Zeroes [Soulmate AU]

Warning: This was a random thought vomit idea that I haven't proofread, I apologise for the inevitable typos you'll come across

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Midoriya Izuku did not have a soulmate.

Once upon a time that fact had bothered him. Well, okay, it still bothered him a little bit, but he’d also just kind of... Adjusted. It had become a fact of life – the sky was blue, the sun rose in the East, and Midoriya Izuku did not have a soulmate.

The numbers hadn’t been a big deal at first, anyway. His mother had quietly teared up when she saw the zeroes staining his wrist, but Izuku had been more concerned about his quirk. Toddlers didn’t care about soulmates when there were superpowers to be discussed, after all.

It wasn’t until their first day of school that people started to care about the soft grey numbers ticking down on their skin, when one of the little girls in their class had squealed excitedly over her clock approaching zero – she was going to meet her soulmate in their new class, and everyone had suddenly become aware of what the numbers reallymeant, of the fact that she was about to meet her true love. Some people never met them, stuck with an eternal 99:99 burnt into their wrist, but here was a girl who was about to meet her match at six years old, who could spend her entire life with that person if they both wanted to – and people usually did.

Izuku would have been okay with the nines, he was pretty sure. It wasn’t unheard of for numbers to change, after all. There were plenty of romantic stories about people packing up their lives to travel the world in search of their person; of numbers that whirled and changed unexpectedly when a big decision was made; and the reverse, of course – numbers that froze, never to move again, after their partner died in an unexpected accident.

Nines were difficult, but still held glimmers of hope; frozen numbers were heartbreaking no matter how you looked at them; but zeroes were supposed to be good. Izuku was maybe the one person in the world who thought his zeroes were a curse.

So he kept them covered, kept them hidden under long sleeves or gloves. There were heroes who went so far as to put clear windows in their costumes so they could keep an eye on their numbers changing, but Izuku was more than happy to pull thick green jumpsuit over his own.

The first day of high school had been a bit of a whirlwind. People glanceddown at their numbers as they walked into class, watching them tick down asthey met their new classmates, figuring out who else was getting close to The Moment. They’d had six different people tick down to zero at the exact same moment, which had been a whole nightmare of its own as they tried to figure out who was meant to be with who. After a lot of effort and experimentation they seemed to have finally figured it out, seemed to be happy and comfortable in their relationships, and otherwise they’d all had bigger things on their minds than dating.

Izuku hadn’t even been the only person in class to keep his number covered. Shouto, for one, had zero interest in soulmates. It hadn’t exactly worked out for his parents, after all. And Kacchan – well Kacchan was Kacchan, he had better things to think about than relationships. He was single-minded, always focussed on his goal. If somethingdidn’t help him become number one, he didn’t give a damn about it, and love was deep in that category.

Even after knowing him for pretty much their entire lives Izuku wasn’t sure that they’d ever talked about it. Kacchan had just shown up to preschool one day with his favourite All Might patterned sweatband around his wrist, the one he usually refused to wear in case it got dirty or damaged, and had kept it there until it wore out and he had to buy a new one. The replacement was plain and dark, unassuming, and despite not fitting uniform regulations, teachers across multiple schools had never told him to take it off. Whether he was in class, in the dorms, at the gym, or wearing his costume, still that dark band kept it covered up, kept his mind off romance and on his goals.

Hero Dynamite, can you tell us about your soulmate?

The words echoed through Izuku’s mind on an endless loop – the reporter hadn’t known what she was getting herself into when she asked the question. Kacchan’s reaction had been as explosive as Izuku – or anyone else who knew him, for that matter – would have expected, except for one tiny gesture that he couldn’t get out of his head.

Kacchan had covered his wrist.

It had been the smallest of movements, a little twist to press his wrist tight to his thigh, but to Izuku it was the loudest, most brazen thing he’d ever seen. Kacchan had covered his number.

The news articles had flooded in since, full of headlines about the battle and smaller pieces all about Dynamite’s number. Even though he wasn’t officially a hero yet, Kacchan had already made a name for himself, and the hype over something as simple as a wrist full of zeroes was staggering.

More importantly, why had Izuku not known? He’d thought Kacchan was his best friend but he’d never even told Izuku when he met his soulmate? Sure, he thought soulmates were stupid and unnecessary, he’d made no secret of that throughout their lives, but still... hadn’t he felt something? Seen something? Did he really care that little?

That was how he found himself standing outside Kacchan’s dorm room, staring at the heavy wood but not quite daring to knock. Kacchan was probably asleep, after all – he’d had a long day – and Izuku really shouldn’t disturb his rest, right?

When he heard shuffling inside, Izuku steeled his nerves and knocked lightly, the shuffling halting immediately.

“It’s me, Kacchan,” he said softly. “I brought snacks, since you didn’t come down for dinner.”

There was a pause for a moment, then a little sigh that Izuku could barely make out.

“I have a list of banned words you need to read and approve before being allowed in,” he grumbled, opening the door a crack.

“I have read and agree to the terms and conditions.”

“Liar.”

He pulled the door open regardless, waving Izuku inside with a gesture that looked more exhausted than Izuku had ever seen him before.

“So you don’t want to talk about it?” he asked, handing over a bag of mixed nuts and a pack of Katsuki’s favourite seaweed chips. “I’m not prying, I swear, you’ve just always been so disinterested in the subject, I never imagined you might have already met- Sorry, I know, I’ll stop.”

“Romance just distracts people from the important shit.”

“I know,” Izuku smiled softly. “Can I just ask one question?”

Katsuki bristled, and Izuku shook his head quickly.

