Summary: Todoroki and Midoriya are soulmates that frequent the same beach for years but never saw each other until one fateful day. Soulmate AU. Tododeku week 2017.
Day 2
Theme: Beach
Quote: 'Some things are destined to be – it just takes us a couple of tries to get there.' – J.R. Ward, Lover Mine.
A/N: This is not proofread.
Warnings: AU – soulmates. AU – Canon Divergence. Spoilers past chapter 80.
The Soulmates Beach
Todoroki Shouto couldn't help but notice the beach getting cleaner every day, it was 6pm and the sun was setting, dipping into the horizon as the moon rose to the sky, and he was doing his 6-kilometer evening run. He never saw someone carrying the trash but he knew that they were there, sometimes certain items would be placed in a different spot compared to the day before. He tried to catch them several times to thank them for their hard work and community service but never seemed to catch them in the act, which was a shame since he was aiming to be a pro hero and can't seem to figure out who was cleaning the beach.
He looked down at his wrist were the initials 'M.I' were tattooed, his soulmates initials, another person he has to find. His parents weren't soulmates, his father thought of them as nothing but a waste of time but Shouto thought something else, he thought of them as someone who would help him escape that hell, someone who would be his friend and will love him, or that's what his mother said. She told him he was born without a mark, and that it appeared on his wrist on the 15th of July of the same year he was born, he had been seven months old when it appeared, meaning that he was older than his soulmates by seven months, not a huge gap like his eldest brother, who is six years older than his soulmate.
His mother also told him that once you walk next by your soulmate, that he will hear a bell chiming sound, indicating them that they met. Once he started middle school the teachers explained a bit in depth of how the soulmate bond works, they said that the oldest of the pair is born without the initial tattoo which would be somewhere on their body, both soulmates have the tattoo at the same location, while the younger will be born with the tattoo. The moment you first meet your soulmate you will hear the bell sound, which only happens once, if you missed them then that's your fault, you had to look around for them, shout their initials or something.
Todoroki sighed as he decided to help this mysterious person, he would pick a small item from the edge and take it to the nearest trash can. He would do that every day in hopes of meeting them but he never did. Sometimes he would see a few kids helping out during the day but they weren't the ones doing the cleaning, he was sure of that as he overheard them wondering who was cleaning up the beach. He would linger until it was time for him to go, or until his father called, demanding his presence at home for another 'training' session.
.
Midoriya Izuki sighed as he picked up the trash at 3 am, right before dawn, he is too busy during the day to come and clean the beach. He would always wonder who would pick the little items that would lay around during the day, sure it interfered with his training but he was glad that someone other than him cared about the beach. Sometimes on his way home he would quickly pass by the beach but he never saw anyone there, the place was still empty by 5pm, not a single human being came.
Today he removed three fridges, five microwaves, two chairs, ten car tires, and at least thirty big trash bags. As he was moving the items he ended up with a small cut on his wrist, right over his soulmates initials, the black bold 'T.S' that would haunt him at times. He always wondered who his soulmate is but since he is quirkless then that was a scary aspect, he didn't want to meet his soulmate, at least not yet, not until All might deems him ready. Everyone made fun of him for being useless, so why shouldn't his soulmate shun him as well, who wanted to spend eternity with his pathetic self.
As Izuku cleaned up the beach that he used to frequent as a kid, wondering when did it turn into such a wasteland, it looked almost like the slums he sees on TV, he sighed and hoped he won't meet his soulmate for a very long time, for now he was content being on his own.
.
Days, weeks and months passed and Midoriya managed to clean up the beach and get accepted in U.A. high. Summer went by as fast as it came, nights spend cleaning and days working out and studying paid off. School was over, it was spring as he stood on the beach, letting the water swish back and forth, soaking his legs up to his ankles. Too bad that the beach is clean and that he could never meet the person who would pick some stuff up that he forgot to throw away.
He stood there for what seems to be an eternity, watching as several people would jog by on the tracks, he wonders why won't they run on the sand. As he looked at everyone and tried to guess their profession, a boy with the most intriguing features jogged by, his hair was split evenly in the middle, one side white as snow and the other was red as cherry, his eyes were different from each other, one was a dark grey and the other a piercing blue. Even though he sported such amazing features, his facial expression broke Izuku's heart, the boy looked angry at something but there was sadness in his eyes, like he was trying everything he can to stop from crying.
Izuku knew better than to go to a complete stranger and ask them what's wrong, so he did something uncharacteristic and turned the other way, it was not his place to pry. He stood there for a few more minutes, relaxing and letting the water splash against his legs before going to home.
.
Todoroki had another argument with his father which led him sprinting out of the house, and the best way for him to relax and calm down is to run and let all his frustration and anger out. As he ran by the beach he spotted an unfamiliar and new face, the boy was not older than him with a mop of green hair, he wore a junior high uniform and was standing on the shore, letting the water splash his legs as he looked content and relaxed.
