ANOTHER week has passed after the whole chisaki fiasco. word has spread that he's dead and despite how he treated eri, she still felt sad. after all, even if he wasn't a really good one, he was still her father.

"now now, eri. don't cry, everything will be alright. I'm still here for you", nanako said as eri mourned. nana stroked eri's hair, untangling any knots, and hummed her a lullaby.

eri fell asleep from being exhausted of all the crying and sadness. nanako picked her up and laid her on her bed.

taking one last look, nana exited out of her room, informing ochako to notify her once she awakes.

"princess, shouldn't you focus on the competition now? I know everything's been hard but you have approximately one week until it begins", kaminari said worryingly.

"kami, bring the others to the training ground. we'll talk there", nanako ordered.

kami nodded and went to go fetch todoroki, bakugo, and midoriya. shinso and kirishima followed nanako to the training grounds.

"princess, we're all here", kaminari reported.

"good. we have exactly six days until the competition. I know I've been putting it off, but now I need all of yalls help", nanako said.

"what do you need, nanako?", shinso asked.

"since forever, the tradition for the competition of the throne was determined in three matches".

"what're the three themes for the matches then?", midoriya asked.

"first is combat. every year it varies from fighting each other to seeing who has the most accurate aim in shooting arrows. for this match, I want todoroki and bakugo to train with me", nanako said.

todoroki and bakugo looked at each other before sighing and scowling. they nodded in acknowledgment to the princess's needs.

"next is composition. sometimes it's about history, sometimes it's about current politics. in a way, it's like a writing test. for this, I'll have shinso and midoriya help me". 

they both nodded as the princess continued.

"finally, the third match is a game of wits. be it chess or a simple game of hide and go seek, it's probably one of the most challenging ones. for this one, kirishima and kaminari will be helping me".

"w-wait...a-are you sure nana?? to be honest, kirishima and I aren't exactly the brightest", kaminari asked worriedly.

"yeah. wouldn't mina and ochako be better at this?", kirishima chimed in.

"mina and ochako have someone to take care of. plus, I believe in you two. kaminari you might not be the brightest bulb in the shed, but you have the ability to adjust to your surroundings, especially when you're in danger. kirishima, don't belittle yourself. your ways of manliness has brought you a long way", nanako said, smiling at the two.

both nodded furiously and thought the same thing, 'we will support you until the end, nanako'.

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

after the rigorous training with the strongest two of my knights, I ended up with many bruises and some cuts.

turns out if you're not careful, you can accidentally slice your thigh. note the sarcasm.

"nanako, we'll take a break for today. it's been a few hours already. you should get on to your next lesson", todoroki said.

I nodded and stood up with the help of todoroki. bakugo bent down  so I could get on his back easier. carrying me away from the training grounds, I laid my head on bakugo's shoulder.

"it's been a while since we've all trained together yeah?"

"mhm"

"yeah"

the rest of the walk was silent as the three of us indulged in each others' company.

after bandaging up my cuts, I met shinso and midoriya in the library.

midoriya took out a thicc book and dropped it on my desk. 'bruh. I hope he doesn't expect me to finish the entire thing in six days'.

"I expect you to read through this in six days nana".

"w-wait midoriya!! w-we can talk about this!!"

midoriya only shook his head while pushing his nonexistent glasses up.

"shinsoooo", I pleaded. putting my puppy eyes to work, he only ignored me and turned away.

"you're the one that asked for our help princess", shinso responded.

"yeah...and I regret asking", I mumbled.

"what was that?"

"n-nothing", I awkwardly chuckled as they began the lesson.

once they were done lecturing for the day, I was brain dead. however, there was still kami and kiri's lesson.

"ready princess?", kami asked excitedly as him and kirishima led me to an open field that was outside the palace.

"I suppose", I smiled tiredly. it's been a while since I've gone full throttle mode on lessons.

"okay. kaminari and I found this corn maze right outside the palace. we'll be timing you on how long it takes for you to complete the maze", kirishima explained.

"alright. I'll be taking off then", I said as I heard them say 'start' and take out a pocket watch.

I entered the maze and then looked around. I kept bumping into dead ends and trying to keep track of where I've already went.

"took you four hours and forty-seven minutes", kirishima said as I finally exited out the maze.

"damn", I huffed as I took a big drink of water.

we arrived back at the palace, just in time for dinner. entering my room, I found eri sitting on one of the chairs, waiting for me.

"I'm sorry eri, did I make you wait long?", I asked with a smile.

"no, it's okay. miss ochako kept me busy by playing games with me. plus I heard that you will be busy since you're competing with the other princesses", eri said.

"thank you eri. you're so understanding for a six year old. now, what do you want to eat?"

"mmm, I don't really know..."

"how about some roasted pork and soup?", I suggested.

"okay!", she exclaimed cutely.

I asked ochako to get our dinner ready as eri and I chatted.

"m-miss nana?", eri asked.

"mhm?"

"c-can I call you m-mom?", she shyly asked.

slightly surprised by the sudden request, I decided to nod and smile. "sure!" 

eri's eyes seemed to widen at the answer. "thank you thank you thank you!!", she exclaimed as she hopped out of her chair to hug me.

I only chuckled and patted her back.

'wait...if I'm the mom and chisaki's the dad, then does that mean...'

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a/n: hey readers!! hope you're enjoying it so far! who do you think will win?? who are you rooting for?

if you liked it, don't forget to star it and comment! thank you for reading and see you next chapter!! <3