Chapter Text
The universe was messy. Whatever controlled it or made up its ways was truly chaotic evil.
In this day and age, people had quirks. Over time, they grew stronger through generations of mixing. Careers were made out of it and society adapted them as the norm. As though that weren’t enough, soulmates were added to the mix.
All of a sudden, it wasn’t just your quirk that could be dictating your life, it was this possible mark that appeared during your prepubescent to teenage years that tormented you until you found the person existing with a matching one, who supposedly was your best match in life for success. It was an inexplainable bond. One that supposedly gave you more luck in life if you spent more time with them, or cursed your life if you rejected it. Some say there was a thread connecting soul mates, that almost initiated a mindreading response, as though mindreading quirks weren’t sufficient.
There were a lot of things said about soulmates, but not 100% proven besides the fact that if you had a soulmate mark, somebody out there had the same exact one. Just one other person. There has yet to be a case of a trio or more with the same soul mark.
It was something that Bakugou didn’t give two shits about.
All he cared about was being the greatest.
When his appeared, he didn’t even realize until he was changing in the locker room.
“Kacchan!” Midoriya started stammering and pointing, shock clearly written on his face.
“Quit fucking staring at my junk, Deku!” Bakugou hissed at him. It didn’t matter that they had reconciled during their first year; Bakugou would never get used to that stupid muttering of his.
“Bakugou! He’s not staring at your dick,” Kirishima gaped and pointed as well. “A soul mark! You have a soul mark!”
“Hah?”
Confused, he looked down. Indeed, at the edge of his boxer briefs was something black peeking out. He pulled up the right side of his underwear to reveal the rest of the mark – it was a black blotch located high on his right thigh. It looked like some resemblance of a shitty circle or an explosion, with a slice taken out of it. When the fuck did that get there?
“No way! Even Bakugou has a soul mate?!” Kaminari whined. “Boy, do I feel sorry for your other half.”
“What the fuck does that mean?!” He yelled at the other blonde. “They should be lucky to fucking have me as their soul mate!”
“Congrats, man!” Kirishima slapped his arm around the shoulders of his best friend. “This is a huge deal!”
“Your mark is in a very interesting spot though,” Deku rubbed his chin. “It’ll be difficult to find the person with the matching one.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Mineta smiled, eyes glinting as he wagged his finger. “You don’t get it, Midoriya! This gives Bakugou the perfect opportunity!”
“Mineta, please remember that you are a hero and should act as one!” Iida chopped his arm in the air.
“You guys don’t get it!” Mineta hopped up on a bench, getting all of their attention and making Bakugou’s eye twitch in irritation. “This is the best thing that can happen! Bakugou can go around, lifting up girls’ skirts to find his soul mate! In fact, I think we should help him! We should all do our parts at Yuuei and-“
Sero bound him with his tape, mummifying him before the little creep could continue with his perverted and idiotic plan.
“Tch, you’re all a bunch of idiots,” Bakugou scowled and went back to changing. “I don’t give a shit about finding some soul mate. I got better things to do.”
And that was it.
Maybe when Bakugou was younger, he did have some curiosity in who his soulmate was. Who wasn’t curious about their lifelong partner? But as time progressed and he matured, he was more worried about his pro hero career. And with everything that happened their first year with the League of Villains, his eyes opened to the true dangers of the world.
He didn’t have the time or energy to find his soul mate.
Things were calmer now but this generation was the one that had to fix everything that the previous ones had fucked up. It was on their shoulders now, to make sure another League of Villains or Stain ideology didn't fuel another societal collapse.
The new Hero Commission was being headed by Tsukauchi, with help from Yuuei and Shiketsu staff. It made the most sense; the ones proven to be the most trustworthy were those who had raised the new generation of heroes. There was a lot of work behind the scenes being done supposedly, but all he and his class mates could do was put their faith in this new commission as they continued doing their parts at their work studies.
At least, that’s what kept him preoccupied through his first term into his second year. Sometimes when he was walking around campus or the hallways, his soul mark would tingle or itch just a bit but he always slapped it away. And aside from the occasional teasing from his friends, he had completely forgotten about his soul mark.
