Soul Marked

Chapter Forty-Three

To Be More


I've got at least two more chapters for this story before I run out of things, I've prepared but hopefully by then I can get more written. Regardless this will be updated again in two weeks!

Also, just a reminder, but I will be ending this part of the story soon, so that I can start the next part which will be called Soul Bound.


Izuka felt herself twitching as she waited for the knock on her door, a fluttering of nerves building inside her stomach, as she paced the small room. He would get here when he could. Izuka knew that bombarding the bond between them with rushed emotions wouldn't make him move any faster. He was stuck with Aizawa-sensei, being watched over, as he finished his section of the chores. Kacchan would get here when he could, and in the meantime, Izuka needed to regain control over her feelings.

It only helped ease the onslaught of anxiety for a moment before she was internalizing them, placing a lid over them, as she blocked anything from flowing between the bond for either of her soulmates.

She was probably distracting both of them.

Kacchan may chastise her later on for blocking him, but Izuka felt the need to reign them in, to regain control, before she spiraled into a pit of unease. She hadn't told him earlier in the day about the meeting she had arranged with Shigaraki. There hadn't been time, and with Aizawa hovering nearby, there hadn't been any privacy either. During lunch, she had gotten him to promise to sneak by and speak with her later in the day, but now that she had finished her part of the punishment first, and all she could do was wait, Izuka found it maddening.

She plopped down on her bed and simply began to try to breathe. Recently she had been just a bundle of nervous energy and it was starting to take a toll on her. It really wouldn't hurt to just chill for a little bit and simply exist. When was the last time she allowed herself to do something like that?

Her face scrunched up at the thought and realized it must have been before she had met Toshi (not All Might, her mind still bucked against the name, and she wanted her relationship back with the man). That was a long time to go without any proper rest, and before she knew it, Izuka was falling asleep on top of the covers of her bed.

She'd only close her eyes for a second.

子猫

Bakugo grumbled lowly to himself as he stalked through the dorm halls. His part of things had taken longer than Izuka's and it frustrated him, and that frustration only grew when he felt her cut off the connection between them. He tried not to allow it to eat him up inside as he knew that Izuka should be allowed her own privacy. He just hated the knowledge that the only reason she would have done such a thing was that she was stuck in her own head and didn't want to bother him with it while he was busy. They had been informed that over the weekend they would be stuck in their dorms but in the case of a Soulmate emergency there would be leniency given, but they still had to inform Aizawa of what was going on.

He had already agreed to sneak by her dorm on the way to his own, but he was itching to be there already. Bakugo had felt how her emotions rushed back just a little bit ago, dulled, barely there, signaling that she had fallen asleep and had lost control over keeping them locked away. A part of him wondered if Shigaraki could feel all of this. Was he aware of all of these tiny things that made up Izuka, could he understand them, or did he feel them but not truly understand what made her up? Did he grow frustrated with her when she closed them off? How much did he care for Izuka?

The questions that buzzed insistently inside his mind hardly allowed Bakugo to feel at ease. The only thing that kept him relatively calm was that no matter what: Izuka was his. She wanted to help Shigaraki, sure, and though it was hard for Bakugo to understand why the fuck it was Shigaraki she had to be bonded to, he did understand Izuka. She had such a pure heart. A hero to her core. Of fucking course, she would try to save that man.

But no matter what, Shigaraki would never understand Izuka as he did, and that brought on a sort of peace to Bakugo.

He wasn't sure who she would choose if there was ever a point that they were both placed in front of her, and she had to choose. Izuka wasn't the type to just save one and not the other. She wouldn't be able to, but he'd like to believe that she'd choose him in the end, but Bakugo was also aware of himself enough to know that he would never force that decision on her. It would never come from him.

That order of one or the other would not be a conundrum that he'd force on her.

It would either come from Shigaraki himself, a small part of Bakugo hoped it would, as it would be the quickest way to make Izuka give up on him, and another part of him hoped that Shigaraki never would, because Bakugo didn't want Izuka to go through the kind of pain that a soulmate could force on you. Not again. There was also the realization that this decision could come from an outside force. If the world figured out what Shigaraki was to Izuka, they would place her in the worst position, and Bakugo worried that she wouldn't be able to handle that type of pressure and kept wanting to be a hero.

Katsuki knew Izuka, he knew that there was no limit to what ends she would go to for her soulmates, and that thought terrified him.

Scowling lightly to himself he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweats as he exited the elevator hoping that Aizawa would keep to himself and didn't decide to come to check in on them right away.

He just needed a few minutes to be told what Izuka felt was important for him to hear, and then he'd go off to his own dorm room where he'd more than likely be bored out of his mind as he waited for the weekend to finish.

