A/N: So, I open up Wattpad today and have SEVENTY-FIVE notifications! AMAZING! You guys are awesome! Also, Lightning Serenade is #1 in the tag Hallucinations out of 2.4k stories! I'm SO excited! Thanks so much for your continued support!

"Does Neito seem a little… upset?" Denki asked from the side of the gym, pressed up against the wall to avoid the ice spikes that Neito was sending in all directions.

"Did his endless, frustrated screaming give it away?" Hitoshi asked, sending a small smile in Denki's direction right before they dived in opposite directions as a spike went right for them.

"Sorry!" Neito called out, a frown on his face as he lowered his hands and started to make his way over. "I get a little ahead of myself when I get to use Todoroki's quirk."

"Aren't you tired? You went the whole six minutes without stopping!" Denki praised in awe at his friend's progress.

"I was trying to get myself up to seven," Neito said, brow furrowed slightly in frustration at his failure.

"Seriously?! You went from five minutes to six over summer internship, and now you're already shooting for seven on top of second year schoolwork? That's amazing!" Denki praised, genuinely gushing over Neito's successes.

He knew just how to disarm Neito and get him out of his negative headspace, didn't he? Well, maybe not this time, because Denki was the reason Neito was so frustrated in the first place. And he didn't even know it because he didn't exactly do anything wrong!

"Denki," Neito started, and Denki gave him his complete and serious attention right away, knowing just from the tone of Neito's voice that what he was about to say was important. Frustrated, Neito pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and shook his head to clear his thoughts. He had to get this right, or Denki will think that he's blaming him for something when it's the other way around. "How long have you been online friends with…" Neito hesitated, looking around to make sure the gym was empty besides them, and muttered "League members?"

"It's been years! Since middle school, really," Denki answered easily. "Shigaraki was actually the first one that I was teamed up with when I first started. How weird is that?"

"Middle school?" Hitoshi asked, eyes widening as he understood Neito's thought process, a feeling of dread washing over him. "Like when we stopped talking to you and you started to play games and make TikToks, right?"

"Yeah!" Denki chirped, turning to see the stricken look on the soulmates' faces. "Oh, no! No, guys! Don't do that! It's not like that!"

"Something bad could have happened to you because we couldn't deal with our feelings for you," Neito insisted.

"All my bad luck is used up!" Denki insisted, seemingly out of nowhere, but Hitoshi knew exactly what Denki had meant because he had had the same thoughts before. "It turned out great for everyone! So, no harm, no foul!"

"But—"

"Fine!" Denki blurted out loudly, feigning annoyance as he rolled his eyes dramatically. "Don't let it happen again!" he finished in a faux scolding tone, wagging finger and all.

The soulmates shared a glance.

"We weren't planning on it," Hitoshi answered for the both of them, reaching out to lightly grab Neito's hand in solidarity before quickly releasing again.

Hitoshi hadn't expected Neito to copy his quirk.

Hitoshi made a mental note to always suspect Neito of copying his quirk.

Heart pounding loudly in his chest, Neito asked, "do you trust us, Denki?"

Denki had started to answer immediately, no hesitation to tell them that he would always trust them, when the familiar haze of Hitoshi's quirk enveloped his mind. He relaxed into it automatically, allowing Neito to take over total control. He was giddy and amazed because he hadn't even heard the waver in his voice as he asked. They were both improving so much on so many levels, and he was truly happy and proud for his friends.

More than friends? They had gone on a date, after all.

"That was a cheap shot," Hitoshi reprimanded lightly.

"I couldn't do this otherwise," Neito admitted, wringing his hands and bouncing on his feet, finally giving away how nervous he felt. "Besides, he can break out whenever he wants," he added in defense with a shrug.

"We were going to do this separately, so it didn't feel like we were teaming up on you or anything," Hitoshi started to explain to the blank-faced Denki when it was clear that Neito, for once in his life, was at a loss for words. "But it's always been the three of us, hasn't it? I don't think it would feel right if it wasn't all three of us. Not for something as important as this."

Neito's nervousness must have rubbed off on Hitoshi, because Hitoshi's breathing was quicker than usual, and he looked a little pale.

"You want in on this?" Neito asked before allowing him to move further, knowing that Hitoshi was feeling a little out of control of the situation, even if they knew that it would end well.

"Let's try it," Hitoshi agreed after a moment of thought. Turning toward the blank-faced Denki, he said, "we're going to try to get you under my quirk from both of us. If you don't want that, break out now."

They knew he was all in before they even asked, but they waited a long 30 seconds before nodding to each other and seeing if they could pull it off.

"Will you answer me, Denki?" Hitoshi asked, voice laced heavily with his quirk.

"Say yes," Neito commanded.

"Yes," Denki recited easily, probably because it was what he wanted to answer anyway. His will and Neito's command were working in the same direction.

