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When Aizawa trudges into the classroom and immediately slips into his yellow sleeping bag, no one blinks an eye. When Midoriya quickly files in after him, head bowed down and donning a pair of dark sunglasses, several students blink several eyes.
"You okay, Midoriya?" Uraraka hums, eyebrows creased with concern. "Did something happen to your eyes?"
"Oh‐I‐nope! It's great! The eyes are, uh, doing great! I can see fine through these, so don't‐wha‐K‐Kacchan!"
Bakugou growls down at him, the stolen sunglasses dangling from his fingertips. "You're a shit liar, nerd. What the fuck is wrong with your eyes?"
"Nothing!" Deku cries out frantically, his eyes clenched shut. "Please...please give them back."
Bakugou falters at that line and, dammit, Midoriya knows exactly what he's doing. A brief, late-night confession flashes across Bakugou's temples. Whispers of what I did to your notebook...it still haunts me... Midoriya takes complete advantage of the way the blond freezes and snatches the sunglasses back, pressing them harshly against his face. He feels victorious for all but a minute until a hand snatches them away again. Deku's eyes widen, startled, taking in the crowd that his classmates have made around his desk.
A beat of silence.
"Holy shit," Sero breathes out, pushing closer. "Are you wearing colored contacts or something?"
"Yes!" Midoriya cheers, grasping tightly to the presented excuse.
"No," Aizawa grumbles out, shattering Deku's entire soul as his classmates swivel toward their newly awakened teacher. "Listen up. The teachers have already been fully briefed on the situation. The only reason I plan to share a small amount of the briefing with you all is so that you will quiet down. A student—that shall remain unnamed—presented a Quirk yesterday. Though, they were unaware that they even had the capability to produce it. They, rightfully, exhibited emotional distress. The Problem Child, here, crossed paths with the unnamed student and felt the need to comfort her—both verbally and physically."
Midoriya cringes down into his seat and Aizawa seems to grow even more tired in response. "In some regards, it was the right thing to do as a Hero-in-training. However, Midoriya will now suffer the effects of the Soulmate Quirk for an undisclosed amount of time. See to it that is doesn't distract from your studies. Five minutes to discuss this quietly and then we're getting to work. Wake me up when you're done."
Aizawa is no longer vertical and Midoriya is no longer breathing. He's not an idiot—Kacchan is his soulmate. He could write an entire novel about how certain he is. But they've slowly reforged their friendship and Deku had been doing everything within his power to keep his crush from slipping through the cracks. The crush was blindingly new in the best of ways and achingly old in the worst of ways. He did his best to avoid even daydreaming about it being reciprocated. One false move and Kacchan might freak out and then all of the progress they had built would crumble. Deku had been doing so well, and now one Quirk was pushing out his feelings and displaying it for the entire world to see. And don't even get him started on the logistics of the Quirk. If this was a...a Soulmate Quirk, did that mean...that they were mutually linked? Did Kacchan, maybe, kind of...l‐like—
"Oh my God," Hagakure shrieks, invisible arms flailing with excitement. "Kirishima and Midoriya are soulmates?!"
Kirishima's red eyes widen, cheeks going pink, and he scratches the back of his neck unsure. "Uh...?"
Deku's own red eyes widen, because yes, this is his way out. "Um, y-yeah! I guess so," he laughs awkwardly, secretly grateful that it's sure to pass for his normal behavior. "Sorry for the trouble, Kirishima."
Kirishima shuffles his feet tentatively, as their classmates watch in various states of apprehension. "Uh, no problem, Midoriya. I'm sure this is way more troublesome for you. Besides," His sharp grin brightens the entire classroom. "There are worse people to have as a soulmate. I'm super honored to be yours, bro!"
A few of the girls coo and Deku is almost surprised by how well this plan seems to be going. Which is fair, because almost immediately following that thought is the smell of nitroglycerin sizzling.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Bakugou shouts, palms dangerously facing towards his circle of peers. "What makes you extras think it's him and not me?!"