A sigh tore from his throat as he moved to open Izuka's dorm room without knocking knowing it would be unlocked since she was expecting him. His crimson gaze fell towards her bed, one of the first things you could see when you entered, as he quietly closed the door behind him. He spotted her lying there, asleep, just as he expected. His gaze then took in her room, noticing that it was more muted than normal, all of her hero merchandise not there. Her walls looked bare and the only thing he could spot that remotely looked like decorations were the photos taped to her mirror that clung to a section of her wall. He found himself walking toward it, eyes roaming over each one, seeing how she had one of her and her mother. Then there was one with her and Kaminari, the idiot, another of her and Momo, and one with all three of them, but it was the last picture that caught his attention.

It was of the two of them.

They were young, no older than four, probably sometime after they had met, but before Katsuki had fucked everything up, as he recognized that his face held a true smile. He had his arms wrapped around her neck, tugging her close, as her face was half smooshed against his own, but there was a smile pulling at her lips as well. Her hands clutched tightly to his arms and if he focused hard enough, he could vaguely remember the words she had yelled at him as she giggled and struggled to get away.

It tugged at something inside of him, knowing that she had kept it all of these years, through everything he had put her through. The photo itself was weathered and old, showing clear signs of how it hadn't been something she had just recently obtained.

His chest squeezed, his stomach flipping, as his eyes darted back over toward her sleeping form.

Slowly he walked towards her. Bakugo knew and understood that she still held issues with being snuck up on, and even asleep could be hyper-aware of changes in the room. The only thing keeping him from startling her already was the fact that he knew the bond was keeping her at ease.

He could feel it.

Moving to sit down on the edge of the bed, his hand hovered above her, knowing that something had changed between them last night, but he wasn't certain what that meant for the two of them. He wasn't sure what she would be okay with. Maybe, he should have knocked before entering, but Katsuki hadn't been known to do that before and wasn't about to make it awkward between them by changing how he interacted with her.

Except… that's exactly what he wanted… wasn't it?

A change between the two of them.

Hadn't that been part of the reason that drove him forward to open up the way he had with her?

He wanted something different… something more.

Katsuki believed Izuka felt the same way, but they had been interrupted before he could even get to that point and knew it was probably better to wait until their punishment was up before trying to have that conversation. It was important to be able to take their time instead of worrying about when Aizawa would appear.

So, with that filtering through his thoughts, Katsuki finally allowed his hand to drop, a finger brushing gently across her cheek before moving to softly shake her shoulder.

"Koneko."

She mumbled slightly, automatically she sought his warmth out, her cheek moving to nuzzle against the same hand that had woken her, and for a brief moment Katsuki felt something else slip into place inside of him. Heat threatened to darken his cheeks, but he just managed to keep it from flooding him as his fingers slipped over her smooth skin, and her emerald eyes fluttered open.

For a brief moment, she looked confused.

He wondered what she felt when they touched each other. For him, it was like a cooling sensation, a rush of ease, a perfect combination for his overly heated personality and body.

"Kacchan?" she glanced around, blinking slowly, before realization dawned on her. "I must have fallen asleep."

"You were hiding your emotions earlier."

He watched as the guilt appeared on her face. His voice hadn't changed from its usual gruff tone, but there had been something softer held within their depths, a realization that Bakugo was trying to ignore as he took in her expression.

"I just didn't want them to distract you." She stumbled over the last word, another one wishing to join, but she had clamped down on it at the last second, but Katsuki had caught it. She really was too good.

"It would have been fine." More gruffness. He didn't know how to twist his tone into something more of what he wanted. Something that was softer. That didn't hold that bite to it. He wanted her to know, without having to say the actual words, that she didn't have any reason to be guilty, that she was allowed her privacy, but that he simply worried about her. It just got lost in the translation. "You don't have to close yourself off like that."

She shifted, moving to sit up, and finally, Katsuki pulled his hand back away from her, having forgotten he was still touching her at all. He watched as her hair fell in waves over her shoulder, getting longer than it had been at the beginning of the year, and a sudden urge to brush it away from her face took hold. Only Katsuki felt himself stiffening as the thought brought on a rush of nerves, and once more he felt that urge to blush at these unfamiliar thoughts and desires. Maybe, not so unfamiliar but he had never given in to them before, and now that he was tempted to, knew he could, because she felt the same way as him, Bakugo found himself struggling not to react outwardly. Whether it be giving in to the urge, or blushing.

"I was being pretty loud and anxiety-inducing myself, so I decided to listen to Aikawa, and it's easier to do those exercises when I shut down the connection. I'm feeling only my emotions and not the small buzz of both of yours as well."

