Soul Marked
Chapter Three
Promises of Hope
This is the longest chapter i've written for this story! Honestly the words just poured out and I wanted to keep it going but then the perfect ending came to me. It's my favorite chapter so far, Katsuki and Midoriya just grabbed me and pulled me in with their story. Especially Katsuki in this chapter. This chapter is full of answers for you guys, and well let's be honest probably even more questions.
Guys I have a question for you. Do you want me to split this story up into different books for each season, or in my case whenever I feel like it's an ending. I defiantly feel as if the first two seasons will be in one book if that is the route you wanna go. I don't mind it's just whatever will be easier for you guys. So please review and tell me what you think!
I was supposed to wait a week to update this but my excitement got the better of me, I couldn't wait. Eh, just a treat for all of my readers! I've never gained so many reviews this fast for any of the stories I've written, it's exciting, and those who follow and favorite, thank you! I'm happy to see that this story is loved by so many and not just me!
I won't be able to update this often all the time, life get's in the way of writing sometimes, especially my kid, but I will try to keep it on a weekly schedule. So for now just please enjoy this chapter I just couldn't wait to send out.
Edited: July 17, 2018
This chapter was edited by my amazing beta: Whatisthiswitchery.
His wrists were painful, they had always been but ever since he had completely cut Izuka from his life he could feel them cut into his skin after running into her. The thorns had begun to dig deeper into his skin, a soul mark was more trouble than it was worth it seemed. He could still remember when they had first met, he had been so full of happiness, he had found his other half like his mother had always said he would. Everything had been great until that fateful day, the one that he would never forget.
Katsuki pulled at his mother's hands dragging her faster in anticipation of seeing Izuka, they had plans to meet up today at the park. "Come on mom!" he yelled as he kept pulling at her hand.
"Izuka will be waiting there, Katsuki," she said with a huff. "Slow down."
"I don't want her to have to wait!" As promised Inko and Izuka were already at the park, Izuka bouncing away happily at her mother's side as she kept wringing her hands. Her green eyes would bounce around darting from place to place.
"Koneko!" He yelled out, happiness sounding in his voice, causing warmth to spread inside of her.
"Kacchan!" She broke free from her mother's side and raced across the short distance to stand by his side, his hand snatching out to grab her own. "What are we going to play?"
"We can play hero," Katsuki suggested knowing that it was her favorite game. As he tugged her away over to where they could play he noticed the odd look in her green eyes. Usually they were bright and happy whenever he was around, but as she stared at the other kids a sad glint began to shine in them. It wasn't normal.
He hoped that playing her favorite game would cheer her up and she wouldn't act so weird anymore, but it became quickly apparent that as the kids around her used their quirks she only grew sadder. Grabbing her hand in his own he dragged her over to where the swings were, concern showing brightly in his red eyes.
The intricate floral knots that made up his mark seemed to twist around on his wrists in worry, speaking that something was wrong with her.
"Koneko," he asked quietly as he watched her zone out, her eyes looking off into the distance, it didn't look like she was really there with him. She never bluntly ignored him before, she had always given him all of her attention, like it should be. "Is something wrong?"
Izuka for what it was worth realized she was just staring off into space as she thought over the day before, when she had found out about being quirkless, a genetic problem. Her eyes refocused and landed on Katsuki, she had hoped coming to the park today would make her feel better, being around him always did, he was her friend. However, today, she didn't feel like even he could make her feel better.
"Mom took me to the doctors yesterday, Kacchan," she finally spoke realizing he had asked her a question.
"Is something wrong with you?"
"I don't have a quirk, the doctor said I never will. That it's hopeless." Kacchan's eyes widened as he took the information in. He understood that there were still some people that didn't get quirks but for it to happen to someone he had Soul Marked with. He also understood the unsaid truth that went with not having a quirk.
