Chapter Text
Bakugo Katsuki remembers the day he got his soulmark - a day he wished had never happened.
Katsuki had woken up, full of that boundless childish energy. The kind that ran around the forest and pretended to be All Might. The kind that was still happy, blissfully in ignorance.
He hadn’t even noticed it , until he went to wash his hands and brush his teeth. But then...
There was something on his arm. In big letters, written with bright green lightning, was a word. There was writing on his arm. He wasn’t sure why. Did someone put it there? It looked cool though.
So little Katsuki did what all little children do, when faced with a problem too big and grown-up to solve by themselves.
“Mama! Mama, what’s this?”
Bakugo Mitsuki was in the kitchen, getting Katsuki’s food ready for school. She looked up to see Katsuki running into the kitchen, waving his right arm around.
“What is it, Ka-” She sees it - and stops.
“MASARU! GET DOWN HERE!”
---
It’s a soulmark.
Katsuki kind of knows what a soulmark is. He’s seen them on some adults, and he knows a few kids who can’t see all the colors, and when he asked why they say it’s cuz it’s their soulmark.
But now he has one . And it’s so cool!
Katsuki’s parents explain to him about soulmarks and soulmates, with big smiles on their faces. They tell Katsuki how lucky he is, that he's got a soulmark, and such a nice one at that. They tell him about how one day, he’ll meet a pretty girl, and they’ll be soulmates and fall in love and live happily ever after.
Katsuki squints at his hand. “It says…Deku? Why is my soulmate’s name Deku?”
Katsuki’s dad laughs. “It says Izuku, not Deku.”
Katsuki gasps loudly, childishly. “My soulmate is Izuku!?” Katsuki is so excited. He and Izuku are gonna be heroes together, and now they can be soulmates too!
He scrunches up his nose. “But Izuku’s not a girl! You said my soulmate was a girl, but Izuku’s a boy.”
His parents look shocked. “What?”
Katsuki just sends back a smile.
---
Katsuki’s not sure what he said wrong, but his parents aren’t happy anymore. Now they look concerned, and they send him upstairs, telling him to go get ready for school.
Katsuki gets ready as fast as possible. He wants to show Izuku his soulmark! He’s sure Izuku will get his soon, and then they’ll both get their quirks and be super awesome heroes - as soulmates!
When Katsuki’s finished, his parents are in the living room, speaking in hushed whispers that he can't really hear. He’s pretty sure they say ‘Izuku’ a few times, and…‘mo’-something? Katsuki’s not sure what it means, but it comes up a lot.
“KATSUKI!” His mother’s calling.
“Yea, Mama?”
“Let’s go. We’re going to see someone.”
“What about school?”
“You’re not going to school today.”
“But I wanna see Izuku! I’m gonna show him my soulmark!”
His dad crouches, so he and Kastuki are face-to-face. “Katsuki, you can’t show anyone your soulmark. Okay?”
“What!? Why?”
Neither of them answer him, just pull him into the car.
---
The place they take him is strange.
It’s not very well lit. In Katsuki’s little brain, it makes him think of the witch’s lair in some of the few non-superhero movies he’s seen. The witch is usually the villain , Katsuki’s brain supplies unhelpfully.
A woman, in her thirties or forties, comes up to where Katsuki and his parents are standing.
“Hello! What brings you here?” she asks, wearing a bright smile.
His mom speaks. “It’s for him.” She gestures to Katsuki. “Katsuki, show her your soulmark.”
Katsuki does as told, pulling up his long sleeves to reveal the viridian brand on his arm.
The woman smiles. “My, that’s a beautiful soulmark!”
“We need you to remove it,” his mother demands.
The woman looks taken aback. “Why would you want to remove it?”
“His soulmate is…a boy,” his father explains, ‘delicately’.
“Oh.” She frowns. “You know, there’s nothing wrong with being gay! People have started to be more accepting of such things. And who knows, by the time he grows up, it might not be any sort of issue at all!”
“He’ll be ridiculed. Adults and children alike will judge him for being…gay. We need to remove it.”
“Ah.” The woman thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. “No.”
“Excuse me??”
“I won’t remove it. Frankly, I think your reason is ridiculous, even if I do understand why you may feel so. But he’s too young to truly make his own choice, and I don’t think you want him resenting you once he grows older and understands the decision you made for him.”
His mother looks on the verge of blowing up, but his father cuts in. “We understand. But maybe you could just…cover it up! Temporarily, so he can make his own choice once he’s older.”
The woman thinks for a moment, then nods. “I could try. But on a child, it likely wouldn’t last very long. A few months at most. You’d have to come back here and renew it periodically.”
His mother nods. “Alright then.”
---
The next day, Katsuki’s parents drop him off to school, with multiple stern reminders of don’t tell anyone you got a soulmark, especially Izuku!
Katsuki isn’t totally sure why, but they’re his parents, so they must be right!
“Kacchan!” Izuku’s calling for him, wearing that big smile of his.
Katsuki thinks that smile is the prettiest thing in the world.
“Izuku!” Katsuki runs to his green haired friend, excitement taking over.
When he gets there, Izuku gives him a hug. A cute one, the kind shared by little children who can think of no greater joy than seeing a friend again.
“Why weren’t you at school yesterday, Kacchan? Were you sick? Did you get hurt? What happened???”
Katsuki wants to tell him. He want so badly to tell Izuku all about his mark, how cool it is, how when they grow up they’re gonna be soulmates, too!
But he can’t. Mama and Papa said not to tell anyone, and they even mentioned Izuku specifically. If he tells anyone, he’ll get in trouble.
“I can’t tell you.” At that, little Izuku’s face scrunches up, and he pouts.
“What! Why?”
“It’s a secret,” Katsuki declares firmly, crossing his arms to make his point.
Izuku starts to cry, big fat tears falling from glittering emerald eyes. “But I tell you all my secrets! I wanna know where Kacchan was!”
“Izuku! Stop crying! I’m sorry, Mama and Papa said I can’t tell anyone, not even you.”
Izuku sniffles a bit, tears starting to ebb. “Oh.”
Katsuki doesn’t know what to say. He wants to cheer Izuku up, to tell him about the soulmark. But he can’t.
But… “Izuku, I can write your name! You wanna see?”
At that, he looks up in awe, and he forgets all about his sadness in favor of jumping up and down, grinning excitedly. “Really?! Kacchan’s so smart!”
Katsuki smiles too, bubbling up in his chest. He goes to grab a stick, making sure it’s one pointy enough to easily write with. He finds a large enough patch of dirt, and painstakingly starts carving out the kanji from his soulmark, burned into his memory like they were in his arm. When he finishes, he stands up, looking at his work proudly.
“See! It’s your name, Izuku!”
Izuku stares at the word with wide eyes, beaming at the kanji on the ground. “Wow!”
Katsuki treasures the look on Izuku’s face. “You know, it could also be pronounced Deku.”
Izuku looks at him, confused. “What does that mean?”
Katsuki thinks. “I think it’s a type of doll.”
Izuku makes a strange face. “Am I a doll?”
Katsuki just pokes him on the cheek.
---
When Katsuki gets home from school, there’s a big van in front of his house.
He asks Papa why.
“Well, Katsuki, we’re moving.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re going to pack up all of our stuff and move it into a new, bigger house, and we’re going to live in that house instead of this one.”
“Oh, okay…Can I still come see Izuku, even if we’re not neighbors?”
“I’m sorry, Kastuki. I think it’s better if you don’t see Izuku anymore.”