. I'm eager to reunite with my parents."

"Of course." Izuku nodded in understanding. He knew firsthand what it was like for a parent to be absent for a long period of time. His father was often away to tend to royal duties. And his mother…

Izuku pushed away the thought, waving farewell to Aoyama. The mer darted off, a spirited twist in his tail as he did so. He must have really missed his parents. Not that Izuku could blame him.

Izuku hummed happily to himself as he swam up to his own quarters, occasionally glancing at his gloved hand as he thought of the deal he'd struck with All For One. Once he had his crown in hand, he would return to the Cecaelia's den to deliver it. Hopefully he wouldn't mind that it would take a day or two longer than originally planned.

A smile worked its way onto his face as he drifted along, catching the attention of the guards and servants he passed by, so unused to seeing their prince as cheerful as he was now.

He was going to have magic. And he was going to obtain it by his own strength. Once all was said and done, Izuku could only imagine how proud his father was going to be.

"So…you want me to pretend that I'm a…foreign prince visiting the kingdom?" Aoyama asked, his brows creased and head tilted in confusion. "My prince, I'm not sure this is the best plan…the guards…if they catch current of something amiss, I will be thrown into jail!"

"It'll be fine, I promise," Izuku reassured his friend, gesturing with his hands for Aoyama to lower his voice. "The guards aren't going to recognize you; hardly anyone ever comes this way. And even if they do catch onto us, I'll make sure to take the fall so you won't get in trouble, alright?"

Aoyama still didn't seem entirely convinced, fidgeting nervously. "I'm not sure…wouldn't it be easier if we were to pretend we were….I don't know, crown inspectors or something?"

"I've never heard of a 'crown inspector' though," Izuku said, cupping his chin in thought. "I don't think the guards would buy that."

"But it is more believable than me being a foreign prince, no?"

"Hm…" Izuku hummed in consideration. "Why not both?" he spoke up after a moment, smacking a fist against the flat of his palm as an idea hit upon him. "You can still pretend to be a prince, but you can say that you're interested in looking at the crown to see how it compares to the one back at your own palace!"

A nervous smile crept onto Aoyama's face, scales paling from a lustrous gold sheen to a pastel yellow. "Your Highness, I really don't—"

"That settles it then!" Izuku made a determined nod, deaf to Aoyama's protest as he swam across the room, eager to get operation Foreign Royal Crown Inspector started. Izuku fished out a brown mess of slightly tangled hair out from his drawers, swimming quickly back over to Aoyama. Izuku raised a brow at how his friend seemed closer to the door than before, but shrugged it off as his mind playing tricks on him. "You just need to put this wig on like so…and viola!" Izuku declared after adjusting the wig just so, Aoyama sputtering nonsensically. Izuku ignored it, returning to his closet to pry out a high-fashion shirt made by the royal tailor. Thankfully he and Aoyama were roughly the same size.

He observed the shirt for a moment longer when the creaking of a door handle caught his attention, whipping around to look at his friend. Aoyama's hands whisked away from the door, tucking them behind his back. Izuku smiled at him, glad Aoyama was as excited to get started as he was.

"…And there!" Izuku exclaimed after he shoved the shirt over Aoyama, smoothing out the fabric and making it look neat and princely. "Okay, we're ready to get started! Let's go!"

"Maybe we should—" Aoyama tried to say, but it died on his lips as Izuku tugged him along, swimming through the corridors and down a couple levels, pulling him along until they reached where the guards were stationed outside the treasury. Izuku held a finger to his lips, taking a moment to make certain he looked good and presentable. Then he coughed, clearing his throat before speaking loudly, tugging Aoyama out from behind the hall as he did so.

"And this is where we keep the royal artifacts, valuables and treasure," he said, gesturing down the hall for the disguised Aoyama. The guards immediately tensed, before lowering their spears at the sight of their prince, confusion playing across their faces. "You said you wanted to take a look, right?"

"I-I…Y-Yes?" Aoyama stammered with an awkward nod.

"Perfect! You're going to love it! But I'm sure your kingdom has its own fine crowns. What kind of jewels does yours have?"

"Um. It, uh, it's made of gold a-and…opals?"