He reached out, his hand shaking, as he tugged away at her bracelets, the colorful things that had always been around her wrists. When he had first met her, he hadn't understood when she covered them, her marks, his mother had said it was a proud thing to have and that one should only cover them if they were a hero, as it could be used against them. Otherwise you were supposed to show them proudly, they were a thing of great joy, something to show off to the world.
She had always kept her wrists covered up.
The bracelets fell off. The clear skin there was like a slap to his face, she had no mark, had no quirk. He was bound to a person that could never feel the same way about him that he did to her. She had just been leading him on. Always acting happy around him when truly she never felt what he did. He wasn't someone special to her, just a friend, someone to keep her from being lonely.
His body began to shake as his hand dropped from her wrists, allowing the bracelets to fall to the ground.
Katsuki shook his head freeing him from the memory as his hand encased his wrist. His betrayal he felt by her only grew over the years, the anger and resentment growing deeper. Fate hadn't been on his side and still made cruel jokes his way.
She was going to be applying for U.A. a place where she hoped to become a hero. He knew it was a mistake, she didn't have a quirk to protect herself with, and now with the new rule that you didn't need a quirk it was possible for her to do it. She would get herself killed, and he hated her for even considering the idea.
Rage boiled in his blood at the idea of her going and getting hurt, of getting killed, how could she do this? How could she not care? Did she just not understand?
子猫
Midoriya stared up at the tall building of U.A. her dream school, it was finally the day to prove that she could do it. If only she could get past the fact that she had swallowed a stray hair of All Might. She clasped her hand over her mouth at just the thought, it wasn't exactly what she expected, but in the end, she swallowed it, and could swear she could still feel it, even after guzzling down water. It hadn't been the greatest thing she ever tasted and wouldn't want to re-experience anything like it.
With a groan she tried prying her hands from her mouth, hoping that the power actually was given to her. She had rushed home, showered, ate breakfast, and then took the long subway ride to school. It hadn't given her any time to check and see if she had actually gained the quirk.
All Might had promised that she would, that it just took time for the stomach to digest his DNA, but after it did she would have it. She could only hope that was true, she was truly full of anxiety.
"Move, Koneko," came a deep voice from behind her, one that she recognized. Her body tensed, she had managed to avoid him for the last several months but knew that if they were both accepted she would be seeing him still, hoping from one school to another.
His breath hovered in the area in front of him, the cold causing it to be visible. His eyes grazed over her as she continued to stare at him. Just looking at her set him off, the anger burning inside of him. Unconsciously he began to tug at his sleeves trying to get the harsh feeling to leave.
"Kacchan," she uttered in reply, her head staying slightly bowed, old habits dying hard, even if she was trying to gain confidence. As he walked by her his shoulder brushed past hers, causing her to stumble lightly, and before he knew what he was doing his hand shot out to steady her. The soft touch caused her to freeze and stare at him wide eyed. Bakugo himself was staring at his hand, letting it drop back to his side as his eyes seemed to almost soften before turning hard.
For the first time in a long time he couldn't feel the thorns digging into his skin.
"Don't get yourself killed, Koneko," he ground out through his teeth. "That would piss me off."
She watched as he left heading inside as she stared wide eyed and shaking after him. Just one run in with him and she was pushed back into being a puddle of goop, scared, shaking, and confused.
"I've really got to stop flinching," she said to herself as she turned around and began to follow after him, one foot in front of the other. This was her first step into becoming a hero! She had to make every action count here, not turn into a blubbering mess that Kacchan made her into. She was going to have to learn how to deal with him the thought alone caused her head to hurt.
Not watching where she was going her foot fell out from under her, catching on a crack in the sidewalk. Her eyes widened in shock as she watched the ground race up to meet her face. What a start to her day, this wasn't how it was supposed to go.
