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The threads of soulmates were one of the few supposed constants in the world. Midoriya knew well enough that quirks weren’t certain, and his classmates made sure he didn’t forget how odd he was for it.
The strings that connected them all were what made them human, he was told, they meant that nobody would die alone.
Staring at his hands, free from the red thread that tied others together, he felt a crushing wave of loneliness.
Was it because he was quirkless, he wondered, did the universe despise him enough to deprive him of a partner?
More than once he’d stolen crimson strings from his mother’s sewing kit, tying it in delicate knots around his pinky, allowing himself to imagine he wasn’t alone in the world, that someone out there would love him unconditionally.
After a particularly tough day at school with classmates poking far too close to the truth for his liking, he broke down in from of his mother, confessing that he didn’t have a soulmate and crying that nobody could ever love a quirkless Deku like him.
She comforted him, whispering sweet words and holding him close.
“Oh, sweetheart.” She soothed.
“Soulmates are purely for romantic love, they could never fully encompass every type of love out there or we’d be tied up with so many threads we couldn’t move!” She explained, holding his head in her hands, wiping tears as they fell.
“I love you, but that kind of love just doesn’t have a string, I love my friends, but they’re only tied to their lovers.”
“Izuku, honey, romantic feelings will never define you, and lacking them doesn’t make you any less of a human.” She pushed his hair out of his face and placed a soft kiss to his forehead.
“Of course, if you find someone who you truly love, not being soulmates with them doesn’t mean your feelings are invalid, after all,” She gave him a knowing wink.
“Your father and I weren’t.”
Inko made him Katsudon that night, showering him with affection for months after the incident.
Once he entered middle school, he became more accepting of the fact he had no string.
He refused to shout about it, and never felt pride but he’d had vague thoughts of searching for others with no string. Midoriya never really got around to it, afraid of his classmates finding yet another thing to hate him for.
He’d barely begun his last year in Aldera when quite possibly the worst day of his life decided to drop in.
The second Midoriya woke up, he could tell it would be a shit day.
His alarm failed to go off, resulting in him being late to his first lesson.
He stumbled through the door, gulping in air as he hastily walked toward his seat, the feeling of his teacher’s eyes on him sending shivers up his spine.
“I’m glad you could finally join us.” She said sarcastically, “But next time you’re late, don’t bother coming in.”
Midoriya lowered his head in defence against the quiet laughter from the other students.
She smirked in victory, as if ridiculing teenagers was the thing she actually got paid for.
MIdoriya kept his head down for the rest of the lesson; bringing attention to himself wasn’t worth the risk.
His eyes traced the shapes of the kanji he was writing, narrowing his eyes as he took note of the dwindling quantity of ink being dispersed. He rolled his eyes and scribbled on the corner of the page, fruitlessly hoping for the biro gods to bless him with even a small amount of ink.
Alas, his wishes remained unanswered, the only reward for his actions being a decimated page corner.
With his only distraction gone, Midoriya had no choice other than to fully dedicate his attention to the teacher, who was mindlessly droning on about soulmates.
“Ever since the dawn of quirks, every human has had a soulmate. In some cases, it doesn’t work out due to people never finding their partners and in others,” She gave Midoriya a pointed look.
“It’s better for them to just die alone.”
Warm liquid began to pool in his eyes. Of course, he carried his mother’s words with him, but it still hurt knowing he’d never had a special someone.
“I feel so bad for Midoriya’s soulmate,” The girl to his left whispered.
“To have a quirkless as my partner.. Just the thought of it makes me feel queasy." She fake gagged, just to add the cherry of insult on the cake.
He scoffed, but the sound came out much louder than he expected.
Midoriya would have shrunk in on himself under the sudden weight of dozens of eyes on him, but he was already firmly hunched over, ‘For love love of fuck, piss off and don’t kill me’ mode activated.
“Got something to say, Deku?” She spat, pushing her chair back as she stood up.
Something in Midoriya snapped. If he didn’t stand up for himself then, would he ever? Now, some people might think otherwise, but personally Midoriya didn’t want to be treated like utter shit for his last middle school year.
“Actually, yes.”
He raised his head and met her gaze.
“I think I feel bad for your soulmate, for having to put up with such a self centered bitch with her head so far up her ass they’re choking on shit.” He hardened his glare, grip tightening on his useless pen.
“Excuse me?!” She hissed, slamming her hands on his desk with enough force to knock off his pencil case.
He raised an eyebrow.
“Would you like me to repeat myself?”
She slapped him, hard.
His head didn’t move an inch.
“It’s interesting that you think you’re above the law just because you have a quirk, considering that I can get away with so much more than you.” He stated, blinking slowly.
“Even in the quirk department, though, you’re probably, what?” He shrugged and pondered for a split second.
“Second weakest in this class?”
He huffed out a dry laugh as he stood up.
“The best thing about this, without a doubt, is that I could get all of you in so much trouble and you don’t even know it.”
In a sorry attempt to restore her pride, the girl scoffed.
“Did you finally lose your marbles, what are you on about?”
He smirked.
“Almost everyone who goes into the police force tends to pity quirkless people. I’m less likely to be arrested for doing the same thing as you. Yet everyone in this room has committed at least one crime in front of me.”
“Illegal quirk use, assault, refusing to report bullying. All against a poor, helpless quirkless boy.” He cackled.
“You know what,” He started, picking up his bag and pushing his way to the door, taking full advantage of the fact that most students were frozen in place.
“I am so fucking glad I don’t have a soulmate; just the thought of being tied to a bitch like you makes me feel queasy.” He smiled sweetly and shut the door just before shouting broke out from inside.
He ran out of the building, not taking any chances and called his mother the second he could.
“Hey, mum.” He huffed, still lightly worn out from the unexpected exercise.
“I.. I think I might be expelled, could you pick me up, please?” His voice broke near the end as the lump that had built up inside his throat grew larger and the dam broke.
Tears trickled down his cheeks as he sobbed, proud of himself yet drowning in regret.
He could barely recognise his mother’s car, vision swimming.
A warm arm wrapped around his shoulder and he was gently led to the vehicle.
When they arrived home, Inko only let go of Midoriya to get him an All Might plush and a warm blanket.
“Oh sweetheart,” She said, voice velvet smooth.
“I’m so proud of you. You’ll never have to go there again and that’s a promise.”
With a kiss on his forehead, she pulled him into a comforting embrace.
It was more obvious than ever for Midoriya that romance would never be required, would never define a person.
He wasn’t any less human, and less valid or any less important for lacking them.