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“some memories never leave your bones. like salt in the sea; they become part of you -
and you carry them”
Yoarashi Inasa had believed in soul mates from the beginning. He was always excited to hear the tales his mother used to whisper in a tender voice, to understand the wondrous appeal of the whole concept, the marks and the feelings.
"How did you know it?" He asked every night she kissed him on the cheek and let the blanket envelop him. "How did you know dad was your soul mate?"
His mother would always smile warmly and chuckle, saying that the sparkles in his brown irises were unique and that so much enthusiasm was a magnet to a beautiful, confident half.
"When their mark appears on your skin, it's going to be a continuous lack of something. Of someone." Her voice was quiet, fingers tracing Inasa's young features. "You'll know it, Inasa. When you see them, you'll know. Everything will fall into place. It will for once be peaceful."
And all Inasa could do was turn around in wonder and pray that sleep would come sooner or his wandering thoughts would eat him whole.
*
But, with time, all his colleagues began to get their marks. Certain places of skin streaked with symbols, signs, colors. When his desk mate got one, a very elegant, deep green leaf, he asked if he could touch it because it was surreal, precious. It was something he didn't have, didn't know.
To his utter surprise, he didn't feel anything. When his friend told him that no one besides him could actually feel it, he felt envious. He puffed his chest, trying to defend himself without words.
"How does it feel?" Curiosity was corroding his insides and he could barely hold himself still.
"I don't know, it's just there. It's vibrant, as if it's alive. Sometimes I can feel what she thinks, what she feels."
Inasa was so smitten after that. He checked his body every morning in hopes of seeing his soul mate's quirk imprinted on his skin. Every time he found nothing but pale, unblemished parts, he would pout and he remembers his mother trying to make him understand that best things take time.
*
He got his mark though, on a rainy day, after an awful practice and after his parents' fight, when he was sad and alone in his bed. He was fourteen at the time and he couldn't count on one hand the times he foolishly hoped for his soul mate to be with him.
Inasa wanted... He wanted warm hugs and chaste kisses. He wanted to feel at home more than he had already because he only had one year before he needed to concentrate on his dream to become a hero rather than lose time in school court playing childish games.
He rolled on his left side, facing the wall and closed his eyes. That was when his skin felt as if it was burning alive, itching and hurting. He screamed, but his wrist was empty. The pain though, it was a living creature waiting to devour him.
He blew cold air over the area and tried to ignore the wild beatings of his untamed heart. He was sure his face reddened. His pulse was rhythmically quick.
When he glanced at his wrist again, it was grazed with fire. His soul mate's quirk was one of fire, of raw power. He smiled and touched the wrist of his left hand with his lips. It was hot, as if boiling, and emotions were sewed into it in unbreakable thread.
Anger, hatred, sadness. Inasa felt like crying, too. His heart ached all of a sudden and he realized he wasn't the one plummeting through these feelings; his soul mate was. Not knowing what to do to make it better, he sat on the bed again, head on the fluffy pillow and he sang.
His father knew many foreign songs about brave soldiers and betrayed kings and he sang all of them in a quiet voice. He tried to calm his breathing and also his heart. He fell asleep that way, feeling lighter and hoping that his soul mate wasn't hurting anymore, that he'd be safe (because Inasa felt it was a 'he').
*
It wasn't the only mark he'd gotten, though. Of course Inasa used every opportunity to tell his parents what he thought his soul mate was doing, if he was all right, but he also kept some emotions to himself. They were sacred, things that had to exist in them both and not in the space around.
He was convinced the mark would remain the same, burning with such an intensity it was numbing. He was wrong, because he received a second one, right near the other; it wasn't made of fire and unstoppable rage. No. It was ice; like Inasa's skin was coated in a thin layer of ice (its pattern was undeniably realistic).
He couldn't keep his hands to himself and touched it before it was even whole. This time, it was fragile, broken and remade, dangerous in its frail way. Inasa was wearing a wide smile when he finally told his parents.
"This is so unusual," his mother said, touching his wrist and being lost in thought. "I think your soul mate may have two quirks."
Inasa beamed, happiness written all over his face. He kissed the skin once, then touched it, too. "I hope he's all right and waiting for me."
His mother stole a brief look from his father and looked at him with a smile on her face. "I'm sure he is."
