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1.
The first time Shouta heard his soulmate sing, he is 18, and it's obviously a kid singing nursery rhymes. The kid is probably three or four by the sounds of it.
The dread hits him pretty hard, oh gods he has a soulmate that’s at the bare minimum a decade younger, probably closer to 14 or 15 years younger.
He tries to reassure himself that it isn’t a romantic bond, it can’t be.
Occasionally he will sing back, when he isn’t on patrols, but starting off with his hero work, his schedule is hectic to say the least. He also has a bad habit of overworking himself constantly. He wants to make a difference, he needs to save as many lives as possible, he needs to protect people, be the hero everyone said he couldn’t be, and needs to prove them wrong.
Over the next few years the singing slowly comes to a stop, first it is just occasionally missing a night here and there, until it is rare when the kid sings. Shouta won’t lie, he is kind of disappointed when his soulmate stops. Not that he will ever admit that out loud, to anyone.
2.
When he turns 25 his friends manage to finally drag him to karaoke. He always uses every excuse under the sun to not go, as well as just flat out refusing.
The trio is able to get him drunk enough to be willing to sing, which is a bad idea.
Going most of his life without having a soulmate, and then only a couple years of them actually singing he tends to forget that soulmates are a thing. It isn’t until halfway through the first song when another voice joins his and he stops, confused because it is too young to be any of the three assholes sitting in front of him. The voice peters out as well, causing him to frown. He doesn’t sing again after that.
The next morning he vaguely remembers what happened the night before. He feels kind of bad that the first time his soulmate heard him sing he was drunk off his ass, and stopped when they joined. He hopes his soulmate doesn’t take it personally. It’s on him for forgetting, and his liquor-addled brain was not helping. If and when he finds his soulmate he will probably have to explain.
He refuses to go to any more karaoke nights, nothing could change his mind.
3.
He is 29 when he hears his soulmate sing again. It scares him when it starts. He was in the middle of teaching a class when he just stops mid sentence, his eyes narrowing at his students, wanting to know who was interrupting class with a stupid ass song. When none of them are singing he realizes who is singing. Shouta is aware of the song, he is best friends with Hizashi, who has an affinity for the weirdest, most unhinged songs. So yes, he knows the song, he just isn’t thrilled that it is the first song he is hearing his soulmate sing after years, in the middle of school no less. Isn’t the kid in class?
It is going to get stuck in his head for the rest of the day, goddammit.
He continues with his lesson. As the day goes on the song plays on repeat in his brain without his soulmate’s input. He finds himself singing it under his breath while grading at his kitchen table.
Hamburger, cheeseburger, big mac, whopper being repetitively mumbled rhythmically.
Shouta wouldn’t even really call it a song, if he’s being real honest. When Hizashi first started singing it he thought the blonde was fucking with him. Yet years later the song comes back to haunt him. His soulmate joins in so they switch off each line, and Shouta finds himself enjoying grading for once.
4.
It doesn’t take long for the kid to sing again, though Shouta wishes he hadn’t.
It is a song the raven haired man knows better than he would ever like to admit. He used to listen to it a lot. He knows it just by the first line, and he really hopes the kid is somewhere safe. Gods know Shouta was close to the edge every time he listened to the song.
Just as I was about to take my shoes
Off of the rooftop, there I see
A girl with braided hair here before me.
Despite myself, I go and scream
Shouta gently runs his fingers through his cat’s fur, panic surging through his veins at not knowing anything about this kid, not knowing where he is, if he could even help. Hell the past couple songs have been in English, he doesn’t even know if he is the right fucking country. So he joins in the song, hoping the kid would feel less alone.
“Hey, don’t do it please,”
The lull in lyrics scare him a little bit. He waits for the next line, his fingers still carding through the fuzzball on his lap.
Whoa, wait a minute, what did I just say?
I couldn’t care less, either way
To be honest, I was somewhat pissed
This girl was an opportunity missed.
Relief floods the teacher when the kid continues the song, so he decides to join in again.
The girl with braided hair told me her woes
You’ve probably heard it all before.
I really thought that he might be the one
But then he told me he was done
For God’s sake, please! Are you serious? I just can’t believe
That for some stupid reason you got here before me.
Are you upset ‘cause you can’t have what you wanted?
You’re lucky that you’ve never gotten robbed of anything
I’m feeling better, thank you for listening
The girl with braided hair then disappeared.
Shouta sings the last few lines, hoping he could portray his emotions through the song, hoping the kid isn’t sitting on a rooftop somewhere he can't reach.
He leans back against the couch as the kid starts the next part.
Alright, Today’s the day, or so I thought
Just as I took both of my shoes off
There was a girl, short as can be
Despite myself I go and scream
The petite girl told me her woes
You’ve probably heard it all before
Everyone ignores me, everyone steals
I don’t fit in with anyone here
For God’s sake, please! Are you serious? I just can’t believe
That for some stupid reason you got here before me
‘Cause even so, you’re even still loved by everyone at home
There’s always dinner waiting on the table, you know
“I’m hungry,” said the girl as she shed a tear
The girl short as can be then disappeared.
Shouta frowns slightly, that verse always hits a little too close to home. No one in his life believed in his dreams until he got to UA and met the other three that forced their way into his life.
