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Having a soulmate was supposed to be a good thing.
It was all anyone ever talked about: “My soulmate wrote to me today!” “I haven’t heard from mine yet…” “I hope she’s pretty.”
As far as Hitoshi could tell, most of them had one soulmate. It wasn’t normal for them to look down and realize an entire conversation had taken place without them, like they’d been away from the group chat for a few hours.
Then again, Hitoshi had never exactly been considered “normal,” even in a society where superpowers were common. He had a villain’s Quirk, he had two soulmates, and every time Hitoshi gained another bruise, he knew they saw it, too.
He should apologize; his soulmates hadn’t asked to be dragged into his shit. They shouldn’t have to gain new bruises every day for something that wasn’t even their fault. They were connected, somehow, but society put far too much belief in the bonds.
On several occasions, courts had refused to separate an abusive spouse from their victim because they were soulbound. The suicide rate among domestic violence victims was astronomical. And that wasn’t even discussing the times an adult had been bound to a child.
So what the hell was the point of soulbonds? Hitoshi knew a few couples who hadn’t been soulmates. They’d made their own path, formed their own bonds. If soulbonds weren’t created to be the “perfect match” every time, then why was everyone so obsessed over them?
With every new yellow and dark blue line that scribbled across his body, making themselves known, Hitoshi wondered if it’d be worth it to just ignore them. Surely they’d give up eventually, right? Hitoshi didn’t want to build up false hope when they would end up hating him in the end.
That was the way things worked: Don’t get close to anyone, don’t talk to anyone, don’t scare them away.
But day after day, the same yellow letters would show up after Hitoshi gained a new bruise.
r u okay?
Hitoshi should reply. He knew he should. The dark blue letters were already appearing with neater handwriting than the yellow scrawl.
I thought they were yours…
nope, not mine
Hitoshi dug through his bag, eventually pulling out a pen and scribbling out a response.
They’re mine. Sorry about that.
Are you okay? They look painful.
It’s fine. Nothing to worry about.
:( do u need help?
I’ll be alright. You guys have cell phones, right?
yeah! why
Yeah.
Exchanging numbers might be a smarter idea than having to wash off all of this ink.
That’s a fair point…
ye! my number is +81-805-5576-145!
Mine is +81-805-5558-994
Hitoshi opened his messages, adding both numbers and adding them to a group chat.
Yellow has changed the group name to <3
Yellow
hello!!
Blue
I guess this means we can wash off the ink now.
Yeah. I’m gonna wash off mine.
Blue
Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t usually talk this much.
Yellow
yeah youre usually p quiet…
I’m alright. Just got into a… disagreement.
Blue
You know we won’t judge you or anything, right? You’re still the same to us.
…
Yellow
ye! we got ur back
Thank you.
It’s not something I particularly like talking about.
Yellow
are we doing feelings rn? ill start! ik you guys dont want to meet up yet and i respect that but this no names thing kinda sucks, i have no idea wtf im supposed to be calling u guys :(
That’s… fair.
My name’s Hitoshi.
Yellow
denki!
Blue
Kyouka.
As much as Hitoshi hated to admit it… Yel—Denki had a point. It was nice to know the name behind the words.
Kyouka
If you’d rather not talk about it, that’s fine. But you’re always showing up with new bruises, so we’re worried.
I’ll do my best not to worry you in the future.
Kyouka
Don’t hesitate to let us know if you need anything.
Of course.
Denki
ye! weve got ur back!
do u guys know where ur applying to high school yet?
Kyouka
I already submitted my application to U.A.
I did as well. Heroics and general education.
Denki
do u think u wont get in to the hero course?
It’s complicated.
Kyouka
I’ll see you at the exam, then?
Yeah. I’ll be there.
***
Hitoshi wasn’t sure what he expected for U.A.’s entrance exam, but it certainly wasn’t this.