*
Inasa thought he'd never get to hate a person more than his kindergarten teacher who didn't let him do anything he wanted, especially find out more about bonds and also bringing insects in the classroom. She was against everything that he was and he hated her for that.
He was, again, wrong. Todoroki Shouto was beyond all his expectations. He was extremely rude and so much like his father (a hero he had previously admired) that he avoided UA at all costs. Sure, the boy's ice quirk was nice and powerful, but his behaviour and rage were not. Inasa was just trying to be friendly.
Looking at Todoroki made his stomach churn and his throat constrict. He was rigid and his expression was unwelcoming. His fingers itched with the desire to... the desire to fight and win against him. His head was foggy and it ached. He needed a break.
Todoroki didn't seem to have anything and it set his anger aflame. Sure, Inasa was a big, caring person, but he also wanted to be respected in return - if not as a friend, then as a potential future student. All he received was a cold shoulder.
*
"Excuse me for this, but I pity your soul mate," he told Todoroki one day, arms crossed over his chest and blood running through his veins fast, the desire to confront the boy even stronger. "They have a lot to deal with."
He glanced at Todoroki and saw him with the same blank expression on his face, but not in his eyes. His eyes were... completely another story. They were different, charged and protruding through Inasa's soul. They were alive and prone to human affection and hurt. They were, albeit differently colored, alike.
Inasa's mark burned. He massaged his wrist, clenching his teeth and willing the pain to go away. Was his soul mate suffering? Was he alone again? He desperately wanted answers, wanted to calm him in every way he could before they actually met.
"I haven't met him," Todoroki said, curt as ever. He was calm, balanced - the exact opposite of Inasa who felt like running miles to stem the potent energy within him. "Not yet."
Inasa waited and a breeze bathed them in sand and autumn leaves. He coughed, looked straight ahead and pondered the words.
"Me neither," he admitted, a little flustered. "But I've got his mark on my wrist and I know we'll meet someday." He was exuding happiness, suddenly raising his voice and pumping his fist.
Todoroki watched him with the same strange expression and, unbelievably so, a trace of what might have been a smile turned the corners of his lips upwards by less than an inch. Inasa, captivated, gasped.
"You're smiling," he said, bewildered.
"I'm not," Todoroki disagreed and wiped the attempt with the turning of his head.
Nevertheless, Inasa had unwillingly memorized it.
*
Inasa hadn't forgotten anything about Todoroki Shouto since their last meeting. He was annoying, truly so, and he couldn't keep his thoughts from having him as the prime suspect; was he still the same as his father?; was he better than Inasa on his way to becoming a hero?; did he find his soul mate?
The last one left a bitter taste in Inasa's mouth and made him smack his face in irritation. He shouldn't think about Todoroki. He was sure the boy didn't even care about him.
They would have seen each other anyway, during their second year's training.
*
"Pay attention to your left!" Inasa shouted, struggling to keep up with the clustery of beasts attacking them. He used a strong wave of wind in his advantage and continued fighting.
Somehow, Todoroki Shouto was around, too. He was giving his best and controlling his ice quirk in ways Inasa hadn't seen before. He was calm, as usual, but his hands were shaking and he seemed to be biting the inside of his mouth.
Was he holding back? Inasa wasn't sure he wanted to find out. Claws digging into his armor had him stifling a groan and letting out a chuckle instead. With an important part of his strength, he surged forward.
It was at the same time that Todoroki Shouto decided to hit the beast with an ice blast. A freezing pain had Inasa clenching his teeth and making his feet useless. When he glanced down, he saw the pure evidence: ice enveloped his legs entirely and a part of his left hand.
"What are you doing, Endeavor's son?" Inasa growled, flexing his arm to make the ice crack. It was hopeless. The power and concentration Todoroki put in the hit was almost inhuman. "Do I look like the enemy to you?"
Todoroki didn't answer. His breaths were shallow, fingers slightly unsteady. Inasa frowned, waiting. A sudden emptiness in him began hurting, begging him to do something. He tried to touch his mark, but was met with coolness.
"Excuse me. I lost my temper," Todoroki mumbled when coming closer to him, but his eyes were cast downwards, lips pulled tight together and there was an angry line set between his eyebrows.
Inasa saw him approaching too much, inspecting the damage. The layer of ice was thick and pressing against his costume, skin and bones. Todoroki raised the fingers of his left hand and sighed.
