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Izuku always wondered what his soulmate was going to be like. He was so worried that his soulmate would turn away from him, much like his best friend had done when he found out Izuku was quirkless. His classmates in Junior High mocked him often about the type of person his soulmate would be. How they would either have to be just as useless as ‘Deku’ or they would walk away the moment they saw how much of an idiot Izuku was. Izuku tried to ignore the words. His soulmate was supposed to be someone that would love him no matter what, right?
Even if he was quirkless.
His words made his soulmate seem like a nice person. That was the only thing he could really hang onto. The words, Oh hey, Midoriya is here! Good work! wrapped around Izuku’s ankle. If it was just the first part, Izuku might be a bit more worried. After all, a lot of people sneered in his direction and said something like, “oh, look, there’s Midoriya” and stuff similar to that. But the compliment after it made it seem like the person was actually excited to see him.
He wondered what compliment was for. What had he done to deserve it? He knew that one day he would find out exactly what it was but… but he really, really hoped that day would come soon.
He felt like he needed it.
Izuku was shaking the day he entered UA High. This was a new adventure with a new group of people. People that had no idea that he had been quirkless most of his life, people that knew nothing about his history with Kacchan, people that he could, hopefully, befriend. He just hoped that-
The sound of an explosion echoed throughout the room and Izuku’s hope was dashed. He knew that Kacchan had been accepted into UA, of course he had with how their Junior High had announced that the two of them were heading to UA, but he had hoped that they would be in different classes. Surely there were more than one hero class… but Izuku’s horrible luck had seemed to strike yet again and here he was. In the same class as Kacchan.
A very, very angry Kacchan.
“What the hell are you doing here, Deku?”
“This is my class, Kacchan.”
The furious expression on Kacchan’s face only grew when he found out that Izuku had a quirk. Even one that broke Izuku’s bones when he used it. Izuku ducked his head and ignored the look Kacchan was giving him. He had seen so many cool quirks that day from his classmates, he just wanted to start pages on each of them in his journal. There was Uraraka’s quirk which made things float, the kid that shot a laser from his bellybutton, and the girl that could create things from her body. He couldn’t wait to ask them, and the rest of his classmates, details about their quirks.
He was able to do so with Iida and Uraraka. They were both pretty open with him and didn’t seem to mind when he began to ramble questions and mutter to himself. Izuku thought that they might even be friends. Actual friends.
It wasn’t until All Might’s first lesson that things changed once again. He and Uraraka were paired up against Kacchan and Iida and Izuku knew that Kacchan was going to be gunning for him. And he was terrified. However, be steeled himself and met the angry blond head on, allowing Uraraka to move toward their goal.
He didn’t expect to break his entire body in the process.
He and Uraraka won the exercise but Izuku wasn’t really able to enjoy it. Kacchan was angrier than he had been in years, Izuku was in an almost unbearable amount of pain, and Recovery Girl wasn’t able to completely heal him. She was able to take the worst of it, however, and Izuku soon found himself shuffling down the hallway with half of his body covered in bandages and his arm in a sling. He sighed and pushed open the classroom door, not expecting to see anyone inside. Class was over for the day and he was sure his classmates were already gone.
He was wrong.
“Oh hey, Midoriya is here! Good work!” Izuku let out a small gasp and looked up, blinking at the brightly grinning redhead that was walking toward him along with a few other classmates. “Man, I don’t know what you were saying during the match but you were fired up!” the boy said, punching his fist into the air.
“I can’t believe you fought evenly with Bakugou, who was the first in the entrance exam!” another of the boys surrounding him said brightly.
“You did a good job dodging!” a girl with pink skin and hair said happily.
Izuku was having trouble focusing on all of the conversation going on around him. Those words, Oh hey, Midoriya is here! Good work!, were ringing through his head. Was this…was this him? Had he been in class with his soulmate the last few days and hadn’t even realized it? Did he know? Had Izuku said anything? He talked out loud so often…but the words only registered if he spoke directly to him, right? He hadn’t said anything to him…not that he knew of. What if he had said something completely meaningless?! What if he had been one of those people that he had bumped into and said a quick “sorry!” to? Or an “excuse me!”. He had always felt sorry for people who had marks like that. A phrase that they heard multiple times a day. They were then forced to basically rely on the other person to alert them… was the boy in front of him one of those people?