And Hitoshi's layered quirk put a thicker haze over Denki's mind.

"It doesn't even surprise me anymore that everything with Denki is just so easy," Hitoshi sighed out, feeling better now that he had some control.

Even when it was the first time trying something that the soulmates had only discussed briefly, not even knowing if it was possible, Denki would be the one to come along and make it so easy that they wondered why they hadn't had the idea sooner.

Just then, the door loudly banged against the wall as it was pushed open with too much force. Looking over, the soulmates saw none other than Bakugou, who groaned aloud when he saw that the gym was already taken. Before leaving though, he hesitated, glancing at Denki once again.

"You have him under your quirk? Not really fair that it's two against one when that one doesn't even have control over himself," he muttered loudly, stalking forward towards the trio.

"Please," Neito sneered, not in the mood to be interrupted. "He can break out whenever he wants."

"Not a chance," Bakugou retorted automatically. "If I can't do it, then he sure as hell can't either. Whatever is going on here, it's sketchy as hell. I can feel your anxiety." Stomping over to Denki he shoved him hard, "come on, dunce face. Let's get you out of here." He stopped short though, confused when Denki stayed firmly under the quirk's influence, even as he toppled over and landed in a slouched sitting position on the gym floor. "The fuck?"

Hitoshi and Neito had already decided to just let Bakugou get on with it. There was no use in fighting him when they really just wanted to be alone with Denki again, and the best way to do that was to have Denki tell him to get lost himself. But when he was shoved so roughly, and the control started to slip, they felt Denki pull the control back over his mind, not only not taking the freedom that Bakugou's actions had offered, but actively refusing to leave the haze of the double-dose of quirk he was under through his own will alone.

The soulmates looked at each other wide-eyed. Inside his mind, Denki was furiously determined to not let the control slip. The soulmates were nervous, which was rare. They just did something completely new and amazing and barely gave it a second thought. Wherever this was going, Denki wanted to see it happen. He didn't want to give the soulmates any reason to stop, so he willed himself to stay firmly under their influence.

"Do you know what this means?" Hitoshi asked Neito, brows furrowed in amazement.

"No," Neito drawled as he turned his head to look down at Denki.

"Okay, cool. Because neither do I."

"Get out," Neito demanded next.

The demand was not laced with quirk, so Denki was not affected. The demand was sent in Bakugou's direction anyway, even as Neito's eyes didn't move from Hitoshi's.

"I'm not just going to—"

"He wants to stay under," Hitoshi tried to reason with him.

Bakugou hesitated. Sure, Neito was a slimy son-of-a-bitch, but Hitoshi had already proven himself trustworthy.

"Ask him yourself, but later," Neito demanded, the desperation leaking through in his voice. "Please."

Neito said please. To Bakugou. It was sketchy as hell, and Neito's forced politeness made it even more so. Bakugou made a mental note to check in on Denki later, and hoped he was making the right choice. Looking back at Hitoshi once more to see the desperation and anticipation as clear on his face as it was in Neito's voice, Bakugou turned and sulked his way to the door.

"You do anything to hurt him, and I'll kill you," he snarled as he stormed through the door.

He didn't look back when Hitoshi called out after him. "We wouldn't have it any other way!"

"You go first," Neito decided quickly.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I messed it all up last time."

"If you don't stop putting yourself down, Denki will break free just to argue with you," Hitoshi warned, though a smile tugged on his lips, his tension slowly ebbing away as they were left alone again, and he had more control over the situation.

Denki didn't have to tell them that Hitoshi was right. They already knew. They knew him so well.

"I thought we'd have to play rock, paper, scissors to see who got to go first," Hitoshi continued as he stepped forward, speaking to Neito with his eyes solely focused on Denki. "Stand up," he commanded then, gently, and Denki's body moved without his permission to retake his standing position as Hitoshi got closer and closer.

Denki's heartrate sped up, but immediately slowed again, his body not allowing anything out of the norm that wasn't commanded of him. His breathing didn't pick up to allow for his heartrate to remain elevated. It was a forced sense of calm that felt so natural because he had been under this quirk so many times. It was like the injection of calming drugs given to him at the psychiatric hospital, but without the side effects and the ability to turn it off just as soon as the soulmates deemed it appropriate to do so, or even for Denki himself, if he had decided to break free.

"This might be unconventional, but we really need the time to go slow and think without your reactions… or your worry." Hitoshi leaned closer, looking intently into Denki's eyes. "But you aren't worried, are you?" he asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer, but not any less amazed.

Neito stood a few short steps away, watching intently with his hands clasped in front of his lips, holding himself back and being content to just watch, forcing himself to take deep, steady breaths.

Neito had never been good at waiting for his turn, but there in that gym with the harsh fluorescent lighting, the view was amazing, and the moment was serene.

