word count: 2k
summary: your agency has partnered up with the district next to yours to help find a flood-quirked villain. instead of working with your usual partner, you two have been split up to work with another sidekick from the other agency. however, being partnered with the explosive blond may expose your soulmate mark in a battle with the flood villain.
quirk: earthquake, able to send seismic waves from her fingertips much like an earthquake, very destructive both to opponent and self.
...
everyone was born with some strange, misshapen, blackened spot on their body. the shape and location was always unique, and while the shape was shared by a person's soulmate, the location was seldom ever the same. most with marks on visible parts of their bodies let them show freely, hoping for the day they met their match; others hid theirs away, afraid of the unknown.
you had a splotch of black in the middle of your back, one you could only see in reflections. it was an odd shape, one that reminded you of an explosion—though, everyone had some sort of oddly shaped birthmark.
many had met their soulmates before they turned eighteen, high school sweethearts taking on a new meaning as people found their match. but, you had just turned twenty, having graduated from high school two years ago. you hadn't exactly lost hope, but you knew with the placement of your mark, it was one that was never visible. and in some odd way, you'd made peace with the belief you would never meet your soulmate, sad as it was.
it was a chilling morning in the month of april, but you could hardly feel the nipping temperature as you ran laps around the track—your cheeks and nose red by the crisp winds. it was standard to run a few laps and warm up before the day began at your agency, a way of getting ready for what the day held, may it be a villain causing mischief, a housefire and family that needed rescuing, or just a standard patrol around the neighborhood.
"(name)! we've got a mission!" your partner called from the top of the stadium.
you looked up, "okay! i'm coming!" you sprinted up the stairs and entered the locker room, partner close behind. the two of you changed into your hero costumes and met up with your boss in his office.
"there's been an outbreak of floods around the city," he announced, "we've teamed up with another agency from the district over for help. there's reason to that none of these attacks are natural occurrences. unfortunately, the two of you will be split up and assigned to another partner from the other agency. tsukiano, (last name), i expect you to respect your partners and bring honor to our agency." he handed each of you a folder regarding the case and your partner.
"yes, sir!" tsukiano and you chorused.
"i wish you luck! you're dismissed."
you bowed and left the room, tsukiano following suit. you opened your file, browsing the information on the villain, what the police knew and their past assaults. you caught a glimpse of your partner, his face somewhat familiar to you.
"can't believe we can't work together on this one," your partner whined, throwing an arm around your shoulder.
you shrugged it off, "it'll be different, but i'm kind of excited for this."
"maybe you'll meet your soulmate," she mused, wriggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
you scoffed and pushed her away, a small smile on your face, "as if, tsuki-san."
"i will admit though," she started, "i'm a bit apprehensive about this villain. being able to cause floods and all, are you going to be okay?"
you nodded, "of course! besides, i did intern with one of the seaside agencies. perhaps if the flood is high enough i can create a tsunami."
"that would be cool," tsukiano said. "just, be careful, yeah? i've heard some... things about your temporary partner."
"bakugou katsuki?" you asked. "i mean, his name sounds familiar, but i can't remember from what."
"remember the yuuei sports festival a few years ago? the first year winner was, like, chained up and had a muzzle on him," she said.
you pursed your lips as you tried to remember, but then it hit you. "oh my god, i'm partnered with him?!"
she gave you a reassuring grin, "good luck?"
"i think i'll definitely need it," you muttered.
the two of you had taken the bus to the other district's agency, anxiety bubbling in your stomach at the thought of working with such an animalistic, power-hungry individual, but you squelched your worries as much as you could. as the bus pulled up to your stop, you clenched your fist and took a few steady breaths.
"you'll be okay, (name)," she smiled. "let's just focus on this villain."
"right," you returned her smile.
but focusing on the villain was a lot harder than you would have expected, especially being partnered with bakugou katsuki.
you walked side by side with bakugou, occasionally smiling at those you passed as the would whisper in awe at seeing two heroes pass by them—ground zero, their own local explosive hero, and shockwave, a hero one district over with the power to knock an entire group of villains on their ass with one blast. the two of you had hardly exchanged any words, but you already felt as if the blond hated you.
"so, you graduated from yuuei, huh?" you decided to attempt small talk to pass the time with your patrol. you were only asked to look around and find any suspicious figures or activity and report back to bakugou's boss. seemed easy enough, you didn't really understand why tsukiano and you had to split up in the first place when you did this everyday anyway.
bakugou gave you a sideways glance, "yeah."