After a strenuous summer vacation of too many social events planned by his class and long hours at his work study, he returned to the second term with high hopes of progression. Walking back on campus through the crowd of other returning students, he hiked his duffel bag higher up on his shoulder. It was sagging from the weight of all his text books and clothes.
Kirishima and Mina eventually caught up with him, holding their own duffel bag and rolling carryon suitcase behind them. He listened to them go back and forth in a lovers’ quarrel, trying to phase out the sickness when he noticed ahead of them, the little grape pervert looking suspicious. The creep was walking dangerously close to a female student he didn’t recognize, with a backpack and carrying a large plastic bin.
It wasn’t long before Mineta sped up, purposefully swatting his hand out to whip your skirt up. Unable to do anything because your hands were preoccupied, you shrieked and kicked him straight in the face, sending him flying a few feet and landing in the dirt. The action made you lose your balance though, falling off to the side and your box tumbling over.
A few other students looked on; Mina, being who she was though, hurried forward to check on you. Kirishima and Bakugou followed as well.
Bakugou barely recalls Mina asking you a question or the dizziness in your facial expression. Instead, he remembers vividly of your skirt, hitched up high to show off your pastel-colored underwear and a soul mark that looked so fucking similar to his.
You caught sight of his eye line though, huffing and flipping your skirt back to cover up your thighs. Your face was red but you accepted help from Mina who got you back on your feet and was apologizing again for Mineta’s behavior.
Bakugou, though, was still frozen in his spot. The brief glimpse he had gotten left him so many questions – was it really you? Could you be his soul mate? Or was it just a coincidence that you had a mark there; he hadn’t gotten that good of a view of it - it could have been something else.
But then, he glanced up to see Kirishima looking at him in alarm and he realized that, he wasn’t the only one who was thinking it.
xxx
Bakugou made sure Kirishima didn’t tell anybody of the incident. Not until he at least figured out who you were, but that was a lot harder than he expected. He honestly had been staring a little too hard at your thigh to remember your face, and it made things more difficult since he never paid attention to anybody outside of his class. Which meant you could’ve been in the business, support, or general studies courses, or even outside of his year.
He told himself to let it go. That there was no point in finding out who his soul mate was but something inside him was eating away; you kept creeping up in the back of his mind every night before he fell asleep. The fact that he was still excelling at work and school gave him the excuse to at least put a little bit of effort in this.
He couldn’t do this alone though. As much as he wanted to, he really had no fucking idea what your face looked like. When he approached Kirishima, the red head embarrassedly admitted the same.
(Which led to Bakugou almost exploding his best friend’s face off for staring so hard under your skirt when you had fallen).
In the end, Kirishima convinced him to enlist the help of their friends.
That’s how he ended up sitting in the common room, as Kirishima explained their theory to Mina, Jirou, Kaminari, and Sero who listened with absolute fascination and excitement. He gripped his thighs angrily at the idea of all these people knowing about his dilemma. Plus, even if you weren’t his soul mate, they’d probably never let this go.
“Oh my gosh!” Mina bounced excitedly in her seat. “I can’t believe it! We found Bakugou’s soul mate!”
“Well, no babe,” Kirishima scratched the back of his head. “Remember, we don’t know for sure. We just think…”
“And neither of you remember what she looked like?” Jirou raised an eyebrow. “How hard were you staring at her underwear?”
“I was fucking staring at the mark, not her underwear!” Bakugou snapped.
“Was she hot?” Kaminari asked excitedly, his head switching back and forth between the three of them that were there to witness the event. “Is she super angry like Bakugou, too? Does she give off the ‘murder’ vibes?”
“MURDER VIBES?”
Mina ignored Bakugou’s fury and placed a finger on her chin. “Honestly, I don’t really remember much. I was too worried about… you know… her hating our class because of Mineta.”
“The school really shouldn’t allow him from going within 10 feet of any girl,” Sero sweat dropped.
“Oh! I do know one thing though!” Mina brought her finger up. “She’s not a second year.”
“Eh? Really?” Kaminari asked.
