beetlesau

[beetlesau]

Its Light Still Shines

Chapter 2 - 1.2k

(Chapter 1 here)

haters will say Shadow wasn't even in this chapter. sorry

The grass beneath me is soft. I've never felt anything like it in all my memories. I smell the earth, fresh and beautiful.

I don't know where I teleported away to.

An old abandoned cabin sits before me, and a running stream-turned-river sits not far from it. I can hear its flowing water and the small fish that splash its surface now and then. Morning is breaking just over the horizon, and pink and orange paint the sky as I approach the worn building.

"Hello?" I call out, but no one has been here in a long, long time.

I knocked on the door before opening it in case someone or something was waiting inside. I didn't expect how sturdy and tough the door would be. The outside looked like old wooden logs but resonated like a metal crate. When my knuckles made contact, a small, pin-sized light met my gaze and scanned my retina.

"Welcome, Experiment L2S-03xx. to SafeZone 12." A static voice chimed in the door, which swung open automatically. Dust and dirt accumulated around the crevasses, which were knocked loose and found their way to my throat. I coughed, covering my face, and tried to disperse the debris with my free hand.

I entered, and to my surprise, I found it looked like a cozy cabin you'd book for a vacation. It was an open floor concept, with a bed on the far left wall, a bathroom ahead of me, a kitchen, and a small dinette to the right. The decor was simple and a bit antique. A frilly duvet on the bed caught my gaze. I rolled my eyes when I realized I could even recognize such small details about something I'd never seen in my real life before—sudden thoughts of watching interior decorating on TV flashed in my mind's eye.

I groaned. I had other problems besides the clashing curtains in the dinette not matching the plates stacked on the shelves above the sink. Namely what the AI system called me.

"L2S? What? What was it you called me?" I asked aloud.

"That is your experiment identification code," it stated as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"Where am I?"

"This is isolated SafeZone 12 erected by Professor Robotnik, Gerald."

"When was this last time he was here?"

"57 years, 8 months, 21 days. Would you like the question answered to the nearest second?"

"No! No, thank you. Do I have a name?"

"You were not assigned a name, only your experiment identification code."

"What is Shadows experiment code or whatever, then?"

"S2L-02xy - or Project Shadow."

I removed my jacket, shuffled over to the bed, and plopped onto the surprisingly soft mattress, caressing little angels into the plush comforter. "Bummer. How come he got a name, and I didn't?" I was speaking to myself now, but the system took it upon itself to answer anyway.  

"Records indicate you were an preliminary project that was not completed under the supervision of the Professor."

"Yeah, yeah. So what is my purpose?"

"Error. Purpose Obsolete."

"Ouch okay, what was my purpose?"

"You are a culmination of the residuals left over from Project Shadow, chaos emeralds, and the restructured DNA of the deceased Maria Robotnik. Your purpose was to serve as replacement parts for an incurable disease within Maria Robotnik. However, key parts of the experiment did not occur due to the ARK's destruction. Your consciousness was triggered and stages of your development were altered by the government organization known as GUN."

"You're kidding me."

"I do not understand; please rephrase."

I wept quietly to myself.

I was never meant to awaken. My purpose was never as divided from Maria as Shadow. If GUN hadn't intervened, there would be no me.

But then Maria may still be alive otherwise.

Did I even deserve to be alive instead?

I pulled one of the pillows close and buried my face into it.

All these memories of her kindness. Her beauty. I have them because she died.

It's too much for me.

I screw my eyes shut, hoping I can lock my tears away, but I can't. They come and soak through everything. The pounding in my head kicks up again. Before long, I cried myself to sleep at the thought of her and all she was. All that I can only hope to be for myself.

Being in stasis and actually sleeping are worlds apart. When I wake, my mind settles, and I better regulate my emotions. It's once again dark outside, and in the night, I see a flashing light coming from the dinette table. I pull myself up, groggy, and shuffle over to check it out.

"What is this?" I ask the system.

"There is an electronic pulse similar to that of the Professor's work in a quadrant of Japan that has recently appeared. Would you like to take a look?"

"Show me." Anything to do with the Professor now could only mean something involving Shadow.

The system flashes, and a small hologram feed floats just at eye level. It shows security footage of a pier in Japan, likely hacked into by Robotniks tech, which is still advanced all these years later. My skin prickles as I watch an immense mechanical crab surface from the water.

I've seen this before, but Shadow isn't there. Not yet. He's going to find the Professor, not the Doctor.

"Can you keep tabs on that crab from here?"

"I can mark it as an object of interest, of course. Would you like to be notified when it relocates?"

"Oh. Uh, I don't plan on staying here much longer, I'm leaving once I figure out where Shadow is."

"I have an electronic bracer in the refrigerator that can be used as a notification hub when you're away from SafeZone 12."

"The refrigerator?"

"It is the red box behind you and to your left, it typically holds items to keep them cool and fresher for longer than if they were left out at room tem--"

Okay! Thank you, that's not really what I meant when I-- you know what? Nevermind. Thank you. I'll be sure to grab that before I go."

"You are welcome, L2S-03xx."

"Could you call me something else?" I grumbled.

"I can reassign your name, yes. What would you prefer?"

I took a moment to think it over. I wasn't stuck to one thing. I could change my name as much as I wanted; it wasn't like I had one. And I wasn't really Maria; keeping hers didn't feel right. Though I could, as an homage. I didn't think this would be that hard, but a name might be a big deal.

"I don't actually know... I guess I should just shorten my experiment name for now. Call me L. I'm sure I can come up with something better later. Maybe." If I couldn't stop Shadow from what was to come, it wouldn't matter if I'd had a name.

I felt drained all over again. Although I've been alone all this time, I was never lonely—not when they occupied my mind. But now I felt the weight of things.

I'd never had Shadow. I was nothing to him, but I would fight for him.

I couldn't be his Maria; I must be something else. I would reach him.

"Its Light still shines."

[beetlesau]

Its Light Still Shines.

Chapter 1

(Chapter 2 here)

(Shadow x reader) (fem) - 1.5k

LoL yeah I don't know what's going on here. I don't know why I make everything I write complicated af.

This contains Mild spoilers for Sonic 3, but it's a mix of the movie but more Sonic Adventure 2 game, and of course just made up stuff. Reader is lab created along with Shadow, so has similar abilities. OKAY, enjoy, or not. bye!

It was a long and dreamless nothing. I wasn't awake but not quite asleep. The only moments of semi-consciousness came in the form of pain radiating around me. At first, I felt small, but I thought of myself as a more significant mass over an unknown amount of time. I collected thoughts and understanding. In every spurt of pain, I felt myself grow. It was slow, and it was all that could occupy my mind.

After, or before, came the memories of our life. An endless weaving of what was and what was. We saw through eyes that looked at a furry form of black and red. We saw the stars from the ARK, our home, our prison.

One day, We became I. I had her memories as well as my own newly formed ones.

I saw as I sat across from him, the wires that poked and prodded at his skin. He didn't see me; I wasn't really there just yet. But she was, Maria. We cared for him the same. I cared for her like he did; how could I not? When she was me. Once.

Maria was sick, and in her grandfather's desperation to cure her, I was brought forth from the nothingness of the Universe.

As was he. Shadow. We were one and the same in our purpose, though assembled in vastly different ways.

My mind remembers hers. It recalls all her thoughts and feelings and, at times, her pain. But most of all, it remembers her love, compassion, and how she cared. It was all for him.

Then, one day, my purpose was lost. My reason for existence is no longer a factor in the world, yet I still grow.

I see three heroes at odds with despair. The waters divide and make way for the behemoth. I see his Control of Chaos, powering the destruction. I feel his anger and his pain.

I think I'm awake. I believe my limbs ache as I move them for the first time. I find my face. I must be numb; I cannot feel the limb that protrudes from my face like a trunk when I touch it with my fingers, but I feel myself breathe into it as I realize I am surrounded by a liquid. It feels unnatural. I remember images from before but see only blackness now. I move my hands again, higher, and caress the two slight divots there. Eyes. My own. A foreign feeling, but the knowledge floods me like an unlocked door. I open them, and the light blinds me. There are flashing red lights, and I become aware of the unnatural blaring of sound surrounding me.

I am trapped. I feel my arms, and now legs flail on instinct and bang against the cylinder that contains me. I watch as the glass fractures and finally shatters, and my body spills out along the floor. The tube connected to half of my face, which I thought belonged to my anatomy, rips away as I get swept away with the water.

I gasp, a tear of pain, as my lungs inflate on their own for the first time. Shards of glass below me cut at my hands as I pull myself up on shaky legs.

I shouldn't be able to stand.

By all accounts, this is my first time ever doing so. I can feel the muscles under my skin, the ligaments that hold my frame together. It's all brand new but so familiar. I take my first steps to an unmanned computer terminal, flinching at the lights that bounce around the screen.

The date and time hover in the lower corner.

I've been ... growing... in that tube for fifty years. I can't be shocked by this alone, but as I look into the reflection of one of the monitors, I notice I don't have the signs of an aged person. Through my Maria's eyes, I recall our grandfather and his aged flesh and white hair. The wrinkles in his skin he'd earned with time. I looked older than the Maria I saw in my mind's eye. When she'd brush her long hair in the mirror, we'd stare back. I didn't look anything like her now. Even when I was made of her own DNA and whatever mix of mad science Gerald Robotnik concocted, I was entirely unique from her. Free of her imperfections, one half of an Ultimate Lifeform.

But Maria was gone. Why was I here? What was my purpose now? Why was I made? A shade of her.

A shadow.

Shadow.

Where was he?

Fifty years imprisoned with my own visions of what was and what will be, fifty years of knowing his suffering like it were my own.

I closed my eyes and spoke aloud for the first time in my creation. My voice wavered, and the word felt weighted in my mouth.

"Shadow."

My body tingled and compressed into itself.

Rain pattered down onto my face, and when my eyes opened, I was met with a blackened sky and a million neon lights.

I was unfamiliar with the place, yet I knew it was Tokyo. I knew things I shouldn't and yet did. Small tidbits of just enough information flooded my brain. I'd teleported to an alleyway, thankfully away from the patches of flame that blazed from explosions nearby.

Shadow stood less than fifty feet away atop an overturned vehicle. He'd already been loose and the cause of such destruction.

Above, I could hear the intense beat of a GUN airship propeller. A Mobian trio would descend any moment, and I would lose Shadow to Sonic and furious pursuit.

"Daijōbudesuka?" I turned to find a tiny old woman peeking her head out of a back door. Keeping an eye on the chaos outside her shop, she had a near heart attack when I appeared before her, mostly naked. She shouted at me in Japanese, and I responded similarly.

"So sorry, Auntie. Can I borrow your clothes?" It wouldn't be a great first official impression to walk up to Shadow nude. I bowed and spoke in words I wasn't sure how I knew.

She seemed taken aback but shook her head furiously and asked that I wait a moment. When she returned, she had a large blue and purple iridescent rain jacket and a threadbare dress. I watched as her expression turned from one of concern to fear. Why was I here in the alley? How did I get here, naked as I was? She must have surmised that I was connected to the disorder happening just out front and decided getting close to me was not in her best interests. She peaked again, leaving just enough room to toss the clothes across the way to me. I thanked her, but she didn't hear, having slammed the door shut.  

By the time I got to the mouth of the alleyway, I was dressed and pulling up the hood around my damp hair.

"Shadow!" I called. What was I even supposed to say? I saw visions of what was to come, but that didn't give me a clue about what would stop him from going down that path.

Then I saw him with these eyes for the first time. Electricity moved through me, and I couldn't breathe. Vivid flashes of Maria in her happiest times flooded my mind. I felt my eyes well with tears, and my lip quivered.

I moved closer to him; if he'd had the same connective feeling, he didn't let it show.

"Sh-shadow. You have to stop.. What you would do... you don't have to-"

"And just who are you?" he cut me off with a raspy anger I'd never heard from him.

"I-I'm... I'm Maria?" I stuttered; this was a question I did not honestly know the answer to, and my reply was weak and unsure. It didn't sound right to my own ears.

His eyes widened in surprise before a snarl replaced it with anger.

"What is this, some sort of trick? Are you working with GUN? I'll kill you for that, faker. Don't pollute her memory, disgusting creature." he raised a gun he'd taken from one of the officers and pointed it at my head, intent on ending my lies.

"Control." I spoke, and in an instant, I appeared behind him. "I won't hurt you, Shadow. I'm not with GUN. Though maybe you're right, maybe I'm not who I thought I was."

He spun around just as fast to face me, ready to make a move again, but it was too late. I dropped to my knees in a desperate attempt to reach him. "Shadow, please! I know you're hurting. I know what you're planning. It doesn't have to be this way."

My chance to change his mind had passed as three figures landed from the sky. His attention shifted to the others, likely convinced I was nothing but a distraction.

"Leave, before I kill you." he growled over his shoulder.

My head hurt. I had to go. I could not do anything now; I knew he was already on the path I'd wished to avoid.

"Some stars might no longer exist by the time their light is seen." I couldn't remember what that meant; but it was important to us. My head was splitting. I'd barely whispered the words to him before I'd had to warp away.

I missed the way his eyes lit with familiarity.

[beetlesau]

A List of Shtuff (it's all X Readers)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

My Hero Macadamia

Bakugo Katsuki

Share A Seat - 1.4k

Bus Ride - 2.1k

Soul Box -

Chapter 1, 2.2k

Chapter 2, 2.9k

Chapter 3, 3k

Chapter 4, 4.2k

Chapter 5, 2.7k

Warm Bodies (Zombie Kats) -

Chapter 1 "Curiosity Killed the Kat"

Chapter 2 "Satisfaction Brought Him Back"

Chapter 3 "Eat Me"

Chapter 4 ""

Chapter 5 "I Will"

Chapter 6 "Warmth"

Chapter 7 "A Child and A Mother"

Chapter 8 ""

Chapter 9 "That's the Sound A Heart Makes"

Dabi

A Danger in the Night - 920

Jujutsu Kaisen

Toge Inumaki

Where Love is Promised. - 7.3k

Sonic the Hedgehog.

(Yeah that's here too, for some reason.)

Shadow

Its Light Still Shines

Chapter 1 - 1.5k

Chapter 2 - 1.2k *New*

[beetlesau]

WHERE LOVE IS PROMISED.

7.3k words. Implied female reader. cursing and mentions of blood and dying etc. canon typical violence. I KNOW there are problems I wrote this over several months and didn't check for continuity or left over paragraphs in-between but it is what it is, i just wanted to get something OUT THERE. Any Inumaki content is good content to me. Anyway! enjoy, or don't.

"Don't talk. Shh. Shh. It's alright. You did it. You got the curses. You evacuated everyone." I speak in a hoarse stutter, "Don't try to move, you've lost a lot of blood. I've got you." I cradle Toge's head with one arm as best I can while squeezing the bloodied stump with the other. Have to focus my energy right now, or he's going to die. Stop the bleeding. Stop the bleeding. Stop the-- With clumsy movement, I pull the belt out of his uniform and use it to cut off the circulation to his missing arm.

He's falling in and out of lucidity, nearly mumbling cursed words with every breath. I try again to quiet him, "Toge. Shh- it's alright, I'm here, don't speak, please Toge."

His breathing is shallow but he manages out a "Shake." I think he's passing out but I need him to stay awake, need him to stay conscious long enough for someone, anyone to find us. "Toge. Baby. You have to stay awake. Stay awake with me. Come on baby."

He jolts and his eyes snap open, looking around but not seeing.

"Where." he demands. He's asking for me. He doesn't even realize that he's speaking out loud.

"Shh. Toge I'm right here. Please, don't speak. Don't curse me. Don't you dare curse me! We're safe. I'm safe."

He looks towards me, his eyes focused. He's finally seeing me now that the wound has stopped soaking the rubble around us in blood.

"Love."

"Shh. Don't..." I bristle at the singular word. His eyebrows furrow as his eyes bounce off every feature of my face. "Gojo said love is probably the worst curse to put on someone. Don't you dare make him right, you prick. It's bad enough you're making me bring him up at a time like this." I laugh but I'm choking with each breath. I hold Toge, wrapping his head in the cradle of my arms. I can smell rain in the distance.

Our phones are missing. I can only pray someone finds us soon.

We're sat, halfway exposed within a building destroyed by Sukuna, and unlucky for me Toge's arm wasn't the only thing severed in the attack. Before I could tend to his arm I directed my cursed energy into my leg, or what was left of it. I was able to amplify my healing but nothing more than stopping the bleeding and scabbing over the wound. Toge watches me, now more lucid than I am, as I sway and fumble. I'm tired; more tired than I've ever been now. I could feel my walls slipping once I knew he was safe from bleeding out.

"I always loved the rain," I mutter incoherently. To anyone else, they would think I'd mentally checked out now, but Toge knows how well my senses are heightened.

"Someone will come and find us. We make a great team, you and I. Don't we Toge? Now look at us— both missing parts." Toge's eyes widen when he realizes I don't just mean his arm. He tries to lean up but I use what little strength I have left to hold him in place on my lap. He can't see the damage to my body from his position.

"Toge. Stay-- promise me?" I slur, but I'm so insistent. He catches my drooping head and lays it gently against his own, our foreheads touching. "Stay awake with me?" My cheeks are wet and I know stray tears are falling from my face to his but he doesn't seem to mind. He never has.

"I promise." I hear him whisper, but it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if it's a shout or words gliding on air.

A curse is a curse, and I don't have the energy to keep it from flowing into my mind, scrambling my thoughts.

It's a promise I can't keep.

It's raining now, and my world goes black.

I wake up in my dorm. It's chilled, I forgot to close the window the night before, yet my body is wrapped with a thin layer of sweat. I pull myself from my covers, collect my uniform and toothbrush, and head to the bathhouse to rinse off. Even from my room, I can smell someone cooking breakfast in the community kitchen.

My pace down the hall is sluggish and I'm distracted with my thoughts. I think I had a dream last night but it's dancing just outside my memories.

"Takana?" I turn to the voice behind me. I see Inumaki standing at the entrance to the bathhouse. I must have walked right past it. He's in a drying robe and his hair is up in a towel wrap. He looks like a middle-aged woman who has a moment to herself before the kids wake up for school. The sight immediately pulls me from my haze, and I cannot stop the grin that spreads across my face.

"Oh, Good morning, Inumaki! Sorry, I zoned out."

He smiles at me and waves. He sticks a thumb out, pointing in the direction of the mess hall, "Tsuna Mayo?"

