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The hideout is unusually quiet tonight. No static from Tomura’s games, no clinking from Kurogiri cleaning glasses downstairs, just the hum of the city leaking through cracked windows and the low flicker of Dabi’s blue flame as he toys with it between his fingers, more candlelight than weapon. Everybody is out. Tomura, Spinner, and Kurogiri on a mission, while Mustard, Sako, and Jin are in another town getting supplies.
Himiko is curled up on the couch beside Dabi, a blanket draped around her shoulders like a cape. Her face is still a bit pink from the dried blood she had scrubbed off. “Dabi-kun…” she starts. “Do you think soulmates are actually meant to be?” She stares out the window at the starry sky.
Dabi hums. He shifts and digs into his coat pocket, pulling out a cigarette box. “Sure. Why not? I mean, we got all these stupid soulmarks. They gotta have a purpose.” He shrugs, pulls out a cigarette, and lights it with his index finger. Himiko watches the smoke drift up and curl away from her face- he’s careful about that, she notices.
“But… what if your soulmate doesn’t like you back? How is that meant to be?” she whispers, pulling her blanket closer.
“I dunno. Maybe your soulmate loves you in a way you don’t realize,” Dabi answers. Himiko tugs at her tangled blonde bangs.
“Ochako-chan doesn’t like me back.” Her voice is soft in the silence.
“You don’t know that,” Dabi says, bumping her shoulder with his. He sighs out another drag of smoke. “But.. some things aren’t meant to be. You know that, brat.”
Himiko ducks her head. She does know that. Her parents weren’t soulmates, they only got married because her mom got pregnant with Himiko's sister. Her sister’s own soulmate died when Tsukiko was twelve. Her mark went grey, and that was the end of it.
“Hawksy-chan is your romantic soulmate, right?” she asks.
Dabi nods. “Yep.”
“How many soulmates do you have?” Himiko asks. She only has three. Most people have five or six, including familial ones. She never got soulmarks for her parents. She only has a pink planet for Ochako, a blue flame, and a blue actor’s mask.
Blue stands for sibling marks while red is for parental, whether it be biological or not, while pink stands for romantic, green for mentors and mentees, and yellow stands for friendship.
She already knows who her marks are for: Jin’s her mask, Dabi is the flame. Her brothers. The problem is… she doesn’t know if Dabi has a mark for her.
“Five,” Dabi says. “Two for my sisters, one for Hawks, one for my brother, and one for somebody I don’t know.”
Himiko’s heart sinks. He doesn’t have one for her.
“What’re your siblings like?” she asks quietly.
“My sister is the opposite of me. She’s kind, loving, empathetic. She’s strong. My brother is passionate. Angry. He loves hard and doesn’t give up.” His voice is wistful as he stares out the window, cigarette forgotten in his hand.
“And your other sister?” Himiko asks.
Dabi looks at her like she’s said something weird. “You, brat. You’re my other sibling.”
Warmth floods her chest and she giggles. “Ooh, Dabi-kun, I always knew you loved me!” she squeals, throwing her arms around him.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“Oh! What’s my mark look like?” she asks, sitting back up. Her blanket slips off her shoulder in her excitement. Dabi lifts the hem of his shirt to show two marks on his ribs, a small blue snowflake with a heart-shaped center, and next to it, a tiny blue anatomical heart. Himiko stares in wonder, then scrambles to tug up her sleeve, revealing the blue flame on her wrist.
Dabi huffs a laugh. “Pretty obvious. Ah, who’s that for?” he asks, pointing at the mask on her ankle with his cigarette.
“Oh, that’s Jin’s! He has one for me too!” she beams.
Dabi tosses his spent cigarette into the trash.
“What’s your unknown mark look like?” Himiko asks.
He leans back and looks at the ceiling. “It’s a rifle or something. It’s green. Can’t tell if I’m the mentor or the mentee for that one.”
Himiko just shrugs. Mentor marks are complicated.
“Izu-kun has a mentor mark. I saw it when we watched the sports festival,” she says dreamily. “It’s a star and a fist. It was all covered in blood! Pretty…”
Dabi snorts. “Somewhere out there, somebody’s got a diagnosis for you, kid.”
Himiko scoffs and pushes his shoulder, carefully avoiding his hurting burns.
“Dabi-kun, you’re a jerk. I have no idea why Hawksy likes you!”
Dabi laughs, loud enough to fill the moonlit room. “It’s ‘cause of my dashing good looks, you brat.”
Himiko giggles and shoves him, but he pulls her down with him. He ruffles her hair roughly, pushing her into the couch. She howls with laughter as she tries to shove him back. Outside the window, the moon and stars glow bright over the two siblings.
-
Fuyumi has a lot of soulmarks. Two romantic ones for her girlfriends, three friendship ones, and four familial ones. She has marks for Nemuri, Shoto, Natsuo, Mom, Rumi, Keigo, Tensei, and Koichi. And of course, one for Touya. She also has a secret: Touya’s mark never went grey. He’s not dead.