Deku actually feels his heart stutter. The class titters around him, more than a little used to the shouting. Kaminari even throws an arm around Bakugou's neck, leaning in close to tease him with a, "Oh, Kacchan? Do you want to be Midoriya's soulmate?"
"What the hell?! Get the fuck off me! Tch. You're just pissed that Shitty Hair might be into someone a little less blond."
"Kacchan! Mean!" Deku reprimands at the exact same time that Kirishima exclaims, "Come on, man! Not cool."
This, of course, causes the classroom to erupt with excitement because oh my god, they talked at the same time because they're soulmates!
"Whatever!" Bakugou lets out above the noise. "He's been obsessed me with since he was a whiny brat, but if you're all too fucking stupid to make the connection—"
"Wow," Todoroki breaths out, an eyebrow rising slightly. "You really do want him as your soulmate."
Deku flushes as noise erupts around him once more, his classmates debating whether or not Bakugou is secretly in love with him, and honestly? Deku's kind of on the fence about it as well at this point. He knows Kacchan like the back of his hand—it's beyond obvious that he wants Deku to be his soulmate. The real question, Deku thinks to himself, is whether or not he wants that romantically or platonically. He's grown so much emotionally that I know he doesn't want to hold this over me. So...so it must be mutual in someway. But if he deeply cares for me platonically...would that amount decrease if he found out that I care for him romantically? And—
"You know, we could just ask the student to touch Kirishima," Tsyu announces, halting both the screaming of the class and Midoriya's mumbling. "Then we would know who his soulmate is, kero."
"You will do no such thing," Aizawa grumbles, emerging slightly from his yellow cocoon. "You will stay away from that student while they rest from the incident. Now, get to work. You have twenty minutes to finish the assignment Iida passed out to you. I've decided to grade it as a pop quiz."
He wiggles over to face the wall as his pupils scramble back to their desks. Kaminari looks one minute away from passing out.
On the way to the dorms, Midoriya and Kirishima walk beside each other because their classmates are too busy whispering to walk with them. Even when they all arrive in the common room, Kirishima and Deku are standing side by side surrounded by whispers. Deku chances a small glance at Kacchan from across the room. The blond gives him a sneer that he hasn't seen in a long time. It actually makes Midoriya pout a bit, so Kirishima bumps his shoulder with Deku's to get his attention.
"You're thinking it might be Bakugou, right?"
"Wha‐no?! I would‐I‐nope!" Deku scrambles out, scooping up Kirishima's hand. "Definitely you!"
And holding hands like this feels awkward and wrong, but those feelings give way to astonishment when Kirishima's hair begins to glow. He can distantly hear the whispers around them pause but Deku can only stare up at Kirishima's glowing hair because he knows that glow. Kirishima furrows his eyebrows at his staring classmates and the glow begins to fade. If they hadn't been watching his hair so closely then they might have missed the prominent lightning bolt mark tangled in his red bangs. Kirishima blinks rapidly at the foreign, black and red strands in his eyes, not used to the lack of spike. He swipes at it, growing even more confused. The swipe is a catalyst that sends everyone verbally spiraling, pressing in close to ask every question that pops into their heads regarding his hair. Deku, though, has less of a question and more of a theory. He tentatively releases Kirishima's hand. "Um‐"
"SHUT UP!" Bakugou shouts, silencing the room. Once all eyes are on him, he nods toward Deku, red eyes locking with red eyes. "Let the nerd talk."
Deku just about short circuits, churning between being touched, shook, and flustered that Kacchan (1) so easily noticed that he wanted to speak and (2) immediately got everyone's attention for him. Todoroki coughs, breaking Midoriya from his stupor to give him a knowing look.
"R-right," Deku lets out, breathing out to settle his thoughts. "So, I guess the Quirk that I was hit with is more complicated than we thought. Uh, we being the teachers and I! I mean, we knew it would give the affected a characteristic belonging to their soulmate. But, I touched Kirishima and he received a soulmate...mark? Sure, mark. He received a soulmate mark, as well. It has to be because I remember my eyes glowing the same way when I was hit by the Quirk. Well, I mean, she-er, the student said that my eyes were glowing and I could only see a bright light when she was screaming about it, so I can only assume that—"
"Deku," Kacchan snaps, then winces at his tone. "Fuck. Can you just—?"
