Chapter Text
In the back of his mind, Izuku knew the fire wasn’t hot enough to kill him.
“Evil witch!”
“Burn him! Burn him until he dies!”
No, he wanted to say. The fire wasn’t hot enough. It wouldn’t kill him… the smoke would. It would seep into his lungs like black poison and he would pass out and die.
He struggled to keep standing, his knees having given out a minute ago. Not that it mattered. He couldn’t fall. The ropes binding him to the pyre wouldn’t allow it.
He didn’t think the day would end like this. He didn’t think his life would end like this.
***
The sun was just starting to rise over Mustafu Village as Izuku saw his first patient that day.
“Alright, Miss Chiyo,” he said to the old woman seated across from him. “Just drink this tea twice a day for your pain. I ground up a special blend for you that should help… and added an extra bit of sugar for taste.” He grinned as the woman chuckled.
“You really are a talent, Izuku.” The old woman smiled. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was magic.”
He waved her off with a gentle smile and a free bag of chamomile tea. He had extra supplies, and Chiyo was always so sweet.
His mother often told him he was too generous with his services, told him he’d run himself into the ground if he wasn’t careful. But this was Izuku’s dream. Helping people, a steady income, a peaceful life.
He wouldn’t trade it for anything.
“Aw, look at you, doctor. A magic touch, huh?”
Damn it. He looked up to find an imposing and unfortunately familiar figure darkening his doorway.
“Hiiro,” he said with a forced smile. “What can I do for you today?”
Hiiro grinned at him with crooked teeth, his dark hair greased back with so much oil Izuku could smell it from across the shop. For the Village Leader’s son, he sure didn’t smell like it. Wasn’t that something rich people cared about? Appearances? Hygiene?
“Oh, you can do a lot for me, doctor.” Izuku’s stomach lurched. “But let’s start small, shall we?” He stepped further into the shop. Slow. Deliberate. “How about I bring you over to my home tonight, hm? Treat you to a nice meal. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Something nice for once instead of this little peasant shack?”
“Ahaha…” Izuku swallowed a lump in his throat. “I told you the last time, Hiiro. I like my home just fine. And I’m just not looking for any kind of romance right now—”
“I’m not talking about romance,” Hiiro cut in, stalking forward until Izuku couldn’t put any further distance between them. His pulse quickened. “You made it pretty clear you didn’t want that. So I thought of something better.” He braced a hand against the wall behind Izuku’s head and leaned in close, his rancid breath making Izuku recoil. “I’m talking about a good fuck.”
“I said no,” Izuku said, glaring up at him.
“I didn‘t say you had a choice.”
The next few moments happened too fast for Izuku to process. One moment Hiiro was surging forward, his eyes hungry, his face leering. The next moment, Izuku reached for the nearest bottle of something in his clinic and smashed it over the bastard’s head.
“You fucking bitch!” Hiiro howled, clutching his now bleeding forehead.
Izuku stared at him in shock, like he didn’t just shank the Leader’s son.
The Leader’s son.
He just attacked the second highest authority in the village.
Shit. Shit shit shit. He stepped in it this time.
“That’s right you did, you dumb bitch.” Izuku jolted. He didn’t mean to say that.
“No, no!” His voice cracked as he spoke, frantic with panic and fear. “I’m— I’m sorry!” He wasn’t. “I don’t know what came over me!” He did. “I can fix it! I’m a doctor so I know how to fix it.” He didn’t want to.
“You’re going to pay for this” Hiiro snarled, staggering to his feet as his blood dripped all over Izuku’s shop. “Everyone’s going to watch you burn, you little witch. ”
Soon enough he was sweeping the floor, his tools and medicines stored for the day. He tried to stop the shaking of his limbs, the way his heart pounded so loud he could hear his pulse echo in his ears.
It would be fine. Everything would be fine.
***
His throat burned and he bowed his head, unable to look at the hatred in the villagers’ eyes. His neighbors, schoolmates, people he had known for years and years. Would no one help him? Why wouldn’t anyone help him?
