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The stone stairs glistened in the light of the morning sun, the brightness forcing Izuku to blink out the dark spots in his vision. He’d already resigned himself to losing a bit of his sight over the course of this trek.
It wasn’t like he could look anywhere else. With how irregular the steps were, worn down by bad weather and thousands of people traversing up and down every month; Izuku could hardly afford to take his eyes off the steep incline even for a second, unless he wanted to tumble straight back down.
Sighing, Izuku cursed his overeagerness. If he had been a little less impatient, he wouldn’t have rushed to be at the start of the climbing queue. Being at the very front of the crowd meant there was no one before him, no one to warn him of lose steps, not a single shadow to block the oppressive light, or a crowd of bodies to block the heat-
Distracted by the litany of his mental complaints, Izuku did the one exact thing he had been trying so hard to avoid:
He tripped.
His foot missed the edge of the step causing him to fall forward– the sole of his boot not strong enough to save him. In a desperate effort not to crack his skull open, Izuku overbalanced, arms flailing as he fell backwards.
For a second, everything froze.
Even the ever-present breeze stilled, and Izuku got a nice, long second to consider his missteps–both his figurative and literal ones–before he felt himself fall.
There was a layer of resignation settling over his emotions, along with the expectation of pain and bruises. Hardly the best start to his journey, but considering the track record of his life so far, Izuku couldn’t say he was surprised.
After all, the whole reason why he was climbing these stairs in the first place was to have someone else help him find his soulmate. He couldn’t do even that much on his own–
“Oi, watch it!” A rough voice barked and hands moved to grab Izuku’s waist as he slammed backwards into a body. “If you go down, all those extras behind would follow suit, and then where would we be, idiot?”
Gasping, Izuku settled his footing carefully, determined not to think about the fact the man he knocked into seemed perfectly fine holding him up in the air just by the grip he had on Izuku’s waist.
Once back on his feet, Izuku tilted his head back, bumping into the very strong stranger’s shoulder. Even with a stone step between them, Izuku still wasn’t tall enough to match his height, and that difference only contributed to his current state of breathlessness.
The stranger’s face didn’t help the matter either. Smooth, flawless skin, intense red eyes, artfully arranged spikes of blonde hair–
“Hi,” Izuku breathed out with an embarrassing squeak, his cheeks feeling hot.
The stranger didn’t seem impressed, lightly pushing Izuku off of his—very, very defined—chest. Izuku let himself be moved, shifting sideways to keep the stranger in sight.
If anyone had asked him, right then and there, why he was climbing that mountain… He would not have been able to answer that.
“You’re such a deku,” the stranger rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “Can’t even climb a set of stairs without trying to cause a mass homicide?”
Izuku blinked.
“Huh?” He said. This eloquence in the face of beauty was a large part of the reason behind him being single.
That apparently used up all the patience the stranger had for him. With a sigh, he pushed past Izuku— though Izuku wouldn’t have minded being swept off his feet by him—and continued the climb.
Izuku scrambled to follow, absently noting the distance between them and the rest of the climbers below them. Seemed like, in his excitement, he might have walked much, much faster than everyone else…
Which didn’t explain why the stranger was right behind him, but Izuku wouldn’t question his luck. He had been spared a potentially horrific injury, and that’s all that mattered on the topic.
Following behind the man, he stared at the stranger, noting everything he could see. His long, deep-red cape hid away most of his body, only his boots—much more suited to climbing the stone steps than Izuku’s own—and the one arm holding his pack being visible.
That is, beyond his head, of course. Head full of soft hair, framing his sharp chin and the beautiful eyes Izuku just barely managed to catch glances of. If he walked fast enough and the stranger turned just right—
Izuku missed another step, too slow to react the way he had before.Throwing his hands out, he braced himself for a nasty collision—one which hopefully wouldn’t break his nose—only to freeze mid-air.
It wasn’t the same as before, though. The breeze tugged at his hair and clothes, and the handles of his backpack dug deep into his shoulders…
Blinking, Izuku glanced up, eyes catching on the arm holding him up by his pack.
“How did you survive this long, Deku?” The stranger sounded exasperated. “Can’t keep you in front of me, can’t keep you behind me… If I let you go, are you going to trip again?”