"Are you okay?" asked a kind and soft voice, as Izuka glanced down frozen in place, the ground was no longer coming up to meet her. She seemed to be floating midair. Glancing over at where the voice was coming from she saw a short haired girl, a happy look on her face, she was cute. Reaching out the girl cancelled whatever she had done to her, allowing her to drop to the ground safely. "It's my quirk, I didn't want you to fall before the exams, that seems like a bad omen, right?"
The girl clapped her hands together, the happy look never leaving her face as she smiled brightly. "T-thank you," Izuka said gratefully as she brushed her hand through her hair to sweep it out of her face.
"No problem! This sure is nerve-wracking right?" The girl didn't give her a chance to answer however, as she began to walk away, waving at Izuka as she did. "Good luck to the both of us!" Izuka was left to stare after the girl much like she was with Katsuki, though this time things were left in a brighter light.
With a shake of her head the girl rolled her shoulders and pushed through into U.A. it was time to start to take that first step toward her dream.
Following all the other students she came to a packed auditorium, people were everywhere and she began to think that she would never find a place to sit. Her eyes roamed over the room, every seat taken that her eyes could see. With a sigh she began to move down a random aisle hoping to run across a seat before everything started. Frustration was building inside of her. How could she do this if she couldn't even find a seat!
A hand reached out and grabbed her arm pulling her around causing her to come face to face with someone familiar.
"What are you doing Kacchan?" she asked as he began to pull her down the aisle at a fast pace, having not said a word.
"There's a fucking seat for you next to me," he said blandly, having seen her from an aisle away looking lost, only adding to her kitten look, and he wasn't just able to leave her be. Izuka stared at him in surprise, yet again, this was familiar, when they were kids there was always a seat left open for her next to him. She couldn't believe he was going out of his way to offer that seat to her.
If she closed her eyes she could almost believe time had gone back and they were friends again, but she knew this wasn't the time to think of the past.
"Sit," he said pushing her into the seat as he took his own just in time for Present Mic to begin.
"Welcome to today's live performance!" He yelled out in excitement. "Everybody say 'Hey'!" Silence. Not one person said anything causing Present Mic to grow disappointed before moving on. "I'm here to present the guidelines of your practical! Are you ready?!" Izuka was extremely excited as soon as she saw him, her inner fangirl was coming out, as she began to gush over him.
"It's the voice hero!" She gushed out as she leaned forward excitedly and clapped her hands over her mouth, trying not to be too loud. "Present Mic! Wow! I listen to his radio show all the time, I guess the teachers here really would be pro heroes! I love him!"
Katsuki frowned, his eyes digging into the side of her head, anger coursing through him once again. He wanted to reach out and slap a hand over her face, anything to get her to be quiet. He hated that she was gushing about this hero.
"Shut up," he hissed at her, his hand coming out and smacking away her hands from her mouth. Izuka stared at him after he turned back to face forward once more. She was beginning to think she should have found a seat elsewhere. Sitting with Kacchan might become more trouble than it was worth.
"This is how the test will go, my listeners!" Present Mic said loudly. "You'll be experiencing ten-minute-long 'Mock Cityscape Maneuvers'! You're allowed to bring whatever you want! After this presentation, you'll each head to your assigned testing location!"
Bakugo leaned over to peak at her card, wondering if they were going to be put into the same location. When he realized that they hadn't been placed in the same place he began to feel relief and disappointment. He was worried she would get herself killed in the exams, she was stupid to think she could do this, but relieved that he wouldn't have her dragging him down, he'd be too worried watching over her if she was around and not gaining points. Not that he would ever admit to that, to her or to himself.
Izuka, herself, was just happy to find that she wouldn't have to worry about having Kacchan around to upset her, or cause her any emotional distress so that she could solely focus on doing her best.
子猫
Midoriya stared wide eyed at the fake city she had been brought to. It was amazing! Daunting. The place was huge, and she couldn't believe what she was going to have to do. Soon they would be let loose in the place and fighting robots for points. Her nerves were beginning to make an appearance again. She found herself doubting that the quirk would even be there and if it hadn't took she would disappoint All Might, and herself.
