[google search: what does it mean if my soulmate mark is fading?]
[*enter]
[about 800, 283 results (0.85 seconds)]
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"Soulmate bond faded after partner passed away"
"My partner and I split up after both our marks disappeared"
"Soulmate tattoo disappearing?"
"My eyes used to be blue because of my soulmate; the color faded away"
"Soulmate-related illness"
"Soulmate passed away"
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SOULMATE PASSED AWAY.
—
The week of internships had finally come to an end.
During this period, a lot of things had happened, but the most noteworthy incident was, of course, the apprehension of Stain—and the fact that three of your classmates had come face-to-face with him.
For this reason, you weren't at all shocked to find the rest of the students clustered around Izuku, Iida, and Todoroki when you arrived for your first day back. Even though you'd spoken to them and Uraraka over the phone after everything had gone down, you still couldn't imagine how it must've felt to be faced with such malice and to be caught in the fray with one of the most sought-out villains of the time. You saw it in the way they carried themselves, too; somehow, they all looked different. More mature, you'd say.
Then again, you'd probably have to be, after an experience like that.
You worried for your friends, and made sure to greet them as soon as you got the chance, but you'd be lying if you said this was the biggest thing on your mind. After all, you also had your fair share of problems—and it didn't seem like they'd be going away anytime soon.
Izuku was rambling now, gushing about who about the hero, Gran Torino, whom he'd been interning with prior to the Hero Killer incident. You nodded your head, but your eyes had long glazed over and fallen absentmindedly towards your hip. You were temped to lift up the edge of your shirt to get a look at the infamous mark; you probably would've if not for the fact that you were surrounded by all your classmates.
It was becoming routine now—every moment of the day, you itched to steal a glance at your tattoo and see what the damage was. So far, ever since you'd discovered the fading in your bathtub, it had generally remained the same. There was no new fading, as far as you could tell...
Or maybe not, and you were just trying to convince yourself otherwise.
You swallowed thickly, making sure to nod your head again as Izuku flashed you a grin and continued babbling on. The truth was that ever since Monoma had come forth to you, every fiber of your being had been itching to find the answers. Yet still, each time you tried to open a book or a new tab online, you got the same answer—
"Soulmate passed away."
You'd spent hours racking your brain and trying to find some story that would reassure you, but all you encountered was the same morbid explanation. There wasn't a single case that lined up with your own—it was either that both partners began losing their marks at the same time, or they would lose their tattoos once their partner had passed on. From what you'd seen, Katsuki had retained his tattoo, which also didn't hold true to any reported incident.
It wasn't as clear-cut as one of you simply passing away, especially since neither was exhibiting any symptoms of sickness or abnormality. In the instances where one of the partners would die, a lot of the cases were due to car accidents, heart attacks, etc. Their passing was as a result of some unforeseen circumstance; a disastrous event that ripped them from the world all-too soon and with no warning. And in each and every one of these tales, the soulmate mark would only dissolve after the fact.
...But yours had already begun to fade. Which begged the question—
What the literal fuck is happening to us??
All your life you'd shown utter disinterest and outright fear because of the words engraved on your skin, and now here you were, terrified that they were finally fading away. You hadn't seen Monoma in a while, but you figured talking to him would do you little good. If what he'd told you had really been the truth, there was nothing more he could do. Maybe if you actually knew someone else with a marking like your own—perhaps you'd actually get to the bottom of this mess.
"...[Name]," Todoroki murmured, likely noticing how dazed you were. "Everything alright?"
"Yes, of course. I'm fine." You replied as hastily as you could manage, forcing a smile. It was such a sickening feeling; the more you read up and tried to figure out what was happening to you, the more confused you ended up. You were traveling along the trajectory of an endless spiral; a bleak journey that would ultimately yield no answers.
I think I might need a therapist. If I think about this any more, I'll lose my mind.
You returned to your seat once Aizawa sluggishly pulled himself through the doorway. Katsuki showed up to class just behind him, a little later than normal—you eventually realized, with a small chuckle, that he'd been desperately fiddling with his hair and trying to get it to go back to normal. Suffice it to say, it didn't work.
"Whoa, Bakugou! The hell's up with your hair, dude?!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP! I'VE DONE EVERYTHING I CAN AND IT AIN'T GOING BACK TO NORMAL!!"
