"Shoto," The angry, deep voice of his father greeted the prince as he reentered the palace, Izuku's gift stored by his heart. "I believe we both know the price of you disobeying me." 

"I'm sorry, father, I thought I saw one of them out the window and thought it was more important to bring them to justice. Unfortunately they got away and I was rather lost." Shoto didn't look Enji in the eye, wanting to remember today as the good day when he met Izuku, the innocent prince, and not just another day of harsh punishment. 

Enji, as usual, mistook Shoto's inability to look him in the eye as regret, the scruffiness of his hair and clothes adding to his badly forged story of getting lost. 

Of course Enji wouldn't want to accept the idea that Shoto was going against him; he had worked hard to isolate him from other influences. As far as Enji knew Shoto had spent until last year trapped in the tower of the castle, giving the boy only himself to rely on. 

Of course, Enji didn't need to know the truth. 

When young and giving nothing to entertain yourself, isolated in a tower, you spend your days exploring it. Shoto was not a person who slept well to begin with; using that time when he was younger to make sure he knew every inch. The guards felt bad for the poor, isolated prince, and stopped patrolling by the dog hole at the side of the tower furthest from the door tot he rest of the palace. 

Maybe it wasn't the safest for Shoto, but it definitely improved his mental health. 

"Never do something that isn't a direct order from me again, you hear me!?" Shoto tried not to flinch as Enji stepped so close to him Shoto could feel his body heat. 

"Yes, father." Shoto gave a sharp nod, Enii stepping back. 

"Get yourself cleaned up, we have a senate meeting in 10 minutes." Enji shoved Shoto towards the tower door. 

Right, Shoto had forgotten about the meeting. 

It's not like they were ever productive, it was more a group of the powerful nobles sucking up to Enji, and starting to try to butter up Shoto too. All these people were interested in was power, and the poor commoners were the least of their priorities, being left to suffer and die. 

Shoto had no idea how they had managed to avoid both losing all of their working class or a revolt. He as a prince wanted to run away, but at least he knew how to behave to get a meal, many of them had no access to food. 

'I can't have stayed there, father would just have started a war.' Shoto told himself, his eyes catching Fuyumi's as the door to his tower closed, she looked panicked. 

----- 

"Deku?" Katsuki's head was spinning, he had no idea what was going on, but now he was in a room with the green haired boy he had been friends with all those years ago. "The fuck is going on?" 

"Kaachan?" Izuku's eyes sparkled as he saw the boy with ashy blond hair that looked like a bomb going off. 

"Answer me, damnit, Deku! And where's Shitty Hair?" Katsuki looked around, the last thing he could remember being trying to run from Aizawa. 

"Ah? Oh, right! Your family is no longer banished, I don't know who you're talking about though." Izuku looked almost the same as the last time he saw him, just fewer injuries. 

But why was his family no longer banished? That was because of both a real injury from Katsuki, and the long term abuse from Hizashi. It's not like Izuku could have told anyone the truth, Hizashi making sure of that. Had someone else found out and been smarter than him? 

"Eijiro Kirishima, a dragon shifter. I came to the festival with him." Katsuki tried to calm himself; finding Eijiro was rather important if he didn't want disaster. 

"'Kirishima'? As in the Kirishima forest?" Izuku looked excited, damn fanboy. 

"Yes, he owns the place and we were living there for most of my life. Endeavour kingdom is shit." Katsuki folded his arms, still feeling weak from the hypnosis. 

"I haven't heard anything about a dragon shifter, but I'm sure they'll let us know if he shows up. How have you been, by the way? I'm... I'm really sorry about what happened. If only I hadn't always been so fragile you would never have had to deal with all of that." Izuku looked away; rubbing his arm, his voice shaking. 

Katsuki thought Izuku's eyes became less bright as he spoke about the past, but he wasn't sure. More to the point, why was Izuku wrong about the past? Any why was he just now realising they weren't in Izuku's house? 

"Deku, what the fuck are you talking about? And where the fuck even are we?" Katsuki looked around, dreading the idea of Hizashi having done worse to Izuku, or becoming rich enough to buy a house like this. 

"Oh! Right! You wouldn't know! Mum married the king; I'm a prince now. We're in my new room, so in the palace. It's the building towards the back." Izuku brightened up slightly. "I'm really glad she found someone she loves!" 

"Okay... So what happened to your dad?" Katsuki was relieved Hizashi hadn't become so powerful as to own a palace, but that just made him more confused. 

"Huh?" Izuku's eyes were definitely dull now, the aftereffects of hypnosis. "You know I don't remember my father, I was so young when he died." 

"Deku..." A chill ran down Katsuki's spine as he watched his childhood friend say something so false. Yes, he was obviously hypnotised, but equally he believed it. Why? "What are you talking about? He certainly didn't die when you were too young to rememebr, he's the reason I was banished."

Alarms were blaring, and Izuku slumped forwards onto Katsuki's shoulder. He wasn't exactly asleep, but was far too deep into whatever hypnosis he was placed under to really be called 'conscious'. 

Guards rushed into the room, grabbing Katsuki under his shoulders and dragging him towards the door, pulling Izuku away. Inko, too, entered the room, going straight to Izuku. 

"Inko!" Katsuki's eyes were wide, and he honestly couldn't remember her maiden name. "What's going on? Deku can't-" 

Katsuki stopped struggling as a hypnosis pendant was put in front of his eyes, slumping into the guards' arms. All the guards were people Inko trusted with the safety of her son, so with even more than her own life. 

"Take him to Izuku's hypnotist and have him remove the memories of that man. It will help keep the stories straight." Inko told the guards, stroking Izuku's hair, Katsuki's words starting to break through the hypnosis, trapping Izuku in between hypnotised and conscious. 

"Inko?" Masaru came to the door as Katsuki was being taken out, he and Mitsuki having followed her when the alarms went off. "What's going on? Did Katsuki do anything wrong?" 

"Not that he could have realised, it was my mistake." Inko shook her head, gesturing for the guards to keep going. 

"If he did nothing wrong why is he being dragged away by guards?" Mitsuki joined her husband, blocking the guards. 

"He was reminding Izuku of that man. I realise I should have stopped him before. I'm just making sure it can't happen again." 

"How, exactly are you doing that?" Masaru kept his eyes on Katsuki, the guard releasing the hypnosis, throwing him into sleep for the short distance. 

"I'm having him forget too. It will be better for them both, really. That man was a source of trauma for them both." Inko nodded at the guards who weren't holding Katsuki, letting those still near Izuku join the rest. 

"Inko-" Masaru tried to step away from the guards approaching, having much the same condition as Katsuki, but Mitsuki's proximity allowing them to take control of him. 

"You know this isn't going to help them, right? Yes, he hurt them, but making them forget doesn't undo things, it just hides them. You're not letting them work through anything!" Mitsuki tried to grab her husband, but under the guard's control he walked away from her, the remaining guards approaching her. 

"We can agree to disagree, Mitsuki. But as the queen I have the authority to make sure you don't undermine me." Inko's eyes were cold as she watched Mitsuki, too, fall under the hypnosis. 

"What should we do with the adults, my lady?" A guard who had changed his name back when she got divorced, having shared a name with the man, now called Mic. 

"You needn't make them forget, just make them unable to tell the kids about it. Please make sure the hypnotist comes to help Izuku when done with Katsuki." Inko pulled Izuku closer to herself protectively. 

"Understood, my queen." He nodded, Katsuki being carried away, his parents walking after him, guards still around them. 

They didn't leave the palace, so nobody thought anything was wrong. For Izuku, the hypnotist he had been visiting since he was young was moved into the palace to save time in case of an emergency.