Work Text:
Hitoshi stares down at the mark he didn’t have ten minutes ago when he’d finally shut his eyes to get some sleep. It’s red and looks like a bunch of sharp, jagged rocks formed into a bite… teeth marks?
“Why the fuck does this look like a goddamn bite mark made out of rocks?” asks Hitoshi quietly as he stares at his wrist.
“Hitoshi? What’re you still doing up?” calls his mentor and recent adoptive father, Shota Aizawa.
“I- I think I got my soulmark?” calls Hitoshi, brows furrowing as panic surges through him because he didn’t think he was going to get his mark. “This looks like… Is my- no, there’s no fucking way that Eijirou Kirishima is my soulmate.”
He didn’t think he had a soulmate.
Typically, soulmarks come in at 13 years old, and he’s sixteen as of ten minutes ago.
“That’s great! What’s it look like?” asks Shota as he pokes his head into Hitoshi’s room.
“I- like a bunch of jagged, red rocks formed into a bite mark on my wrist.” replies Hitoshi as he slips out of his bed and heads towards the door to show his dad the mark.
“Wow, okay, so I’m pretty sure I know who that is…” Shota’s eyes lift in a slight panic to meet Hitoshi’s before he’s cutting himself off, clearing his throat, and redirecting the conversation entirely. “Well, at least you can stop saying you don’t have a soulmate now. Are you going to cover it, or do you want to leave it open to view?”
“Leave it open. What’s the point in hiding the stupid thing when I’m pretty much covered anyways? Besides, if it’s Eijirou then there’s no point in hiding it because his soulmate is Tetsu as far as the squad knows.” replies Hitoshi with a defeated shrug, snorting when Shota’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Eijirou said his mark was gray/silver and looked like steel plates in a circular form. They all came to the obvious conclusion that it’s got to be Tetsu because of the silver.”
“But you do know that your mark is gray until your soulmate gets their mark, right? Then it fills out and clears into an actually colorful image to symbolize their soulmate.” says Shota as he purses his lips and arches a brow at Hitoshi.
“I’m not going to get my hopes up right now. I’m just gonna get some more sleep.” huffs Hitoshi with a shake of his head because while he knows what his dad, his mentor, is saying is true, he can’t take the hope. “Talk to you in a few hours.”
“Alright, get some sleep kid… Happy Birthday, Hitoshi.” says Shota softly, understanding in his voice that Hitoshi knows all too well.
He knows who his dad’s soulmate is, and he knows that he’s still not told them.
Hawks.
Keigo Takami as his dad called him a couple days ago when he came by to get Tokoyami for patrol and stole Zawa’s coffee and his favorite mug.
His dad refuses to tell Hawks about their shared soulmarks, despite Tokoyami confirming that they have to be soulmates because of the red eyes on Hawks hip that resemble wings.
The door shuts before Hitoshi's able to say thank you, caught up in his head, so he quickly moves back to the door and tugs it open.
“Dad? Thank you… just- thank you.” calls Hitoshi to Shota’s back as he heads for his own room.
His dad turns around to look at him, voice soft as he replies, “Of course, kid, it’s never a problem. Get some sleep, and I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“Talk to you in the morning.” murmurs Hitoshi before he turns and ducks back into his room, moving back to his bed where his phone is lit up on his pillow.
He grabs it as he flops back onto his bed, lying across it as his head reaches the edge of the mattress, and he holds the phone above his face. It’s just a bunch of messages wishing him a happy birthday. There’s a few asking him if he’d gotten his soulmark yet as well as asking if he wants to do something for his birthday, or if it’s going to be a family only kind of day.
But then there’s a message from Bakugou and Kirishima.
Blasted Blonde: You got your fuckin’ mark, finally, didn’t you? You’re Shitty Hair’s motherfuckin’ soulmate, thank heroes!
Hitoshi’s brows furrow as he looks at the message.
Troll Doll: The hell are you so excited about, and what makes you think that crap anyways?
He shakes his head before swapping over to Kirishima’s messages.
Eiji: Can- Is there any way that I can come by or meet you somewhere between our places?
Eiji: I think we need to talk, Toshi.
Toshi: It’s a little late for a meet-up, Eiji.