"Go!" yelled Present Mic, announcing that it had begun. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn't even realized that time had gone by so fast. Everyone around her shot off, running to go find anything to take down, leaving her in the dust.
She had to move!
She was already behind!
Need to calm down, need to keep a steady mind, find robots and take them down.
She shot forward searching for a robot that would help her gain points, she had to find one, then test and see if One For All had actually taken. She ran down streets not coming across anything as she did.
Crash!
A robot smashed through the wall of building off to her left, debris raining down as she spun around to stare at it. This was her chance. All she had to do was activate her quirk, prove that it was real to herself. Except only one thing kept her from doing it. Her feet seemed to have locked onto the floor. They refused to move, feeling like jelly and glue at the same time.
Here it comes!
Move!
She stared down at her feet, willing them to move, to do something! She couldn't just stand here. She couldn't move, she was terrified on instinct, she had to move from that. Get away. Be better. She could be better. Finally, her foot stepped forward, relief and pride swept over her as she moved the other. Now time to take this robot down.
"I've got this one!" Came a voice out of nowhere as a laser shot through the air, taking down the robot. "Merci. Well I doubt we meet again, and such a shame, you're very cute. Adieu!" Izuka stared after him as he took off, not believing that he had stolen her robot and she had let him. Then what he said caught up to her.
He had called her cute and said they wouldn't meet again. Her cheeks grew dark.
"Six minutes and two seconds remaining!"
Pulling herself from her thoughts she knew she had to start doing something. Points, she needed points! What was she doing just staring around here. Forcing her feet to move she began to run into a random direction, she had to find a robot, had to get points.
Looking around she noticed that most of the villains had already been dealt with, everyone having taken them when the opportunity arose. She had wasted too much time trying to get herself to move. She was going to fail!
Bam!
Staring up at the huge robot she realized that this was the zero pointer, it wouldn't do her any good to go after it. It began to move around crushing and crashing into anything it was near, aimlessly destroying anything in its way. It was humongous.
Taking off in the opposite direction she began to look around for any way to get points, she was still at zero, there was only a small amount of time left, she couldn't let this be for nothing. That was until a small voice yelled out in pain from behind her. Glancing over at her shoulder her eyes locked onto the girl who had saved her from falling earlier that morning, and the robot looming threatening over her. She was caught under rubble, her leg stuck, she wasn't able to run away like the others.
Her heart thudded against her ribcage as she stared up at the robot and All Mights words began to replay back in her mind.
When there's nothing to be gained!
Izuka began to turn around, her eyes staring up into the void face of her opponent.
Rising to the challenge at those times...
Her feet began to move.
Is surely the mark...
Power began to course through her legs.
Of a true hero!
Crouching down she pushed with all her might against the concrete, her body began to fly through the air as she drew back her arm, aiming for the robot. Power coursed through her arm, the muscle began to rip and pain flashed through her sensed but she refused to let that get to her. She had to save this girl, the hero inside of her wouldn't just let her walk away.
"Clench up your butt and let your heart cry out!" She yelled as her fist made contact with the villain.
Smash!
子猫
Bakugo pulled on his clothes feeling satisfied with how well he did, he got the most points in his group, he was surely getting accepted into U.A. after that. He couldn't help his mind drift over to Izuka though, he was sure she hadn't passed, there was no way she could have.
"Quirkless," he muttered to himself as he grabbed his bag and threw the strap over his shoulder as he began to head out. "Stupid dream."
"Can you believe that girl suddenly jumped at that villain?!" Said a voice excitedly, still not believing what he had saw.
"It looked like she had a reinforcement-type quirk, but it was strange..."
"Yeah if she had such an amazing quirk, doesn't make sense to be so jumpy all the time. Looked like a breeze would cause her to bolt."
