umisabaku:

After the Fall of All Might, it
doesn’t actually seem all that important to worry about his love life. 

In fact, at that point, nothing much
seems important. Todoroki just privately decides he’s not going to try to
discuss the matter with Midoriya anymore. Too many other things were occupying
both of them, so it just doesn’t seem like something that even matters anymore.

The world seems different, anyhow.
Now that All Might is no longer the number one hero, now that it was revealed
so publicly that All Might was no longer as strong as he used to be, the world
is a very different place then it was, and everything just seems small in
comparison.

Which is why it comes somewhat as a
surprise when Midoriya seeks him out.

*

Todoroki hadn’t put that much
thought into what it would mean that they all live on campus now. Just another
part of the world that has changed, post-Kamino Ward. All things considered,
it’s a very minor thing compared to all the other changes

But apparently it means that it can
be ten o’clock at night, and Midoriya can knock on his door, and then they can
be alone in Todoroki’s bedroom and that, all of the sudden, feels like a very
big change.

“I, um, know we haven’t talked.
About the whole—” Midoriya starts, and he looks embarrassed and flustered and
maybe like he doesn’t want to be having this discussion. 

And if Midoriya doesn’t want to have
this discussion, Todoroki doesn’t want to make him. “It’s alright,”
Todoroki says. “If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have
to.”
How is the soulmate conversation supposed to go? In movies or dramas, the
couple realizes they’re soulmates, becomes very teary-eyed, and then they
embrace artfully on screen. In real life, surely it must be more awkward than
that. During one Sports Festival, Midoriya went from rival classmate to
destined soulmate, and that would have been a difficult transition to make
under any situation. Now, Todoroki is thankful for the opening of friendship,
and he’s not sure what else was supposed to happen.

 "Or if you’re in love
with someone else—”

“N-no! That’s definitely not
it! I don’t—I mean, I guess I never really thought much about—love or
anything like that,” Midoriya says, flailing his hands and blushing
slightly. “It’s just—” he takes in a deep breath, and Todoroki once
again feels bad. 

“You don’t really have to do
this,” Todoroki says, not sure what “this” is but wanting to do
everything he could to make Midoriya feel better, “We can still keep—”

“I might not be your
soulmate,” Midoriya blurts out.

Todoroki blinks. This wasn’t at all
what he expected Midoriya to say. “I am not an expert, having just the
one, but I’m pretty sure you are,” Todoroki says quizzically. “I know
I’m new at this—”

He breaks off, all of the sudden
remembering that he’s only sensed Midoriya’s Quirk since before school started,
and how that’s not usually how it goes, with soulmates, unless Midoriya had
just been born a couple months ago. 

Or if he just got a Quirk a couple
months ago.

“I—wasn’t supposed to talk
about this. I promised I wouldn’t. But, the thing is, I did just get my Quirk
recently. It’s not exactly mine. Which made me wonder if, perhaps, that
meant you weren’t my soulmate, either. Not mine, that is.”

There’s a lot not being said with
that statement. But it is perhaps not as confusing as it would have been if
Midoriya had talked to him right after the Sports Festival. Now, Todoroki has a
lot more context for things he didn’t know were possible, previously. Like the
idea that Quirks could be taken away, or that Quirks could be put into
monsters, and he thinks about how he always thought Midoriya’s Quirk was a lot
like All Might and—

“All Might is not my
soulmate,” Todoroki says, closer to hysteria than he’s ever been before.

“No, no, no,” Midoriya
says, “Although, ahh, no, All Might agreed, but he didn’t know—he really
didn’t know what it meant. That I found you, that is. He said he never felt
like he had a soulmate, and that’s not how—how it works. He said the Quirk is
mine, now, but he wasn’t sure how soulmates factored into that, and I thought a
lot about that, and it just seemed like maybe it would be wrong to let you believe I was your soulmate, when we
weren’t sure if that was the case, especially if we couldn’t
prove otherwise. So I wanted you to know that. I didn’t want you feeling—stuck
with me.”

Todoroki still has no idea what is
going on, but he feels like he shouldn’t ask. If Midoriya made a promise to All
Might, then whatever is going on with their Quirks isn’t something Todoroki
should ask about.

But the way Midoriya says that—st
uck with me—his self-deprecating laugh and nervousness, it all makes it
seem like Midoriya is thinking that Todoroki doesn’t want Midoriya
to be his soulmate, and that’s crazy. Our entire class visited you in the
hospital. Not our other three injured classmates, every single person in our
class decided, “I have to visit Midoriya.” You were broken beyond
imagination and Kirishima still thought you could find a solution to save his
friend, and you did, you did. Iida and Yaoyaozuri created an
impossible situation, “rescue Bakugou without using your Quirks” and you found
that solution. You saved me with just three words.

It seems impossible to think anyone
wouldn’t want to be Midoriya’s soulmate. 

“It doesn’t matter,”
Todoroki says, causing Midoriya to flinch, and Todoroki knows he’s doing this
wrong. “Whether or not you’re my soulmate, I mean. I still like you. I
would still like you even if we weren’t soulmates.”

“Oh,” Midoriya says,
wide-eyed and unsure.

And since the only thing seems to be
to prove it—and they are alone in Todoroki’s bedroom—Todoroki leans
forward and kisses Midoriya on the lips, since he figures he’s better with
actions then words anyway.

Midoriya promptly turns completely
red and falls to the floor, so Todoroki is not entirely sure he did the right
thing.

“Todoroki-kun!” Midoriya
says.

“I like being friends,”
Todoroki says quickly, if that’s what Midoriya wants then he’s happy with that.
“And if we’re not soulmates, then I still want to date you. But if you
don’t, then being friends was always enough.”

“Oh,” Midoriya says again.
He’s still red (and still on the floor) but he says, “I didn’t know that
was an option. Dating. I’m not entirely sure how to do that.”

“Me neither,” Todoroki
says. “But I think we can figure it out.” Midoriya definitely can, at
any rate. If there’s one thing Todoroki is confident on, it’s that Midoriya
Izuku can figure out anything.

A/N: The end!! I think I’m done =D
Thanks to the readers! It will be up on ao3 in it’s entirety soon!! 
Thanks
to everyone reading!
Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Seven! Sorry for the long post, just really wanted to finish it up =)