As soon as he was declared dead, burned, gone, when she was fourteen, she checked the mark high on her ribs. His light blue candle still shone. She considered telling someone, her parents, Natsuo, anyone, but she knew Touya left for a reason. So she kept it to herself. Not even Rumi or Nemuri know; they assume she just doesn’t like talking about her marks.
Every day, Fuyumi runs her fingertips over the mark and wonders. What is Touya doing? Where is he? The only comfort she has is that he isn’t dead, and that’s enough. As long as her brother is alive, she can breathe.
But tonight, she has a stargazing outing to get to.
-
Izuku whines. He's never been a good sport about planes. C'mon, giant metal contraptions flying at super high speeds in the sky? That is not safe.
Ochako chuckles and pats his back lightly, her three fingers gloves on. “There, there, Izu-zu. It's over now.”
They must look like a weirdo, whining and leaning over their suitcase in the middle of the airport. Sue him! Planes are scary.
“Oh- Hey! There's Lissa!” Ochako chirps.
Izuku lifts their head up and grins as they spots the girl. Melissa Shield, in all her green pantsuit glory.
“Ochako, Izuku! It's so good to see you!” Melissa says in Japanese, reaching the two with a bright smile and kissing Ochako's cheek. She leans down and pulls Izuku upright, grinning at them.
“Plane?” She asks.
Izuku nods miserably.
“Plane.” He agrees.
She laughs, a sound Ochako and him have debated banning because it's too adorable, and kisses his dark curls.
“C'mon, the driver's waiting. We've got a full week!”
Izuku perks up at her words. It's amazing, to be spending a whole week with their two badass girlfriends.
Even if Ochakos still missing her fourth. Even if they know, deep down, her fourth will never be able to be with them.
“Lissa, your Japanese has gotten amazing! How is-” Melissa and Ochako chat happily while Izuku trails after them, holding both their hands.
This. This is what life is supposed to mean.
Happiness.
-
Eri loves her marks. She has a sleeping red kitty on her shoulder, a glowing red star and fist on her other shoulder, a little blue kitty paw on her belly next to a blue bunny, and a pink tadpole on her palm.
When she lived with Kai, her marks were the only comfort she had. They promised that one day, she would meet people who truly loved her.
And she did, she has Zawa, Tosh, Hitoshi, and Izuku. And eventually, she’ll meet her soulmate.
“C’mon, shrimp! Auntie Nem brought Aunt Fuyumi and Rumi!” Hitoshi calls, grinning. Eri gasps and runs, fluffy red boots thumping across the ground.
They’re having a stargazing night and Dad said she’ll get to see shooting stars. Almost everyone is here! Hitoshi, Dad, Papa, her aunties, Uncle Zashi and Auntie Emi, Mei-Mei, and Momo. So many people. Her family. Deku-kun had to skip because him and Ocha-chan went to America to see their friend and third soulmate, Melissa.
Her family, Papa, Dad, and Hitoshi are the last to arrive at the pretty night-lit field. Eri is lagging behind everyone, Tosh-papa and Zawa-daddy talking quietly behind her, but now she runs up to Auntie Nem. She races up to Auntie Nem and twirls to show her warm, long-sleeved dress, Midnight themed, a gift from Papa.
Nemuri gasps and smothers her with praise. “A beautiful princess!” Nem squeals, and with Eri’s permission, picks her up and sits her onto Nem's lap, from where she's sitting on her wheelchair. Fuyumi waves sweetly, and Eri waves back. Since she’s Shoto-chan’s sister, that makes Eri practically Shoto’s sibling too!
Eri flaps her hands happily as she chatters to Nem, Fuyumi, and Rumi about the movie she watched yesterday, about a tiny girl who lived under a human's house with tiny furniture.
“Eriiii! C’mere, Momo and Mei arrived!” Hitoshi shouts. Eri kisses Nem’s cheek goodbye, waves to Rumi and Fuyumi and runs over. Momo kneels to hug her, looking elegantly comfy in red overalls and short fluffy coat. Mei stands beside her in jeans and a bright sweater, her pink dreads up in space buns.
“Baby narwhal!” Mei cheers.
“Hi Mei-Mei! Hi Momo!” Eri chirps.
After a few excited exchanges, Mei kisses Momo goodbye, “I'll be back, Mo!” and grabs Eri's hand gently. “Let’s go bother Purple about their new boyfriends~!” she says, dragging Eri along. Eri giggles as they both run toward the rest of the family, the voices mixing with the warm hum of conversation.
She looks up at the sky. Stars blanket the world. Her heart feels full. Her marks feel like strong hands on her shoulders, two different hands tickling her ribs, and another tiny hand holding her own. She’s not alone anymore. She'll never be alone.
<3