“You guys did that in the first match so the rest of us had to give it our all, too!”
“You were far from elegant, but-“
“You did a good job dodging!”
“Huh?” Izuku gasped out as the words floated around in his head and he tried to process what was going on. He wasn’t sure what to say to the people surrounding him. He couldn’t remember a time he had this many people looking at him in a way that was positive and he was trying to stop himself from staring at the redhead in front of him.
“I’m Kirishma Eijiro!” the boy spoke again, still smiling in Izuku’s direction. Kirishima Eijiro. He had a name. Kirishima gestured to the boy behind him that had talked about Bakugou. “We’re all going over the training together right now.”
“I’m Sero Hanta,” the boy Kirishima was gesturing to spoke next.
“I’m Aoya-“
“I’m Ashido Mina! You did a good job dodging!”
“I’m Tsuyu Asui,” another girl spoke up, one that Izuku hadn’t noticed until now.
“I’m Sato.”
“Um…” Izuku stammered as more people seemed to flood in around him.
“I’m Mineta!”
“Where the heck did you pop out of?”
“I’m Aoyama Yuga.”
The group was distracted as Iida ran forward and began to yell at another classmate for sitting on the desk. Izuku let out a deep, relieved breath to have everyone’s eyes off of him. He shifted his gaze to the redhead at his side whose focus was fully on the glasses wearing boy across the room. He had just said Izuku’s words. Surely he would have made some sort of action if Izuku had said his words… unless his words were something simple and common. But, but he would have at least checked to see if his words matched Izuku’s, right?
But he hadn’t.
So he wasn’t.
Izuku glanced over as the door slid open once more and Uraraka walked in with another boy. “Wait, Deku, she didn’t heal your injuries?”
“Oh, uh, it’s because of how much stamina I have, and…” Izuku trailed off as his eyes fell on Kacchan’s empty desk. “Um, Uraraka, more importantly, where is Kacchan?”
“Gone. We all tried to stop him but-“
Izuku took off running toward the gate, wanting to catch up with his childhood friend and explain himself. He tried, really he did, but it was hard to explain what had happened. Especially since it was unheard of for a quirk to be passed on like One for All had been.
Not much changed after that day. Although his classmates had introduced themselves and seemed to like him, they didn’t really talk to him much and classes went on. Training went on. The only thing that was different was that Izuku found his eyes drawn to Kirishima more and more often. He found himself studying the other boy whenever they had free time. Kirishima had seemed to gravitate toward Kacchan – something that seemed to annoy his childhood friend and make something in Izuku’s chest clench. He didn’t stop to figure out the reason for the feeling, he just pushed it aside and told himself firmly that he was happy Kacchan was making friends.
When Aizawa announced that they needed to choose a class representative, everyone in the class was quick to throw their own names out there. Even Izuku had hesitantly raised his own hand, knowing that being the class rep for a hero class in UA could help him later in life. Iida was the one that thought it would be best to vote. Izuku had been completely shocked when he realized that, somehow, he ended up with three votes and was now the class representative.
He really didn’t understand.
Despite their losses, most of his classmates seemed happy with the decision. Izuku even heard Kirishima say that he was a good choice which made him flush. He was shocked to realize that Iida and Uraraka, his two closest friends, had both voted for him, despite Iida’s wish to be representative himself. Izuku was appreciative that they had such faith in him and that even the rest of his classmates seemed to agree that he was a good pick for the position…but that didn’t stop his own doubts in himself. And the fact that Kacchan seemed to agree with him just made it worse. After all, Kacchan had known him longer than anyone else in the class. He knew him better. If Kacchan didn’t think he could do it…
The thought was just affirmed when the alarms went off and every person in the school attempted to get the safety zone at the same moment. With everyone pushing and panicking, it caused a difficult and dangerous situation within the halls. But Iida took charge and got himself propelled to the front of the group to explain what was truly happening and calm everyone down. The action made Izuku consider his position. He had been pushed around and at a loss of what to do while Iida had taken charge of the situation.
