✿.｡.:* ☆:**:. nanako's pov .:**:.☆*.:｡.✿

'PERHAPS inviting chisaki to chat with me and eri wasn't that good of an idea after all', I thought as we all awkwardly sat there sipping tea.

I had asked chisaki to also bring some strawberry cake, since eri told me yesterday that she liked sweets. surprisingly, he pulled through.

"alright, I think if I remember correctly, we left off with me telling you stories right?", I asked eri, excited to tell her about bakugo.

eri looked up at me, nervously glancing towards chisaki before nodding slowly.

"eri. when someone talks to you, you're suppose to make eye contact with them. it's basic manners, we learned about this yes?", chisaki said while staring at eri's slightly shaking form.

I sighed. I picked up eri and placed her on my lap. she grew stiff under physical contact. I hugged her while she sat on my lap, refusing to look towards chisaki at all.

"chisaki, you must be gentle towards her. she's a precious little girl", I explained.

"I am. I buy her new toys and food", he simply said.

"that's not all on how you show affection. sure buying them what they want is nice and all. but you need to spend time with her and talk to her. bond with her", I explained, again.

chisaki looked at me, an eyebrow arched. 'does this man not understand?'

"let me show you", I said as I took a spoon, digging into the slice of strawberry cake in front of me. I brought the spoon up to eri's mouth, feeding her.

"is it good? do you like it?", I asked while smiling.

"mhm!", she nodded furiously as she chewed. her eyes lighting up from the sweet treat.

"that's good. I'm glad you like it. you know...chisaki actually brought it for you", I said as I looked at the both of them.

eri stopped chewing for a moment before swallowing the bite of cake. "t-thank you...f-father", eri mumbled as she tried her best to make eye contact with chisaki without cowering away.

"hm", was chisaki's reply.

"you're suppose to say 'you're welcome'. you must have good manners if you want her to learn", I stated.

eri quickly turned her head to me, looking at me with eyes of worry. she definitely was worried about what chisaki would do next. according to our talk yesterday, chisaki was a man that worked towards his goal, never getting sidetracked. he was strict and didn't allow talking back, much less correcting him or standing up to him.

chisaki sighed. "you're welcome eri", he said stoically.

eri looked surprised. her eyes widened just a little bit, looking at the man who just said 'you're welcome'.

I liked the small smile she had on her face. 'maybe I should have chisaki talk to her more. it'd be good for the both of them', I thought as I smiled to myself.

✿.｡.:* ☆:**:. tea .:**:.☆*.:｡.✿

"I miss nanaaaaa~", mina whined to no one in particular.

the six of them found themselves sitting in the lobby area of the inn. today was the second day, after today, they will finally be able to go and save nanako.

despite mina being the only one who was vocal about missing nanako, everyone there agreed internally.

"do you think she's doing well? eating enough? safe?", mina wondered out loud.

"shut up! of course she's well! she's capable of taking care of herself", bakugo said, annoyed that they had to wait for a whole other day.

"nanako will be fine. she's a strong lady. we should believe in her like she believes in us", todoroki said as he thought back to when they first met.

—•—

"todoroki shouto?", nanako asked out loud.

"mhm, I heard he's the fourth child of countess rei and former commander knight, now earl enji", mina explained.

"interesting. countess rei should've picked a better husband to marry. honestly, I'm still not very fond of earl enji", nanako said as her and mina walked towards the garden.

"indeed. I heard that earl enji married countess rei for her status. which is quite sad", mina gossiped.

"oh! it's a pleasure to see you here, princess nanako", a voice said, bringing nanako's attention to the white-haired woman and young man in front of her.

"hm? well if it isn't countess rei herself", nana said, walking towards her as she slightly bowed to nanako, along with the man next to her.

"and who's this young man next to you countess?", nana asked curiously.

"oh my! please, just call me rei, no need for titles princess nanako. and he's my fourth child, todoroki shouto", rei explained with a small smile.

"a pleasure to meet you princess nanako", he stoically said.

"no need to be so formal. just call me nanako or nana", nanako said.

"would you like to join me nanako?", rei offered.

"sure! I'd love to", nana replied.

and thus, both the princess and countess walked in front while mina and todoroki walked slightly behind.

"say, how've you been rei?", nanako asked.

"much better thanks to you nanako", rei replied. "if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had the chance to reflect my actions and change things for the better".

despite at the young age of only 15, nanako had an understanding of what was going on in the todoroki household when her and her mother visited.

although nanako didn't know shouto then, she was well aware of the fake smile countess rei had put on while her mother and her visited.

it took a while but eventually she found out how harsh earl enji was towards not only his wife but also his children. perhaps one of the reasons was because of the loss of his first child, but that was no way to treat a lady, or anyone in general.

even though women ruled in the hero's kingdom, countess rei indeed had a very kind and passive personality. while enji todoroki was more aggressive, so what happened, happened.

nanako had made it clear that she could easily strip away enji's title with the snap of her fingers. threatening him to start acting like an actual husband and father.

to which he complied but obviously wasn't happy. nanako wanted to make sure countess rei was in an environment where she could be free for a while, so nanako ordered someone to build a small cottage and garden near the todoroki mansion, but not close enough for enji to find it.

it's been two years since. with nanako now 17, she decided that perhaps two years worth of time, enji would've changed, even slightly.

bringing us to today, in which rei is back at home, somewhat better than previously.

despite shouto hearing what nanako did for his family, especially his mother, he never once saw the girl. the one time that she came over with queen nemuri, he was forced to go out into the woods for a week for training. thus, he was left with a name but no face to match it.

"don't worry about it rei. as long as you're feeling better, that's all that matters", nanako replied to rei's thanks.

"ah, that reminds me. I heard you are picking your personal knights soon am I correct?", rei asked.

"indeed. mother's having me decide for my 18th birthday, which is coming up soon. however I only have two in mind so far", nanako said.

"nanako, you're always welcome to take shouto as one of them if you'd like. we owe you too much", rei said as she smiled at nana.

nanako looked at todoroki. "only if he wants. I don't usually like forcing people to be my knights or servants unless they desire to", nanako said.

rei looked at her son. "it'd be my pleasure to serve you, princess nanako", todoroki said.

"that's set then! come on now, we've got more flowers to see and more things to talk about", rei said as she ushered nanako to walk along her.

before turning around to enjoy the view, nanako looked at todoroki, "again, just call me nanako or nana. and I'll be in your care todoroki. I believe you'll do your best, as will I".

walking alongside his mother, shouto stared at the third princess in front of him.

'I vow to myself that I will protect her at all costs, even if it costs my life', shouto thought as he trailed behind the two ladies along with mina.

—•—

todoroki inhaled then exhaled. it has been a while since he thought about that. but never would he forget that that's how it all started.

'and never will I forget to keep her safe, at all costs. even if it means keeping her away from him', todoroki thought as he looked at tomura.