"Yeah! I'll be there! I can smell Megumi cooking up quinoa and fried egg right now, though as usual I doubt he made enough for us." you giggle. Inumaki's eyes widen and he points to his nose.

"Yeah, haha, my innate technique also makes my senses top notch..." you pause, remembering how you just walked past him, oblivious. "Well, when I'm paying attention at least." you rub your head nervously. He probably thinks I'm pulling his leg.

He just hums and nods, then steps aside and gestures in a butler-esque bow to the bathhouse entrance. He waves again as he takes off down the hall, the opposite of the mess hall.

"Are you not going to breakfast too?"

He motions to his outfit and throws up a shrug.

"I- right, duh, change clothes!" I roll my eyes at myself, "It's uh... It's early, okay? Once I get some coffee in me I can provide some smarter conversation, I swear!" I wave farewell for now and we part ways.

I straighten my uniform as I enter the community kitchen. Megumi sits at one of the tables off to the side eating his meal and reading before classes. I peek over his shoulder, satisfied I had correctly guessed his meal. "Good morning, Megumi."

"Hey. Morning." he replies, keeping his nose in his book. I don't bother asking him what non-fiction he's reading this time, I'll figure it out later. I fuss over some of his more astray hairs and he huffs. I can see his cheeks tinge a slight pink but he doesn't bother to stop me.

I turn and see Inumaki is here as well in his uniform. He's standing at the counter looking through the cabinets. A plate of simple breakfast foods sat next to him.

"Hey, it's you again." I chirp and step beside him, open the adjacent cabinet, and look for a mug. He reaches up and tugs at my sleeve before grabbing my wrist lightly.

"Tsuna tsuna!" he drags my hand over, using it like a claw machine to catch the handle of a coffee already made in one of my mugs. I can't help but laugh at the attempt. He looks at me with raised eyebrows then turns back to the cabinet to pull down the sugar he was looking for when I walked up. He points to it questioningly.

"Wait is this for me?" I look surprised enough that he snickers.

"Shake."

"That's so sweet! Oh my gosh, thank you! Actually, I have some creamer in the fridge, one sec." I turn to the fridge and pull out a bottle that doesn't have my name on it since I'm the only one that uses that brand. I show him before I pour enough it reaches the lip of the mug. I click my tongue and gesture with my hand that it's the perfect amount. He watches and clicks his tongue to mimic me.

He picks up the mug and lifts it to his high collar, smelling it through the fabric. He gives me an exaggerated side-eye before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" I look down and see he left his plate of food. I pick it up and follow him to the nearest table. Usually, I sit with Megumi till the others shuffle their way in one by one, but Inumaki has different plans for me this morning, and I'm happy to oblige.

I sit down across from him and push his plate to him. He looks at me and then at Megumi, asking me a question by nodding his head in his direction. Likely making sure I'm actually okay with him changing up the usual routine. I don't even glance back before answering, "I'd rather sit here, he's not much for conversation with that book in his hands." I shrug.

Inumaki looks at me incredulously, pointing at himself.

"Yes, even you make for better conversation." I lean in and whisper to him even if it's still within earshot of my other classmate.

He laughs at my statement and passes me the coffee we made.

"Oh. So this really was for me? You weren't just teasing?" he nods and shrugs as if he'd just decided to let me have it and not that he'd completely made it for me in the first place.

"Again, that's really sweet. What made you wanna make me coffee, huh?"

He looks between me and Megumi, and if I didn't know better I'd have said he actually seemed kinda nervous about something.

He pulls out a sticky notepad and pen and scribbles "smarter conversation." his written word echoes what I told him outside the bathhouse and I laugh.

He slides his breakfast plate to sit more between us and drums his fingers on the edge, indicating his intention to share.

"And you made enough food for me too, what did I do to deserve this blessing today?" you eye him suspiciously.

He goes back to his sticky notes and crosses out his first remark.

s̶m̶a̶r̶t̶e̶r̶ c̶o̶n̶v̶e̶r̶s̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶

"I don't want you to tell everyone how I was dressed this morning."

I look at his face and his eyes are wide with melodrama. I burst out laughing and Inumaki notices the annoyed glance Megumi shoots me over his book.

"I really doubt you have any worries about that." I say as I pick up a slice of ham and cheese toast. "You looked pretty confident in the fit."

He looks down at the plate and gives a little shrug.

I'll have to figure out what ugly look Megumi gave us to make him clam up mid-joke.

"So all I have to do to get special treatment is catch you in a compromising situation, is that what I'm understanding?"

He leans back, pushing against the table till his chair is balancing on two legs. He hovers like that for a moment before shaking his head to himself and dropping the chair back down, as though he were contemplating if he should write down his thoughts. It seemed as if the jury in his head voted yes because he grabbed the little notepad again and started to scribble a response.

I lean over and try to watch as he writes but he looks up through his long lashes and purposefully slams his other arm across the table to block my view. The noise and rattle of the table make me jump and ugly laugh. I have to slap my hand over my mouth to keep quiet.

"You're so lucky I wasn't drinking my coffee or you'd be soaked right now." I'm giggling and he doesn't miss the way my body sways as I kick my feet under the table.

He passes me the note.

s̶m̶a̶r̶t̶e̶r̶ c̶o̶n̶v̶e̶r̶s̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶

I̶ d̶o̶n̶'t̶ w̶a̶n̶t̶ y̶o̶u̶ t̶o̶ t̶e̶l̶l̶ e̶v̶e̶r̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ h̶o̶w̶ I̶ w̶a̶s̶ d̶r̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ t̶h̶i̶s̶ m̶o̶r̶n̶i̶n̶g̶.

"You don't have to do anything for special treatment. Though I do want to hear more about these compromising situations? ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°) sussy?"

"INUMAKI! I seriously don't know how to respond, you're a little freak like that? Not the drawn out emoji, too?" It's not the first time I've ever hung out with Inumaki, but every time- he manages to catch me off guard with his out-of-pocket humor.

"Sujiko..." I'm blushing and he pokes my cheek before tearing off the note, wadding it up and shooting it into the trashcan sat a few feet away. He grabs a piece of toast and unzips his high collar to eat. We eat our food in relative silence save for the ocasional snicker when we catch the others gaze.

Later on the training grounds Maki is going over the fundamentals of using the long pole and bladed weapons with Megumi. Panda has been spinning me in a circle for the past five minutes, then tossing me randomly in the air so I can practice landing on my feet. So far he's let me go two times and both times I was laughing too hard to catch my balance. At least the grass was dampening the impact of my falls.

Inumaki is sitting close by, fidgeting with the grass blades under his palms and watching us. I hear him laugh along with me every time I break out in a giggle. Even Panda is cutting up quietly. He doesn't want to let on to Maki that he isn't taking this more seriously, though she already knows we're goofing off more than practicing.

"Okay, okay I'm gonna actually get the next one. Panda wind me up!" I reach out and as soon as my hands meet his paws I break my serious facade and smile.

"Sujiko..."

"Shut up, just because I smile doesn't mean I'm not serious!" but his tease just makes my grin spread till my cheeks feel sore.

"Panda! You'll haf tah toss meh!" I chide and grab his paws, shaking them.

My excitement is cut short when I catch a gust of fresh rain passing my nose. "Awe man, hurry it's going to rain soon," I tell Panda and he looks up at a cloudless sky.

"Are you sure?" I follow his gaze and question my own senses as the Sun continues to shine, warm and bright.

"Uh, I don't... I'm not sure what-" My body tenses as Panda catches me off guard, twirls me once, and throws me high in the air. "Shiiiit!" I flail a second watching myself come in closer to the ground and try to readjust. I spin myself around and land on one leg then the other. It's not graceful, but it is a landing. I pose like I'm in the Olympics and they cheer for me like I've just won gold.

"Great, now just do that a doz--" Panda's voice fades as a static overwhelms my ear canal. Inumaki is the first to notice something is wrong, in fact, it seems like-

"Great, now just do that a dozen more times!" I blink and everything feels like its shifted. The sky is dark and clouded over, the Sun is there but feels off.

Inumaki is by my side in a moment and expresses his concern. "Takana?"

Maki and Megumi are done sparring and walk over to the three of us.

"We'd better get inside, I know how much Panda hates getting wet. God forbid he have a bath for once." Maki's indignant scoff draws the others attention.

I stay behind, still gazing absently at the sky. "I want to wait for the rain, Inumaki."

"Okaka." he protests and pulls on my sleeve, cocking his head.

"It's okay. I'm okay. I love the rain. I'm safe." I whisper even though we're completely alone now.

He looks up at the sky with me.

"Here it comes." I close my eyes and reach blindly for his hand. I smile as he readily takes it in his.

The rain feels like it's freezing.

"I wish we were somewhere else right now." I tilt my head, catching flashes of light through my closed lids. I can feel the static in the air and my prediction of where lightning will strike next would seem supernatural to non-scorceres.

"Where."

I look over to Inumaki, who's looking back at me so sweetly. I hum, deciding that I misheard his ingredients for speech. The rain is so loud, after all. I swallow hard, before answering.

"So, let me ask you something, Toge."

"Kelp."

"You thought I was dating Megumi and that's why you didn't ask me out sooner, right?"

"Shake."

Toge and I begrudgingly swept the wooded arena for the cursed spirit while the others made their way to defend our classmate, Itadori from an unfair death.

We used the phone Panda gave us to call one of the students from the Kyota school, and Toge was able to put them to sleep, tricking them into thinking they were a friend calling. The conversation between us now was light and I was taking some time out of the difficult situation to tease him.

"But you flirted with me. Like, I dunno if you noticed that..." I smirk at him, "you did... a lot. More than someone who believes I was already in a relationship should... " I hop on the trunk of a fallen tree, balancing and goofing off as I wait for him to find a way of responding with his limited speech. He drops his shoulders and looks at me, I'm pretty sure he's pouting under his collar.

"I'm just thinking, if I hadn't cleared it up with you that I don't see him that way, do you think you'd still just be flirting with me?"

"Okaka."

"No?" I stop once I reach the end of the trunk and take a moment to just stand and look around. Toge takes out his phone and slapdash types a response. He comes over to hand it to me and I look down at him from my stump. He leans into me, hugging my legs and resting his head on my stomach. I read his message out loud.

"I don't know. I literally cannot imagine any scenario where I didn't end up where I am with you right now." I hum at his thoughtful words, surprised at what I was seeing. The sweet moment doesn't last long as I feel his grip tighten on my legs and suddenly I'm being hoisted into the air and swung around in nauseating circles. "You jerk! You can't just be sweet, you gotta go a ruin it? Put me down!"

He's laughing and humming the sound of "Nuh-uh, nuh-uh!" on repeat and I can't help but fall into a fit of my own laughter as I get dizzy and lightheaded. I'm not worried about self-preservation when I fall backward in his arms and he loses balance and we topple into the surrounding mulch.

"We're supposed to be looking for a cursed spirit, you remember that?" I lean up on one elbow and hover over Toge who's casually crossing his arms across his stomach. He shrugs before nodding in agreement, but he doesn't make a move to get up. I smile and shake my head expectantly.

"Okay, loverboy, this is romantic, but if the others finish their task and we're out here canoodling in the dirt, there's gonna be questions. Not to mention how mad I will be if we don't win when it's all said and done."

"Canoodling." he repeats my word. I look at him with a slack jaw, shocked he said it out loud before realizing it seemed to be a safe word.

I slap his chest lightly, "Okay you don't have to risk hurting yourself just because you think a word I say is silly. You got lucky that that word is practically jibberish. Let's go!" I go to push myself up off the ground and he follows after me, gently grabbing my elbow for my attention.

"Tsuna, Shake." He signs something, but I don't know what it is yet. We've been gradually learning it together and sometimes he takes the time to show me something new he really likes and vice versa.

"I don't- what's that one? Wait do it again? I-blank-you-something. Is that--" I'm cut off by an intense stench coming from somewhere in the woods. "There's a curse here." I deadpan and he falls to attention in the direction I look to. I inhale and close my eyes briefly to get a better grasp on what's out there.

"Ikura, okaka tsuna?" He can feel its cursed energy but wants to know if I can pinpoint where exactly through the dense foliage.

"It's-- shit. It's gone?" I'm confused. The cursed energy from it is gone, but it feels sudden like an exercise happened. The energy now feels... like nature itself. It smells of sweetness, like a field of flowers and pollen. I step behind Toge and put my hand on his throat. He nods and we watch as a tall pale Cursed Spirit approaches.

"?sevlesruoy yb llA .ym ,hO" it speaks in twisted words but its meaning somehow flows effortlessly through my brain.

"Shake, ikura, mentaiko." Toge speaks back in his own twisted speech, a threat to the Curse to not underestimate the two of us.

"Toge, we need to get to back to the others. There's no telling what else is going on- they could need us as much as we need them." I whisper to him, lightly tapping my pointer finger on his neck, letting him know I'm amplifying my cursed energy output there. He nods and speaks a cursed command at the Special Grade.

"Go to hell." and the words shake through my palm and reinforce his throat.

Normally Toge would use a command with less ambiguity for more effect, but with my cursed energy flowing into his, our techniques are combined.

Once I physically touch my opponent, remnants of my cursed energy can rob them of their senses and replace them with a cognitive vision I create instead.  

Or, alternatively, as with Toge, I can use my physical touch on him to enhance his technique with my own. I can do this with other sorcerers as well, though the combination of our energy is not always a worthwhile result.

His cursed speech negates my condition to touch an opponent to use my technique and my energy added to his reduces the toll his voice has on his body.

It's mutualism in nature at its finest.

The power of the commands kickback rocks through my hand and down my arm and I can feel how strong they are. I'm already breathing heavily when he takes my hand from him and pulls me away.

"Fuck, that's.. it's so strong. We won't have a lot of time before it's mind comes back to it..."

"Shake." he squeezes my hand as we run.

Once we reach the school yard I can feel our technique lose its hold. Large intimidating roots shoot from the ground and trail after us.  

"Kelp, Okaka!?"

"I'm alright, I can keep going."

His voice is barely scratchy and he's asking if I took more than my fair share of the kickback from his cursed speech, otherwise, he knows he'd probably have a bloody throat already.

Even as we scale the walls of the courtyard, even as we're nearly crushed between roots and the shingled roof, he reassures me.

"Mentaiko."

He knows how strong I am, he knows I would do anything to keep him safe, and as much as he hates when I take more of the burden than I should, he knows I'll do my best.

We run along the roof as the roots are bearing down on us, and he spots Megumi and one of the students from the Kyoto school.

He shouts a command at them, "Run away", just moments before sharp roots hone into where they were stood.

When we've converged with them we frantically try to find a way out of the maze of chaos, only to be cornered at the exit. If that wasn't bad enough, a veil descends from the sky drenching us in a sickly sepia tone.

The Kyoto student speaks up first.

"Why is there a cursed spirit at Jujutsu High? Who does this veil belong to?" asking the questions on all of our minds.

"Probably the curse user working with that cursed spirit." Megumi answers with the obvious conclusion.

"Do you know something?"

"Gojo-sensei showed us some.. uh, drawings he made of two unregistered special-grade cursed spirits." I chip in.

"I think it's the one that attacked him, even if his drawing was garbage."

"Tsuna Mayo." Toge motions for Megumi to call Gojo-sensei.

The sister school student seems shocked we can understand what he's saying, but Megumi ignores his questions to say how important it is we get in touch with our teacher. The last thing we want is to be caught in a domain.

At the mention of Gojo, however, the Special Grade is upon us in a second. Tearing the phone from Megumi it shatters to the ground before any of us have time to react.

"Don't move!" Toge is the first to respond, commanding the curse.

The student follows behind, using a blood manipulation technique while it's immobilized, but the shot seems to have bounced off the body, inflicting no damage at all.

Nue, the shikigami pummels into it from above as Megumi takes less than a second to slice across the cursed spirit's thigh. We're shocked to see that whatever cut was inflicted was instantly healed, leaving no trace save for the hole left behind in its garment.

I'm moving forward now, attempting to take the last split second of its immobilization to get my hand on it. I feel a hand grip mine and look to see Toge has pulled me back. He shakes his head as the cursed spirit speaks to us clearly in our minds.

"--Please die, and become sages--"

"It's time to go! Run, running now!" I panic and push Toge towards a door heading into the school as more roots shake and shatter from the earth and head straight for us. Since I can't safely get my hands on the spirit, we need him if we want a chance of outrunning this thing.

We're running through the hallways now, I'm just behind my classmates when the other one stops and turns on the heel to defend.

"STOP." Toge shouts at the curse so that the other has a safe opening to attack.

"Convergence!"

In the instant he clapped his hands together to create a shot, I reached out and grabbed his exposed bicep, channeling a small amount of my energy into the direction of his blood flow.

"Piercing Blood!" Its body cracks and splinters a small amount where the shot hits its head. The real damage was internal though as my infused technique made contact, disorienting the curse enough we could run again with our meager head start.

"Uh, hi, by the way." I give him my name as we're sprinting down the hall, and he tells me he's Kamo.

"What did you do back there? I felt the volume of the shot increase without my direction, is that your technique?"

"Sort of. It's different for everyone. It's a manipulation. You benefited through chemical commensalism, I gave you a meager amount of my blood, and the mixed blood of your shot connected me to the cursed spirit enough to immobilize it a short time."

"Hmm."

"Toge, are you ok?" I turn my attention to the blonde, worried about his condition. I can see he's already sweating as he pulls out one of his rolls of throat lozenges. I'm not doing much better. Already channeling through him and now Kamo has left me aching and chilled.

We make it to the top floor, with nowhere left to run but over the balcony to reach the adjacent roof. By the time we're there the cursed spirit has gained on us and we have to stop again.

Megumi's Shikigami Nue is summoned next to me, its wingspan brushed against my shoulder. I try to fuse anything I can in its small touch seconds before he sends it flying at the curse. My vision is mono-focused as I see Toge's throat erupt in blood when he tries to command. I should have saved my energy to protect him and I tell him as much when I run to hold his shoulders up.

"Okaka." He mouths the word more than speaks it, his throat nearly destroyed.

"It's okay. I got you. We just need one more. We can get away. Just one more, Toge. I'll help you."

He's shaking his head, unable to tell me no. He tries to pry my hands from his uniform but I've got him firmly in my grasp. If I can't be of any help then he knows I'll give my all to make sure he can get the job done.

I don't have enough cursed energy to help in any significant way, but it's enough for him to get a "Blast off!" shouted at the curse, forcing it into the shingles of the building. We're both hit with the kickback and I watch as he passes out seconds before I do.