"Pfft—!"
It was pretty funny—everyone had begun laughing at the ash blonde, which forced Aizawa to shush them and flash everyone his trademark dead-eyed glare. The exchange ultimately ended with Katsuki flushing pink from embarrassment and trudging over towards his own seat. At some point, his spiky hair had returned; probably when he'd sparked off a small explosion in his palms.
You glanced behind you, immediately locking eyes with a crimson pair. Katsuki was scowling, like always, and muttered something under his breath that you didn't quite catch. You watched as he stealthily pulled out his phone, then gestured for you to do the same. You felt your bag vibrate just in time.
Katsuki:
Stop staring at me, perv :P
You glanced back to see him smirking at you and sticking out his tongue. It should've made you happy, but all it did was make your chest feel tight.
—
"Bakubro, please tutor me!"
"EH?" Katsuki scowled. "How 'bout you eat shit and die?"
"...Dude. That was a little uncalled for, don'tcha think?"
The blonde let out a scoff, rolling his eyes over Kirishima's incessant pleas. With the internships having come to an end, final exams were rapidly approaching, and it was safe to say that a lot of people were freaking out.
"I'm totally fucked!" Kaminari cried out, tugging at the roots of his hair. His amber eyes flickered over towards your frame, a lecherous grin following suit. "Hey, [Name]-chan...? Would you, maybe, sorta, y'know...wanna tutor me? Pretty please?"
You blinked. "Huh? Uh, sure. I guess I'm pretty comfortable with the material overall, so I could—"
"HELL NO."
It seemed as though at some point, Katsuki had wormed his way away from Kirishima, and was now glaring down the lightning-user with gritted teeth.
"Piss off, drooly. Go find someone else to tutor your sorry ass."
"Ehhh?" Kaminari whined. "But [Name]-chan just said it was fine—"
"I SAID PISS OFF! DON'T MAKE ME FUCK UP YOUR DUMBASS FACE EVER MORE!!"
"O-okay, fine! Don't hurt me...!"
The boy let out a yelp, scampering off towards the other end of the room—to recruit help from the smartest in the class, Yaoyorozu, no doubt. You merely shrugged. As a general rule, you enjoyed helping people, but Kaminari, well...he was sort of a lost cause as far as academics went. Best to let someone else take on that challenge.
"Damn," Kirishima whistled, "You really don't let anyone get close to [Name]-chan, do you?"
Katsuki flushed, slamming his palm against the redhead's shoulder. "S-shut up! Don't forget that I'M the one tutoring your ass, and I can back out whenever the hell I want!"
"Alright, alright. I'm done."
You watched Kirishima raised his hands in defeat, chuckling good-naturedly. Katsuki's cheeks were still burning bright-red; he hastily averted his gaze the second he locked eyes with you. The way he'd gotten so aggressive and refused your help to Kaminari...it was jealousy, right? Or were you reading into things too much?
He was all worried over the Hero Killer, too. Is there a chance that he actually likes me...quite a bit?
You felt your cheeks begin to burn at the mere thought. It was such a pretentious thing to say to yourself; you were actually surprised at your own narcissism. This was Bakugou Katsuki, after all—he was definitely growing more comfortable with the whole "soulmate" deal, but he definitely wasn't the type whose feelings could be swayed so easily. And here you were, trying to convince yourself that he was absolutely enamored with you.
Then again, if our relationship was going so well, I doubt my tattoo would be fading.
God, you felt stupid. You let out a lofty sigh, not even realizing that Kirishima had been trying to speak to you.
"Hey...[Name]-chan?" he frowned. "Are you here with us right now? On Earth?"
"Huh? O-oh. Sorry, what did you say...?"
Katsuki forced his classmate aside, furrowing his brows at you. "He was saying that you're comin' with us. Today. My place. We're gonna study."
"Study what?" you asked stupidly, watching as the boys' eyes bulged out of their heads. You blinked twice, still half-dazed. "R-right," you spluttered out. "For the final exam, of course. Forgot about that for a moment."
"...The fuck's wrong with you right now?" Katsuki snapped. "You're acting weird."
"I'm not weird. You're weird."
"Nah, it's you. You're the weird one."
