Camie.  Her hazelnut hair was so lustrous, her eyes so sparkly, and her lips so full.  It was almost amazing how utterly annoying she was for someone so attractive.

Her arm was clinging around Shoto's refined bicep, and her grip was so tight that even the prince was having trouble trying to deal with it.  Izuku couldn't help but fold his arms as they walked together, his lips stuck out in front of him in a disappointed manner.

You're not jealous hahahaha... it's just you wish that was you.

"Shoopie~"  That nickname hit Izuku like a ton of bricks.  "How was your sleep~?  You look just as handsome as ever, so you MUST have slept well, right~?"

"Uh... I slept better than usual."  He then shot a small glance at the greenette, his gaze softening as he vaguely remembered the night before.  It seemed he was still trying to figure out what he did wrong, as the look in his eyes grew a bit distant.  You're difficult to understand.  But I will make an effort to change that.

Izuku's posture strained as he looked at Shoto's stare.  He tried looking ahead, his eyes wide and alert, trying to pretend he wasn't staring his way.

Shoto couldn't help but think he looked really cute whenever the other male tried his best not to act embarrassed.  A small smile formed, just before Camie roughly pulled at his arm to bring his attention back to her.

"By the way... what is your kingdom like?  I heard that the Land of Fire is like totes weird.  I even heard that King Endeavor isn't even King Endeavor, but then again, I hear A LOT from the council meetings I was forced to go to.  By the way, isn't all of the royal family supposed to go to those meetings?  Why weren't you at those meetings, Shoopie?  Also—"

"Princess Camie, please stop asking questions.  It's rude to mention rumors about someone, and it's also very annoying."  Seiji moved some loose strands of his violet hair out of the way of his single exposed eye.  "Besides, Todoroki seems distracted anyway."

And distracted he was.  Shoto was trying his best to stay focused on Izuku, rather than the scenery, or even the princess for that matter.

Ochako nudged at Tenya, pointing at Shoto and whispering, "Get you a person who looks at you the way Todoroki looks at Deku."  She then smirked, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

The knight face palmed, wondering just what the hell that was supposed to mean.  "Now's not the time for that, Uraraka..."

"Aw come on, Iida.  Love's fun, you should give it a shot.  See how happy it made those two?"  She smiled at the awkward knight, waving at him as their gaze met, Izuku only responding with a red face and a shuffle step ahead of the party.

Tenya sighed and fixed his glasses, looking at the long dirt path ahead of them.  "My only duty is to protect Prince Shoto.  I don't really have much time for silly stuff like that, for the good of the kingdom is my top priority.  And the way this mission may turn out, I fear that my job will get harder as well.  I don't want to endanger another person in any upcoming conflict."

The witch frowned, shaking her head.  "You just need to loosen up a bit, but I get it. That guy must have left you on edge, but I know we'll find a way around it all.  Maybe after all this, you can, I dunno, settle down?  Even if you don't want to be with someone, there's more to life than protecting others, you know."

"I'm not like Prince Shoto.  I can't just take it easy when there's so much going on these days.  I'm letting this whole Midoriya thing slide for him... but King Endeavor..."  He let his arm fall to his side, thinking about any and all possibilities that could happen.

"What's up with King Endeavor anyway?  Not to be rude, but if he has a problem with Todoroki getting married to Deku, he can square up with me and feel the wrath of my salt."

He let out a single breath that sounded almost like a laugh.  "Don't change, Uraraka."  As he said this, his strained look formed a smile.

"Hey, don't make that face at me!  You didn't even answer the question."  She stuck out her bottom lip, glaring up at the male.

His smile faded for a split second, glancing over at the prince who had just pulled a stray leaf off of his hair.  "I think it's better left unanswered.  Besides, it's not best to say things about his majesty Endeavor.  I get a bit uneasy.."  He watched as Shoto's left eye shimmered under the sunlight, a beautiful turquoise glow reflecting off of it.

The witch exhaled, tugging at her hat to make it a bit slanted, "Alright.  But I swear, if something that should be addressed isn't being addressed... I wouldn't even know what to make of it anymore."  Her sleeve dipped down in the process exposing a small cut on her clear skin.

"You're... injured...?"  Tenya had finally turned back to look at her, and the cut on her arm was the first thing he noticed.

The brunette froze, noticing her sleeve was exposing her arm for the first time in a couple of days.  She quickly pulled the pink fabric over the open area, trying to shuffle off ahead.

