SOULMATES [My Hero Academia]

Rewind and Reflect - Izuku Midoriya

-

I've lived today 147 times.

And the worst part... I still haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong.

Maybe the second worst part? I know that my soulmate is out there somewhere suffering too. One hundred and forty seven Fridays is too many Fridays for anyone.

I started a notebook, tracking my choices down to even the most simple and seemingly innocent, hoping to find the pattern in the puzzle. For two weeks, I was convinced I was choosing the wrong lunch at college. A month later, I thought maybe it was my toothpaste. To most people, I probably looked like a weirdo, frantically scribbling as I moved through my day. But then again, no one remembered today except me.

It made me wonder how many of my days, my weeks, were replayed days for others, and if the final day - the day they find their soulmate - is the one that gets sealed into my memory. I think about all of the variations, the failed days, the hundreds of iterations that get lost in the universe.

I can't help but hate myself for taking this long. For erasing all of those days.

For being so slow.

Forgive me.

Please.

-

Izuku Midoriya was stuck in a time loop.

He'd heard about this from his parents, his friends, history teachers: for whatever reason, on the day you were supposed to meet your soulmate, time stood still for you and them. Time would not move on until you found them.

Hence, the loop.

If he'd counted right, they were at Day 147. He could only handle saving the same family from the same villain so many times... and every time he explained to his hero coworkers what was going on before the villain began monologuing, their awe and jealousy was never any easier to swallow.

He didn't want their jealous stares. He didn't ask for any of it.

But... his soulmate was out there somewhere. Also stuck. Also looping.

And he didn't know what to do about it.

-

Day 148.

I woke up and knew that something felt different. Maybe it was because I forgot to set my alarm last night, so I woke up feeling rested for once. Maybe it was the fact that I slept through my ride from my roommate and my first class, effectively failing me on a quiz I'd aced for 147 days in a row. Or maybe it was the fact that my bike tire was flat when I flew out the door, my backup mode of transportation betraying me in my time of need.

So, there I was, walking the five miles to school, hoping to make it in time for my second class. I had my earbuds in, trying to turn my day around with my favorite songs, but it wasn't really working. Rationalizing, I figured if I made good time maybe I could treat myself to a coffee before my other class.

The idea of coffee put pep in my step, and I started power-walking toward campus, drowning out the sounds of the city as I cranked up the volume of my music.

Which I shouldn't have done... Because there was totally a villain attacking something downtown.

"Hey!"

I jolted, eyes widening at the voice that cut through my music. An arm wrapped around my shoulders and yanked me away from the sidewalk, an explosion faint through the thrumming electric guitar and thundering drums in my ears. We crashed to the ground, pain splintering up my elbows and knees as we connected with the concrete.