"Um. I think that whoever gets hit with the Quirk can also hit other people with the Quirk. So...I touched Kirishima and hit him with the Soulmate Quirk?"
"Wait," Uraraka breathes out. "Is...Jirou Kirishima's soulmate?!"
"That's not—"
But before Jirou can protest about the difference between her hair pattern and Kirishima's new one, her friends are already squealing in excitement barely being masked by the protests and shouts of the rest of the class. Kaminari, his nose angrily scrunched, pushes through his classmates, storms up to Kirishima and cups the redhead's cheeks. Kirishima briefly registers the light glowing of Kaminari's lips before he's being pulled into a kiss.
Deku has so many questions like Kaminari's mouth was glowing but why was it dull compared to the glow of Kirishima's hair? and Oh my god, is Kirishima kissing him back? Are they kissing right now? Oh my god?
Kaminari pulls back from the kiss, golden eyes blinking open. He flushes at Kirishima's pink face before taking a hesitant step back. "I don't care if she's you're soulmate. I don't care because even if she's yours...you're mine. Y-you're mine, Ei," he stumbles out, less sure of himself. He looks down at his feet, cheeks growing pinker. Kirishima, on the other hand, is vividly and startingly red as he blurts out, "It hurt to kiss you!"
Kaminari flinches and Kirishima steps forward, shaking his head wildly. "No-sorry! I just meant‐uh! Will...will you smile for a sec?"
"Kind of hard to right now," Kaminari jokes quietly, his brows scrunched in timid confusion. "But...uh." He gives his crush a tentative smile, and the students around them almost collectively let out a gasp. Kaminari's teeth are...really pointy.
"Oh my god," Kirishima says, cheeks growing impossibly redder.
"What? What is it?"
Bakugou groans. "Feel your teeth, you moron."
Kaminari widens his mouth and swipes across his top row of teeth with a pink tongue. Kirishima tries not to die right on the spot at that particular display. Kaminari pauses his exploration, his eyebrows shooting up. "They feel like yours!"
"Spare us the damn details," Bakugou snorts out, good-naturedly.
"Aww, look who's in a good mood now that the competition's out of the way," Mina crows out, nudging him. She takes several steps back when his hands begin to crackle warningly.
"Shut the fuck up," Bakugou growls out. "There was never any competition! I already told your dumbass that Deku has always been—" He cuts himself off, visibly transitioning from angry to angrily flustered in a millisecond. It shoots Deku's already frazzled emotions up so high that it almost exhausts him. Despite the warmth in his cheeks, Deku clenches his fists with a renewed purpose and strides straight up to the blond. There's no hiding now, not with Kirishima and Kaminari being confirmed soulmates. He has no one to hide behind and he doesn't want to anymore.
"Always been what, Kacchan?"
Bakugou's so close to snarling defensively but something about seeing Deku with red eyes (his eyes, dammit!) does something funny to his chest. Because the red irises could be confused for Shitty Hair's and he hated that and he would have to actually fucking prove it to these shitty extras himself.
"My fucking soulmate, Deku!" he barks out, angrily reaching out to snag the nerd forward, and pulling him close into a possessive embrace. He presses his nose against the startled boy's freckled collarbone. He can feel Deku's pulse rising. Deku can see the telltale glow of the Quirk light-up against Kacchan's skin, but he ignores it in favor of hugging the other boy back. He clutches at him desperately because there's still a small, insecure, illogical part of him that thinks both he and Kacchan are wrong about everything. What if...what if they're weren't soulmates? What if they are and it's achingly one-sided on Deku's part? The glow begins to fade and the resulting startled laughter of his classmates is enough to make Deku pull back from the embrace. The only reason that Kacchan actually lets him is so that he can yell at the students surrounding them.
"What the fuck is so funny, huh?! You gotta problem with me being into this fucking nerd?! Shut the fuck up! We'll surpass all of your lame asses as the Number One and Number Two Heroes!"