"Todoroki? Is everything all right?" A boyish voice asked, tearing them both apart from the bubble surrounding them. The fight was still on. "Are you hurt?"
Inasa recognized the one to be Midoriya Izuku, another golden student from UA. They explained the situation quickly and Midoriya nodded, visibly worried.
"It's better for you to go to Iida. I'll help Yoarashi," he told Todoroki.
Inasa wanted to ask the boy to stay. He didn't. Instead, he looked at his retreating back while Midoriya was breaking the ice around his wrist. The shivers and pain wrecking his body were all because of the shards, not because of something else.
He was holding onto that thought.
*
Inasa had become restless by the time he finally was eighteen. His soul mate was nowhere to be seen; his parents were fighting again and trying to hide it from him, but he saw. He saw the looks, the avoidance and he thought he never wanted to go through this.
Weren't soul mates meant to be together? Weren't they made for each other? How could they fight so recklessly?
The questions were the gun and his aunt's confession was the bullet. Together, they made it harder for Inasa to keep smiling and joking and hoping.
"I never got to be together with my soul mate," she said one evening, drinking from the tea he had made. "I got my mark early though. I was around seven when it appeared on my back."
"Didn't they want to be with you?" He asked, saddened and defeated. He brushed his mark absent-mindedly.
"Oh, no. It wasn't that. I guess it was partly my fault though. My soul mate was my childhood best friend and she... It had seemed so improbable at the time that I chose to ignore all the signs leading to her. I even went out of town for college. Six years later, she was already married and living happily."
She managed a small smile at the end, but it was forced and Inasa felt the need to hug her tight.
"What did she say, when you know... When you told her?" He said, swallowing the acrid taste on his tongue.
All his life, he's been waiting for his soul mate and to find out he was with someone already would be... devastating.
"She said she knew everything. She didn't tell me because she thought I'd reject her."
"You should have fought for her. Why didn't you explain the situation? Maybe she could have understood that-"
"Inasa, it's the way things are. You can't change them, no matter how hard you try."
No, no. Inasa refused to abide to such a situation. He refused to let his soul mate ever go without properly explaining to him why and when and how. He deserved to know, to think and then decide.
He knew that he'd never let go.
*
Inasa worked at his neighbor's flower shop a month during the summer. She was an old woman, a widow with three children and lots of grandchildren, but she felt alone sometimes and her family's business with flowers was still ongoing.
He had some time on his hands and it wasn't the first time; he used to prepare entire bouquets when he was eleven and he'd give them to his mother. Besides, he felt useful even when their classes were over and the villains' activity was persistent.
Inasa was arranging an elegant bouquet with fifty red roses, his hands occupied with trimming their leaves, when the bell chimed in announcement. It was rude to treat customers with his back, so he turned around as well as he could, still focusing on the matter.
"Hello! I apologize for my behavior, but I've got to finish this massive request first," he told the figure (because he still wasn't sure who entered) and prayed that it sounded formal enough and appropriate.
When he received no verbal response, he frowned. Did he hear something else? Did the person leave? Gnawing the inside of his mouth, he sighed while placing the bouquet on the counter. He was holding bits of leaves and thorns. Was because he dropped them flat to the floor as soon as he saw Todoroki Shouto staring at him.
"You," he said, but he didn't know if it was angry, resigned or something else entirely. "I - I mean... Uh..." His lack of coherence was explainable, since the person standing in front of him was the last one he'd ever want to see. "What can I do for you?" Inasa half-heartedly muttered, knowing he still needed to be nice to customers despite who they were.
Todoroki looked lost, his eyes glazed and hands tightened on his bag, which was slumped on his right shoulder. He seemed to try to say something, with his small mouth moving as if to form words, lips parted. It was difficult for him, Inasa realized.
"Is something wrong?" He asked, taking a step forward and still not being sure if the closure would make Todoroki stay or build more walls between them. At the moment though, it was quiet after a long time - no desire to outpass the other, no fights and no death glares.
It was... almost nice.
"No, no," Todoroki answered and coughed slightly. "I need a bouquet of flowers for my mother."
Inasa's eyes immediately narrowed. He'd never known Todoroki still visited his mother. The soulless moster he'd pictured in his mind wouldn't do that; if he were like Endeavor, he wouldn't do that. And suddenly, he asked himself if his opinion was somehow crooked at the edges.