“Positive,” Mina nodded and crossed her arms. “I recognize everybody in our year, even the other courses. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before.”
“So, a first or third year then?” Sero supplied. “More probable that she’s a first year, since all three of you had never seen her before, right?”
“She could be a third year; I really don’t know any of them,” Kirishima shrugged.
“She’s in the hero course,” Bakugou’s eyes narrowed. “There’s no way my soul mate isn’t. We just need to check if she’s a first or third year now.”
The others all exchanged worried glances before Kirishima hesitatingly spoke up. “You know, maybe we should keep an open mind and check all the courses?”
“No,” Bakugou crossed his arms. “My soul mate wouldn’t be weak. They’re probably in 1-A or 3-A.”
xxx
“K-Kachaan’s soul mate?!” Midoriya started waving his arms around at the idea of finding his old best friend’s partner. “You found them?!”
“Shh!” The librarian whipped around the corner and glared at them for causing a ruckus. They all bowed their heads in apology.
Bakugou, Mina, and Kirishima were now in the library with the current roster of the school, complete with full names and class assignments. Bakugou begrudgingly had demanded Deku to show up; the nerd had stats on everybody in the hero courses. If they were able to place a finger on your headshot, he would be able to tell Bakugou all about your quirk.
Deku was teetering with excitement, watching the three of them as they scavenged all the headshots of those who were in the hero course. Unfortunately, not a single one seemed to ring a bell from that faithful day.
“Are you sure it’s not her?” Kirishima pointed at a first year. “She had… hair, right?”
“Not that color,” Mina shook her head.
“They all have fucking hair,” Bakugou hissed as quietly as he could. “Stop fucking pointing at every girl with hair.”
“W-what about the people in the other courses?” Deku offered to help, a small smile on his face. “I don’t know all of them like the hero courses, but I know a decent amount of their quirks as well. It wouldn’t hurt to try?”
After a few more rounds of going through the hero course students, Bakugou gave up and allowed Mina and Kirishima to search through the other classes. It didn’t even take two seconds for them to point excitedly at a photo. Located in Class 1-C’s roster was a headshot of you.
Your hair was a bit shorter and you had a nervous smile on your face, but Mina was absolutely certain it was you. Bakugou couldn’t exactly remember if that had been you that day, but he did agree that you looked vaguely familiar.
They scooted over the book over to Deku who tilted his head curiously at the photo. His brow furrowed as he scrunched up his face, looking through all of his notes only to eventually shake his head. “I have notes on a majority of that class from the sports festival, but none on her. She most likely was eliminated too quickly for me to catch what her quirk was.”
Bakugou felt his shoulders drop at the news. You weren’t a hero course student, and you most likely had a lousy quirk if Deku wasn’t able to see it at the sports festival.
Talk about a letdown. You were just some extra with a pretty face.
He almost slapped himself for complimenting you inside his head but stopped as he tuned back in to the others.
“I think Iida knows her,” Deku said. “I feel like I’ve seen him talking to her before.”
“Iida?” Kirishima asked with a baffled expression. “Really?”
“Oh! He’s our class representative, remember?” Mina’s face brightened up.
“Yes! That’s right!” Deku perked up with her. “He works on a regular basis with the other class representatives. She must be the representative for 1-C!”
“Great!” Kirishima’s grin was immediately wiped off though. “But… what now? Bakugou’s not a class representative. And even if Iida does introduce us, we can’t exactly ask her to just lift up her skirt?”
Bakugou growled and slapped him in the back of the head. He was anticipating it though and hardened where his hand had landed. “I don’t need to fucking know if she has the same mark as me. I just need to know what she’s like, and I’ll decide if she’s worthy of being my soul mate or not.”
“That’s not very romantic,” Mina frowned. “Besides, aren’t you giving yourself a little too much credit? Even if you think she’s good enough to be your soul mate, what if she doesn’t want you to be hers?”
“Hah? Why wouldn’t she? I’m the fucking best!”
This time, the librarian wasn’t having it and kicked the four of them out.
xxx
With the school festival planning underway, following Four Eyes to find you was much easier than Bakugou expected. There were more class representative meetings than usual, which meant more opportunities.