Deku stares at the shouting boy, blind-sided by Kacchan's reaction, before he is all at once filled with warm, honey-like affection. His entire heart aches in the best of ways upon hearing Kacchan defend and root for them as a future hero-duo—hearing him defend and root for their future together. But that feeling is nothing compared to the completely unfiltered and abundant joy that surges through him when he notices the patches at Kacchan's shoulder blades. That scatter and disperse across his arms. That dip down into his unbuttoned school shirt and crawl up his tensed neck. Across the bridge of his nose and splattered high against his cheekbones...just like they do on Deku's. Their classmates are still giggling even as Kacchan—oblivious and adorable—continues to shout at them. But he feels Deku's gaze—probably had felt it immediately—and finally looks over at him.
"What is it?" he lets out. But it's soft, his Adam's apple bobbing in a hesitant swallow. He's nervous and Deku thinks it's just so cute.
The greenette smiles cheekily at him. "I hope you know that you just admitted to becoming the Number Two Hero."
"Wha-?!" Bakugou sputters. "Fuck you, Deku! I'll—"
But Deku surges froward, grasping the boy's popped collar with both hands, and pulling him down into a deep kiss. Deku can faintly hear the various hooting and cat-calling, but he can't find it in himself to be embarrassed. Not when Kacchan's kissing him back like this. Deku swipes his tongue, trembling to deepen it, but Kacchan pulls back with bright pink cheeks to gape at the nerd in front of him. "What the fuck? Y-you...like me back?"
Deku snorts. "You've been claiming that we're soulmates all day and you didn't know?"
Kacchan glares, but Deku can see the beginnings of a pout. God, he's so cute. How?!
"I take what I want," the blond says, confidently, then glares down at the ground to avoid Deku's red gaze. And because it's Deku—one of very few Kacchan translators—he hears the unspoken: Doesn't mean what I want wants me back, nerd. Sure, Deku translates the unspoken words without a hitch, but that doesn't mean he's going to make it easy for Kacchan. He's so rarely flustered, after all.
"Oh?" Deku hums out teasingly, "Was I wanted?"
"Deku..." Kacchan growls out warningly, eyes still locked on the ground, even as his cheeks flame up with warmth.
"Was I, Kacchan?"
Kacchan looks up angrily, but he's immediately caught off guard by the glint in Deku's eyes. They sparkle in a way that he's only used to seeing in green eyes. It's a determined glitter. Fighting no matter what with a smile on his face and he...fuck, he loves that stupid look. And he...wants it, too. He wants it to stay for as long as possible.
"Fuck, Deku," he snaps, flustered. "You were, alright? I..." Kacchan lowers his head, trying to gather his tumbling thoughts and he can feel his classmates holding a collective breath. His head rises.
"I...I want you," Kacchan says earnestly. He's blushing so hard that the pink in his cheeks brings out his newly earned beauty marks. The shorter boy flushes in response and the students around them shriek.
Deku only continues to blink at him. Kacchan growls, the embarrassment finally getting to be too much for him. "Fuck this. I'm tired of you extras. I'm going to bed," he lets out, tightly, turning away from them all. "Have a nice life or whatever. Deku."
It suddenly hits Midoriya that he hasn't said it back. He had teased Kacchan, had forced him to be vulnerable...and he hadn't verbally reciprocated his feelings. Kacchan probably thought that Deku was just 'getting him back' for the way he had been treated in middle school. Just last year—back when they were still getting used to their new companionability—Kacchan had confided in him late at night. They had been drinking tea in the kitchen, too haunted by nightmares to sleep. Kacchan had confessed, then, that he didn't always feel worthy of Deku's admiration and that he felt like it was only a matter of time before Deku felt bitter enough to get him back. To humiliate him. And—oh god, Kacchan must think that I just made him beg for me before completely rejecting him in front of the entire class!
"Would you stop fucking mumbling, Deku," Kacchan snaps, before clenching his eyes shut and releasing a breath. "Just—fuck. Just say how you fucking...feel. I won't fight you about it."
Kacchan...
