Work Text:
"You're late," Shouta calls out when he hears the door open. He doesn't honestly care, not when it's only by twenty minutes, but Hizashi always scrambles to come up with a story, only sometimes giving him something believable.
"I was in jail!"
He's never actually heard that one before.
"About time," Shouta replies blandly, only to be whacked on the back of his head by a heavy folder that Hizashi then places in front of him.
"I wasn't actually in jail, but I was down at the station. You know those knifings going down the past few months?"
"Always couples, most of the victims survived?"
Hizashi nods. "Right. Well they knew none of the couples were soulmates, so they had a working theory that whoever's doing it is some crazy purist."
Shouta glances through the folder, at the photos of the victims and the descriptions of their wounds. "Crazy as in actually mentally ill? Because it seems like this person's not completely in control of themself, judging by the wounds. That, or they weren't actually trying to kill anyone. The only fatalities were the two who fought back."
"They think maybe it's on purpose, to leave them scarred and scared, because after the one last night, they made another connection. Check it out."
Shouta flips to the back, where among the reports is a printout of a social media post, a photo of the couple having apparently been taken shortly after a proposal.
"See the tags?"
Shouta glances below the picture.
‘I’ll admit it, I didn’t see it coming.
#bestdayofmylife #sofar #opensoul #lovewithoutchains'
"They went back and looked at the other victims," Hizashi continues. "All of them were very outspoken about not being soulmates."
Shouta's been seeing more and more of the 'open soul' movement the past few years: people who ignore or defy their soul marks and date whomever they wish, universe-approved or not.
Personally he doesn't see the point. If some unknowable force has already found the person most compatible for you, why bother seeking out someone else? It's likely to lead only to headaches and heartbreaks.
But he understands the reasoning. What if the universe is wrong? If you're really only destined for one person, why is it even possible to fall in love with someone else? Why live your life shutting out all possibilities when it's a known fact that plenty of people die of old age alone, having never found their soulmate.
But he’s probably not in a place to judge either side of the argument.
He doesn't have a soulmate.
He has no strange birthmarks, no tattoos. No inexplicable scars. No red string attached to his wrist. No writing mysteriously shows up on his skin. He doesn't randomly taste or smell things that aren't there. No visions, no voices, no dreams of people he's never met.
Sometimes he wonders if whatever's in charge of soul marks already knew what his personality would be, or if he grew up to be like he is because he knew he'd end up alone anyway.
It both bothers him and doesn't. He's fine alone; he has friends, he has cats, he has two jobs he more or less enjoys. He's never felt lonely enough to wish he had somebody to hold.
(Not entirely true; he's had urges and had people to satisfy those urges, they were just never romantic urges.)
But part of him must be bothered. Or upset, or ashamed, because he keeps it secret. Even Hizashi doesn't know. Shouta also just says it's for him to know when asked what his mark is, and the sacredness of that intimate bond shared between soulmates is enough to keep even his best friend from pressing him about it.
"And what's your role in this?" Shouta asks.
"I'm bait."
Shouta jerks his head up. "What?"
"Well none of the couples knew each other, so this guy is finding them by social media. The detectives figure that if someone high-profile starts dating someone and tagging stuff as open soul, it'll lure him out. Easier than trying to guess where he'll hit next."
"But why you?"
Hizashi shrugs. "I'm well-known without being, like, All Might levels of famous, I can protect myself and my so-called partner, and I've kept quiet about my love life, so I can pretty much make up whatever I want and there's nothing to contradict it."
Logical. However much he balks at Hizashi becoming a target, it's a sound plan.
"And your partner?"
"They're brainstorming. They want someone who-"
"Me."
Hizashi blinks. "You?"
"You'll want someone capable of protecting themself should something happen. A hero would be best, but using somebody else in the public eye will mean too much attention; you might scare this guy off. If it comes to a fight, we work well together, and I've worked stuff like this before. And it'll be far easier to fake a relationship with somebody you already know well."