During the first two weeks, Bakugou couldn’t find you at all; then he realized one day as Iida was having lunch with a few other representatives, that you always wore a face mask (which explained why he and the others had never noticed you before). When you weren’t eating, you always wore a white disposable face mask around campus. That one day that Mineta had harassed you must’ve been a rare exception, since everybody was just returning from the summer break.
Afterwards, it was much easier to spot you in the hallways. He started memorizing your hair and the way it flowed with your minimal gestures, the color of your eyes and how wide they got when you were interacting with somebody, the way you wore your uniform and how the socks that rested above your knees always created a thigh squish that made his hands itch for a pinch.
It fucking pissed him off because now he was acting like that grape pervert.
He couldn’t do anything though; he always found his eyes wandering back to you if you were in the general vicinity.
The Bakusquad were just as curious about you now. One day, they had managed to snag the other end of the table that Four Eyes and a few other representatives were sitting at. To their delight, you sat at the end of your group, close enough that they’d be able to hear you talk.
But you didn’t.
Instead, you sat quietly with the other representatives, eating your oyakodon. Every now and then you’d look up to listen intently on the conversation and decisions, but the only words you gave were short confirmations or disagreements with the others. Once you were done, you placed your mask back on and whisked your tray away to be returned.
“She… sure is quiet,” Kaminari looked disappointed. “I thought she’d be loud and obnoxious like Bakugou.”
“Fuck you!”
“She could just be uncomfortable. She was sitting with the second- and third-year representatives,” Sero chewed on his rice. “I don’t think her class would nominate her if she couldn’t talk.”
“That’s true! Plus, if she’s class representative, that must mean she’s reliable and smart! Isn’t that great, Bakugou?” Kirishima elbowed him.
“Tch, whatever.”
They finished up lunch but Bakugou wasn’t satisfied with how things were progressing. After class as everybody slowly filed out or were idling, he approached Four Eyes at his desk. He was packing away his things, talking to Round Face and Deku.
“Oi,” Bakugou narrowed his eyes at him. “Got a question for ya’.”
“Bakugou!” Iida smiled brightly. “What can I do for you?”
“Those class rep meetings you always attend…” He glared at Deku who brightened up, already knowing what he would be asking. “What’s the 1-C representative like?”
Iida looked surprised at him, head reeling as he tried to recall. “1-C? Oh! [yl/n]?”
“Yeah, sure, her.” He stuffed his hands inside his pockets. “What’re they like?”
“Well, I’m sure you know all class representative are diligent in their duties. We have plenty of responsibilities and-“
“I know that!” He yelled. “I’m asking about her specifically!”
Uraraka looked intrigued now, resting the palm of her hands on Iida’s desk as she looked forward at him. Confused, Iida answered anyways. “She’s fairly quiet. She doesn’t talk much unless it’s necessary. I unfortunately do not know her on a personal basis, but I can tell you that despite being quiet, she has no issue with holding her ground. Although, I assume that is expected of a class representative.
I’ve heard her speak to give updates about her class. However, she has disagreed firmly with another first year class representative about something – I don’t quite recall but she had no issues with speaking there. I apologize, but I don’t know her that well.”
“Tch, whatever, that’s good enough,” he scowled and turned to walk away.
“Bakugou, why are you interested in a first year?” Uraraka asked curiously.
“None of your business!”
“If you want, I’m sure Iida could introduce you,” she smiled anyways, used to his harsh barking that didn’t have a real bite to it.
“That’s a great idea, Uraraka!” Midoriya grinned and looked happily over at Bakugou. “You could meet her and get to know her yourself!”
“Wait!” Iida placed his hand up to stop them from going any further. “While I can make the introduction, it might seem a bit off to be coming from me since I have barely interacted with her. Although we both attend the same meetings, I have yet to actually speak with her on anything.”
Bakugou deflated, but not as visibly as Midoriya and Uraraka.
“However, there is another route you can take,” he stood up and started chopping the air in his usual fashion. “I’ve heard from Kendo, class 2-B’s representative, that there are a few students in class 2-B that are actually familiar with [yl/n].”
