Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There are lessons that we learn in childhood that stick with us. We make observations that we mimic, even before we know what they mean. The first lesson and observation that Izuku can remember happened shortly after the doctors appointment where he learned he’d never have a quirk.

His father, his mother’s soulmate, left. Izuku could still hear the awful things he said when he did, about how soulmates meant nothing, how he never loved either Izuku or his mother. How he’d rather turn his own flames on his soulmate tattoo than ever see it again.

After he left, Izuku watched his mother dry her tears and very carefully wrap the mark on her wrist up, hiding it from the world. 

Izuku never saw the mark again.

His first lesson, soulmates weren’t real. His first observation, hide the mark away forever.

So, he did. He hid away the mark on his hip, even from himself. Even when he knew that the once childhood friend turned bully had the same mark.

Bakugou never covered his mark. It was on the center of his chest, and Izuku was subjected to seeing it every time the others shirt was off. Three triangles, overlapping to make a valknut. When researching, some people said it meant, earth, heaven, and hell.

With how Bakugou was determined to make Izuku’s life hell, he believed it. 

There were only two people that knew Izuku’s soulmate secret before UA, his mother and All Might. His mother, because of course she’d seen the mark, and of course she’d seen her best friend’s son’s mark. Izuku wondered if Bakugou’s parents knew too, with how they both looked at Izuku with pitiful looks anytime Bakugou’s mark came into view, but he was never certain. All Might, because the man had already shared the biggest secret in his life, Izuku only found it fair to share his own. Plus, the hero had been more of a father to Izuku than his own father had ever been. 

All Might, who preferred for Izuku to call him Yagi at school and Toshinori outside of being a teacher, understood as best as he could for someone without a soulmate. He did try to tell Izuku that some soulmates truly loved each other, but Izuku knew if he ever told Bakugou, it would end in disaster. 

It wasn’t like the bullying gave Izuku a better impression of soulmates through the years. He knew that if Bakugou found out, it would have only been worse. Just like Izuku’s father, Bakugou probably would have rather turned one of his own explosions on his mark that be with Izuku. 

Of course, because fate was cruel, Izuku shared his mothers awful taste in men, and no matter how much he hated soulmates, or how much Bakugou hurt him, that didn’t stop the crush he’d had since he’d first seen him. He joked once, when his mother was cleaning his busted lip, that they both had awful taste in men. With tears in her eyes, she agreed, even mentioning that they should probably stay away from men with fire quirks too. 

It was ironic that the first friend Izuku brought home his first year at UA was Todoroki, the half fire and half ice male.

Naturally, his mother had seen their fight and heard about the surgery that had to take place afterwards. When Izuku made a grand gesture to his mother, stating that a male with a fire quirk had come home with him, they both laughed until there were tears in their eyes. Todoroki had been highly confused, but they both brushed it off as an inside joke. 

Going to UA, the whole soulmate business was made better and far worse. Better, because of Kirishima, the second boy in Izuku’s life that he thought was attractive beyond all reason. Worse, because Kirishima had the same stupid valknut on his shoulder blade. Better, because Bakugou got a choice then, and could actually be with one of his soulmates. Worse, because it finally made sense why there were three triangles, because there were three people. Better, because Kirishima and Bakugou actually looked really happy together. Worse, because a part of Izuku wanted to be happy with them, and never would be.

It was strange, through their first year, how much Izuku longed to be with his soulmates. A small part of him whispered that it was because he was their fate, but a larger part laughed because he was clearly the only one of them with those feelings. 

When Bakugou tried to blow Izuku up on the second day, Kirishima checked on Bakugou, giving Izuku only a small smile. At USJ, neither Bakugou or Kirishima visited him in the hospital. At the training camp, Bakugou told Izuku not to try, as he was being taken by villains. While he was in the hospital, Kirishima came in to talk Izuku into helping him save Bakugou, never once even noticing the casts on Izuku’s arms. Then during the rescue, he knew Bakugou would only come if it was Kirishima who held out a hand. 

It was funny. For not being in their relationship, Izuku sure felt his heart breaking a lot. It was nothing he wasn’t used to with Bakugou already. After your soulmate tells you to kill yourself, it’s pretty difficult for much to hurt after that. Kirishima though, those were all new hurts that Izuku had to get used to. 

The fight with Bakugou at Ground Beta was the last straw for Izuku. He realized in that moment; he’d been hoping that Bakugou would want him. That Kirishima would want him. He’d told himself his whole life that soulmates were dumb and not real, that they only brought you unhappiness, yet he still followed Bakugou around like a puppy. Still found himself looking at Kirishima’s smile in class, and wondering what it would be like, to be on their level. He still called Bakugou by his childhood nickname, Kacchan, for Pete’s sake! 

On the last day of their house arrest after Ground Beta, only minutes before the class would come in, Izuku found himself seeking Bakugou out. 

“Can I talk to you, for just a second, I’ll be quick.” Izuku asked, looking at the angry red eyes he’d known his whole life. Bakugou’s scowl hardened. 

“What do you want, you shitty nerd.” His voice, though gruff and angry, was far milder than it usually was. 

“I wanted to say I’m sorry and that you were right. Not about the pity thing, because I’ve never looked down on you once, I always thought you were beyond amazing, but the following you thing. You’re right. I have been. I’ve always been right behind you, even when you didn’t want me to be, and I’ll stop.” Bakugou’s face was unreadable, but it seemed to have the anger draining out of it. “Sorry, for always being in your way. I’ll leave you alone now. Anyway, that’s all. See you around, Bakugou.” It was the first time Izuku had said Bakugou out loud in so many years, it felt foreign and wrong, and the bewildered look on other’s face only confirmed it’s strangeness, but he didn’t back down.

He didn’t wait for a response before turning away and walking back towards his room. It felt like he was proving what he told Bakugou, he would leave him alone.

He asked Aizawa for a new seat later that night. When prompted for an explanation, Aizawa became the third person who knew his secret. The next day, everyone’s seat were flipped, and Izuku found that he wasn’t always paired off with Bakugou like before.

It was hard, and Izuku still found himself staring at the relationship a part of him desperately wanted to be in, but life moved on. 

A few things here and there would still jump out to him, like when Todoroki told Izuku he looked like a ball of lightning raining down from the sky, and Uraraka added that it made sense, since Izuku was clearly an angel from heaven. They did it to tease him, and he responded rightfully in turn by blushing and pushing them both off his bed.

His retaliation didn’t stop the connection of Kirishima harden into rock, like earth, and Bakugou making explosions that could not only bring hell, but turn the ground into hell.

Heaven, Earth, and Hell. That stupid valknut.

Someone finally asked Izuku about it during the beginning of their second year. Izuku was sitting down in the common area with his friends, often referred to as the Dekusquad. Shinsou and Todoroki were sitting on a bench together, the two recently had found out they were soulmates, and were still learning how to act around one another. 

“Hey Deku, what’s your soulmate tattoo look like, I’ve never seen it.” Uraraka asked, popping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. Izuku contemplated for a moment about lying and saying he doesn’t have one, but he was with his friends and he knew they wouldn't judge him. 

“I don’t show my mark to anyone.” He told her with a shrug. “I don’t really care about all that soulmate stuff. If I fall in love with someone, it’s going to be because of who they are, not a dumb mark on our bodies.” Two sets of red eyes, a joyous laugh, and a determined smirk instantly flashed into Izuku’s mind, but he ignored them. Focusing more on the scandalized looks from those around him. 

“I understand that this is your personal business, Midoriya, but this does not only concern you. What if your soulmate is waiting for you and does not share your opinion? Should they not also get a choice in the matter?” Iida asked, hand chopping down with his words. Izuku shook his head. 

“They’re already happy, I don’t have to worry about that.” He picked up his textbook, completely moving past his admission of having met said soulmate, or in his case, soulmates. “Let’s get back to the math.”

Fate seemed to enjoy laughing at Izuku because only a week after he made the comment that his soulmates were happy, Kirishima was walking up to his friend group, gaze trained directly on Izuku. 

“Midoriya, can I talk to you, privately?” The anger in Kirishima’s voice was so out of character that even before Izuku could answer, Shinsou and Todoroki both stepped in front of him, blocking Kirishima from his view. 

As much as Izuku loved all his friends, he couldn’t deny that Todoroki and Shinsou were on another level than everyone else. They felt like his family more than his friends.

“Why don’t you come back when you’ve calmed down, dude.” Shinsou said directing at Kirishima, which only seemed to make him angrier. 

“What the hell did I ever do to you!?” Kirishima shouted at Izuku looking around Todoroki to meet his eyes. Izuku quickly stood up, facing his soulmate, and slightly brushing his hands along his friend’s shoulders, to let them know to back down. 

“Kirishima, I apologize, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. You haven’t done anything to me.” Izuku told him kindly, trying to calm down the others huffing breath. It was true, Aizawa helped keep Izuku away from both Kirishima and Bakugou nicely, only pairing him with them rarely at most. Izuku stayed away from both at the dorm, and had completely different friends. 