He sends thanks to everyone else before coming back to Bakugou’s messages because he’d responded in all fricken’ caps.
Blasted Blonde: BECAUSE IT’S NOT THAT TINCAN BASTARD! YOU TWO HAVE BEEN FLIRTING LIKE DUMBASSES SINCE YOU FUCKIN’ MET!
Blasted Blonde: Fuckin’ meet with him already. Sooner you dumbasses talk, the sooner he can implement his fuckin date idea, and I won’t have to hear about it anymore!
Troll Doll: You know how late it is, right? Like I know I don’t sleep, but it’s late as hell. You want me to tell my dad that I gotta go because Kirishima needs to talk to me? Or just fuckin’ sneak out like a damn degenerate?
Blasted Blonde: You’ve snuck out before you damn idiot.
Troll Doll: Not since Zawa adopted me you dumbass!
Blasted Blonde: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING A DUMBASS?!
Blasted Blonde: LISTEN HERE, YOU TROLL DOLL ASSHAT, I’M NOT A DUMBASS. I FUCKIN’ KNEW YOU TWO IDIOTS WERE SOULMATES BECAUSE I SAW THE GODDAMN BRAIN AND HANDS IN THAT FUCKIN PICTURE UNLIKE THE OTHER IDIOTS!
Troll Doll: Stop yelling at me through text, Blasty. I appreciate that you knew, or whatever, but I’m not sneaking out or asking to leave this late. Let me go to sleep.
Kirishima’s name kept dropping repeatedly, and Hitoshi is half tempted to ignore his messages. But then he sees one that says, “I’m on my way to you.” So, he swaps back over to them.
Eiji: I know it’s late, but this is important.
Eiji: We really need to talk about this.
Eiji: It’s gotta do with our soulmarks.
Eiji: I can come to you.
Eiji: Would that even be okay?
Eiji: Bakubro says I should because you won’t come to me.
Eiji: Ya know what?
Eiji: I’m on my way to you.
Toshi: That’s a bad idea.
Toshi: Zawa’s still awake, I think, and we’re on the third floor in this apartment.
Toshi: Just wait. We can meet up sometime later today, I promise.
Toshi: Although I dunno why you want to meet up with me. Even if we are, you and Tetsu have been talking. I don’t want to get involved in that, and you shouldn’t end that when you like him.
Toshi: I’m going to bed, but we can talk more later. Just stay home.
Of course, Bakugou’s name pops up again with another yelling text message, “DON’T TELL HIM THAT SHIT! THE DUMBASS DOESN’T LIKE TETSU LIKE THAT GODDAMN IT! HE’S GONNA THINK YOU DON’T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM! HE’S FUCKING COMING!”
“Jesus. I just wanna go the fuck to sleep.” groans Hitoshi before he stands and heads back to his door.
He walks out of it and heads down the hall to the living room, huffing as he goes because he really is still tired.
“I thought you were going back to sleep, kid?” drawls Shouta tiredly from where he’s sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning over the coffee table that’s covered in work reports.
“Yeah, well, it seems Eijirou couldn’t wait until the sun was fuckin’ out to have a conversation about our fuckin’ marks. And Bakugou wasn’t letting him wait either, the asshole.” huffs Hitoshi as he heads for the door, slipping his purple crocs on before looking back at his dad who looks far too amused as he stares down at a work report about a villain drowning his favorite Cat Cafe. “I’ll be out front for a bit, but I’ll try not to be out for too long.”
“Long as you’re back in here before the sun comes up, I think you’ll be just fine. Go on and talk to your soulmate, Hitoshi.” replies Shota with a chuckle as he lifts his face enough to smile reassuringly at Hitoshi for a moment before he’s looking back at the papers.
“Ya know, speaking of soulmates-"
“Don’t even start. I’m not talking to the bird kid about being soulmates. Go meet your soulmate, kid, leave me and my situation alone.” huffs Shota amusedly as he lifts his eyes to glare momentarily while cutting Hitoshi off.
“I’m just saying, he’s clearly got a crush on you, and age isn’t anything but a number when you’re both consenting adults. Maybe consider that he wants you to be his soulmate and is just too scared to say it under that hero persona of his.” replies Hitoshi before he’s opening the door and leaving Shota to think on that as he heads for the stairwell.
