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Shouto lets out a soft sigh as the warm water soothes his sore muscles, leaning back into the spray and shutting his eyes. He stands there for a good minute, enjoying having a moment to relax after a strenuous training session.
Once he feels like he's stood there long enough, he starts washing up, starting with his hair and working his way down. He winces as his fingers dig into an especially sore spot on his abdomen and he looks down to check how bad it's bruised.
It takes him a few seconds to realize what he's looking at is not an oddly-colored and misshaped bruise, but a flower - a rose to be specific - made out of fire. The oranges and yellows (and little bits of red) seem so out of place on his skin, but the mark is beautiful. Not only for its appearance but for what it represents.
"No way…" Shouto mutters softly, tracing over the mark slowly, almost afraid that if he were to touch it, it'd disappear in an instant.
There's only one thing that this could mean, given that Shouto would remember if he had gone out and had this flower tattooed on his body.
He's met his soulmate.
The marks only appear when skin-on-skin contact occurs between soulmates in the exact spot where the contact occurred. This leads most people when they're testing to see if they're soulmates with someone to have already picked out where they want the other to touch - so it's rare for a soulmate discovery to be accidental like this.
Shouto would have expected that if it were to be accidental like this, it would be on his hands sometime during a mission. Most soulmate gloves impair his quirk so he doesn't usually wear them during training or missions.
But he guesses the way this happened is a good thing. If he found his soulmate on a mission, there's a good chance that they would've been a villain, but during training? There are only people training to be heroes like him. Thus, it's a much better alternative.
He resumes his shower, his mind replaying the day to try to find when the contact occurred, if not who exactly it was. He didn't bump up against anyone during their regular classes, so it must have occurred during training, especially since there was that time where his shirt had ridden up. But who managed to touch him?
It takes him until he's out of the shower and dried off and fully dressed again before he remembers one specific moment during training. His heart flutters at the idea of it being him of all people.
"I never expected Bakugou to make such a pretty soulmark…" Shouto mutters softly, a small smile on his face as he thinks about the way the rose looks on his skin. "I don't think it could've been anyone else though."
He shakes his head a little, figuring that he can bring it up to Bakugou later. There's not much time to dwell on it now, anyway. The others had suggested a movie night due to how difficult their training had been earlier and Shouto sees no reason for not going. Sure, he's a little tired but it's always nice getting to spend time with his classmates.
As he draws near to the common area, he can't help but overhear some sort of commotion. He pauses near the base of the stairs, wanting to see what's going on without immediately getting dragged into it.
"Can you believe Bakugou found his soulmate?!" Ashido squeals, clapping her hands together.
Bakugou growls loud enough that Shouto can hear it, causing him to smile a little. "Shut it, Pinky! I don't even know who they are."
"Really?" She asks, sounding like she doesn't believe him. "I mean, there's only one person in our class with ice powers… So do you not know who they are, or are you denying it?"
Shouto doesn't listen to the next bits of conversation, too focused on the fact that Bakugou is his soulmate. A grin spreads across his face and he bounces a little bit, refraining from giggling just on the chance someone could hear him.
He takes a deep breath and schools his expression back into his usual neutral expression and heads into the common area, acting like he didn't hear any of that despite how giddy he feels inside that his crush and his soulmate actually ended up the same person.
He didn't think he'd be the person to end up with that kind of luck.
Bakugou's eyes snap to him the second he enters the room and he stands up, storming over to Shouto in a way that makes him confused whether he wants to punch him or kiss him. Shouto doesn't know whether he'd mind either option.
"Icy-Hot. Can we talk?" Bakugou asks, giving a quick glance from side to side before he adds, "Alone?"
"Sure." He turns around and smiles a little when he hears Midoriya call that he'll save him a seat, Kirishima echoing for Bakugou.
They head outside and away from any windows, leaning against the wall and just looking at each other. It seems that neither of them wants to be the first one to start this conversation.
Bakugou sighs and rests his head against the wall, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. "So. I don't know if you heard any of that, but I need to ask. Did you also discover a soulmark on your body?"
Shouto smiles a little at the reminder that this is really happening. "Yeah. I did."
