Back Stitch. Todoroki Shouto
Notes: Royal!Todoroki x Servant!Reader a series?
“Y/N! Can you bring me my straight pins!” Your mother yelled, busy sweeping the floor to rid of any dust, pieces of thread, or pins that have fallen victim to gravity and never seen again. The women of your family had worked under the Todoroki family for generations as their seamstresses. You had watched your mother stitch the most exquisite gowns and suits for the members of the royal family and now, you were finally old enough to join her in today’s fitting of the youngest prince. He was your age, only nine years old, and you had watched from the back room as the boy had grown up, his bright, giggling smile, turning to a never-ending frown.
You picked up the small cushion that held all of the pins your mother used in her pile of everyday work. It was placed on the table that held the rest of her supplies, pencils, tape measure, paper, scissors, anything she could possibly need to make sure the fitting for the prince went as smoothly as possible.
A young servant opened the door as Queen Rei entered the room, Todoroki trailing her closely. You and your mother bow in greeting, a simple wave from the queen being your signal to rise. “It’s an honor to serve you once more,” your mother says, keeping her eyes downcast out of respect.
“You do excellent work, Riku. I understand that Shouto’s suit is ready for it’s final fitting?”
“Yes, m’lady. If he would like to follow me to get changed, we can get started.”
The queen gestured for Shouto to follow your mother as she sat down in the chair. “You’re Riku’s daughter?”
“Are you here to learn today?”
“Yes, m’lady. I hope to be able to serve you and your family just like my mother.”
Rei gives you a warm smile, lifting your chin so you can look at her. “I trust you will do very well. You have a wonderful teacher.”
You offer her a small thank you as Shouto comes out from behind the divider to stand on the small podium, your mother not far behind him. “Y/N. Come hold the pins for me,” she calls, kneeling down to further hem the pants.
“Yes, ma’am,” you say, kneeling down next to your mother, holding out her pin cushion.
Rei gets up from her seat, coming to further inspect the new clothes that had been made for her son. She ran her fingers delicately across the simple embroidery along the edges of the sleeves and hummed in approval. “This is beautiful, Riku.”
Your mother smiled a little. “Thank you, m’lady, but I can’t take all the credit. Y/N did most of the embroidery.”
“Did she? Well, it’s beautiful, nonetheless.”
You stood in silence, cheeks heating up from the queen’s praise of your work. It had taken you days to do all of the little stitches that lined the sleeve. You had earned a number of stab wounds as you were still a little clumsy with the needle. Your bandaged index finger was enough to support that testiment. “What do you say, Y/N?” Your mother nudges you slightly, knocking you out of your trance.
“I’m glad that you like it, m’lady.”
Your mother stands, taking a few steps back to make sure everything looked even. “Alright, Prince Shouto, how does everything feel?”
“It’s okay, I guess,” he muttered, looking over himself in the mirror.
You watch as your mother’s face drops and quickly tries to smile again. “What’s wrong, Shouto? It looks very nice,” Rei says, looking at her son in the mirror.
“I just don’t get why I have to wear this stupid thing. I don’t want to go to some dumb party,” he pouts, his duo-colored hair flopping cutely as he huffs.
“I know you don’t, love, but it’s important. Everything is fine with it, Riku. Thank you,” Rei dismisses your mother’s worry allowing her to finally breath easily again.
“It’s always a pleasure, m’lady.”
“Go get changed, Shouto. It’s almost time for your lessons.”
Shouto groans, jumping down from the short pedestal. “But, I hate lessons. Geography and all that other stuff is so boring. Can’t I just skip lessons and go outside to play today?”
He sighs, hanging his head at his mother’s firm hand as he walks behind the divider to change back into his normal clothes. He returns moments later, the suit in his arms and hands it over to your mother. “Miss Riku?”
“Who’s she?” Shouto raises a finger to point at you, taking you back by the sudden attention.
“That’s my daughter, Y/N. She’s here to learn, so she can help me someday.”
“She just turned nine, sir.”
“Oh. That’s cool. Hey, Y/N?”
You raise your head slightly to give your attention to the young prince. “Yes, sir?”
“Do you want to play with me after my lessons?”
You stutter, trying to come up with your answer, but before you can get out any response, Rei is dragging Shouto out of the room, the door swinging closed behind her. “Did I do something wrong, Mama?”
“No, honey. You behaved exactly like you were supposed to.”
“Then why did the queen take him away so fast?”
“That’s not your fault and it’s none of our concern, so we shouldn’t bother ourselves with it,” she says, hanging the suit back up so it doesn’t wrinkle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
“If I’ve told you once, I have told you a thousand times, Shouto! You do not play with the help! You are a prince! You are to play with other nobles!”
“But, I don’t like them. They’re all so boring. All they ever want to do is play war and I don’t like that game,” Shouto pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “I want someone to play ball with.”
“Shouto, I will not have you playing with her. If you choose not to listen to me, then maybe we can take this matter up with your father. How does that sound?” Shouto fell silent. Facing his father’s wrath was not an item on Shouto’s agenda and he was perfectly fine with keeping it that way. “Do not bring this matter up again, are we clear?”
“Good. Now come along. You’re late for your lessons.”