How the hell was anyone without a combat-suited Quirk supposed to pass this? It wasn’t like he could brainwash the robots. Meanwhile, he could barely hear himself think over the constant explosions coming from some blonde-haired asshole who looked like he’d be perfect for the hero course.
At this point, Hitoshi’s skin was more bruise than not—plenty of them were his own, some were tinted yellow, and some were tinted blue. He needed to do something, he couldn’t just stand here. Time was running out, but he couldn’t take down the robots.
“Five! Four!”
Hitoshi pulled a girl with what looked like aux cords hanging from her ears out of the way of an incoming strike from a two-pointer, its arm crashing to the ground and cracking the concrete.
“One! Time’s up!”
Fuck. Hitoshi had scored maybe one point, which wasn’t nearly enough to pass. At least he’d probably scored decently enough for gen ed.
“Thanks,” the aux cord girl said. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
Now that Hitoshi looked at her for real, he had the time to pay attention to other things. She had short, dark blue-purple hair, with a highlight on either side that looked like a heartbeat. Her eyes were a dark purple that seemed to pull Hitoshi in and read all of his secrets.
“No problem.”
"How'd you do?"
Hitoshi sighed. "I didn't. I think I got like, one point."
"Bad matchup, or something else?" she asked.
"Yeah. Mental Quirks don't work well against robots, unfortunately."
"It wasn't the best matchup for me, either. I had to use my sound to try to disrupt the computers, which isn't as easy as it sounds."
"Your sound?"
"Yeah, it's my Quirk. Earphone Jack. I have these," she twirled one of the aux cords around her finger, "and I can use them to give myself better hearing or use them to amplify sounds, like my heartbeat. What's yours?"
"That sounds pretty cool, honestly." Hitoshi hesitated. Would she hate him for his Quirk? She hadn't reacted badly when he said he had a mental Quirk. "My Quirk is Brainwash. I can control people under certain conditions."
"That's pretty cool, actually." What. "Hell, a hero with a Quirk like yours could resolve a lot of shit before it can get bad."
What the fuck.
Hitoshi had been told he had a villain's Quirk for his whole life, and now here was someone who was probably getting into the hero course, telling him he could do it.
Hitoshi glanced down at his wrist so she couldn't see his face as he processed this information. Yellow ink was starting to appear across his arm, spelling out… something.
. dl — ;’ `~
What the hell?
Aux Cord Girl was looking at her wrist, too, a similar look of confusion on her face. “What the hell…”
“Is your soulmate being weird, too?” Hitoshi asked.
“Yeah… I have no idea what this is supposed to say.” She held out her wrist, revealing the same yellow ink. Hitoshi stared at the writing for a moment before holding out his own wrist for her to see.
Aux Cord Girl chuckled. “This isn’t exactly how I imagined this, but I think this is better. I’m Jirou Kyouka.”
“Shinsou Hitoshi.”
“What kind of shit did Denki get himself into?” Kyouka muttered. “Wasn’t he taking the exam with us?”
“That’s what he said. He’s probably at a different place.”
Kyouka nodded. “Maybe we can ask about him. The exam’s over, so everyone’s about to go home.”
“Yeah, we can ask. Maybe if we go to the nurse’s office? If he got hurt, he’s bound to be there.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They walked in silence. Hitoshi wasn’t sure what he would say even if he wanted to break the silence; what did you say to your soulmate after finding them by mistake? ‘Hey, I think soulmates are bullshit but you’re pretty cool?’
Hell no.
Hitoshi followed Kyouka through the crowd of people, heading for the tent that had been set up for medical purposes. Already, a few beds were set up: a dude with curly green hair and a shit ton of bandages laid on one, while another guy with blonde hair sat on another one, looking spaced out with a dopey grin on his face.
“He’s got the same writing,” Kyouka said, pointing to the blonde guy’s wrist. Which, yeah, Hitoshi could kind of understand how the gibberish had gotten there now.
Recovery Girl happened to return at that moment, looking them up and down. “Is there something you need?”