He wishes he could talk to the kid, make sure they are alright at least.
And like that, there was someone everyday
I listened to their tale, I made them turn away
And yet there was no one who would do this for me
No way I could let out all this pain.
For the very first time, there I see
Someone with the same pains as me
Having done this time and time again
She wore a yellow cardigan
“I just wanna stop the scars that grow
Every time that I go home
That’s why I come up here instead”
That’s what the girl in the cardigan said
Woah, wait a minute, what did I just say?
I couldn’t care less, either way
But something in the moment I just screamed
Something that I could not believe
“Hey, don’t do it, Please!”
Ah, what to do? I can’t stop this girl, oh this is new
For once I think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew
But even so, please just go away, so I can’t see
Your pitiful expression is just too much for me
I guess today is just not my day
She looked away from me and then she disappeared
There’s no one here today, I guess it’s time
It’s just me, myself, and I
There is no one who can interfere
No one to get in my way here
Taking off my yellow cardigan
Watching my braid some undone
This petite girl, short as can be
Is gonna jump now and be free
Shouta doesn’t realize there are tears filling his eyes.
Hey, don’t do it, please
He knows that it isn’t in the end of the song, but he has to try something, he has to hope that his soulmate isn’t sitting on a rooftop looking to jump, out of his reach.
5.
He doesn’t hear from his soulmate for a while after that, he tries singing first but there is never a response.
Shouta assumes the worst and he isn’t happy about it. How is he so sad over a kid he never even knew, and only sang with on the rare occasion?
There is a new vigilante that ends up taking his mind off the kid. He is still worried over his soulmate, don’t get him wrong, but it’s a good distraction.
What he never expected, however, was his soulmate starting to sing in the middle of the night. Eraserhead was on patrol, perched on a rooftop as he looks for crime.
Oh, I’m a gummy bear
Yes I’m a gummy bear
Oh, I’m a yummy, tummy, funny, lucky gummy bear
He has never been more relieved to hear a stupid song more in his life. It might have startled him a bit, the kid should be sleeping, but he is relieved nonetheless. He lets himself smile as the kid sings.
Throughout the night the kid sings odd songs, the pro occasionally joining in. They stop at about 4 in the morning. Shouta hopes they have gone to bed at that point.
It slowly becomes a thing, the kid sings most nights, giving Eraser a soundtrack while he does his job. Sometimes he catches a glimpse of the vigilante, but the singing tends to stop whenever he gets closer, so he is conflicted on whether or not to keep pursuing the guy.
His soulmate seems to be up to date on all the new songs, which greatly annoys Hizashi whenever he tries to show the raven haired male a new song and Shouta has to tell him he has been listening to the song at least once a night for the past however long. This makes Hizashi want to find the kid more than ever. Shouta also wants to figure out who his soulmate is, but is honestly just happy that they are singing, it’s nice to have something akin to company on his patrols. They have come up with a system, whenever one of them, mainly Shouta, however the kid has done it a couple times, needs silence they will sing the line “no one dared, disturb the sound of silence”. It took the kid a couple times to get it, but they haven’t slipped up since.
When Eraserhead is patrolling, he is very much accustomed to the songs that his soulmate sings, so when they start singing an english song about the word ‘no’ he’s not too thrown off. What does throw him off, however, is hearing it twice.
Shouta is on his patrol route with the kid just playing in the background, when he stumbles the vigilante throwing punches at a guy with a terrified girl near the end of the alley. The vigilante singing the same song.
No is no
No is always no
If they say no, it means a thousand times no
Eraser checks on the girl briefly before entering the fight, quickly ending it.
The kid instantly starts to leave, but Shouta won’t let him, sending out his capture scarf to keep the kid in place. He goes back to the girl and the four of them wait for the police. Eraser assures them the kid is fine, and no he isn’t being arrested, he just is not cooperating.
The ravenette checks the kid over for any injuries, not seeing anything other than scratches he is satisfied and leads, more like drags, him to a small 24/7 cafe that is near.
Shouta isn’t sure how to start the “hey, so we’re soulmates” conversation, so he stalls until he has coffee and the kid has hot chocolate and a muffin.
+1
Shouta lets Izuku take the lead on this patrol, staying close by in case the kid needs help, but it’s been a few months since he started living with Shouta, and honestly, he trusts the kid. He has proved himself time and time again that he can handle patrols. Shouta is still a little overprotective at times, how can he not? His soulmate is 16, he is still a child.
It took a little bit getting used to living with another person, especially someone that is as self sufficient as Izuku.
He started teaching the kid actual self defense, and Nezu thankfully let him apply to the hero course so he can actually work legally alongside Eraser. Not that legality would have stopped them, Izuku would have continued being a vigilante if he didn’t get his hero license.
Shouta happily settled into his new life with the kid, his kid. Izuku still hasn’t really opened up about his past, and that’s okay, Shouta would never press for answers. The kid will come to him when he’s ready.
Izuku has already met his friends, and they signed adoption papers so they are pretty much stuck together for the foreseeable future. Hizashi, Oboro, and Nemuri would have his head if anything happened to the kid, anyways.
If someone would have told Shouta that he would be a parent in the future he would have called them crazy but now he can’t see his life any other way.
He has to ask Izuku how he feels about a younger sister in the near future.