“Most likely, yes,” Izuku offered, picking himself back up, and dusting his clothes just to busy his hands. “These stairs are far more dangerous than I thought they’d be. I really think they could use some guards or some sort of hand rests-”
The stranger grabbed at Izuku’s arm, effectively cutting off his nervous mumble, and linked their elbows together before starting to move again.
“There,” he said, smirking, and Izuku was glad for the elbow holding him up, because his knees went so weak at the sight- “Better than a railing.”
You can rail me anytime, Izuku almost responded.
“What’s your name?” He asked instead, because he did have some control over himself still. Not enough to stay away from the man, though, instead leaning up as close as he dared.
“Name’s Bakugou Katsu-ACHOO,” The stranger—Bakugou—said, pushing Izuku’s face away as he sneezed. “Goddamn– don’t get so close, you Deku! Your hair tickles.”
Izuku made a split-second decision. “Okay, Kacchan!” He chirped cheerfully. If he was going to be called Deku, it’s only fair he’d use a nickname, too.
Kacchan blinked twice before settling into a scowl. “Not- whatever that was. It’s Katsuki.”
“Hm,” Izuku pressed an innocent finger to his chin. “No, I’m pretty sure I heard you say Kacchan!”
“Deku-”
“My name’s actually Midoriya Izuku,” Izuku interrupted. “Though, funnily enough, Deku could be an alternate reading-”
“I don’t really care,” Kacchan barked out, speeding away as if he had forgotten their elbows were linked together.
Izuku scrambled to follow.
He chatted away amiably throughout the rest of the climb, taking Kacchan’s occasional grunts and flat really, now’s as encouragement. He watched Kacchan’s face—and mouth, not that he would admit it—more than he watched his steps, but it was fine.
Whenever he tripped, lost his balance, even as much as wobbled, Kacchan was right there to hold him up, pulling their elbows up without a word.
It was… nice. Kacchan paid him more attention than anyone ever had before, besides his mother and All Might. It made Izuku so light and tingly… His heavy backpack and Kacchan’s arm were the only things stopping him from floating away.
The settlement—or camp, or a temple, whatever it was supposed to be, Izuku wasn’t exactly clear on the details—was located near the top of the mountain, but still some ways off from the peak.
With how long Izuku had already spent on the road before stumbling into Kacchan, it didn’t take too long to reach it. They were still the first two to pass below the wooden arch, but with their pace slowed down by Izuku’s unusually regular clumsiness, the other participants weren’t far behind them.
Izuku couldn’t help but gasp as he took in the sight.
The arch opened into a sprawling, perfectly flat field, flanked on every side by carefully carved stone, each spot of moss seeming to be deliberately cultivated; each hanging vine draped in elaborate loops.
There was something magical about the place. And, yes, Izuku recognized the irony of him saying so, considering he spent his days brewing potions and learning spells in Might Tower, a place belonging to the greatest mage of all time. But… There was truly no other word to describe it.
Enchanting, perhaps, or even bewitching, but all those still boiled down to something magical in essence.
“Magical, my ass,” Kacchan scoffed, only realizing his elbow was still linked with Izuku’s when he tried to cross his arms. Whoops, it seemed like Izuku was muttering. “It’s just a bunch of old rocks. Look at the ground and tell me you’ve ever seen a sadder excuse for grass!”
Looking downwards, Izuku had to admit Kacchan had a point there. There were patches of dirt all throughout the clearing, paths created where people gathered most often, the grass not able to compete against the hundreds of feet trampling it every month.
Despite that there were areas of the field where the vegetation seemed to thrive. Most notably on the edges of the field. The less accessible spots people weren’t so eager to walk through, where the plants grew out tall and proud and richly interspersed with various flowers in every color.
It might have been a bit silly of him to think so much of simple grass, but Izuku admired its tenacity. The refusal to bow down to the circumstances. Not only existing, but flourishing just outside of the very thing threatening to destroy it…
“It’s… charming,” he settled on hesitantly.
“It’s pathetic, is what it is.”
The hosts of this gathering interrupted before Izuku could respond, appearing on one of the stone balconies with a loud HEYYYY as an effective way of grabbing everyone’s attention.
