Work Text:
It is common knowledge that everyone on Earth has a soulmate. Whether platonic or romantic, everyone will end up paired with their soulmate, the person who you will want to spend the rest of your life with. Every human is born with a soulmate tattoo on the forearm of their dominant hand, and it fills with a bright colour when your soulmate says their first words to you. It only goes back to how it once was when your soulmate dies. No one knows when this started, but for hundreds of years, life on Earth has been dominated by the existence of soulmate marks.
Kyouka leans all of this at the age of four when she asks her mother about the mark she has on her arm.
“Everyone has a mark, my darling,” her mom says, pulling up her sleeve to show Kyouka her own mark. “They’re soulmate tattoos. We’re born with them as a plain outline, and they fill in with colour when you first speak to your soulmate. Mine turned red when I met your father, and his turned yellow.”
“Cool,” Kyouka mumbles, staring at her own mark. It is a simple circle, looking starkly plain against her skin. “So one day it’ll go like yours?”
“As long as you meet your soulmate,” Mom says. “Then, yes, it’ll happen.”
Kyouka smiles, wondering when she and her soulmate will speak.
---
When she takes the entrance exam to get into UA, Kyouka talks to many people, all teenagers like her who want to get onto the Hero course at this amazing school. So when her arm starts to tingle sometime after the exam and she pulls up her sleeve to discover her tattoo is now bright pink, Kyouka has no clue who her soulmate might be. She has spoken to dozens of new people today. Why does this have to be complicated?
So she has spoken to her soulmate, but she still has no idea who they are. Great.
---
Getting into Class 1-A at UA is like a dream come true. She joins a class full of people she recognises from the exam, and Kyouka has to wonder if any of them might be her soulmate.
Things only get more confusing later on, when they are made to dress in PE uniform and do Quirk tests with their grumpy, sleepy sensei. Because everyone’s forearms are exposed, giving Kyouka a easy way to see if any of them have met their soulmates. But she didn’t expect to see five students with their tattoos full of colour.
She sighs; this is going to take some work.
---
The first student in her class she talks to is Iida Tenya. He is unusual in that he has two marks on his right arm, one green and one white.
“Iida, you have two soulmates?” she says.
Iida looks awkward, but nods. “Yes, I’ve always had two marks and it appears I have met them both since joining UA.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“Not yet, but I do have an idea,” Iida says, smiling slightly.
Either way, she is certain Iida isn’t her soulmate.
Later that day, she sees Iida having a conversation with Uraraka and Midoriya. They all look confused and a bit happy.
On the way home from school, she sees the three holding hands.
Well, it appears Iida has found his soulmates, ruling out Midoriya and Uraraka too.
So there are only two more students in her class to talk to.
---
In homeroom the next day, Kyouka nudges Todoroki Shouto and passes him a note.
You’ve got a soulmate tattoo. Do you know who they are?
A minute later, he returns the note.
Yes. He’s a friend of mine from junior high. So it isn’t you.
When she finishes reading the note, she spots Todoroki raising an eyebrow at her. How did he know?
Oh well, only one left now. And if it isn’t her, then she really has no clue who it is.
---
So at lunchtime, Kyouka approaches Ashido Mina.
“Hi, what’s up?” Mina says, looking up at her and grinning.
“Um… I… well, I noticed you’ve got your soulmate mark filled in, so… have you met them yet?”
“Not that I’m aware. Why?”
“Because mine filled in around the time I met everyone at the entrance exam, so I don’t know who it might be. So I’ve been talking to everyone who has their’s filled in and… hoping I might find them.”
Mina stares at her, and Kyouka stares down at her tattoo. Her tattoo that is pink… pink like a certain girl’s skin…
And she stares at Mina, her eyes widening. “Oh… is it you?”
Mina blinks, confused. “Me what?”
“Are you my soulmate?”
She can’t believe it. Is Ashido Mina her soulmate?
“Um… I think so,” Mina says, looking at her own mark, which is the exact same colour as Kyouka’s hair. She starts to smile. “Are we soulmates?”
Kyouka laughs weakly, so amazed by this. Has she found her soulmate?
“I think so,” she says, raising her eyebrows when she realises she just repeated what Mina said.
Mina reaches for her hand and interlocks her fingers. Kyouka doesn’t pull away, the smile never once leaving her face.
---
A few weeks later, the girls share a tentative first kiss.
And that’s that.
She has found her soulmate.
She’s happy.