“Eh? Why’s that?” Uraraka tilted her head.
“I don’t know the complete story, but it seems there are some students that regularly meet with her. Kendo seems to be more comfortable speaking to [yl/n] because of it.”
“Who?!” Bakugou asked.
“I’m not sure, but if you’d like, I can ask Kendo more about it?” Iida recommended. “I’m supposed to meet with her and the other second year representatives the day after tomorrow.”
“Fine. But don’t go spitting out that I’m the one asking!” Bakugou glared, looking over to see Kirishima waving at him so they could head out. “I don’t need more god damn extras knowing about this.”
“Leave it to Iida, Kacchan!” Midoriya gave him a thumbs up. “We got this!”
xxx
Why the fuck so many people thought they could be involved in this was killing Bakugou. First, Cheeks had gone and told that Half and Half bastard. Then, Kirishima told the Bakusquad the latest update. Now, everybody in the Bakusquad and Dekusquad had shown up to meet with Kendo, who had brought Shiozaki, Honenuki, and Tokage from class 2-B.
There were way too many fucking people here for Bakugou’s liking, but when he tried to tell them to scram, the Bakusquad agreed that they’d hear it sooner or later, and Dekusquad insisted that they be allowed to partake since they had helped with the intel.
Kendo was confused about the crowd but was happy to help, either way.
“The four of us are a bit familiar with [yl/n]. Was there something specific you wanted to know?”
Mina raised her hand. “How do you guys know her?”
Kaminari raised his own. “Does she have a boyfriend?”
“What’s she like?”
“Does she have a type?”
“Is she nice?”
They kept alternating between questions, not letting Kendo answer who seemed at a loss. Honenuki finally cut in with the first answer, “Vlad-Sensei assigned us with the task of escorting her to and from campus. We take turns going in pairs.”
“Escort?” Midoriya looked puzzled. “Where is she going?”
“She has an internship with the new Hero Commission,” Kendo explained. “I think Hound Dog was worried about her safety, so he asked Vlad to lend some of us who have shown that we’re capable with our licenses.”
“It’s quite simple,” Honenuki shrugged. “We do it about once or twice a week, Sunday and Monday only. With how calm things have been since the league disbanded, all the heroes we do our work studies with say it’s good practice to keep us vigilant.”
“What’s she like?!” Mina and Kaminari asked in sync.
“[yl/n] is a polite individual,” Shiozaki had her eyes closed with her hands clasped in front of her. “She has yet to show any sins in my presence.”
“Second that,” Tokage pointed a thumb at her classmate. “Girl’s quiet, but she’s not rude or anything; always thankful when we escort her. Seems nice, based on the few words we exchange with her.”
“Do you have any details on her quirk? Type or strengths to it?” Midoriya asked eagerly, holding up a pencil to another one of his many notebooks.
Kendo shrugged, looking over at the others who didn’t seem to have an answer as well. “I’ve never asked.”
“I assumed she was quirkless,” Honenuki raised his hand. “She’s asked us questions before about our quirks, but has yet to offer any information of her own.”
“What the fuck?” Bakugou spat out in disbelief. “Quirkless?!”
“Kacchan, he’s just assuming-“
“Bro, we don’t know for sure if-“
“Shut the fuck up!” He snapped at Kirishima, shrugging the hand off his shoulder. He turned back to Kendo, “What else? What else can you tell me about her?”
“Well, she really is quiet, so that’s probably it,” she gave him a small smile. “We’re not exactly friends with her. Although we’ve tried to get her to open up, it doesn’t seem like she wants to. We’re just helping out for the task.”
Bakugou frowned, feeling another dead end at this search. He had a feeling you were quiet, based off your activity during lunch that one day, but this just confirmed it. He was hoping for something more concrete about you.
“Not anymore,” he sneered finally. “I’m taking over that escort mission.”
“Bro?!”
“But Kacchan, our work-“
“It’s a fucking mission that only happens once a week; we don’t even fucking work Sundays.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll ask Aizawa to have it be reassigned to me.”
Honenuki shrugged, “You’re more than welcome to take it off our hands, but I believe Hound Dog wanted at a minimum two hero course students for it.”