Or, well, two of the hosts did. The third one was wrapped in a bright yellow blanket, standing between the other two with an expression conveying exactly how much he had regretted getting out of bed that morning.
“HELLO, LISTENERS!” the blonde man on the left started, the shades covering his eyes sliding down as he fingergunned the crowd. “Hope y’all are HYPED!”
“Because you’re about to find out who your SOULMATE is!” The man on the right continued, his white, wispy hair floating around his head like a cloud.
Kacchan snorted at that. “It won’t happen till the evening, and it’s not like it’ll actually tell you who it is,” he muttered.
Izuku blinked. “What do you mean–?”
The third host spoke up. “My name is Aizawa, and those two idiots are Yamada and Shirakumo. Please follow us in orderly fashion for our first activity–”
“ROCK PAINTING!” Yamada interrupted.
The crowd slowly dispersed as they followed the hosts into a narrow gap between two of the stone walls. Izuku let the others leave first, hanging back because Kacchan was staying behind, and he wasn’t willing to leave him just yet.
He did want to go paint some rocks, though.
“Aren’t you going to–?” He asked, not sure how to finish that question.
Kacchan sighed heavily, as if Izuku asked him to shoulder the weight of the entire world all by himself. A bit dramatic, if you asked him.
“Probably should, or the idiots will hound me about it,” he muttered, almost too low for Izuku to catch. Then, a bit louder, “Whatever. Let’s get this over with, Deku.”
Izuku beamed at him, grabbing at Kacchan’s hand to pull them towards the last of the stragglers, following the crowd down through the shadowed crevice.
It let them out into a forest, the path leading towards a small, ancient-looking amphitheater. It wasn’t anything particularly impressive, just a few rows of stone seats hugging what would have been a particularly steep hill without them. Even so, Izuku loved the way sunlight danced over the gray slates and filtered through the thick canopy.
Kacchan let himself be dragged towards one of the seats on the lowest level, a few stones and cups of paint already laid out in preparation.
Focusing on selecting the perfect stone and trading for the colors of paint he wanted to use, Izuku didn’t notice Kacchan settling in for a nap until they were directed to begin painting.
“Do you think green would go well with– Kacchan!” Izuku yelped, scandalized. “We’re supposed to be painting…”
“Already done,” Kacchan mumbled, waving a hand towards a stone that looked like someone half-dipped it in the red paint.
“Kacchan…” Izuku sighed. “I’m pretty sure a tree could do better than that.”
That caught his attention. “Excuse me?”
“If I put some paint on a bunch of leaves, put a stone in reach and waited for the breeze, the patterns would be much better than… this.”
“Why should I put any effort into this?” Kacchan straightened up indignantly. “It’s just a pointless activity designed to make the extras feel like they’ve spent their money well.”
“I’m sure it has meaning!” Izuku argued. “Significance.”
“Right.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t make us do it for no reason…,” He trailed off hesitantly. Would they?
“Right you are, listener!” Yamada reached them while going through their entire row. “There’s a very good reason why we’re making you do this, and that’s to memorialize your presence here! Who knows, maybe years down the line, one of your children might come here?”
Izuku blushed all the way to the roots of his hair at the implication.
“I highly doubt that,” Kacchan offered bluntly.
“Why don’t you tell us if your paintings have any meaning?” Shirakumo offered, popping out of nowhere to rest his elbows on Yamada’s shoulders.
“Ah, well…” Izuku hesitated, looking at his stone. “I barely started, but I just wanted to write my name down…”
“Nice and simple!” Yamada praised. “And you, listener?”
Considering Izuku knew Kacchan didn’t put any effort into painting the stone…
“Half of it is red, because it’s my favorite color,” Kacchan said, settling himself back against the stone. “The other half is empty because a soulmate is supposed to be a person’s other half, or something.”
Izuku stared at him in shock as the two hosts cooed before moving on.
“You totally made that up on the spot,” he accused.
“Didn’t you get the memo?” Kacchan smirked. “This whole thing is one big sham. Soulmates were made up so people would have something to look forward to in life, nothing more.”
“You sound very cynical for a person currently participating in a soulmate-finding event.”
Kacchan groaned, his head thumping against the stone seat behind him.
“I lost a bet.”