Bakugo froze in his plan on leaving. They couldn't be talking about Midoriya could they? She didn't have a quirk, let alone a reinforcement one.
"Maybe she was acting?"
"No mistaking that she was amazing!"
Turning back around Bakugo grabbed the nearest guy and pulled him over to him, his hand gripping the front of his shirt tightly. The black-haired guy's eyes widened as he stared at him in surprise and annoyance.
"What's this about?" Iida exclaimed as he glared at Bakugo from behind his glasses.
"Are you talking about a green-haired girl," Katsuki said harshly as his grip tightened. "With freckles?"
"Yes, now can you let go of my person?" Tenya said clenching his fists as he pulled at Bakugoes hands. Getting the information he wanted, he let the guy go before turning around and began to stalk out the door. She had lied to him!? She had a quirk this whole time? What about her mark? Did she fake not having that as well?
He could still remember the day she had cried to him about it, was it all just one big lie all these years? He could feel the anger build up inside of him, worse than it ever had. His fists clenched and had to forcefully restrain himself from letting a round of explosions loose.
"Can you believe that she took that 0-point villain down with one punch?!" asked an excited girl who had witnessed it.
"It's weird that her quirk hurt her like that," the other girl said with a frown. "She couldn't even move after it." Katsuki growled as he realized who they were talking about and plowed through them knocking both of them down in the process.
"Hey!" they yelled out as they picked themselves up from the grass.
"Shut up!" he hissed as he kept on walking. A small piece of his mind began to worry at what the girls had said, she had been hurt, and bad. It was the part of him that related with his Mark, it made him worry over her. The Mark around his wrist twisted painfully causing him to hiss and only become that much angrier.
He shoved the worried side of him aside only causing more pain around his wrists but he didn't care. Koneko had pissed him off.
子猫
Staring down at her wrists Izuka could only look at them wide eyed. After returning home she had been so exhausted from being healed and the depressing realization that she had failed crashed over her, that she went straight to sleep after a shower. Then the next day most of her morning was spent trying to contact All Might who never answered.
Perhaps he had found out she had failed and was ignoring her?
He realized that he had entrusted the wrong person to his power.
It wasn't until later that night that she noticed the new faded marks on her wrists. They were barely there but there was definitely a red line that wrapped around them. Her heart had stopped beating, she was frozen as what she was looking at. A mark! She had been Marked! Her heart leapt with joy as it started again, beating faster than ever before in her excitement.
Jumping up to her feet she raced out of her room, her excitement keeping her from caring about anything other than she had to tell her mother. This wasn't something she even thought could be possible even after getting a quirk. Izuka didn't believe that she had passed the exams, which caused her a lot of depression, but in this moment, having figured this out, everything was alright, even for just a second.
"Mom!" She yelled as she raced across the house, coming to a stop in front of her mother who had been watching T.V. while folding clothes.
"Izuka?" she asked hesitantly, her daughter hadn't seemed fine after coming home yesterday so she was surprised by this change of events. "What's going on?"
"My Mark came in!" Izuka said shoving her wrists under her mother's gaze to prove her point. Inko's eyes widened as she stared down at the barely visible mark.
"Izuka," she gasped hesitantly reaching out to touch the marks. Her finger brushed across the skin, a wide smile crossing over her face. "When did this happen? How?"
"I guess after I finally activated my quirk it showed up. I was just so distracted yesterday I didn't even notice it."
"I'm so happy!" Inko excitedly spoke grabbing her daughter and pulling her into a tight embrace. "You find your quirk and get Marked! I'm so happy for you." As Izuka sat there hugging her mother everything became a little easier to bare, even if she didn't get into U.A. she still had a chance, and a dream that was reachable thanks to All Might. All it meant was she would have to find another way to become a hero, there were other schools.
She could do this, she just had to be positive.
