ShinDeku - Izuku's Soulmate

4

Bakugo stomped back into his shared apartment with a mad grin on his face. He tore his shoes off, hung his jacket up, and sauntered into the living room where Todoroki was sitting on the couch watching T.V. It was just some stupid nature documentary like usual.

"I'm back," Bakugo called."Turn on the news." He plopped down on the sofa next to Todoroki.

"Welcome back," Todoroki responded with a small smile."Have fun with your friends?"

"Who cares about that?" Bakugo grinned."Hurry up and turn on the fucking news." He reached across Todoroki for the remote and the other protested quietly as he quickly changed the channel to the news.

"What's going on, Bakugo?" Todoroki asked, slight anger in his voice."That documentary was-!"

"Just shut up and watch."

And Todoroki begrudgingly did as he asked, watching the newscaster ramble on and on with slowly widening eyes. Then an image was placed next to the women and he practically jumped out of his seat.

"N-No way, that's...!"

"Yeah," Bakugo grinned madly."And it's too bad for him! The reporters caught him first!"

"Suddenly I don't feel so bad about keeping our marks silent," Todoroki mumbled back, resting back on the couch."Shinsou seems to be getting a lot of press. Soulmates are supposed to be a sacred thing, but I'm sure many are already trying to lie their way into the spotlight."

"He should've put a bandage around it or something. The neck can be easily exposed even with all that chunky gear."

Todoroki paused the television to get a closer look at the image."And you're sure this is Midoriya's mark? The picture isn't exactly the best quality."

"The color and placement are the same. Plus, pink women called round face the minute we saw it on the news and it looks like Deku ran off to meet him. No way he'd do that on just a hunch, he probably felt it."

"Felt the connection...?" Todoroki mumbled off. It reminded him of how he had found out Bakugo was his soulmate. There had been many signs but in the end he was moving strictly on instinct.

"Well, with this our whole fucked up situation is finally resolved!" Bakugo smirked at Todoroki, leaning over to kiss him.

The other returned it, then backing away with a frown on his face."We're still gonna have to announce it to the media at some point. I don't want what happened to Shinsou to happen to us. It should be on our terms."

"Yeah, I know," Bakugo scowled."Talk to Deku and see what he's gonna do. If they stick together and decide to announce their relationship we'll follow behind them so as not to draw too much attention."

"Alright, I'll contact him later, but for now..." Todoroki leaned back in to capture Bakugo's lips."We both have tomorrow off, right? Let's do it."

Bakugo smirked, running a hand through Todoroki's hair and resting it on his neck to bring them together again."Eager, are we?" His hot breath tickled against Todoroki's skin."You checked the capture count, right?"

Todoroki then paused."You beat me, didn't you?"

"Yup," Bakugo practically sung."You're gonna need to do better than that if you want to top me again, Todoroki."

Todoroki huffed."Why are we playing such a stupid game again?"

"Don't lie." Bakugo got on top of him, pushing him down so he was now lying on the couch."You like it."

Todoroki stared up at him, wrapping his arms around his neck."Yeah, I guess I do."

===

Izuku had been a wreak ever since seeing Shinsou. He had been the one to cut it off, he knows that, but the picture of Shinsou's shocked face wouldn't leave his mind.

Had it been the right decision to leave him there? He knew how much Shinsou strived to be a hero, just like him, so there was no way he also wanted to juggle a relationship on top of that, right?

Either way Izuku forced those thoughts behind him, sucking himself into his work and not daring to check the news. They were adults. They were heroes. They handled this kind of stuff all the time; Shinsou didn't need his help. Though cold and standoffish, he was calculative and would know how to deal with his current situation. Izuku was sure of it.

So why did he feel like he needed to be by his side?

"Soul marks are a real mystery," he told Todoroki, taking a slow swig of his beer."The conditions should be pretty straight forward but there are all these loops that make everything so complicated. And why do we have to look for this stupid mark? Why cant we just look at someone and realize 'oh, that's the one'?"

Todoroki looked confused but let him continue rambling.

"It would make everything so much easier. There wouldn't be all these misunderstandings and confusion. We wouldn't hide our marks in case people tried to copy them and could enjoy the feeling all for ourselves. I wouldn't have to feel all this jealousy and posses-"

Izuku stopped there, chugging his drink instead of facing the reality of the words he so badly wanted to spit out of his mouth.

"Are you talking about Shinsou?" Todoroki asked, tilting his head to the side."I heard you went to see him. Did everything go okay?"

Izuku deserved to love and be loved after all he went through. Todoroki truly hoped everything went well.

"I just told him what he wanted to hear," Izuku mumbled."That we should both continue striving towards being the best heroes."

So he had rejected him? But why?

"And Shinsou was okay with that?" Todoroki pried further because why would Izuku pass up such a once in a lifetime chance at happiness?

"Well Shinsou's also striving for number one, right?" Izuku suddenly looked just as confused as Todoroki."Then I'm sure he's also okay with it."

"But can you really say you know Shinsou enough to say he thinks the same? Not everyone is the same as Bakugo." Todoroki slurped his soba."Our situation in high school is different then yours. And while at first I hated the idea of waiting so many years before finally going out, once I realized it was what Bakugo wanted I was okay with it.

"But you don't seem to want to wait, so shouldn't you at least hear Shinsou out before deciding not to go any further? Right now it just feels like you're trying to follow in Bakugo's footsteps, but you're not him, Midoriya."

He wasn't...Bakugo?

That's right, why had he been to set on following the same path Bakugo had? Was this just him chasing after his childhood friend again?

But would Shinsou really be willing to hear him out? He had crushed him and was sure Shinsou wouldn't want to speak to him. He never even gave him a chance to talk or a chance for them to work things out. And Todoroki was right, he barely knew Shinsou, let alone what he was thinking.

"Alright," Izuku said with a newfound confidence, head raised high."I'll go talk to him."

A/N: There was a lot of controversy in the last fic on whether Bakugo or Todoroki would top so I decided to compromise and have them switch. It felt right for the fic.
-Katlnn Rotato