Izuku blinked. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Kacchan turned his head to see Izuku better, his cheek squished against the stone. Izuku could only imagine the lucky person who'd wake and see him like that everyday… “And my band of idiots thought it’d be hilarious to sign me up for this. They’re waiting at the bottom of the mountain, but I have no doubt they paid someone to snitch if I skip any of these useless activities. Apparently it wouldn’t work properly if I don’t put in enough effort, and god forbid I leave without a soulmate.”
Izuku didn’t respond for a moment. It must be nice, he thought, to have a group of friends like that. Someone who cared enough about your well-being to push you towards a soulmate search. A whole bunch of someones, friends so close they were almost soulmates in their own right.
That kind of a friendship was a rare gift, one Izuku had never been lucky enough to receive.
“Oi, nerd,” Kacchan snapped his fingers right by Izuku’s ear, bringing his attention back. “You had me spill, now it’s your turn. Why are you here?”
“I don’t want to be alone,” he mumbled. “My mom won’t live forever, and neither will my teacher, and I just…”
He was lonely enough with the two of them in his life. How much different would his life be without them? How much different would it be with a soulmate by his side?
“That’s even more pathetic than the grass.”
“I know that,” Izuku said, wiping away the tears of frustration. “But I could never make any friends unless I pretended to be a completely different person and– I just want someone to love me for who I am. Not for who they want me to be.”
There’s a moment of silence Izuku’s too anxious to break, gaze kept carefully focused on the stone in his hands. A couple tears escaped him, smudging the writing, but it’s not like that mattered, did it?
A pot of paint scraped against the stone step, pushing a little closer to Izuku. He glanced up.
“...The green will go well with your colors,” Kacchan wasn’t looking at him, having already turned away.
But the gesture was enough.
“Thank you,” Izuku said, and returned to painting.
Even if he was truly– Even if the kids back home were right, and Izuku was one of those people who didn’t have a soulmate… Maybe he could still make his way with at least a friend by his side.
***
Katsuki didn’t expect much from an event called “FIND YOUR SOULMATE!! 100% GUARANTEE!!!!”, and the amount of exclamation points was only half of the reason why.
The band of idiots insisted it was the real thing, though, held by reputable hosts who would ensure Katsuki found his “soulmate”.
The fact that Katsuki didn’t really believe in the notion of soulmates was of no consequence to them.
He relented, in the end. He did lose the bet, and there were far worse challenges they could have lobbed at him than spending a night at a cushy camp.
So, yes, Katsuki expected to show up, sneer at every cheesy line, and leave still blissfully single. He briefly considered turning this whole thing into a drinking game, taking a sip of ale every time he heard another soulmate cliché being said, but he didn’t fancy getting alcohol poisoning out of this whole experience.
What he didn’t expect, however, was meeting the most gorgeous man Katsuki had ever seen. Deku—or Izuku, apparently, though Katsuki refused to use his actual name on principle after the guy came up with Kacchan—was also clumsy, naive, chatty and, despite all of that, still somehow the least aggravating person on the entire mountain.
Deku had also decided he would spend the entire event by Katsuki’s side. Normally, this wouldn’t have been unusual; plenty of people back home fought for the honor of Katsuki’s presence, seeing as he was the strongest warrior in the entire tribe.
Here, though, he was nothing more but a stranger. A cynic surrounded by all those fools, believing wholeheartedly into the sham of soulmates and yet something about that enticed Deku enough to stick by him.
It didn’t stop the other extras from bothering him, though.
Someone would constantly approach them. They’d exchange a couple words with Deku, try to do the same with Katsuki, and leave with a huff when he didn’t conform to their expectations.
Tch! They should have been happy to leave with just their pride bruised, and not their faces.
“Kacchan!” Deku would pout every time, putting on a disapproving face while his eyes sparkled with mirth. “So mean!”
It wasn’t a hardship to bear those comments as they painted the useless stones, nor as they carved wooden medallions or practiced yoga.
But Katsuki was far from a social butterfly; his group of idiots and his family were the only ones with whom he regularly spent extended periods of time. To be surrounded by so many strangers for hours without a break–
Well. No one could blame Katsuki for breaking first.
It happened during the flower crown activity. Despite it being late afternoon already, the cool shadows of the forests had dew still clinging to the grass blades, the moisture seeping into his clothes the moment he unthinkingly followed Deku down the hill.