“Every time I go to Katsuki’s house and your mother is there with Mitsuki, she won’t talk to us, won’t look as us, she’s literally leaves as soon as we get there. Then after she leaves, Mitsuki is weird as hell around us too! Once when I asked what you were doing for break, your mom told me it wasn’t any of my business! Katsuki just keeps telling me to ignore it, but it’s like he KNOWS what the problem is. So, what the hell is so bad about me that your mom is making my soulmates parents HATE ME!?” Kirishima’s eyes were filling with tears as he screamed, a foot stomping with excess energy, hands bawling up in hardened fists. 

Before Izuku could even think about the repercussions of his actions, he was hugging Kirishima tightly. Pulling the taller boy down, one arm around his waist, while the other was around his shoulders. He felt them shaking and soon felt tears soaking into the top of his shoulder. 

“You haven’t done anything to me. I’m sorry about my mom. It’s not you. It’s soulmates.” Izuku lied slightly. It was about soulmates, but it was also about Kirishima being Izuku’s soulmate. “I’ll talk to her, tell her to knock it off. I’m sorry she hurt you, she didn’t mean it. Honestly, she’ll probably bring you cookies for the next time you’re at Bakugou’s house.” 

He heard Shinsou and Todoroki both behind him, sniffling a giggle. They’d both been fed so many times by his mother, like she was trying to make up for the years she didn’t know them. She told them repeatedly they were all too skinny and pushed more food at them. 

The hand around Kirishima’s shoulder slide up slightly, touching the back of his neck. His thumb ghosted along his hair line before he could even stop himself. The hug was innocent, but Izuku couldn’t help the soul deep satisfaction that came along with it. He felt the sudden urge to rub his face on the other like a cat and roll around in his arms for hours, soaking up the intoxicating right feeling. As soon as Kirishima’s hands clench at his waist, pulling him even closer, Izuku let go and pushed back, ending their hug.

There was disappointment written all over sad red eyes, but Izuku couldn’t help them.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Kirishima whispered, rubbing his eyes with his shirt sleeve. 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for my mom, and I’m sure Mitsuki doesn’t hate you. We’re all studying, why don’t you sit down with us. Take your mind off stuff.” Izuku gestured to the seat that was open, next to Iida. Kirishima nodded and sat down, hollowly looking at the books in front of him. 

“Your mom doesn’t like soulmates either, Deku?” Uraraka asked shyly. 

“Either? Midoriya, you don’t like soulmates?” Kirishima looked somewhat betrayed, hands gripping the table, ready to push away. 

“Hold on, I feel like there has been some misinterpretation. I don’t dislike people who are with their soulmates, neither does my mom. We both just feel that the concept of finding your perfect half just because of a mark you share, isn’t really applicable to the real world. People are different, people change, people fall in love with others, and fall out of love with soulmates.” Everyone was staring at him with different levels of sadness. He knew his opinion wasn’t very popular, but he didn’t mean to crush an entire room. 

“When you met your soulmate, did you feel anything for them?” Uraraka questioned again. Kirishima’s eyes snapped to look over at Izuku. 

“Wait, you’ve met your soulmate, and you aren’t together?” Kirishima sounded like his entire world was exploding in his head. 

“Yes, I’ve met them. No, we aren’t together.” Izuku felt himself huff a laugh and smile. “Actually, they sort of hate me.” Izuku remembered the growl in Bakugou’s voice, and being pushed away more times than he could remember. He didn’t comment on having two soulmates, afraid that would open up a conversation that he very much didn’t want to have. 

“In your soulmates defense, I sort of hated you at first too.” Shinsou joked, jabbing Izuku in the ribs with an elbow. 

“I have to concur; I too wasn’t your biggest fan.” Iida smirked. 

“I hated everyone, you included.” Todoroki shrugged, reaching over to grab something from the snack bowl. 

“I didn’t hate you, Deku!” Uraraka announced happily, making the table laugh. 

“Well, at least one person didn’t hate me at first sight.” Izuku lifted a hand, high fiving Uraraka, causing another round of laughter. When the table quieted down, Kirishima let out a long sigh.

“Katsuki and I have been fighting a lot lately. He needs space when I need to be close; he needs me to just get things sometimes, and I don’t. I love him, I know I love him, sometimes, we’re perfect. Other times, it feels like something is missing.” Izuku felt his heart squeeze painfully at Kirishima’s confession. 

There was something missing, him.

“Todoroki and I fight sometimes too. I think it’s normal in all relationships.” Shinsou admitted, with Todoroki nodding after him. 

“How do you guys work out your fights?” Kirishima questioned, looking hopeful. Todoroki and Shinsou both pointed at Izuku, without hesitation. 

“Midoriya makes us sit down to talk, and usually mediates.” 

“I can’t have Midoriya do that for us, he hates Katsuki.” Kirishima said deflating down to hang his head. Izuku felt himself straight up in his seat, sending a bewildered look around the table.

“I don’t hate Bakugou. I never have.”

“But last year you guys got in that fight and you started calling him Bakugou instead of that nickname.”

“He hated when I called him Kacchan, so I stopped.”

“But you stopped talking to him.”

“No, I stopped bothering him.”

“But, he said you had ever reason to hate him.”

“I don’t hate him. We just, aren’t friends. That doesn’t mean I hate him.” 

“Why does he think you should hate him?” Kirishima’s eyes pressed back into their slightly agitated state, like it was a question he’d tried to get an answer to multiple time, and no one had given it to him.

“Answer him, nerd.” Bakugou’s voice made Izuku jump. He snapped his head to the room entrance and saw Bakugou there, hands shoved deep into his pockets. 

Red and green bore into each other for a moment, and the rest of the room dropped away. They had a silent conversation, one that no matter the distance between them, it seemed they could still do. 

Tell them.

No.

“We’ve pretty much been pitied against each other since we were four because of our quirks. Rivals, enemies, there are tons of labels people put on us. So after awhile, I’m sure there is a feeling of animosity there. I also think Bakugou hates me.” Izuku never looked away from Bakugou as he lied. Part of it was true, like everything else Izuku says when talking about soulmates.

It was because of their quirks, or lack of quirk. People did put labels on them. Everyone around them did egg it on.

Why didn’t you tell them?

Izuku didnt’t have an answer for that one, so he turned away from the blonde and back to his table. Kirishima and Bakugou made their way out of the room soon after. After a quick chat with his mother, she apologized to Kirishima and Bakugou, making them cookies, just like Izuku knew she would.

After that, it wasn’t unheard of for Kirishima to join their study sessions or work out with Izuku. He’d always pull Izuku into a comforting hug, and Izuku couldn’t bring himself to care when it lingered slightly longer than normal hugs did. 

It isn’t until his third year, that one of his friends learned the truth about his soulmate situation. Shinsou and Izuku were interning with Aizawa. Shinsou, because he’s the hero’s protégée and Izuku because he appreciated underground heroes and wanted to improve his stealth. 

During a mission, Shinsou and Izuku had the miss fortune of being hit with the villain’s quirk. It was a powder like sustain that could eat through anything it touched, including skin. So Shinsou and Izuku had to shed out of their clothing as fast as they could, before any injuries could occur. Fighting a villain in his boxers with one of his best friends and his teacher was definitely one of those stories he’d tell at parties later on. 

After the commotion was over and the villain was detained, Shinsou and Izuku had a good laugh at each other, until purple eyes froze on Izuku hip. It seemed his boxers and pulled down slightly on one side, revealing enough of the soulmate tattoo, that Shinsou knew what it was. 

“That’s-” Izuku quickly cut him off. 

“It’s called a valknut. I know. What you’re going to say, I know.” He pulled his boxers up, higher than needed, to prevent anyone else from seeing it. Of course, that was the moment Aizawa walked back over to them and noticed Shinsou’s complete mental breakdown. 

“What’s his problem?” Aizawa questioned, poking Shinsou in the cheek, seemingly restarting him. 

“Oh my God! They’re your soulmates!” Shinsou hissed out in a whisper scream. 

“Ah, I see he saw your mark then.” Izuku nodded to Aizawa and Shinsou short circuited once again. 

“You know!? He knows!? How- Why- When- WHAT!?” 

“You’re only missing who.” Izuku commented blandly. 

Of course, after that, Izuku had to pull Shinsou away and explain the story to him, which meant explaining it to the soulmate he couldn’t keep a secret from, even if it killed him.

So, Izuku with his two best friends in his childhood room, stared at the ceiling, as he told them everything from being quirkless at four and his father leaving, to his fight at Ground Beta with Bakugou and the decision to walk away. 

“Your soulmate told you to kill yourself.”

“You were given a quirk by All Might.”

“They don’t know you’re their soulmate.”

“That’s why you and your mom don’t like soulmates.”

“Yeah.” Izuku confirmed, continuing to stare at the ceiling. The two bodies that piled on top of his, gave him reassurances of their love and support, and made him feel lighter than he had in years.

That wasn’t to say there weren’t still hard times and times he almost confessed to his soulmates. Especially since Kirishima became one of his regular workout partners.

