"Denki? Denki?!" Neito yelled as went from running full speed to sliding on the ground to land at Denki's side, Hitoshi not far behind him.
"Oh, no," Denki groaned, blinking his eyes, and looking up at Neito.
"Oh no what? What's wrong?" Neito fretted, eyes scanning over Denki as his hands patted over him, searching for any injuries.
"Either I'm dead, and I look like a total idiot to Isozan right now, or I'm alive and have a lot of explaining to do," Denki said with a dramatic whine. "I think I'm alive because I'm so tired, Neito, and you both look so stressed," Denki said, looking back and forth between Neito and Hitoshi. "If it was heaven, I think you'd both be happy all the time. Or at least the fake images of you they'd give me to shut me up until you actually joined me."
Neito smiled sweetly. "Oh, Denki. I'm not going to make it to heaven."
"Nei…" Hitoshi warned.
"Because I'm going to fucking kill you! Come here!"
Denki yelped, rolled away laughing, and made a clumsy, stumbling run for it.
"Then I'll just have to petition to get myself sent to Hell, too! Wherever you go, I follow!" Denki yelled without looking back, not risking slowing down any.
It didn't matter. He was too tired, and Neito had excess adrenaline from when he thought that Denki had fucking died right in front of him, so he was promptly tackled and pinned to the ground.
Denki laughed, heaved, and squirmed, kicking out his feet to no avail as Neito remained steady hovering above him, sitting atop Denki like his rightful place on a throne, breathing slightly labored from the short exertion. Denki's laughter caught in his throat when he saw the intensity in Neito's eyes.
"Caught you now, soulmate," Neito whispered before ducking his head down and meeting Denki's lips with his own.
And Denki responded beautifully, like he always did, eyes closing automatically, taking short little breaths in every time their lips parted before Neito would dive back down again as if he was trying to breathe in the very essence of Neito himself. Absolutely addictive.
Neito's hands trailed down Denki's arms and torso to rest lightly against his ribcage, to feel it rise and fall as Denki took short little inhales and exhales against Neito's lips. With his hands now free, Denki wrapped one hand around the back of Neito's head, hand threading through dusty, platinum strands, allowing the other hand to travel up and down Neito's back, tracing patterns with his fingertips to send shivers wracking down Neito's spine.
"Take it off!" whooped Full Throttle as he approached, Hitoshi having gone to retrieve him.
Neito froze, face centimeters above Denki's, eyes wide with incredulous shock, staring down at Denki who had amusement dancing in his eyes and was barely containing his laughter.
Neito sat back up straight and glared at Full Throttle, who recoiled, thinking that maybe he should have gone about breaking the ice a different way.
"Don't give me that look!" Full Throttle groaned. "Denki propositioned me, first!"
"You what?!" Neito shrieked looking back down at Denki in surprised horror.
"It wasn't like that! I was pretending to be Toga!" was Denki's defense.
"… What?" Hitoshi asked, voicing Neito's thoughts exactly.
"It's harder than it looks! To throw Isozan off from thinking that I was actually me before we got to Tartarus, I was all like, 'hey, wanna fuck?'"
"To which I said no, by the way!" Isozan interjected in his defense.
"I knew the second it left my mouth that it was too much, but hey! Everything worked out fine!"
"Worked out fine?" Neito repeated, his voice a higher pitch, giving away the stress he was feeling if the way his face scrunched up didn't. "That's what we're calling being on a first-name basis with yet another villain? Fine?"
Hitoshi snorted. "Like you're one to talk, Mr. Let's-Bring-My-New-Villain-Friends-To-Help-Mindjack-Rescue-Civilians-In-The-Collapsed-Metro-Tunnel."
"I wouldn't call them friends," Neito hedged at the same time Denki shouted, "Neito! You got a turn!" and Isozan said, "the metro tunnel collapsed?"
The ragtag group of four looked around at each other. Neito and Hitoshi were decked out in full-hero costumes, covered in dust and dirt and sweat. Denki and Isozan were in Tartarus faded off-mauve uniforms, Denki's a little singed from all the lightning, and Isozan also sporting Hitoshi's capture weapon that was still securely wrapped around him.
Hitoshi sighed. "If I take that off of you, are you going to do something stupid, like run away or use your quirk on us?"
Isozan shook his head. "Nope. I only do stupid things when Denki begs me to. What time is it, by the way?"
Hitoshi reached out to start unwrapping the capture weapon while Neito read off the time. Denki and Isozan looked at each other with wide eyes.
Six hours.
"You lasted six hours under my quirk?!" Isozan stressed.
"Your quirk can last for six hours! Man, that's so cool!" Denki howled.
"You didn't know how long your quirk would last?" Neito hissed, taking a threatening step closer to Isozan.
Isozan, now free from Hitoshi's capture weapon, raised his hands in defense. "Like I said: I only do stupid things when it's Denki's idea."
"Is it really stupid if it worked out fine in the end?" Denki asked with a big, dumb smile on his face.