I only blacked out for a minute, but in that time Maki was able to intervene and the cursed spirit had been knocked far away from us, enough it felt like we weren't in any immediate danger. Toge lay unconscious beside me, and Kamo was not far from us. My head is pounding and I know Toge's throat is going to be killing him when he wakes up, so I check his pockets for his bottle of cough medicine.

I pull him up to lay in my lap while we wait for help. I can carry him, but not Kamo also, and I don't want to leave him unconscious alone.

after a moment, the third year from our sister school flies up on her broom and says she can carry two of us, but not all three.

"That's fine! Take These two, I can get back on my own." I assure her. I help her hoist up Kamo and then Toge. I have his arm slung over me, about to swap him over to Nishimiya, but he stirs and holds onto me tighter, unwilling to let go. "You need to go with her, she's going to get you out of the veil and to someone that can take a look at you."

He shakes his head, and I sigh, wishing he'd stayed unconscious just a little longer.

"It's okay, Nishimiya. Take your classmate, we'll find our way back." I reluctantly tell the sorcerer.

"Are you okay?" Toge has his full weight on me and his arms around my neck. I'm strong enough to steady him but I tighten the hold I have around his waist. "You should have gone with her back to the school. Stubborn." I huff into his temple.

He's pulling me down to sit and I oblige him. I reach for the cough medicine I found on him earlier and take it from his pocket, holding his chin up as I help him drink the concoction.

I can hear blasts in the distance.

"Sounds like the others are still fighting," taking out a handkerchief I wipe at the drying blood around his mouth.

He's looking at me like he's disappointed but I know he shouldn't be. "You did amazing. Me, Megumi? The Kyoto student? We'd be dead for sure if you hadn't been there. There was no stopping that special grade on our own."

He huffs through his nose and pulls out his phone. He sharply inhales when we see the screen is broken. He must have landed on it when he passed out, or it happened in the middle of the chase.

"Oh nooo, how will you annoy me with cringey memes during classes now?" I tease him. He's perfectly capable of getting a new phone once this is all over, he's just upset he can't talk to me right now. I lean over and give him a small kiss on his temple. "I'm glad you're okay." I whisper to him.

Above us the veil lifts and we can spot Gojo-sensei from a distance. Now that the muddy sepia tone is gone I can see the darkening clouds and smell the sky again.

Toge puts his broken phone down and cups my cheek, pulling my attention back to him. He clears his throat with a strained cough before looking into my tired eyes. He pulls me in and kisses me so gently on my lips, and I can taste the cough suppressant on my tongue but I don't care one bit, I chase him when he draws away.

"M-mentaiko." he wheezes.

I put my finger to his lips, shushing him. I just want him to kiss me again.

He shakes his head though, always so determined to say the things he wants to me.

He pulls his hands together in the same way he did earlier in the woods. Sign language, but this time he's coughing out words with it.

"Tsuna mayo, Mentaiko Shake."

A vast amount of cursed energy is pooling together somewhere not far in the distance.

"-- Gojo is about to ruin that curse's day." Hollow Purple blasts a beeline toward where we heard the commotion before. Toge is watching it unfold, but I don't need to see it anymore. I pull his face back to mine and smile. "What were you saying dear?" I ask cheekily as the most powerful sorcerer is destroying several acres of wood next to us.

The blast was so strong, that its wind current was enough to shake loose whatever resilience the clouds had left, releasing an onslaught of rain.

"It's always raining these days. Even when it shouldn't." you mutter.

"Love."

"Hmm? What was that?" my mind is elsewhere.

"I love you."

"I know, but it's not enough, is it?" I'm drenched in water and cold, so cold. It no longer feels like water. I blink and for a brief moment, I'm in the dark. It's just blood, I tell myself.

"What would make you happy?"

"I don't know. Do we have time for one more?"

"It's up to you, whatever you want, it's yours, love."

"Then, I guess take me...to the beginning?"

"Kelp."

"Hmm?"

"Kelp!"

"Huh? What did you say?" I'm making a fool of myself, I just know it. Is this hazing? Am I being bullied by this short guy, of all people?

"Gojo-sensei?" I turn to my teacher, and legal guardian, hoping he can help me or at least save me from this interaction already gone terribly wrong. To my dismay, he's simply grinning like an idiot as I ask the blonde what he's said for the third time.

"Shake, Tsuna tsuna!" The boy pulls a notepad and pen out of his pocket and jots down the gist of his greeting, saying that he uses cursed speech and these were his safe words. I get as far as reading his name before Gojo is breathing down my neck looking over my shoulder, making my business his own as usual.

I roll my eyes, pulling the notepad to my chest so he can't see, and take the opportunity to grab Toge's arm and pull him away from prying eyes.

"Come on! We can talk more if you give me a personal tour." I chirp and don't wait for a reply. Any chance to get away from Gojo is one I am willing to seize, even if that means the new conversation is one-sided.

We walk the hall together, in silence at first. I'm feeling a bit light-headed as the corridor stretches on, an endless number of doors on either side of us. It's an eery feeling, that he's ferrying me somewhere. The first couple of doors are empty classrooms, places I'll be spending my time learning just as I would at any regular school.

The further we go the more the air has a musty smell to it, like old wood and dust.

"This place must have a lot of history, huh?" I muse to my silent companion.

I tripped over my feet a little and laughed in embarrassment when I instinctually reached out to Toge's shoulder to find my balance. In return, he held out his hand for me to hold and be guided by.

"That's not how it happened though, you can't just add things in." I whisper, hesitant to take his hand.

He shrugs.

"I promise. This'll be better."

"I don't know if I want to change things." my voice is shaking and I feel my face dampen with tears that had already been stained there.

"Why not?" I hear Toge's teasing voice in my head but the face I'm looking at doesn't move with his words.

I start to protest but there's a lump in my throat and a metallic smell hits my nose.

Inumaki pulls me along. The next doors we open are filled with memories we'd shared once, faded and blurred from how small they were, how distant they seemed now.

I lean into his shoulder and he wraps an arm around me.

"The floors are wet!" I pick up my foot as I feel the water sink into my shoe. I look ahead down the hall and see the water only gets deeper. Inumaki turns to me and I notice his high collar is gone now when he pulls my forehead to his lips, kissing me gingerly before picking me up bridal style to carry me the rest of the way.

The water parts for him as he reaches the last door at the end of the hall.

He uses a finger to tap my leg, directing me to open the door. I look at him skeptically but his eyes are pleading.

"Humor me?"

I turn the knob and find myself alone in a room.

"Inumaki? Where-" I look around and see a gaming computer on one wall, a web browser pulled up for a walk-through for some game I've never heard of. Across from there is a small table large enough for a lamp and a single picture frame. I walk over and pick it up, looking for clues as to where I am. There's a man who looks like he could be Inumaki's dad holding a young child. They're both looking at the camera and you can tell they're smiling, even with the grown man wearing a high collar and the child covering their mouth with an oversized sweater.

"Is this Inumaki's home?" I ask out loud to no one.

I hear a commotion through the door and moments later a child runs in and wraps their arms around my legs while laughing hysterically. "Mommy mommy help me save me!!"

The man from the photo follows through after them, snatching the child in one arm and wrapping the other around my waist.

"No fuckin' way." is all I can say as the realization stuns me.

"Mommy said a bad word, daddy."

"Ikura! Ikura." he wags a finger at the child, redirecting her to a more appropriate way of expression.

"S-sorry." I stammer, "Are they... are they mine?" I ask him. He nods to me, a grin spread wide across his more mature face.

Tears prick at my eyes again and the child reaches out for me to take them from his arms. I do, and they cling to me.

"But, but they look like you."

"Tsuna, Sujiko!" he laughs, wide-eyed as he shakes his head. I can tell he means to say something like, "I should hope so!" from the way he moves.

"They're ours." my voice cracks. I look at them, that same blonde hair, those same violet eyes. "How? I thought... I mean... you're not allowed to have kids... your technique."

"I can give you anything you want here. A child, a ring, a wedding, a home, my voice. Anything you want, it's yours."

"H-how..." I'm stammering. It's all too much.

"Does it matter?"

"HOW. Tell me. Please tell me-"

"You know. You already know. Stay here with me." I can feel myself shaking my head as he pleads with me. "Live a lifetime with me, like we should have done."

"Toge."

"Please."

"Inumaki, we can't. It isn't real. None of this is real. It's just..."

"...please."

"It's just your domain. Or mine?"

"It's ours."

"This shouldn't be possible."

"No... but it happened. I'm guessing I used what was left of our combined cursed energy and we're in our shared domain expansion together."

"I- I remember now. We have to get back. We have to find help, your arm!"

"I'm going to be okay. You.. you've lost a lot of blood baby. I'm afraid that if we leave... you're not going to make it."

I feel a cool breeze pass over me and see the shattered buildings surrounding me.

"Stop! Just stay here with me, please!" Toge is standing in front of me on the training field now, hair soaked and hands shaking on my shoulders.

I see lights in the distance far beyond him. Flashing in slow motion my vision blurs trying to focus on two different worlds at once.

"There's someone out there. You have to go. You have to flag them down. Go to them."

"I won't leave you. I can't. If we leave the domain... I don't know what will happen."

"I do. I know what happens."

The illusion is cracked, and I'm cold to my core as he holds me tightly against him.

"You let me go so you can wave them down. They get to us, but not before my heart gives out and stops beating. In the ambulance, they use a defibrillator, classically. And they get my heart started again, but it's weak. I need to get to a hospital, I need blood and an IV or whatever it is doctors do. They properly handle my leg and you're taken away separately to get your arm situation under control. You fight with them every step of the way, even in your weakened condition, because you're stubborn and don't want to leave me alone. Not now. Not ever again, you're thinking to yourself. But when they finally pry us apart they can save us. And one time when you should be passed out, the nurses get an alert that one of their patients, you, has detached their heart monitor and is fumbling down the hall in nothing but a paper gown. You find my room and blackout at the door. Then when enough time has passed and we get to leave the hospital, you with no arm and me with no leg, we work together to find a way to pick up where the other now lacks until we're more or less back to normal. That's what happens, Toge. There is no other option. There is no world where one of us can be without the other." I can't move my limbs anymore, and I lay stiff in his embrace as I wait for the domain to fully collapse and I can't communicate my thoughts to him.

"And then, after all that, we grow up, we grow old, we start that family you showed me. We live."

I don't know the truth. I don't know anything, but I say it all anyway.

The rain has stopped now. There's nothing left but the cold night air and the stars that shine bright in the sky above.

"I love you." his voice shakes like I've never heard before.

"Say it again... so nice."

"Tsuna mayo, Mentaiko Shake."

The domain is at last shattered.

"I love you too."

Toge raises to shaky feet as he waves down the flashing lights in the distance.

I breathe slowly and my heart stops.

[beetlesau]

Share A Seat, Bakugo/Reader

1.4k - Colleting the small UA group heading off to Summer Camp as counselors. The van has limited seating. This is just a drab I have been wanting to read but I have yet to find one. (If anyone knows a similar concept PLS LINK??? LINKIES???) so I made a small one for myself. Enjoy, or don't. That's okay. [I didn't proofread but this COULD be gn I think?] Aged up, Cursing,

Summer was in full swing. The AC blasting throughout Midoriya's van was soon to be a distant memory as he picked up the old UA gang one by one- destination, a Sleep-away camp, where third years had the unfortunate pleasure of being camp counselors.

Kirishima and you were the first passengers. He took advantage of this by taking control of the AUX and sitting behind the driver. You claimed the legroom riding shotgun. Within an hour, the van was filling up with familiar faces and, as well, entirely too much luggage.

Mina sat in the middle row, Kirishima to her left and Kaminari to her right. By no surprise to anyone who knew the boy- Denki had managed to pack even more than even Mina. Their luggage and duffle bags crowded the third and final row, leaving a small spot for their last two passengers, Bakugo and Uraraka.

As Midoriya pulled into the driveway of the former, onlookers met an angry scowl. "You're late." he seethed as he strode up to the window, shooting Deku a terrifying snarl with you caught in the crossfire. "Ah-ha, yeah, sorry. We had a hard time getting the duffle bags in the back arranged so we could make a spot for you." Midoriya nervously apologized. "Save it, nerd," he dismissed him before giving you a subtle nod and a grumbled, "Hey." Before you could think to reply, he was shoving Kaminari aside to gain access to the last row. You turned to watch him shove his bag onto the ever-growing pile of clothing and camping accessories, finally settling in with his earphones.

The last stop is Uraraka. This stop was met with a much more agreeable greeting, as she was running out the front door with a glowing smile and a float in her step. You rolled the window down, "Do you need any help with your bags? Is that all you're bringing!? Where's the rest of it?" you were taken aback that she seemed to have even less than Bakugo had. She blushed and looked to Izuku who was tomato red already. "Well, we were so excited to be a part of the Future Heroes Camp as counselors that we sort of planned all our outfits ahead of time and I ended up just leaving them at Izuku's place! So most of my things are actually packed away already in the van. These are just my toiletries and such." she smiled brightly at the embarrassed green-haired driver before poking her head in your window and checking the scene in the back. You could see her excitement falter as she noticed there wasn't much room left and the last spot was in the very back next to the grumpiest guy. "Do you want me to see if we can rearrange the luggage again to make more room for you?" Mina suggested, "I'm sure we could toss out one of Kaminari's bags, I bet he packed more than one useless hairdryer." she rolled her eyes. "What!? It's my back up dryer!" "Why would you need a backup one!?" "Uh-duh, in case the first one breaks?"

"WHAT'S THE HOLD UP, DEKU!?" Bakugo's voice thundered over the two arguing. "Sorry!" "Eep! Please, it's alright, I don't want anyone to make any changes for me… I'll be alright." Uraraka smiled her sweet sincere smile before taking a strained deep breath. You could see her swallow hard as Kaminari stepped out so she could easily push up the seat, accessing the back row.

Against your better judgment, you spoke up before she could hoist herself in. "Wait, how about you take my seat? I've been shotgun for the entire pickup, I don't mind taking the back for the rest of the way." You ignored the tiny excited gasp only you could hear coming from the driver's seat.

"I'll take it!" Kaminari shouted, sticking his grabby hands out at your chair. You, admittedly with satisfying force, karate chopped his forehead and shoved him away from you and your passenger seat.

You deadpanned, "I didn't offer it to you, chump, now move aside. Ochako?" "Well, if you're sure? I really don't want to be a bother to anyone…" she wrung her hands together.

"You're bothering me, you idiots!" Bakugo carried on but was, for the most part, ignored. "Ah! Okay! I'll trade you. Thank you so much! I owe you one, really." she bowed and hurridly scurried to replace you in the front spot.

You were feeling pretty well about your good deed till you found yourself in a tighter spot than you'd first expected. "Wow, there really isn't a whole lotta room back here is there, huh?" you muttered to your new seatmate.

"Tsk. Whatever, just get in already. It's bad enough I got ropped into riding with you all when I could of just drove myself." he scoffed.

"Why didn't you then?" you used every bit of muscle you had to try and widen the nonexistent gap between Bakugo and the bags, to no avail.

"Shitty hair said it would 'be a bonding experience!' and that 'carpooling is manly and saves the ecosystem!' I don't know, some other shit sprinkled in there. Basically, agreed just so he'd shut the hell up about it." Bakugo didn't attempt to make more room for you.

You sat awkwardly, leaning on your hip into the luggage, attempting the most dramatic leg-cross just to avoid putting any weight on Bakugo's thigh.

"Oh. Well, good thing he didn't get that message to Todoroki or we might have a real problem on our laps." you rolled your eyes at yourself, hoping he missed the stupid joke. "That Half-and-half rat bastard is probably sitting real comfy all by himself in the most expensive car daddy's money can buy." Bakugo's leg started to bounce in irritation before he realized it was propelling you further into the baggage. "Sorry." he mumbled out low enough you almost missed it. "Suppose we could find time during our month-long camping trip to dirty it up, would that make you feel better?" you look over your shoulder, giving him a mischievous eye. He tried to hide his sudden smile by turning to look out the window away from you, "Sheesh, might find his car was egged? Could of been any number of the bratty ass kids, we can't keep an eye on all of them, now can we?" "Oo, better yet what if one of those eggs found its way inside his car? Shame if after a month one were to go bad hidden under the precious leather seats?" "You… That's… You're kind of a badass, huh?" he glares at you intently. You weren't sure if he was being serious or using sarcasm. Before you could figure it out the van hit a pothole that sent the luggage and the pair of you a foot in the air. "HEY, YOU DAMN NERD, CAN YOU EVEN DRIVE, DICKHEAD?" "Sorry!" the frightened voice squeaked from the front. "Fuck. Are you okay?" he sounded more pissed than concerned but that was the one type of question you knew he'd never ask unless he meant it. "Ah, yeah a little ragdoll never hurt anyone." you scoffed, "Are you okay?" you looked down to see the bump had practically put you in his lap. "Nothing here I can't handle," he stated simply. You were readjusting and scoffed, "I'd take that bet." then froze realizing what you'd said. You screwed your eyes shut, your face turned away from the blonde. You focused your attention on literally anything but the heat radiating off him before deciding you should try and slide back into your cramped spot. "Welp! I'm just gonna move over-" You thought your belt loop must have been stuck on something as when you tried to lift yourself, it held you back. Looking down you were surprised to find Bakugo's thumb was twisted through the loop holding you down to your makeshift seat.

"Uh, Bakugo?" you nervously croaked out. "Yeah, what's up?" he was glancing out his window, cool as always. "Did you want me to move off of you?" He turned, glare burning, "I think it's actually better if you stay put, this shitbox filled with all this junk and you can't even use the seatbelt right now."

"Oh, right. Okay. That… makes sense." you internally screamed as your brain malfunctioned. "Oi, don't make it a big deal. It's whatever." he shrugged. "No yeah, no it's cool. Best seat in the house, honestly." "For me, Definitely." he smirked and readjusted you so you were fully in his lap, for the extra security.

"Do you think the rest of camp will be this interesting?" you cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I can fuckin' hope."

[beetlesau]

Bus Ride, Drabble Dabble, Bakugo/Reader

I'm obsessed with the idea that Bakugo would go feral for a woman that's as normie as his dad just because his mom CHASED his dad DOWN because she wanted him, And Bakugo is his moms twin. ANYWAY. Just messing around with a tame version of that idea. Being bored. Zero Edits, I don't even know if I spelt names correctly lol K Baaiiiii

"Why does your hair look like that?" Mineta peaked over the bus seat down at you. You instinctually pulled the collar of your shirt up to cover any cleavage that could have been showing from that view. 