He hummed slightly as she moved to sit next to him on the bed. She looked tired, an emotion that had been etched onto her face for weeks now, and that constantly brought worry to Bakugo. Should he have just let her sleep, and met with her about whatever it was she wanted to speak about later? She didn't sleep enough as it was and here, he was waking her up when she finally seemed to get some.

However, the damage had already been done and Katsuki found himself curious about what she would risk getting into more trouble over to tell him.

"You had something to talk about?" He wondered if he had managed to make that sound softer than normal, but she didn't react one way or another, aside from growing suspiciously more guilty looking. He didn't think it had to do with the earlier conversation and this set him on edge.

"Yeah, I did." She paused, and Katsuki found himself shifting to look at her better. He could tell she worried about how he was going to take what she was planning on saying next, and that made her worry a little more. There wasn't much that she could say that would piss him off, but Izuka made it a habit to find just the right ones.

"Just spit it out, Koneko. Whatever it is you are worried about, it can't be that bad."

They both knew that wasn't exactly the truth. Time after time Bakugo had proven how volatile his temper could be, and Izuka had a knack for making decisions that were questionable to her safety. He hoped this wouldn't be another one of those times.

"I got this phone during the provisional license tests and ended up using it to call Shigaraki and now we're meeting next weekend. Well… I mean by we… you and I are going to meet up with him because I told him I wouldn't go alone… but I also feel a little guilty and like maybe we should tell someone else. Except, anyone else would involve the police and heroes and I can't do that to Shigaraki, Kacchan. I know he's a villain… but there's something about him… something not right… and I'm not saying this because he's my soulmate as well. I really feel like there's something going on with him and I need to save him."

The words flowed from her mouth so fast that Katsuki felt himself struggling to catch up, but the little bits that he did manage to grab a hold of caused his heart to constrict, and his stomach to tighten.

She was going to meet up with the guy who kidnapped her.

Izuka had kept the knowledge of some strange, obviously dangerous, phone from him.

Koneko planned on meeting up with Shigaraki.

His mind began to spiral before he quickly got a hold of it, feeling how his body stiffened, and the look of worry beginning to mix in with the guilt on Izuka's face. He was causing her discomfort by not responding, but he wasn't sure how he felt about this. It was only surprising by how quickly she had decided to do this because Bakugo always knew that this would end up happening. From the moment he had been told that she had another soulmate, he knew she would eventually chase after him just like she had always done to him.

A hand moved to grip her own, instinct driving him to somehow comfort her, even while his mind seemed to refuse to produce any words that didn't immediately start with anger. Anger that he was only feeling because of the worry that bombarded him. It was a new instinct, or at least one that he was now finding more at the forefront of his mind, and one that he was more willing to act on now. His fingers squeezed hers even as he bit back words that told her it was stupid.

This could end horribly.

Would he end up losing her again?

Was this Shigaraki's way of luring her into a trap?

That familiar feeling of panic, the one he felt that whole week she was gone, began to swarm inside his head, melting into his bones. Katsuki missed the way that his hands began to shake, his eyes wide, blown, as he stared at her in horror. He didn't think that he would survive another instance like that. Would she even want to come back if it meant that she could somehow save Shigaraki?

Izuka leaned forward, feeling as if the bond was jammed with panic, and when he began to shake, she reacted, not hesitating, as she moved to wrap her arms around his shoulders. Her hand came up to press his head down into her neck and he simply allowed her to.

"I've got to do this, Kacchan," she whispered to him. She could sense how this was affecting him, understood that this was partly selfish of her to say, to ask of him, especially since she knew, in the end, he wouldn't deny her. Maybe, at one point there would have been cursing, calling her stupid, but there would be none of that this time. "No matter what happens I'm bound to him, and even though my mark is gone, I can feel that. It's just as strong, and as active as yours, and… I need to make sure our soul bond doesn't end up damaged. I can't handle that again."

He pressed his face further into her neck, his eyes closing, for just a moment, as guilt engulfed him at the reminder of their own broken bond, and the years it had stayed like that. She may have only felt the actual effects of the bond in the last few months, but it had been at its worst during that time. They had both suffered. He didn't want that for her again.

"I know."

"You'll go with me?"

"Of fucking course I'm going with you." Some of that gruffness reentered his tone, helping center him, as he pulled away from her and pinned her with a determined glare. "You're not going without me. I'm going to be there to make sure you stay safe."

"I don't think he would do anything Kacchan." She smiled at him. "He promised to even stop killing."

Bakugo's eyes darkened in disbelief. She laughed lightly but nodded her head, and squeezed the hand that was holding hers.

