Work Text:
In a land where mythology and reality were one in the same, there was a specific piece of land inhabited by a very powerful king and queen. They ruled over their land with a strict benevolence that only true rulers can have and because of this, they were very admired and respected. It came as no surprise then that their kingdom was overjoyed to learn that they would soon heir a little prince for the land. The queen, soon before she was slated to give birth to her son, pulled aside her best friend and trusted advisor and asked her one of the most important questions the queen could ask.
In their land, it was custom for the queen to choose the royal advisor who would serve her child before or soon after their birth. The queen had grown up with her advisor, seen her get married and have a child of her own, an intelligent young boy who couldn’t have been older than four years and even though the boy hadn’t yet lived passed four summers, he was gifted a mind seemingly equal to those almost twice his age. She saw him as a good fit. The queen asked her dear friend if her child would be willing to accept the task. The advisor told the queen she would tell her son about the duty he was being asked to serve and he himself would give his answer. The queen, satisfied with this answer, embraced her friend in appreciation and soon left to attend to her other duties.
Two weeks after their exchange, the queen would give birth to her son. One week later, the king and queen would throw a party celebrating the healthy birth of the prince. At the party, the royal parents sat in their respective thrown while the prince was laid in a bassinet between them and, while lower and upper-class members alike went to bring the little prince presents or blessings, the queen saw an unexpected young child in line. When that small child reached to the front however, the queen realized who the child was and smiled. The king, having an idea as to who this was and why he was here, gave a small approving nod as the boy quietly and quickly went up, stopping just feet from the royal family.
He was clearly very nervous, evident by his tense stance. He looked to the person next to the queen, her advisor and his mother, and started when his mother motioned for him to. “Your noble majesty,” the boy started in a quite and nervous yet determined voice, “for generations, it has been tradition for the queen to choose an advisor for royal next in line for the throne. Someone who can be trusted to not only advise the royal but serve as a close friend and ally. I am really honored you think I would be a good person to fill the role of royal advisor.” The small boy then kneeled and bowed his head before continuing. “I swear on my life to protect the prince, to advise and educate him, and to be a friend him. I pledge my undying loyalty and servitude to the new prince of the land for all my life.”
The boy, even though he’s shaking now after giving his speech, kept his head bowed and waited for the queen’s response. The queen, in turn, stood from her throne and slowly walked towards the young boy. She stopped in front of the still kneeling boy before voicing her request. “Rise young one.” She commanded in a soft voice. The boy did as he was told and stood, head still bowed and waiting for her to continue. She smiled and carefully placed her hands on his cheeks to urge him to look at her. When he did, she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to give him a kiss on his nest of bushy green hair, not only showing her appreciation but showing that she accepts. She gave a soft pat to the boy’s head and then walked back to her throne. There she continued.
“As queen of this land, it has been my duty to find a suitable advisor for my son when he becomes king. I placed so much of my faith in you accepting this huge responsibility, that I had not sought out someone else should you have declined, and I was right in my belief. I decided for myself that only you would be a suitable candidate and am overjoyed that you have accepted this great responsibility. We greatly accept your pledge to the future heir of the land, and I know you will do an extraordinary job.” The queen stated. She then motioned for the boy to come stand next to the young prince. “Come here and assume your rightful place as advisor next to my son, as your mother has done for me for years.” The young boy was ecstatic and made his way to the right of the young prince, the place he would be standing in whenever the occasion called. He stood as straight and tall as his little body would let him once he was there with a giant smile painting his face. The queen looked over to the boy and gave another approving nod. “Welcome to the family, Izuku Midoriya.” She said before looking back to the court in front of her once again. His mother turned to him with pride in her eyes before also going back to looking forward.
Little Izuku was full of delight as he carefully looked at the prince he would be advising for the rest of his life. The small prince lay sleeping in his bassinet, his small tuft of blonde hair complimenting his fair complexion. Young Midoriya smiled at the sleeping prince before assuming the stance his mother had. He felt a swirl of pride and happiness as he watched the rest of the party, eager to serve the young prince.
This is how young Midoriya had felt when he first started his training as advisor and if he had to be honest, he still felt that pride and happiness even years later. However, he could never have predicted that, twelve years later, he would be chasing the young prince as he ran from the palace and into the nearby woods to meet with his dragon halfling friend. As his advisor, it was his job to keep the young prince safe and reluctantly resigned himself to his fate as he watched the two meet and run off again. He followed the two further into the woods with only one thought in his mind, ‘This is the future leader of our kingdom. Gods save us.’
The young prince and his friend ran ahead, leaving the poor advisor behind. Young Midoriya, because he wasn’t as physically active as the younger two, tried to keep up with them but was quickly falling behind. “Young master,” he called out as they gradually ran farther and farther ahead. “Kacchan please! Your mother is going to kill me!” He continued running, slowly getting more and more tired with each passing second. He looked ahead and was grateful to see that the two has stopped running, the young prince now climbing a tall rock while his red-headed halfling friend watched in curiosity. When the young advisor finally caught up, he spent a few moments next to the red-head in order to catch his breath. The halfling in turn, blessed angel that he was in Midoriya’s eyes despite his red wings and sharp teeth, looked at him with sympathy before asking if he was okay.
Young Midoriya stilled before looking at the young boy next to him in desperation. “Kirishima…Can you PLEASE tell Kacchan to act proper.” He begged the other. Kirishima only gave him an apologetic smile before responding. “No can-do bro. When Katsuki’s like this, nothing can stop him.” This answer only helped Midoriya let out an anguished and frustrated scream from where he stood. Kirishima, good child that he is, put his hand on Midoriya’s back in support. He was about to ask the young advisor if he needed to sit down before a loud voice above them called out.
