"Todoroki-Kun, don't you think that we've been out here for a while and should take time to look for Iida and Uraraka?"  Izuku was trying to look behind him at Shoto, who seemed like he was trying to both focus on directing Guinevere but also keep his eyes on the knight in front of him.  The whole time, Izuku had been trying not to fall off the horse, due to his lack of experience riding one.  However, he didn't feel as scared since he was riding alongside someone else.

Shoto stopped reaching for the reigns, stopping Guinevere in her tracks. The greenette was confused, they had been riding the horse for hours and he was barely stopping just now.  He watched as the prince dismounted and put his hand on his hips, looking off toward a mountain range in the distance.

"Sho— Todoroki-Kun, what are you doing?"  He looked down at his own feet, not knowing how to get himself off of the horse.  Although All Might taught him the basics of horse riding, he still wasn't very good at it, and it was obvious that it wasn't his thing.

Shoto looked back at Izuku who was dangling his feet off the horse, trying to get off safely.  He walked over to him, grabbing him by his waist, "Be careful."  He helped the knight back down onto the floor, making sure that he didn't hurt himself.

His face turning a little pink once more, the greenette dusted off his garments, "T-thank you... but why did we stop?"  He looked at the mountain range that the prince was looking at, since it was now visible as oppose to the view from the forest.

"Because I was tired."  He said in a rather monotone voice, not sleepily like you would have expected from someone who was 'tired'.  He went and searched for a comfortable spot on the grass, laying down when he found it.  He placed his hands behind his head as a cushion.  He closed his eyes and embraced the silent and beautiful sounds of the nature around him.

"But what about Iida and Uraraka???"  He scurried toward the prince who left him and his horse unattended.  He noticed that Shoto hadn't given him a reply, and he looked at him from above, "Is... is he asleep???"  He sat down by the prince, seeing how peaceful his face had been, unlike his usual blank stare.  He smiled and stood up, "I guess I'll just inspect the area for the mean time.  I think he deserves rest."  He pumped his into the air before walking around on his own.

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Rubbing his eyes, the prince had began to wake up from his rest.  He opened his eyes, only to see the face of Izuku hovering over his own.  He was kind of startled, but he didn't show it on his face.  He looked closely, seeing the the beautiful ocean of happiness hidden in Izuku's green eyes.  He didn't even notice how long he had been staring, and there was no way for him to get up from his position anyway.

"Shoto— UHM T-TODOROKI-KUN YOU'RE FINALLY UP!!"  He moved his face from over the prince's head, giving him room to pop up from his spot.  He was moving his fingers in little circles nervously, trying not to point out how long he had been waiting for him to wake up.

"Hello, Midoriya," he said plainly, bringing the top half of his body up from the floor.  He proceeded to cross his legs, looking at the other male who had just begun to stand up.  He noticed the nervous gestures that Izuku had been doing and rose one of his eyebrows, "Is everything okay?"

"Uhm y-yeah!  Of course!"  He hands were to his sides, his shoulders raised in an unnatural and uncomfortable position for most.  His mouth formed a shaky smile, one that stretched from one side of his face to the other.  "I um just wanted to show you something..."

The prince tilted his head, slightly confused by the greenette's statement.  He however nodded, standing up and wiping the grass off of himself.  "Alright, take me to it then."

Izuku's smile softened, getting a little more confident with himself.  He then grabbed Shoto's hand and started taking him to where he wanted him to go.  "This way, Shoto!"  He immediately covered his mouth, realizing his mistake, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!"  He bowed his head repeatedly, not yet letting go of the prince's gentle and soft hands.  "I keep calling you that, and I know you specifically told us not to but I keep on doing it and now I feel so bad please don't be mad at me, Shoto!  Oh no, I did it again!  I'm sorry!!!"  He was speaking really fast, his face showing that he was clearly embarrassed.

The prince gently brushed his thumb against Izuku's hand.  It fit perfectly in his, yet it was kind of weird to him, "It's really okay.  You can call me whatever you like."  Unlike his usual blank stare, his eyes had turned soft and kind, like the greenette was rubbing off on him.

His smile widened in the shape of a huge semi circle, "R-really!?"  The prince nodded slowly in response, making Izuku happier than he already was.  "W-well then, Shoto!  Let's go!  I swear you won't be disappointed!"  He dragged Shoto away from the spot they had been standing at, taking him to a huddle of bushes.  "And here we are!" he exclaimed proudly, hands on his hips.

Shoto sweatdropped, staring at the bushes, "Uh... when you said I wouldn't be disappointed, I thought you were going to show me something extravagant.  But, this is fine I guess?"  He kind of shrugged, excepting the shrubs, not wanting to disappoint the knight.