"I don't know," Neito said, voice light, making the hairs on the back of the necks of his companions rise. "Let's find out."
Neito reached out for Isozan, and Isozan recoiled, expecting—he didn't know, but all Neito did was tap his bare arm before reaching out for Denki, and doing the same to him.
Isozan was only confused for a brief second before horror overtook him as the electricity started to crackle over Denki's skin again.
Denki groaned dramatically, and whined, "Neito. I'm tired."
"It's only six hours, champ," Neito said.
"Hey, Denki?" Hitoshi asked with a gentle smile.
"Don't you dare!" Neito snarled.
"Oh, would you? Please?" Denki asked, and then he was blank faced.
It took a second for Isozan to understand what was happening, but he was amazed when he figured it out. He was watching the cure for his quirk happen right in front of his eyes. Who knew being friends with Denki would be so damn cool?
And terrifying? Because what the fuck, Phantom Thief?
"Turn your quirk off," Hitoshi commanded, and just like that, Denki turned his quirk off.
"Amazing," Isozan breathed out.
Neito sneered and tapped Denki's arm again, frowning at his hand when nothing happened.
"That's weird," he muttered under his breath before looking directly at Isozan. "Your quirk is weird. It was there, and now it's like I drew a blank even though I just had it."
"Yeah," Isozan said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I can only use it every two weeks actually."
Neito frowned at that, reached out, and tapped Isozan again. He looked down at his hand for a long moment before reaching out and touching Denki again, who once again lit up with building electricity.
Isozan's eyes widened. "How—"
"There's something wrong with your quirk," Neito said, frowning with a thoughtful line between his eyebrows.
And didn't Isozan know it.
Neito was the one to copy Hitoshi's quirk and take Denki out of Full Throttle's influence the second time, which gave a least a little confidence back to Isozan that Neito wasn't actually trying to kill Denki. Maybe.
Meeting Denki's soulmates wasn't too bad, Isozan figured. He hoped that meeting the League of Villains went well, too, but his anxiety still skyrocketed as his heart raced in his chest as the group stepped toward the swirling vortex of doom.
Maybe it would help if he didn't call Kurogiri's warp gate the 'swirling vortex of doom' in his mind.
Stepping through the portal was very disorienting. It was strange to go from evening light on a mountain to the mood lighting in a bar. It was strange to go from outside in the open air to inside, surrounded by mahogany paneled walls. It was strange to go from bantering with three heroes to surrounded by villains who emitted malicious intent.
Isozan wasn't being dramatic, here.
Toga sat at the bar, tapping the tip of her knife threateningly against the rim of her glass. The little chime sound it made each time sent tremors down Isozan's spine.
Spinner sat next to her, sharpening his blade. And he wasn't even looking at it! He was just glaring straight at Isozan as he did it. Threat clearly received and noted.
Adjacent to him, Mr. Compress leaned against the wall, threading a marble through his fingers, tossing it into the air and catching it, and even doing some brief slight of hand to make it disappear before reappearing and starting the little pattern all over again.
Dabi sat at one of the tables, unmoving and staring right through Isozan. A little tuft of his hair was on fire.
Even Kurogiri, who stood behind the bar, seemed especially dark and extra swirly, if that made any sense.
Shigaraki was walking into the barroom from a hallway that extended behind the bar, pulling his gloves off as he stepped closer, sights set on Isozan, not breaking his stride.
"False alarm," Hitoshi declared, making everyone slow down or pause their movements, but not quite give up their threatening auras.
"Woah! Tone it down, guys!" Denki said. "You're going to make Isozan feel unwelcome!"
Toga dropped her knife onto the bar top with a clatter. "Unwel—Another one?!"
Denki shrugged, and then that was that. Toga rushed off the barstool, but instead of running at Isozan to gut him with her knife, she threw herself at Denki. So, Denki was preoccupied, and Hitoshi and Neito vacated Isozan's side in favor of finding someone else they wanted to talk to, so he had no one to hide behind when Shigaraki was suddenly in front of him.
His gloves were back on, though, Isozan noticed right away.
"Full Throttle," Shigaraki greeted with a nod.
To his credit, he seemed very neutral. Isozan didn't detect any hidden malice under his voice or in his face.
"Shigaraki," Isozan acknowledged in return. "I'm sorry—"
"Water under the bridge," Shigaraki dismissed.
"Wait. What?" Isozan sputtered.
"If Kaminari forgives you, then you're good with everyone here. We're all on the same team, here. Which brings me to—"
"Don't go trying to recruit him, Shigs!" Denki warned, coming up behind Shigaraki and throwing an arm over his shoulder.
Isozan watched, amazed. Only in his craziest dreams would he ever think to see a Pro Hero slinging their arm around Shigaraki's shoulders, and Shigaraki smiling about it.
"Wait. What?" Isozan asked, sure he misheard.