The guards looked between each other, both looking bewildered at the exchange, then turned to Izuku and Aoyama.

"…My Prince?" one asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you…feeling alright?"

"Yes?" Izuku responded, tilting his head curiously. "I just wanted to show my guest the treasury. It's his first time visiting from uh…the kingdom of, uh…"

"Shiketsu!" Aoyama blurted out, drawing everyone's attention. He blushed furiously afterwards, but continued speaking regardless. "I-It's the kingdom of Shiketsu."

Both guards turned in sync towards Izuku.

"Uh…" Izuku nodded. "Yup! Shiketsu!" Wasn't Shiketsu a nation of sirens? Hopefully no one could tell the difference.

Smiling indulgently, the guard waved them in. "We couldn't possibly deny a guest from such an important nation." The two guards exchanged winks.

Izuku strode past the treasures to the back where the crowns were kept. He picked up his rose coral crown. "The Prince of Shiketsu would like to take a closer look at this crown. He's a big crown collector. Isn't that right?"

His tail trying to sink into the ground, Aoyama muttered, "I love crowns."

A guard said, "It's your crown, Your Highness. You can take it if you want. It belongs to you."

"Excellent," Izuku said brightly, placing the crown on his head. He nudged Aoyama. "Psst! I need a distraction!"

"Wha…what should I do?" Aoyama whimpered.

"I dunno, tell them about your kingdom." Izuku nudged Aoyama forward.

Looking at the guards, Aoyama gulped. "Have you heard about the glorious nation of Shiketsu? We rule over a beautiful sea dotted by a series of volcanic islands."

"So you're a siren, huh?" The guard leaned on his trident and snorted. His gaze raked Aoyama.

Sirens looked a lot like mermaids, but they had a spiky fin running down their spines. Aoyama did not. He also did not have the webbed and clawed hands of a siren. Covering his face, Aoyama whimpered, "I'm adopted."

Izuku darted over to a box and started pouring coins from his backpack in, the same coins he'd stolen on his last trip. Then he shook out the gemstones into another box. Both guards turned to stare. Izuku hastily hid his empty backpack and grinned broadly.

Aoyama drifted to the floor, lying flat on his tail. He held out his wrists to receive handcuffs. "Before you execute me, please tell my parents that I love them."

The guard only laughed, shaking his head. "It's not a crime to add money to the treasury, only to remove it. Whatever game you're playing with His Highness, I hope you two have fun."

The guards waved at them as they swam away. Playing with the crown on his head, Izuku said, "One ingredient down. I think that went great!"

Aoyama collapsed to a sobbing heap on the ground.

Borrowing Aoyama's services as a body double again, Izuku swam out to All For One's cave. Aoyama seemed much happier pretending to be a sick prince in bed than he did going on missions to find ingredients. In fact, Aoyama hardly needed to pretend to be sick. He'd curled up in a ball on Izuku's bed, refusing to be moved and trembling beneath the covers.

Swimming into the cave, Izuku called, "Sir? All For One? I brought the first ingredient."

A massive form shifted in the darkness, then lights came on all over the cave. All For One smiled toothily. "That was quick."

"It wasn't very hard to get my own crown. Everything went smoothly. Well, Aoyama had a nervous breakdown. I think I made my plan a tad too complicated."

"Really? Whatever did you do?" All For One asked, sounding only mildly interested.

Izuku explained. All For One's tentacles shook, and it took Izuku a moment to realize this was a sign of laughter. A massive guffaw escaped the Cecaelia's lips, his chortles echoing off the cavern walls. "You made that nervous little guppy pretend to be a siren prince? Oh, what a sight that must have been to see!"

"I knew it would work because it's ridiculous," Izuku said, a small grin tugging at his mouth. "No one back home takes me very seriously. That's how I got into the treasury the first time, and it worked the second time too. And royal privileges help, of course. I wouldn't have gotten away with that if I'd been a commoner."

All For One hummed. "A degree of self-awareness is commendable. Show me the crown."