“We just wanted to check in,” Kyouka said quickly. “Denki’s our soulmate, so… is he okay?”
“He’ll be fine,” Recovery Girl sighed. “He went over his limits. Once he recharges, he’ll be alright. Honestly, the problem with these exams…” She went over to the green dude’s bed to check on him, leaving Hitoshi and Kyouka with a spaced out Denki.
It took about twenty minutes for Denki to come out of that state, blinking slowly and taking a moment to breathe before looking up. “Uh, hi? I was okay, y’know, you didn’t have to hang around.”
“That’d be kinda fucked up,” Kyouka said. “We find out that you’re our soulmate and just ditch you?”
Some of the tension fell from Denki’s shoulders. “Well, hey,” he said, a grin already making its way back onto his face. “When I look at you, I can make sparks fly.” As if to prove it, electricity sparked across his skin for a second before stopping.
Hitoshi groaned.
Kyouka rolled her eyes, but seemed amused. “Come on, let’s get you home. Where do you live?”
***
As expected, Hitoshi didn’t get into the hero course. Even his surprise rescue points from pulling Kyouka out of harm’s way hadn’t been enough to push him into the top 40.
Over the next few months, Kyouka and Denki kept him up to date on things, and Hitoshi followed the news on the 1-A reports. It had been big news when Sero Hanta and Todoroki Shouto had discovered they were soulmates during their fight at the Sports Festival. Since then, the two were often seen together, walking side by side or having a debate over some conspiracy theory.
Hitoshi had begun training with Aizawa, as well, which was doing great for Hiroshi's physical strength… just not as great for the amount of bruises he was getting, usually self-inflicted from the stupid scarf.
As he recounted the story of the umpteenth time he managed to tie himself up with the capture weapon, Denki laughed. "Honestly, that sounds like fun."
"Not all of us are into bondage, Denki," Kyouka snorted.
"Speaking of bondage, you'll never guess what I saw Sero and Todoroki doing today—"
"Denki!"
"In the middle of the common room!" Denki said, sounding absolutely offended. "They've got two perfectly good bedrooms and they decided to do it in the common room. Man, Aizawa was so pissed."
"It was like, three in the morning. Nobody was supposed to be awake, I'm assuming," Kyouka sighed.
"Kirishima and Bakugou are like that, too. They won't specifically tell us they're dating, but we're not stupid. Kinda hard to ignore how they're pretty much glued to each other's sides, and how they're always leaving together. Not to mention I'm pretty sure I saw matching marks on their arms, once," Denki continued, apparently having decided to share all of the relationship gossip in 1-A.
"If they're not dating, they're stupid," Kyouka said.
Hitoshi snorted. "Just lock them in a room together."
"That's not a bad idea." Denki tapped his finger on the table as he considered it. "Or," he leaned in, grinning, "we follow them. See what they're really up to when they're alone together."
"Somehow, I doubt that's a good idea," Hitoshi deadpanned. Was Denki trying to get them killed?
"Come on! Aren't you curious? I, for one, would like to know what Kirishima did to capture the interest of our resident grouch."
"Sure, but that doesn't mean we stalk them."
"I'm not against it," Kyouka added. "But how would we get permission to leave on the same day as them? They've been super strict on security ever since Kamino, they don't want a bunch of us out at the same time."
"Right…" Denki frowned. "They're always training together, right? We could follow them to the gym."
"I'm pretty sure they're actually training," Kyouka said. "This is Bakugou we're talking about."
“That’s a good point…” Denki leaned forward. “There’s gotta be something we can do to see if they’re dating. Maybe if we give them a mark in training tomorrow, we can look for it. That’d prove they’re soulmates, at least.”
“Since when are you so invested in relationship drama?” Hitoshi asked.
“Always, ‘Toshi, always.”
***
“That was the worst idea ever,” Kyouka hissed. "Did you seriously have to rip Bakugou's favorite shirt?"