The action made up Izuku’s mind.
That was how he found himself standing in front of class 1-A, shaking and stuttering as he tried to explain himself. “I think… that Iida Tenya should be the class rep after all! He was able to get everyone’s attention in such a cool way. I think it would be best for Iida to do it!”
“I’m good with that too,” a voice said and Izuku’s eyes flew over toward the redhead that had held his attention the last week. “Midoriya’s saying it and it’s true that Iida was a big help at the cafeteria today.”
“Yeah, and he kind of looks like the person on the emergency exit signs, didn’t he?”
And with that, Iida was now their class representative. Izuku’s eyes met Kirishima’s and he smiled at the redhead that was quick to back him up. Kirishima’s grin broadened and Izuku quickly made his way back toward his seat, giving his position up to Iida.
It was only a couple of days after that when Aizawa announced that they would be having rescue training with himself, All Might, and one other person. Most of his classmates were quick to change into their hero costumes but Izuku didn’t do the same. His costume had been ripped during training, so he got dressed in his workout clothes and his support items. They all climbed onto the bus (by student number, as Iida instructed) and then had to laugh when they saw that the seats were not set up the way the boy had anticipated. He sank down onto the bench in disappointment while the rest of the class laughed. Izuku found himself smiling as well, especially when he heard the brash but welcoming laughter coming from one person down. Kirishima was sitting at the end of the bench, only one person sitting between him and Izuku.
They had barely began moving when Asui turned to him. “I say whatever comes to mind,” the girl informed them all. “Midoriya…”
“Um, yes, Asui?”
“Call me Tsu.”
“Right,” Izuku sighed. He had been told that more than once he just…it seemed rude, even if she was requesting it of him.
“Your quirk is like All Might’s,” Tsu said bluntly.
Izuku’s heart began to pound in his chest. “Y-you think so?” What was he supposed to say to that? How could he make them turn their attention away from him? “But I’m…”
“Wait a sec, Tsu,” a very welcomed voice cut in. Izuku’s shoulders slumped, thankful that Kirishima had somehow known that he wanted the attention away from him. “All Might doesn’t get hurt when he uses his. They just kind of look the same. But it’s nice to have a simple augmenting-type quirk. You can do lots of flashy stuff! My hardening’s strong against others, but unfortunately, it doesn’t look like much.”
Izuku, who had been staring at the hardened arm in fascination, was quick to dispute that. “I think it’s really cool! It’s a quirk that can definitely pass as a pro’s!”
The arm dropped and Kirishima blinked at Izuku in surprise. After a few seconds of silence, Izuku wondered if, maybe, he had said something wrong. He shifted anxiously as Kirishima’s face shifted through multiple emotions, most of them so fast that he couldn’t figure out what they were, until he looked down at his arm. “A pro’s, huh? But you have to think about popularity as a hero, too, you know.”
“My navel laser is pro-level in both flashiness and strength-“
“But it’s not great that it gives you a stomachache,” Ashido said quickly, but she placed a comforting hand on the blond boy’s shoulder.
Kirishima, who had been looking at Izuku for some weird reason, cleared his throat and glanced to the side. “Well, if you’re talking about flashy and strong, it’s gotta be Todoroki and Bakugou, though.” Izuku looked at the two boys in question and forced back a sigh. Right. Kacchan had always been amazing and he was quickly realizing that Todoroki was the same. They were both people he would have to beat if he wanted to be on top.
“Bakugou’s always mad, so he doesn’t seem like he’ll be popular, though,” Tsu croaked. Izuku reeled back in shock that someone would speak about Kacchan like that – especially since he within hearing range. As expected, the blond boy exploded to his feet and began to yell loudly. “See?” the girl said, not even flinching at the explosive blond.
“We haven’t known each other that long,” Kaminari said with a smile. “So it’s amazing that everyone already knows his personality is crap steeped in sewage.”