Izuku approached, holding out the crown. The rubies gleamed in the dim cave. All For One took it in a tentacle and held it up to his eye. He hummed to himself, observing the rubies embedded in the crown closely. Izuku thought he had upset All For One when a frown pulled at the Cecaelia's lips, seeming disappointed with something. But his nervousness was appeased when his expression smoothed back out into neutrality. All For One gave Izuku an approving nod. "Yes, this will do nicely."

Clearing his throat, Izuku asked, "Did you need my crown because it has a strong magical resonance with me from being worn by me since I was a young child?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes." All For One turned a piercing gaze on Izuku. "Do you study magic, despite not having any?"

Suddenly being the focus of that intense attention made Izuku squirm. "I love magic. I do a lot of studying in my spare time. I did a research project in school about resonance. Most magical scholars focus on how resonance builds up over time from people being near objects but I think they underestimate the importance of emotional attachment to objects. Such as, I have strong feelings for my crown because I helped design it personally. To test my theory, I conducted a series of experiments…" Izuku's voice trailed off. He'd been mumbling. "I'm sorry, this must be boring."

"No, please go on," All For One purred. "It's rare to find a youth who properly appreciates magical theory."

His voice getting stronger, Izuku explained his class project. All For One occasionally interjected with questions and suggestions for further research. The Cecaelia seemed sincerely interested. It was a heady feeling. Izuku didn't have any friends he could discuss his interests with. His teachers had made it clear with subtle patronization that they didn't think someone without magic could have anything to contribute to magical research. But an ancient and powerful Cecaelia was seriously listening to him. Izuku felt a twinge of pride.

When they were finished, All For One even said, "If you pursue this research further, I would be interested in hearing about your findings."

Izuku puffed out his chest. "Definitely! After obtaining the next ingredient, of course."

All For One said, "The golden algae won't be so easy to find. The mers keep people away from that part of the ocean because it's considered dangerous."

"I won't fail, sir. I promise."

"I'll be interested to see what scheme you come up with next time," All For One said, a trace of amusement in his deep voice.

As Izuku swam away, he felt cheerful and much more relaxed about visiting All For One. Although the Cecaelia had seemed gruff and intimidating at first, he had a softer heart than first appearances would suggest. It had been fun to talk together. Perhaps both of them were a bit lonely.

Izuku furrowed his brow as he stared at the pearly white surface of the potion in his cauldron. He stirred the spoon clockwise two times, then three counterclockwise before letting go and swimming over to the nearby shelf to grab a bottle filled with a powdered substance, uncorking it as he swam back over and sprinkling a pinch into the potion. He watched with satisfaction as the pearly sheen shifted into a shiny gray hue, placing the bottle to the side.

Lowering the heat so that it could simmer slowly for several hours, Izuku backed away and rummaged through his cabinets and collection of various ingredients, the pinch between his brows only further deepening as he continued shifting through jars, boxes and vials, not finding what he needed.

Sighing, Izuku shook his head, grumbling beneath his breath and cursing himself for not picking up the ingredient all those months ago when he had the chance. But hopefully he could find what he needed in the city, before his potion finished brewing. He chewed his lip worriedly. It was a bit of a rare find within the market, given the dangerous nature of acquiring said ingredient. What if he didn't make it back in time to add it to the potion? What if—

Izuku shook his head, lulling his racing heart and pushing his intrusive thoughts to the side as best he could. He wouldn't know if he didn't look, so there was no reason to give up hope on finding it before he even began.

"Alright, I can do this," Izuku muttered to himself, grabbing hold of his pouch of coins and a hooded cloak from his closet. Getting past the guards without them noticing would be a bit more difficult than before, given Aoyama wasn't present in the castle to serve as a double. Izuku hoped he was okay. He hadn't seen his friend in several days, and the teacher said he was out sick. Aoyama had looked green around the gills the last time he helped Izuku sneak out of the castle. It would be better not to pressure the shy boy too much when he felt ill. Izuku didn't want to be a bother.

Izuku glanced both ways when he slipped out of his room, swimming quickly down the stairs and through the halls, trying to keep disturbance of the waters minimal and bubbles created with every swish of movement nonexistent. He ducked behind a column studded with glowing bits of coral when he saw a couple guards swim past, chatting leisurely among themselves. It was only when they were out of earshot that he dared to move again, soon finding himself in the great hall.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he passed through without incident, most of the mers dotted about simply giving him a slight bow as he passed, too busy with themselves to bother stopping him to talk.

