into the dark

In Izuku Midoriya's world, everyone knew the rules of soulmates.

On your eighteenth birthday, the name—or names—of the person destined to become your soulmate appeared on your wrist.

And when you finally stood close enough to them, a thin red thread appeared around your ring finger.

Only the soulmates could see it.

The thread couldn't be cut.

It couldn't be hidden.

And, according to everything Izuku had ever read, it couldn't be wrong.

That was why he had been terrified on his eighteenth birthday.

Because instead of one name appearing on his wrist...

There had been two.

> TENKO

TOYA

Izuku had stared at the unfamiliar names for nearly an hour.

He didn't know anyone named Tenko.

He didn't know anyone named Toya.

And there was no surname attached to either name.

His mother had tried to reassure him.

"Maybe you'll meet them someday."

Izuku had smiled.

But secretly, he'd wondered if someday would ever come.

Six months passed.

Nothing happened.

No red thread.

No mysterious soulmate.

No answers.

Eventually, Izuku stopped thinking about it.

Or at least, he tried to.

---

Six Months Later

"Mom, I'm going to the mall!"

"Don't stay out too late!"

"I won't!"

Izuku slipped his shoes on and hurried outside.

It was an ordinary Saturday.

The kind of day where nothing interesting was supposed to happen.

He had a list of things he needed: notebooks, pens, a replacement phone charger, and maybe a new pair of headphones if he found a good deal.

He had absolutely no idea that by sunset, his life would be completely different.

---

Across the city, two villains were preparing for something very different.

Tomura Shigaraki stood in the back room of an abandoned building, staring at a map.

At twenty-three, he had learned not to trust much of anything.

People lied.

Heroes lied.

Friends betrayed each other.

Even fate was probably lying.

His soulmate tattoo had appeared five years ago.

One name.

Deku.

He'd hated it immediately.

Not because of the name itself.

Because it was proof that somewhere out there was a person fate expected him to care about.

Dabi had received the same name.

That was the strange part.

They had discovered it by accident years ago.

Two different people.

The same soulmate.

Neither of them knew who "Deku" was.

Neither had ever seen the red thread.

Until today.

Dabi entered the room, adjusting his coat.

"You ready?"

Shigaraki nodded.

"The mall will be crowded."

"That's the point."

Dabi glanced at him.

"You seem distracted."

Shigaraki scratched at his neck.

"I keep thinking about the tattoo."

Dabi's expression became slightly amused.

"Still?"

"Shut up."

Dabi pulled back his sleeve.

The word DEKU was still visible on his wrist.

"I wonder who they are."

Shigaraki looked at the tattoo.

"So do I."

Neither of them noticed the faint red glow beginning around their fingers.

---

The Mall

Izuku stepped through the glass entrance.

Immediately, he was surrounded by noise.

Music.

Conversations.

Footsteps.

Advertisements playing from screens.

He smiled.

It was peaceful.

Normal.

Safe.

He walked toward the bookstore.

Then stopped.

A strange sensation crawled over his hand.

Izuku looked down.

His heart stopped.

A thin red thread was wrapped around his ring finger.

It glowed faintly.

His eyes widened.

"The string..."

After six months.

Finally.

His soulmate was here.

The thread stretched forward.

Through the crowd.

Izuku hesitated.

Then followed it.

---

Two floors above him, Shigaraki suddenly froze.

A red thread had appeared around his finger.

"What..."

Dabi turned.

His eyes widened.

He had one too.

Both threads stretched in the same direction.

For once, neither man spoke.

Then Dabi gave a quiet laugh.

"Looks like we found them."

Shigaraki followed the thread.

His pulse quickened.

Whoever their soulmate was...

They were here.

---

Izuku followed the thread through the crowd.

Left.

Then right.

Then down another corridor.

The thread tugged harder.

He turned a corner—

—and walked directly into someone.

"Sorry!"

Izuku stumbled backward.

A tall man with messy white hair looked down at him.

Their eyes met.

For a moment, neither moved.

Then Shigaraki looked at Izuku's hand.

The red thread.

His expression changed.

Dabi appeared behind him.

He looked at Izuku.

Then at the thread.

Then at the tattoo peeking from beneath Izuku's sleeve.

TENKO. TOYA.

Silence.

Shigaraki's eyes widened.

Dabi stopped breathing for a second.

Izuku slowly pulled his sleeve down.

"You..."

Shigaraki looked at Dabi.

Dabi looked back.

Then Shigaraki asked quietly:

"What's your name?"

Izuku swallowed.

"Izuku Midoriya."

Neither villain spoke.

Because that wasn't the name written on their wrists.

Deku.

That was the name fate had given them.

Izuku looked between the two strangers.

"And yours?"

The white-haired man hesitated.

"Tomura Shigaraki."

Izuku's eyes narrowed.

That name was familiar.

Very familiar.

His expression changed.

"You..."

Shigaraki noticed.

Dabi immediately stepped between them.

"Don't."

Izuku took a step backward.

The realization hit him.

These weren't ordinary strangers.

They were villains.

And somehow...

They were his soulmates.

All three stared at the red threads connecting them.

The mall suddenly felt much colder.

Shigaraki's gaze returned to Izuku.

"You have two names."

Izuku slowly nodded.

"Tenko and Toya."

Dabi went completely still.

Shigaraki's voice dropped.

"My name wasn't always Shigaraki."

Izuku's eyes widened.

"Then..."

Dabi finished the sentence.

"Toya."

Izuku stared at him.

The pieces fell into place.

Tenko.

Toya.

His two soulmate names.

And the two villains standing in front of him.

For six months, Izuku had wondered who his soulmates were.

He had imagined heroes.

Kind people.

People who would understand him.

He had never imagined this.

Shigaraki looked at him for a long moment.

Then the villain smiled faintly.

"Well..."

His fingers curled around the red thread.

"Looks like fate has a strange sense of humor."

Dabi looked toward the mall entrance.

"We should leave."

Izuku immediately stepped back.

"Wait—"

Shigaraki caught his wrist.

Not violently.

But firmly enough that Izuku couldn't pull away.

Their eyes met.

"You're coming with us."

Izuku's heart pounded.

"I don't even know you."

"No," Shigaraki said.

His eyes dropped briefly to the glowing thread between them.

"But apparently..."

He looked back at Izuku.

"...we're going to have plenty of time to change that."

And as the mall continued bustling around them, completely unaware of what was happening, the red threads around their fingers glowed brighter.

Three strangers.

Two villains.

One hero.

And a fate none of them had chosen.

Yet.

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