Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a big house at the edge of the woods, there lived a lonely widow and her only son. The widow was a kindly soul, who managed her own estate frugally but gave to others generously. She taught her son the best aspects of gentility and compassion, but felt as though he were lacking without a father figure in the household.
So, she found a handsome man with his own boy only a little older than her own, and re-married.
And died, shortly thereafter.
The illness came on suddenly, unexpectedly, and she passed before the doctor’s estimated week was even up. Her son was inconsolable, unwilling to leave the manor grounds for a time. His new stepfather allowed the boy’s self-imposed isolation, encouraging him to take up various chores as a way of working through his grief.
Eventually, though, said encouragements turned into orders.
“Izuku! Remember, the back wall needs to be repaired today! And trim back the over-reaching branches while you’re at it, too!”
“Yes, sir!” Lacing up his scuffed boots, the youth hurried to stuff a dry crust of bread into his mouth - all the breakfast he had time for, sadly. Footwear secured and food swallowed, he hurried out the door, grabbing a bucket full of dinner scraps to toss into the chicken pen on his way to the garden shed.
Unfortunately, just as he rounded the corner of the house, fingers snagged on his patchwork coat. The sudden tug caused Izuku to fall over backwards, his legs flying up into the air and the bucket’s contents spilling all over him.
“Oops,” Tomura, his stepbrother, drawled with a sly grin. “Clumsy Deku, better watch where you’re going.”
“Good morning, Tomura,” the younger boy wheezed. After a moment’s pause to let his head stop spinning, Izuku staggered back upright.
“Hmph. It’ll only be a good morning if you remember to pick up my purchases from town before it rains.”
Clouds were already gathering in the sky above them. Izuku looked at his stepbrother helplessly. “But, your father needs me to-”
“I don’t care, Deku, you ought to be able to get it all done in a timely manner. After all, that’s the right thing to do, yeah? Follow through on your commitments?” Sighing, because that was one of his mother’s old lessons, Izuku nodded. “Good. Remember, get all my new things here, dry.”
“Yes, Tomura.” Satisfied at Izuku’s compliance, the lanky young man turned and strode back towards the front door of the manor house - the one Izuku wasn’t allowed to use anymore, as he dressed “too much like a servant” for it to be proper. Honestly, though, wearing the sort of finery he used to, that his stepfather and brother still did, was impractical in the extreme with the physical labor Izuku handled.
He tried not to let it bother him.
Allowing himself another sigh, the youth quickly scooped up as many scraps as he could to drop back into the bucket, then hurried onwards. He tossed the food to the chickens, grabbed the tools he’d need for the back wall and tree branches to place in a wheelbarrow, and rolled the whole lot down to the forest’s edge. The old stone barrier was veritably covered in moss, blending with the landscape, but there was no mistaking the spot where several stones had come loose and tumbled to the ground.
Working quickly, Izuku leveraged up as many of the heavy rocks as he could manage, stacking them back onto the wall. Then he set braces in place to keep them there for the time being, before filling the cracks with mud fetched from the stream that ran through their property.
“Not a perfect job, but it’ll have to do,” he muttered. After that, the youth used his long clipping tool to trim the low-hanging tree branches that reached over the wall. He knew his stepfather wanted them gone for looks, but Izuku also figured these would be the most likely culprits for dying, falling, and damaging the wall again. The youth much preferred clearing them away at this point, rather than needing to fix further sections of stone in future.
The day had brightened into mid-morning by the time he finished and put away the tools, forcing Izuku to forget cleaning up before saddling their mare to ride into town. She was an old, plodding thing, and though he kept casting concerned glances at the looming storm clouds, Izuku couldn’t bring himself to force her into a faster pace.
Once at the market square, he tied the mare up at a hitch outside the inn, figuring it would be quicker to run between stores on foot. Six different merchants Izuku visited, gathering up a variety of packages for his stepbrother, promising to come back later in the week to pay off Tomura’s assorted tabs. Arms full, he returned to the mare, barely avoiding colliding with anyone or dropping his load.
It was a trick and a half to arrange everything in the saddlebags he’d brought along, but Izuku managed, and he set off back for home just as the first crack of thunder rumbled over head.
“I know you don’t want to get soaked anymore than I do, girl,” Izuku said to his horse, gently tapping at her sides with his heels. She took the hint, speeding up from a brisk walk into a trot.
They’d nearly gotten back to the manor grounds when a flash of pink in the corner of his eye caught Izuku’s attention. He pulled back on the mare’s reins, peering into the woods. Again, he spotted the flash of bright color, and only a few moments later, a girl his age riding a tall white horse burst out onto the road.
Their sudden appearance caused Izuku’s mare to rear back in surprise, and he, unprepared, toppled off. Colliding rather painfully with the ground knocked the air from his lungs, and it was all the youth could do to just wheeze for a moment. Distantly, he could hear the sound of the mare taking off down the road, her hoofbeats ringing in his ears.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”
Bright brown eyes peered down into his own, derailing what progress Izuku had made in getting his breath back. He wheezed again, but also offered a wobbly grin.