"that's cool!" you grinned, "i wanted to go, but it was a bit too far from home. though, it must have been really cool being taught by all might and eraserhead."
he clicked his tongue, "you gonna fuckin' talk my ear off, or are you gonna focus on the damn mission?"
you blushed, "o-oh, sorry. just trying to—" something caught your eye from an alleyway across the street, a small river flowing upwards.
he scowled, "you gonna—hey! get back here!"
you had launched yourself into the street, narrowly avoiding the passing cars as bakugou struggled to keep up with you. people weren't too pleased with your actions, but you couldn't care less if you were there to protect them.
you pressed yourself against the wall, peaking around the corner to see if you could spot the suspicious figure controlling the water.
"oi, what the—"
with a roll of your eyes, you tugged bakugou against the wall next to you, shushing him. you pointed to the water running up the gutter, "see that," you whispered, "water doesn't exactly travel against gravity."
his eyes widened at your observation, and he watched as the water slithered up the street like a snake, but he was still a bit pissed you'd ran off like that. "don't run into the street like idiot, shitty girl, and don't hold back information," he glared.
you scoffed, not dignifying him with a response as you turned the corner again. "we should report this," you said. "we need to head back before—bakugou!" you hissed as the blond slipped past you and ran into the dark alley.
you groaned as you followed him.
"god dammit, at least tell me when you're going to run off like that!" you growled, hot on his heels as the two of you pursued the villain, following the water.
"you're one to talk," he snapped.
"oh, shut up," you grumbled. you noticed the dark, suspicious figure not far up ahead, and you'd barely caught bakugou's arm to hide behind a corner before the villain spotted the two of you.
"what was—" you put a hand over his mouth, bringing a finger to your lips to tell him to be quiet. you motioned that the villain was right there around the corner.
"we need to call for backup before we confront him, don't you think?" you quirked your right brow.
he scoffed, "i can take him by myself, i don't need backup."
you rolled your eyes, "sure, hotshot, i'm–no, wait!" you were unprepared as the blond ran past you again. you would be glad when this was all over, this boy was sure to drive you up a wall with his impatience.
"oi!" you heard bakugou call the villain. "the fuck do you think you're doing?!"
"classy, bakugou, exactly how you handle a villain," you muttered, slipping around the corner undetected and planning your own move to apprehend the villain.
"oh, good afternoon, ground zero," the villain greeted, voice sounding distorted, like it was underwater.
you sent out a small pulse through the ground, noting where bakugou was standing as well as the villain, mind racing with plans that could work and ones that you knew wouldn't. you had to keep in mind you had a partner with an explosion quirk, against a villain with some sort of water quirk, one that you were still unsure of what it could do.
bakugou, without any warning, fired off an explosion towards the villain, and you could hear it sizzle and evaporate. yeah, having a fire and water battle definitely wasn't going to work. your only hope was to send off a big enough seismic wave that it would knock the villain off their feet and give you some leverage. the blond fired off another blast, followed closely by two others.
you idiot, that isn't going to work. but, you were unaware as a small stream of water had made its way around your ankle. just before you could join bakugou, you screamed as you left the ground, being pulled through the air towards the villain.
your eyes widened, and you whipped around to come face to face with the villain, his face covered in a constant flow of water.
"shockwave!" you felt a blast near your head, and you gasped, not expected bakugou to move so quick. you were dropped onto the concrete, a sickening crack coming from your skull. light blinded you from behind your eyes, and you struggled to sit up and shake off the dizziness.
you barely registered bakugou firing off at a million shots a second, or so it seemed to your foggy mind, but you snapped out of it as soon as you could, shaking your head and willing away the pain. "ground zero, get off the ground!"
the blond sent you a questioning glance as he did as you asked, you palm making contact with the ground. in an instant, the ground shifted and crumbled; a blast rivaling a 7.0 earthquake heading in the villains direction. your arm throbbed with the blast, and you cursed as you noticed the blast missed the villain, instead–oh no.
"look out!"
bakugou sent an explosion your way, the blast hitting your back as it thrust you out of the way of shattering glass and crumbling building. you could feel the cold air hitting the exposed skin of your back as you landed, gravel scraping against your body painfully. you screamed out in pain as your head hit the wall, body being thrown against the hard surface and knocking the wind out of you.
you were barely conscious enough to see the rest of bakugou's agency, as well as your own partner, show up to help apprehend the villain. however, once the villain was in restraints, you could hear the faint calls of your name.
tsukiano rushed to your side, "(name)? (name)?! help! we need a medic over here!"
bakugou was breathing heavy as he stood back and watched his boss arrest the villain, arms aching from the constant blasts from his palms. he had barely registered what all had just happened when he heard your partner calling out for a medic.
his eyes widened when he looked over at you, your head bloody and back bruised and burned from his blast. he rushed over, calling out for a medic as well as he dropped beside your partner. tsukiano rolled you onto your stomach to view the wound on your back, and bakugou's mouth went dry.
it was a splotch he'd only ever seen on his own skin, high on his thigh were no one would ever see it. the blackened stain that looked like an explosion.