"Of course!" Inasa smiled brightly, aware the love for a mother is above anything else. She needs some nice flowers to remind her how beautiful and brave and loved she is. "Did you... have any ideas?"
By the time Todoroki finished shaking his head, Inasa had already begun looking for the most beautiful bluebells they had. They smell like spring and their perfume is lasting, so he considered them the perfect choice.
"Are you a florist now?" Todoroki startled him, only a few steps behind. He was studying the various flowers as if they were aliens and Inasa could only chuckle at his cluelessness.
"During summer, yes." He was sucking on his bottom lip while trying to make a small, elegant bouquet to match Todorki's mother. "What about you? What are you doing over summer?"
Todoroki seemed taken aback by the question, judging by the way his mismatched eyes widened. Well, Inasa had always wanted to rise a reaction out of him. Digging his nails into his emotions was not an option, but it worked nonetheless.
"Training. Our school has a training program and I'm attending. I'm also seeing mother and my siblings." When Inasa glanced at him, he saw his attention was fixed on some red roses.
"Siblings?" He asked curiously. "Is it nice having brothers and sisters?" Being a single kid, he always felt nostalgia.
"Yes. They are everything to me." His voice was sure, unbreakable and Inasa decided he liked that version of Todoroki, the one not focused on winning all the time and accepting that loss is a part of life.
When Inasa offered him the end result of the bouquet (it was wrapped in a blue foil, patiently taken care of), Todoroki's eyes brightened and were at war with the sun filtering through the windows. Inasa felt his cheeks redden (surely from the heat).
After receiving the half price of the flowers (he may have lied about the payment a little), Inasa looked at Todoroki's retreating form. Something didn't sit right in him, in his stomach or in his mind. He wasn't sure which one of them was thinking for him when he called Todoroki, grabbed a rose and ran towards him.
"This is... uh... for you," he said gently and extended the flower carefully, its thorns stinging his skin and drawing droplets of blood. He felt like smacking himself, suddenly too aware of the circumstance. "I mean, you seemed to like it."
And Todoroki was standing, speechless, in the door of the flower shop. He glanced at the rose warily, but his eyes cleared and his fingers reached - a few centimeters and he could...
But that was the embarrassing moment when Inasa realized what an idiot he was. In his hurry, crushing the flower so hard in his hand, it broke in two. It looked the same, colorful and perfumed, but it was shattered and he felt like crying.
He had no words. Being the wary one, he looked at Todoroki and actually saw him smiling. Sure, it wasn't a big one, but it was genuine and it was sewn in the way his small lips curved at the edges.
"Don't worry," he murmured, stealing the broken flower from Inasa's hold. "Not all the shattered things can't be repaired." And just like that, he straightened the rose carefully in his right hand and froze its rupture.
The ice gleamed in the light. Inasa's heart skipped a beat and he knew - he damn knew he was in trouble.
*
That night, alone in his room, Inasa thought. He swallowed every time a dangerous zone was being crossed (what if... what if they are...?) and could barely sleep. He was tired, but the smile wouldn't leave his face. It felt as if he was living another's emotion, his soul mate's emotion.
What if Todoroki was his soul mate?
The blush coating his cheeks was insanely burning. His fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
"No, it can't. It can't be true," he murmured, exhaling into his pillow.
But as he told himself this, it felt like he was more and more ignoring the person he was.
*
His plan was to find out Todoroki had no other quirk, no additional power. If he could see it for himself, see that ice was the only one he could use, then he'd be sure. He'd be convinced.
The only way to do so, unfortunately, is to see his performance at UA Festival from his first year - the one he refused with steel stubbornness to follow. He didn't need to see more of that person, or so he'd thought.
Todoroki’s eyes were so much different than few hours before, cold as ice and distant. They were filled with hatred and malice and Inasa flinched when the stare seemed to be more for himself than to his colleagues. He hated that person - the one so much like Endeavor it was disgusting. But now, he knows Todoroki can have so many more emotions.
Inasa paid attention to everything. Every movement, every twitch of his fingers, every step towards the out-of-control area he so much feared. Then, Todoroki’s left side was aflame.