"I'm going to kiss you, now," Hitoshi warned, voice dropping to just above a whisper, his breath heavy with anticipation. "If you don't want me to, you know what to do."

After a slight pause to give Denki time to break free and push him away, Hitoshi leaned in, and pressed his lips against Denki's.

When the thought that maybe Denki was unable to break free, even if he wanted to, because he was under double the amount of quirk, Hitoshi's panic started to bubble up. It accelerated rather than eased when he felt Denki break free after a moment, wondering if it maybe just took him longer and he had just messed everything up.

When Hitoshi started to pull back, Denki reached up and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him back in, his own lips moving to mold against Hitoshi's.

Pulling away, Hitoshi blinked in awe at Denki, who was smiling brightly at him.

"Sorry!" he chirped, not sounding sorry at all. "I couldn't just not kiss you back! That would have been torture!"

"My turn," Neito demanded, deciding that he waited for his turn enough for a century. "I'm ready for my redo," he rushed before his lips landed on Denki's, taking the place of his soulmate's lips a few seconds earlier.

When Neito felt Denki smile against his lips, he pulled back, his own confused smile on his face as he watched Denki look up and around.

"What?" Neito asked, feeling light and carefree.

"We didn't destroy the gym lights this time!" Denki declared, smiling wider as he looked back at Neito. "Success!"

The three boys lied on the gym floor, hoping that Bakugou wouldn't rush back in and grumble about them taking up a gym to just lie there on the floor like a bunch of extras who would be lucky to end up as sidekicks to some D-listers.

Denki had the fingers of one hand intertwined with Hitoshi's, while the other hand traced patterns across the back of Hitoshi's hand as he stared up at the ceiling in thought. Neito's head was on his stomach, rising and falling gently with each inhale and exhale Denki took. They all just basked in the glorious feeling of reciprocated love.

"Did you know what we were planning?" Neito asked suddenly.

"No, but I hoped!" Denki chirped with a breathy laugh, gently jostling Neito's head that still rested on his stomach. "I thought it might be coming after Hitoshi showed so much trust at the waterpark."

"The fact that it was a date didn't give it away?" Neito asked with a smile, still staring straight up at the ceiling, at the lights that they did not shatter.

"I mean, I didn't want to assume anything!" Denki lilted. The soulmates didn't have to turn to see Denki's expression because they heard the smile in his voice.

"Back up," Hitoshi requested, "how did I show you trust at the waterpark? The Toga thing?" he guessed.

"Well, that, and… well… you know how you told us about how you were nervous around water for a long time? After your foster brother pushed you in the deep end of a pool when you didn't know how to swim?" Denki started.

Hitoshi hummed his acknowledgement and Neito stayed silent to listen to his two favorite people discuss trust and small details that others might not notice.

"You're still nervous, a least a little bit, I think, because when we swim as a class, you make sure that you're never near the edge if there's a chance someone can be behind you."

After a moment, Hitoshi agreed, "yeah, I guess. But what does that have to do with anything?" he asked, genuinely curious as to where the conversation would lead.

"When Neito and Toga were on the racing slides," Denki started, and Neito really tuned in, wanting to hear about something that he didn't get the chance to witness himself, "you went right up to the edge as you yelled and cheered for Toga."

"Traitor," Neito muttered under his breath.

"You didn't even flinch when I came from behind you to cheer on Neito."

"At least someone was on my side!" Neito grumbled.

"Someone had to cheer Toga on," Hitoshi retorted. "Especially when she goes against a cheater."

"How did I—?!"

"We both saw you copy that weight changing quirk," Denki admitted. "That's how you won by a landslide! It should have been a close race, but it wasn't at all!"

"Yeah, okay," Neito gave in, a wide smile growing on his face as he recalled Toga's indignant accusation that he cheated, but unable to answer how when questioned.

"I knew you wouldn't push me in or anything," Hitoshi answered simply, bringing them back to the original topic.

"Not only that," Denki disputed. "You didn't even flinch when others passed by behind us. One guy even bumped into you and you stumbled forward, but you didn't even turn around! You just kept yelling for Toga to go faster!"

Neito turned his head to look at Hitoshi's face from his position on Denki's stomach, ignoring the stretch from his neck being at a weird angle as he watched his soulmate consider Denki's revelation.

"I guess… No, I definitely trust you enough that I know you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. If anyone was going to try to push me in on purpose, I know you'd be able to sense it from a mile away," Hitoshi rambled, saying the words aloud as they entered his brain, not feeling the need to censor any thoughts or rephrase anything into something more acceptable.

"That's a lot of pressure!" Denki squeaked.

Hitoshi laughed. "Even if someone did manage to sneak up and push me in, I knew it would be fine."

"Because you can swim now?" Denki ventured.

"Because I knew you would be there to pull me right back out."

A/N: What better way to celebrate reaching Chapter 50! It's not over, yet though! Not even close! Buckle in! We're in for a ride!