Red Strings: A My Hero Academia Soulmate AU

Prologue

When quirks first entered the human population, they seemed like normal super powers, the kinds you would read about in comics or see in movies about superheroes. As the generations passed, they became more complex. Some of them became a little strange, shifting the human existence into something unfathomable.

One day, a normal little girl played with her friends on the playground of her preschool.

"Whoa, do you see that?" she asked her friends.

"See what?"

"All those lines in the sky," she pointed to the mass of red swirling around her.

"What lines?"

"Yeah, I don't see anything either."

The young girl insisted until the teacher came over to see what the commotion was about. 

"You see them, right, Miss? You have one on your finger!"

The preschool teacher looked down at her pinkie finger that the girl was holding. "You see something on my hand?"

"It's like a string, tied around you. You can't see it?"

"This must be your quirk. Congratulations," the teacher smiled at her student, but internally she was worried. A red string tied around her pinkie finger? It couldn't be that, right?

Her fears were proven correct over time. The young girl could see the fabled red strings of fate. As she increased in her ability, the girl, who grew into a woman, made a successful and rewarding career out of helping people find their soulmates. She could find where the strings would connect and help others. She could even find strings that had been frayed and broken and connect them to matching broken strings. Eventually she found her own soulmate and married, having children. Her first-born daughter inherited her quirk. She also worked to bring joy to others, linking soul mates together. Like her mother before her, she met her own soulmate, married and had children, passing her quirk to her first-born daughter.

Three generations of women found happiness in their work. But one day, the little girl turned grandmother, began to realize the limitations of their quirk. Only they could see the strings, and they could only help so many people. How many others around the world, didn't even know their soulmate existed because they were unaware of the strings tying them together. It was at this moment in time, the youngest, reaching her teenage years, realized her quirk was slightly different from her mother's and grandmother's. She could do more than see and manipulate the strings...she could allow others to see their strings, too. Mother and grandmother helped the youngest train her quirk. Then one day, she let out her power in one large burst.

The women looked to the sky to see the red strings slowly disappearing. Yet, surprisingly some still remained. The youngest woman in the circle watched as the red string tied to her pinkie finger disappeared, but was replaced by a burning sensation along her collarbone. She pulled at her shirt to discover a symbol etched into her skin, much like a tattoo. Her mother next to her gasped. Her string had long since disappeared at having found her soulmate, but she held out her wrist, showing writing that traveled up her forearm.

"These are the first words your father spoke to me. Mother, what does this mean?"

"It means we succeeded. We were only trying to make it possible for others to see the strings, but I think we changed the method too. There are still strings," she said glancing to the sky, "but now people will be able to find their soulmates through words spoken or symbols engraved on their skin, or any number of other methods we don't know of yet."

The woman began to laugh with joy, followed by her daughter and granddaughter. 

The youngest clutched her chest with a smile. They weren't needed anymore. Everyone would be able to find their soulmates without the their help. She could finally go and look for her own.

The world was forced to accept that soulmates existed. There was much speculation as to the sudden appearance of soulmate markers and quite a few problems arose. Some people didn't like the idea of soulmates, thinking it took away free will. Others were distressed to find they had made a life with someone who wasn't their soulmate. Some felt relief that there was someone out there for them. But as time went by and generations passed, the idea of soulmates became ingrained into society, much like quirks had.

author's note:

Hello, lovely readers! My plan is to write several short stories/one shots of the mha characters finding their soulmates. There will be warnings on each chapter if there is any troublesome content ahead. I was originally going to do all original characters, but quickly discovered it was too much. Instead, I'm going to attempt a reader insert. I've never done one before, but I've read plenty so this was a fun writing exercise for me. 

Some notes: I know it's not really the norm, but instead of a first person perspective, I used second person. Please, please let me know if it reads weird or something and I'll change them to be a normal first person. I'll be writing a fem reader and probably will have very few of the usual descriptors like favorite color or your hair color, length, etc. I'll do my best to write as generically as possible, but if I have you standing on your tiptoes to reach a boy you're actually taller than, just ignore and go with it, please and thank you. Also, because I originally wrote the plots with an original character in mind, y/n might have personality traits that don't suit you. So even if you're not a coward, unathletic, or a bitch, try to live vicariously through y/n and pretend you are! Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoy!