Ficwriter/Fanfiction • Multifandom | BNHA | tododeku • She / her • aroace 🏳️🌈 • Fanatic and uncontrolled reader who plays at being an artist. Find me in Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nathymaki
So, I freak out every time I look at this art made for Underwater by @crazyclarabr. It’s very very perfect! AMAZING!
Taking advantage now that the fanfic is finished to disclose :)
Underwater
With heterochromatic eyes comes the ability to see both worlds: the living and the dead. A ghost of strange greenish hair, a series of unexplained disappearances, a troubled family. In the midst of everything, Shouto needs to gather all the clues and find the solution to this mystery.
Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category: M/M
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Additional Tags: Todoroki Shouto Needs a Hug, Todoroki Shouto sees Ghosts, Dekusquad (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - No Quirks (My Hero Academia), Drama, Family Drama, Psychological Drama, Angst and Drama, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Angst and Romance, Tragedy, Supernatural Elements, Ghosts, Paranormal, Investigations, Suspense, Todoroki Shouto is Bad at Feelings, Dead Todoroki Touya, Eventual Romance, Serial Killers, hit the culprit if you can
Men use “I’m just a man” to cheat on their wives. Odysseus uses “I’m just a man” to kill, slay and torture people to get back to HIS wife. They are not the same.
Soulmate AU where you only find your soulmate when they call you by your name.
For heroes or those with another alias, it's not uncommon for the hero name/alias to also be the name their soul responds to.
Circumstances may differ for each individual of course.
Sometimes you'll find your soulmate when they say your last name. Sometimes it might be your given name, or a nickname. Sometimes you don't find out until your soulmate has their own nickname for you. Sometimes the 'feeling' - the indescribable sensation many relate to the phenomenon of your soulmate uttering your name - may respond to various names you identify by, but differ in intensity for each.
°°°
Shouto finds out Midoriya is his soulmate during their internship with Endeavor. When Midoriya yells "Shouto-kun!" while throwing his costume case at him.
Which shocks Shouto into stumbling for a split-second - almost getting hit in the face by the case.
Once they've calmed down afterwards, Shouto convinces himself that, with the sudden rush in battle, he might've mistaken that 'soulmate feeling' for adrenaline. No one's been able to describe how it felt in concrete detail so Shouto isn't exactly sure what he's supposed to look out for.
He decides to save the conversation for another time - after they deal with all the villain attacks.
A plan that is promptly flung into the back burner when chaos erupts and leads to Midoriya leaving UA.
When Shouto finds Midoriya gone, anger at himself and regret for putting off the soulmate talk burns in his chest. If Midoriya knew about the possibility of their connection, would he still have left?
Knowing his self-sacrificing tendencies; probably.
Midoriya would carry the burden of fighting villains by himself to protect everyone. Maybe even more so if there is a soulmate to be kept safe.
And a part of Shouto is angry at Midoriya for that as well.
For not trusting them to have his back. For being so reckless to do this alone. For not letting them share the burden and fight alongside him.
Nevertheless, it fuels his drive to find his soulmate and bring him back.
°°°
Izuku finds out when the 1A comes for him.
When Todoroki yells, calling him 'Deku'.
Todoroki has never called him by his hero name before - it had always been 'Midoriya' even during their internships.
A feeling he can't describe shoots up his spine, almost freezing him in place. His gaze snaps towards sharp heterochromatic eyes and understanding dawns on him.
His resolve wavers for a second.
It's enough to give 1A the opportunity to finally catch him and bring him back.
°°°
Back in UA, Todoroki practically sticks to Midoriya's side the whole time, waiting for the opportunity to start that conversation they needed to have.
As the class slowly and hesitantly goes off to give Midoriya the space to clean up, Todoroki volunteers to get an extra set of clothes for him, then silently stays to wait.
When Midoriya steps out of the showers with that heartbreaking exhaustion that now constantly painted his face, Todoroki silently takes the towel from his hands and gently helps him dry his hair.
A tentative silence settles over them before Midoriya softly asks if he had known about them being soulmates. Todoroki only pauses for a moment before admitting that he hadn't always known, but he'd suspected it since their internship.
Midoriya responds with silence.
And something about it draws honesty from Todoroki's lips - about how he was convinced that he must've imagined it. About how a part of him chalked it up to wishful thinking. Too good to be true because he didn't expect the universe to grant him a soulmate in the first place - much less someone he felt strongly for.
"I'm glad it's you", Midoriya admits with a small smile.
At Todoroki's surprise, he flushes and ducks his head shyly, muttering about how he sees Todoroki as one of his closest friends, and trusts him wholeheartedly.
After another moment of hesitation, he adds that with everything that's been happening, he'd been too preoccupied to think of soulmates or romantic attractions.
