The In-Betweens (BNHA AU OC fanfic)

ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟...

Hello there. My name is Chip Black.
I think I'm here to give you the backstory of this world, so I guess I'll start there.

It all began in China, in Qingping City.
There was news that a baby that gave off light was born, and upon further inspection had a strange tattoo on the inside of her arm.
Ever since then, superpowers were discovered in various places, and time passed without the cause being identified.
The tattoos were discovered to match up in pairs. Sometimes the tattoos were shapes, with another person having the same shape. Sometimes they were the first words someone said to you. Sometimes it wasn't tattoos at all- there'd be a strand of hair that was a different color, a differently colored eye, random scars appearing with no cause on the body. All sorts of different things. But they would disappear when you kissed the person they matched, and in most cases you fell in love with the other person. It has been dubbed the Soulmate Phenomenon.
Before we knew it, the supernatural became normal, and dreams became reality.
The world has become a superhuman and fate-based society, and about 80% of the world's population now has some kind of special trait and Soulmate Mark.
In this world swirling with chaos, the profession that everyone once dreamed about and admired came into the limelight.
That profession is...

"Oh, it's Death Arms! He carries out justice through his great physical strength— The Punching Hero!"

Ugh, seriously? Can you shut up? I was in the middle of a monologue, you know!

"Everyone, this is dangerous. Stay back, stay back!"

Whatever. You get the idea, don't you?

"The rescue specialist, Backdraft, is here, too!"

I'm stuck here because of this stupid villain. I'm gonna be late to class... Snipe-Sensei'll have my head.

I don't even know why pro-heroes teach classes in every course. Learning English from Present Mic and math from Midnight doesn't really make sense to me.

I idly listen to a green-haired junior high student babble about Kamui Woods, trying not to roll my eyes. Fanboy much?

The junior high student made idle chit-chat about wanting to be a hero with the man beside him and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Listen, kid."

The broccoli-head turned to look at me.

"You got a good quirk?"

He froze.

"Thought so. Throw that dumb dream of yours in the trash- without a good quirk you don't have a chance."

He didn't say another word and I walked off. Good riddance.

—————Timeskip—————

One boring day of school later I'm walking home.

I activate my quirk to try and pass the time, casting my red pupil-less eyes around. Miles of strings surround me, wrapped around their owners heads, fingers, arms, you name it. The strings are usually attached to that person's Soulmate Mark.

I pass couples holding hands, some with their strings connecting and some not. I wince. I didn't see the point in dating someone who wasn't your soulmate.

My gaze drifts to my own string, wrapped around my ring finger. Under it I could see my soulmate tattoo. A black lightning bolt.

The tattoo covered my whole finger, starting just under my nail and ending where my finger connected to my hand. It was black in color.

I glanced back up and spotted the broccoli kid from earlier. I 'tch'ed when I saw him, noticing that he didn't have a string.

He really thought he could be a hero? When he's quirkless?

Pause.

I need to elaborate how I know broccoli boy over here is quirkless. From an outsider's point of view all I should know is that he has no soulmate.

Well, in this world those things go hand in hand. If you're born with a quirk, you're also born with a soulmate. You can't have one without the other.

Unpause.

We pass eachother, and I notice distantly that he seems down. Sad even.

I don't really care though.

I hear fast footsteps and am barely able to brace myself before I feel arms thrown around my neck from behind. "Chip!"

"Rose." I reply, grabbing her by the legs and giving her a piggyback ride.

"Leebell." A third voice chimes in, and I try not to laugh as I glance to the side to see my other friend staring at me.

I glance at Leebell's soulmate string by habit.

It was wrapped around her forearm, where her tattoo was. She had words- the first words her soulmate would say to her.

'Oh, thank you. Your wings are interesting as well.'

I followed her string with my eyes, but it didn't lead anywhere. It was slack enough to lay on the ground- her soulmate wasn't close.

You see, the strings grow taut as the person gets closer to their soulmate, and slackens as they get further away. One of the few things I've noticed using my quirk.

I didn't bother trying to look at Rose's. She was on my back. I deactivated my quirk, blinking my eyes rapidly to try and wet them- they'd gone dry again.

"Dunno why you bother using your quirk so often. All it does for you is dry your eyes out and make you anxious that you haven't met your soulmate yet." Leebell scolded.

"I'm not anxious to meet them." I retorted weakly. "And it's my way of people watching."

"Uh-huh. Right." She eyed me skeptically.

"Well, I can't wait to meet my soulmate!" Rose butted in enthusiastically. "Who wouldn't be excited to meet their other half? The person that's literally perfect for you, chosen by the universe itself!" She sighed dreamily. "I can hardly wait!"

I rolled my eyes. "Rose, they aren't always your perfect match."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"You know what? Nevermind." I fell silent, falling into my memories.

I stumbled as an explosion went off across the street from us, Leebell catching her balance first and running over.

A villain, huh? This should be fun.

——————————

For the record, in this part everyone is still in their first year at UA. They'll be second years when the 1-A of the show becomes first years :) - Captainchippy