"Yeah. He wasn't exactly happy about it, but I'll know if he breaks that promise, and if he does, I won't go see him, okay? If he breaks that promise then I'll know he's not willing to try, and that he could be willing to break other words he told me. But Kacchan, I don't think he'll do that. He doesn't see the point in lying. I don't think he really cares what people think and sees no point in trying to make himself into something he's not."

"You seem to understand him well."

Bakugo tried to ignore how bitter those words sounded to his own ears.

"That time I spent with the League helped me understand him a little better. Or at least once I was away and I could properly go over my memories, I began to realize more things about him. But… it's inevitable for me to start to understand him, and get closer to him, he is one of my soulmates."

"I don't want you to get hurt, Koneko." Katsuki could feel his voice growing firmer, starting to grow angrier, simply because he wasn't sure how else to project these feelings. "He's a villain. There's no way you can have a normal relationship with him. Not while he's on the opposite side that we are, and even if he were to suddenly go good, he's going to have to answer for his past crimes. It's a shit storm waiting to happen, and it's only going to hurt you in the long run."

None of this was what he had wanted to say but it all spilled out before he could stop them. He watched as her face flickered from upset, to suddenly too understanding and warm. He watched as she leaned closer into him, this time being the one to initiate contact, as she pressed her forehead against his own.

"I know, Kacchan. I know you're just worried about me, but if I just ignore him, and the bond, it'll be so much worse. You know that, and honestly, if I could get through to him, to make him see another way, one that wasn't the life of a villain, then anything that came after would be worth it. I'd be there for him through anything, even if he were answering for his crimes. And if it got hard, then I'd have you by my side, and I know that no matter what you'll always be here for me, but I've just got to try."

Katsuki felt himself press closer into her. His hand came up to cup her cheek and before he had even completed the thought of wanting it, his lips pressed against her own. It wasn't a kiss like those they've shared before. Perhaps, it was closer to the first kiss they shared, back when he was still struggling with what he was feeling, and experiencing, but this one was slipping into a state of desperation. It portrayed his emotions in a way that words had failed him. The action bottling up and spilling over into her all of the worry, fear, and trust he felt towards her, as he tried expressing how he would always be here, by her side, through anything. Bakugo had always lacked words when it came to Izuka, but actions, even when they were hurtful, had always rang true.

Izuka felt her hands slip up into his hair as his lips descended upon hers, and she answered him in kind. They stayed locked like that for a few moments more before Katsuki was the one to break them apart.

"I don't like that you're going to see him, but I've got to see for myself that he's willing to try for you, and if he's not I'll beat his ass myself."

Izuka couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips as she smiled softly at him.

His acceptance in being there for her was all that she wanted, but that kiss brought forth another desire for answers inside of herself.

"Kacchan, what are we now?"

They hadn't pulled completely apart, their foreheads still pressed against one another, and if either one leaned in even an inch, they would be kissing again. She watched as his eyes bounced down toward her lips, before refocusing on her gaze, as she questioned him. His fingers began to soothingly card through her hair as he sighed and then they were apart. His fingers were still tangled in her hair, but distance had been placed, and Izuka continued to gaze questioningly at him.

"You're mine, no matter what form you want that to be in, but… I want something more from you than just friendship," Katsuki said, his voice finally gaining that soft but firm tone that he had been trying to go for earlier. He found the nerves inside of himself washing away as he spoke, because there were no truer words having been spoken. "We should talk about this later, when Aizawa won't suddenly be knocking on your door, but just know that that's what I want."

A blush darkened Izuka's cheeks, pulling another emotion from him, this one having him craving to pull her back into a kiss, but he refrained from it. Their time really had begun to run out, and any longer meant the higher chance of being caught, and he didn't want her in any more trouble than they already were. As it was, they lucked out majorly, but Katsuki knew that Aizawa would not hold back again.

Izuka's eyes only widened as she felt her cheeks darken, but instead of shying away, she felt a desire burn inside her stomach and chest, and without thinking, because why would she want to, not when she knew exactly what she wanted, Izuka began to nod. Her curls bounced across her face as a sparkle lit up her eyes. It was fine that they couldn't properly talk about it now. Just knowing that's what he wanted put her mind at ease and had her once again floating like she had been last night after he told her he loved her.

It wasn't that she doubted him in any way, but saying you loved someone, and being ready, or even wanting something more, didn't necessarily always go hand in hand. Not all soulmate bonds were of the romantic type. Only Izuka wanted this to be. She wanted it badly and had realized that yearning had been growing inside of herself for a while now.

"I do too," she said simply.

She watched as his eyes darkened, for just a moment, before they lightened back into that warm crimson gaze, she was so familiar with, but that second was enough to burn those flames within her higher. He retreated soon after that with promises to talk more later, and the knowledge that he would be there with her next weekend, enough to keep her floating on cloud nine.