Kacchan stopped himself from storming away because he realized I was in distress...he just asked me to honestly share my feelings—even though he hates feelings. Kacchan...
I love him...I...I love him so much. I—
"I love you so much."
Kacchan looks stunned. Hell, Izuku is stunned, but he's a mumbler through and through and he's feeling so much and he's already on a roll—
"And I want you, too. So much. And—and I'm so glad we're soulmates. I'm so glad. God, you're so hot with freckles—with my freckles—but they're also like, uh, soulmarks? So, it's like hot and wonderful at the same time? Like you! Like how you're hot and wonderful at the same time and—"
"Deku," Kacchan says, halting the mumbling and oh my god, I'm going to have to drown myself later because I seriously just—
"Deku," Kacchan says again, this time halting the internal mumbling. He steps close into Deku's space, eyes incredibly focused, then reaches out to clutch Deku's cheeks. He holds Midoriya's face, pulling it close to his own, nose-to-nose and red-to-red.
"I have freckles, right now?"
"Y-yes."
"Your freckles?"
"I-yes, Kacchan."
"One right under my left eye?"
"Um—"
"Deku—"
"Yes. Yes, there is. How—"
"Six across my nose?"
"Kacchan—"
"Deku, fucking focus. Count them. There should be four higher than the other two. And there should be six."
"Oh my god."
"Deku—"
"Oh my god, you're making sure they're mine."
"Deku—"
"Did you count mine just now? O-or do you just know how many I have?"
"Counted. Fuck...shut up."
"You answered too quickly." Deku is beaming. "I know you can count fast. Kacchan is amazing. But you answered way too—"
"Fuck, you're so damn lucky that's cute."
Deku blinks owlishly at the blushing boy clutching his face. "You think my mumbling's...cute?"
"...shut the hell up, Deku."
Deku most certainly goes back to beaming. "And you have my freckle pattern memorized. And you want me—"
Kacchan pecks him quickly and then pulls back to smirk at Deku's startled face. "Yeah, alright. Maybe I do."
"I want you, too," Deku promises brightly before his gaze becomes incredibly soft. It makes Katsuki's heart stutter in its chest. Deku swipes a thumb across the boy's cheekbone. "And these are my freckles. I promise."
The whole thing makes Katsuki want to kiss him again. So, he does. Because he can.
"Uh, guys?"
They break apart to look at a sheepish Kaminari resting against the couch. Somehow, Kirishima is managing to get a nap in, his head resting in Kaminari's lap. "Can you take this to your room? Kiri's trying to sleep."
Deku glances around the fairly empty common space. "Where'd everybody go?"
"They left because they thought you two might want some privacy," he says, wiggling his eyebrows.
"No, they didn't," Kacchan snorts.
"No, they didn't," Kaminari grins. "I high-fived Todoroki so they'd harass him about the soulmate-touch-thingy instead of me. He ran off to hide in the training room and they followed him like the wild animals they are."
"That's not very nice of you!"
"Um. Todorki was smiling, actually."
"Oh my god. He's going to kill them."
Kaminari shrugs in response. "Or he was happy about his soulmate," he says, absently running his fingers through Kirishima's hair.
"I know I am," Kacchan breathes into Deku's ear, and the One-For-All user feels goosebumps spring up against the back of his neck. Warm palms clutch his hips from behind and he can feel Kacchan pressing his large chest into his back. "Wanna come up to my room, Izuku? I don't know when this shit's gonna wear off, but I wanna see just how far...down our new matching freckles go."
Deku shivers, blood ricocheting downwards. Then he shakily inhales, before blurting out: "First one to your room gets to hold the other down~!"
He bolts off in a dash of electric green.
"Wha-DEKUUU!!!" Kacchan shouts out, blasting after him.
It's more than enough to wake up Kirishima, but Kaminari shushes his groaning and scritches at the back of his scalp.
"Mmm...mmmy...soulmate...," Kirishima mumbles, almost incoherently, nuzzling back into the other boy's lap.
Kaminari flushes happily, then leans down as best he can to whisper, "Yeah, Ei. Forever."