Izuku inwardly cheered when he passed into the courtyard, finding only a set of guards at the palace entrance, and the buzz of chatter drifting through the currents. Izuku ducked behind a nearby statue, peeking out to stare at the pair while considering his options. He could convince them that he was just going out for a quick trip to the market (which wasn't a lie!), but then they would insist he have an entourage follow him. It would take too long to gather the required eight guards. Or he could risk swimming up and hopefully out of their sight before they noticed him. That was if his shadow didn't give him away…

Lost in thought as he was, his scales nearly fell off when a rough voice spoke up behind him.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Ah!" Izuku yelped, stumbling out from behind the statue and tumbling through the water before righting himself. His eyes spun in their sockets, vision spinning before fixing itself so that up was no longer down. Even in his dazed state, he recognized the blond hair and red-eyed glower being directed at him. Izuku breathed out a sigh. "Oh, Kacchan. It's just you."

"Hah?" Kacchan growled. "What's that supposed to mean?! And what are you doing sneaking around like a creep?!"

"Whoa, chill Bakubro!" A second mer of dark hair and scales swam up behind him. He was a soldier in training that Izuku knew as Kirishima. He was good friends with Kacchan, despite one of them having a sunshine personality and the other being…abrasive. "That's the Prince!"

"Huh? You think I don't know that?" Kacchan snapped irritably.

"I-I'm not sneaking around!" Izuku defended himself hastily, throwing his hands up in front of him as he rapidly shook his head. "I was heading into the city, that's all!"

"Oh yeah?" Kacchan snorted. "Where are your guards?"

"A-Ah, that's not necessary!" Izuku said nervously. "I-I was just going to the market! I was missing an ingredient for a potion I'm working on and I need to go grab it before my potion is ruined. It's not important enough to bother anyone about accompanying me."

"Should I ask the guard captain if he feels the same way?" Katsuki crossed his arms. "Or should we come with you? Because I'm not letting you out alone."

"Um. I'd be happy to have you if it's not too much trouble." Izuku gave in knowing this was the best outcome he could hope for. He didn't want anyone asking questions about the particular potion he was creating, but hopefully neither Katsuki nor Kirishima would know enough about potions to realize.

Katsuki sighed. "Of course it's trouble, but I'm graciously coming with you anyway. Hurry up, let's get this over with." He swam for the gate, expecting Izuku to follow.

With Katsuki and Kirishima at his side, no one questioned Izuku's departure. That made taking them along worth it. Outside, a forest of coral surrounded the palace. Katsuki swam faster, calling, "Keep that weak tail of yours moving."

"Bro!" Kirishima hissed. "You can't talk like that to the prince."

Katsuki raised his head and puffed out his chest with pride. "Of course I can, I'm the future guardian of the throne. I still remember the first time the Great King Toshinori came to me with tears in his eyes to ask me to protect his son."

Izuku winced as he recalled one of the top ten most embarrassing moments of his entire life. When Izuku had been a small fry first diagnosed as magicless, he'd had a difficult time in class with the other kids being rude to him. The teachers had leapt to protect the prince, being overzealous with punishments, but that just made the rest of the class hate him more. Toshinori had quietly had some private conversations with Izuku's classmates, their parents, and the teachers.

After that Katsuki had completely reversed his attitude and self-proclaimed himself to be Izuku's protector, which had ended the conflict since Katsuki was unofficial class leader. He was also a huge fan of the king. After that Katsuki had become a lot friendlier to Izuku, in his own gruff and overbearing way. But Izuku could never forget it had only happened because his dad had basically gone around making friends for him. That was so excruciatingly embarrassing.

"Oh I see." Kirishima's eyes widened. "I knew your parents had a noble background but I didn't realize you were childhood friends with the crown prince. That's cool!"

"He's easy to befriend." Katsuki slung an arm around Izuku's shoulder. "You two should be friends too so you can be hyperactive optimists together and leave me alone."

Izuku chuckled. "Sure, I could always use more friends." What wonderful luck, to go from being nearly friendless to having several in just a few days.