His palms are already feeling sweaty as he shoves them in his pants pockets, nervous about all of this because he wasn’t expecting it and didn’t think it’d ever happen in the first place.
He moves quickly down the stairs and across the lobby before pushing his way out front, only to stop on the stoop when he sees Eijirou Kirishima get out of the back of a red Camry.
He’s wearing black, plaid pajama pants and a purple tank top with his bright red crocs.
“Your outfit doesn’t quite match, ya know.” calls Hitoshi, trying to hide his nerves with amusement.
“Neither does yours, but at least we agreed on crocs.” replies Eijirou as he shuts the door before walking towards him.
Hitoshi just chuckles as he moves towards Eijirou, meeting him in the middle of the small front lawn of the apartment building. He can feel his hands trembling, and he balls them into fists in his pockets to try to stop it.
“Guess you’re right about that.” says Hitoshi softly, tilting his head to the side as he tries to fight a smile. “So, you wanted to talk?”
“Yeah, Toshi, I- My mark- you got your mark tonight, right?” asks Eijirou softly as he rubs three fingers across his wrist where Hitoshi knows his mark sits.
“I did… We really didn’t have to discuss this tonight, you know? I understand-" Hitoshi’s trying to give an excuse, though he doesn’t know what. Maybe he was attempting to explain how he knows that sometimes your soulmate has a different soulmate, but he doesn’t know where he’s going with this.
“Hitoshi, stop. You’re my soulmate. It coloured in today, at midnight, and it’s so obvious that you’re my soulmate. Don’t try to argue with me either because I can see your mark, and that looks a whole lot like my teeth and my hardening.” Eijirou cuts him off, shoving his wrist into the space between them, showing his mark clearly while staring at the mark on Hitoshi’s own wrist. “We’re soulmates, Toshi.”
Hitoshi’s breath leaves him as he sees the mark on Eijirou’s wrist.
Katsuki was right.
The mark is a brain and hands that’s outlined in purple.
“Wow… we- we’re really- I- I really thought it was going to be a case of my soulmate having someone else’s mark. This- this was not- this wasn’t in the plans.” says Hitoshi breathlessly, surprise in his eyes as he stares at the mark that clearly shows that Eijirou is his soulmate.
Eijirou who he’d had a crush on since he met him for real after joining class B. The same Eijirou that he’d thought was straight until earlier this year when he told everyone about being demisexual when they were all discussing sexuality after Katsuki finally asked Izuku out.
“Yeah, well… I’d had hope, though the others were pretty certain it was Tetsu. When Katsuki pointed out what it looked like, I couldn’t unsee it.” explains Eijirou softly, his fingers weaving into his red hair as frustration hits. “I was trying to figure it out, but I couldn’t see anything other than a silver blob. I’m not creative like that, ya know? All I knew was that it couldn’t be Tetsu.”
“Then why was everyone so hellbent on it being Tetsu if you were so certain it wasn’t?” asks Hitoshi before he can think it through.
He’s feeling beyond confused and overwhelmed as he stares at Eijirou.
“Because apparently, we seem like we should be soulmates and us sharing our birthday is supposedly a big representation of that. I dunno, honestly it makes no sense to me because I’ve seen Tetsu’s mark, and it’s coloured in and everything.” explains Eijirou seriously, trying to convey how serious and genuine he is as he looks Hitoshi in the eye and describes the mark that he knows is sitting on Tetsu’s thigh. “It’s a convoluted mix of colors and a replica of pocket watches, so it kind of looks like Monoma could be his soulmate. They’re just- they wanted me to meet my soulmate since they’d met theirs.”
“I can’t argue with that, my nosey group has been trying to find someone to set me up with who didn’t have a soulmark too. They just don’t want us to feel left out, I guess, though I’m surprised Bakugou pushed for this so hard.” murmurs Hitoshi thoughtfully as he tilts his head and his brows furrow. “Izuku. It’s because of Izuku, isn’t it?”
“Kind of? Izuku is the one who told him what my mark looked like, and everything snowballed from there. But then I was with him and Izuku because we’re patrolling together in the morning, so we figured we’d go together. But so, they watched it color as I complained because it was uncomfortably itchy.” Eijirou rubs his hand against the back of his neck, sheepishly grinning as his shoulders lift with his words. “So, he definitely pushed harder because Izuku was there saying it too.”
