SOULMATES [My Hero Academia]

Nicknames and Necklaces - Fumikage Tokoyami

-

Fumikage Tokoyami didn't believe in the whole "soulmate" thing.

Sure, he'd been born with a necklace. Same as everyone else in the world. It warmed when his soulmate touched their matching crescent pendant - or so he'd been told - and loosened when they were close. But he'd given up hope that they actually existed. Given up hope that he'd ever be able to remove the damned thing.

At this point, he was so jaded that he'd started a conspiracy theory blog.

The general consensus on the forums seemed to be that the necklaces were government-issued trackers, keeping tabs on every citizen under the guise of "true love".

Ugh.

Typically, Tokoyami kept his dumb necklace hidden under his signature red choker, hiding it from the world. And himself. Because if he was honest... he hated seeing it in the mirror. Feeling it rub against his collarbone.

Because it reminded him that he was alone.

That it was likely to stay that way for a very long time.

-

I woke with a start, jolting straight up in bed.

The nightmare haunting me had me dripping in cold sweat, my heart slamming around in my chest like a pinball. With trembling hands, I raked my hair out of my eyes, drawing in ragged breaths and focusing on calming down. Out of instinct, I closed my eyes and clutched my crescent pendant in my fingertips, squeezing it between my thumb and forefinger until the edges cut into my skin.

I'm okay. I'm alive. I'm safe.

I repeated my mantra until my heartbeat evened out. Slowly opening my eyes, I let the room swim into focus. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, fighting off the dark and painting the sky in warm watercolors, streaky orange light fading up my pale walls. I found my phone on the floor, still charging.

    5:05 AM.

Groaning, I flopped back onto my mattress and dug the heels of my hands into my eyes. I had to be up in an hour anyway. May as well stay up. But what to do with my extra hour? I chewed the inside of my lip and found myself fidgeting with my crescent charm, tracing the smooth, round edge of it over and over like I tended to when lost in thought. Really hoping my soulmate couldn't tell when I did that, I swung my legs out of bed and dragged myself to my closet, pulling out running clothes.

It'd been a long time since I took time for self care. And after that nightmare...

I needed it.

-

Tokoyami nibbled on a chocolate pastry from his favorite coffee shop and sipped a dark chocolate latte through a straw. He sat on his favorite bench in his favorite park, people watching as the day awoke.

So far, the day was treating him well. And he didn't mind.

He pulled a book of poetry from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and let himself relax into his day off. Heroism had its perks, but the fame was Tokoyami's least favorite part. Lucky for him, his park wasn't typically very busy at the asscrack of dawn.

Just as he felt himself slipping into the words, his heart warming at the softness, he heard fervent footfalls approaching and cut his gaze upward. Someone jogged toward him on the path, headphones bouncing as they sang along to their music.

Cause it's one, it's one, one for the money

Two, it's two, cause two is for the show