Hizashi stares. "That's a good point. But are you sure you want to? People are gonna be pretty interested in whoever I'm dating. And also, I mean, I don't know if you're looking or anything..."
They're back to this.
Nobody's ever outright said so, but they pity him. Shouta knows it from how Hizashi only asks him if he's made any progress toward finding his soulmate when he's drunk, and how Nemuri will go out of her way to mention that a mutual acquaintance is open soul. They're worried he's going to end up alone. It's funny, in a way.
But it's mostly just annoying.
"It's still believable that Present Mic would want to protect his partner's privacy," Shouta says, purposefully ignoring the latter of Hizashi's worries. "Or just say that I'm shy. Pictures don't need to show my whole face, and I can wear a hat or something if we have to go out somewhere."
Hizashi laughs. "All you'd have to do is shave, you look about ten years younger."
Shouta glares.
"You know I'm right. But really, you're okay with it? We'd have to make it look real."
Shouta doesn't want to tell him it's because he's worried about him.
Hizashi's always put too much of his heart into everything. Everyone. He'd had the same casual relationships most people did when they were young - temporary flings they both understood weren't real, were just practice, were just for fun. (The hypocrisy of people who had partners like that but still staunchly opposed the open soul movement makes Shouta grind his teeth.)
But Hizashi always got too attached, was always so upset when the other person ended it, as if he'd been in it for the long run since the beginning.
Shouta could easily imagine the same thing happening with Hizashi's fake lover. He'd start to fall for them and they wouldn't think twice once it was over.
"You once asked me to make out with you 'for practice' but now that I'm offering, you don't want to?"
Hizashi sputters. "Oh come on, I was sixteen!"
*****
They get the okay from the detectives and bring Hizashi's publicist in on it (she's excited enough about marketing their story that Shouta thinks she's been waiting for Hizashi to start dating someone). Once she approves it, Hizashi makes his ‘coming out’ post.
(art by@tummiestix)
Shouta doesn't remember what made him smile sincerely enough Hizashi had teased him about it, but later, when he's staring at the photo and watching the comments pour in, he spends as much time looking at his own uncharacteristic smile as he does the soul mark so openly displayed on Hizashi’s wrist.
The reactions are almost entirely positive. There are a few long, sanctimonious comments about 'no longer being able to support Present Mic as long as he continues to live such a lifestyle', but the post had become one the account's most popular overnight.
Shouta had expected as much - fans of Present Mic tend to be a liberal bunch - but he's not expecting it when his students find out. He's apparently underestimated just how much attention they pay to Hizashi's various social media accounts. But they do see Shouta every day, so it was enough of a tell when he showed up to teach without his usual scruff the morning after that first post. So when he enters his classroom one morning to the usual sudden hush but an unusual amount of eager stares, he starts wondering how long they’ll hold out.
The photo of their clasped hands beside a latte art heart goes up without a reaction, as does the point of view shot of them cuddling on the couch with one of Shouta’s cats curled atop them. They manage to contain their curiosity until the morning after Hizashi posts an awkward yet apparently cute shot of them hugging, Hizashi smiling at the camera over Shouta's shoulder, Shouta's hair obscuring his face while still leaving it obvious he's kissing Hizashi's cheek.
'anyone who says #opensoul relationships are wrong just needs to feel what I'm feeling rn #wecute #hecuterthanme #forreal'
It starts with Ashido bursting out with "who asked who out first?' and devolves into half the class agreeing that theirs is some sort of epic romance, defying fate to be with the one they love. Shouta only tells them that their teachers' private lives are none of their business (perhaps a moot point given that one of the teachers in question is a celebrity who regularly shares parts of his private life with the world). Internally he's already laughing at their outrage when they find out it’s a scam.
*****
The longest lull between attacks had been nearly four months, and with Hizashi's notoriety, they're expecting it'll only take a few weeks. Hizashi posts as many pictures of them as would be expected of a new couple still obsessed with each other - shots of them holding hands on a park bench or side by side in a cafe, of them kissing with one of Shouta's cats held in front of them and hiding their faces, plenty of them on the couch, Hizashi's legs slung over Shouta's lap.