Bakugou started coming around when they ate and small conversations took place. Of course, there were always other people there, but still a few times Izuku and Bakugou even joked around while they made their food in the dorm kitchen. Movie nights with the Dekusquad turned into a joint Bakusquad and Dekusquad movie night. It was awful because Kirishima fell asleep on Izuku’s shoulder more than once, but Bakugou’s homemade movie snacks were hard to pass up for anything. Thankfully, Shinsou and Todoroki were there to listen to him cry more than once.

Eventually, the year ended, their time at UA came to a close, and the famous class A descended into the world. Izuku himself, had signed to do a year in America, at the same agency All Might worked at. Shinsou was under Aizawa. Todoroki and Bakugou were hired at Endeavor's agency. Kirishima went to Fatgum’s. Uraraka and Iida both went to the Ingenium family agency. Tsu went to an agency back near her family. Then the rest of the class spend out all over Japan.

The year Izuku had in America was amazing. It was hard, and he learned more in that year than the entire time at UA. He made mistakes, he grew, he fought, and for the first time he really started to like himself. He was a good hero. He was happy.

He kept in touch with the Dekusquad, all who were excited for his return, and kept him informed on their lives. Iida found his soulmate; they were already engaged. Uraraka took her parents on a weekend trip up into the country. It wasn’t Hawaii, but it made her happy. Shinsou and Todoroki were engaged, and waiting for Izuku to come back so they’d have their best man. The jury was still out on WHOSE best man he was. They also had a room waiting for him when he returned, telling him that finding a place would be troublesome. Especially since NightEye’s agency, that Mirio had taken over, was waiting for Izuku to return. 

What surprised Izuku was that Kirishima and Bakugou kept in contact with him too. Bakugou didn’t say much, usually sending him pictures of him mom, saying she missed him. Pictures of Katsudon that were usually followed up with a middle finger emoji. Once, when Izuku was hurt, Bakugou just sent a text asking if he was still alive. It was small, but it never failed to make Izuku’s heart pound in his chest. Kirishima on the other hand, texted him anything and everything. There were video calls, memes, updates, funny pictures, new gym routines. How Izuku kept a gym buddy while being on the other side of the world, he’d never figure out. 

He also found out that Kirishima was a VERY nosey person. Two different times Izuku had been photographed while on dates and Kirishima had blown up his phone for every possible detail as soon as the story came out. It wasn’t very common that pro heroes dated outside of soulmates, so Izuku seemed to be a bit of a gossip column marvel. After his costume had been damaged too many times to count, there was actually a running rumor that Izuku didn’t have a soulmate. The two texts that Izuku had waiting for him as he finished packing up his apartment remind him, that was certainly not the case. 

What’s the thing you missed the most here?

What are you going to miss there?

Izuku smiled at his phone, seeing Kirishima’s messages. He’d been asked multiple times about things that he missed, and he honestly had a whole list. His mom, his friends, the food, personal space. America was cramped, people were overly friendly while simultaneously being rude. It was loud, and while the food was delicious in ways that caused Izuku to need larger pants, he missed the clean and crisp flavors of home. 

Food. Is my answer to both. 

I think I might just be hungry though.

A video chat request came in mere seconds after he sent the messages. Answering, he was greeted with a close up of Kirishima’s face. His usually spiked up hair was down and wet, and Izuku surmised that he’d probably just showered. 

“Hey.” Izuku said, waving at the camera. Kirishima brightened up, smiling widely. The camera was then moved to show Bakugou who was standing at the stove cooking. 

“I’m jealous. I’m so hungry. All I have here is spaghetti and leftover pizza. I’m really considering walking down to the late-night pierogi bar.” Izuku admitted, glancing over to the clock to make sure they’d still be open. 3:12AM was flashing back at him. 

“What’s a pierogi?” Kirishima asked, fully interested. 

“It’s like a dumpling, but it’s filled with mashed potatoes and then you can add other things. I usually just at cheese.” Bakugou let out a disgusted noise of the cameras view and Izuku leaned in like he was telling a secret. “Don’t worry, Kiri. I’ll make them for you when I get back and we can get fat together without Bakugou.” Izuku laughed and watched Kirishima’s face turn red, he assumed from holding in his own laughter. 

“You need to eat better, you damn nerd. Stuffing mashed potatoes and pasta down your throat every day isn’t good for you. Do you even remember what a vegetable is?” Bakugou griped. The camera was turned back to the aggressive mother-hen blonde who was stirring what looked like spicy Ramen. Izuku being his usual cheeky self tapped lightly on his chin, showing just how cheekily he was thinking about the question. 

“Yesterday I had a corndog. It’s made with cornmeal, which comes from corn. Also, potatoes are technically vegetables. So, really the French fries I ate yesterday also counted. I dipped them in ketchup, so I even had my fruits!” Izuku couldn’t help but fall back onto his bed in a heap of giggles as he listened to Kirishima happily try and calm down Bakugou as he ranted about forcing them both to eat properly. It was nice in ways Izuku knew he could get used to.

Izuku rolled onto his side, phone still propped up in his hand, and closed his eyes as he imagined what it would be like to actually be there in person with them. He and Kirishima would be cuddled on the couch while Bakugou cooked. They’d get bored and pester him until he shook his ladle and chased them out of the kitchen. They’d eat their healthy dinner, but then convince him to eat something sweet afterwards. 

When he jolted awake several hours later, he found himself smiling at the texts Kirishima and Bakugou had both sent him. 

Sleep well, we miss you! Can’t wait for you to come home!

Eat a carrot, fuckface.

Of course, Izuku retaliated by sending Bakugou a picture of him eating a New York style slice of pizza that even folded in half was the size of his head. 

A week later and a day early, Izuku was sluggishly exiting his plane, stepping back onto Japan soil for the first time in a year. He hadn’t told anyone about his day early return except his mother, hoping to surprise everyone, and also spend his first day back with her. With only a carry on with him, he stepped towards the pickup area and instantly found his mother's green hair. Both of them naturally broke down into tears instantaneously. 

As soon as they were in the car, Izuku pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of him smiling and his mother driving. Both their eyes were red rimmed, and he looked utterly exhausted with heavy eyes and dark circles, but he couldn’t help but love it. 

It wasn’t until later that night, as Izuku was sitting outside with a cup of coffee, trying to keep himself awake long enough to adjust his sleep schedule and defeat jetlag, that he pulled out his phone again. 

He took another picture, showing the dark night sky in the dark ground and his even more exhausted face. He sent Shinsou and Todoroki both pictures and then gladly excepted their call, chatting for a few minutes and making plans for them to visit his mother’s the next day, if Izuku wasn’t passed out face first somewhere. After they got off the phone, he stared and the few unread messaged Kirishima had sent him throughout the day. Excitement over him coming back, a cool quirk, a cute dog. He hit the call button without even thinking about it. 

“Hey nerd.” Bakugou answered after a few rings. “Ei’s still in the shower.” Izuku leaned back, resting his head against the glass door. 

“Hey, Bakugou. I actually wanted to talk to both of you anyway, I can wait.”

“I can have Ei call you back when he gets out.” Bakugou offered, sounding slightly awkward. Izuku just laughed at him, taking another drink of coffee. 

“So, a few of the heroes I made friends with had this going away party for me, and they gave me a few American must haves. One of them is a classic American cook book. You’ll have to let me make dinner one night. I can actually cook a few things.” Izuku commented, completely ignoring the other’s offer. It was sort of nice to talk to just Bakugou. 

“How about you just give the cook book to me. I remember the last time you tried to cook me something. I think I still have nightmares.” Izuku’s heart raced as the teasing tone. He could vaugely remember being around 5 and standing on a chair to try and make noodles. The resulting dish was not something that could be considered food.

“Excuse you, Mr. Master chef. I can cook well enough that I spent a whole year alone and didn’t starve to death.” Izuku giggled and heard Bakugou snort out his own chuckle, making him feel warm all over. 

“Damn right I’m a master chef, and don’t you forget it. I’m sure once your tired of cold soba and coffee, you’ll be here every night for dinner anyway.” It was said in his usual gruff and dismissive tone, but that didn’t hide the open invitation. Before Izuku could respond, Kirishima’s voice filtered into the room. 

“Who ya talking to Kit-Kat?” 

“Deku called. Said he wanted to talk to the both of us. Okay nerd, you’re on speaker.” 

“There isn’t anything wrong, right? You should be getting on the plane soon, right?” Kirishima’s nervous voice filtered into the phone, making him sound like a worried mother. Izuku would have felt bad for teasing his friends if he wasn’t so excited to hear their reaction.

“Nope nothings wrong. I’m actually just enjoying the night air. The air is so much clearer in Japan than it is in New York.” Silence filled the line before a Present Mic worth squeal erupted on the other side of the phone.

“Where are you? When did you get in? Why didn’t you tell us?” Kirishima excitedly threw questions at him until Bakugou shushed him. 

“He can’t answer if you don’t give him a chance to.” 

“I got in this afternoon. I wanted to spend some time with my mom, I’m at her house now.” Izuku smiled as he talked, feeling like a little bit like a love-struck teen on the phone with their crush. Though, as Izuku thought about it, that’s exactly what he was. 

“We’ll come over!” Kirishima yelled making the smile on Izuku’s face quickly fall as he sat up with slight panic. 