"I was trying to take it off," Denki muttered.
"Great execution," Hitoshi told him.
“What?! We know they’re soulmates now!” Denki said indignantly. “It worked!”
“Yeah, except now Bakugou wants to kill us, because now everyone knows," Jirou said.
“So what? He’s gotta find us—”
“Dunce Face, get the fuck over here!”
“Shit, run!” Denki sprinted away from the angry blonde.
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. Was this really the group of dumbasses he wanted to associate himself with?
(The answer was yes, even if Hitoshi hated to admit it.)
***
Hitoshi hadn’t expected things to turn out like this, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.
The last three years had been brutal. Shortly after he entered the hero course, he’d hit the ground running, passing his provisional license exam with his classmates cheering him on and taking on an official work study with Aizawa, who showed him what it was like to be an underground hero.
Hitoshi loved it.
All of Class 3-A took their official licensing exams together. With his partners by his side, they passed with flying colors alongside the rest of their class. A massive party in the dorms was thrown to celebrate. Izuku drank them all under the table with his inhuman alcohol tolerance, Kirishima had cuddled up and fallen asleep next to a snoring Bakugou, and Todoroki fell asleep in Sero’s lap.
Several pictures were taken and shared in the class group chat; seeing himself squished between Kyouka and Denki was the best one. It was his lockscreen now.
Of course, a few days after their graduation was when everything went to hell.
The public, no longer trusting the heroes to protect them, panicked at the next villain attack. What should’ve been a routine arrest quickly fell into chaos as opportunistic villains jumped at the chance to take down a few heroes.
The war lasted for two weeks.
Denki, Kyouka, and Hitoshi had been running recon, Hitoshi taking care of any interruptions while Denki targeted specific systems to jam. Kyouka would listen in, reporting back whatever she heard.
They were a damn good team, but they could only do so much.
Hitoshi nearly passed out on a mission.
"Hitoshi? Hitoshi!" Kyouka had yelled over the comms.
"Shit," Hitoshi hissed. "I'm fine. Just tired."
"I'm sending Denki in to pull you out," Kyouka told him. "We've got enough info already."
By the time Denki had arrived, Hitoshi had been spotted, and they really had to go. Firing off a few projectiles, Denki took down a few villains before grabbing Hitoshi's hand as they ran together.
They ran as fast as they could, but they were being followed. Just as they reached Kyouka, the three of them turned around, facing the tunnel they'd just entered from.
A well-placed shot (this guy had some kind of laser Quirk, Hitoshi remembered) was aimed straight at Kyouka. Denki aimed up to deflect it, but he wasn't fast enough due to the lack of sleep.
The laser hit Kyouka's side, burning the skin as it continued to travel until it hit the rocks. Thank fuck it wasn't an accurate shot, but Kyouka had still yelled out in pain, kneeling on the ground to steady herself.
Rage bubbled up in Hitoshi's gut as he stepped forward. "You know, you could've been a hero with that Quirk. So why didn't you?"
The villain glared. "I don't need to—"
Checkmate.
Hitoshi pulled the villain under his control despite his limits. This villain had hurt Kyouka. And damn if it wasn't tempting to make him pay for it. Hitoshi would make damn sure that this fucker never laid a hand on his soulmates again.
But Denki put a hand on Hitoshi's shoulder, shaking his head. "Let's just get the hell out of here. We don't know how many more there are, and we're all at our limits."
"Kyouka, can you walk? Or would you rather me carry you?" Hitoshi asked, focusing on keeping his control steady as he kneeled down next to her.
"It cauterized, I'm not bleeding," Jirou sighed. "Just hurts like a bitch. I can walk." Getting to her feet, she hissed as the movement pulled at her side. Denki offered her his arm, which she gratefully took to support herself.
They trudged back to camp together, worn and exhausted. Hitoshi didn't drop his control until they were a good distance away. As soon as he did, he groaned, feeling the migraine coming on in his skull.