The knight grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks, "I'm concerned.  Uraraka, if you got injured, we need to bandage that up.  If we leave it alone for too long, it could get infected."

Such a nuisance.  If he had just disregarded the cut it wouldn't be a problem.  But I guess that's my fault for not being careful.  Ochako yanked her arm away, her mouth forming a somewhat strained smile, "I'll be fine, Iida-Kun.  Besides, a little blood never hurt anyone."

"That's not what you said when Midoriya was drenched in blood and filled with scars on his body.  You said, and I recall, 'If we don't act on this fast, his body will lose too much blood.  Plus... the sight of blood scares me'."

Dammit.  "Maybe I had a change of heart.  It's only a little bit of blood.  Lay.  Off."

He squinted at her, even though his glasses were placed in front of his eyes, trying to find focus in her eyes.  There was something off, the way she was acting, the way she spoke.  What the hell was going on?  "...Who are you?"

"Ochako Uraraka.  A FRIEND."

"You kept your act up well, but please, I demand to know your true identity."

Seiji stopped walking, putting an arm in front of Camie.  This halted the princess, causing her to look at the purple haired male in confusion.  Inasa somehow managed to stop in sync with Seiji, turning his look to make sure the brunette stayed in place.

Shoto noticed that her grip had loosened, and he stopped, looking over at the bickering witch and knight.  He watched as the look in Ochako's eyes grew different.  He grabbed Izuku's hand, trying to make him stop walking any further, and to protect him from whatever might happen next.

The greenette looked over at the icy hot male, trying to figure out why he had taken his hand.  It wasn't that he didn't like it, it was just that he was confused, looking down at his hand, and then at the prince.

Shoto only shot him a look that said 'Stay still.'  Izuku blinked, reading it carefully, and nodding, not taking his eyes off of the other male.

Ochako looked at the rest of the party.  "Now look what you've done, you've gotten everyone else involved.  Quite the shame, I was saving all this for a bit later."

"I'm tired of all your damn monologuing.  Just cut to the chase already."  Seiji couldn't help but snarl, already getting sick of all the chaos that happened ever since they encountered Shoto.

She slowly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve, looking as it was bloodstained from many uses before.  "You should be more concerned about Ochako-San~ You've been separated from her for quite some time~ If you want to get her, that's fine, but Izuku-Kun is mine, just as promised~"

"Yours?"  Shoto looked at her, his free hand reaching for his sword defensively.

"Ohhhh~?  What's this?  A challenger?  He said that it would be like this.  That's fine.  The more blood, the better."  The female licked her lips, her skin starting to drip like melting wax.  "And if my old job is to delay you, which means we can have some fun, Prince Shoto."  Her words cooed out his name tauntingly, as if it were a curse to say it.

The green haired knight stepped forward, about to beat up the female without hesitation, but was immediately held back by a grip as strong as stone.  He jerked his head, looking at the pissed off look on Shoto's face.  "Sho... what are you doing?"

"This isn't your battle.  You protected me once already.  It's my turn to keep you safe, now."

Izuku held his mouth open for a second, remembering his unnecessary and reckless battle with Neito a few days back.  He shook his head, refusing to let the prince go ahead and do this alone, "N-no!  Sh-Shoto, I don't want you to get hurt!  Please, please don't do it, we don't know what we're up against!"

Shoto ran a hand through Izuku's curly locks, "I don't care.  You got hurt once already, I couldn't bear to see that again.  Trust me to protect you."

The knight gulped, continuing to protest, "B-but, Sh-Sh—"

The prince put one finger over the other male's lips.  "If you overthink it, it will be worse on you.  I would rather you stay on the side.  Your bloodstained clothes worried me more than anything, and I wouldn't dare let it happen again."  He lifted his finger off of Izuku, turning back to the female who had a whole different appearance now.

"Okay... but if you get injured, I'm going in.  You got that?  I don't want you hurt either..."

"I know.  But I promise you, I won't."  He unsheathed his shimmering blade, exposing it to the glaring Sun that shone just west from them.

"A gallant prince, I see.  How charming.  But you, Shoto-Kun, promised not to get a single injury.  Pretty bold coming from someone who's hardly worked out that blade."  She gave him a toothy grin, her two messy buns complimenting her look full of bloodlust.  "And for this new memory I'm about to make, be sure you remember the name, Himiko!  Himiko Toga!"

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