Chapter Text
Izuku swallowed nervously, shifting the circlet on his head back and forth as he waited.
He was officially old enough to be considered a proper prospect for a mate. He was sixteen, now. Still technically a child, but old enough to get betrothed. Royal mating was a little different from how it worked for everyone else, much to his annoyance. For his cousin, Hitoshi, it had just been a matter of the traditional bonding ceremony. Gather, celebrate, be happy. For him, it would be a long and drawn-out affair. His dad had an idea of who would come to see Izuku first and neither of them had high hopes. There were several they would not be pleased to see and one they would be surprised to see.
King Enji had always been a bit rough.
When Izuku had been born, he had demanded a truce and an arrangement. He had offered up one of his sons, had told Izuku’s dad to ‘take his pick’, citing the fact that he just wanted to be certain he wouldn’t be attacked. King Enji’s paranoia had always been an issue, as had the fact that he always thought Izuku’s dad was trying to be better than him.
Izuku was glad his dad hadn’t taken King Enji up on the offer.
Unlike others who had come before him, Yagi Toshinori was not willing to give his son away at birth. He and Izuku’s mother, Inko, had waited to speak with Izuku about such a thing until he was old enough to make the decision himself. Now, however, there was no more delaying it. There was no way around it – to keep his Kingdom intact, Izuku would need to start courting a mate. Their people demanded it, demanded to know that they were being taken care of by someone who actually cared for their well-being.
And so, Izuku was going to be shown prospective mates and be asked to choose.
Really, he just wanted to be with his cousins.
Hitoshi and Denki had a baby on the way. Denki was always so bubbly and happy about the idea, practically glowing every time it was brought up. Hitoshi was quieter but still so excited. Izuku could tell. He often refused to be more than a few feet away from Denki, the tips of their tails touching if nothing else could be. His newest cousin, Eri, was still so small that she tripped over her own tail half the time. Izuku loved spending time with her – her eyes were so bright, always so wide as she took in the size of the world around her.
There was another cousin, still missing, that Izuku missed a lot. Tenko had disappeared when Izuku was five. He had just vanished without a trace.
His father’s family had already been all but obliterated. The last surviving member besides his dad, disappearing like that? It had been heartbreaking. Izuku remembered his dad crying a lot in those days, leaning into Izuku’s mom’s shoulders. At the time, he’d thought his dad was made of stone, that nothing could break him. His dad was his hero, after all, one of the greatest Kings ever seen. Izuku was proud to be his son.
The day Tenko had disappeared, Izuku had seen his dad crumble.
His thoughts drifted away as someone swam up to him, the flash of bright red telling him it was Kirishima before he had even really focused on anything else. “You okay?” Kirishima’s eyebrows were raised, the spear he carried on his back still sheathed. Most of the guards carried their spears out when they were on duty, or at least carried them in a holster at their sides.
Kirishima, a shark mer with skin that he could harden at will, was different from the rest. His cousin had a similar ability as well, a mer named Tetsutetsu. Neither of them particularly needed to carry weapons – their entire bodies were weapons.
“I’m okay,” Izuku inclined his head. “Thank you for asking. I am just…Reflecting.”
“You’re nervous as hell,” Kirishima snorted. “Got it.”
Izuku laughed, some of his nervousness slipping away. Kirishima had mostly been brought in as a guard for Kacchan, when he visited. With his…Abrasive personality, Kacchan hadn’t gotten along with most of the guards. Given that he was basically family, Izuku’s mom had felt it necessary to keep him safe when he was visiting. Kacchan had chased off every other guard sent in to do so.
Until Kirishima.
“You know,” Izuku met Kirishima’s eyes. “Kacchan has been asking more about you lately. He wanted to know where you were when you didn’t show up to the family meeting last week.”
“He was asking about me?”
It might have also had to do with the fact that both Kacchan and Kirishima looked at each other like the other one had hung the stars in the sky and lit up the sun for them. Kacchan got oddly soft when Kirishima was involved. Izuku predicted that there would be a bonding ceremony for them within the next year. Hopefully. As much as they seemed to love each other, neither one was good at bringing the topic up when they talked. Sometimes, a bit annoyingly, Izuku felt like he would grow old before they finally admitted to it.
“He always asks about you when he doesn’t see you,” and Izuku always dropped hints, hoping they would both catch on and realize how loved they were.
“Aww!” Kirishima grinned. “I’m glad I’m catching on as his friend. I was worried for a while there,” he looked fond, his cheeks flushed. “Bakugou likes acting rough, but I know he secretly likes me. Likes having me around!” he looked at Izuku, his smiling slipping a little. “Thanks for not telling him I love him. I mean…A guard, looking at a noble like that? I’d probably get in a lot of trouble. And that’s on top of the fact that I think he’d be angry with me about it.”
Izuku smiled back, almost wanting to scream. “It’s not a problem,” he told the guard.
“But, hey – we’re getting off-topic.” Kirishima settled down next to him, his tail flicking through the water almost like the few times Izuku had managed to see a dog. “You’re nervous.”
“They are about to ask me to choose someone out of a parade of merfolk and decide who is going to spend their life with me,” Izuku lowered his head, taking the end of his tail in his hands and rubbing at the scales. His last growth spurt had left him with an odd patch that was still filling in. Rubbing the area, he had been told, would help with the growth. “Why am I allowed to decide this – what if the person I choose hates me for it? What if…What if they’re angry at me?” he looked at Kirishima. “What if they don’t like me?”
“…Would it help if I told you that I’ve been patrolling the room with them in it and I know, for a fact, that they’re all excited to meet you?” Kirishima leaned up to pat the top of his head. Most royals and their guards kept a cold relationship. Kind but formal. Izuku had always asked his guards to try and be friendly towards him.
The same way his parents and their guards were.
“It helps a little,” Izuku was smiling again at the words. “I – thank you, Kirishima.”
Kirishima stretched out, staying where he was. “Happy to help,” he rested his chin on his hand. “You’re a good friend, I don’t like seeing you upset like that.” He pulled his spear off his back, setting it next to him on the floor. With that done, he rolled onto his back, crossing his arms under his head. “None of your guards do. We like making sure you’re happy.”
With a laugh, Izuku nodded. “Thank you for that, as well.”
He had, unlike some other royals he had heard about, grown up with his guards as friends and playmates. Izuku had never had a shortage of people to talk to, to learn from. Even Kirishima’s guardian was one of his teachers – Toyomitsu Taishiro was a wonderful defensive teacher. His mate was an offensive fighter, known for his ability to bring down even the biggest enemies. Rappa Kendo was the head of the guards of Izuku’s family, as well as the one who trained the new guards.
The two of them had taken Kirishima in as a baby, along with another mer. That had been back when there had been odd disappearances, a pod of merfolk hunting down sirens, and a cluster of something else appearing and disappearing.
His dad had protected their people as best he could. Their Kingdom was talked about as one of the safest.
It was for the good of that Kingdom that Izuku was in this position now.
With a sigh, Izuku let himself drop down against Kirishima, curling into his side. The older mer let him, one arm rearranging so that his hand was on Izuku’s head. If Kacchan were in the room, he’d flop his tail over the top of Izuku, rolling his eyes and acting like physically comforting him was an ordeal he was being bothered by.
He never drew back from a hug before Izuku did, however.
“I hope I can do this,” Izuku muttered. Kirishima ruffled his hair gently, fixing it a second later. “I don’t want to upset anyone. Or…Or choose the wrong person. I want my people safe and happy.”
“You’re going to do great,” Kirishima assured him. “I know you are.”
Izuku closed his eyes, curling his arms up and wishing he felt like that was the truth.