“Come over, now? You want to come over now?” He looked around the balcony expecting someone to jump out in front of him. 

“Ei, the nerd just got back. I’m sure he’s tired.” It had to be the reserved tone in Bakugou’s voice, or maybe it was that even over the phone, there was an air of disappointment, but Izuku found his mouth opening without his permission. 

“Mom is asleep, but I could meet you for coffee. I don’t really have any clothes here yet, so I’m not sure if I look well enough to be in public, but I could meet you.” He flushed and covered his face in embarrassment when he looked down at his baggy grey sweat pants and sleeveless black shirt. He’d wanted to be comfortable on the plane, and now he was greatly regretting that decision. 

In America, no one would have blinked an eye at his outfit, but seeing his soulmates after a year of being away, the outfit seem lackluster at best. Izuku stopped himself, reminding himself that no, they weren’t his soulmates, they were just his friends who unknowingly shared the same tattoo as he did. 

An hour later, Izuku was being swept off his feet, quite literally, as Kirishima came up from behind and spun him around. Once he was back on his feet, he was being held tightly against the redhead’s chest in a hug that made Izuku relax in a way he hadn’t since the last time they’d hugged. He peaked around an arm and found Bakugou looking back at him, the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. Izuku pulled away, possessed by the high of Kirishima’s hug and moved over to Bakugou slowly.

It had been years since they’d hugged each other. Probably not since they were 5, before Izuku’s doctor’s appointment. He thread his arms around Bakugou’s waist and leaned into his chest. An arm immediately came around him, ever so lightly resting against his back. Just like his hugs with Kirishima, something deep inside of him clicked into place. He melted into Bakugou who gripped onto him even tighter.

Izuku didn’t except the wall of emotion he didn’t know he’d been carrying to hit him as hard as it did. His hands balled into fists, clinging onto the back of Bakugou’s shirt as he sobbed into his shoulder. Another hand came up and tangled in his hair, clinging to him just as tightly. He looked up and Bakugou’s eyes, looking terrified and wild, filled with his own tears.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.” Izuku whispered, pulling away, and trying to dry his tears quickly. “Let’s get a coffee.” 

The entire time they sat at the coffee shop, their feet all laid, intertwined under the table. Kirishima sat next to him, an arm slung over his shoulders. Bakugou was leaned forward, his forearm ever so slightly grazing Izuku's. None of them mentioned their inability to stop touching each other. When the moment came for them to leave, Kirishima pulled them into a three-way hug that lasted far longer than Izuku knew if should have. They’d offered to walk him home, but he declined, knowing the fresh air and time by himself would help him get his aching heart back under control. 

With each step he reminded himself that a mark on his body meant nothing. Kirishima and Bakugou were happy with each other and Izuku saying anything would not only ruin their friendship but it was also end in disaster. Kirishima would feel obligated and Bakugou and Izuku had only just reached the level were they could hug again. Izuku had made his decision the first time he saw Bakugou’s mark and kept quiet and then again when he saw Kirishima’s. He knew there was no point in trying to change the past. 

So, he let life move on. He moved in with his best friends. He quickly became a fan favorite hero and jumped in the rankings. He stood as Shinsou’s best man after a very heated game of rock paper scissors. He was happy. Happier than he even thought he could be. 

Bakugou and Kirishima also became staples in his life. Sparring sessions, bi-weekly dinners, the occasional hero event they’d show up at together. The media commented how the feral tempered Ground Zero couldn’t be too bad if sunshine heroes, as the media deemed Kirishima and Izuku, were usually flanking him. 

Things weren’t always perfect, Bakugou and Izuku’s argument ended up in fist fights more than once, but always ended with them on the couch, eating pizza, and making playful jabs while Kirishima patched them up. Kirishima and Bakugou had both ended up at Izuku’s door, looking for comfort after they had their own fights.

The most brutal though, was the one time Kirishima and Izuku got into a fight. A movie ended up in an argument, and no matter how many times Bakugou told them both to chill out, the argument blew up. The fight wasn’t physical, no it was emotional and mental warfare. No one had ever known how petty either one of them could be until they turned it on each other. 

Communication, completely cut off. Izuku had already been through walking away from someone once, he had practice dealing with longing.

Weekly dinners and any other outings, canceled. 

During a water-type villain attack, Izuku strategically moved, letting water wash over Kirishima before taking out the villain. Kirishima’s normally spikey hair was plastered to his face while simultaneously being stuck in every direction. A picture of it had been posted everywhere for a week.

A glitter bomb was delivered to Izuku’s office.

Izuku snuck into Fat Gum’s agency while Kirishima was on patrol and saran wrapped everything in his office.

Embarrassing photos of each other them were leaked to the media.

Their feud lasted 3 weeks, until Bakugou called Izuku to come have lunch at his agency and then quite literally locked Izuku in a room with Kirishima, screaming at them to, ‘get their shit together’. After making up, they retaliated by drawing on his face after he fell asleep on the couch and posted it on both of their social media pages.

The topic of soulmates didn’t get brought up again until a year and half after Izuku moved back. Izuku, as the only top ten hero not with their soulmate, was selected for an underground mission they thought would last around 3 months. Longer missions were always given to those who hadn’t met their soulmate yet, as it was difficult for most people to be away from theirs for extended periods of time. While some heroes didn’t agree with the logic, everyone knew they secretly appreciated it. A small part of Izuku wondered if that was the real reason All Might had been the number one hero for so long. 

Izuku sat on Bakugou and Kirishima’s couch, a duffle at his feet, explaining to them that he was going on a mission. He’d already told his mother, Todoroki, and Shinsou. The former tearfully told him to be careful and the latter both offered to join, then made him promise that he’d return. He’d expected something similar from Bakugou and Kirishima, but that’s not what he was met with. 

“NO! You can’t go! They can pick someone else.” Kirishima shouted, in a desperate anger. “Why you? They can pick someone else.”

“Can you tell us any details about where you’ll be?” Bakugou asked, ignoring Kirishima’s tempered stomps. Aside from when he’d returned to Japan, it was the calmest Izuku had ever seen him. His eyes, usually a blazing burning red, seemed muted.

“No, I won’t be briefed fully until be leave, which is in about an hour. I’m the only top ten hero who isn’t with their soulmate. You know they don’t like to separate soulmates for that long. It has to be me; I’m literally rumored to not even have a soulmate.” Izuku answered them both, giving a small smile and a dark chuckle. His hand flexed around the duffle handle, knowing he didn’t have much longer until he had to leave.

“But you do, and you’re just going to go off and not eve-” 

“I told them.” Izuku cut off Kirishima, anticipating what he was going to say. The blood drained out of his face and Bakugou went still next to him. “I told them I was leaving.”

“You still talk to your soulmate?” Izuku snapped his head up at the utterly betrayed tone from Kirishima. He didn’t understand it, but he wanted to fix it. He wanted to apologize. His heart seized and he instantly looked over to Bakugou to help him, but he only saw lost confused eyes. The same as when he’d walked away from him in their first year. 

“I thought they were happy without you.” Bakugou stated, the absence of his usual anger somehow turning the statement hateful in Izuku’s ears. His hand gripped his bag tighter as he stood up from the couch and began to walk towards the door, slowly putting his shoes back on. He ignored the stinging in his eyes and the pain radiating from his chest up into his throat.

“They are happy without me.” Without waiting for either of them to say anything else, he began to walk out. “Be safe both of you.” He called as the door closed. He didn’t turn back, no matter how much he wanted to. He couldn’t. 

His soulmates were happy without him.

The mission, like they anticipated, was strenuous and taxing, both mentally and physically. The constant fighting and patching up of injuries left Izuku little time to think about how empty he felt inside. He understood though, why the commission didn’t like to separate soulmates. It was a different world of emotions to be away from them when he’d only just liked them, verses after realizing he was in love with them, but he powered through. 

He saved people by the dozens; broke small-time crime rings up as they search for the main branch of the crime syndicate they were after. Three months turned into six months and then finally, the final fight. His team raided the facility at nightfall but it wasn’t long before the sky was lit up with the green streaks of lightning that rolled off Izuku’s body as he fought. 

They won, and Izuku was finally allowed to go home and rest his wounds and tired body. The trip home to the one-bedroom apartment he’d gotten after Todoroki and Shinsou’s wedding went by in a forgotten blur. His cell phone laid on his nightstand, exactly where he left it, turned off and waiting for him, but he ignored it. The bed sheets smelled stale and a thin layer of dust coated every surface, but Izuku didn’t care. He slumped face first onto the bed and fell asleep. Each time he’d open his eyes, the pull of exhaustion would close them back. 

It took two days for him to get back out of bed, and that was only because his stomach cramped with hunger and his shoulders burned with pain from laying on them too much. His mom was his first call, promising once he was more awake to come and see her. Shinsou and Todoroki were his second call, the pair telling him they were on their way with food, not caring that he was still half asleep. He hovered over Bakugou’s name, but he didn’t hit it.

His soulmates were happy without him.

Shinsou and Todoroki didn’t mind that he mostly laid on them while his eyes closed as they talked. They ate and helped Izuku rewrap his broken ribs and sprained wrist. 