"Eh? Such an honor." Kirishima flushed crimson. "I'd be happy to be your friend, Your Highness."

"You can call him Izuku now," Katsuki said. "Izuku, you can call this guy 'shitty hair' like I do."

"Please don't!" Kirishima wailed. "If a prince calls me that then it might become an official title."

Just outside the palace, several mer had set up mobile shops selling wares. They targeted those who lived in the palace and tourists who came to see the coral forest. The shops were crafted from glowing colorful bubbles. The magic kept the wares inside sitting on the shelves instead of floating away.

Izuku went straight to his usual ingredients shop, a bright blue bubble with a sign on the front reading "Rare Ingredients from Across the Ocean." The owner, Danjuro Tobita, dozed in an armchair just inside the bubble. Izuku knocked on the surface of the bubble, making Danjuro sit up.

"Oh! Your Highness! How are you doing? Who are these two?" Danjuro asked, glancing between Kacchan and Kirishima.

Izuku said, "I'm well. These are Kach–um, Warrior Bakugo and Warrior Kirishima, my friends. Is Manami here?"

"She's off fighting a gang of sirens to uncover a rare and ancient treasure that might–you'll never believe this–have once belonged to the legendary two-legged beings on land!" Danjuro beamed. "You'll get first pick when it comes in, Your Highness, as our number one customer."

Since Danjuro was prone to exaggeration, he probably meant his assistant Manami Aiba was off picking up a shipment of ingredients from the siren lands. "Sounds exciting. Anyway, today I need some orca intestines. Do you have them on-hand?"

"Hmm, I believe so." Danjuro bustled around the shelves and returned with a jar. "Here you go."

"Thank you!" Izuku handed over a coin from his purse and wished Danjuro the best of luck with the siren battles.

As they swam back toward the palace, Katsuki demanded, "What do you need killer whale guts for?"

Izuku shrugged. "It's a small experiment."

"Those are used to repel sharks, aren't they?" Katsuki's eyes narrowed.

At times like this, Izuku was forced to remember why Katsuki was top student of the class. "Hmm, I might come up with a potion to help the warriors but I don't want to talk too much about it until I see if it works."

Katsuki scowled. "You'd better not be involved in sketchiness. I've seen you skulking a lot around the palace lately. King Toshinori told me that it's vitally important for you not to leave the palace. There's big stuff going on, stuff I can't talk about."

Izuku's shoulders stiffened. Why had his father told Katsuki about this, but not Izuku himself? Izuku could not shake the nagging suspicion that his dad wanted a son more like Katsuki, a strong warrior. Weak Izuku wasn't trustworthy. Hunching over his shoulders, Izuku said, "Yeah, I know. I only want some potions ingredients. You know me and my potions."

"I know the face you make when you're lying!" Katsuki pounced on Izuku and put him in a headlock. "Noogies until you tell me the truth."

"Wait!" Izuku wailed. "You'll make me drop my jar! I need to get back to my potion soon!"

"You definitely can't do that to the prince." Kirishima dragged Katsuki off.

"Huh, shitty hair? You wanna fight?" Katsuki pounced on Kirishima, teeth bared.

While they were going at it, Izuku fled and safely made it back through the palace gates. He headed straight to his laboratory upstairs, next to his bedroom. Fortunately his potion was still simmering and gray.

Izuku cut the correct amount of orca intestines and added them. Orcas would hunt down great white sharks, rip out their intestines, and leave the bodies as a warning. Thus orcas could be used as a powerful ingredient to repel sharks.

To Izuku's satisfaction, his potion turned pale purple, then spat out a single large bubble on top. It had worked! Stage two of the plan to acquire golden algae was ready.

Izuku planned his next escape from the palace more carefully. Now that Katsuki was on to him, he needed to be more subtle. Fortunately, Izuku kept a couple invisibility potions on hand at all times, since it was hard to go anywhere without the guards following his tail. Early in the morning, he crept to the seahorse stables and hid in a wagon full of weapons, potions, and food rations. He remained crouched down and quiet as the guards arrived, hitched up the seahorses, and took off.

