Toshinori had stopped thinking about his a long time ago.

There were more important things. One For All. Young Midoriya, stumbling forward with shaking fists and a smile too bright for the weight on his shoulders.

He didn't have room for a soulmate—he'd made peace with that.

Then there was you.

The newest support staff member at U.A., you'd somehow become a familiar presence these days. You were kind to the students. Patient with Midoriya.

You never treated Toshinori like he was still standing on a pedestal. You simply treated him like Toshinori.

He liked that. Perhaps too much.

So when you rounded the corner of the faculty corridor balancing an impossible stack of equipment files, he immediately stepped forward when you nearly lost your footing.

“Woah—hey! I've got you!”

His large hand closed around your wrist. The burn was immediate.

Toshinori recoiled like he'd been struck, the files scattered across the floor.

"Ah."

He stared down at his wrist. Slowly, black lines bloomed across weathered skin. He stared at you, utterly stunned.

“Ah,” he said again.