"Really? 'Cause I was convinced that—"
"Ooookay!" Kirishima interjected, hurriedly placing himself in between the two of you. "Let's leave the married couple talk for later on, alright?"
"Who the fuck are you calling—?!"
"Yeah, yeah," he brushed off. "Let's just get going. The sun will set if I leave you guys to do what you want, and I really need to pass. C'mon, Bakubro—" he latched a hand onto Katsuki's wrist. "Take us to your Baku-house!"
Katsuki pulled his arm away in disgust, making sure to swat Kirishima for good measure. You didn't know how exactly you'd gotten roped into this, but it wasn't all that bad. You'd been to Katsuki's house before—although it was earlier on in the day, so you hadn't actually met his parents. You wondered if they'd be home this time around? The thought made you a little nervous.
Kirishima was pumping his fist in the air now, belting out something about how he was definitely going to pass the exam and he needed to muster up his "manly spirit" or something. He was walking ahead of you and Katsuki, so you flashed the blonde a perplexed look while stifling a giggle. Katsuki merely rolled his eyes, flipping off Kirishima's back before cocking a grin of his own.
"What a moron," he chuckled lowly. "Must not have a single care in his mind."
"Yep," you smiled. "Seems like it. Although that's probably nice, in its own way."
"The not worrying part, sure. The being a moron part, not so much."
You smiled again, feeling slightly guilty for making fun of your friend—even if it was all good-natured fun. You were actually surprised that he hadn't turned back on you guys, but you realized it was probably intentional, and he was walking so far ahead so as to give the two of you space.
"Are...your parents going to be home?" you asked hesitantly. Katsuki nodded at you, then furrowed his brows as if not understanding what the issue was. You managed a smile. "I was just thinking I might be a little nervous, to finally meet the rest of your family. It seems a bit silly now when I say it out loud, but...I guess I just want them to like me."
He stared at you in disbelief. "Uh, okay. You're dumb."
"...Gee, thanks."
"I meant that you're dumb for worrying," Katsuki snorted. "You don't need to think twice about those old geezers. They ain't shit. Honestly, I was thinking that they'd be embarrassing me," he admitted. "They'll probably be saying the dumbest shit imaginable, and the second they find out you're my soulmate—"
"W-wait. You're going to tell them?"
You'd stopped in place, Katsuki following after you. Kirishima was still walking ahead, but he'd noticeably slowed down the pace. So he was listening, after all.
How sneaky.
"The fuck do you mean, 'am I going to tell them?'" Katsuki shoved a hand into his pockets, narrowing his eyes at you. "I've already told them, loser. They know I've met my soulmate, and they've been driving me insane every single day asking when the hell they'll "finally" get to meet you. I'm serious about this—you better be ready for all hell to break loose, 'coz they're gonna lose their shit when they see you for the first time."
You didn't know what to say. Truly, you hadn't expected this. Someone like Katsuki, you assumed he would've done everything in his power to keep the nature of your relationship from slipping out. They definitely had no way of finding out about you, which would mean that he willingly came forth and told them all on his own.
He'd wanted to tell them.
"What?" Katsuki muttered, tapping his foot impatiently. "There a problem?"
You hastily shook your head, smiling more brightly than you thought you were capable of. "No. There's absolutely no problem at all. I'm incredibly happy that you told them about me. Thank you, Katsuki-kun."
Katsuki parted his lips to speak, but you'd already thrown yourself into his arms. You felt him stiffen under your touch; clearly, he still hadn't gotten used to such displays of affection. Even so, it wasn't long before you felt his hands fall loosely to your hips and press you closer to his body.
"...Weirdo," he mumbled, burying your face in the crook of his neck. "Always hugging me out of nowhere."
"Sorry. I was just really happy."
"Shut up. Did I say I didn't like it?"
"N-no..."
You blushed, easing into the warmth of his touch. If given the choice, you would've stayed like this for as long as you possibly—
"Hey, guys?" Kirishima called out. "Don't get me wrong, I totally support your relationship, but if we could get going in a bit, that'd be really awesome. Thanks, dudes—love you both."
You couldn't help the spastic laugh that fell out your lips. Already, you could feel Katsuki's body trembling against your own as he muttered something about beating the shit out of Kirishima under his breath.