“Recovery Girl gave me a pass for three free visits when we graduated. I’m saving them for something good.” Izuku joked and he snuggled further into Shinsou’s lap.

“Did you tell Bakugou and Kirishima you were back?” Todoroki asked when a moment of silence filled the apartment. 

“No. I was thinking maybe it’s best if I just stay away from them.” 

“I see. So, you haven’t seen the news since you’ve returned.” Izuku opened one eye to look at Todoroki’s face, not understanding what he meant. “Not that your relationship with them is my business, but did something happen before you left?” When Izuku didn’t answer, Shinsou sighed, running a hand through Izuku’s hair. 

“You know, it’s not just heroes the commission is concerned about when it comes to separating soulmates. It’s their partners too. Did you ever think about how your mission might affect them?” Izuku sat up, feeling oddly more awake. 

“No. I didn’t, because not only do they not know, but we aren’t together. Before I left, Kiri was mad, yelling about how I couldn’t go on the mission, and then it to got soulmates, and I said I told my soulmate, because I DID tell them. Kiri looked upset at the mention that I even talk to my soulmate and then Bakugou said that he thought they were happy without me. I confirmed that, yes, they were, and then I left. We haven’t said anything else to each other since. He’s right though, they are happy without me.” Izuku told them, feeling the need to justify himself for actions that were completely his choice. 

“It was pretty bad when you first left. They seemed, really low. Kirishima ended up taking a few weeks off for vacation while Bakugou started overworking himself like crazy.” Izuku did his best to tamper down the urge to run to Kirishima and Bakugou’s and make sure they were okay. He knew he didn’t have to lie to his friends, but he couldn’t help but force a straight face as Todoroki spoke. He didn’t want them to see that it had affected him too. That he worked until he physically couldn’t just to try and outrun the self encompassing emptiness.  

“How are they now?” He asked, keeping his voice even.

“Better than before, worse than before you left.”

“Yeah, mom once told me that the feeling of longing never goes away, but it gets more manageable over time.” He remembered the conversation with his mother, it was shortly after Ground Beta, when he told her he walked away and she warned him about how he might feel. Staying away then, then going to America, those times paled in feeling to being on the mission. 

“Why not tell them? You guys have been practically inseparable since you came back. I’m pretty sure half our class thinks you’re already dating.” Izuku leaned forward over his knees and drug his hands harshly over his face, trying to wipe away lingering exhaustion. 

“I can’t.” The fear of the rejection and watching their happy relationship made the food in Izuku’s stomach feel spoiled. “I’ve thought about moving back to America.” He whispered, not looking at his friends. 

“You’re running away.” Shinsou accused, clearly upset. Izuku nodded, unable to deny the accusation. 

“Yeah, I know.”

The trio, dropping the topics of soulmates and moved onto happier fronts. They showed Izuku pictures of their two new cats, Iida’s very pregnant wife, told stories about things he’d missed. He told them about his mission, leaving out some of his more brutal fights and instead showed them news scars, laughing each time they chastised him for not taking care of himself. After a few hours, a knock at Izuku’s door cut off their conversation and caused Todoroki to stand up. 

“That’s our cue to leave. We’ll hang out again soon. It’s really nice to have you back, Midoriya.” Shinsou gave him a quick hug before following his husband, leaving Izuku to walk behind them, confused on who his new guest was. When Todoroki opened the door, Bakugou and Kirishima were standing there, both looking straight at Izuku. 

“Thanks for letting us know, Icyhot.” Bakugou said, not taking his eyes away from Izuku’s panicked ones. The couples switched places, shutting the door behind them before Izuku could even question when Todoroki had apparently messaged them. 

“Hey.” Kirishima said after a tension filled moment. He moved closer to Izuku, looking like he might hug him, and Izuku took a step back. Knowing the kind of hugs the other gave, he didn’t think his ribs could take it. The hope in Kirishima’s eyes fell and Izuku instantly realized how it must have looked from the other side. 

“My ribs.” He started, stumbling over anything else that tried to come out of his mouth. He resorted to just pulling up his shit, showing the wrappings that covered his torso.

“You’re hurt?” Kirishima’s hand reached out, finger tips lightly touching against bandages. Izuku had to control the sudden wobble of knees and urge to flutter his eyelids closed. 

“Deku.” Bakugou’s voice pulled Izuku’s attention and stopped to whine in his throat. “We need to talk.” The finality in his voice left Izuku with no choice but comply. With only a couch, Izuku chose to sit on the floor, with a coffee table between them.

“When did you get back?” Bakugou asked calmly. Izuku couldn’t meet his eyes, instead just starting at the table in front of him. 

“Two days ago. Today the first day I was awake or turned my phone back on.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Kirishima’s sharpened teeth dug into his bottom lip as he chewed on it nervously. The tension in the air felt heavy on Izuku’s shoulders and he wasn’t really sure how to answer.

“We can’t keep doing this anymore.” Bakugou interrupted, bringing Kirishima and Izuku’s attention to him immediately. 

“Kat-” Kirishima was cut off quickly by an angry noise that came out of the blonde. 

“We were miserable, Deku. We were miserable with you gone. It felt like we were being torn in half and neither of us could ignore that there is something going on between the three of us. Kirishima has looked at you like hung the fucking stars in the sky since UA. You and I, even with our fucked-up history, we work. The three of us work.” Bakugou’s face was tinted pink and his hands were balled up into fists, a small amount of smoke wafting off of them as he hid the explosions going off. 

Izuku sat shocked and unresponsive. The voice inside his head was screaming so many different things at him that he couldn’t keep up.

They felt those things too!

It was only because they were soulmates. It didn’t mean anything. 

But there didn’t know they were soulmates. 

They DID work.

They missed him like he missed them. 

Could he and Bakugou really ignore the past? But, hadn’t they already the last few years? Why did their childhood feel like such a heavier weight to bare when he thought about them being together, verses when they were just friends? 

“I’d rather burn off this mark than EVER have to look at it again.”

“I know something you could do for your soulmate and to be a hero, Deku. Pray for a quirk in the next life, and take a swan dive off the roof!”

“I-I can’t.” Izuku stressed out in a forced whisper. He loved them, but he didn’t think he could handle the inevitable rejection that would come when they got bored of him. 

“You can’t deny you feel something for us!” Bakugou shouted back at him. Izuku quickly wiped his eyes to clear them of the traitorous tears that covered his cheeks. 

“Is it your soulmate?” Izuku and Bakugou both looked over to Kirishima who like Izuku, was crying silently. 

Bakugou and Izuku both reached out their hands towards their third, wanting to comfort on instinct, but Izuku stopped his hand, tucking it into his lap and let Bakugou hold onto the redhead. 

“It’s complicated.” Izuku tried after a few moments. “I- You don’t understand. It’s- It wouldn’t- It can’t work.” 

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t feel something for us. If you do that, we’ll fucking leave and let you go piss away your life without us.” Bakugou’s red eyes met Izuku’s in an unwavering glare that made Izuku feel like he was 5 years old again, answering Bakugou on what the doctor said about his quirk.

“Kacchan.” It had been years since he’d used the nickname, but somehow it slipped from his tongue like he’d never stopped. He glanced from one set of red eyes to the other and felt his heart shattering at how vulnerable Kirishima looked. “I need time to think. You can’t just spring this on me. This is a lot to take in.” He rushed out, trying to find a way of the situation. 

“You’ve never thought about being with us, even just once?” Kirishima’s voice was rough with emotion and Izuku couldn’t take it. 

Part of him wanted to shout no and then run off to America and never come back, while the other wanted to laugh and tell them that he’d only been thinking about it since Bakugou was 6 and took his shirt off at the park and Kirishima since the second day of UA. Instead, he looked away from them, ashamed at his desire, his thoughts, his past, hurting them, really anything that remotely dealt with soulmates, Izuku felt shame for.

“I just need time to think.” 

Chapter Text

After Bakugou and Kirishima had left, Izuku called a taxi and went to his mothers. Almost afraid of anymore surprise guests. Thankfully, his mother hadn’t asked what was wrong. No, instead, she hugged him, made him dinner, and tucked him into his childhood bed, just like she’d done so many times before. The next day, the two made their way to the Bakugou family residence, for the weekly get together his mother had with Bakugou’s mother. 

He sat at the table with his mother and Mitsuki, all drinking their tea in a moment of peace that he couldn’t help break. 

“You know, don’t you?” He asked Mitsuki. Her red eyes, somehow the same and yet so different from Bakugou’s were confused for a moment. “You always had this look anytime it was showing. So, you know, right?” He clarified slightly. Recognition clicked, and her tea was quickly sat down. 

“Yeah, I know. I’ve changed your diapers, of course I know.” She confessed, looking uneasy. Glances towards Izuku’s mother every so often only seemed to increase the tension in the room. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell him?” Izuku questioned and Mitsuki sighed. 