子猫
It had been a week since the exam and Izuka was feeling confident, no matter what happened she would still become a hero and make All Might proud. She couldn't worry about it, drive her crazy if she tried, so she would just keep training her body until the notice came. It wouldn't be hard to do that. Her mind drifted to how she hadn't been able to get a hold of All Might but knew that eventually he would get into contact with her.
On another note she hadn't seen Bakugo at all this last week, usually she had at least seen a glance of him, with them living only a couple blocks away from one another, but it seemed he was really trying to avoid her.
"Izuka!" Her mother hollered out running into the living room with a letter in her hand. "It's the letter. It's here!"
"It finally came!" She asked excitedly and jumped up to grab it from her mother. Uneasiness began to feel her head as once again she knew she wouldn't have been accepted into her dream school. Glancing over at her mom she took a step toward her room. Inko watched the expressions fly across her daughter face making her look like an open book.
"Would you like to read it alone?" She asked knowing that her daughter wanted to, but didn't know how to ask.
"Yes, thank you mom," Izuka said with a small smile. "I'd just like to know the results alone, to give me time to process what ends up happening." From the sound of her voice Inko knew that her daughter believed she hadn't been accepted.
"No matter what happens, Izuka, I know that you'll become a hero." Izuka froze half turned toward her bedroom when she heard her mother's words. Tears began to stream down her face as she flung herself into her mother's arms.
"Thank you, mom." Pulling herself back she kissed her mother's cheek before running toward her bedroom. Closing the door securely she crossed her room, that was filled with All Might posters along with other heroes and sat down at her desk. Carefully she ripped the envelope open and a disk fell out that hologramed All Might's face.
"All Might?" Izuka asked as she quickly grabbed the envelope again, glancing down at it in confusion, this was from U.A. right? Why was All Might speaking to her?
"It's been a while, I hadn't meant to take this long to get in touch with you, I apologize little girl," he said as he bowed to her. Midoriya, who was still confused, continued to watch to try to figure out what was going on. "I'm in town to teach at U.A. We'll be spending a little more time together, eh, Izuka." All Might seemed to turn to someone off camera before replying to them. "What? Get to the point, I can say anything to her later, ah, fine, got it. Even though you passed the written portion you still only got zero points for the practical which means you failed."
This was to be expected, she had known that zero points would cause her to fail, and even though she spent all week talking herself up, it still hurt to hear it. Tears began to build without her knowledge and she was trying to hold herself together to get through the rest of the message.
Her fingers dug into the material of her skirt that she was wearing. Her body shook with unspoken sobs that tried to wrack throughout her body.
"Fear not! That's not the end!" Her eyes darted back to the hologram, hope began to bloom in her chest, she wasn't sure what could have saved her but All Might sounded positive. "In another life I was an entertainer, let me entertain you!"
A new image appeared on the screen, one of the girl that she had saved and her action costing her the much-needed points. Izuka didn't regret it, the decision was one she stood by. She had saved that girl and that was more important than any points, she had done what was right.
"Excuse me," the girl asked looking nervous but determined. The screen flashed back to All Mights face with that girls face in the background frozen, played from a different screen.
"After the test she came to us, stay tuned to see why!"
"That girl with the really curly hair, freckles, she was cute, but nervous, like a kitten." Izuka couldn't believe that she was talking about her. "Can you give her some of my points? She mentioned something about 'Just one point' that means she didn't have any right? Give her however many points she gave up saving me!"
"There wasn't a need for you to put yourself in danger," All Might spoke. "You've got your quirk and have moved people with your actions."
"She saved my life!" the girl yelled out.
"In these exams no one was just looking for villain-based points," All Might said as it cut back to the girl and Present Mic.
"You can't give her any points but don't worry, there isn't a need for it little listener," Present Mic said patting her on the head.
"No Hero course would reject someone for doing the right thing! It's not all for the cameras, you have to risk your life and put your money where your mouth is! That's why we also had rescue points! Sixty points for Midoriya Izuka! Uraraka Ochako had forty-five points! You're in!"