You sighed, it was a common question back in school before UA. You'd been made fun of for it for as long as you could remember, but you never cared. It was your second year at UA, you'd thought someone would have said something sooner than now, but here you were. You made an obvious glance up at Mineta's purple grapelike head before bringing your attention back to his face. 

"Same reason yours looks like that, I guess. Our quirk just made us different." You looked back down to a Heroes Weekly Tabloid magazine you'd been busying yourself with prior. 

Your hair was normal, bland even, save for the bands of white that flowed down from your temples. The doctors said that when your quirk manifested, it must have put such a strain on you that your body responded in the odd way it did. The same thing happened to your eye color. You had such intense grey eyes after your quirk appeared you hardly remember the color they were before that day.  

"No I mean your haircut!" he chided. Your eye twitched before you looked up again at the pervert menace. You noticed that comment also grabbed the attention of the others on the bus. 

In the seat across from Mineta sat Ashido and Uraraka. Uraraka, who sat by the window, glowered at the boy as best as her round sweet face could. Ashido sneered and shot a glance over to Mineta's seatmate, Kaminari. A look that said, "if you don't do something, I will."

Kaminari, not wanting to have his face melted off as collateral damage, stood in his chair and turned back to face you as well. He put on his best flirty smile and propped his cheek on his fist. "I don't know, I think it looks pretty good. Edgy. Mysterious."

"Yeah, it's a mystery why she has that haircut. It's so unflattering on you! You could be an absolute ten if you'd just--"

Mina flung her leg across the aisle, shoving her boot into Mineta AND Kaminari's sides.

"You dimwitted jerks! You're lucky she doesn't have Uraraka float your two asses and hog tie you to the bus like a couple of balloons!"

"Say the word and I'll do it, girl!" Uraraka looked at you with her dusted pink cheeks. She may have been a softy but she was a ride-or-die. 

You laughed at your two best friends and shook your head no. It was alright. It wasn't anything you weren't used to.

"She cuts it herself." a gravelly voice across from you catches your attention. "Didn't you say that, like, first day of school? Do you not pay attention, idiots?" Bakugo takes one of his earphones out as he readjusts against his school bag. All the noise must have bothered him enough to chime in. 

All four members of the conversation lean out into the aisle and look back at the blonde. Did he just say he remembered some random thing someone said about themselves? 

"Oh. Right, yeah I kind of do remember that." Kaminari pulls out his phone and starts typing away like a madman. Not seconds later a couple of simultaneous dings are heard a bit further up the bus. "Uh, do you know why she cuts it herself though?"

"What's it to you dumbass? She's right there, ask her yourself." he sucks his teeth annoyed, but looks over to you. "Don't tell this shithead anything you don't want to." You smiled at him, your cheeks finding a bit of color before you turned back to Kaminari. You raised your eyebrows at him as though to say, "You heard the man."

Kaminari groans before trying a new tactic. "I mean, I already know the answer. I remember, I was just trying to see if YOU remembered. In fact, I think I probably know more about her than anyone else on this bus." he stated matter-of-factly. You looked at him with an incredulous expression before the hothead across from you spoke out again. 

"You're full of shit." he turns to you again, "You cut it that way so it doesn't get in your way! That's why it doesn't matter what the hell it looks like. You're not trying to win fuckin beauty pageants, you're trying to kick villain ass."

"What's going on, what did I miss? What was that text about?" Kirishima crouched in the aisle, looking to Kaminari for answers. 

"Kirishima, thank god! Mineta move, let Kirishima sit there, you've been a menace long enough today." Mineta checked the seat Kirishima had just come from and saw it was across from Yaoyorozu and agreed without too much fuss.

"Oh, man, you just missed Bakugo say that the lil lady back here isn't winning any beauty pageants." Kaminari slowly shook his head in mock disappointment. 

"WHAT THE HELL? DID I FUCKING SAY THAT??? YOU WANNA KEEP PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH?" Bakugo shot up from his seat, sparks popping off his hands that gripped the back of Ashido and Uraraka's chair, the smell of scorched plastic permeated before Uraraka opened her window.

"It's okay Bakugo, he's just trying to mess with you. You're right though, I just hate having my hair in my eyes so I cut my bangs myself." you blow air up from your mouth and watch as the short choppy fringe fluttered about just a bit. "One of these days I'm gonna have tech support just make me a built-in headband so I can grow them out. The grow-out stage is a bitch, is all. " you laugh.

"So that's why Bakugo called you Fringe for the first year of school!" Kirishima nodded in understanding.

"Hey, Kirishima, do you know her favorite color, by the way?" Kaminari ponders dramatically. 

"Uh, It'd be a guess, but no I don't think I've ever asked--What is your favorite color?" Kirishima politely and enthusiastically requested the information from you now. 

"Oh! Well now hold on a minute, maybe we SHOULD guess it." Kaminari's words were laced with a layer of sticky entrapment but you were curious to see where he was going with all this nonsense. 

"Sure, go ahead." you shrugged. 

"Let's take turns guessing. Is it teal?" he looked at you expectantly, and you gave him a cocked side-eye. 

"No-"

"OH darn. Okay Bakugo, your turn. What's her favorite color?"

"This is stupid." he huffed

"Well if you don't know, just say so--"

"It's the same as her birthstone, jackass."

Your blush told Kaminari he was correct, or at least close enough. 

"What makes you so sure? Did she tell you?"

"Obviously it's the same as her birthstone, she has a bracelet she wears that's that color, so why wouldn't it be? It's not that hard to figure out if you weren't an idiot."

"--you know her birthdate?" Uraraka's eyes were wide and she was blushing profusely, knowing full well what was happening. 

"What's her favorite food?" Mina piped up, ignoring the subtlety that Kaminari was attempting, seeing exactly what he was trying to get from the angry blonde. 

"How the hell should I know." Bakugo sunk back down in his seat, attempting to put his dead earphones back on, conveying he was done with the interrogation. 

"Well that's a tough one anyway, I'll eat just about anything. I'm not picky." you shrugged, trying to save Bakugo from any more annoyance. 

"Psh. Yeah, but you have such an annoying sweet tooth. I swear I came down to the common area one time and you were practically scarfing down a cupcake. I thought you'd end up eating the wrapper." Bakugo interjected. 

"Oh, that's ... That's true actually!" you grinned. "Well, the sweets part. I was not going to eat the wrapper! Sato had made some for the class. Maybe if you didn't go to bed so early you could of known how amazing it was." you pouted.

"I don't eat sweets before bed, are you nuts? How's anyone supposed to sleep hopped up on sugar? I don't know how you do it." he mumbled, crossing his arms and spreading to take up more room in his seat. 

"Ah, well I suppose I do have trouble falling asleep sometimes." you considered, "I should try out your schedule for a week and see if it helps!"

"WHY ARE YOU ALL STARING? What the fuck could you all have to look at? Fucking annoying." Bakugo stopped to yell when he noticed the small group of onlookers were, well, still looking at the two of you. 

"Kaminari, he's right, you should mind your own business." Mina said as she and Uraraka turned back around to go back to their own thing. Mina turned to send you a glance and pointed at her phone, indicating you should check your phone. 

Looking at your recent messages you see one from the pinkette,

So are you going to pretend it's normal for THAT guy to know everything about you??

You bit your lip as you glanced over at the annoyed guy staring into the back of the seat in front of him. His leg was bouncing in boredom and probably irritation if you had to guess.

Mina was your best friend, but she could be a bit dramatic. 

You weren't sure you were ready to tell her that Bakugo had made it known to you that he was interested. Like, VERY interested.

And you were, less obviously, interested back. You knew his favorite food. His favorite color. He even told you things that made him feel insecure and confided his feelings about being a hero to you. 

It happened suddenly one day. You noticed him looking at you, like actually looking. He held you back after class and said your actual name and not just fringe. That was when you realized you had feelings for him. You didn't hate the nickname, and you considered yourself on good terms with him. He acknowledged your strength and treated you as an equal. But something about the way he said your name made your mind go fuzzy. It felt like you'd just woken from a dream and saw him for the first time. Were his eyes always that intense? 

"I talked to my old man the other day, and he told me some gross shit about how when he and my mom met- she pursued him relentlessly. Borderline insane is what it sounded like to me. My pop apparently doesn't have a spine and he just gave in. Whatever." Bakugo rolled his eyes before waiting for you to say something. 

"Oh! Um, I don't know, I guess I can see how that's romantic. Uh, why are you telling me this though?" you shuffled your weight from one foot to the other, noticing there was a bit too much heat bouncing off the two of you. 

Bakugo bit the inside of his cheek, taking a moment to find the wording. "I'm not crazy like that. I'm not some clone of my old Hag I just wanted to say." he lifted his arm to stretch his back, his actions nonchalant for such an odd topic of conversation. "Anyway, I waited a year is all I wanted to say, so I think I'm going to persue you now."

"Wh-what? You waited. Ah what?" you stammered, you could feel your heart pounding in your chest. "W-what if I don't want you to pursue m-me?" you laughed. You were nervous. And nervous you always say something to deflect the awkward feelings. 

"I'm not very good at not getting what I want, but like I said-I'm not crazy like that old hag, I'll let you have your own say. Anyway. I'll see you later." and then he left you standing there dazed and confused. 

You looked over to him now, sitting alone in his seat. Why else would you have been sitting in the back if not because you knew he'd be back here? You smile to yourself. While this could be your secret for a little while longer you really couldn't resist after seeing his commitment to knowing you in front of the others. 

You pull out your earphones, put one ear in, and hold out the other to Bakugo, who accepts without hesitation. He shoots you a nod and pushes his bag to the floor making room for you to sit by him. 

And you do. You probably will for the rest of your life if he has his way, and you're happy with that. 

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

CHAPTER 5, THIS IS IT THE LAST CHAPTER

I'm wrapping this up because I just don't have the steam to make a cohesive story anymore lol. I thought I'd have one more chapter but then I crammed it all into this one, oops.

I'm sorry if you wanted to be tagged still it's just been so long since an update I feel anxious about it.

It's time we meet.

You unwrapped a crisp little note that rattled your Soulbox,

Actually this time. No distractions, nothing getting in the way. I'm starting to feel way in over my head about this lately and I've never felt that way about shit before. You deserve the truth. I don't even know if you'll like me for who I am. It doesn't feel right to not tell you everything. 

You read the note a few times over to yourself. It was so... perplexing. Up until this point, you'd thought he had just been busy, but now you realized he was avoiding you for a reason. The anxiety you felt was enough to call in a personal day at work. You lay on your couch, wads of crinkled papers thrown around the room. You had no idea how to respond. You wanted to meet, but after obsessing over these cryptic words, what did he mean he's not who you think? Who is he? Is he a villain? Is he even in the hero profession at all? 

Why, oh why, did none of those options.... matter, to you?

Your anxiety was centered around why none of this seemed like a big deal to you. But, it was a big deal? And you should be anxious that your soulmate has a deal-breaking secret to tell you, but you aren't. Which is just making you anxious for all the wrong reasons. 

... you felt bad for... not .. feeling bad. 

You were pacing yourself sick when the buzzer to your apartment rang. It startled you enough you nervously approached the speaker by your door. What if it was him? What if he had found you somehow? What if now was the time? What if-- The buzzer rang again, more feverish and unending now. 

"Hello!?" you all but screamed to whoever was ringing your apartment's number. 

"What the hell are you doing? Why the hell aren't you at work dumbass?" a familiar voice growled through to you.

"Oh! Bakugo... I... I'm uh, I'm just not feeling well. I think... I have a cold!"

"... Bullshit. You've never been sick a day in your life, your quirk won't allow it."

How did he... never mind, there were probably plenty of people who could figure that fun fact out about you, not just Midoriya the hero-obsessed wonder.

"Ah, uh, that's not, true. Um, see I think it must be a new strand. Yeah, I can't seem to even use my quirk to get rid of it I'm so sick. *Cough Cough* ah, yeah see? So you'd better just leave, I can't have you coming up and getting si--"

You nearly jumped out of your skin as there was a pounding at your door. You checked the peek hole and saw it was none other than Bakugo, scowling into the lens.

"Son of a. WHO let you in the building!?" you screeched, turning to the mess that was your apartment. You scrambled to pick up loose notes, wadded papers, and an occasional tissue when your thoughts went to the worst possible meaning behind the sudden soul-sent message. 

"Turns out the doorman is a huge fan of Dynamite. What the FUCK are you doing and why have you not opened this door yet, huh?" he grumbled. "I'll break it down, you know I will." You could hear the agitation in his voice.

"NO! ugh, just give me a second would you!? I told the office I was taking a personal day, I didn't know I also had to tell you too!"

You march back to the door and yank it open, "Remind me to look for apartments with better security--what? What are these?" Your eyes caught the tufts of color lowered by his side.

"What the hell do they look like, Smokey, they're flowers." he pushed them to your chest before inviting himself in. 

"I...? Thank you. Why?"

He didn't answer, he just looked at you like you were the crazy one for even asking. 

"Okay. Anyway, I'm sorry, is there something I can help you with? I took the day off for a reason you know?"

"What reason?" he quipped.

"It's just one day, Bakugo. I'm just having a personal crisis I guess. My soulmate wants to try and meet up again."

"So? Isn't that what you wanted?" his face unreadable, he made his way uninvited to your couch. 

"Make yourself at home, I guess?" Shifting into host mode you pulled bottled water from your fridge and offered it up to your new houseguest. "Well yeah, but the way the note was-- wait how do you know where I live?"

"Wow, distracted much? Your dumbass friend from work, Karen or whatever the fuck told Kirishima and I heard so here I am."

"Kirishima asked where I lived. Why? Wait who? Who's Karen? I'm totally lost."

"Jesus, the secretary lady, I don't know her name I thought it was Karen. WHO CARES. You focus on the dumbest shit, I swear."

"It's not dumb, it's completely valid! But, FINE. WHY DID KIRISHIMA, need to get my address from Sahrin, the secretary!?!" you raise your voice to the absolute bafoon sitting in front of you.

"He heard you were sick and wanted to have a card signed by the office and sent over to you, shitty woman!"

"I'M NOT SICK, HOW DID HE EVEN GET THAT IDEA??"

"OBVIOUSLY FROM ME, IDIOT? I JUST KNEW SHE WASN'T GOING TO GIVE ME THE ADDRESS BECAUSE SHE'S AN ASSHOLE!"

"So you're telling me, you got Kiri to think I was sick, planted the idea that I needed a get well card sent over to me, so you hid within earshot while he probably flirted to get my address out of the secretary, "tHe AsSHolE" Sahrin NOT Karen, and then took it upon yourself to come to my apartment and harass me on my day off, right?"

"I didn't fuckin' hide. I could have got it myself if I wanted, I just didn't wanna flirt with some extra." he huffed. 

"Okay, Bakugo. Well?"

"Well what, hag!?"

"... where's my get well soon card!?" You held out your hand, only for it to get harshly swatted away by the blonde. 

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? GET SERIOUS."

"Oh wait, so that's what the flowers were for! Everyone thinks I'm sick?"

Bakugo's face blanked a moment, his mouth moving without speaking before his words finally caught up.

"Sure. Anyway, how is your dumbass soulmate causing you to take a personal day off work?" his face was heavy with stress, even with him trying to hide it you could see.

"Right. I dunno. I know it's so stupid--"

"I didn't say it was stupid. I just want a real answer."

"I'll get there! I just, he wants to meet again and the things he said in his note just... didn't sit right with me." You slouched into the couch trying to collect all your various free-floating thoughts.

"First he tells me he's been busy lately. So we haven't messaged a lot, which is fine. But, he's been ... acting differently whenever we do."

"Different? How?" Bakugo leaned in close, his expression told you this conversation had his full attention. It made you feel... wrong. This was the kind of thing you should tell a close friend, not some coworker you started having a crush on. It felt like cheating. 

A what-- you turned your eyes away from his burning red one. A bit of a slap to the face that something very obvious had only just now been realized by you. 

"I- I-" you stammered, Your thought process seemed to have come to a halt on the outside but on the inside, you couldn't stop the flow of information that was coming from this new discovery. 

You hesitated to meet your soulmate now, after minimal contact these past weeks. Why? Because you had someone else to occupy your thoughts now? Was that fair? Was that even right?

Did you stay home out of fear?

Fear that your soulmate wanted to reject you, no it would seem not.

Fear that you would go to work and see someone that didn't make you feel all that bad about that possibility, maybe.

And then what? Bakugo has a soulmate, and from what little he's told you about them, the way he's told you, they might as well be the Sun compared to you. 

"I'm sorry. I don't know." You glared hard at nothing in particular. "No, that's not true. It's been me. I've been different." You wrung your hands from the anxiety. Your thoughts and feelings were unfolding before you in real time, not exactly in the way you were used to. 

"You?" Bakugo inched closer to your face, something anyone else wouldn't think twice about being that it was a minuscule distance, but at this moment you were hyperaware of every little thing about him. The way his eyes searched your face for more answers. Answers you didn't want to give. 

"Yeah. What if I don't... what if it turns out I don't want him to... I've spent my life, believing in him as my one true Soulmate. I know that the world has so many possibilities for us, that there's never just One option. One outcome. But he was my first. And as a child, I banked so hard on fairytales and true love. I was so stubborn I didn't think about ever moving on just because he wouldn't speak to me. And that obsession with him being the one grew because of all the hard work I put into loving him and making him love me."

"But now you don't feel the same?"

"I love him. I do. Or I know I'm supposed to. I know that I will. Because he's my soulmate. I just thought..... I thought he would be the only one I loved." you confessed. Suddenly overwhelmed you stood. "I think you should leave." Your heart tremored at what you needed to do. There was no way you could keep going down this path, you could see no light at the end of it. Even if your soulmate had something horrid to tell you there was no use leaning on Bakugo for any of it. You wouldn't dream of chasing something forbidden as another person's soulmate

He stood without argument or snark as he normally would and silently headed towards the door. He seemed to understand what you were going through, having gone through the same quite recently himself. 

"I'm sorry. That I did this. This isn't how I wanted things to go, and I never meant to confuse you. I want you to know that all of this has been very real for me. I'm sorry for not being who I should have been from the start, instead of being an asshole. But I promise you, things can be fixed now." he left quietly, and the air was thick with unspoken words. 

You took your Soulbox and moved to the counter. You couldn't wait or hesitate any longer. There was no reason to stall, no reason to overthink it. You quickly jotted down your reply to your waiting soulmate. 

Then let's meet, Soulmate.

Let's meet at this park outside of this cafe, here.