He couldn't help but get angry at the boy, 'now that the beach is clean he decides to come down here' he thought, and wondered if that boy will start throwing trash like everyone. Even though the beach was clean, he would sometimes see someone throwing their cups or waste on the sand and he would clean it up, he won't let the efforts of his mysterious person go to waste.
He can see the boy staring at people, but something told him that he was enjoying the view, nothing more or less. Ignoring the boy Todoroki continued his jog until his check point before taking a U-turn and returning back, he saw some brat throw a plastic bottle on the sand before leaving the beach. It was around time he cleaned up the little mess that people made, his mysterious person worked hard and they deserve a break.
As he went down to the sand to collect the waste thrown on the beach he spotted the green haired boy picking up most of the trash. It looked like they were about to fall from his hands and into the sand, jogging towards the boy, Shouto heard him groan "after all the cleaning I've done they just throw the trash back to the beach".
It was him. His mysterious person. This green haired boy was his mysterious person, the one who cleaned his beach.
"Hey do you–"
Ting.
"– need any help" Todoroki continued rather quietly before staring at the boy before him. He just heard it, that bell sound when you meet your soulmate, the one if you hear and miss your soulmate is lost forever. His mysterious person was also his soulmate, he didn't need to search for two people, only one.
Midoriya on the other hand was not so happy, he found out that people were littering all over his beach and now this, he just met his soulmate. He is no longer quirkless but he has no control over his power, so it's the same as not having a quirk. He looked like he saw a ghost, so no he was not excited and the only thing that he could do is drop the trash and sprint away.
.
They next met again during their first day of high school, almost three weeks after their initial meeting. Neither spoke to each other, however, they can now put a name to their tattoos and a name to their faces.
M.I. – Midoriya Izuku.
T.S. – Todoroki Shouto.
Shouto never spoke to anyone and never shared his tattoo, but Izuku on the other hand let his slip, and when his classmates asked him about it, he simply looked sad as he spoke, "I haven't met them yet, I don't want to".
'Liar' Todoroki thought, they were the only ones who knew the truth.
.
The sports festival was when Todoroki confronted Midoriya and told him about his past, he also learned that Midoriya wanted to prove himself first. Ever since he was young Todoroki believed that his soulmate would help him in one way or another, and his gut instinct was right as Midoriya tore his arms apart for his sake, to save him from his demons. That was the first time they interacted, and at the end they exchanged numbers, and agreed to keep the fact that they are soulmates a secret. The first milestone.
The next milestone was during the Stain incident in Hosu city. Once Todoroki learned that his soulmate is in danger he dropped everything and ran towards him. He used his fire to save his soulmate, the person who saved him.
The third milestone was after their summer camp trip, after the Kamino ward incident. Todoroki didn't want to keep ignoring things, so he asked his mother for advice but there was no use, with constant villain attacks, the two of them kept dancing around each other.
.
It was Shouto who made the first move during spring of their second year, he was tired of waiting around. They became friends but he knew that they were more than that, the feelings that he developed were too strong. He sneaked on Izuku, texted him saying that he wants to meet up for something important by their beach.
"I came as fast as I can" Midoriya breathed, sweat trickling down his face, he was wearing black shorts and a white shirt along with his favorite red boots, "what's the emergency"
"Relax" Shouto snickered, earning an offended look from Midoriya. The dual quirked boy grabbed his soulmates hands into his and dragged him to the beach, "it's just that I never got to thank you for cleaning up the beach and that we met almost a year ago on this beach, remember"
"yeah it was embarrassing" Izuku chuckled and looked at their intertwined fingers, it dawned to him as he noticed that it felt right, like it was home, "oh, you want to talk about us being soulmates"
"A single date, that's all I want" Todoroki quickly cleared things up.
~ 5 years later ~
"I don't know why you love this beach Shoucchan" Izuku sighed as his soulmate pulled him towards the water, it was a summer night, the moon high up in the sky, illuminating the world for them.
"How many times must I tell you, this is the first place we met, I ran by this beach every day for most of my junior high school days, and somehow at the same time you were cleaning this beach and lived close by and we never met until that day" Shouto sighed, pulling Midoriya into a hug, "it's a special place"
"Yeah there was this person who would collect some of the little things and it would interfere with my training" Izuku chuckled
"Oh, that was me" Shouto replied with his trademark deadpanned expression, earning a friendly punch on the shoulder.
"You're lucky that I love you" Izuku sighed as he placed a kiss on Todoroki's jaw, "and that we are soulmates and there is that look on your face, Shoucchan what are you planning". A grin was spread on Todoroki's face as he lifted Midoriya and splashed him in the water, no one other than them on this beach, their beach.
A/N: Hope this is good, and sorry for the delay. I wanted a slightly original soulmate AU so this is the closest I can get to, I always thought that maybe Todoroki wants a soulmate so he can run from Endeavor, while Midoriya wouldn't want one since he was bullied for being quirkless and was somewhat afraid that his soulmate might not want him.