Izuku met them at the edge of camp, looking like the incarnate of anxiety. "Are you guys alright? We saw when things started to go south. If I'd known, I would've—"
"Izuku," Hitoshi cut in. "Relax. We're okay. We're gonna head straight to medical."
Izuku sighed. "I'm glad you guys are okay."
"We are, too," Denki said.
"Do you want the debrief now, or later?" Hitoshi asked, closing his eyes to lessen the stabbing in his skull.
"Later's fine," Izuku said. "There should be migraine pills in the medical tent, Hitoshi. I'll help you get Jirou set up on one of the beds."
***
Finally, finally, the war came to its end. All of the villains were taken care of, and they could relax at last. Kyouka had this gorgeous smile on her face, and Denki had gained a new energy, already re-telling some of their badass moments.
Fuck, Hitoshi loved them so much.
Denki suddenly went quiet. Hitoshi looked up, concerned, ready to fight—
And Denki looked like he wanted to either cry or combust, Hitoshi wasn’t sure which.
“I— Fuck, hang on,” Denki cursed. “Okay, so, I know we’re all dirty and tired and want to sleep for ten years, cause same, but I need to…”
“Take your time,” Hitoshi reassured. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“So, like, we all know how many times we almost died, and shit, I’m gonna be thinking about that for a while,” Denki said. Which, great start, but Hitoshi wasn’t about to interrupt him. “And all I could think about was… was that if I died, I’d never get to tell you guys how I feel.”
“Denki…” Kyouka started.
“So I want—I didn’t expect to do this like this so I don’t have them with me, but I… I love you guys. And I know we haven’t really talked about this, but I don’t want to die without being able to call you guys my ride-or-die, you know?”
“Are you… proposing?” Kyouka asked, stunned.
“Yes! That’s the word! I can’t imagine you guys not being there, so… I want to make it official.”
“What the fuck, I wanted to do it first,” Kyouka joked. “Of course I’d say yes.”
Hitoshi… well, Hitoshi was currently not working correctly. What the fuck, he never expected this. In just a few short years, Hitoshi had gone from being hated, pushed around, called a villain for his Quirk to being a hero with two loving partners who supported him unconditionally. And shit, he loved them. He couldn’t think of what it would be like to live without them by his side.
“‘Toshi…?” Denki asked hesitantly.
Hitoshi startled. “Sorry. I was just… thinking. About how things have changed.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Yeah. I want to be with you guys. If you’ll have me, of course.”
“Babe, don’t even joke about that,” Kyouka scolded. “Of course we’d love to have you. As long as that’s what you’re ready for.”
Hitoshi smiled. “Yeah, I am.”
As he trudged back to the camp with his partners (fiancés), Hitoshi smiled despite everything.
They’d won, and he was going to spend the rest of his life with the best people in the world.
Could things really be much better?
***
“Oi, who the fuck taught you how to wear a suit, that’s not even close,” Bakugou said.
Hitoshi snorted. “They sent you to help me?”
“Sparky did, yeah. Said you’d probably be having a breakdown right about now. Which, judging by the sight of you, probably wasn’t wrong.”
“Fuck off,” Hitoshi groaned fondly. “Just help me fix it.”
Bakugou rolled his eyes. “If you say so. Might as well start over. Take off that terrible excuse for a tie—you’ve been wearing them for years, how did you manage to fuck it up that badly?”
“I don’t even know,” Hitoshi complained as he struggled to untie the knot. “I shouldn’t be this nervous. Hell, this is what I’ve wanted for… for so long.”
“Remember my wedding? When Ei tripped trying to walk up to the front, and dragged me down with him?”
Hitoshi snickered. “That was gold. I still have those pictures.”
“I told you to fucking delete them! But whatever, that’s not the point. Who gives a shit? Everyone here has already seen you do dumb shit. So it doesn’t make a difference whether you trip and fall flat on your face. What does matter is that you get the hell back up and do what you came here to do. You better not be getting cold feet now,” Bakugou hissed.