He blinked and realized his mistake.  Rubbing the back of his own head, his face flushed with embarrassment, "Oh, I'm sorry about that!  Uh what I meant was what was behind the shrubs."  He pushed the bushes out of the way, revealing a large meadow filled with beautiful pink flowers.

Shoto looked at the sight in awe, his eyes shimmering, "Now this is extravagant."  He thought he could get used to a view like this, as oppose to the view he usually woke up to.  Maybe it was a good idea to go on this mission, he thought, staring at the beauty that awaited him.

Izuku, grabbing the prince's other hand, began walking backwards and dragging him to the nearby tree.  He sat both himself and the half and half boy down on the cushion like grass.  "S-since you took a while to wake up, I-I made these."  From his side, he picked up two flower crowns that was hand made and tied together gently.  "H-here you go," for some reason he was a little shaky about it, and the prince saw it too.  He tried not to be though, because he was actually enjoying himself right now.  Shoto accepted his flower crown with joy, making the knight feel better about himself.  Putting on his own, he smiled at the prince, "See?  Now we're both royalty!"

Looking down at his boots, Shoto smiled softly, "Yeah."  He brought his legs closer to his body, hugging them and resting his head on his knees.  His eyes were fixated on the greenette, and  he said silently with a whisper, "You're adorable, Midoriya."

Izuku could barely hear him, but the sentence was comprehensible.  "E-eh!?  What did y-you say!?"  He felt his face heat up, turning really red from the prince's view.

Realizing what he said, he tried to fix himself, "Uh.. never mind, I didn't say anything."  He didn't really know how to recover from that, and it was apparent with that sentence.  He started looking around the meadow for a subject change, looking at a view of shrubs, the tree, and the mountaintops.  Getting a sense of familiarity, he stood up, trying to get a better angle, "Wait a second..."

Izuku wasn't sure what he was looking at, but stood up anyway, making sure he was right next to the icy hot prince.  His hands were being held behind him as he looked up at the taller male, "Hey, is there something wrong?  You kind of just trailed off for a second eheh... you know, if you don't want to talk to me, that's fine..." He was degrading himself knowing that the prince was too high in noble status rather than he who was merely a lowly farmer all from the start.

"No, no.  It's not that."  He put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, indicating that he was fine right where he was.  "It's just about this place..."

He tried looking where he was looking, but he was much too short to see the same view.  The shrubs were too tall, so he couldn't see over them like Shoto could.  "I'm not following..."

Shoto kept staring, stating blankly, "It's the empty canvas."

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A soft and melodic tune echoed around the castle's walls.  It rang gently in the family's ears, sending lovely thoughts into their minds.  Prince Shoto had been quietly drinking tea before the sound got his attention.  Placing down his cup gently, he walked the halls, looking for the source.  The tune led him into the library where his mother had been calmly standing next to an easel.  She continued with her tune, not noticing her son enter the room.

Dabbing her brush with a light shade of green, she began to gently glide it across the paper in front of her.  "From the mountains there lies a treasure much greater than gold~" she began to sing as she stroked the paper with care, "When thou reaches, one shall seek what they most desire/but one must face what they most fear~"

Shoto lingered on the sidelines at the hallway, even though there was plenty plush and velvet ottomans on the inside.  He didn't want to interrupt her, but he was hypnotized by the movements that the paintbrush took anyway.  He was peeping through the doorway, making sure to keep as quiet as possible.

"If you can brave the darkness in your heart/you may find the light that was there all along~" as she finished up the painting, she added tiny pink circles onto the vast area of green.  They were supposed to be flowers, even though they were really small.  "A-and when you r-reach the end~" Rei's words became shaky as she added small yellow dots to the middle of the pink, "Y-you'll find what you needed all a-along~" Without her even realizing it, tears began streaming down her face at a fast pace.

Shoto burst into the room, approaching his mother, "Mom, is everything alright?"  His voice had been monotone at first hear like always, but he actually sounded concerned.

"This painting... it won't do at all..." she continued to cry, not wiping her drenched faced.  "Y-yeah.. not at all..."

Shoto was confused.  To him, it looked amazing, unlike the view that he always saw from his room window, which he got much too used to over the years spent indoors.  "But mother, it looks amazing.  I don't understand."

Her head turned slowly towards the boy, eyes wide and a horrified or even psychotic look on her face, "It's missing too much," she said, her voice shaking with every word, "Yes, exactly.  It's missing.  Something much too important.  It's only but an empty canvas, Shoto.  Yes, that's it.  An empty canvas.  That's the word.  Empty.  Don't you agree, Shoto?"

The prince stepped back, scared by the look his mother gave him.  "M-mom?  I don't know..." he gulped nervously, as he continued to back away, trying not to trip.