Inasa couldn’t breathe. He was stunned, seeing how the warmth from Todoroki’s left side thawed the ice on the right. It was mesmerizing. It was impossible.
They couldn’t be soul mates and yet… they were.
*
The following day, Inasa visits UA grounds. He is sweating, for the first time since coming, the emotions bubbling inside of him flooding his senses. It’s the first time he didn’t come with reluctance in his heart, but in his mind.
What if Todoroki knew? What if he despised Inasa and the day of the tests (when Inasa was frozen in place by those selfish eyes) would repeat itself?
“Yoarashi Inasa?” A green-haired boy asks, bewildered. He’s sure his name is Midoriya Izuku, the one who has fought with Todoroki at the Festival and convinced him to use his fire side.
“Midoriya Izuku,” he says and smiles. “Have you...seen Todoroki?”
Midoriya’s eyes widen and he’s suspicious (Inasa can see it etched on his face), but he nods and gestures behind him.
“He’s still training with Kacchan,” Midoriya sheepishly mutters and rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, Bakugou Katsuki.”
A strange feeling engulfs Inasa and wraps itself around his mind. Is it jealousy? It can’t be. It coils in his stomach and it’s rotten. He gets a distant sense of confusion straining to quell his worry. Perhaps Todoroki feels what Inasa goes through.
“I’ll go,” he decides and knows Midoriya’s instantly following his huge steps. Inasa is aware of his height and how imposing it can look - how he wanted it to be imposing when meeting Todoroki again. Now though, all he wants is for his soul mate to read peacefulness in his stance.
On the hall, he sees him. He’s covered in sweat and smelling like burnt flames, ashes. But when Inasa comes near him, he feels cold. His tongue knots itself and doesn’t want, in any way, to form words.
“You came,” Todoroki breaks the silence and he’s breathing a little too hard, clenching his fists.
“Did you expect me to?” He’s stricken by guilt immediately, because it’s not the proper way you meet someone so important to him. “I actually have a reason.”
Todoroki sighs and puts his arms around himself protectively. Inasa wants nothing more than to crush him between his arms. Despite all the disagreements in the past, despite Todoroki’s blood relation to a hero he hates, Inasa wants to forget it all. He wants to forgive.
“You found out we’re soul mates,” Todoroki says and it sounds like a sentence, like something Inasa would hate with all he has. A few months ago, he would hate the idea. Nevertheless, he doesn’t want to think about his aunt and the way she never got the chance to have a family with the person destined to her.
“Yes. Last night, I realized it. I should’ve known sooner, Todoroki,” he whispers and the words floating in the space between the two of them are sincere.
Todoroki flinches as if burnt by the admission. His body is tense and ready to leave in a second. Inasa frowns and barely catches his soul mate’s wrist, holding on tight. He wants to scream, but he knows it won’t be the right decision if he wants Todoroki to listen to him.
“At least let me explain,” he complains and swallows the lump in his throat. He’s nervous. “If I would’ve known you were my soul mate before…” Inasa begins and sees Todoroki close his eyes in retaliation, “I would’ve done this sooner.”
Without thinking more about his actions or Todoroki’s way of understanding the gesture, he puts his arms around Todoroki. It’s both cold and hot at touch and Inasa revels in the feeling. His soul mark burns. It aches and itches and then, after these years, it quiets and remains a soothing presence. Inasa sighs and smiles.
“I knew it,” he tells more to himself than to Todoroki. “I knew something was wrong with you ever since the beginning. I was just so caught up in my own desire to hate you that I didn’t realize it was right all along.”
Todoroki Shouto, his soul mate, was taken aback (judging by the way his breath got tangled in his lungs). His eyes were big, clear and full of wonder.
“You… don’t hate me,” Todoroki murmurs and breaks into a small smile, so wonderful in its appearance and rare that Inasa feels it pressed to the skin of his neck.
“I don’t,” Inasa mutters, smiling goofily too. “I don’t hate you or our bond. I could never hate my soul mate.”
Todoroki shivers at the way Inasa’s tone deepens on the ‘my’ and it’s a premiere to see him loosen his muscles and accept the touch. Todoroki’s hands go around Inasa. Despite their height difference, the hug they engage into is equally satisfying and leaving them craving for more.
Inasa lets his palms wander on Todoroki’s back, lets skin linger on skin where his sleeveless shirt doesn’t cover it. Todoroki, in return, has his arms around Inasa’s neck and is pliable under his touch.