The letter came shortly after you'd sent yours. It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes after Bakugo had left. It was a park not far from where you'd had lunch with him so many days ago. 

Alright, when?

Now.

Your heart skipped a beat. Now? But you were... well... you weren't busy. But they didn't know that. Maybe you could come up with an excuse... Why were you so nervous? This was what you'd wanted your entire life but the butterflies in your stomach were overwhelming you. 

I know you're free today, don't bother trying to get out of it. 

You read the message that followed, your heart vibrated so hard you were sure it could activate your quirk and leave you. How? How did they know? Oh god. You felt yourself so desperate now. You needed to know. 

I'm on my way. 

Know that I love you. 

You stared at the message, unsure of your feelings. You mindlessly held on to this note as you gathered your purse and locked your apartment door behind you. 

You decided to walk, it wasn't far. You needed time to gather your thoughts and your courage for the meeting. When you arrived, however, you were met with a familiar face unexpectedly. 

"Hey! Kirishima, what are you doing here?" you paused on the idea that he was your soulmate, but it was quickly cast from your mind when he jumped straight to the point. 

"Did you know that Katsuki never had a Soulbox? He still doesn't." he smiled at you like you'd been in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation. 

"What?"

"Yeah, he used to just stuff letters into the front pouch of his backpack in UA." Kirishima's sharp teeth grinned in fondness at his memories. "One day me and some of our friends were curious so we took it when he wasn't looking, and we found a letter form his Soulmate, that was how we found out."

"Oh. That's... funny. Why are you- Why tell me this?"

He ignored you in favor of telling another story. 

"So a few years before you came to UA, you remember on the news that he'd been kidnapped and all that? Then we started staying in dorms on campus. Everyone wanted to know what his room looked like because he wouldn't let us in. Anyway, we told him we wanted to study and we all agreed we should do it in his room. He let us, thinking we were actually going to study. The jokes on him cause we all barely passed our classes either way. But yeah, so Mina saw a keychain hanging on the bed's headrest. It was some AllMight holiday edition I think? I don't remember. But, not the point. So we grilled him and he told us it was the first thing his soulmate ever sent to him, funny right?"

"Funny." Your heart was in your throat now. You could feel tears threatening at the corner of your eyes. You needed to hear more but needed silence all at once. It was so much to take in. There was no reason for him to be telling any of this to you. This strangely similar parallel story that you feel like you lived in some way. 

"And do you know what the first thing he ever sent to his soulmate was?" Kirishima asked you gently.

You instinctually reached for the locket that lay around your neck, realizing you were still holding the note you'd carried with you to the park. 

"What was it?" you whispered so softly you didn't think he'd heard your question. But he didn't need to, it wasn't for him. 

"It was a shitty gum wrapper." a familiar gruff voice spoke behind you. 

You spun so fast on your heels that you'd lost balance enough to fall into this voice. 

"Please." your tears fell freely now. "Please say it's you." you whimpered. 

"I tortured someone for years because I had fallen in love with them. I did everything I could to keep myself from getting close to them because I was scared it would mean I didn't really love my Soulmate." Bakugo steaded you, his grip on you was firm and desperate as if you would try to run away. "Then I found out the truth. That I was pushing away the one person I wanted by my side forever."

"I wanted it to be you." was all you could manage, You held out your hand and the last Soulmate letter rolled in your palm, crinkled and wadded up. He took it from you, fixing it, folding it neatly this time before taking the wrapper from your locket and replacing it. 

"I don't want you to hate me. I pushed you away because I thought you belonged to someone else. That I belonged to someone else. I should have known it was you all along. I could never be with anyone but you." Katsuki wiped the tears from your face, now holding your cheeks in his calloused hands. 

"I wanted it to be you. I'm so happy that it's you, Katsuki."

It was all he'd needed to hear before pressing his lips to yours. 

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

Chapta FOUR

WOOOOOOW a new chapter? yikes. it's just as much as my depression riddled brain could get out in one go. It's not readable on my life yall. but I figure something is better than nothing. So a big appreciation to the folks that can read this and make something out of it for themselves.

"Oh no," you swore under your breath before putting on your best smile, "Oh hey guys! Uh, I was just leaving--"

"Oh, that's to bad-" Kirishima started, awkwardly.

"What's your rush, Smokes? Can't hang out?" Bakugo sat across from you, leaving Kirishima to find and pull up his chair.

"With you? No. I mean, I --- What the hell are you doing!?" you watched as the rude sob now across from you started eating the food that sat at the table.

"What? You said you were just leaving. You gonna leave all this uneaten food here? What a fuckin waste, and this sauce is delicious!" he snorted as if what he was doing was completely justified.

As bad (and annoyed) as it made you feel, he did have a point. Suppose it would be a shame to waste it. 

"I just... well it was supposed to be for my date. I was going to meet my Soulmate today but he had something come up last second." 

Saying out loud had a whole new wave of disappointment hit you.

Kirishima had an uncomfortable laugh at this looking to Bakugo, trying to follow his lead or at least get a grasp on why he bothered to come in here if not as your Soulmate. He was an ass a lot of the time, but never cruel.

"Uh, well that sucks... I wonder, uh what happened to him? Bakugo? Any.. uh, ideas? What is THAT guy thinking, huh?"

Bakugo looked Kiri dead in the eye, face deadpan, "How the hell would I know? Go grab us some drinks. "

Kirishima slowly left to do his mental gymnastics, and frankly, he was glad to leave the scene. He had no idea what lead Bakugo wanted him to follow at the moment. Needless to say, he'd never needed to be a wingman, especially not in a soulmate situation. Uh, a soulmate that didn't know he was the soulmate... and didn't want her to know? Oh god. Okay, he decided to take his time with the drinks. 

"Oh, no you don't have to do that Kiri, Kiri!--- aaand he's gone..." You were now left alone with the one person in the world you were sure you did not want to be here with right now. You look over and find that he's staring daggers at you. Quickly looking away, you clear your throat and pick at the uneaten food in front of you. 

"What's with that necklace?" he speaks harshly for such an uncomplicated question. 

You grabbed your trinket as if to shield it from his prying eye. 

"What do you mean what's with it? It's just a necklace I guess." Ugh, this wasn't a conversation you wanted to have with your biggest bully. 

"Bullshit. I've seen you wearing that thing back from U.A. Who keeps a cheap thing like that, that long?"

You'd always worn it, but it was perpetually hidden away under work clothes and a hero uniform. You had indeed worn it all through your time in school as well. But it wasn't something you would have expected him to remember, the man who couldn't be bothered to even remember half his own classmates' names. You thought about it for a moment, wondering if he had decided to be your enemy even back then. It would make sense, this obsession he had with making you miserable. 

It almost made you proud, to think that a top hero like him found you to be a threat, even back in high school.

"The necklace itself was just something from my toys as a kid. It has meaning to me, but less so than what I keep inside it."

You straightened up. You know what, you were glad to talk about such a keepsake, from your soulmate. A token of how your relationship with him had started to where it was now. It helped quell the pain of him not being able to show up for your first meeting. You held the locket tighter in your grasp. 

"What's in it?"

"If you must know, it's the first thing that was ever sent through my soulbox."

"Which was?"

He couldn't remember the first thing he'd ever sent you. Or even anything of significance. It made his stomach turn, a feeling he didn't like. He remembers the first thing you sent him. An All-Might keychain. It had appeared in his shorts pocket one day. He still had it in his childhood bedroom at his parent's house. 

"A.. it was a wrapper."

"What? What's that? A wrapper to what?"

He stared at you in confusion. Wracking his brain for what he sent you.

"A gum wrapper." you huffed.

Bakugo slumped forward and his brows came further together, awkwardly you'd almost ask if he was okay before he snapped back in a rage.

"TRASH!? YOU KEPT THAT TRASH IN YOUR LOCKET!?!?!" He was, as usual attracting attention with his booming voice and lack of regard for others' ears. He put his head in his hands and groaned loudly.

"What is your problem?! Stop yelling! You just think everything is stupid! IT'S NOT TRASH." As much as you fought the instinct, you raised your voice to match his, he just... he just did this to you. You couldn't help it. He was a piss-poor influence. 

You knew he wouldn't understand.

"IT IS STUPID. SO FUCKING STUPID. IF I HAD WANTED TO SEND SOMETHING TO MY SOULMATE THINKING THEY WOULD KEEP IT FOREVER I SURE AS FUCK WOULDN'T BE SENDING TRASH, WHAT A TRASH GARBAGE THING TO SEND TO SOMEONE, I-- I-- HE FUCKING SUCKS--." he leaned back hard into the back of his stool, his expression now far away. You could see the small flare in his nostrils.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! YOU'RE SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS, YOU KNOW THAT, BAKUGO? THIS WRAPPER IS A SYMBOL OF OUR GROWTH TOGETHER--"

"TRAAAASH!"

"NO YOU!"

Bakugo tried to reach across the small round table and take your hands off the necklace, but you were fast on your feet, using your quirk to fade just out of reach. 

"Stop! Stop! It's mine! God, leave me alone! Work on your damn relationship if this is such trash! Go get your soulmate some flowers you shithead asshole! Stop trying to mess with my life! I never did anything but exsist and you've been nothing but a thorn in my side!"

"FUCK YOU!"

"No, FUCK YOOOU!"

Bakugo stands and throws the plate of half-eaten food on the ground before his palms start to spark. He didn't know why he was doing this. He was angry at himself, he was angry at you for putting up with his shit as someone in the same hero occupation. He was mad and relieved you didn't give up on him as a soulmate. You could have destroyed your connection to him and found another one. A better one. But here you were, defending his garbage not even realizing he was the one that sent it to you. 

He had no idea how to make things better between you and this was his response. To throw a fist at the problems. 

The exchange was cut short as Kirishima came running back, putting himself between the two of you.

"Hey, what's going on I was gone for like a half minute! Did you tell her??" he looked between the two of you, trying to read your faces for answers. Yeah, he assumed Bakugo might have told you he was your soulmate, and maybe it would be received negatively.... but... damn. 

"Shit-hair. We're leaving, let's go." Bakugo straightened up, pulled out his wallet, and tossed enough bills on the table to pay for your meal that now littered the floor as well a hefty tip for the trouble.

"Tell me what?" you were still heaving and full of adrenaline, still ready to fight. You asked the question on auto-pilot, not caring to hear any more from the blonde.

"Shut it, Shithair. I didn't come to tell her shit." he turned to leave, patrons of the bar parting like a biblical sea as he made his way to the exit. 

"Oh, uh. Sorry. I should probably go with him, try and calm him down. He's just going through some things right now, soulmate stuff and all that. 

"HE still has a soulmate? That's a joke, right? How many got stuck with him and tossed their Soulbox to get away?" You didn't mean that. You would never say something like that. You believed everyone deserved the happiness of genuine love. Even people that sucked major wang like him. Ugh, god he just made you so angry. 

Even Kirishima looked hurt by your words. 

"He's never changed soulmates. They've known each other from the beginning. He really loves her. You should try and get to know him. I know, I know how difficult that sounds. But please, just trust me, okay? I'll see you at work." He gave you a caring side hug, holding on just a bit too long, before pursuing his best friend. 

------------- ------------------ -------------------

"He's never changed soulmates. He's ... passionate. He's an asshole." you faltered nervously, shifting your weight from one foot to the other as you mindlessly made informational flyer copies at the work printer. "Nope. No. Nice thoughts. What do we have in common? Our hero uniforms were made by the same company. That's a fun fact. Yeah. He can create smoke as a byproduct of his quirk, same as me! Holy crap this is impossible."

"What the hell are you mumbling about?" a gruff voice pulled you back to earth. 

"AH! ShIt! You scared me, Bakugo! Don't sneak up on people like that, asshole." you scolded as you worked to get your heart rate back under control. 

"Scared you? Are you twelve? I didn't sneak up on you, it's a public space dumbass." He sounded tired. 

"Well, that's. Shut up." you turned back to your printings, face turning red. You felt embarrassed, almost worried he would know you were thinking of him if you looked at him. "Sorry." Stay casual. "Anyway," Stay nice. "Kirishima tells me you still have the same Soulmate since the start."

He grunts.

Okay.

"Me too!"

Awkward silence.

"Welp! Good talk, see you later!"

You turn to get away from him as fast as possible but are stopped by a firm hand on your shoulder. 

"huh?" 

Bakugo points to a shred of paper that caught on the sole of your shoe.

"Oh, thanks." 

------------------------- ------------------------ ------------------

"What's this?"

"The hells it look like, dumbass? It's coffee."

"Okay... but why are you trying to hand me your coffee? I'm not your maid."

"IT'S NOT MY FUC---oh my god. It's not my coffee. I got it for you, you shit brain. I can't have you passing out during this patrol like last time."

"What? I didn't pass out! Wh-Where, how do you even know what kind I like?" you took the cup, taking a sniff you could tell it had all the things in it that you loved.

"Shithair." was all he said before he walked off. 

"Hmm." you took another inhale of the rich aroma. "I don't remember telling Kiri my order." you sip and the coffee goes down smoothly. You shrug, not really caring now.

----------------- --------------------------- -----------------------

It'd been two weeks since your Soulmate stood you up.

Since then, talk between the two of you had come to a slow trickle, if not a halt altogether. He assured you that something important had come up and that he would talk to you as soon as he could. You knew he was a hero, even if you didn't know which one. You admittedly searched the hero network for any heroes that might be on any classified missions. Anything that would correlate to the radio silence. 

What took you by surprise, was how you were filling your time until you heard from him again. 

Bakugo was a pill, that was for sure. But you took Kirishima's advice and tried to get to know the man under the mask. You'd started slowly at first. 

Things had shifted around awkwardly after that night you both nearly tore down the bar in a fight. And you were still struggling not to say something mean every time he met your eye. But after two weeks of trying, Actually trying, you learned to admire plenty about him. 

You wouldn't call yourself friends. God no. But he was indeed becoming more tolerable. 

You noticed he stopped competing with you so much. Maybe it was the fact that you were both on the same team for once. Well, you were both heroes and you could have argued that you had always been on the same team but maybe he needed the physical image of you greeting him good morning for things to finally cement into his head. 

Hell, this morning he even asked questions about you that you didn't ever think would come from his mouth. 

"What do you like about your soulmate?" He asked during one of his breaks. He was sitting at a client chair across from your desk, something he'd been doing often. He'd pulled up a stool to prop his feet on, finally coming to the conclusion you would NEVER willingly allow his boots to touch your desktop ever again. 

"What?" you looked up, hardly registering the question. 

"Jesus, nevermind." he huffed, a shorter fuse for repeating himself as usual. 

"What do I like about them? Like, like?" you sat, dumbfounded. 

"What the hell is so hard about that question, yes!?"

"Sorry, I just, I'm not used to you asking those types of things! Uh, I guess, I like how he pushes me to be the best I can be. He's the reason I wanted to become a hero in the first place. I really don't think I'd be where I am today without him." you said thoughtfully, a small smile playing on your face. 

"So, like me?" he stated. 

"What? What do you mean, 'like you'? He's not like you at all?" you were confused, that was for sure.

"What the hell, that's exactly like me? I push you all the time!" he scoffed. 

"Uh, yeah, but you're an asshole? Nothing you've ever said to me has been to make me better! You berate and put me down, always telling me I'm not as good as you nor will I ever be? Like, I don't know, you've changed a little now, but are you seriously thinking you helped me improve in any way!?"

"That's not true." Bakugo looks straight ahead, contemplating his next words, or maybe mulling over the words you'd said to him, before popping up from his chair and leaving your desk without another word. 

"Hey! Where are you going? Hello, Bakugo?? Okay... whatever." you shake your head and continue your paperwork.

----------------------- -------------------------------- -------------------

"So what about you? What do you like about your soulmate?" 

You and Bakugo are on a patrol through the less-than-crowded streets one day, and you decide to ask him about his soulmate. You'd been curious for a long time but it never seemed like a topic the blonde would openly talk about. To your surprise though, he answered straight away.

"I like... no I love that I know she is the one. I used to have this fear. This fear that destiny was wrong about us, me and her because I fell in love with someone before I met her. I never told her that before. But the day we met was the day that all changed. I figured out that Destiny bullshit really knows what it's doing."

"Holy shit."

"What." he looked at you, almost expectant, though you wouldn't notice. 

"That's... that's incredible. How romantic. I really hope when I meet my soulmate that something like that happens. That has been my literal fantasy since I was a child, Bakugo!" you swooned at the romance of his words. You had no idea he had it in him to feel that way about anyone. It made you feel warm and though you wouldn't say it, a bit jealous. 

"Not gonna happen." he states simply, a smirk plain as day on his face.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Obviously I have the best soulmate 'cause I wouldn't settle for fucking less. It's too bad when you meet yours that it'll never amount to that same feeling. Sucks to suck, but yours is probably a fuckin loser."

"Bakugo! Stop! That's so fucking rude." you push his shoulder to no avail, as he snickers at your weak attempt.  

"You've got a damn mouth on you, you know that?"

"I swear you are the worst influence on me. I never used to cuss like this till I was forced to be around you!" you cried.

"I dunno seems like an improvement to me, maybe your soulmate will like you better now. And you can have me to thank for that."

"Stooop!"

As the two of you were playing, you hadn't noticed Bakugo had veered off the usual patrol route, landing you two in front of a diner. When you finally realized you patted your stomach, noticing you were getting rather hungry. 

"Oh man, we must have taken a wrong turn. I've never been here before? It looks good. I'll have to remember this spot for later, I'm starving." you read the diner sign before turning to get back on the path, but Bakugo stopped you.

"Well why don't we just get something to eat here now? I don't want you complaining the rest of patrol."

"Oh... but what about--"

"Shut up, loser. It's the slowest day ever, and who's gonna do anything stupid knowing I'm out here to kick their ass if they try anything?"

"Good point." you shook your head and laughed at just how full of himself he could be, but you could finally see the light-hearted guy under the hard exterior. Or maybe you were just too hungry to argue. 

"Woah, look at this! This burger is huge AND it comes with fries. I'm going to die that looks so good. What are you gonna get, Bakugo?" you looked up from your menu to his crimson eyes looking over you. He lagged a moment, not bothering to search his menu. 

"Yeah, probably that. Sounds good to me."

You beamed up a smile at him. This was nice, you thought. It was almost like a date but with a semi-sort of a friend. Well, you felt, for the first time EVER, that you and Bakugo could for once get along. Maybe you could be friends. 

"So what's with your soulmate?" he asks you.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What does he do? Where does he live? What kind of loser hobbies does he have?"

