Red Strings: A My Hero Academia Soulmate AU

🖤🖤/❤️🤍

Warning: a bit of angst but with a partial (?) happy ending

You were excited to start your first day at UA high school. Getting into the hero course was a like a dream come true and you couldn't wait to begin working toward that dream.

You were also hopeful that you might encounter your soulmate soon. The red string tied to your pinkie had begun to get darker, meaning you were getting close. You entered your new classroom and paused. There were a lot of characters, but no one was connected to your string. You scanned the room and tried to characterize them: a loud blonde boy...a friendly-looking redhead...a speech bubble for a head? And that wasn't the oddest thing you encountered in class 1-B. A full on beast, one boy who looked like a praying mantis, while another was black as night. There was a girl who could separate her own body into pieces and even an American exchange student.

As the weeks passed you quickly made friends with a bunch of your classmates and a few of them wanted to help you find your soulmate. You were pretty sure he was here at UA, you could sometimes see your string floating in the air. It was definitely connected to someone here, but it was too crowded to ever find him. And since only the two of you could see your string, your friends couldn't help very much. Until one day, when you were walking with Kendo in the cafeteria and she quickly moved to intercept Monoma before he could cause problems.

You followed behind at a slower pace, always finding amusement in the pair's interactions. You realized they had moved to the opposite side of the cafeteria from where you usually sat and in the process you realized your string had grown a dark blood red and could be seen dropping down nearby. You followed the line to where it descended, a table full of students from 1-A.

You left your friends behind and rushed forward to see the end of the string tied to the pinkie finger of a boy with the head of a bird. You were pretty sure his name was Tokoyami. All of class 1-A had been in the news following the incident at the USJ. You stared at him for a moment as his whole table of classmates watched you in confusion.

Lifting your pinkie, you said, "Hi, I'm Y/n. It's nice to finally meet you." You smiled, but were surprised when he did nothing but stare at you. You cleared your throat awkwardly. "Sorry if I'm intruding," you said as you glanced at the table of students that had grown quiet as they watched your interaction.

Tokoyami sighed. "It's not a problem, but I will be frank." His eyes were dark as he glared at you. "I don't buy into the whole soulmate thing. If you think that, by meeting me, your life is now complete or that we'll live happily ever after or whatever other nonsense you've bought into, you're going to be disappointed."

Your eyes unwillingly filled with tears at his words. You knew that there were people who didn't believe in the idea of soulmates, but you never thought you'd be instantly rejected upon meeting yours. Left speechless, you quickly turned your back and rushed to the other side of the cafeteria to rejoin your friends.

***

The students from class 1-A were also left speechless as they watched Tokoyami go back to eating his lunch as though nothing had happened.

"That girl was your soulmate?" Iida asked and received a nod in return. "How could you dismiss her like that, without even giving her a chance?"

"Like I said, I think the idea of soulmates is misguided. We could have a relationship and live happily, but I'm certain I could also live happily with someone of my own choosing, where a relationship is founded on shared interests and ideals. I'm also certain that just because some power somewhere decided we were soulmates, doesn't mean we are guaranteed happiness or compatibility. Some people may find reassurance in such connections, but I'd prefer to decide for myself."