"Don't worry, Shoto.  This won't hurt a bit."  She walked closer to him, Shoto running away to the kitchen that usually only chefs worked in.  But that was a mistake on the prince's part, because before he knew it, he felt a wave of heat over his left eye, and his vision went black, and then a wave of cold without knowing what was going on.

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"Shoto???  Is everything okay?  Helloooooooooo???"  Izuku had been waving his right hand in front of the prince's face, trying to get his attention.  He wasn't sure why he spaced out so often, but it was concerning for the knight.

The prince blinked, zoning back into the present.  He looked at Izuku, with a hint of sadness in his eyes.  He felt his heart sunk down to his stomach, and everything in his mind was a mess.  He knew that's how he got his scar.  He knew that's how his mother was taken away.  He knew this was because Touya was gone.  And he knew it was what his father referred to as 'love'.  A tear  rolled down his left cheek unannounced, and he quickly wiped it off.

"Shoto!?"  He noticed the tear, even though he tried to hide it from him, "I wasn't trained for tears... Uh ARE YOU OKAY!????"

"Yeah... I'm fine... it's just..." he was looking down at his hands.  He sometimes did blame himself for what happened to him so long ago, and it wasn't really something that he could fix for himself.  "I'm sorry.  I... just... don't want to get married.."

Staring at him, Izuku understood where he was coming from.  And arranged marriage must be such a burden to carry, especially since he had been kept inside a castle for many years, keeping away from human interaction.  "I... understand that."  He was playing with his hands, "I know that an arranged marriage must be too much for you to handle on such short notice..."

"No.  It's more than that.  Love is stupid.  I can't see anyone ever loving me.  And even if I changed my mind, I'd probably be a horrible husband and father anyway, just like my old man."  He curled his hand up into a fist, "And besides, love doesn't even exist.  It just drives people to do stupid things."

The greenette felt his heart sink, and he didn't know why.  "Well... sometimes you don't have to search for love.  Sometimes it just comes to you without you even realizing it.  And even if you might not think someone won't love you, there will always be the perfect person waiting."  He scratched the side of his face, "W-well.. that's what my mom said at least..."

"But what if you mess up?  Then what are you supposed to do?  Then just leave your family broken and shattered?  I... I can't do that to anyone... I just can't..." he cupped his left hand over his left eye, feeling his eyes begin to water up.  He didn't want to be seen crying again, not over something as pitiful as this.

Without even thinking, the greenette wrapped his arms around the prince, trying to show him comfort.  "Shoto, even if you don't think so, I'm sure you'll be a great husband.  And... whoever you marry will love you... I'm sure of it."  He buried his face into the icy hot prince's chest, not wanting to let the male go.

He looked down at Izuku, removing his hand from his face.  His hug was gentle and warm, but he wasn't sure if he should hug him back or leave him be.  "Even if you say so, I wish that this mission hadn't come to be.  And though I would have to give up a journey like this with these beautiful sights and wonderful companions, I feel as if I would've had a better place back at my castle.  I just feel like... I don't belong anywhere, is all."

With his big eyes, Izuku looked up at Shoto, looking into his two multicolored eyes.  "S-Shoto please."  He looked kind of sad as he heard the prince degrade himself more than he ever could, "Of course you belong somewhere!  Can't you see that?"

"But you don't know anything about me.  It's my fault that my life is like this.  You... have have absolutely no proof."  He couldn't bring himself to look at Izuku anymore, as he felt his own gaze become shaky.

"Why do you keep blaming yourself?  It really isn't your fault!"

"That's enough."

"Wait but—"

"I said that's enough!"  He pushed Izuku off of him, making him fall backwards into the ground below.  His left eye became golden, and his scar began to turn black.  He felt it himself, and he stepped back.  "No, no... I... I'm sorry.. I... don't know what came over me... not again... no... no..." he was looking at his hands in distress, seeing as the left began to change color and form, and whispered to himself all of these words.  "I... I thought this... I thought I stopped... why... at a time like this... no... no... no..."

The knight gulped, as he looked terrified at what he was seeing.  Not knowing what was going on, he stayed on the ground, dumbfounded and not able to make words come out of his mouth.

"That look..." his gaze shifted back to the other male, seeing his look of pure terror, "that's the exact same look my mother would give me... that same look... a look of hate... a look of fear.  That same look... yeah... the same exact look..." he backed away more, seeing his hand was now completely black.  "I-I'm sorry... truly... but... I... I have to go..."  Without another word, he ran away as fast as he could, forgetting about Guinevere, and leaving Izuku by himself on the cold hard ground.

Knowing that it was his fault that the prince ran away, he felt his heart sink all the way down into his stomach, and his guilt was stuck in his chest.  "Wait... come back... I... I didn't mean to make you feel bad... I just... wanted to help... I'm sorry..." he reached out his hand after the prince, but it was much too late, for he was already long gone.

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