They're not all tagged as open soul, making the deception seem that much more realistic - their relationship isn't some kind of statement, they're just in love.
Shouta probably should have realized there was a problem as soon as he had that thought.
Instead he gets more involved than he'd planned, snapping a shot of him hugging Hizashi from behind while he's cooking (a regular occurrence now that they're spending so much more time at each other's apartments). He even posts the one he took of Hizashi looking offended as a cat walks away from his outstretched hand, simply captioning it:
'you stole her dad'
He doesn't realize what's been happening until Hizashi asks him to read over the explanation he's planning to post once it's over. It's short and simple, stating the facts and apologizing for having to mislead his fans; his 'boyfriend' is actually just a good friend of his who offered to help.
That night he tells himself it's platonic. He's just gotten used to having Hizashi there all the time, become accustomed to living one way and doesn't want to have to change it again. It's definitely platonic, because he's always known Hizashi brings warmth wherever he goes, and having him around is pleasant. He'll miss being the recipient of his affection. That doesn't mean anything.
It's platonic.
And even if it's not, it doesn't matter. Hizashi isn't actually open soul, unless that’s a secret he’s been keeping as close as Shouta keeps his own. He has someone out there. Staring at the post from the day before, of their shadows as they kissed in the early evening, Shouta thinks about why Hizashi had seemed hesitant to take it despite Shouta pointing out how many times they'd kissed the past few weeks.
He sees now how much more romantic that shot is than the others they'd taken, and hindsight makes it clear why Hizashi had been uncertain while Shouta had been unbothered, bordering on eager.
But he can't back out now.
He keeps letting Hizashi come up with creative ways to hide his face. He keeps stealing Hizashi's phone to post photos of him asleep on his chest. He keeps sitting next to Hizashi at the cafe instead of across from him.
He doesn't know what to feel when he spots a trio of fans across the cafe pointing and taking pictures, or when they nervously approach to ask Present Mic for an autograph and say that they're adorable, or when Hizashi charms them into not posting any photos just by saying with a smile that Shouta's shy.
He does know he shouldn't think about how they were still holding hands even under the table.
*****
While Hizashi manages to look perfectly at home in formal wear, Shouta feels both naked and uncomfortably encased. He's not about to let Hizashi attend this benefit alone, but no matter how many contingency plans they made, no matter how many possible scenarios they'd run through, he still wishes he had his capture weapon.
The detectives on the case agree with them that this could be the night. No other attacks have been reported, and there are enough people here it's easy to get lost in the crowd.
Shouta's been scanning the sea of faces. He can't tell if the odd looks he gets occasionally are because he's just standing there looking out of place or if people are able to recognize him as Present Mic's boyfriend.
It's hard to keep his eyes off Hizashi, though for entirely different reasons than when he'd finally finished getting ready and emerged from the bedroom. Shouta's watching everyone who approaches him, but isn't able to pinpoint anyone remotely suspicious until he watches Hizashi go stiff and quickly duck out of a conversation with a woman he'd judged as unremarkable. Shouta makes his way over quickly enough to surprise Hizashi when he appears by his side.
"What's wrong?"
"Wha-Oh, it's nothing." He shrugs casually, but he's still staring at the woman. "Anything yet?"
Shouta shakes his head. "You?"
"Definitely not getting any stabby vibes from anyone."
He spots someone across the room and leaves with a quick kiss that Shouta forces himself not to dwell on. Instead he tails the woman who'd put Hizashi on edge and listens in on her current conversation.
"...and usually it's just something I know, not something actually visible, but certain marks do stand out sometimes. When I met a couple who were colorblind before they found each other, it looked like their eyes were glowing."
So she could tell what a person's soul mark was? No reason for Hizashi to bolt at that; everyone knew what his was.