The wagon headed to the Southwestern Seal Colony, a popular great white feeding ground. Guards remained constantly around the area to prevent mer from wandering in or sharks from wandering out. Periodic expeditions went in to gather ingredients. However, Izuku wasn't willing to wait that long.

When the wagon stopped moving, Izuku leapt out before anyone had time to accidentally grab him while reaching for supplies. Invisible, he darted around two chatting guards, toward the restricted area marked off by blue glass poles sticking out from the ground.

Izuku swam low around the green-brown ground, keeping his ears alert. As soon as he ducked out of sight behind a rock, he uncorked his potion.

A giant, illusionary orca sprang from the bottle. It was far larger than natural, with a tail fin as long as Izuku's entire body. The white spots on the black body glowed slightly as it swam forward, wailing a harsh metallic sound. This sound was programmed to send every shark in the vicinity into flight.

Izuku was able to easily swim deeper into seal territory. A seal bumped into his invisible body twice as he scraped golden algae strands into a clear bottle.

When Izuku returned and hid in the wagon again, he overheard the guards speculating that selkies must have joined the seal colony and started crafting protective magic because no sharks had been spotted. He smiled to himself as the wagon was driven back into the direction of the city, remaining quiet and still, the driver humming a tune to himself along the way.

When Izuku began to recognize his surroundings more strongly, and the effects of his invisibility potion was beginning to fade if the opaqueness of his body was anything to go by, he decided now was as good a time as any to slip out of the wagon while he still could without being noticed by the others. Time to bring the next ingredient to All For One.

Though the wilds outside the barrier that protected the city weren't usually as dangerous as other places farther out, he still kept himself alert for anything that might try to make a quick meal out of him. There had been rumors as of late of strange, dark, sharp finned and misshapen figures swimming just beyond the fringes of mer territory, alongside a series of suspicious disappearances. It had the civilians on edge, and guard patrols had been upped in response.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't nervous about running into whatever it was that could be swimming about, but he also wasn't about to be frightened away when he was already so close to achieving his goal.

Besides, they were only rumors. The guards had yet to see or capture any of the mysterious creatures said to be roaming outside, so it was likely just that; rumors. At worst, it was probably a shark that had swam too close and was causing a stir of panic among the populace.

He hoped that's all it was, at least. Izuku didn't want to imagine the danger All For One would be in if they were true, alone out here as he was.

The troubling thoughts continued to plague him as he continued onward, the reef that All For One called home coming into view before long. The strangely scarce and vibrantly colored fish ducked into hiding as he approached. Izuku carefully swam to the underside and searched for the crevice that led to the den hidden within the coral.

He tensed when he felt a shift in the water, a faint current brushing against his fins, feeling eyes staring at him from afar. Izuku whipped around, his tail coiling in preparation to slap away whatever had snuck up on him. But on turning around, there was only vacant space.

In the corner of his eye, however, he could have sworn he saw a dark shape swim just out of view, catching a glimpse of a spiny tail and a flash of yellowed, mismatched fangs.

Izuku trembled fiercely as he watched the section of coral he thought the creature had hidden behind, refusing to take his eyes off it even as he propelled himself backward into the tunnel, squeezing past as his gills flared and his heart pulsed so hard and fast he could hear it in his head.

He was nearly inside when a clawed hand suddenly lashed at the entrance of the crevice, striking against his tail and cleaving through the scales and flesh alike with ease.

OMAKE TIME!

Omake: The Guards POV

Guard #1: So that did those two kids want, anyway?

Guard #2: I think they were just sneaking off for a little privacy in the treasury. You know teenagers and their hormones.

Guard #1: The treasury? With all the hard metal lying around? I doubt it. Besides, that blond kid was way below our prince's league. I think it was a bet.

#

Omake: The Truth Behind the Illness

Izuku: I'm sorry to hear that Aoyama is sick, I hope nothing bad has happened to him.

Aoyama: I have the ultra-rare "can't deal with more bullshit from the prince" disease.

#

Omake: Comparisons

Canon Aoyama: I suffer from constant stomach aches.

Mer Aoyama: Me, too!

Canon Aoyama: Did All For One give you a naval laser quirk that puts a strain on your body?

Mer Aoyama: All For One gave me a batshit insane Izuku.