#actually a long while back some anon lmk they liked the idea of a knight au w shoto so like.......this ones for you B

[heroprose]

with honor;

ship. shoto todoroki x reader

summary. knight au. all he needs, shoto thinks, is an opportunity.

//

shoto todoroki is so obvious. he’s so utterly, painfully obvious about his affections towards you. (that’s what he thinks, anyway.) 

he surmises that it’s been this way ever since his transition from squire to knight, when he knelt on the stone floors in the throne room and when the officers touched his shoulders with cold, familiar metal. you had stood left of the thrones, from what shoto recalls. and when he finally lifted his head to thank the monarch, he distinctly recalls you looking slightly luminescent. your clothes were beautiful, it was true, but he’s certain that it was you who glowed that day.

it had been the way you had observed his knighting accolade with a gaze so expectant that he found himself vowing eternal fidelity not to the kingdom, but to you instead.

in turn, being stationed as your personal knight was unpleasant at best, and tragic at worst. shoto wasn’t one to consider class over personhood, and conversation flowed naturally with you, but even so, it was awfully difficult. 

you were heir to the throne, after all. you deserved love of the highest caliber. free will. agency. and maybe not him either, but definitely not some arranged marriage. 

the silence that follows when shoto tells you exactly this is overwhelming, and suddenly, he is caught between backtracking and advancing. he’s so obvious, clearly too obvious. but it’s too late.

“don’t,” he’d said with a hard edge in his voice that leaked more emotion than he would’ve liked. “don’t go along with the marriage if it doesn’t interest you. there’s no point.”

shoto pauses with a strange expression, as if rendered stunned by his own words, by his own caprice. he only realizes the genuine oddity of his outburst after he sees your head snap at such speed to look him in the eyes. 

you can’t help it when a small “huh” escapes your throat. you’d been reclining on your seat as shoto stood by the door of your office when you tell him of the latest propositions being made. “they want me to wed already,” you’d laughed prior. “i think they’ve already selected the suitor too. can you believe that? ridiculous.”

ridiculous indeed. and shoto waits so long on his next line of thought that it becomes too late to eat his own words. 

“i mean-- it’s not right,” he continues. “if you have even a sliver of doubt... please refuse. for your own good.”

this sends you reeling. “of course! you didn’t think i’d actually agree to it, did you?”

“i... i don’t know. i didn’t mean anything by it. i just want you to be--”

“conscious in my decisions? yeah.” you hum. “i understand.”

no, thinks shoto. happy. he nods anyway. 

you reflect on this and pull yourself upright on the cushion. “well, you’re right, in any case,” you say. “i guess there’s only one thing to do when the day comes and i’m really forced to wed.”

his countenance turns more fully towards you, albeit hesitantly. “what’s that?”

“hold a jousting tournament. joust for my hand in marriage.” you say this in your regular, breezy and playful manner, one unfit for royalty but endearing all the same, and shoto wishes you didn’t.

shoto just stares at your smile. the way you’d said that made him think you were requesting him to do so. to partake. “who will you let participate?” he says, words deliberately chosen. he’s terribly good on the battlefield and he knows you know this well. his eyes narrow a bit down at you.

“anyone who thinks they can, i suppose.”

and then there’s that familiar gleam and glow that makes shoto believe that he’s got more of a chance now than ever.

“that’s fair.”

“i don’t care for class,” you say, beckoning him forward, to sit beside you. “you know that, don’t you?”

“i do,” replies shoto. “i do know this.”

but he doesn’t sit yet. he rests a hand over his thrumming heart and gives you a precise bow first.

“honestly, shoto, i’m interested to know if anyone would actually sign up,” you muse, letting your head lean back to stare at the glittering ceiling. “it would be kinda funny if no one did, actually. i wouldn’t even be mad.”

there’s about a million different remarks shoto wishes to make in response, but he struggles to settle on one. but finally-- “you underestimate yourself. at the very least, you only need one competitor. and they’ll show. i’m certain of this, your highness.”

“are you now?”

shoto the knight just holds his gaze. “yes,” he says. “i will make sure of it.”

this time, the silence that unfolds is much, much more cooler and maybe a bit sweeter.