“My sincerest apologies, I was in such a hurry to get back to the road I didn’t even stop to think someone else might be on it - are in any pain? Can I help you sit up?”
Coughing to try and clear his head a little, Izuku nodded. He moved his arms to push himself upright, aided by slim hands supporting his shoulders. The world spun a little, but that cleared after a moment, and he finally looked up to fully take in the girl before him.
And blushed a brighter red than he ever had in his entire life.
Her hair was the same shining brown as her eyes, cut in such a way to frame her face with the strands. Rosy cheeks and a button nose were all scrunched up adorably as she stared at him with blatant concern. “I don’t think you hit your head hard enough to gain a bump,” she said, fingers gently prodding at the back of his skull. “Does this hurt at all?”
“N-no!” Izuku yelped, more from embarrassment than anything else. “I’m fine, r-really!”
“Are you sure? That was a nasty fall...”
“Ah, n-nothing I haven’t felt before,” he said, gingerly climbing to his feet. The girl stood up as well, giving him a better view of the riding clothes she wore, warm grey with pink accents and the livery of the Royal Household. “Are you alright?”
Her eyebrows shot up, practically disappearing behind her bangs. “I’m not the one who just fell off a horse - but yes, I’m perfectly well.”
“Good, that’s g-good.” Biting at his lip to keep from blurting out anything else foolish, Izuku glanced at her horse, also bearing matching gear to her own. “I’m sorry to have taken up your time, you’re probably in a hurry-”
“If I hadn’t been in such a rush, I wouldn’t have caused your fall,” the girl said sheepishly.
“Th-that’s alright! Better me than someone else, anyway. If it had been my stepbrother, he’d be screaming and kicking up all manner of trouble for you.”
“Trouble... for me?”
Taken aback by her puzzled tone, Izuku blinked. “Well, yes. I imagine it wouldn’t look good for word to get around of royal servants startling innocent mares into bucking off their riders - but I won’t say a word, I promise! It was just an accident, after all.” The girl kept staring at him, and Izuku shuffled awkwardly. “Um, I really shouldn’t keep you, what with the rain and all...”
Another burst of thunder added emphasis to his words, snapping the girl out of whatever state she’d been in. “Oh! Right, that’s- at least let me give you a ride home, so you aren’t caught by the storm!”
“I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I need to find my horse, anyway - there’s packages in her saddlebags I’m supposed to bring back, and if I show up without them I’ll really be in trouble.”
“Well, I’ll help you track her down, then, it’s the least I can do!” She wouldn’t take no for an answer, and soon enough Izuku found himself sitting double behind the girl on her own horse, cantering up the road as they searched for his mare. They sat flush together, his arms curled around her midsection and his nose constantly breathing in the sweet scent of her hair, and the combination of all that was turning Izuku’s stomach over in a not unpleasant way.
“What were you doing so far from the castle, anyway?” He asked at one point.
“Oh, just, trying to enjoy a bit of freedom. My responsibilities are going to increase fairly soon, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get another chance.”
Izuku understood that without any trouble at all. “I’m sorry. I hope you’ll still be able to find some time for yourself in future.”
One of her gloved hands released the reins long enough to squeeze his own. “Thank you.”
Warmth seemed to spread from that one bit of contact, but before Izuku could say anything else, they turned a corner in the road and spotted his mare just ahead, grazing on some grass beneath the shelter of the trees.
The girl slowed her own mount to a halt, allowing Izuku to clamber off and jog over to his wayward horse. “You silly thing, did you stop at the first bit of greenery that looked tasty?” She snuffled at his face, causing the youth to laugh as he leaned back. “Oh no, my hair does not count!”
He fussed over her for a few moments more, and checked that all of Tomura’s packages were still safe and secure, before glancing back at his new friend. She still sat upon her own horse, smiling at him with a soft expression.
“Ah, thank you again!” Izuku beamed.
The girl blushed, ducking her head. “It was no trouble, the least I could do, as I said!”
They paused in an awkward silence, before Izuku spoke again. “Will, ah - is there any chance you might be back out this way again, sometime?”
Her face fell. “No, not any time soon, I’m afraid.”
“Oh.”
“But... have you heard about the ball at the castle, in two days time?”
How could he not - the grandest event of the year, to which eligible young men from across the kingdom and beyond had been invited, with the express intent of finding a husband for the princess. Most of what Izuku had picked up in town were Tomura’s fitted garments and styling supplies for the ball.
“Yes, I have. I hadn’t planned on going, though, my stepfamily wouldn’t like it much.”
“Well, if you do attend, I’ll be there.”
“Oh. Oh!” Izuku beamed up at her again. “In that case, I’ll do my best to come!”
She smiled back, before more thunder and a visible bolt of lightning reminded them of more pressing concerns. “I’ll look for you, then! Take care!”
“You too!” Izuku hastily swung himself up into the mare’s saddle, but there he lingered, watching as the girl rode away. Just as she vanished out of sight, he realized they’d never actually introduced themselves to one another. “Oh, shoot!”
And of course, that was when the rain started to come down.