#bakudeku Accidental Red String AU. This was supposed to be a long fic but ugh so many scenes so it's a long fic thread now.

Izuku didn’t believe in fate or destiny. He didn’t know anyone who does. And yet here he is, pinky tied with a red string that leads off to the horizon Shuzenji-san said it led to his soulmate.

#seeressfic #bnha #themanKatsukiloves

After they had sorted out things, Izuku had a red string tied to his finger. No one else can see it, it never gets tangled, no matter how he twisted or turned, It just kept stretching away, presumably tied to someone waiting for him.

Shuzenji-san said she was brewing a harmless love potion, something for the girls in the village to lasso boys with, creating impermanent ties. It was also supposed to be light pink and definitely didn’t explode.

When Izuku asked why she didn’t get one, she chuckled and said she’s had her fun in her day and her soul mate very likely lies in a grave somewhere in the east.

She offered to try and get it off, but Izuku had been intrigued. He was alone in the world, an adventurer (a better, less lonely name for a wanderer), with no real purpose or destination.

So he kept the string and followed it to the West. He met people on the way, usually after he jumped in and helped for one reason or another.

They were nice people, happy to have him, enjoyed his company, invited him to stay. But he kept moving Westward, where the string led.

One day, the red string led him to a beautiful man with blond hair & a scowl on his face. Izuku’s first thought was how much more beautiful must he be when he smiles. Izuku didn’t know then but won't get to see him smile until much later and even then, it won’t be directed at him

Izuku felt overwhelming relief and happiness at finally finding the person at the end of his red string. His soulmate. He could see the string clearly, tied to the man’s left pinky.

Katsuki didn’t seem to be aware of the string. And he wasn’t impressed with Izuku, calling him useless Deku which was fair as Izuku somehow managed to cause a gaggle of goose to stampede, overturning a cartload of apples. Deku hadn’t known geese could be that strong or vindictive

Izuku though was VERY impressed with Katsuki. He was simply amazing. His sheer brilliance blinding. Izuku thinks even without the string, it would have far too easy to fall in love with this man.

They travelled farther West together, Katsuki initially begrudging, then tolerant, until finally, after a surprise encounter with a wild boar the size of a small hill, appreciative of his company.

Izuku had nowhere he needed to be so he went where Katsuki did. Katsuki was on his way back to his clan after completing a quest, having earned his fire magic, as borne out by the living flames tattooed in his arms.

They got sidetracked a lot because Izuku insisted on getting involved with people who needed help. Katsuki told him he had a hero complex but never left him, was right there beside him when they needed to face an orge or necromancer or feral poisonous cat.

The red string was still there, unbreaking, tying their left pinkies together. Izuku never knew how to bring it up. Who would believe him. People in their world made their own destinies.

Despite all their time in the road, Izuku hadn’t yet seen Katsuki smile. Smirk, yes. Scoff, snort, quirk his lips, multiple occasions. But Izuku had yet to see him smile.

Izuku had always been able to sense emotions from the string. Not all the time, just sometimes. Now that Katsuki was beside him, he can tell that the emotions come through only when they are strong.

Simple joys or nervousness doesn’t make it. Intense feelings of victory or rage do. Once, Izuku found himself caught under a rockfall and he felt fear coming through the string the entire 2 hours it took Katsuki to get him out of it.

With enough walking westward, they finally arrived at Katsuki’s village where a young man with red hair, sharp teeth and a brilliant smile welcomed Katsuki with a fierce hug and passionate kisses.

Oh. Izuku hadn’t known. And for the first time, he felt happiness coming from the red string, matching the smile Katsuki had on his face.

Izuku stayed as long as he could bear it. He met most of the people in the clan. Got to know the ones close to Katsuki. They plied him with food and drinks and all the comforts of hearth and home. They asked him for stories, saying that Katsuki never tells them anything.

He got to know the man Katsuki loved. He was beautiful, kind-hearted, fiercely loyal, and so in love with Katsuki, so happy to have him back he never stopped smiling.

Through it all, the red string pulsed with Katsuki’s happiness, contentment, feelings of home.

Through sheer self-preservation, Izuku learned how to block the emotions coming through the string. He could well do without the dissonant feelings of passion and urgency in the late evenings.

Izuku left, his bag heavy with food, the air full of well-wishes & reminders that he's welcome to return. Katsuki had taken him aside the night before, asking him if he really planned to leave.

Izuku can’t feel anything from the string anymore but he had learned to read Katsuki during their time in the road well enough to know he wanted Izuku to stay.

Izuku smiled and said he had somewhere he needed to be. Katsuki had nodded, not calling him out on the lie. Katsuki knew that the one thing Izuku wanted more than anything was a place to call home.

Izuku had wondered what to do with the red string. Try as he might, he couldn’t cut it. He feels it but cannot touch it. It was as tangible but immaterial as sunlight.

He thought of returning to Shuzenji-san. Perhaps she would know how to sever it.