Tears pricked his eyes as he thought about his mother. Hopefully, she was able to escape while she had the chance. But he supposed he would never know.
The world grew darker by the moment. Izuku knew he would soon pass out. He closed his eyes with a smile. All things considered, it wasn’t that bad for an execution.
Then the screams started.
The villagers had been screaming for some time, but this was different. High, shrill sounds ripped through the air, and hysteria caught on quicker than the fire at his feet. It wasn’t normal for executions to end like this. Was he already dead? Was this some sick afterlife? Slowly, painfully, he lifted his head, and his blood ran cold.
“Dragons!”
“Run!”
The crowd before him screamed in terror, scattering like a cluster of cockroaches as enormous, scaled dragons soared above the town, circling, screeching, their riders shouting orders.
The village elders had warned about the Dragon Empire. They were extending their reach to the territories in the Greenlands… like Izuku’s village.
One of the beasts opened its mouth, its throat glowing, and released fire all along the village.
More smoke. More fire. More screaming.
And Izuku was tied to a fucking post.
“No,” he muttered to himself. “No, no, no.”
His whole body shook with newfound adrenaline coursing through him as he struggled against his bindings. The way things had gone, he’d given up, but the crowd was gone. He could escape. He could…
The fire at his feet was starting to spread. He kept struggling, kept twisting to loosen the ropes.
“Please… please…”
The smoke was starting to choke him, rampant with the fire from the burning buildings around the courtyard. There was so much screaming.
Then he saw him.
In the center of the courtyard stood a tall, broad man as still as a statue. Izuku couldn't make out any features on him, nor could he see his face.
“Help!” Izuku cried, raising his voice as loud as he could. “Help me! Please help me!”
Hearing his plea, the man turned around, his form silhouetted by the glow of the fires. He was so unmoving and still that Izuku thought he was a scared villager. Then he realized the truth of it. The stillness in his boy wasn’t fear, it wasn’t shock: it was calm. The man was at ease. Unafraid, taking in the chaos around him like Izuku would breathe in the fresh air on a warm spring day.
A tilt of his head, a brief pause. Then, he started walking right for him. Izuku held his breath, the fumes and smoke blurring his vision at the edges. Along with the strange furs and jewels, Izuku knew he was one of the invaders. He didn’t care.
He hardly noticed the sudden sharp pain in the center of his chest, a pinprick of electricity and fire.
“Help,” Izuku croaked again as the man got closer. “Please…”
And as Izuku’s eyes finally closed, the last thing he remembered was the pain in his heart and a pair of enchanting, paralyzing, blood-red eyes.
***
“Are... awake?”
Sunlight warmed his skin, a small spring breeze caressing him through the window. He loved the spring.
“Hey… can… hear me?”
A voice overhead, calm and sweet and a little inquisitive. It was time to wake up, wasn’t it? But he was so comfortable. Since when was his bed so soft?
“Five more minutes, Mom.”
“Mom?”
He groggily opened his eyes to ask for more time. But the woman above him wasn’t his mother. It was a young woman, maybe his age, with silky brown hair and big matching eyes. When she tilted her head, the beautiful ornaments holding her hair up chimed like bells. Satins and furs draped over her like a princess.
With a gasp, Izuku jolted into a sitting position, even if it made his vision blur at the edges.
“Hey, slow down,” the young woman said. “You’re going to make yourself dizzy.”
But Izuku wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he frantically took in his surroundings. It was possibly the most beautiful room he’d ever seen. Clean, intricately engraved stone walls and a roaring fire; thick yet colorful curtains that lined the windows; and a bed so beautiful and plush he was certain multiple people could fit and still have room.
“How— what? Where?” He would typically flush at his stumbling words, but he could barely even form coherent thoughts at that moment.