He glances over at Hizashi, talking animatedly across the room, and puts distance between himself and the woman. He can't deny his curiosity over what her reaction would be upon seeing him, but even if there weren't more important things to focus on, he doesn't need to do that to himself.
"Careful."
Shouta berates himself for letting someone sneak up on him, but he doesn't react.
"The way you're glaring at everyone who talks to your boyfriend, someone might think you're worried about something."
"Should I be?"
A small laugh. "Why don't we take a walk?"
Shouta nearly rolls his eyes. He knows better than to underestimate an opponent, but this guy sounds like any other melodramatic dime-a-dozen villain he deals with almost nightly.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because all these people don't deserve to be hurt, don't you think?"
"How do you plan on hurting anyone if just take you down right here?"
"How many lives are you willing to bet that I'm working alone?"
The other victims had said there was only one attacker, but not one had been able to give a decent description of his appearance or his quirk. They couldn't be certain they were all done by the same person.
"You don't kill. Not unless you have to," Shouta says.
"Tonight's a little different, but I'm really only interested in one person, so we're going to go for a walk."
He can't be sure how much of it's true, so Shouta lets himself be guided down a hallway. They stop just on the other side of a set of doors, close enough the bustle from the main room is still audible.
"You're going to try and kill me where everyone can hear?" Shouta slowly turns around and sees the knife in the man's hand.
"It's not you I'm killing. We're waiting here so Mic can't yell me into submission without everyone else getting caught in the blast."
It would be so easy to end this – Shouta can see multiple ways to incapacitate the man - but he’s essentially helpless until he's sure he's not endangering an entire building.
"Does he even know where we are?"
"Right now he's being told the same thing you were, with the added bonus of 'we already have your lover'."
"You still can't be sure he'll come."
"He's a hero; he's not going to risk you."
Shouta's a little surprised he's still unknown. The person behind the attacks is obviously no idiot, if he's evaded capture this long, but he's apparently under the impression Shouta isn't a hero.
The doors open and a worried Hizashi walks in, followed by a woman who also pulls out a knife once they're hidden from view.
Shouta hadn't been truly concerned about their situation, but he’s put on edge when he sees Hizashi. He'd been expecting police to come through the door. They were both linked to the force waiting outside via quirk; a cop was hearing everything they did and relaying anything questionable. Their backup should have been preparing from the moment Shouta had been approached.
Were they waiting for the same reason he was - the threat of so many people being caught in the middle? Were they looking for anyone else working with these two? Had the communication quirk been canceled out somehow?
Between them, they have no weapons and Hizashi's quirk is severely limited. Their opponents each have a knife and an unknown quirk. To judge from their stances and inexpert grips, Shouta would say it's no contest, but even now he's reticent to assume anything, since things shouldn't have even been able to get this far in the first place.
"I'm going to make an example of you," says the woman who'd come with Hizashi.
"Oh, so we're doing the whole villainous soliloquy bit?" Hizashi asks mildly, but Shouta can see how uneasy he is.
"You're disgusting," says the man.
There's a slight swell in the noise from the main room and Shouta braces himself, ready for the sounds of panic.
"We tried to make people listen, but more and more of you open soul freaks keep popping up," the man continues. "So maybe killing Present Mic will make them see."
The noise from outside is growing, but neither villain seems to notice.
"What's wrong with being in love?"
Shouta knows Hizashi's just trying to keep them talking, but his nonchalant tone likely isn't helping the matter.
"It's not love, it's just a mockery."
The woman takes a step back to glance out the door, and Shouta seizes the chance. He lunges toward the man, quirk activated, but in an instant the woman is behind him, arm around his neck. Shouta jams his elbow back but she's gone again and he only throws himself off-balance, pushed against the wall by a sudden kick to his chest.
He catches the hand that swings a knife toward him and briefly gets to enjoy the shock on the woman's face when she realizes her quirk is gone before she backs off, switching with her partner quickly and smoothly enough his quirk must be involved.