Izuku took the long way back. Stopping at towns and villages, helping out where he can. He never stopped smiling and he always got an offer to stay but he always went on, after a few days, a few weeks.

One day, Izuku felt anguish from the string. It was so strong, so overwhelming it dropped him to his knees. Years of nothing and then this. Terrible, terrible grief and heartache.

It took him almost two years to re-trace his steps, following the red string to the other end. He found what he was expecting. A silent Katsuki. No one by his side.

He was told it was a hunting accident. A freak one. Katsuki wasn’t there. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.

Katsuki acknowledged his presence, sat with him for meals, shrugged for replies.

Once again, Izuku stayed only as long as he could bear it. It was difficult to see Katsuki like this, his light diminished. He said his goodbyes and this time around, Katsuki didn’t ask him to stay

What Katsuki did was show up the next day at the edge of the village with a travel pack on his back. Izuku’s eyebrows rose but he didn’t say anything and they fell into step with each other.

This time, it was Katsuki who had no destination and Izuku who had one. But otherwise it was the same. They took a meandering route, stopping a few days at a time at each town or village, always helping when they can.

Slowly, Katsuki’s silences grew less sombre. While he still didn’t smile, the smirks made their appearance more and more often.

It was a bittersweet journey for Izuku. He had been in love with this man for years now.

He knows with every fiber of his being that he would have loved him even if he hadn’t had the red string. It didn’t make him love Katsuki, it just led Izuku to him. Gave Izuku a way to find him.

The same way that it cannot cause Katsuki to love him back. It’s just a string.

They’ve been on the road for so long, Izuku began to belatedly worry if Shuzenji-san was still alive. He’s so used to Katsuki’s presence by now. They have their set routines. He has spent more time with Katsuki than any other person in his life.

Izuku wakes up one morning and thinks he no longer knows how to be without Katsuki. How without meaning to, despite knowing what he knew, Katsuki had become his home.

Instead of giving him joy, thought made him infinitely sad. Katsuki had frowned at him all day that day, trying to look behind Izuku’s too-bright smile.

Finally, after years of travel, they were back at Shuzenji-san’s village. Izuku had asked if Katsuki could take care of replenishing their stocks as he wanted to talk to Shuzenji-san alone first. Katsuki had frowned but went off without protest.

Izuku asked Shuzenji-san if she could cut the red string. It reminds Izuku of what could have been. It was a reminder he didn’t need.

Shuzenji had asked him to describe the one Katsuki loved.

Izuku said the man Katsuki loved had a big heart. Made people happy just by being around him. He had the biggest smile. He stood up to Katsuki. Brave despite his fears. Strong. Capable. Big heart, big smile and loved Katsuki with all his heart.

Shuzenji looked at Izuku, asked when was the last time he allowed the emotions from the string to reach him. It had been years. Not since he felt Katsuki’s loss.

There was a knock on the door. Shuzenji waved Izuku to sit back down and told him to open himself to the red string.

Shuzenji was unsurprised to see a good looking blond at her doorstep. He was looking for Deku. Shuzenji could honestly say she didn’t know anyone by that name.

Katsuki sighed, saying Shuzenji must know him. Big smile. This high. Green curls. Cute freckles.

Shuzenji replied, again in all honesty, that she was getting old and her eyesight failing. How is this Deku on the inside?

Another sigh. An idiot. A crybaby. A nerd. But he has big heart. Makes people happy just being around him. Has the biggest smile. Stands up to Katsuki. Brave despite his fears. Strong, capable. Big heart, big smile. They’ve been together for years.

“Hmm. I don’t know a ‘Deku’. What I do have behind me is an idiot young man who thinks people can only love once in their lives. And just because other people are wonderful, forgets he can be wonderful as well in other people’s eyes.”

“I’m heading out for a while. I can hear him sniffling so you’ll probably have to calm him down, make him stop crying.”

She looked at him consideringly. “But I suppose you’ve had ample practice with that.”

Katsuki snorted as she left but the look in his face was indulgent.

“Why are you crying, silly Deku?”

Izuku stepped into Katsuki’s space, trembling hands clutching his shirt.

“Because I’m stupid,” Izuku said between hiccupping breaths. He could feel happiness coming from the string. Contentment.

Katsuki tried ineffectually to stem the flow of tears. “That’s nothing new. Been telling you that for years.”

The feeling of love and home from the string intensified.

“But Kacchan,” Izuku practically wailed, “I love you.”

Katsuki stilled, then smiled down at Izuku, beautiful and perfect.

“That’s nothing new either, Deku.”

 The End.

The long fic was supposed to be a companion piece to THIS soulmate AU fic, a mirror reality where everyone is born with a soul mark but Izuku does not have one.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18126518/chapters/42856235

I /did/ end up turning this thread into a long fic after all.

'What Lies At The Other End' on AO3.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/18625765/chapters/44166919