“Sounds about right.” says Hitoshi softly, shaking his head with a chuckle before he lifts his head to meet Eijirou’s eyes as the nerves settle in again. “So, uh, you wanted to talk? We’ve talked about a lot, so did you want to talk about something else?”
“Yeah, I- well, we have talked about a lot, so if you’re done talking for tonight we can wait… but I- I’d like to- well, I guess it’s up to you as much as me, so do you- are you-“ Eijirou is stuttering as his face scrunches up, nerves leaving his fingers scratching against the side of his neck as his eyes dart between Hitoshi’s and the ground.
“I’d like to hear what else you want to say, so I’m good to talk more if you want to as well.” says Hitoshi reassuringly, smiling softly when Eijirou sighs in relief and meets his eyes confidently again.
“Okay, I guess the only other thing left is to talk about whether we want to pursue this romantically or not. To put everything out there, I- I’d really like for us to go on a date when we have a free day. I’ve- I’ve liked you for a really long time, Hitoshi, so I’d really like to take you on a date…” Eijirou trails off, his excitement dimming before he closes off some because this is a two-way street. He smiles encouragingly, hoping that Hitoshi will hear him as he puts the ball in his court and tries to hide his hope. “But I’m not the only one who gets to decide this, and there will be no hard feelings if you’re not interested. So, what do you want to do?”
“I think a date would be amazing, Eijirou… I- I really like you too, probably since we met honestly.” rambles Hitoshi as he ducks his head down to hide the heat flushing across his cheeks, embarrassed by his own words. “I just- I’m really fucking glad that you’re my soulmate, even if I wasn’t expecting to end up with a soulmate. This- I’m really glad that it’s you.”
“We can talk dates later since we have to look at our work schedules, but I’m really excited for this, Toshi.” says Eijirou softly, taking a few steps to close the space as he lifts Hitoshi's head with a finger crooked under his chin. Their eyes lock and a moment starts settling over them, but it doesn’t stay for long as a loud honk shatters it. “Sorry about that… Bakubro is driving, and he’s pretty cranky because he’s tired. I kind of woke him and Izuku up by accident with the itching.”
“No worries, I’ll text you in the morning, okay? Go and get back to sleep, make sure blasty sleeps, or you’re both gonna be dealing with hell during patrols.” replies Hitoshi amusedly before a feather drops between the two of them. Hitoshi swoops down to pick it up before tilting his head back and searching for the bird. “Hawks, get your ass on solid ground before I tell dad that you’re dropping feathers again!”
“Talk to you in the morning, though I’d love to know why Hawks is at your place so late. Bye Toshi!” Eijirou winks before he waves and jogs over to the car to start climbing back inside.
“I’ll let you know when I do. Bye Eiji!” calls Hitoshi over his shoulder, stumbling backwards when he turns to face his apartment building and finds Hawks glaring over his shoulder. “Stop glaring, birdie, you’ll give yourself a headache. The hell are you doing here so late?”
“Well, for one, I need to say Happy Birthday to my second favorite UA student. But for two, your dad texted me and said he needed to speak to me so the problem children and good ones will leave him alone?” replies Hawks with a shrug as his feather tugs itself loose and flies back to the large red wings, settling perfectly in place. “Lead the way?”
“Like you don’t know where we live. But it’s about damn time he talks to you, swear me and Toko have been waiting for this for ages.” grumbles Hitoshi as he steps around Hawks to lead him into the building and up the stairs. “If you run from him, I will tie you up and let Dark Shadow pelt you with the foods they don’t like while also naming you fair game for the rest of class A.”
“That’s a threat I cannot afford to let happen, though I’m very confused as to why it’s a threat for me.” mutters Hawks confusedly, an awkward chuckle leaving him as Hitoshi twists the doorknob to his apartment.
“Dad, the bird is here. Play nice.” says Hitoshi as he lets Hawks into the apartment before slipping his shoes off and heading to his room.
Hitoshi falls asleep with his fingers caressing his mark… Yeah, maybe soulmates aren’t such a bad thing.