“Hey losers,” he yelled out to the two below him as he stood proudly on the rock. “Guess what?” Kirishima not knowing better but wanting to support his friend cried back a ‘what’. Katsuki took this as all the go-ahead he needed and started his spiel. “I’m gonna be a might king, so enemies beware.” He started and cried out the last part into the wild around him. Before he could continue however, his advisor interrupted. “Well I’ve never seen a king, or beast for that matter, with quite so little tact.” The young prince either ignored or didn’t hear the comment and continued anyway. “I’m gonna be the main event, like no king was before. I’m brushing up on looking down,” he paused as he jumped from the rock, nearly giving his advisor a heart attack before safely landing in front of a smiling Kirishima before starting again. “I’m working on my roar.” He said and demonstrated. Midoriya let out a small laugh at the ‘roar’. “Thus far, it’s a rather uninspiring thing.” The young prince definitely heard that one and started to angrily shout at him. “Stupid Deku, you don’t know anything! I’ll be the best king watch. I just can’t wait to be king.”
Midoriya simply watched as Kirishima held onto the young prince to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone or himself. “If you keep acting like that, you’ll have a rather long way to go young master. If you think-” Not wanting to hear it, Katsuki interrupted him to bring up some of his thought. “No one saying ‘Do this’”
“Now when I said that, I-” Midoriya started before getting interrupted again, now by Kirishima. “No one saying ‘Be there’” he said as he jumped up and used his wings to help him stay in the air next to Katsuki. “Well, what I meant was-” poor Midoriya started again, only to once again get interrupted when the young prince slapped him on the back and said, “No one saying ‘Stop that.’”
“Now what you don’t realize is-” That was all he could get out before yet again being cut off, this time by both boys declaring their point in unison. “No one saying ‘See here.’” Patience momentarily lost, Midoriya let out an agitated ‘Now see here’ which prompted the two young boys to run into the forest once again. “Free to run around all day.” The young prince exclaimed to his friend as they ran deeper and deeper into the woods. “Well that’s definitely out.” The advisor muttered to himself as he began to chase them once again. The young prince ran faster and faster while his red-headed companion flew closely behind him. “Hey Kirishima. I’ll be free to do it all my way.” He yelled as he jumped from a large hill he was racing up, hoping Kirishima would catch him mid-air. Kirishima, although he was half dragon and therefore a powerful hybrid, was still young and did his best to support both his and Katsuki’s weight before both eventually fell and tumbled down the hill.
They stayed there, at the bottom of the hill for a few minutes, which have Midoriya more than enough time to catch up. He hovered over the boys for a moment before letting out a small sigh. “You know Kacchan, I think its time that you and I arranged a heart to heart.” The mere mention of that had the young prince scrambling to get up. “No, we don’t, and kings don’t need advice from shitty nerds for a start.” Thoroughly annoyed and more than a little worked up at the curse word, Midoriya threw his hands in the hair in frustration. “If this is where the monarchy is headed, then count me out. Out of service. Out of the kingdom. I wouldn’t hang about.” He rambled before noticing that the two had run off once again. Immediately, he went to follow them. “This child is getting wildly out of hand.” He muttered before hearing Katsuki again exclaim about how he couldn’t wait to be king.
He quickly found the two again just as Katsuki somehow managed to light a small campfire. “Everybody’ll look left, everyone’ll look right, but everywhere they’ll look I’ll be standing in the spotlight!” The young prince yelled to his friend sitting on the ground near him. “Not yet.” Midoriya said in a firm voice as he quickly ran to the fire and kicked dirt on it, effectively snuffing it out.
The young prince grumble as he started walking away from the dead fire and towards his friend. “Stupid Deku, not letting me do anything.” He complained as Kirishima took his hand to lead them away again. “I mean, he IS your royal advisor Katsuki.” This earned another grumble from the prince. “Hey, I know what’ll cheer you up.” He said as he flew up onto a nearby tree. The young prince watched his friend fly up in confusion and was only more confused when he came back with a crown of flowers and a cape red enough to rival the halflings hair. Kirishima flashed a toothy smile as he quickly placed the crown and cape on the young princes’ person. “Uh…Ei?” he questioned as he looked to his friend for some kind of answer.
The halfling’s smile only grew. “I made them, for your coronation.” That quickly made the Katsuki’s smile return full force as he jumped in joy. “Now this is what I’m talking about.” he said before he was lifted off the ground and onto his friends’ shoulders, boosting him up quite a bit. Midoriya, still following them, saw Katsuki being lifted and spiritually gave up. Kirishima took a few wobbly steps forward as Katsuki yelled above him. “Just watch Ei, we’re gonna go travel all over. Maybe we’ll fly once you get better at shifting into your dragon mode. We’ll go fight battles and win each and every one of them.” Kirishima responded with a noise of agreement. “Oh man, I just can’t wait to be king!” He shouted and threw himself back a bit, forgetting he was not on his own two feet in his excitement. Losing his balance, Kirishima stumbled and fell backwards with Katsuki.
Thankfully, they landed on some grass and after the initial shock, both boys exploded with laughter on the ground while Midoriya watched from a few feet away, happy that they were fine but still worrying for the prince’s and kingdom’s future. In the end, he simply let out a contented sigh and smiled. He would simply have to advise and help the young prince as much as he could when that time comes. He took on that responsibility twelve years ago and was determined to see it though, no matter what.