“I’m sure you’re confused.” She smiled gently at him as she held up a cup, the same way Izuku would smile at a particularly frightened child who needed to take bad tasting medicine. “Here. It’s medicinal tea. It should help clear your lungs and throat.”
“I… oh.” He slowly took the cup, taking a whiff. Ginger tea. His mother would use the same when he was sick. He took a careful sip. It was hot, but it went down easily. “Thank you, miss…”
“Ochako,” the girl supplied. “Ochako Uraraka. And you are?”
“Izuku.”
“Well, Izuku,” she said, “are you feeling well enough to stand?”
It took a few tries to get his unused legs to support his weight properly, but he was soon up and steady. A servant brought some food, and Ochako went about finding something for him to wear that wasn’t a sleeping robe. Soon, they left the beautiful bedroom and stepped out into an open hallway of dark, rich wood and stone that looked over an enormous, snow covered garden.
What the hell was going on?
“So, let me see.” Ochako began walking down the hall, Izuku clumsily scurrying behind her. “This is the common garden. Anyone who lives here can enjoy it. I recommend taking walks here at night— the moon reflects along the snow so nicely! Now, if you follow me this way, I can show you the kitchen…”
“Um, Miss Ochako?”
“Just Ochako.”
“Right.” Izuku shifted, his thoughts rushing so fast that his mouth could scarcely keep up. “Uh, um, well, not that this isn’t. Nice.” He tried to smile. “I mean, it’s really nice. You’ve been really nice. But, well, um.” He cleared his throat. “Where am I?”
“Oh, right!” Ochako hummed, remembering herself. “You’re in the Imperial Palace.”
What.
“What?” Izuku stopped walking, and Ochako soon followed. She turned to face him with a tilt of her head.
“The Imperial Palace. It’s the capital of the Dragonlands. Our emperor is—”
“No, I know! I know what the Imperial Palace is.” He swallowed, sweat forming on the back of his neck. The Imperial Palace. The Dragonlands. His village burning to cinders. It was all catching up to him, but he still couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Why wasn’t he dead? Why didn’t he burn at that post? “Wh-what am I doing here?” His voice came out higher pitched than he meant it to be, but he continued. “In the palace? This isn’t a prison, is it? Dungeons don’t look like this, right?”
“Some might call it a prison,” she mused with a tilt of her head, “but no. You’re in the Inner Palace of His Imperial Highness.” At Izuku’s confused blink, she cleared her throat. “Ah, that is, the… intimate dwellings of His Highness and his many brides.” She still wasn’t making sense. Ochako sighed. “I think the common folk refer to it as the harem.”
The what?
“But why am I here?” He still didn’t understand.
“Oh,” Ochako said, “because you’ve been chosen as…”
“A sacrifice?”
“A concubine.”
That was worse.
Izuku gaped at the young woman, at her regal robes, perfect hair, and glinting ornaments, as everything clicked into place. A concubine. A concubine . He’d heard of The Empire taking prisoners of war, of course. But if common folk weren’t killed, they were sold as servants or prostitutes. Only nobles were ever chosen as official Imperial brides, and that was only in rare circumstances.
“U-u-um!” he squeaked. “I think there’s been a mistake. I’m not. I mean… Before I was about to… my village was…”
Burn him! Burn him!
He swallowed, his saliva grating his throat like ash. Ochako placed a delicate hand on his. “It’s okay, Izuku. You’re… definitely meant to be here.” She smiled sweetly once again. “He was certain of it.”
The emperor, she meant. Izuku scoffed and looked at his feet. The emperor didn’t matter. They were all just invaders. Raiders. Murderers.
His village was…
“He’s not that bad,” Ochako said as if reading his mind. “Really, he’s more bark than—”
“Where the fuck is Kirishima?!”
Izuku jumped at the sharp, rough voice that flooded the hall. He could feel the ground vibrating beneath him, shaken by the thunderous footsteps of a looming figure. A tall, muscular man walked down the hallway with a feral intensity, as if determined to devour everyone in his path. Jagged blonde hair framed an angular face twisted in a sinister scowl. An ominous black robe lined with fur and embroidered with sunset reds and oranges swept behind him like smoke as he stormed forward.