He was damp and cold, even despite his thick cape. The hosts spoke of plants as if Katsuki was an idiot, assuming he—and all of the others—knew nothing about their meanings or uses. Now, Katsuki might not have been an expert in flower language, but he knew enough to find the lecture excruciatingly, mind-numbingly boring.
Deku’s quiet muttering as he ran through each plant’s uses in alchemy was the only thing stopping Katsuki from snapping right then, the sound soothing his fraying nerves.
Not soothing enough, he’d found, temper flaring the moment someone’s crown touched his hair.
He ripped it off his head, abandoning his own efforts in the grass, tearing the offending wreath into shreds as he cursed the utter idiot who dared place it on him–
Only to realize it had been Deku.
“I’m sorry-” Deku choked out, lip trembling as tears gathered in his eyes. He turned around and fled before Katsuki could explain himself, disappearing between the trees before the last of the petals reached the ground.
Temper like a rampant dragon, his mother used to say. Destroying everything in your path.
He never cared about that before. Now, staring at the ruined tatters of a flower crown at his feet, Katsuki found himself regretting his poor reaction
As a general rule, Katsuki didn’t apologize. He would, sometimes, just to appease his parents, but it was never by choice.
Not like this. He hadn’t intended to hurt Deku, and the man did nothing to deserve it. For the first time in his life, Katsuki found himself wanting to apologize.
Unfortunately, he didn’t quite know how. He spent the remainder of the activity mindlessly toying with the ruined flowers, trying to find the right words.
Whenever his mother insisted he apologize, or his father looked at him disapprovingly until he did, Katsuki would get by with a short “my apologies” in the gruffest tone possible, so that the recipient of his apology was fully aware he didn’t mean it.
In the end, Katsuki decided to keep it simple; he’d say he’s sorry and work with Deku’s response.
He shuffled along with the crowd, moving on to yet another scenic location that no one bothered to look at. This time, though, the attendees were all spread over wooden tables near the edge of a cliff, the forest below stretching out for miles, with only a flimsy wooden railing and hundreds of meters of air separating them.
The view was breathtaking, and yet not a single extra even glanced towards it, all too focused on the scraps of fabric they were meant to embroider.
Deku would love this— wait, where was Deku?
Katsuki looked. He accepted the handkerchief just to get the hosts to fuck off, but he kept moving between the tables, refusing to sit down until he could do so by Deku’s side.
With how much of a naive romantic Deku was, Katsuki refused to believe he’d skip an activity, as inane as they all were. And yet he wasn’t there.
Did Katsuki cursing him out hurt him badly enough to leave? Without fulfilling the whole purpose of the trek?
That thought kept repeating in Katsuki’s mind, even as everyone’s embroidery projects came to an end, the hosts—Katsuki refused to learn their names—herded them back towards the main clearing.
There’s too many secret passages, Katsuki thought absently. He hadn’t seen any of those openings before, and yet here they were headed through another gap between the walls, filled completely by stairs.
The roof they climbed onto was filled with low tables and flat pillows, a number of dishes already spread across the surfaces, and even Katsuki’s refined tastes couldn’t find anything wrong with the smell.
Or the taste, though his mouthful of stew turned to ash as his eyes locked with Deku’s, as he arrived late with the cloudy-hair host’s arm around his shoulder.
Katsuki scowled at that, only to choke and break into a coughing fit, a cloud of dust escaping his lips as the food inside his mouth turned to literal ash.
By the time his eyes stopped watering, Deku was already seated, all the way on the other side of the roof, attention fully focused on his plate, as if Katsuki didn’t exist.
The change from Deku sticking by Katsuki’s side to him ignoring Katsuki’s existence was sudden enough to leave him reeling, even though it hadn’t been that long since they met–
It had been barely a few hours, now that Katsuki thought about it. And yet, to consider Deku might not speak to him again, that they would go their separate ways in the morning without as much as exchanging a single word–
Katsuki might not believe in soulmates, but this was different: This was him making a choice.
He stood up, food forgotten, brimming with determination, but the loud host started yelling something before he could take as much as a single step forward.