“No, never! Nothing like that,” Hitoshi said quickly. “This is what I want. And, by the way, rude.”
“Got the point across, didn’t it?”
“I suppose,” Hitoshi sighed.
“Now give me that damn tie, I’ll do it since your hands are shaking so badly.”
“Worried I’ll fall flat on my face?” Hitoshi finally untied the knot on his tie, holding the fabric out to Bakugou with a raised eyebrow.
“That shit would be hilarious if you did. But Denki’s been a nervous fucking wreck all day, so I’m here to make sure everything goes perfect.” Bakugou grabbed the tie from Hitoshi's hand, straightening the fabric that had been messed up in Hitoshi's attempt to knot it.
“Aww, Blasty, you do care!”
“Fuck off! Either turn around or tie your damn tie yourself,” Bakugou grumbled.
Hitoshi grinned, but turned around nonetheless, watching as Bakugou neatly knotted Hitoshi’s tie and tucked it in, adjusting the collar of his shirt until it sat properly on Hitoshi's chest. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Seriously… thank you. For making sure that things are running smoothly.”
Bakugou scoffed. “You saw Sparky’s original plans, didn’t you? I did you all a favor. Now get your shit together, it’s go time in five minutes.”
Hitoshi laughed. “Just make sure you’re recording it if I fall on my face.”
“As if I’d do anything else, Mind Fucker.”
***
Most people only had one soulmate. Their partner for life, their ride-or-die, their closest friend.
Hitoshi was lucky enough to have two.
They might have started as soulmates, but they didn’t let their bond dictate their lives for them. Their relationship had grown naturally, until Hitoshi couldn’t imagine what it would be like without Denki or Kyouka in his life.
Without the bond, Hitoshi might have never reached out and gained two lifelong friends and partners.
Without his partners, Hitoshi might have worked alone, pushing until he burned himself out and got himself killed in the field.
Without his friends, Hitoshi might have never become a hero in the first place. At least, not the one he is today.
So maybe soulmate bonds had some issues. They weren’t the perfect bond. Hitoshi, Kyouka, and Denki had a few fights, but they were able to make it work. Not because they were soulmates, but because they were genuinely willing to make it work.
Soulmate bonds weren’t everything, but Hitoshi could understand the hype a little bit better now. Every time Denki doodled on his wrist, yellow ink blooming across Hitoshi’s skin, he couldn’t help but smile. If he had a pen nearby, he’d add to the doodle, and Denki would add something onto Hitoshi’s, eventually spiraling up their arms in yellow and purple ink.
Every time he saw the band of ink around his finger in blue, yellow, and purple ink, Hitoshi smiled.
In their line of work, a traditional ring was too likely to get lost or destroyed in the field, so they’d opted to get a tattoo together. A three-part design that combined into a simple, spiraling band. One part was on Denki’s finger, one part was on Kyouka’s finger, and one part was on Hitoshi’s.
Denki couldn’t stop grinning the day after they got it, and Kyouka had a smile on her face as well.
Watching his partners, Hitoshi couldn’t help but smile as well.
Their lives might be short, but they were damn well going to make the most of it. Kyouka had started a music career alongside her hero work, and Denki and Hitoshi made sure to attend her concerts whenever they could.
The three of them had struggled through everything life threw at them, between simple struggles, emotional trauma, and an all-out war. They’d made it here in the end, together. Hitoshi would do anything for them.
Denki jumped onto the couch, squeezing himself in between Hitoshi and Kyouka with the remote in hand, only to screech when Hitoshi put his cold feet on Denki’s leg. Hitoshi couldn’t help but grin as Kyouka laughed, putting her own cold hands on Denki’s arms and watching him squirm.
They were stronger together.
So whatever the world wanted to throw at them next, Hitoshi was ready for it.
Bring it on.