“By the time he was old enough to know what soulmates were, well you know how he acted. Especially towards you. Plus, I saw how you took after Inko with keeping your mark covered and shying away from the topic. The first time I knew for sure that you saw his, you turned away from it, and I honestly couldn’t blame you! I wasn’t gonna force you into something you didn’t want, especially when Katsuki was such a brat. I tried to tell him that he’d regret how he was to you one day, but then you never told him. You both went to UA and Eijirou came along, and I just didn’t know what to think after that. I just thought- I thought it was your business to tell him.” Mitsuki explained, sounding exhausted and ending with her elbow on the table, hand pressed against her temple, cradling her head. 

“Did something happen, honey?” His mother asked, reaching over the table to grab onto one of his hands. 

“They told me they wanted to be with me, and I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with that information.” Izuku confessed, feeling his heart and brain completely at war with one another.

It wasn’t like in his 22 years, he didn’t see that soulmates were far more likely to be happy with one another than they were to be anything else, but it still didn’t stop him from remembered just how much hatred his father showed his mother or how awful Bakugou was to him for so many years. 

His mother’s hand left his own and reached forward, to his forehead, brushing the curls that fell into his face, away. He and his mother were alike in so many ways. Their hair, their eyes, the way they faced the world with their emotions, and subsequently their tear ducts. Sometimes though, in his darkest moments, he thought he was like his father.

Life would be easier if he’d just removed his mark. There were so many fights he could have just tilted or moved his body ever so slightly, and all evidence of a valknut on him would have been erased.

That thought alone terrified him enough to never want to be with anyone, let alone the two people he actually loved. 

“You should show them.” The gentle voice brought him out of his deeper thoughts and he jerked away from his mother’s hand as if it were the fire that he’d been thinking about.

“What!?” He jump to his feet, his chair clattering to the ground behind him. 

“You should show them your mark. You three, you belong together.” She stood up, standing a foot shorted than him, but somehow making him feel like a caged animal as she walked forward, careful to not spook him. She reached her arms up to his face and he instinctively leaned down so she could cup his face. “My little boy is all grown up.” She softly began to pat his face, giving him a wobbly smile. “I shouldn’t have let you be afraid of being loved for so long. I should have sat you down, but I was scared that you’d end up just like me. I didn’t realize that, by not telling you, I wasn’t even giving you the chance to be any different.” He wanted to protest, but she didn’t give him the chance. “You go talk to them. You deserve a chance for things to be different. You understand me?” 

Reluctantly, he nodded. Their matching green eyes both filled with tears as he gave her a quick hug before leaving Mitsuki’s and making the trek to Bakugou and Kirishima’s. The walk, he’d hoped would give him time to think of anything that he was going to say, but as he stood in front of their apartment door, he was still clueless. 

As much as he knew he needed to follow his mother’s instructions, he didn’t was to show them. The selfish part of his brain wanted to ruin his mark and then say yes to them. To forever leave them in the dark, and never have to face up to fate, but he knew that wasn’t an actual option. 

His hand moved on reflex, knocking on the door. Kirishima opened it just a few seconds later and instantly Izuku was pressed against a warm chest, ribs painfully throbbing against the pressure, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. A pleasant hum filled his entire being, and just for that split second, he let it lull him into thinking it would all be okay. 

“You came!” Kirishima exclaimed, while Izuku finally took a step away. 

“Just to talk.” The other lost a bit of his excitement, but moved away to let Izuku into the apartment. 

“Deku. I’m just finishing dinner, go sit down, we can talk over food.” Bakugou didn’t up from the pot he was stirring once, but Izuku could still see how tense he was. None of them spoke, not until they had all taken a few bites and Izuku just couldn’t take the tension anymore. 

“My mom and dad are divorced. Divorced soulmates. It’s pretty rare, but it still happens. I don’t really like to talk about it, neither of us do. We just generalize the whole story by saying we don’t like soulmates, and when people find out my mom isn’t with hers anymore, they tend to tip toe around the subject.” Izuku pushed his food around, not looking up, but knowing that both men were looking at him intently. “My dad was a shitty person. A real piece of work asshole. He screamed about how he never loved either of us, and right before he left, he said he’d rather burn his mark off than ever see it again. That’s why mom doesn’t show hers. Honestly, it’s part of why I don’t show mine either.” 

“Midoriya…” Kirishima trailed off in a comforting tone, but Izuku shook his head, stabbing a piece of zucchini before pushing it around his plate. 

“I wanted to burn mine off too. I refused to look at it for so long. I hated what it meant, how it made me feel, and how I knew that if anyone else ever saw it, I’d end up just like my mom. I’d be rejected and I just didn’t think I could take it. So, I made it my choice.” 

“But you’ve met them, did they reject you?” Bakugou questioned, disbelief replacing the usual aggression. 

“I never told them I was their soulmate.” Izuku huffed out a sorrowful laugh. “I could never bring myself to do it.”

“Deku, what the hell!?”

“You never even told them?” 

Kirishima and Bakugou’s voices blended together and Izuku gave a sad smile, glancing up at them. He could see their skepticism and confusion, and it only made him feel worse about the whole situation.

“No, I didn’t. Are you sure you want to be with me? I’m a coward.” 

“You aren’t a coward. You had to have had a reason for not telling them.” Kirishima defended. Izuku pushed his plate away and dropped his head down once more, almost touching the table.

“I knew it would have been bad if I told them.” He looked up slightly, staring into Bakugou’s eyes. “I met them before UA.” 

When I was quirkless. 

“Oh fuck.” Bakugou sat back, a hand running through his hair in understanding. “Okay, that explains why you didn’t tell them back then, but when you got into UA? It would have been different then!” Izuku looked away, wincing and pulling his head into his shoulders.

Not to them.

“Can someone please fill me in? I can’t read your minds.” Kirishima’s request was ignored for the time being while Izuku watched Bakugou start working it out.

“But you told them you were leaving, who the hell do you still talk to that bul-” The word got caught in his throat as his face began to lose color. “No. No. No!” He stood up abruptly, blonde spike sloshing from side to side with Bakugou’s distressed head shaking. 

“What’s going on!?” Kirishima went to touch Bakugou but his hand was slapped away.

“I’m sorry.” Izuku whispered, shame once again filling him. Tears dripped off the end of his nose, landing at the table.

“Guys, please, someone fill me in. I feel like I missed an entire conversation!” Kirishima pled, leaving Bakugou and the explosions that were beginning to pop, in favor of sliding an arm over Izuku’s shoulders. As much as Izuku wanted to lean into the comfort, he as gently as he could, shrugged off the arm and also stood up. With his arms wrapped around himself he smiled slightly.

“Deku- Oh, God. I nicknamed you Deku. I told you to-” Bakugou looked back with an expression that Deku had never seen on his face before, guilty remorse. The look told Izuku exactly what he was thinking.

This is all my fault.

“Guys, please!” Kirishima’s arms hardened with his shout and Izuku finally moved his focus away from Bakugou’s meltdown. Izuku nodded at the other and gently pulled down the side of his shorts until one side fully exposed his hip and then watched slowly as Kirishima’s eyes slide down to look at the valknut that he’d kept covered his entire life. 

“Sorry, Kiri.” Izuku confessed, pulling his pants back up. He saw how Kirishima became completely still, his eyes still staring at his shorts, where the mark was hidden once again. 

With Bakugou’s melt down and Kirishima’s stunned silence, Izuku took his leave. Neither male stopped him, and as much as it hurt, he took that as his answer. 

Walking down the street, he wasn’t sure where to go. He could go back to his mother’s. She would not only understand the soul shredding feeling that filled his bones, but had gone through it herself, which was comforting in a way Izuku knew he didn’t deserve. 

He knew he shouldn’t have gotten close to Bakugou and Kirishima. He should have ignored the first text message. Should have gotten a new gym buddy. Should have stay in Amer-

Izuku stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, calming his tears, and wiping the snot from his nose, as he reached for his phone. The call rang three times before a groggy voice picked it up. 

“Deku? Kid, I know you’re in Japan, but it’s 4 in the morning here.” Izuku’s old boss in America, Mr. Clarkson answered. 

“I’m sorry Sir, did I wake you?” He couldn’t help how his voice shook ever so slightly with each word. 

“Well, no, but that sure as hell don’t mean I’m not tired.” Mr. Clarkson often reminded Izuku of Aizawa. Both men were famous for their poor sleeping schedules, addiction to coffee, and no-nonsense personalities. “What’s going on, Izuku? You sound upset.” The American use of first names made Izuku smile slightly with nostalgia. 

“If I asked, could I come back and work for you?” Izuku began walking once again, picking up his pace towards his apartment. Silence filled the line for a few seconds before Mr. Clarkson sighed loudly. 

“How about you tell me what’s going on, then we can talk about jobs.” He instructed, and just like that, Izuku spilled everything. By the time he was done he was back home, feeling unwelcome in the barely lived in and dusty apartment, despite his name being on the lease. 

“-I just got off a 6-month assignment, so right now I’m on a mandatory month leave. I just think leaving would be best.” 