Todoroki starts to pull away, but Midoriya frantically holds onto him. "But, Todo- Shouto-kun!"
Shouto shivers at the prickle of warmth that races underneath his skin.
"Ah, I'm sorry, that was rude, I should've asked first, I'm so--"
"No." Shouto interrupts him. "Say it again. Call me Shouto... please..." he tacks on the last part almost like an afterthought, yet it doesn't dampen the expectant look on his face.
"S-Shouto-kun...?" Midoriya acquiesces, jaw dropping at the blush it draws out from the usually reserved.
"It feels warm..." Shouto muses.
Midoriya really can't help but stare.
"I can imagine falling for you easily." He blurts out. His cheeks redden at the horrifyingly honest declaration.
He doesn't take it back though.
Shouto tenses despite how fast his heart pounds. "You don't have to-"
Midoriya shakes his head, "I'm not just saying that... you're... you're incredible, Shouto. You're so strong in many ways. And so kind. You're amazing." He ducks his head, anxiously biting his lip. "I want to try this soulmate thing... if you want--"
"Yes." Shouto breathes out before he could even think about it. "Yes, Mido-- De-- Izuku."
Izuku's eyes widen in surprise and his cheeks turn an endearing darker shade of red. "Oh." He breathes almost reverently. "That sounds better than my hero name."
Shouto's fingers tighten around scarred hands, "Izuku".
The smile that lights up Izuku's face is so radiant Shouto almost chokes out a sob. He hadn't seen that kind of smile from the boy in so long that he eagerly welcomes the burst of affection he had tried to push down before.
"Shouto-kun." Izuku says like a prayer. "Is it selfish? Even when there's so much going on and everyone is in danger and--"
Shouto shakes his head, "it's not selfish to want something good in this shitstorm."
Izuku laughs at his language, "Shouto!"
Shouto's lips quirk up at Izuku's reaction - a far cry from the exhaustion he'd been sporting earlier. "And in any case, I think you, more than anyone, deserve to be a little selfish right now."
Izuku freezes, eyes watering ever so slightly - a glint of hope in the sea of hesitation. As if the idea of something positive seemed impossible to reach for but desperately wanting to leap for it. "Can I... can we really...?"
Shouto leans his forehead against Izuku's - their noses touching. "Yes, if that's what you want."
"Do you? Want this too?" Izuku's scarred fingers trembled in Shouto's grip.
"Yes." He repeats without hesitation.
Izuku's tone softens even more. "Can you give me time? To fall for you?"
"You can have forever if you need it." Shouto responds so earnestly that Izuku can't help but chuckle.
He leans more against the taller boy, trusting him to support his weight as tiredness ladens his limbs despite the way his chest flutters with bliss.
"That's a lot of time," he rests his ear against Shouto's chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.
Shouto presses his cheek against Izuku's damp locks, "I'll wait."
Izuku's face grows warmer, but his smile doesn't waver even as he feels the beat of his heart racing ever so slightly to catch up to the rhythm of Shouto's.
There's still more they need to talk about later on.
Midoriya watched around him enchanted, like a devotee standing before a sacred altar he had no right to approach.
"My mother once told me that books are like a second home," were his first words after a long silence. Shoto met his eyes and could see a flame of life burning in them, eager and bright as the first time they had met. The sight sent sparks across his skin. “I could never disagree with her. But you know, Todoroki-kun, books being houses, they are also a final resting place. They carry the memories of all those who have passed away and ensure that their departure was not in vain."
The truth was that stories meant a beginning and an end, dreams, hopes and desires condensed into pages thrown across time and there, surrounded by ink and words and paper, Izuku finally felt as if he could have a home again.
"She strikes me as an extraordinary woman."
Midoriya tilted his head, sadness and regret taking over his face.
"She was."
Shoto felt an ocean of pain in those single two words.
"Is it because of her that you like books and stories so much?"
Midoriya exhaled, his eyes roaming the room again, enchantment and dreams built under arched stone, and his heart tightened at the memory. It had been so long, a different time, a different life. What was he doing here now? He didn't know, didn't have the answers, not anymore.
"I used to," he said at last, sad eyes locked on a past he couldn't break free, fingers clenched for a future he couldn't reach. “I don't know if I still have that ability."
"Would you like to find out?"
For a moment, it was just the two of them in a silent library, fingers linked in mutual support and trust, surrounded by dreams and dusty words. For an instant, Midoriya could almost hear the threads of fate weaving on its loom and the stars rearranging their paths to accommodate that collision, the moment when two people became more than strangers who found each other by guided chance and less than all in a chosen future. The moment where it all began.
He squeezed Shoto's hand back.
"What do you have to show me?"