"Oh! He's a hero, like us! Uh, well I think he lives in this city actually. Or it seemed like it when we were supposed to meet up for the first time that one day. We always stayed really minimal with giving information about ourselves, but I know he likes to be outdoors. I know he's gone hiking and camping with his friends over the years. He seems close with them even though I don't know anything about them at all."

"And you never worry he's actually seeing some girl when he says hes doing those things?"

"What! No! Never. He would never do that. I may not know him, but I know him. I trust him with my heart and life. And someday when we meet-" You took a deep contented sigh. "It'll be magical."

"Jesus you're a sap. This guy is probably some huge nerd. Never been outside a day in his life."

"Shhhh! Shut up, you're such an ass!" you laughed and swatted at Bakugo. "I'm gonna order a milkshake too, do you want one?"

"Are you serious? And have to go to the gym for twelve hours straight just to work it off? No thanks, that shit'll kill you."

"Ooooh wow, what a buzzkill. Are you telling me you don't eat any desserts at all or do you just have a major thing against milkshakes?"

"No I don't have a sweet tooth really. I like spicy as shit food, though."

"Oh for real?! So does my soulmate! Maybe he doesn't like sweets either, I'll have to ask him sometime."

"So you don't REALLY know much about this guy, do you?" Bakugo's face contorted into something unreadable. 

"I know what really matters. But I'm not worried about the small stuff, no." you stated matter of factly.

"So if this guy was four foot tall with a gross mole on his face, you're telling me you wouldn't care?"

"Haha! No! I'm not that shallow what the heck."

"I don't buy it. What if he wasn't really a hero. Or if he was, he's not even on the charts, he's so bad? Could you really live with him knowing you were better than him at something he encouraged you to become?"

"Oooh, that's a really neat question. Hm. No I think he's probably a great hero. But if he wasn't... hm. That would be okay. I will love him no matter what. What about you, though?"

"What about me?"

"Well what about your soulmate? You're already the best, so how do you feel about her not being 'the best' like you, as you so put it?"

"I don't care."

"No?"

"Hell no. She's the best there is, even if the charts don't reflect it the way they should. I've always pushed her to be better anyway, she's pushed me to be the best too. I'm where I am because of her and heroes like her."

"Awwwweee! That is actually the cutest thing I've ever heard you say, literally EVER."

"Shut up."

"Nope! So who is she? Will you tell me?? What's her quirk? Do I know her?"

"Hell no." 

"Awe man, why noooot?" you pout.

"It wouldn't be safe to tell you right now."

Your eyes grow wide in wonder. 

"Oh man!! So she's like an undercover hero? Holy crap that is so cool. Wow. Okay well I won't push it but I really hope I get to meet her one day!"

"Yeah yeah. Enough about that. Let's talk about the fact that your soulmate could end up being a huge loser. Let's talk about the fact that your soulmate could end up being DEKU?"

"YUCK!" you covered your mouth with a gasp. "Oh, nooo, no I didn't mean it that waaaay. Medoriya is a really nice guy, I mean I dunno he---"

"AHAHAHAHAH NO NO, PLEASE. STOP THERE. That's fucking funny, don't ruin it." Bakugo barked out a laugh and grinned ear to ear. It looked rather handsome on him, though you could never admit it in a million years.

"Stop laughing! No it's not funny, it was so mean. I just mean he's not my type."

"Oh yeah? And what is your type, then? Cause you don't even know who your soulmate is, so that is some slippery slope you're on."

"I... that's true. Well, I know my soulmate IS my type. Whatever that may be. Look this is embarassing and I'd rather not talk about it!"

"Does your type have multiple arms?"

"Mm, likely not. But it would be okay!"

"Does he have an abusive father, formerly the number one hero?"

"Oooh, low blow. But no, I've always found Todoroki to be a bit dense. Besides he's already married to his soulmate! Not him." you giggled at the game. 

"Does your type... get hard under stress?"

"Awwwwe Kirishima is a cutie. But no. ... And please don't say things like that! Your jokes are terrible."

"That box dye shithead is not cute, he's annoying."

"Not true! Hmm. Maybe he IS my type! How do we know for sure HE isn't my soulmate? Oh my gosh! Call him, get him on the phone, haha." you were just playing around, but you noticed the way Bakugo's jaw clenched.

"No. Forget it. He's not your fuckin soulmate. He's an idiot. You are not."

"Well, see? Oposites attract! This could be one of those situations--"

"It's not. Anyway, eat your damn food before it gets cold, no one likes gross cold fries."

"Awe, someone doesn't like when I tease his fwends?" 

"Something like that. Eat."

"Alright, alright. Fine." You finally look at the plate that was placed before you forever ago, dipping your fries in a saucer of ketchup. You took a long pause, realizing how much you were enjoying this time with Bakugo.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would guess that my soulmate is a lot like you, now that I think about it. He used to be really standoffish and mean, you know? But once I got to know him, I found out he was really funny and caring." you laughed, enjoying the food and company. 

"Haha, maybe you're my type after all, Bakugo!" you were only joking. And so engrossed now in your meal you didn't notice the way Bakugo's face turned so red, you would have thought he'd eaten something too spicy, even for him.

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

*cringing internally* CHAPTER THREEEE, wow yes wow finally

no editing, I didn't even check for continuity errors from the last chapter so just roll with whatever if there's anything like that! Here we go babyyy YeeHaw. like, 3k words. warnings would be CURSING. Let's go.

You aren't sure which exact moment got you into this situation. 

One second, you were filing paperwork, then the next, you were in the office of your team leader.

Sat beside you, arms crossed and scowl plastered on, was Bakugo. 

You tried to listen thoughtfully as the department head reprimanded the two of you for starting a shouting match at your desk. 

He wasn't even done speaking before Bakugo groaned loudly in annoyance. 

"It wasn't that big a deal. We were just having a conversation." he scoffed. 

"You call that a conversation? You started criticizing the order of my desk immediately! Normally when someone joins a new team they, I dunno, introduce themselves, say hello!"

"It seemed pretty valid to me! You're the one that started talking shit about my body!"

The team leader's eye widened and turned to get an elaboration from you on that. 

"You sat at my chair, put your dirty PLATFORM WORKBOOTS on my desk, and all I did was call you out on it! It had nothing to do with your height, but since you bring it up, yeah, clearly you're compensating for it!" 

Okay, so that one did make you feel bad. It wasn't really in your nature to be so mean, but he'd always brought out the worst in you. He wasn't even short, you just happened to be taller than the average woman and he was still a head taller than you? You didn't know how it affected him as much as it did. Also even if he was shorter than you, why would you care? Did he care that you thought he was short? Your mind was wandering as it was prone to do when you couldn't figure something out through simple observation. 

"Are you even fucking listening? Swear you and Deku could be Soulmates you both go off in your own damn worlds. This is why no one likes you." Bakugo waves his hand in front of your face. 

You were standing outside the team director's office, apparently having autopiloted your way through the boring... uh important lecture on office behavior. 

"Soulmate?" you mumbled to the blonde. 

"Jesus is that all you heard? This is why Soulmate shit is so stupid. Find out you have one and nothing else in the world matters. Have some fuckin life goals."

"What? No! Shut up! I'm in the top ten best heroes how in the world can you conclude that I don't have my own goals just because I zoned out for a second, huh? Grow up."

"Well you're not as good as me," he stated simply.

You groaned, "I didn't SAY that I was, I didn't SAY anything. Why do you act like this!" you stormed off before he could continue to berate you further. 

Back at your desk, you were typing away at some reports that had been emailed over when there was a tap on your shoulder. Expecting to see Bakugo coming to get the last word, you were surprised to see another transfer from his previous Agency. 

"Kirishima!" you gasped in surprise and elation. 

"Oh, wow hi! You remember me!?" he smiled with the same sharp-toothed grin you remembered from U.A. 

He and Bakugo were in the third year at U.A. by the time you took your entrance exam. While Bakugo was aggressive and rude, Kirishima had been the complete opposite. Oh course you would remember him, and not just by his hero name. 

"YES? I looked up to you and half your class, how could I ever forget!" you stood to give him a warm hug, noticing a pair of glaring red eyes a few cubicles away from your own. Of course, he would be watching, fuming over the ease at which Kirishima got along with others. 

"Oh wow, you flatter me! I just wanted to come over and say how excited I am that we could end up working together now! Maybe you looked up to me then, but I am for sure your fan now." he scratched the back of his head bashfully, the smallest pink on his cheeks nearly hidden by the brighter red hue of his hair. 

Just then a heavy wad of paper struck him in the neck.

"Ow! What gives dude!?" he turned to Bakugo, knowing full well it was him. 

"Would you stop flirting, I'm ready to hit a patrol!" he screeched.

"I'm just saying my hellos, it's been a long time since we've talked-"

"She outranks you on the charts by god knows how much, don't you think you should work on that, shit for hair? Shit's embarrassing. You shouldn't even be breathing the same air as her." he mumbled the last part, but his voice is so deep and harsh it was easily heard since everyone had stopped to listen in yet again to the angry man. 

"Then why do you talk to him if that's how you feel?" you asked, confused by his logic, "You're friends with him, like???"

"It's okay. I, he, well you just, he--" Kirishima was having a hard time finding the words, but Bakugo took this moment to grab him hard by the shoulder and pull him away.

"Stop talking loser. Now." he didn't seem to want Kirishima to explain his behaviors.

"Well anyway, I'll see you around! Maybe we can go out for drinks later!"

"Ah, y-yeah! That sounds... fun." the two of them were gone before you could finish your sentence, though you can't say it bothered you that much. The idea of going out for drinks with Kirishima was fine, but not so much with Bakugo.  

It was times like this you really wish you could talk about life events more specifically to your soulmate. Speaking of which, you decided to check the box in your bottom desk drawer while you were finishing up your paperwork. A couple of notes had gathered, cramped within their small confines. 

You unfold one, 

Do you ever have someone on your mind that you just can't stop thinking about? Like everything they do just pisses you off for some reason?

You take a look at the second, more hastily written note:

I think we should meet soon. 

Your eyes bulge at the second note. The jump from one topic to this one has you believing it was an impulse decision on his part, but you couldn't care less about that right now. He wanted to meet. He asked you. 

You practically believed this day would never come, but here it is, out of the blue. 

You both agreed that you would meet when the time was right for you in your personal lives. Having steady careers, financial stability, and your own independence. 

You knew something big happened in his life recently, but not this level big. 

He wanted to meet you. 

You wanted to meet him, absolutely. 

You wrote back and your handwriting was sloppy for the first time ever, the eagerness getting the better of you. 

Yes! Do we live close? Are we even in the same country? oh my god, I don't care, yes!

Your work break was nearing, and the anticipation you were experiencing had your body covered in a thin layer of sweat. You figured he would take a while responding, it always had in the past. But you nearly passed out when you heard your little magic box shuffle not long after you'd sent your own message. The handwriting was sloppier than normal if that was even possible. There were a few puncture holes in some of the curves of the letters as though he were on the move when writing them, and no solid place to hold his paper against. 

I live near this location. What about you?

Holy shit. Holy shit shit shit. He was close. Oh so close. Closer than you could have imagined. The thoughts that he could have been someone you've met before had you light-headed. 

No freaking way. I live here! 

Well, that's just fuckin perfect, I just moved to the area so it seems like an alignment to me. I need to talk to you in person anyway. I have some things I want to get off my chest. But it wouldn't be fair to you to just write them out. 

We have to meet soon. 

Your heart stuttered at the words he'd written. What did that mean? What did he have to tell me that could only be said in person? Was it good things? Bad? 

A letter came through before you could riddle yourself with any further anxiety. 

Don't be scared about what I just said. I'm yours. I don't care what's going on in my life I'm not going to let anything get in the way of you and me being soulmates. I love you. 

This new message did next to nothing to quell your worry and left you honestly with even more questions. He's not going to let anything get in the way? What does that mean, you wondered. You read back over the first message he'd sent that day. 

"Do you ever have someone on your mind that you just can't stop thinking about? Like everything they do just pisses you off for some reason?" As you read it over a couple of times, you could only piece together that it wasn't some thing that was occupying his mind with worry, it was some one. 

You curse your observant mind to all hell. Why couldn't you just read things without analyzing them to oblivion?

But, you knew him. You knew he was no liar, of that you were sure. If he said he was yours, then he was, simple as that. 

I love you. When and where? 

It was finally time, and nothing would ruin that. 

The very next day, you sat at a little table for two, at a restaurant/ bar you'd both agreed on. He said it was the only place in town that he'd really been to yet, thanks to a friend of his dragging him out. He told you that the small buffalo bites were alright but it was the hot sauce dip that really sold the place to him. You breathed in at a steady pace to calm yourself as you waited. You told him he could recognize you because you were going to order two of what he'd had, one for you and another sat across the table for him. On top of that, you let him know you would be wearing a necklace that held his very first "message" to you. So he would be able to pick you out with that small item descriptor as well. 

You placed your SoulBox next to your glass of wine, straightened your posture, fixed your hair so that it perfectly framed and showcased your necklace, and waited. 

"I can't believe those fuckers decided to rob a hot dog stand of all the damn places. On the way to this stupid ass bar. Unbelievable."

Bakugo seethed the entire walk to the place he was meant to meet his soulmate for the first time. Kirishima kept quiet, knowing nothing could help his friend in this moment of anger. He didn't even have the chance to change out of his hero costume. "The absolute stupidity. They didn't even check their surroundings before pulling that shit. Imagine, two top heroes standing a mere fifteen feet away and you try and rob a hot dog stand. A HOT DOG STAND. I hate being late. I hate it. And now of all times. This is the worst first impression I think I could ever make in my LIFE."

Kirishima nodded in silence. They marched forward at a blurring pace, not realizing they had nearly walked past the restaurant bar they had been heading to. 

"Woah, dude. Hold up, we're here! Are you ready?" Kirishima sounded almost more nervous than his best friend. He was even shifting his weight from one foot to another, a habit that much annoyed his blonde companion. 

"Of course I'm ready, shittyhair. 'm not scared of anything." Bakugo clicked his tongue and scoffed. ... But made no move to the entrance. 

"Well uh, I guess I'll leave you to it then?"

"Fine whatever. I dont' know why you insisted on coming along anyway." he shooed at him. 

"I'm just excited for you man! It's a once in a lifetime thing to meet your soulmate for the first time!" He smiled his obnoxious smile like he always does when something good happens for Bakugo. He slapped his friend's shoulder, giving him a nod of approval before turning to head back to the Agency. 

"Wait." Bakugo spoke in a low annoyed growl. "Will you.. Can you just check the window for me? Tell me if you see someone with the necklace she described?"

Kirishima stood, jaw slack for a moment before practically sprinting up to the bars tinted windows to peek inside. There was no chance in hell he would survive if he teased Bakugo over how nervous he came off as. Instead, he played it off like a best friend would, "Oh smart, man. Check the scene. Make sure she's in there, get her location so you're not looking around forever and---" Kirishima looked through the glass and cocked his head, his own silence cutting him off mid-sentence. 

"Hello? What the hell are you doing? Did you find her or not?" Bakugo was growing impatient. 

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I think so?" 

"What do you mean , 'you think so'? What the hell, does she have the food in front of her?"

"Um. Yes."

"And does that person also have a fucking necklace on that matched the one I described to you?"

"Also yes."

"THEN WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?"

"Well I dunno if you're gonna like her man."

"WHAT? How the hell would you know what I like, dumbass?"

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Well you know Smokie from work?" Kirishima wasn't exactly fond of using your 'petname' that Bakugo referred to you as usual, but it was the surest way he would know who he was talking about right away. 

"Sm-- what? Yes? SO? What the hell does she have to do with anything we're talking about right now, moron? Did you forget to take you ADHD medication or something--"

"Well if you don't like Smokie, you won't like her." he says matter-of-factly.

"WELL, WHY THE HELL NOT?" Bakugo has had it. At the end of his rope with his long-time friend, soon to be six feet under friend.

"Mm. Because it IS Smokie." he tries to force a smile, but he's too afraid of the blonde at this moment. 

A long pause ensues. 

Bakugo darts up to the window, quick to take the place of where Kirishima once stood. His eyes search the dining area, sure enough, landing on a lone woman sitting at a table for two. Two plates of chicken and spicy sauce. A familiar necklace around her neck. You. It's you that sits there, waiting. You are sitting there waiting for him. For Bakugo. 

And all at once Bakugo goes completely blank. This person, you, has been a thorn in his side for years. Someone he noticed during his third year in U.A. Noticed every time you ascended the ranks, took an absolutely deserved step closer to him in power. It infuriated him. It made him proud. It made him sick that he thought of you so much, so hatefully. And he did hate you. Or at least he tried. Tried to tell himself that, because he had a soulmate. Someone that actually knew his heart. How could he even consider the possibility of liking you, knowing that the real love of his life was out there, patiently waiting for him? 

"Oh my god." 

Then it all came crashing down around him at once. He'd done nothing but show you his worst side for years. Did whatever he could to be close to you but a light year away at the same time. 

He told you, his soulmate you, that he needed to get something off his chest. His ugly infatuation with someone that wasn't you, that now WAS you. He desperately needed to meet you, to get over this ridiculous crush, all he had to do was meet his soulmate and that would be the end of it once and for all. 

That seemed like such a trivial thing to talk about before. Now it seemed like the easiest outcome. This, this was a whole new set of problems. 

This you, the one sitting in the bar. This you loved him. This you hated him. 

Bakugo stepped down from the window, silent. And began to walk away, aimless and dizzy. 

"Hey! Hey man! You're not going to just leave her in there are you? I mean she's your soulmate! You gotta at least send her a message or something, right?" Kirishima called after his friend in earnest. 

Bakugo stopped and scolded at his feet for a moment before getting an idea. 

"Yeah... Yeah you're right. He's got to send her a message, he's gonna be late. In fact, he's not even going to make it, after all." 

Kirishima's face scrunched in bewilderment before realizing what his friend meant. 

Bakugo pulled out a small notebook he kept in one of his many pant pockets, scribbled his apologies, and tore out the page, placing it in another separate pant pocket. 

"Right. Soo, what, do we just... leave now?" Kirishima questions.

"Nope. I've got a better idea." he peaks in the window again, waiting as he watches you open your box, picking out the letter and seeing the heartbreak written on your face. 

"We're going to go talk to my soulmate."

You look over the letter that rattled the box unexpectantly. 

You could have almost teared up as you read that an emergency had come up and he wouldn't be able to make it after all. If that wasn't the worst of it, not moments after the bad news a familiar pair of now off-duty coworkers come striding through the door and are heading straight for you. 