“Kid.” Izuku breath hitched in his chest as he waited for Mr. Clarkson to continue. “That’s a real fucked up story.” He couldn’t stop the helpless snort he instantly let out. Of all the people he’d met while in America, very few of them ever watched their language. “I’m gonna tell you what you what you’re gonna do. You need some fresh air. Let all this drama simmer down. I’m sure those boys are freaking out just as much as you are. So, come on back here.” A wave of relief melted off a sliver of pain in his soul. “But for a vacation only. Bring your mom. Half the heroes here have heard enough stories about the woman, we miss her as much as we miss you. Take a rest, Kid. You just got off assignment. I’ll set you and your mom up for a couple weeks in a hotel, and as payment, you can help us with paperwork.”

“I thought you said to take a vacation, now you want me to work?” Izuku jested. He earned himself an annoyed huff. 

“That IS a vacation to you. I’m sure the old log office looks just as bad as when you left the first time.” Memories came to mind of his first month at the agency, where they had him half on paperwork and half shadowing one of the other heroes. Their file room, straight out of an auditor’s nightmare, was a person project of Izuku’s during late nights when he couldn’t sleep. It was exactly the sort of boring and mundane thing he needed to put his mind at ease. 

“You aren’t just saying that because no one else will do it right? You really want me to come back?” A broken hiccup forced it’s way out of his mouth, cutting off his ability to breath for a split second. Izuku felt the cry deep inside his soul for at least one person to want him to be around. He hoped that maybe if he had that, it was calm down the raging storm of torment he was feeling. 

“Email me your flight details, I’ll make sure a car is there to pick you up.” The call lasted only a few second longer before Mr. Clarkson hung up leaving Izuku to breakdown on his couch one more time before working up the courage to call his mom. 

He hovered over her contact for a moment remembering all the days that she smiled for him, despite everything she must have been feeling. 

“Izuku, sweetie?” 

“You’re the strongest person I’ve even met. I should have appreciated that more, I should have appreciated YOU MORE! I’m sorry, mom. Please, tell me how to make it stop. Tell me how to make the pain stop.” He screamed and begged into the phone. With the phone clutched to his chest he curled around it, listening to the soft shushes from his mother like a child listening to a lullaby. “It didn’t go well. They couldn’t even say anything. Bakugou freaked and Kiri just stood there, completely silently. As soon as Bakugou figured it out, he just kept saying ‘no’. I- I called my old boss. Will you go to America with me for a few weeks? The heroes there want to meet you and I just- I want to be around someone who understands.” 

“I’ll tell work there was an emergency.” 

5 hours later, Izuku and his mother were on a plane, running away from all the problems Izuku wasn’t strong enough to face. He cried on the plane as his mother rubbed circles on his back, telling his how it was okay to let out. 

“How did you do it?” He asked again, expecting some grand advice. Instead, she looked him in the eye with one of the blankest faces he’d ever her make. 

“Swallow it down. Fake it. Hold back the tears like you hold back fear when you fight villains. You put on a mask and you swallow all the hurt down until no one notices. It feels like it’s killing you slowly, and you let it. That how I did it. I lied to myself and everyone around me.” 

On reflex, he swallowed, feeling like a ball was stuck in his throat. He didn’t respond for a long time. Not until hours after almost everyone on the plane had fallen asleep. He’d stared out the window, allowing himself the time to grieve before he did exactly what his mom told him to.

“Deku doesn’t have soulmates. Deku is a hero. He’s brave and he never shows fear or pain. I don’t have to be Midoriya Izuku, not right now. Right now, I’ll just be Deku.” He whispered to the world, slipping into his hero persona, with flashy smiles and loud laughs. He pushed away the pain in his heart and ignored how the little voice in his head begged him to stop. “I can pretend.”

When they landed, Izuku looked at his mother and smiled widely. For the first time in his entire life, he noticed the edge of fakeness in the smile reflecting back to him.

It seemed like just another thing he had in common with her.

For the next two weeks, Izuku did his best to forget about soulmates, and all things that reminded him of Bakugou and Kirishima. He texted Shinsou and Todoroki about his impromptu vacation, and since none of his other friends were aware he was back from his mission, he turned off his phone and left buried in the bottom of his bag. 

New York was the exactly the same as when he’d left. It was easy to fall back into routines he barely remembered until smelling the slightly pungent odor the permeated the entire city. 

Greasy food for every meal, jogging around parks, site seeing, catching up with old friends, and analyzing new quirks. His mother practically had every hero agency at her beck and call while Izuku was nose deep in improperly filed reports. 

It was glorious, and exactly what he needed. The tension from his 6-month missioned rolled off of his shoulders and everyday he breathed just a little easier as his injuries healed. It was almost enough to forget the gut wrenching empty and shattered feeling that was just below the surface of his being. 

“Izuku!” Mr. Clarkson called, walking over to Izuku and the group of heroes that were telling his mother the most embarrassing moments they remembered about him. 

“How can I help you, Sir?” 

“I need you to do me a favor. There’s a meeting, in Conference Room A, I thought they could use your input.” Mr. Clarkson lazily pointed behind him and Izuku nodded immediately, glancing back to his mom.

“Mom, are you gonna be okay here for a few minutes?” Before she could answer, Mr. Clarkson waved him off. 

“I’ll make sure Inko here is just fine.” Mr. Clarkson gave a small smile to his mother and Izuku felt his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “How about you and I go get a decent meal. I remember how bad the kid’s eating habits were, I’m sure you could use something better than 2am street food. I know a lovely bistro down the road I think you’ll enjoy.” Izuku watched, feet rooted to the ground as a light blush spread over his mother’s face as she nodded. Mr. Clarkson offered her his arm which she freely took before the pair turned back to Izuku. “Go Kid. Don’t leave them waiting.” 

He didn’t move, not until Mr. Clarkson and his mother were on the elevator, and all the heroes around him were laughing hysterically. After a hard clap to one of his shoulders he walked in a confused trance towards the conference room, not bothering to knock when he arrived. 

When he walked in, he immediately noticed the room was dark, but before he could leave, the door slammed closed behind him. 

“Do you know how HARD it was to FIND YOU!” An angry and far too familiar voice screamed. The lights flipped on and Izuku was met face to face with the two people he’d refused to think about since the plane ride to America.

“YOU LEFT US! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE US?” Kirishima screamed, slamming his fists against his shoulders, causing him to fall back against the door. He reached for the doorknob, ready to make a run for it when an explosive fist came out of nowhere, hitting him directly in the jaw. 

“DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY AGAIN!” Bakugou shouted, fist still in the air from where is made contact with Izuku. It hadn’t had any real force behind it, only enough to get Izuku’s attention.

It was then he saw how Bakugou and Kirishima both had tears running down their faces, and how the swollenness of their eyes indicted those tears weren’t something new. 

“I-” Any words Izuku tried to make got stuck in his throat as he looked at the two men in front of him. 

They chased after him. 

“I won’t let you reject us.” Bakugou whispered, broken and raw. “I know this is my fault, but I won’t let you go. You and Ei. I need you. I know, you and I, we’re messed up. We need work. I’ll do it. I’ll do the work.” Tears filled Izuku’s eyes as he listened to words, he never thought he’d ever hear. 

“Please, Izuku.” A shiver ran up Izuku’s spine as Kirishima used his name for the first time. “I love you. Please don’t leave me. Please. I’m not strong like you and Katsuki, I need you. Please love us.” Sobs ripped from the red heads chest and Izuku didn’t stop himself from launching himself at Kirishima. 

“I love both of you too.” Izuku promised. Wrapping his arms around Kirishima just like it was the first time, in their second year. This time though, went his hand slid up and his finger tips grazed against red hair, he didn’t stop it from burying itself in the soft locks that were out of their usual spikey style. Nor did he pull away was Kirishima’s hands tightened as his waist or when his teary face buried into the side of his neck.

“Then why?” Bakugou asked him behind him. Izuku turned to look up at red eyes he’d known his entire life. He finally pulled himself away from Kirishima and turned his body fully to face the other. When their eyes met again, Bakugou completely disregarded his previous question. “I’m sorry.” 

Izuku hadn’t known how much he needed those words until he heard them. It didn’t fix everything that they needed to talk about or get them the years they’d lost back, but it cracked a wall in Izuku’s heart. Before he knew it, his legs were dangling in the air, toes barely scrapping the ground as he hung from Bakugou’s necks. Strong arms held him, making sure he wouldn’t fall. Kirishima soon joined, wrapping his arms around both of them and melting into them.

It took a few minutes before any of them were able to move. Eventually they sat down at the oval conference table. Izuku at the end, and Bakugou and Kirishima flanking both sides. 

“I told Ei. Not everything, just my side.” Bakugou confessed, staring at his clenched fists.

“Then, I’ll tell you my side.” He talked about being quirkless, knowing about Bakugou’s mark since they were six, getting One for All, meeting Kiri, watching them be happy, and ultimately watching them not need him.

“Were you ever going to tell us?” Kirishima asked once Izuku had finished. He sat there, avoiding each pair of red eyes and looking at the patterns in the grain of the wood table. He knew his answer. He’d made his choice at six, and then again every time a new opportunity presented itself. 

“No.” He whisper simply. “I’ve thought about what it would be like, to be with you guys, but I never had any intention of showing you.” 

“Please don’t reject us again.” Kirishima begged, a vulnerability that Izuku had never seen before weighed heavily on the hardening users face. Izuku instantly felt everything in his body freeze as he processed the words. 