“It seems we won’t be able to conduct the ceremony tonight!” He announced, making Katsuki wince at the volume. “The soul resonance is not quite correct–”
“It’s too cloudy,” the tired-looking one interrupted as the loud one flailed indignantly.
Were they really calling the whole thing off? Even though everyone paid to be there? Damn, that was even more of a scam than Katsuki expected–
“-so we’re going to ask you to stay the night and try tomorrow, instead!” Katsuki turned back just in time to see the cloud-hair host wink at him, one hand moving to rub at his head.
…Did that guy deliberately create a cloud just to keep them all on the mountain a day longer? Why?
Again, he started to move towards Deku. Katsuki decided it didn’t matter beyond the fact that he would have a little more time to win Deku back, if he could just get to him–
“And in order to make the most out of our time together, we invite you all to a dance party around the campfire!”
There was nothing more effective at making you lose track of someone than several dozen people standing up and moving at once.
By the time the roof emptied, Deku was long gone.
Having no other choice, Katsuki groaned as he headed towards the campfires, trying to find the head full of soft, green curls. Considering the crowds, the lower visibility of the dusk hours, and the fact the forest provided a fantastic background for Deku to blend into, it was not the easiest of tasks.
Seeing the scowl on Katsuki’s face, no one seemed particularly eager to talk to him, thankfully, leaving him to his search.
No matter where Deku went, Katsuki would eventually find him, then apologize, and this trip wouldn’t be a total waste of time and money.
In the end, it was pure chance.
One of the campfires crackled loudly, a flare of fire shooting towards the sky, pulling Katsuki’s attention. There was a figure hiding in the shadows behind the fire, and, even though he couldn’t see his face, Katsuki knew it was Deku.
He stomped over, his strides filled with purpose, but each step slowed slightly as he took in more details.
Deku seemed sad. Everyone else was drinking and dancing, some people having borrowed instruments from the hosts, the crowds singing jaunty songs… But not Deku. He sat, alone, away from the commotion, his shoulders hunched as he stared at the ground.
And no one even tried to approach him.
Mind made up, Katsuki reached for the clasp of his cape as he crossed that last bit of distance between them, draping the fabric over Deku’s shoulder, the gesture making the other man glance up in surprise.
“You’re really not dressed for the weather,” Katsuki grumbled, sitting on the log next to Deku. It wasn’t what he had planned on saying, but the apology stuck in his throat as the brilliant green eyes focused on him. “It’d be a shame if you caught a cold.”
“I thought…” Deku hesitated, pulling the cape tighter around himself. “I thought you wanted me to leave you alone?”
“I didn’t know it was you. You’re fine. I… wouldn’t have destroyed the flower crown if I knew it was yours.”
It still wasn’t an apology, but Deku seemed to read between the lines, his whole face brightening until Katsuki couldn’t look straight at him anymore.
“I’ll make sure to loudly announce my presence, then,” he teased, gently elbowing Katsuki in the side.
“I’ll get you a bell, how’s that? That noise would be better than whatever this excuse for music is.” Katsuki grinned back. Speaking of which,“ Kami, I wish I was asleep right now. Do you know where we’re supposed to be staying?”
“Back when we arrived, Shirakumo-san said we’re responsible for our own lodgings,,” Deku informed him primly, and Katsuki groaned, sliding off the log in despair. Maybe he could just sleep right there… “I… already set up my camp. We could… we could share, if you’d like?”
Katsuki blinked, glancing up at Deku, who suddenly seemed completely unable to meet Katsuki’s eyes, his face slowly growing more and more red.
“Um, that is- I’m sure you have better people to share with, Ka-, ah, Bakugou-san-?”
“Bakugou-san’s my mother,” Katsuki grumbled, punching Deku’s leg lightly. “And like hell am I gonna pass up free lodgings. You’re the most tolerable of all those extras, anyway.”
And then, because his parents did try their best to make him into a proper young man, he added, “Thanks.”
“It’s no problem!” Deku beamed, getting to his feet. “Come on, let me show you how to get there before it gets completely dark.”
That was an intriguing caveat but, as Katsuki soon realized, an entirely necessary one. Deku set up his camp within one of the older buildings on the outskirts of the settlement, the exact spot only accessible by scaling a carved wall.