He darts toward Shouta, but with his attention caught, the woman has her speed back. Shouta shoves the man away and rushes toward Hizashi. The woman is slowed down just in time for Hizashi to clumsily block a lunge at his chest. Instead his arm is sliced open right as Shouta reaches him; blood splashes onto his face, into his eyes.
He hurries to get his back against a wall, scrubbing at his eyes and hearing Hizashi call out to him. He can't keep his quirk up, can't stop blinking, and he knows Hizashi is about to scream - so risky without his speaker, but it's a last resort for a reason and they don't have many other options when Shouta can barely even see.
The doors burst open and with the adrenaline that's laced with panic over being without his quirk, Shouta can't make sense of the sudden yelling; he flinches away from the hand on his shoulder until he hears Hizashi's voice over everything.
"Shou, it's okay, it's over."
*****
Hizashi's the one to gently clean off Shouta's face with a snagged bottle of water, knowing he doesn't like hands close to his eyes.
Shouta focuses on breathing, on the hand that tips his chin up and wipes his face, on the little smile on Hizashi's lips he sees once he can finally keep his eyes open.
"They're not talking," a cop says as he walks over to them. "But we think his quirk is something telepathy-based. That's why we were late; our girl said it sounded like she was hearing everything from underwater, so we couldn't risk just barging in."
"It all worked out," Hizashi says with a tired smile. Shouta's a little more vexed - the blood-soaked fabric on Hizashi's arm is proof of how close it almost came to not working out.
"Sure you don't want a ride to the hospital?" The cop nods at Hizashi's arm.
"I'm fine." Hizashi waves him off. "It's not that bad."
Shouta glowers at him, because any cut that could douse his face with that much blood definitely needs attention. But Hizashi shoots him a glance Shouta can read easily enough: no hospitals, not now.
"Let me take you home, at least."
They accept the ride back to Shouta's apartment, neither speaking as Shouta fetches the first aid kit and returns to help Hizashi roll up his sleeve.
He was right; it's long and he’s not sure it ever stopped bleeding entirely. He glares.
"Like you wouldn't do the same thing," Hizashi says.
He could probably argue against that, since Hizashi likely would have fretted until he relented and went to have it stitched up, but he lets it go.
Now away from the noise and people, safely at home, gently maneuvering Hizashi's arm as he cleans and wraps it, Shouta starts to wonder what's going to happen.
The sensible thing would be to go back to how things were before. Best friends. Hizashi coming over once a week or so instead of nearly every night. No more 'which one looks better?' before Hizashi posts a picture of them. No more repeating the same kiss over and over as they try to get the shot just right.
Back to normal.
Shouta doesn't want to give a name to why calling the way things were before 'normal' feels wrong.
"You really should have gotten stitches," he says to break the silence. "Or just had it healed. You'll have a scar."
Hizashi shrugs. "A battle scar. Or I'll just get another tattoo to cover it up."
Shouta's not sure he remembers all the tattoos Hizashi already has, at least those on his back and chest – his shoulders have become familiar over the weeks, after so much time spent curled up together. He's gotten familiar with the lines, the colors he more than once had to tell himself not to reach out and touch unless Hizashi was turning the camera on them. He’s spent so long staring that he can tell which are newer than the rest, more vibrant, sharper. So many of them are musical, and Shouta's eyes drift down to the mark on Hizashi's wrist as he finishes with the bandage, staring at the simple treble clef for so long that Hizashi gently says his name.
There’s something…
Shouta brings his wrist closer, peering intently. He knows what he's seeing, and yet...
"This is a tattoo."
"Um...yeah?" Hizashi says, laughing, but Shouta can't take his eyes off how the edges aren't so well-defined, the lines a little blurry.
"It's a real tattoo."
"Yes, Shouta, it's definitely real."
"It's ink."
Hizashi pulls his arm back, smile fading.
"That's not your soul mark?"
"I...No.” He bites his lip, thumb tracing over the fake mark.