Bakugou looks at him then. "What is it?"
"A rose made of fire."
Bakugou's silent for a little bit and when Shouto looks at him, his eyes widen as he realizes that the other is smiling. Like an actual genuine smile and not one of his usual smirks or sneers. "Can I see it?" Bakugou asks when he notices Shouto looking at him.
Shouto nods and lifts his shirt up high enough. Bakugou takes a few steps forward and uses his phone as a flashlight to see it better, his breath hitching as he looks at it, holding his hand out like he wants to touch it.
"Go ahead," Shouto says quietly, awed by the open emotion on Bakugou's face, feeling incredibly honored that he gets to see him like this.
Bakugou swallows once and brushes his fingers along the mark, smiling a little as he does so. "It's really pretty."
"Yes."
"I… didn't think my mark would be so…" Bakugou trails off as he continues brushing his fingers along the mark, tracing it and making Shouto shiver at the near-ticklish sensation.
"It suits you," Shouto says, his heart pounding as Bakugou blesses him with a soft, almost flustered expression. "Can I see yours?"
"Yeah." Bakugou presses his phone into Shouto's hand and turns a bit, holding his upper arm in Shouto's direction.
The second Shouto manages to see it in the light, he inhales sharply, understanding instantly why Bakugou was so emotional about seeing his. It's so surreal to see the pale blues and whites against Bakugou's skin, but there's another reason this means so much to him.
"I didn't think…" Shouto laughs a little, utterly surprised that this would be his mark on someone else. "I always kept it a secret but I can make delicate things with my quirk." He explains. That had been a discovery that he didn't want Endeavor to find out so only his mom and his siblings know about it.
And now Bakugou.
He moves his fingers silently as he stares at the mark before handing Bakugou the finished product, a rose made out of ice that's identical to the one on his skin.
"Woah…" Bakugou breathes out as he holds the rose gently in his hands, frowning a little as it's already melting in the warm spring air.
Shouto can't help but grin at the fact that he impressed Bakugou. "Don't worry, I can always make you more. Whenever you want them." He says and Bakugou's expression melts much like the rose is.
"Damnit, Todoroki. You're making it very hard for me not to kiss you." Bakugou says and Shouto's heart pounds at that admission.
"Am I stopping you?" He asks and Bakugou's eyes flash. Shouto gasps as he's pressed back against the wall, aware distantly of the sound of ice shattering against the pavement but there are more pressing matters at hand.
Namely, the mouth that's on his feeling like it wants to devour him whole.
Shouto clutches Bakugou's shoulders as he kisses back, part of him wary that they're outside where anyone could see them. Somehow, he really doesn't care about that much.
Bakugou pulls back with a light brush of his tongue against Shouto's bottom lip and Shouto whines, a sound that he's never heard himself make so openly, but one that brings a smirk to Bakugou's face.
"So, Todoroki," Bakugou begins and before Shouto can really think on it, he's interrupting him.
"Shouto." Bakugou raises an eyebrow and Shouto feels his face go hot. "…Call me Shouto…"
"Okay. You can call me Katsuki then." Katsuki says and Shouto nearly melts. Even Kirishima, who Katsuki's really close to, doesn't have first-name privileges yet. The only one close enough is Midoriya but he doesn’t use it often.
"So, as I was saying, Shouto, would you like to go out with me this weekend?" Katsuki looks a tiny bit nervous, but he chuckles at the way Shouto perks up at the question.
"Yes."
"Alright, we can plan it out later. I know the others will come looking for us soon so I think we should head back."
"Okay…" Shouto says, a little disappointed that they're not going to be alone anymore but still looking forward to watching movies with the others. Katsuki silently takes his hand and leads him back inside, the two of them being met with a bunch of congratulations and squeals from their classmates when they walk into the room hand-in-hand.
Shouto smiles a little when the spots that had been saved for them are right next to each other and when he looks curiously at Midoriya, the other looks a little sheepish, but it doesn't bother him at all.
How could he be bothered when he now gets to watch the movies curled up against Katsuki's side?
Instead he's as happy as he's ever been and he bets that Katsuki is too.