[beetlesau]

do you have an update schedule for soulbox?

No, sorry, my work schedule is ever changing and i do it as im able!

[beetlesau]

Im literally inlove with your soulbox series could i be taged in any future chapters

Shur!

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

Chapter 2

2.9k

cursing

Eighteen Years Later, you opened your eyes to see your off-white-colored ceiling before a yawn overtook you. On any normal day off from your hero work you'd be up before your alarm, planning on hitting the gym and saying hi to the elderly neighbors in your building. Sadly for you, you were under strict orders by your hero agency and doctor both to take it easy, at least today. 

Getting hurt was nothing new to you. 

It was part of the Hero lifestyle you adopted as a kid.  

You loved the people you came to work with and the lives you saved.

Not only did you love your job, but you were damn good at it too. 

Being the fifth most popular hero was a pretty big deal because you worked mostly stealth and rescue missions and handled a lot of dealings at night. Not exactly peak hours for someone to gain as much popularity as you had. But what you lacked in time in the limelight you made up for in your community work. If you weren't at your agency you could likely be found volunteering around smaller towns. 

All these wonderful things in your life and it was wild to consider who got you on this path in the first place. 

Your Soulmate. 

You think back to all the first messages he'd ever sent you, and how they progressed to where you were today. 

In the beginning, it was impossible to get him to talk to you. 

You recalled all the notes he'd stuffed into his pocket that didn't even belong to him! 

As a child, you knew your soulmate was a bully. 

Torn pages from a notebook.

Nearly unreadable scribbled notes about heroes that were popular at the time. Stolen playing cards, and broken friendship bracelets.

Turns out the first way your soulmate ever communicated to you was through a zippered pocket of his most worn cargo shorts. Who knew that was even possible?

So at first, you were sent a lot of accident things. Then he used it as a means to get rid of evidence that he was tormenting one of his classmates. Not a ton of communication, but one thing you did pull from him, finally after months, was how much he wanted to be a hero. To be the best. 

So of course, you being the firmest believer in your soulmate's destiny, you had to become an amazing hero too, right?

And then he would have to talk to you more. He would want to. Because you were both going to be the absolute best, no doubt about that. 

(You were a kid, and following his every move then makes you roll your eyes now, but at the time it was a BIG DEAL that he acknowledge you, right? YOU WERE SOULMATES!)

Thankfully for you, it all worked out for the best regardless. Because that was when you buckled down and FOCUSED like hell on what you wanted. You were a smart kid, no doubt about that. But to get a head start on what you wanted out of life at such a young age? Even the adults found you impressive. 

You equated being the best as being worthy of your soulmate at the time. 

And boy he did not make it easy. 

There probably wasn't a letter sent from him at the time that didn't look down on you in some way. Or about him bragging about one thing or another. You didn't even break your parent's rules about giving out your personal information, and somehow he still made you feel like he *knew* he was better than you. 

Then some time passed and you stopped getting messages altogether.

Figured he grew out of his cargo shorts and just didn't bother to place any intent into another container. (He holds firm to this day that it was an accident he even thought about his soulmate enough at the time for the pocket to become magically embued.)

You were getting older though, less boy and soulmate crazy. You had your friends, your quirk, and your life to keep you busy. 

Then one day, finally, you received another message at last.

You remember you were about a year and a half away from finishing basic schooling before you could apply to U.A. when you checked your box. By this time you only checked it maybe once a week, not because you expected anything, but because it was more of a routine by now. A habit you'd made for yourself without knowing what kept you doing it. 

You were surprised when you found the box you'd had for years was now holding a folded scrap of paper. 

You read it three times over, taking in every detail of what it contained. You compared the way the handwriting changed, still hastily written, still thickly lined like someone that put too much pressure on their pen. Now even more though, like someone upset. You felt the texture of the paper, smooth save for some warped smudges at the corner. There was a tear through the middle of one like he tried to rip them off before sending it. Tried to hide them. Was he, crying? It was dry to the touch, so it must not have been sent too recently. 

You felt almost hurt for him that you weren't able to reply before remembering that he was the one that left your conversations out to dry, not you. 

The letter itself read-

I don't know why I'm even talking to you. Or if I even am. Shit, I don't even know how this Soulbox stuff works. Or soulmate thing. If I'm lucky it doesn't work and this is just some stupid message to myself. This is for sure the stupidest thing I've ever done or thought about doing. 

Whatever. 

Forget it. I don't even know what I want to say. I hope this doesn't even reach you. Fuck off

You took a pen and paper you had between one of your notebooks, quickly eager to respond, forgetting for a moment he'd neglected to talk to you for so long. Your heart raced in excitement and care, it didn't take long before those old thoughts were thrown out. 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but however you sent your message this time, did in fact reach me. 

Do you want to talk about whatever it is that has you so upset?

It took nearly no time at all before your box rattled with a message back. A few minutes later you were surprised at how familiar the sound of the box shaking was. 

I am not upset, stupid. I'm pissed off. Why did it take you so long to write such a short message back anyway, some soulmate huh? 

I actually didn't know you'd sent a message, you know since it's been some years since YOU messaged back. Or maybe it only matters when it's about YOUR needs? Some soulmate huh?

What the fuck. I don't know how this was even sent to you in the first place. Soulmates are bullshit and clearly so are you.

Then why write like you wanted to talk to me at all? You're the one that thought about me enough that it created the connection to my Soulbox again. Don't be an asshole and just tell me what's wrong. 

Fuck you.

You frowned. Well, this wasn't exactly the reunion anyone would probably hope for. You tossed your Soulbox roughly onto your desk, watching as it hit your lamp. Just as good as hanging up on someone on the phone, you guessed, though he had no way of knowing it happened. Suppose less satisfying then. 

There had to be a mistake. 

You screwed your eyes in thought. He was rude. Cussed more than necessary. Poor communication. Was this guy really your Soulmate? Did some wires get crossed and letters meant for your person were intercepted by him? You felt bad for even thinking about it. There had to be more behind him. But it seemed like you'd never find out wha--

A rattle of the box. 

Something stupid happened today. I don't want to talk about it. I was just, dunno. I guess I just wanted to talk, but I don't even know why I thought of you. Just forget it Okay, it's not your problem.

You were perceptive. There was no doubt about this. You saw details others usually missed. But this guy, at least on the page, was hard to read. Maybe that was why the universe thought you were a match. Two people that challenge each other and all that. 

It's okay. Really. You don't have to tell me anything. Any details. But I am here, and I don't mind listening... reading* what you have to say. Maybe, as much as my little childhood heart hates for me to say it, maybe soulmates aren't what everyone thinks. Maybe it's just someone that listens, and that can just be all. 

Fine.

Really you thought that would be the last of the messages for now. But the unpredictable happened as you were coming to find out was normal with him. 

He started talking to you more. A lot more. Never really about... anything. It was usually some vague thing, no details. You'd both agreed on no details about each other. No names, no locations. Just the bare emotions. 

You drew all your own conclusions. He was still drawn to being the number one hero, you guessed when something or someone made him angry it was to do with whatever was happening at school. You couldn't quite pinpoint his age or grade, but you didn't want to look too much into that aspect. You actually enjoyed the air of mystery.

You concluded he had to be really into sports since he got so mad when likely watching the U.A. sports festival on TV. He said it was obvious the quirk user with fire and ice wasn't giving his all. You agreed. You liked that he was perceptive too. 

When you were accepted into U.A. he was proud of you. You didn't tell him which school of course, but he knew you were happy with where you ended up. 

Even if you did have your own moments of complaint over a really rude third year that never paid attention to where he was walking in the halls. 

They're really strong. Like, they ARE one of the top students here and I admire their dedication but like, it wouldn't kill them to not take up the entire hallway when they strut down. So cocky. Nbd just venting. Anyway, how are you?

Sounds annoying. Maybe you should kick their ass. 

I'm fine. Getting ready for another internship, finally. I like the hands-on work obviously. 

LOL, maybe I will.

Nice. Maybe someday we'll end up at the same agency! Wouldn't that be something? 

It would be the top agency in the whole fuckin country. Unstoppable. Me as the number one hero and you as....?

Um sorry, with ME as the number one hero and you as my sidekick?? ;)

I'm going to ignore that because, No. Just no.

What if we meet and I'm not even your type. 

You looked a while at the message. A vulnerable question hidden in shared jokes. You liked that about him. He was tough to crack but if felt like when he did, it was only for you. You knew that with time that trust would only deepen. He was your soulmate, no matter what.  

I mean, you already are, right? The universe says so. 

The universe, huh? Sounds like bullshit to me. 

Nah, it's not.

So if end up looking like a fish with three eyes, I'll be your type, right?

Ah. Very "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" energy. Ummmm let me think about it. 

Wow.

Jk. I know that when the time is right, and we meet, I'm going to know right away. I'll bet I could spot you in a crowd having never even met you yet. 

--------------- ------------- ----------------

You received a text from your senior task manager.

BossLadyyy

I hope you're resting and recovering well?

8:52 

You looked down at your arm, a large bruise covered what otherwise was a perfectly healthy arm. 

You sighed. 

Your quirk, in the easiest of terms, allowed you to phase through objects. A broken arm or anything of the like would be fixed simply by phasing enough that your very cells are pieced back together in the correct position. Mending bones happens easily as a child's play. Your boss knew this. By this point, your doctor knew this. Someone was not giving it to you straight and it was obvious. 

You

Yep! perfectly healed, but you knew that didn't you?

You wanna tell me why I had to be out of the office today, really? 

8:54 

BossLadyyy

Yeaaah. Okay so about that. We're getting a temp for one of our cases. 

8:55

You

Okay, and?

8:55

BossLadyyy

Well it's uh

he comes in today, just to get his desk and stuff set up. And I just thought it would be easier if you didn't have to meet.

9:01

You 

Don't tell me who I think you're about to tell me. 

I have to be out sick when you know damn well that I'm fine.

9:01

There's literally only one person I complain about when we go out for Friday drinks. 

9:02

Don't do this to me. Send him back. 

9:03

BossLadyyy

You know I don't have control over who the higher-ups add on, you know this.  

9:03

You

Well, you said Temp at least.

How long is he supposed to be on?

9:04

Hellloooo?

9:09

.... He's not at the agency as a temp is he.

9:11

I can't stand you.

9:13

You had barely gotten out of bed. You'd only just showered and gotten back from the little corner shop with your coffee. You were having an ordinary wonderful morning. 

They kept you at home because they knew how much of a stink you would raise over ... Him. 

The most arrogant rude self-centered hero ever. 

Dynamite.

All you ever did was mind your business. You raised your numbers fair and square in your way. Through kindness and connecting with people. And he had the gall to say it wasn't earned. Just because you didn't take out as many villains as him. Just because you didn't brute force your way out of every situation. And it wasn't like you were a threat to his number two position? Sure, you managed to rise through the ranks exceedingly fast once you got out of U.A., but you were still only in the fifth spot. And in the hero world, that was the distance of an ocean apart from him.

And now here he was, moving in on your turf as if it was some ill fate that he was meant to torture you not only through the media but in your waking life. 

You caressed the old and worn locket around your neck. It helped you strengthen your resolve in times like this.

No. You couldn't let him get to you like that. Out of all the people in the world, you couldn't let him bring you down to his level. You'd go to work tomorrow, and everything would be fine. Better than fine, even. You would welcome Dynamite with open arms. 

I just got the worst news on my day off, but I'm not gonna let it bring me down. I'm gonna kick ass tomorrow. 

That's my girl. 

I've got a busy day today but I'll write when I can. 

Love you babe. 

Love you.

[beetlesau]

On my life an update for SoulBox is coming lol

[beetlesau]

SoulBox

BakugoXreader

2.2k words, f!reader, ummmm, not proofread- not now not eva.

no warnings as of now other than I make this stuff up as I go and I am sorry. OH! so the quirk I've given reader is basically the dash from Hollow Knight, a really cute fun indie game. Just expanded on that it's a sort of fast travel, but not a warp quirk since those are really rare. Good stealth quirk.

---------------------------------------------------- Chapta 1 The Wrapper

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you were younger, you dreamed of meeting your soulmate and living happily ever after.

A girl in your class, Koya, who had just turned five, got her quirk one day and her SoulBox the very next.

Her parents threw her a party to celebrate the following weekend. Everyone in the class was there.

You anxiously waited to see what her box looked like after all the parents fawned over her flashy quirk.

A couple of other girls, thankfully, were also more interested in the box. Once your small group of girls could pull Koya away, you all huddled in her elaborate princess fort.

"Well? Can we see it?"

"Was it expensive?"

"HAVE YOU--"

"Shhh!"

"Sorry. Have you written a letter yet?"

The anticipation had you all bursting at the seams.

The SoulBox.

A trademarked name for the selling of *usually* a box. Of course, any hollow and closed vessel would do when it came to communication with your soulmate(s), but leave it to the money-hungry to find a way to sell love.

Boxes come in many shapes and sizes, different colors, different textures, boxes with screw-on lids or slide-on, boxes with locks, whatever your heart desired, there was likely a box for it.

What's the box about, you might ask?

Well, as stated, it's a way to communicate with your soulmate(s).

Someone takes a letter, a note, or a small trinket, and places it inside their vessel. The key to creating a SoulBox is intent. You desire to speak with your soulmate, you focus as you place your first letter inside your vessel, or box in this day and age, and tada! you have your communication device. A two-way street between you and the love of your life!

The fortunate thing for companies that specialize in sales of SoulBoxes is banking on the number of people who want a new box every year.

Why soulmate(s) you wonder? How can there be more than one? Why not keep the same box every year? What, people want holiday boxes? Limited edition?

(Well, yes. Some people DO obsess over the newest box design.)

But, you see, the idea of a soulmate is what's being sold. The REALITY is that there are a certain number of people throughout the world that can be your person.

There are no "perfect matches." There are only choices.

When someone buys a box and puts their intent into it, they get connected with one of the many picks the universe has provided just for them.

If they decide they are happy, they keep their box, and the two can meet and spend their lives together.

If not, well, that's where the money lies.

If you decide, for whatever reason, the person on the other end of your box does not meet your needs any longer. You simply need to destroy the box. Only then can you reclaim another one, and the universe connects you to a different match.

The highest record so far for most SoulBoxes bought is a whopping 82.

(He was a wealthy middle-aged man who never learned to be content and happy with what life's given him, but this isn't about him.)

No, this is about you.

You watched as Koya pulled out a little pink glittering box, her name embroidered on the side in purple letters. The way you could tell it was expensive had you swooning. An expensive pretty princess box to match her expensive pretty princess lifestyle. 

It wasn't exactly something you gave much thought to yourself, but you'd overheard your mother gossiping on one of your playdates. She said since Koya's father was a 'big wig' at the SoulBox corp. that that would mean she'd be in the media spotlight for the rest of her life, an example that the Box works. She also said that she felt sorry for her because of it, although to you, it sounded like the best thing in the world. The box would work for you, and you'd be delighted to have the world see you happy with the love of your life. 

Nothing in your life mattered until the day your quirk finally manifested a whopping forty-three days after your fifth birthday. Yes, you were counting. 

Your parents congratulated you on your ability to 'phase through walls' who cares. Your body's cells broke apart into their tiniest little forms in a haze of black as you could dash from one spot to another in less than a second. Had you been at all interested, you would have acknowledged the beauty and practicality of it. All you could think about was getting your first SoulBox.

Your mother assured you that just because you got your quirk did not mean you had to get your box, and that Koya's situation was not the standard. 

You can recall crying for three days straight after hearing that. 

Your parents debated one night, weighing the pros and cons of getting you a box so early in your life. 

An agreement was made if you promised to follow their rules for communicating with whoever you found on the other end of the box. 

One, NO personal information was to be shared. They didn't need to know where you lived and you didn't need to know that about them. 

Two, NO talking to your SoulMate for more than thirty mins a day. It wasn't healthy to obsess over someone at such a young age. (Or any age for that matter.)

Three, any and all conversation was to be monitored and supervised by a parent. 

You agreed vehemently to all conditions. 

At long last, on a Monday, at three-twenty-five in the afternoon, after she picked you up from work, your mother took you to the local SoulBox shop.

You could hardly breathe as you took in the sights around you. The month was coming up close to yet another holiday and the shop had just transitioned its decor to match. You found a display of every color box you could imagine stacked in a brilliant pyramid. Next to that were a dozen cubbies that held accessories to match. Glitter pens, scented paper, and keychains that could attach to your pen or box if you bought a specially made one. There were jelly box covers, furry and fuzzy ones, every little child's dream could be found in this shop you felt like. In another corner were the Hero-themed boxes. A cardboard cutout of All-Might stood front and center to entice little ones to check out the collection there. 

"Oh dear." your mother muttered under her breath. 

She didn't understand the appeal, she had never had a box. She met your father the old-fashioned way as she called it, and had never needed one. You fantasized that even if she had had a box, it would have led her to your father regardless. 

You picked up a box, one slightly larger than the one Koya had received for her birthday, and held it up to your mother. 

"I love this one! Please, mommy!?"

Your mother took the box and examined it. You watched as her eyes grew large and her mouth contorted into a pencil-thin line when she saw the price tag. 

"I'm so sorry sweety... Uh, perhaps you could look in the discount bin for mommy?" she looked down at you sadly.

You knew that look. A look that told you she was disappointed in herself for the things she could provide for you, or the lack thereof. 

You hated that look. 

You may have wanted a box more than anything in the world, but you never, not once, wanted your parents to feel like you were ungrateful for whatever they could provide to you. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat that yearned for the shiny new box, put on a smile, and nodded excitedly. "Okay!" you stated before running off the find said bin. 

Now, as a child, no one would have described you as quiet. You loved frilly fabrics and bright colors. You loved all that glowed and shined. Sure, you mostly grew out of that by the time we get to the present day, but in that store, you were all things soft and fuzzy. 

Which is why your mom was a bit shocked when you picked out the box you did. 

As you dug through the bin of disorganized boxes, many bent or dented, crooked and scuffed, some with the wrong lid or missing one altogether, your eyes caught something. 

You reached your short little arms to the max as your fingertips barely caught hold of it at the bottom of the bin. 

It was an off-white cream color. A box made cheaply enough that in a few years, it would turn an unappealing shade of faded yellow like parchment paper. You held it in your hands. It was small, barely larger than a rubix's cube. It even had a small dent in one of its corners. 

By all rights, it was hideous. 

But it was the only one in the bin that had that off-white color, and that meant something to you. 