“I’m not gonna pry, I swear! No who or when, I just... Did you ever look at it? I mean, you probably saw it in the shower and stuff, right? So you must have... Known.”

“I knew what it said, I didn’t need to look.”

“Oh. Oh! You just- You wanted privacy, I get it! That makes sense, Kacchan is a private person after all, of course you don’t want anyone else in your business! I’m amazed, really! I just thought it would be a long, long time before you met someone, if ever, because that’s just the kind of person Kacchan is! Dedicated to the important things, with no time for anything else! But you have met them and you knew you met them and, well, I guess you could even be dating them and I wouldn’t even know, since you’re so private! I just hope you’re happy together, that’s all!”

“You’re getting way ahead of yourself, nerd.” Kacchan huffed quietly, and if Izuku didn’t know any better, he might have called it a laugh. “There’s no one, you’d know if there was.”

He flopped onto the bed heavily, kicking his feet up to get started on his snacks, and Izuku timidly took a seat on his desk chair – he half-expected Kacchan to kick him out before he got there, but all he got was the crunch of gross chips only Kacchan liked.

“I never saw it,” Izuku whispered, looking away so Kacchan wouldn’t have to risk meeting his eyes. “Our whole lives, no matter how many times we had sleepovers or went swimming or whatever, I never saw it.”

“I’ve gotta be the best.” Kacchan shrugged. “Can’t risk letting anything drag me down.”

“Love doesn’t have to drag you down, Kacchan! Plenty of Pro-Heroes have fulfilling love lives!”

“Like All Might and Endeavour?” Kacchan snorted, making Izuku cringe. “But I know that, nerd. I can handle juggling a personal life and a work life just as well as anyone else – better than anyone else.”

“Then... Never mind, sorry, you said not to ask.”

The room fell silent again, even the crinkling of the chip bag falling still.

“I don’t have one.”

Izuku blinked at him silently, wide-eyed.

“You don’t have...?”

“I know, big surprise, arrogant asshole Katsuki doesn’t have someone who will love him. Har har. Thanks, universe.”

“What?! Who wouldn’t love you?! You’re Kacchan. You’re amazing, and attractive, and talented, and- and- Screw soulmates! Who needs them?! Half the time they don’t even work out! Kacchan is gonna find someone amazing to love, someone just as amazing as you! Who cares if they’re your soulmate or not?!”

Kacchan cracked the tiniest of smiles, and Izuku froze mid-stream, jaw falling open as he watched the dopey smile spread across Kacchan’s lips.

“You’re such an idiot,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Damn it Deku, why are you so stupid.”

“Well, you know me,” Izuku smiled back. “I’m glad I could make you laugh with my... Stupidness.”

“You’re the worst.”

“I know. Do you um, wanna talk about it? You know I won’t judge, I don’t have one either.”

“There’s not a lot to tell. The Hag noticed it first, she got all upset and ran off to talk to Dad, he got all concerned and shit too, they started looking it up and found out some people don’t have one. They explained it to me all serious-like, so I told them I didn’t want a stupid soulmate anyway because they’re just get in the way of being a hero. The rest is history, or whatever.”

“Yeah, that... Sounds like Kacchan.”

“Probably pretty close to how yours went too, I guess.”

“Mm... Yeah, I guess so. Mine was later than yours, so I guess she probably knew from your parents. It made me kind of sad sometimes, but I guess I just figured there are options, right? Some soulmate couples don’t work out anyway, some people lose their partner, some people never get the chance to meet them, so it’s not like I’m... doomed to be alone or something, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s... true. You can just... find someone else who doesn’t have one.”

“Yeah,” Izuku said softly, sneaking a glance at Kacchan’s contemplative face. “I’m sure there are... Plenty of us.”

Izuku wasn’t sure who moved first, but in an instant he was on his feet, Katsuki’s lips pressed to his. Part of him wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but it also felt so... right.

“Deku,” Kacchan murmured.

“No talking,” Izuku objected, winding a hand into his hair and holding him close. “More of this.”

“Deku.”

“What.”

Kacchan shoved him off, and for a moment Izuku panicked – had he misread the situation? Had he forced himself on Kacchan?

“Look.”

Izuku tore himself away, following Kacchan’s gaze, only to to feel every little bit of air leave his lungs all at once. Between them, two sets of grey zeroes were moving, for the first time in either of their lives. Not changing, not counting down, but pulsing, growing and shrinking by the tiniest amount at a quick, but steady pace.

“I’ve never felt so stupid in my life,” Kacchan whispered, cupping Izuku’s forearm like the most precious treasure in the world. “Of course they were fucking zeroes, we were babies when we met.”

“We’re such idiots,” Izuku chuckled, shoulders trembling as he tried to hold it in. “Of course it’s Kacchan, I’ve always loved Kacchan.”

He ran his thumb over the numbers on Katsuki’s wrist, feeling them grow warm under his touch, pulsing gently in time with his heartbeat.

“So um, do you wanna go on a date with me?” Izuku asked, grinning. “Or is that too sappy for Hero Dynamite and his badass persona?”

“Alright, I guess I can take your needy ass out to dinner tonight.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki cracked the tiniest of smiles, planting a quick kiss on Izuku’s flushed cheek. “You up for it?”

“It sounds perfect, Kacchan. I just have one request.”

“Told you your ass was needy. Fine, what’s your request, nerd?”

“Don’t cover it.”

Katsuki froze, eyes darting down again to the numbers still gently thrumming.

“Yeah, alright,” he said finally, smiling to himself. “I think I can manage that.”