Reject them? 

No, that was wrong. He didn’t reject them. He was the one that-

Weeks worth of delicious fried food formed a heavy rock in the pit of Izuku’s stomach. 

He was the one that left them. So many times. He was the one that said no when they asked to be with him. He was the one who kept popping back into their lives when it was best for him, and then running off to do whatever he wanted after. 

He’d always been so scared of being rejected; he hadn’t even realized he’d been the one rejecting them all along.

“I didn’t mean to. I was scared. I’m sorry.” He confessed, over whelmed by the sudden realization of his own fault in the situation. He remembered the words both of them said to him when he first walked in, and only felt his guilt increase. 

He reached over to grab one of the hands that Kirishima had been fiddling with nervously on the table, lacing their fingers together. He could feel Bakugou’s eyes on staring at the intertwines hands, but he ignored the other at he focused his attention. 

“You’re wrong. Earlier, you said you weren’t strong like Bakugou and I, and that is so unbelievably wrong. When I first met you at UA, I was in awe of you. You pushed to be everyone’s friend and you handled so many different personality types. Aside from your quirk, you’re so many people’s rock. The valknut, each of the three triangles each mean something. Earth is one of them. You’re so strong, you’re the foundation for everything around you. I never meant to reject you.” He paused slightly, glancing back backwards enough to show who he was talking about, but not enough to actually see the other. “I never meant to reject either of you.”

Kirishima’s pulled him by the hand into an awkwardly positioned hug. Izuku’s felt the edge of the table digging painfully into still healing ribs, but he hugged back regardless. When he pulled away, he readied himself for the far harder conversation. 

“We’ve improved a lot.” Izuku started, feeling tears already well up in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand, trying to blink away he missed. “We’ve reached a spot that we’re friends. Best friends even.”

“But not more.” Bakugou finished for him, clenching his fists and glaring out the darkened conference room windows. 

“We could be.” Izuku defended quickly. Two set of red eyes snapped to him in an instant. “We could be more. You’re right, we need work, but if you want to be, we could be.” He took a deep breath, feeling his own heart pound in his chest and reverberate in his ears. “I don’t want us all to be together because we’re soulmates though. I want it to be because we love each other, and if one day we should stop, then we break up. We can go back to being friends, and we’ll always be in each others lives as that, even if we don’t work out romantically.”

“Are you already planning our break up?” Bakugou asked, voice a mixture of concerned and teasing. 

“I guess, I’m just trying to let you guys know, whatever happens, I’ll never reject you again.”

“Go on a date with us.” Kirishima all but shouted, looking excited. Izuku and Bakugou both looked at him like he was crazy. 

“Right now?” Izuku gave a bewildered look. He knew each of them looked like emotional train wrecks, with their comfortable clothes and swollen tearstained faces. It wasn’t really his idea of a date night look.

“Why not, nerd? You think this is the worst we’ve ever seen you look?” Bakugou added, giving the smallest of smiles. Izuku felt himself grin and laugh lightly before standing up. 

“I know we still need to talk about this, but I think a date would be nice.” He felt the blood rushing to his cheeks and a smile forcing its way onto his face. “There’s a place a few blocks from here. They have burgers and deep-fried Oreos. We could go there.” 

“I’d go anywhere with you two.” Kirishima promised. Bakugou and Kirishima both laced their fingers with Izuku’s as he led the way out of the conference room. 

They were silent on the way to the restaurant. Izuku watched his soulmates look around as they walked. Laughing at their offended looks when people would bump into them or when cars around them would honk for seemingly no reason. He of course called his mother and gave her the quickest of run downs, and then very obviously tried to ignore how she didn’t seem too unhappy to be left alone for the night.

It was easy to fall back into old habits with Bakugou and Kirishima. Teasing and laughing. It felt like it had before Izuku had gone on his mission. How the three fell together, like fate had intended. There were still things they needed to talk about, things they need to settle, but the soul altering pain had faded.

They stayed in America with Izuku and his mother for the last week of their vacation. Bakugou complained about fatty food, Kirishima fell in love and sent Fatgum hundreds of pictures, his mother had more meals than Izuku deemed necessary with Mr. Clarkson, and Izuku felt more at ease than he had in maybe his entire life. 

Todoroki and Shinsou brought a bottle of wine over upon his return as a celebration of Izuku being allowed back to work and also finally coming clean to his soulmates. 

“We’re taking it slow. Just dating, as if we weren’t soulmates. Bakugou and I are gonna start seeing a therapist though, to try and work through our issues together.” Izuku told them as they drank. It was been something Bakugou suggested, after his own success with therapy through the years.

“So, are they your boyfriends? You going public with it?” Shinsou questioned. 

“We all know we love one another, that’s enough for now. Titles don’t have to come right away, and neither does telling the public.” 

After finding out that Kirishima’s third degree when Izuku had gone on dates in the past was not him being nosey, but was actually his jealousy, Izuku thought Kirishima would have been the first one to slip up and tell the media. 

Never in a million years did Izuku think it would be him that told everyone. 

7 months after they’d begun dating and 6 months after starting therapy, Bakugou and Kirishima had easily become, Katsuki and Eijiro. The trio had arrived at a hero event together, much like they had a hundred times in the past. Pictures were taken, the trio smiled when they needed to, and made fun of each other at every turn. 

It wasn’t until they were stopped for interviews that things went a little different than they had in the past. 

“Deku! You’re 23 and in the top 10 heroes, such an amazing feat. How does it feel to be the only top ten hero without a soulmate?” The reporter shoved a mic into Izuku’s face and snapped photo after photo of his shocked expression. 

“Excuse me, but I prefer to keep my love life private, I’m sure you understand.” He went to move away from the reporter, ignoring his desire to grab the hand of one of his soulmates. 

“It must be hard for you to watch Dynamight and Red Riot, two more top ten heroes, and soulmates. Is that why you so often third wheel with them?” The female gave a sickeningly sweet smile, putting the camera in his face again.

There had been a faction of people online that expressed their dislike for Izuku being so close to the other two men long before they’d all begun to date. Usually, their concern was that Izuku somehow got in the way of their relationship, and was ultimately trying to ruin it. 

It was a conversation that had come up more than once in therapy.

“Oi, knock that crap off. The nerd isn’t a third wheel.” Katsuki answered for him. Suddenly sandwiched by his soulmates, Izuku felt tremendously better, until the reporter opened her mouth once again.

“You don’t have to stand up for him Dynamight, everyone knows Deku is just jealous because he doesn’t have a soulmate.” Like something from a movie, the area quieted down almost instantly. 

“I have no reason to be jealous.” Izuku told her, voice low and daring her to speak again. Eijiro was already placed a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down while Katsuki was letting the small sparks in his fist pop at his sides. 

“Lady, you’re being really rude right now, Izuku has done nothing wrong.”  Eijiro told her. The use of his first name seemed to set her off in someway. 

“Both of them coming to defend you? You three are awfully close. Maybe they just use you as a side piece instead of a third wheel.” Her catty side comment put multiple things into action all at once. Izuku pushed Ei into Katsuki to keep him from attacking, every camera was immediately pointed towards them, and Izuku lunged to grab the microphone. 

“Don’t you dare talk about them like that. I’m not their side piece or their third wheel, I’m their soulmate!” Izuku glared at the reporter who looked ready to burst. 

“No, you aren’t! You don’t have a mark!” She shot back. 

“Oh, you wanna see my mark? Then I’ll show you!” He threw the microphone in the ground, not caring about how he probably broke it. He reached for his belt and then smacked away two different hands that tried to stop him. “If they wanna see, then I’ll show them!” Only a few seconds later, his pants were around his knees and his boxers pulled to expose the mark on his hip. As soon as he was sure everyone got a good look, he turned around the grab Katsuki’s face, smashing their mouths together before repeating the action with Kirishima. He wouldn’t call either of them kisses, more likely an aggressive display of belonging that he hadn’t ever known he would do. “That enough proof for you?”

With that, Izuku pulled back up his pants, grabbed his soulmates hands, and tugged them away. 

Of course, there was backlash. From fans, the hero commission, Izuku’s friends, pretty much everyone had an opinion, but most of the backlash fell onto the reporter verses Izuku. Of course, they commission gave a slap on the wrist to Izuku for not informing them of his soulmate connection, he had to give a verbal apology to his fans for his aggressive behavior, and answer hundreds of questions from friends. Interviews were had with all three of them to relay the backstory of everything, especially since Izuku had been on dates in America.

Surprisingly, people were sympathetic to his story.

After that, Katsuki and Eijiro took every opportunity they could to shower Izuku with affection in and out of the public eye. Holding his hand, slinging an arm over his shoulder, the time Katsuki just picked Izuku up when he was taking too long talking to someone, the flowers Eijiro sent to his office every Friday before date night. It was nice in ways Izuku had never known. 

Two years after the press incident, as Izuku hung up the last photo on the wall of their new house, he couldn’t help but smile at the ring that sat on his left hand. It had been a hard journey, but it was one that he wouldn’t change a second of, not when he ended up with the two greatest loves of his life.