“What’s with that vocabulary, bastard?! I’ll kill you!”
Izuku’s head dropped into his hands as his body began to shake. Kacchan was being…teased? These people were secure enough to do that? But…but Kacchan was… what if he came after them? What if they… he didn’t know. He had never imagined someone teasing Kacchan.
Luckily, they arrived at the facility quickly after that and Izuku is able to get off of the bus before anything else happens. “Hey, Midoriya!” Izuku turned, smiling when he saw the familiar redhead bounding toward him. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure!” Izuku replied. What could he want to talk about? Was it because of the conversation on the bus? Had he actually done something wrong and he hadn’t realized? He really hoped not – he liked Kirishima and he didn’t want him to be upset with him.
Kirishima returned the easy smile but there was a bit of hesitation there that made Izuku worried. “I, well, this is a bit awkward but-“
“Everyone, I have been waiting for you,” a new voice cut in, causing the two of them to turn in surprise toward the person in front of them. Izuku’s widened at what he saw. It was the Space Hero, Thirteen! Izuku had an entire three pages dedicated to the hero in his journals. Izuku’s hands flew up to his mouth in shock.
He wasn’t the only on excited.
“Oh, I love Thirteen!” Uraraka said beside him, pumping her fists into the air.
“Let’s go inside without delay,” Thirteen said, pointing toward the facility. Izuku followed along with the rest of his classmates, in shock at being so close to the rescue hero. It wasn’t until they were getting ready to walk inside that he remembered the interrupted conversation and he turned to look at Kirishima again – but the redhead was no longer at his side. Izuku frowned and glanced around. Kirishima had wandered over to Kaminari.
Well, he supposed they could talk later.
Later was subjective. Their training was interrupted by villains and by the time they villains were gone and everyone was accounted for, Izuku was being ushered away toward Recovery Girl due to his injuries. He had seen Kirishima running toward him after the villains disappeared but he had been turned away by some of the other teachers.
It was after he had been fixed up by Recovery Girl and had spoken to All Might that Kirishima appeared in the doorway. He hesitated a moment when he saw Izuku standing. “Oh, Kirishima! I’ve just been cleared to go,” Izuku said brightly, moving forward before the boy could see All Might in the bed beside him. Not that he would know who he was but…it was better that he didn’t wonder.
“Good,” Kirishima said in relief, reaching up and grabbing at his hair. Izuku had the feeling that he would be running his fingers through it if it didn’t have so much product in it to make it stand up. “I was coming to check on you but I guess everything is fine…” he laughed, sounding a bit embarrassed. “Uh, walk together to the train station?”
“Sure,” Izuku replied, his heart pounding in his chest. The two boys began walking down the hall and toward the front of the school in silence. They were hallway down the street when Kirishima let out a shaky laugh and stopped walking. Izuku stopped as well and looked at the other boy, his palms sweating and heart pounding. “Kirishima? Is everything alright?”
The other boy nodded his head, still chuckling. “Yeah, yeah. Fine. I just – well, remember how I said I wanted to talk to you? Before everything happened?”
“Right,” Izuku agreed quickly.
“Well… what you said to me on the bus. About my quirk being cool?”
“It is cool!” Izuku defended his statement, hoping the other boy would realize what he was saying was true. There were so many ways his quirk could be used and so many people he could save with it. “Don’t think it isn’t! Actually, I would love to ask you some questions about it! I need to-“
“Woah, thanks, but I wasn’t fishing for compliments or anything like that!” Kirishima said loudly, waving his hand around. Izuku blinked at the reaction.
“I…didn’t think you were? Sorry, was that not what you wanted to talk about?”