“I want to see your mark,” Inasa hears mumbled in his neck, almost imperceptible.
Reluctantly, he gives Todoroki some space and rolls his armband so that the mark is visible, untouched and pristine - just like the person in front of him.
“May I touch it?” Todoroki asks and gets a nod in response.
He uses his thumb to go over the ice and fire symbols and Inasa feels a wave of electricity go through him. He inhales and grabs Todoroki’s wrist in need of closure. It’s what he feels like doing, it’s what his mind tells him to do.
“Your turn, Todoroki,” he whispers and is glad the boy hears him properly. The air exchanged between them and the words that float in it are precious.
Putting the surprise aside, Todoroki nods too and turns with his back facing Inasa. Slowly, he lifts the shirt and leaves his skin bare. Inasa swallows and is met with another different feeling when he sees the outline of the mark. It’s in the center of Todoroki’s shoulders and it’s much bigger than his own.
He notices a circle of white lines that represent wind waves. Inasa’s fingers touch it before he can think twice. Half of the mark is on the ice side and the other half of it on the fire one. It’s both cold and hot at the same time, just like Todoroki. Being too brave out of the sudden, Inasa brings his lips to the skin and wraps his arms around Todoroki’s middle, burying him in his chest.
“I don’t want to ever let you go,” he painfully admits and inhales his soul mate’s smell. He’ll remember it - sweat, musk and something entirely Todoroki Shouto it’s intoxicating.
“You won’t have to,” Todoroki says and squeezes Inasa’s hands. “I’m not leaving anywhere.”
*
“You look… weird,” Camie comments, hands on her hips and lips pursed.
“What do you mean?” He fidgets with his armband and feels too much energy surging through him, through his bond with the boy he used to hate without a solid reason.
“Your legs won’t stop shaking and your whole face is red.” She smirks. “Is it because of that cutie?” Inasa doesn’t have to look towards where her fingers are pointing.
Todoroki stays as unreadable as ever on the grounds of their third simulation as future heroes. He’s with his class, on the side of UA, but he steals glances towards him often. To others, his eyes are unreadable. To Inasa, they tell so much.
He has an urgent need to kiss him senseless and to cradle him in his arms. Without being able to physically do it, he touches his bond mark and names all the things he’d do of they were alone and/or together.
He smiles when Todoroki shivers.
“So it’s because of him,” Camie mutters, pressing a thumb to her bottom lip in thought. “Didn’t you use to hate Endeavor’s son and UA in general?”
“I did. Before I got to know him,” Inasa admits and smiles brightly, clumsily, at his soul mate. Then, he waves with his hand and shouts, “Let’s win this time, UA!”
But what he means is, ‘let’s work together, Todoroki, and win’.
And, be it fate or pure luck or nothing at all, they do.
*
They kiss for the first time when they waste time at Inasa’s house. His parents are in the kitchen and minding their own business. His mother loved Todoroki from the first time since seeing him and his father looked in amazement how well the two of them could understand each other.
So, when a specifically terrifying scene unfolds on the screen before them, Inasa hides his head in Todoroki’s neck and kisses the bare skin. In response, his soul mate’s fingers brush his hair and heat envelops both of them.
In an excess of bravery and a drop of selfishness, Torodoki grabs Inasa’s nape and lowers his head so their lips can touch. It’s not wild, but calm - relaxing. It makes them aware of their bond and how it strengthens with every passing day they are together.
And really, Inasa couldn’t ask for more from fate. He’s met the person destined to him and that person likes him back. It’s maddening, yet true. It’s his life finally making sense entirely, without gaps and bad things.
Well, there would be a rather gap threatening to never give them peace. Inasa breaks their kiss when realization hits him in the face. Todoroki pouts.
“What’s the matter?” He asks, bringing his lips closer to Inasa’s, dying to capture them in a mind-numbing kiss.
Inasa shoves him slightly away by his shoulders.
“What if your father doesn’t like me?”
Todoroki could have been struck by silence, judging by how he was left speechless.
“At this moment,” he says and brushes a finger over Inasa’s red lips, “I couldn’t care less.”
If Todoroki doesn’t worry, neither will Inasa. Besides, as long as they fight together - not against one another, how could anything break them?