Today was a good day; so far, at least. The King had been preoccupied as of late with troubled relations with the nearby barbarian kingdom, leaving Shoto with less interaction with the man. To top that off, he finished his lessons early and ensured that nobody would look for him if he disappeared for a while.

Yes, it was the perfect time to meet with his friend.

Shoto stood within the backmost part of the Todoroki palace garden and checked around for the third time to make certain that nobody was watching before he pulled the thick branches of a flowering bush from the small, cracked hole in the thick stone of the palace's outer wall. He slipped through and stepped out into the Musutafu forest on the other side, where he wandered to the tree he and his friend would always meet at and waited patiently for their arrival.

He tugged at his sleeves and looked up towards the bright forest canopy, enjoying the sunny scenery.