Kirishima shook his head, “no! It just… well, when you said that, I realized that you had never actually spoken directly to me, you know? Like, I’ve heard you speak, but you were always talking to a group, or addressing someone else… that was the first time you said anything and I just…”
Izuku’s brows furrowed. Was that true? Was that really the first time he had said something to the other boy directly? That couldn’t be true! Surely he said something when Kirishima introduced himself…but that had been after the fight with Kacchan and he had been so tired…and they had all surrounded him. But they had been in class together for weeks! He had to have said something! “Oh. I, uh, sorry? It wasn’t on purpose, I promise! I mean, I talk all the time so I guess I didn’t realize? I don’t want you to think I don’t like you or something! I do! You’re so cool and nice and your quirk is awesome and you just-“
“Midoriya!” Kirishima squeaked loudly. Izuku blinked and focused back on the boy in front of him, his mouth dropping open slightly when he saw the bright red cheeks that were quickly hidden as Kirishima buried his face in his hands. “That wasn’t….I….thanks? For what you said? But I didn’t think you disliked me or anything! I just…well, I was kind of hoping…” he trailed off and let out a loud groan. Izuku was now thoroughly confused and a bit embarrassed, considering he had just spouted off how great he thought Kirishima was. Now he looked like an idiot. He would be lucky if the boy wanted to speak to him again after this conversation. “Maybe it would be easier to just show you,” Kirishima muttered. Izuku yelped as Kirishima suddenly bent down and lifted his left pant leg.
“Kirishima?” Izuku squeaked.
“Sorry, weird,” Kirishima apologized instantly but he continued to raise the fabric. “Just…look?”
Izuku did and his eyes widened at what he saw. There on the leg that had been presented to him, were the words I think it’s really cool! It’s a quirk that can definitely pass as a pro’s!. His face burned when he remembered the words he had spoken on the bus. At first, elation rose in his chest. Kirishima was his soulmate! There was a reason he had felt so drawn to the other boy over the past few weeks!
Just as quickly, guilt took its place. He had spent days convincing himself that Kirishima wasn’t his soulmate because the other boy hadn’t reacted to his words…words that had never been spoken! If he had just asked the other boy when it happened… “I’m sorry!” Izuku said, bowing. “I didn’t think it was you because you didn’t say anything and I thought that it was just a coincidence! I didn’t realize that I never actually said anything! So sorry!”
There were a few seconds of silence between them and in that time, Izuku could feel his heart banging against his ribs and hear the blood rushing through his ears. He was such an idiot! Deku! Just like Kacchan had always said! He wouldn’t blame Kirishima if he wanted to reject their bond and –
“Hey,” the word was softly spoken and the hand that accompanied it was the same. The hand was placed on Izuku’s shoulder. Izuku, tears streaming down his face, glanced up. Kirishima was smiling. The smile faltered slightly when he saw Izuku’s face. “I’m not angry but you gotta be real with me, dude. Does that reaction mean what I think it does?”
Izuku’s brows furrowed at the question but his eyes widened in realization and he scrambled to pull up his own pant leg so Kirishima could see the words scrawled around his ankle. “Sorry!” he apologized yet again. “They – yes! I knew when you said them but I…well, I already explained that. I’m sorry!” The tears continued to fall as Izuku’s body shook.
“It’s all cool,” Kirishima responded easily, though Izuku noticed his voice was less steady than it usually was. He dropped down onto his knees and peered closely at the words on Izuku’s ankle. He reached out toward them, only to pause and glance up at Izuku. Izuku nodded slowly and those fingers brushed against Izuku’s skin. “I get it. You’re a pretty nervous guy so it makes sense that you would wait for someone to come to you first.”
Izuku wondered if he should be thankful that Kirishima already seemed to understand him so well or offended because…well, because that didn’t exactly paint him in the best light. “I…uh…”
Kirishima’s hand fell away and then he was standing beside Izuku once more. Izuku let his pant leg drop and he stood up straight. “Like I said, it’s fine. Besides, if you had tried to talk to me earlier, who knows what my words would say,” Kirishima teased. “I might just have a bunch of letters on my skin that don’t make any sense.”
Izuku blushed. “Hey!”
“You aren’t denying it,” Kirishima laughed. His arm slowly wrapped around Izuku’s shoulders and Izuku’s throat went dry as he shifted closer toward the redhead. “So…feel like getting some dinner? Get to know each other a little bit?”
Izuku nodded so quickly and hard that his neck cracked. Kirishima’s laughter rang out down the street as he led them toward the nearest restaurant.