Tears finally leaked from her eyes but this time it was from happiness, she had passed! Doing the right thing, the hero thing, got her into U.A.
"This will be your Hero Academy!" She began to rub at her eyes, wiping at the tears that stuck to her cheeks.
"Yes!" she yelled out. Spinning around in a circle she wrapped her arms around herself in happiness. Knowing that she was sure Bakugo would get accepted as well, didn't dampen her mood any. They could be put into different classes for all she knew, forty students would be too big for one classroom. Charging out of her room, she swung open the door, causing her mother to fall over, as she had been trying to listen in.
"You passed!?' She asked in excitement, having heard the loud exclamation of yes.
"I passed!" Izuka jumped into her mother's arms and both began to jump up and down as Inko made them turn in circles. Pulling away but leaving her hands still on her daughter's shoulders there was a smile that lit up her whole face, a proud look shining in her eyes.
"I've got to make you your favorite meal tonight." Kissing her daughter's cheek, she took off for the kitchen while Izuka watched her go. Nothing could get better than this. Everything for once seemed to be going great for her. Life had begun to make sense.
Pulling out her cell she brought up All Might's name.
'Thank you for everything, I can't wait to see you at school. I've got big news!'
Shutting off the screen of her phone she stared down at it happily before taking off toward the kitchen, going to see if her mother needed any help.
子猫
Earlier that day Izuka received a text telling her to meet All Might at the beach later that night, so grabbing a coat she threw it on and headed out. "I'll be back later, mom!" She yelled out in a goodbye. "Going out to meet a friend!"
"It is Katsuki?" Her mother asked peeking out from the living room, a hopeful look in her eye. Izuka froze and stiffened at the name.
"No, mother, you know we aren't friends anymore." The words caused a pain in her chest but she ignored it as her hand reached out for the doorknob. Inko just looked at her in sadness, having always thought it was heartbreaking that they had a falling out, especially among those who were bonded, but she believed in time they would come back together, all Marked Ones did.
Running down the beach Izuka could see the outline of All Might standing on the beach near the water's edge. Picking up speed as she drew closer she bent her legs and launched herself at the back of the skinny blonde man.
All Might feeling something approaching fast hadn't acted swift enough and a small force plowed into his back causing blood to drizzle from his mouth as they both hit the ground hard. Midoriya at least had his body to break her fall. Sitting up she rolled off, sitting on the sand next to him.
"Hey, All Might!" She exclaimed softly so if anyone was around they wouldn't hear. Groaning he rolled himself over so he was laying down too, both staring up at the stars.
"You made it kid," he grunted out as he wiped the blood from his lips.
"I did, thanks to you." The words had come out so softly but filled with the emotions of grateful, and something so much more important.
"You did it kid," he said with a pat to her hand. "You did it all by yourself, your need to protect and doing the right thing guiding you. You'll make a fine Hero one day, a great enough hero to become the sign of peace. I believe in you young Midoriya."
The two stared up into the sky, each star twinkling down upon them, beacons of hope and a better path to the future. Neither said a word, just laying side by side not noticing a figure having been watching from afar, the distance too great to have heard anything.
He had recognized who the girl was, her hair standing out too much for him to mistake it for anyone else. His fists clenched at not being able to tell who the guy was, and not being able to hear what they were talking about and why she was meeting up with him at night.
She was supposed to be his. Destiny had claimed her as such, but fate always was cruel.
Mini explosions went off in his hands due to the anger storming around inside his mind. Walking away he turned his back toward Izuka and her mystery guest. His mark twisted painfully. Hissing he grabbed at his wrist willing for it to go away, for the reminder of her to just disappear. Glaring down at it he could just make out the gruesome sight that always caused his stomach to twist in response.
Shoving down his sleeve he made the sight disappear, but if he had looked closer he might have noticed that amidst the thorns was one single bud, the promise of hope.