That strange pain in the center of his chest flared up again.
Upon seeing Ochako, the man huffed and stomped directly up to her. Ochako, without even blinking, muttered, “Bow,” to Izuku before dipping into a graceful curtsy. But Izuku was too confused to listen to her instruction as the man approached.
“Oy, round face,” the man said, “have you seen that good-for-nothing captain of the guard?”
“Can’t say I have,” Ochako said, calm and collected, like this snarling, walking tantrum of a man was a completely normal person.
“Hmph,” the man huffed. “Well, if you do, tell him—”
Suddenly, the man’s tirade stopped short. His eyes, red like blood and fire, focused on a still-upright Izuku. “What the fuck is that?”
Izuku jolted back.
“A new bride,” Ochako cut in with a smile. “He hasn’t learned our ways yet.”
“Yeah, I know that much,” he sneered. “You think I’m an idiot or something?”
“When has anyone ever thought you were an idiot?” Ochako shot back, unimpressed.
The man grunted at her before appraising Izuku, his eyes narrowing with distaste. “Make sure you teach him some fucking manners.” Then a smirk twisted his face. “Brides should bow in the face of their betters.”
Izuku bristled. He wouldn’t say anything, not yet, but he wouldn’t look away like some simpering maiden. And when he asserted that silence, the stranger stepped forward, a little too close, a little too dangerous.
“Your back broken or something? Bow, bride.”
Izuku’s face reddened as he felt a wave of anger wash over him. He clenched his fists and glared. “No,” he stated firmly.
The man’s eyebrows rose in surprise before his eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“If anyone needs to learn manners, it’s you,” Izuku spat. He could feel the heat radiating from the man’s body as they stood toe-to-toe. Despite being shorter, Izuku refused to back down, puffing out his chest defiantly. He ignored the way the pain in his chest gave way to warmth spreading along his skin, like the first pricking of a fire before it flared to life.
“Want to try that again?” the man snarled. “Or do I have to teach you some fucking respect?”
Izuku didn’t budge an inch. Instead, his voice grew stronger with each word he uttered. “You heard me. I’ll treat you with respect when you’ve earned it.”
He would not bow to these people.
After a beat of silence so heavy it was suffocating, the man scoffed. “What’s your name?”
That… was unexpected.
“Izuku.” He was so surprised that he said his name in a flurry. It sounded a little closer to “Zuku.”
“Huh? What was that? Zuku? That ain’t a name.”
“Izuku,” he clipped, slower this time. The man smirked at his irritation.
“Huh? Deku?”
“That wasn’t even close.”
“Pretty sure it was Deku.” His smirk widened at Izuku’s glare. “Do you miss the Greenlands already, Deku?”
Izuku felt a bitter taste in his mouth like tea brewed too long. When he spoke again, it was quieter. “Whatever’s left of them.”
The man was silent for a long, long moment. Then, his scowl slid into something more neutral and unreadable until he finally snorted and stalked past them and down the hallway. “Ochako,” he called out.
“Yes?”
“Find him something better to wear. Concubines shouldn’t be a damned embarrassment.”
“I… yes. Of course.”
He was already stalking away when Izuku called out to him. “You never told me your name!”
The stranger stopped, turning with a slow, wicked grin.
“Bakugou. Katsuki Bakugou.” Bakugou? Where had he heard that—
Oh.
Oh no .
The breath left Izuku like a swift punch to the gut. “B-Bakugou? As in…”
“Emperor Katsuki Bakugou,” the man—no, the emperor —clarified. “The One King of the North, Bringer of Fire and War, Conqueror of the Great Continent… and your new husband.” An edge of malice laced his grin as Izuku’s jaw dropped. “Make sure you know it next time I see you, Deku .”