Sure, it didn't matter what box you chose. Once you put intent in any container you get connected with a preordained Soul. But that didn't stop the gut feeling you had. The connection to the box. 

They say when you feel that connection to a box, your connected Soulmate is truly the one. (They say that to sell more boxes, but you believed it.)

The chosen runt of the litter box was so cheap the cashier slipped a keychain in the bag that was free after spending a certain higher amount in-store. 

"Might as well get something decent out of this purchase." she chuckled to your mom, waving you off and bidding you a wonderful day. 

Finally. At long last. You sat at your kitchen table, and your parents sat on either side of you, waiting for your first message to be sent. 

....

....

"I can't think of anything to say." you sighed, exasperated after a while. 

"Why not start with a simple, 'Hello'?" your father asked. 

"!!! Dad no! It's my Soulmate! It has to be perfect. The perfect message." you fussed at him like it was obvious.

He opened his mouth, brows furrowed, then let out a held breath. "Alright, suppose you're right." he gave up, shaking his head. There was no arguing with you, his little girl. 

After an eternity, your parents shared a look, then decided maybe they could relent on one of their rules, just this once. 

"Um, sweetie, I know we said you could only communicate with supervision, but mm it is getting kind of late. Maybe you could take the box with you to your room and that'll help you come up with the perfect thing to say, hm?"

After all, what amount of trouble could two children get into at this young age over a box? 

You held the box tightly in your hands as you stared up at the ceiling. 

You tried to imagine who would be on the other side. 

You wanted them to have dark hair. 

Kind eyes, like your dad's. You loved the freckles that your mom passed on to you, so you hoped they would have lots of them too. 

Without a doubt, they would be the kindest person you'd ever meet. 

Suddenly you got an idea. You bolted upright, turning to search your nightstand for the bag your box had come in. 

Inside was still the little keychain that was given to you. You examined it, turns out it was a little All-Might New Year Holiday Special Costume edition keychain. It wasn't rare by any means, but it had that year's date stamped on it in a way that made it look like the hero was holding it above his head. 

It was perfect. 

What better way to say hello than to send the nation's top hero? His popular video online was even him saying "I am here." which is exactly the message you wanted to send!

Proudly you placed the keychain in the box, elated by the way it fits perfectly inside. 

You then held the box to your chest and shut your eyes so tight you could see stars behind your eyelids. 

"Intent. Intent. Intent." you chanted under your breath. "I hope this finds you well," you repeated something your mom suggested to you earlier at the table to help the connection form. 

After several moments you finally relinquished your death grip on the box and opened it back up. 

The surprise and excitement hit you at once when you saw that the keychain was gone, and was instead replaced by a crumpled-up wad of chewing gum paper. 

Eagerly taking the paper you were sure there would be a note of great value written on what would normally be trash turned treasure. 

Confusion replaced excitement when you found it to be blank.

It was just... a wrapper. It was just trash? Maybe it was an accident. Maybe they were so excited they dropped their trash in by mistake and .... put the lid on their box... and.. sent... uh, SOMETHING happened by mistake. That was all. You would wait for another message. 

You hopped out of bed and pulled your little toy jewelry box from your messy closet, where inside you found a locket necklace your mom had let you borrow once. (You were still borrowing it, you told yourself)

You placed the gum wrapper inside the locket and put the necklace on. 

You slept with it around your neck. 

Maybe it was trash, but in your eyes, it was the first message of many to come.

[beetlesau]

Chapter 9 That's the sound a heart makes

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lubb-Dub is what the internet said was medically accurate, don't @ me

link to previous chapters below

"Katsuki?" you shook him lightly at first, then with rough panicked motions. His body was slack and unresponsive. 

"Shit... shit! What is going on!? Hello!?"

You had no idea what to do. He didn't have a pulse, it's not like you could check that.

And he didn't have a heartbeat, you couldn't imagine CPR would work, but that didn't stop you from giving him chest compressions a couple of times over. 

When that didn't yield results all you could think about was how you needed to get his body back to the house. It was unlikely that it would help, but you were a bit short on solutions.

Now there was the problem of how heavy he was. Or maybe the problem was how weak you were. Even with your adrenaline rush, you could only move him a few feet before the burn in your legs made your muscles cramp up. 

"Think. THINK." you paced a moment, hands compressing your skull in an attempt to focus harder. 

"Oh god..." 

You weren't strong enough to move him, but maybe if you had help. 

If Katsuki was conscious right now he'd be fuming at the idea running through your head. 

"Well, you can't get mad at me right now, can you?" you spat back at your imagined argument with him. 

You needed help. And the only moving bodies close by would be the Dead back in the new community area. 

Maybe they're rehabilitated just enough to help me... or they'll eat me. You didn't bother to weigh the pros and cons as you sprinted back to the houses. 

Out of breath and sweating when you arrived back, you shook the fence and shouted before reaching the gate.

"Help! Hey! Come out here, please! I need your help!" the yelling and rattling alerted the small residents as they slowly trotted their way down the fenceline with you, meeting you at the gate.

"PLEASE. Listen to me," you begged that whatever improvements they'd made allowed them to understand the urgency and sincerity in your voice. "Bakugo is in trouble. I NEED you to come help me carry him back home. I NEED you to not EAT me, Okay? Please." Oh god, please. 

You took a deep breath as your hand lingered on the latch before opening it. 

"You could run away. You could forget about the Dead. You could find a new place to live, far away that even if Katsuki did come back he wouldn't find you. This was never meant for you. You deserve to be alone."

"NO!" you screamed before pulling the latch and letting the gate swing open. You didn't have time for any intrusive thoughts. And besides that, you knew without a doubt you never wanted to go back to how things were. You didn't want to go without Katsuki. Which is how you knew that the freed Dead would help you. They HAD to help you. There was no other way.

You turned to lead the Dead to his body before they had a chance to pass the threshold. "Follow. Me." you didn't ask, you commanded. 

And they listened, whether to eat you or to help you didn't matter now. 

It felt like the run-back took years longer than the run-away.

You hadn't looked back to see if they were running along with you, you could hear them. They weren't nearly as fast as Katsuki had been. Their sounds were simple ragged breaths that didn't hold any of the bite you'd experienced earlier that day. 

Finally, there he was, right where you left him. His body is motionless on the ground.

You hoped that he'd be awake by the time you got back. Just a false alarm. Maybe he'd be gone, searching around for you. Or he'd be sitting up there, nursing a headache. Something, anything. 

You were gasping, kneeling beside him. You held his hand in yours as you waited for the distant panting to catch up to you. "It's okay, Katsuki, I brought help. Everything is going to be--" you were cut short by a pair of arms grabbing and pulling you away from behind. "No! Stop! You have to help him!" you were knocked off balance and fell back. Above you was the Dead that grabbed you, cocking her head to one side as she looked you over upside down. 

"What are you doing!?" you croaked up to her as she reached down to grab you again. Only instead of a forceful grip she was almost gentle. She pawed at your shoulders trying to get a handle under your arms. She was trying to pull you away.

You turned your attention to the others that had made it to the scene a couple moments after her. They were doing the same, only to Katsuki. One didn't have very fine motor skills as he tried to capture the body's ankles. One of the more capable ones grabbed Katsuki's left arm while the last had a grip on the waist of his jeans. 

You looked back up at the Dead that tried to keep you out of the way, "I can help." you shook your head, an acknowledgment to her that you understood they were here to help. 

Her head swayed a moment before she took a shuffled step back from you.

Standing, you took place at Katsuki's right shoulder, hooking one arm under his and the other under his waist. 

The hustle back had you overheating and worried your companions' bodies might give out on them too. 

------------------ ------------------------

You sat in a wooden chair across from the couch Katsuki was laid out on.

After you'd directed the others to place him there, they kind of went back into a blank mindless stare. 

After the first day, they drifted off back into their respective yards, or just nearby. You didn't bother locking the gate again. If they could show that much humanity, you felt wildly uncomfortable treating them like exhibits at a zoo. 

Katsuki wouldn't be happy about that. He'd tell you that it was stupid and unsafe. You would welcome the earful if he would just come back. 

On the second day, you grabbed the comforter from his bed and sat over him in your chair. You'd hardly leave him a moment for anything save for food or a bathroom break. 

You'd fallen asleep after trying to keep your eyes open the night before.

When you came to, he was still there.

"Bakugo?" no reply. 

"Katsuki." silence.

Your eyes were becoming cloudy from the tears and sleep. Mindlessly, you stood and slotted yourself between his body and the cushions that made up the back of the couch. You were out of plans, you were just so tired and alone. 

You sat in a tub of water. It was warm and inviting. You slid your body further into the slow pulsing waves until all of you were submerged. You listened to the sound of your own heart beating in your ears.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

 Everything was peaceful and weightless. You opened your eyes to see through the crystal clear endless ocean above you. A silhouette appeared, and you could see a familiar blonde with piercing ruby eyes. A dozen or more arms slid into the water to embrace you, his arms. They swathed around every inch of you as they hoisted you out of the water and into his warm beating chest. 

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

The ocean around you caught fire and the smell was sickly sweet, But in his embrace, you felt no pain.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

On the third day, he awoke.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

Covered in sweat and heat, his eyes jolted open as he gasped for air.

On the third day, He awoke with you by his side, where he knew he'd want you to be for the rest of his life.

On the third day, Bakugo Katsuki awoke with a heartbeat.

Lubb-Dub-Lubb-Dub.

[beetlesau]

Chapter 8, long overdue and unedited.

apologiessss.

"It's a flower," you stated matter-of-factly. You were sat in the middle of an empty parking lot, picking at the weeds that grew between the old cracked pavement.  

"I know what a flower is, dummy." Bakugo scoffed as he threw the small bloomed weed at your head. He stood and dusted his pants off before holding out a hand to help you stand as well. 

"Well, you're looking at it like it's foreign to that brain of yours." you followed his lead, but in protest refused the helping hand.

"What is your favorite?" he barked suddenly, eyes boring into yours.

"Wh-what?", the aggression of such a simple question threw you off, "My favorite flower? I don't know if I have one... Actually, does cactus count? Wait, no. I mean they do flower, but--"

"Nevermind." he rolled his eyes. 

"So rude! I guess the Violet? Simple, colorful, smells decent." 

"Okay." 

"Nice conversation, Bakugo. Can we go back noooow?" you moved anxiously to face the direction of his old neighborhood. 

"No," he grumbled. "All day in the cold house and got sick from it." he grabbed the back of your shirt to hold you from stepping further away. 

"I didn't get sick! I just couldn't feel my fingers after a while. Besides, we got the house cleaned and prepped, right? Worth it?"

Bakugo grunted in disapproval. 

It had been at least a month since that night he shared the sadness he held over his mother. Since then, a lot has happened. He helped you set up a perimeter of fencing, wrapping a few houses with the least amount of damage to them. Cleaning out each one, making sure the floors were stable, and the beds were in decent shape. The cabinets were filled with cans of food you'd collected on long tiring trips back and forth with a tin wagon. Not that the Dead had any interest in eating at this point still, but you were determined to be prepped for anything. 

You and Bakugo had just finished setting up an additional house the day before. He noticed you were getting a bit sluggish and pale. The last straw was when he saw you shivering when you thought he wasn't looking. He kicked you out of the house and now today refused to let you anywhere near the project houses. 

The houses were for the Dead. It was your idea that the best way to help them was to give them what they no longer had. A home. A reason to feel alive again. 

You did your best, often overexerting yourself, until he pulled you back each time, forcing you to give him some of this responsibility. 

You had your own house set up, although outside the perimeter. You'd decided living in an apartment with a large hole in the side of it was not as cool as it seemed. It took a good three days to move all of your trinkets and junk.

Bakugo insisted you be outside the fence, safe from the Dead, but still within his bedroom window's view, under his watchful, annoying, borderline obsessive, protection. 

You knew it was for your safety, but you could see all the changes going through the eyes of your new friends. 

You chose the Dead that were all trapped on the bridge to start with. Your long-standing self-appointed friends. After the task of getting them from point A to point B, Bakugo led them inside the new gated community. Alone with you, they were unresponsive, still seeing everything through hungry eyes. But, with Bakugo by your side, they seemed to just... sense something. You couldn't tell if it was... fear? of the absolute death glare, he'd give them if they even so much as looked at you with mouth agape. Or maybe it was the way he stood by you. He was not a weak-bodied Dead, nor weak-minded. You wondered if they could feel the strength that emanated from him. You noticed it more and more every day since enacting your rehabilitation plans.  

He was kind of... amazing. 

And caring.

And as he learned to talk again, you understood him in more ways than just language. 

On more than one occasion, you found yourself staring at him. Which seldom went unnoticed by the firey blonde, considering he was staring right back. 

It was impossible for even the longest Dead to not notice that kind of connection, it would seem. 

You'd never been so impatient about anything in your life. Things were exciting for once, a rare thing. 

But here you were today, following the orders of your co-captain, to get some warmth from the great outdoors, take a deep breath, and talk about flowers. 

"Ugh, fiiiine. Well, what are you making me do next, warden?"

"Hmm. Good question. We need more firewood. You are a baby and will freeze to death at night." he looked off in the direction he intended to head, not so much as a hint of acknowledgment that he'd just insulted you. 

"I- Fine. Aye-Aye, Captain! let's get some firewood." you began to dramatically march off the way he was looking before he grabbed your shirt collar again, pulling an exaggerated yelp from you. 

"Hey, what gives! I'm getting your stinking firewood-"

"Hold my hand," he stated blankly.

"W-what?" you were suddenly a bit too warmed by the Sun. You gulped, perhaps you misheard him.

"I said, hold my hand. I don't want you running off, or falling, or getting into trouble, or leaving my sight." he carried on just enough to make you scream.

"Agh! OKAY! Shut up and take my hand then!" he made you feel less embarrassed right away, you'd do anything to make him stop teasing you so relentlessly. 

You whipped up your hand, making quick gimme motions like a child. 

He smirked. 

SMIRKED.

And just like that, you were embarrassed again. 

"WHY are you making that face, Bakugo?"

"It's nothing. Let's go." he brushed past you. 

"Well, now I don't wanna." you paused, suddenly the most shit-eating grin creeping on your face. You turned your heel and ran as fast as your unathletic, clumsy figure would take you. 

"EH!? NO!" you heard him yell, but didn't stop.

You may have gotten a head start, but you knew there was no way you could outrun him.

It was just a joke. 

You didn't know what would happen. 

But you triggered something unintentionally. 

As you run, you could already hear him gaining on you. The hair on the back of your neck stood on end as he was within arms reach. You set off your quirk, just enough to go unseen for a moment as you made a sharp turn and doubled back, towards the piles of wood Bakugo intended on gathering. 

Unfortunately, as clever as it was, it was not enough to throw him off. 

You gained only a second more before he was behind you again. 

You couldn't see him, but you could hear him. He didn't seem right. His breathing was ragged and animalistic. You no longer felt like you were playing a game. You felt like prey that was in the midst of its final moments of life. A hand grabbed your arm and you were thrown off balance and hit the ground face-first. You could feel the sting on your lip before tasting the copper tang that filled your mouth. You'd busted your lower lip but that was the least of your worries. 

In no time you were flipped over and pinned. 

The way he looked. It was like you were seeing him in your room for the first time again. It was feral. Your running must have triggered a desire he'd been fighting all along. 

This time you had your hands free just enough to push against his chest, your knuckles white from your grip on his shirt. You weren't strong enough to hold him long. 

"Bakugo! Bakugo! Bakugo!" your voice cracked and strained as you screamed again and again. Hot tears blurred your vision before running down the sides of your face. 

"Not like this. Not like this, Bakugo." your terror was not for yourself this time. This time thoughts of Bakugo afterward flooded in and suffocated you. He'd be alone. He'd be angry at himself. He'd never get over this. This isn't something he deserved. It's not something he asked for. 

In your last-ditch efforts, you silently prayed for him to forgive himself. Then, before he'd gotten down to your level on the ground, you pushed yourself up to meet him, taking his mouth to your own. 

You could feel his lips as you desperately tried to claim them before his teeth claimed your flesh. Your torn lip fills the space in your mouth with blood. He was still for a moment, his brain processing the movement. 

His arms snaked around your back, fingernails hard against your skin it felt like he was trying to tear into you with his hands alone. 

But then they kept wrapping, and the touch became lighter. Kinder. 

His tongue lapped at your lip before taking it again between his. One second it was about the sensation of blood filling his mouth then it was all about you. 

You could feel his tears falling to your cheek as he began to sob. 

"I'm sorry. Dammit. I'm so sorry." he held you like you were made of gold. 

He rocked back and forth with you as one, every breath an apology and a curse on himself as you both wept. 

"Bakugo." you sniffled. "Katsuki. You stopped. You did it. God. fuck. That was so scary." you laughed and cried at the same time. 

"I'm so sorry," he muttered, unable to meet your eyes. You knew how much pain he was in. You could feel it like it was your own. 

"Can we go home, Katsuki?" you were exhausted. 

"Katsuki," he repeated.

"Yeah, that's you. Is it okay if I call you that?"

"It's more than okay. I'm sorry. Yes, please. Let's get you home." he was shaking. 

He stood, pulling you up with him. 

Neither of you was ready to move. And you weren't ready to let go of him. He didn't seem to mind. 

"Do you hate me?" he whispered. 

"No. I don't think I could if I tried."

"Stupid."

"I guess we should... talk about what happened just now?" you sighed. 

"Yeah... uh, maybe later?" he laughed humorlessly. 

"Are you embarrassed for once?" you looked up at him.

"Embarrassed for almost eating you?" he scrunched his brows.

"No. For kissing me."

"WH-wh, what! You kissed ME!" 

"No. I mean, I did. But I was in a panic. What's your excuse?"

He turned a faint shade of pink. 

"Wait. Your face." something new. 

"Katsuki, your face is pink. You're blushing!"

"You really are sick. Seeing things?" he lifted a hand to feel your forehead for a fever. "I can't be pink I don't have any blood flow. You know, Dead."

"No, I'm serious. Look at me."

"Stop messing around, come on let's get ba-" Katsuki coughed. Clearing his throat he stopped in his tracks. He looked as though a shock had coursed through him. He held his chest, profusely coughing. 

"Katsuki? What's wrong!?"

Katsuki suddenly fell over, unresponsive. 

[beetlesau]

I just want to let you know that your Zombie Bakugou story is fucking amazing! I just read all of it right now and I’m absolutely HOOKED!

Please tag me in future updates if you do that sort of thing 🧟‍♂️

❤️‍🔥

Will do! And thank you for the kind words!