It was definitely worth the effort, though. When they laid down, mere inches between their bedrolls, the half-collapsed ceiling allowed them a fantastic view of the night sky, filled with stars.
There’s not a single cloud in sight, now, Katsuki thought as he drifted off to sleep. He doubted any of the other extras were sober enough to notice.
***
Izuku woke up before dawn, his body far too used to his early bird schedule. At least out here, he wasn’t woken up by an exploding cauldron or a magical mishap.
With a groan, Izuku stretched out leisurely, mentally preparing himself for his morning exercise. As much as he would have liked to remain in his makeshift camp, with Kacchan’s arms wrapped around his waist-
Freezing, Izuku carefully did not continue that thought as he slowly extracted himself from Kacchan’s grasp.
The night was cold, that was all.
It wouldn’t have been fair—to himself, to Kacchan, and definitely not to their soulmates—to give that simple action any deeper meaning.
It was hard to distract himself while exercising, but Izuku managed just fine by reciting every alchemical ingredient ever.
Kacchan was already awake by the time Izuku got back, hanging out over the wall and glaring at the surroundings.
“Good morning, Kacchan!” Izuku called, unprepared to face the other man’s full attention.
“Where did you run off to, nerd?” Kacchan asked, sounding genuinely interested in the answer.
So Izuku gave him a summary of his exercise, shocked but ecstatic to hear the follow-up questions. It was as if Kacchan was a whole another person today, putting effort into keeping the conversation going.
It set the mood for the entire day.
Izuku tried to distance himself at first, figuring Kacchan might wish for some more space during the activities, but the man stuck by his side the entire time.
It made it easy to understand why Kacchan snapped at the flower crown yesterday; If Izuku’s constant presence made him as antsy as Kacchan’s presence was making Izuku, he could definitely relate.
It’s not that he didn’t enjoy being with Kacchan—he did! Perhaps a little too much. Izuku might have begun to fall for him, just a little— but who wouldn’t, when faced with that kind of single-minded attention? It just made it that much harder to be excited for his soulmate.
Why should he wait for someone on the other side of the world, if he had someone so perfect right there?
Izuku was beginning to dread the upcoming ceremony as much as he longed for it.
Finally—far too soon, yet not soon enough—the time came.
The hosts led them in the dark out to a wide plateau near the peak of the mountain. They repeated the instructions one last time in case someone had been ignoring them this entire time. Make sure to look for the light, note any landmarks it shone upon, to stay on the mountain, and not to immediately go tumbling down the side of the cliff…
The clouds started to clear out, the rays of the moon shining down… And while everyone else started gasping and pointing out the lights they were supposedly seeing.
Izuku saw nothing.
He could barely hear Yamada reminding people not to try climbing down the mountain, while Izuku despaired over being truly unloveable, frantically following the curve of the platform as if changing the direction he was looking in would help.
“Deku?”
Everyone back home was right, it seemed. He couldn’t even make a friend on his own, surely the universe decided he didn’t deserve a soulmate…
“DEKU.”
And the worst thing was, it meant he was so unloveable, there was not a single person in the entire world who could love him. Which meant that Kacchan definitely couldn’t, either–
“IZUKU!”
“WHAT, Kacchan,” Izuku snapped, his voice thick as he swirled around. “I’m a little busy having my life fall… apart…”
The light almost blinded him.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, at which point Izuku could finally see that it was all coming from Kacchan.
No wonder he couldn’t see any lights in the distance to serve as his guiding beacon… His soulmate was right beside him this entire time!
“I thought… you didn’t care about soulmates?” Izuku asked, slightly confused, letting Kacchan grab his hands in excitement.
“I don’t,” Kacchan responded immediately. Izuku froze, heart skipping a beat, but before he could even try to pull back, Kacchan continued. “And if the universe tried to pair me up with anyone but you, I would have ignored it completely. I don’t believe in fate, Izuku, I never did. I believe in choice. And I choose you.”
Izuku doesn’t try to hold back his tears anymore, sobbing in relief as he leans forward, resting his forehead against Katsuki’s.
“I was afraid I would have to choose,” he confesses in a harsh whisper. “Between you and whichever stranger was supposed to be my soulmate. I’m so, so glad it’s you.”
They gravitate towards each other, and share their first kiss under the light of the full moon.