“Why?” Shouta asks, but he’s not sure what he’s asking – why say that it was? Why get a fake one? Why not tell him?
"Because I don't have one," Hizashi says quietly, and Shouta's incapacitated for the second time that night.
“Yeah, I know,” Hizashi says when Shouta doesn’t respond, eyes still fixed on his wrist. “Impossible, right? But I really don’t.”
"Is..." Shouta fumbles for words. "Have you...met anyone else that...?"
"No," Hizashi says, sighing. He sits up straight and run a hand through his hair, suddenly looking exasperated instead of forlorn.
"Literally nobody else! I looked it up once and it's happened before, but it's so rare, and half the reports of people without soul marks were people who had to hide theirs for some reason."
Shouta swallows hard. "What if there was someone else without a mark?"
Hizashi laughs, devoid of humor. "Then maybe they'd be my soulmate. Maybe my soul mark is not having a mark."
Shouta stops listening.
It makes sense. Not having a soul mark isn't like being a blank slate; they still can't match with anyone else.
Just each other.
"And honestly, some people get multiple soulmates, so what the hell is wrong with me that I don't even have one?"
Is it even possible? Hizashi chases after love while Shouta's been content to live without it. Or maybe he was only content because he hadn’t actually been without love, not for a long time. Maybe Hizashi's constant search for intimacy was him trying to satisfy a craving for what he wasn’t getting from the soulmate who’d been right there.
"Hizashi..."
"It was just easier to pretend. I guess at some point I'd have to come up with some story, like they died before I found them or something."
"Hizashi."
Teary eyes reluctantly meet his, and Shouta finds it's hard to breathe.
"I don't have one."
To his surprise, Hizashi scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Thanks, but I don't need pity. If you’re going for the whole ‘you’re not alone’ thing, that’s literally all you had to say. Or damn, just give me a hug.”
"Hizashi, that is what I’m saying. Do you really think I wouldn't have told at least you, of all people, what it was? Why would I keep it secret?"
"Why wouldn't you tell me you don't have one?" Hizashi snaps.
"Why wouldn't you tell me yours is fake?" Shouta counters, and Hizashi flinches, anger dissipating.
"I'm sorry," Shouta says.
Hizashi shakes his head. "No." He looks back at Shouta. "You really don't have a soul mark?"
"Really." His heart is racing as he watches the nervous turmoil on Hizashi's face that he's sure is reflected on his own.
"And...Do you think...?"
"Yes," Shouta whispers.
Hizashi's lip quivers, and Shouta's already moving to hug him close, thinking he's going to start crying, but instead he bursts into laughter.
Shouta almost thinks the whole thing's been a joke, that Hizashi's laughing over having so thoroughly tricked him, but there's a hysterical note in his voice that says he's just overwhelmed.
"I'm sorry," he forces out in between cackling and gasping for air. "It's just...This...How are we both so dense?"
"Are you in shock? You didn't lose that much blood."
Hizashi only laughs harder. "Shit, Shouta, you see? We're perfect for each other. Oh, fuck, we're idiots."
"Did you also get hit in the head?"
"Oh, right." Hizashi straightens up, smile still plastered on his face, and touches the back of his head. "A little, I forgot about that."
"You forgot?"
Hizashi collapses into giggles again, gesturing between them.
"Okay, we're going to a hospital." He slips Hizashi's uninjured arm over his shoulders and hauls him up.
"Shouta, do you know what this means?"
"You may be concussed?"
"I mean, you may be right, but I was gonna say that visiting you in the hospital is gonna be easier now, because it's so much faster to say 'soulmate' than 'emergency contact'."
"Let's go, I'm not carrying you."
"That's not the concussion talking! It's just more fun to say. Soulmate."
He drags the word out and laughs again, but Shouta's not actually worried about him being injured; he's coherent and only still leaning on him because Shouta hasn't let go. He's not concussed, he's just happy.
Shouta can't help smiling and pulling him a little closer.
"Soulmate."
(art by @mightypff)