Tokage crossed her arms, eyeing Bakugou’s face up and down. “Any reason why you’re so pent up on getting to know [yl/n]? I’d understand if she was a hero student who could be a threat to your big, bad power, but she’s just a general studies class representative.”
“It’s me!” Kirishima panicked and waved his arms around. “I’m curious about her! I heard she had a cool quirk!”
“Me too!” Mina butted in. “I want to be friends with her cause she’s so cute!”
Bakugou’s eye twitched at their blatant lying, but the 2-B students seemed to let it go.
“Well, if you don’t get the task reassigned, we can always introduce you,” Kendo smiled again. “Just let us know.”
xxx
Bakugou couldn’t deny that his soul mark tingled as he stood in front of you. You shifted back and forth on your feet as Hound Dog and Aizawa explained that he and Kirishima would be escorting you to and from your internship on Sunday’s. If you needed to attend on Monday, then a usual pair from the 2-B class would be doing it.
After much harassing, he finally got Aizawa to let him participate. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get the mission alone (since Hound Dog had been insistent on two students for safety precautions). Rather than being teamed up with one of the 2-B students though, Bakugou eventually asked Kirishima to tag along. At least he was comfortable with the redhead.
Kirishima had been excited at the prospect of meeting you. Plus, he’d made sure to talk to the rest of the squad about different approaches to make sure Bakugou didn’t come off as ‘aggressive’ or ‘mean’.
Just a backup, in case you did end up being his soul mate.
“And remember, no detours,” Hound Dog moved animatedly as he talked. “To the office and back.”
“I expect you two to act accordingly. Remember, this mission comes first,” Aizawa reminded the two. “No getting distracted in other battles or disruptions nearby. Escorting [yl/n] and ensuring her safety is the number one priority.”
Bakugou grunted while Kirishima agreed happily. They couldn’t see your face since you had a face mask on, but you nodded along in agreeance. After that, the three of you set out. You were silent, holding onto your backpack as you walked in the Yuuei uniform. Since this was a mission for them, however, Bakugou and Kirishima had suited up in their hero costumes.
Kirishima looked worriedly at him before finally speaking up to try and strike a conversation.
“So! [yl/n]! How long have you been working at the hero commission?”
“Beginning of this school year.” Your voice was quiet but steady, light and not too squeaky like he had expected from a nerd.
“That’s cool! What do you do there?”
“Paperwork.”
“Aa… Do you like working with heroes? Is that why you wanted to work there?”
“Not particularly.”
Bakugou grinded his teeth. Holy shit – you really did not want to talk to them. He knew his people skills could be shitty but at least he responded back to people properly (just with a million curse words in between).
“Uh… Do you have a boyfriend?”
He whipped his head around at the chattering redhead, palms sparking at his stupidity.
“No.”
“… A girlfriend?”
“No.”
You walked ahead of them, not seeming to notice the way Bakugou was trying to strangle Kirishima who was holding up two thumbs as though he had made a huge score.
“I’m going to fucking kill you!” Bakugou hissed at him.
“Don’t worry man, I got this!” His teeth shined before skipping ahead to you. “[yl/n], what do you like to do in your free time?”
You shrugged, stopping at the corner and looking up at the sign that signaled for the bus to stop.
“Bakugou and I like to spar!” He hardened his arms and punched his hands together, laughing. “But I guess that’s what hero course students do. I was just curious what you all do! We never really get to hang out or talk to general studies students, mainly just the support or other hero courses.”
You blinked at him with your usual wide stare. Bakugou eyed you, trying to sense some form of emotion but it was difficult since half your face was covered up.
“Not much. Nowhere as exciting as the hero course - studying, working,” you spoke, carefully enunciating each syllable. “Sparring sounds… cool.”
“It’s fun! Hey, you can come watch and we can teach you sometime if you want!” He pointed at Bakugou. “This guy’s the best in our class!”
His eyebrow twitched but he didn’t complain. Shitty Hair sure was good at roping people in. You eyed Bakugou briefly before looking away as the bus started pulling in.
“Maybe.”