"I said that he can't recruit you for the League if I'm going to be making you into a hero! I mean, how would that even work?! I mean… it worked for Hawks… for a little bit… No! Too risky!"
"Me?" Isozan asked, turning to face Denki head-on and ignoring everything else happening in the room. "A hero?"
"Well, yeah," Denki said like it was a given, furrowing his brows as if he didn't understand why Isozan was confused. "It makes sense with your quirk. I mean, can you imagine using your quirk on Shigaraki?"
Denki and Isozan shivered.
"Your quirk is suited for heroics, I think. I mean, if that's what you want! If you want to join the roster for the League of Villains, don't let me hold you back!"
"I don't know what I want," Isozan admitted quietly, looking down at the hardwood floor beneath his shoes. "I've never really had a choice before."
"You have time to think about it! In the meantime, I'll clear your name!" Denki said.
"I was afraid you were going to say that," Hitoshi said, coming up from behind Denki, wrapping his arms around his waist.
Denki smiled and leaned back against him. "Are you surprised, though?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Going to talk me out of it?"
"Would it work?"
Denki spun around in Hitoshi's grip and blinked up at him through his eyelashes. "How convincing can you be?"
Hitoshi threw his head back in a laugh. "I could be as convincing as Midoriya with a notebook full of reasons of why you shouldn't, but I know you will anyway, because you're you."
"Does that bother you?" Denki asked, suddenly feeling a little burdensome. "That I do things without taking your thoughts and feelings into consideration?"
Hitoshi hummed. "Maybe it would if you weren't so purely you. You always do the good thing, even when it's not the easy thing, or even the right thing by society's standards. I think that makes you perfect, and I want to be more like you."
Denki felt his cheeks warm as he leaned forward, allowing Hitoshi to take his weight and trusting that he wouldn't let him fall. "You always know just the thing to say," Denki said, burrowing his face against Hitoshi's neck and breathing him in.
Denki felt the vibrations through Hitoshi's throat as he laughed, reverberating over his collarbones and chest to act as a grounding source to Denki.
"Maybe you're just easy," Hitoshi teased, hands threading through honey blonde hair, inhaling the scent of Denki, with just a hint of scorched fabric from his earlier endeavors.
"Only for you," Denki teased back, sending a blinding smile up at Hitoshi from where he leaned against him, not having the energy to stand on his own, not that Hitoshi minded at all. "Soulmate."
Hitoshi took his turn, then, to lower his head until his lips met Denki's, his hand leaving the warmth of Denki's hair to cup his jaw to keep him right where he wanted him, tilting his head up and back to just the right angle to deepen the kiss.
Everyone else seemed to be used to the display and didn't sit around and gawk like Isozan did. When Isozan shook himself out of it to look around the room, he saw that he actually wasn't the only one providing Denki and Hitoshi an audience.
"What?" Neito asked as he meandered closer to Isozan. "You aren't going to crassly interrupt them, too?"
"I was actually thinking about grabbing some popcorn. The League of Villains have to have some lying around here somewhere, don't they?" Isozan joked, trying and failing to keep his eyes from trailing back to the two.
Neito sighed, not ashamed of his own outright staring as he relaxed next to Isozan. He only tore his eyes away from his soulmates to lazily regard Isozan, who tried harder to not gawk now that the third of the trio had his attention solely on him.
"Do you have a soulmate?" Neito asked.
"No," Isozan said. "I don't think it's in the cards for me any time soon, either."
"That's a shame," Neito said.
"Maybe," Isozan said, his eyes wandering yet again back to Hitoshi and Denki.
Denki's eyes widened, and he grabbed at Hitoshi's hands that were grasping at his hips as Hitoshi whispered something in his ear. By Hitoshi's smirk and Denki's reaction, Isozan couldn't even begin to imagine what Hitoshi had said. Hitoshi's smirk quickly softened into a smile as he traced Denki's jawline with kisses until he ended up back at his lips again.
"Having a soulmate would be one more thing for others to use against me, though," Isozan said. "It's safer this way."
Isozan could feel Neito's eyes drilling into the side of his head, but he didn't look over to meet his eyes. He didn't want to give any more thought to what could have been if he hadn't been dealt such a shitty hand at life.
There was no point in thinking about it because nothing could change it. He had to work with what he got, and he thought he was doing an okay job at it so far. Sure, he had messed up and made some major, major mistakes, but he came out on the other side better for it in the end.
"Speaking of," Isozan said, turning to Neito, "I know you're a hero and all, but I need to find a way to get Phantasm back with me. Do you know where they took her?"
Neito smiled, and Isozan wasn't sure if he should be concerned or not. His smile was sharp. It reminded him of primary school when kids would taunt, 'I know something you don't know.'
Neito had opened his mouth to respond when Isozan was called from the hallway by a familiar voice, but one that he had not heard in years.
"I—Isozan? Is that you?"
Isozan turned, eyes widening and jaw dropping in surprise as he took a half-step forward.
"Mr. Wakakuro?"