"Our universe grants every soul a twin -- a reflection of themselves -- the kindred spirit -- And no matter where they are or how far away they are from each other -- even if they are in different dimensions, they will always find one another. This is destiny; this is love."

- Julie Dillon

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Todoroki entered the room again to find you laying flat on the ground next to his chabudai table, holding your phone above you as you scrolled through social media. You didn't notice his small smile as he paused in the doorway to look at you.

He cleared his throat slightly as he walked toward you, mainly just to get your attention. You jumped in fright as you quickly sat up from your too-comfortable position, accidentally knocking your knee on the table. However, you ignored the pain for a moment to apologise, "Ah, sorry, Todoroki! You just took a little while and I got a bit bored sitting here. I MEAN, IT'S YOUR HOUSE, SO YOU CAN TAKE AS LONG AS YOU NEED, I SHOULDN'T BE THE ONE DECIDING HOW LONG YOU SHOULD–"

"Your knee is bleeding." He said, interrupting you and pointing at your knee that you had knocked beforehand, which was, in fact, bleeding. It wasn't hardcore, just like when you scrape your knee on the concrete.

"Oh, no, it's okay. It isn't going to get anywhere." You said, smiling slightly up at him, only to find him crouching down at your level, his face close to yours as he looked down at your knee. Your breath hitched in your throat, and you tried to look away so that when you did breathe, it wouldn't be hot and gross on his face.

He glanced up at you quickly before looking back down at your knee, lightly running his thumb over it. "It's grazed from the table. Does it hurt?"

As he asked this, his action with his thumb over your knee caused it to suddenly sting, and you hissed out slightly, it only hurting for a moment. "No, it's okay. Just a normal scrape. I'll be fine."

He looked at you for a while, and it you almost asked him if your face was that ugly, but then his sister entered the room with a plate of cheese and crackers and other small assortments on a tray. She saw you guys and gave you both a suggestive look, wiggling her eyebrows as she placed the plate down on the table next to you. "How's it going~?"

You laughed nervously, shuffling away from Todoroki as he cleared his throat before gesturing to your knee as he sat opposite to you at the table. "(Y/N)-san scraped her knee on the table by accident. It's bleeding a little bit. I was just making sure it was alright."

"Oh no." She looked at you with slight worry. "Are you okay?"

You waved a dismissive hand, smiling up at her reassuringly before saying, "I'm fine, please. Don't worry about me. It'll heal soon enough."

She nodded her head and smiled back down at you as you went to grab a piece of cheese and a cracker, before she giddily said, "So what do you two plan on doing this afternoon?"

"Bonding. Why else would we be in my room?" Todoroki said blankly, and you nearly choked on your food. Todoroki was a little more ignorant than you thought he was when it came to these kind of things.

Now his sister was getting the wrong idea, and so she winked at you both before saying, "Alrighty. Have fun you two~" And she was gone, quickly shutting the door behind her.

You sat there, a blushing mess. You slowly looked over to Todoroki, who had just placed a bit of cheese and a cracker in his mouth like nothing was wrong. You watch incredulously as continued to place more snacks in his mouth, wondering how he could fit in that much food.

'Oh well, he's a growing boy.' You thought, shrugging your shoulders before grabbing your own bits of food and shoving them in your mouth. 'I, however, am just bored.'

"So," Todoroki said once he swallowed his food. "what do you suggest we do to begin our bonding time?"

You cleared your throat, trying to rid yourself of your unclean thoughts before looking at him and saying, "How about Never Have I Ever?"

"What's that?"

Your heart almost shattered at the poor boy's oblivious face. His eyes were a bit wider than usual, staring at you in wonder as his head titled slightly to the side. He looked like a puppy. You had to refrain from patting his head.

Shaking your head to snap out of your daze, you shifted in your position before leaning your forearms on the table and explaining the game to him. "Each person holds up all their fingers. Then each person gets a turn, and they say, for example, 'never have I ever used the same toothbrush as someone'. If any of the players in the game have done that, they put a finger down. However, when you say 'never have I ever done such-and-such', it has to be something you haven't done. The last person with fingers still up wins."

Todoroki slowly nodded in understanding before crossing his legs and placing his elbows on the table, holding up his ten fingers. "Okay, shall we play then?"

You nodded your head, a little bit excited for the game, and held up your own fingers. "Let's do it!"

At first it was normal things, like 'never have I ever punched someone accidentally' or 'never have I ever kissed my pillow'. But then it got a bit more. . . Strange?

"Never have I ever. . ." Todoroki paused, staring off to the side, trying to think of something to say. "Never have I ever stolen my father's credit cards and spent all of his money on All Might merchandise just to spite him."

You stared awkwardly at him as none of your fingers went down, having never done that. "Todoroki. . . That seemed oddly specific. Are you sure you haven't done that before? It's supposed to be something you haven't done."

Todoroki shook his head, simply stating, "I haven't done it. I've just always wanted to. I hate him."

You cleared your throat, not entirely sure what beef he had with his father, but you had a feeling that his scar had something to do with it. You didn't want to push. You wanted him to tell you on his own. So all you did was nod your head before saying, "Okay. Just let me know if you ever want to talk."

You said that so casually that Todoroki almost didn't catch it. But before he had a chance to call you out on the statement, you quickly sat up and said, "Ooh! Never have I ever wanted Mineta in the hero course."

Todoroki immediately placed a finger down, and you couldn't help but laugh at his slightly disgusted face. "No one wants him there, (Y/N). It's absolutely ridiculous. His behaviour is appalling. If he ever even lays his eyes on you, I'll freeze him like a popsicle and fly him over to Russia where he can spend the rest of his life looking at the bars to his cell instead of you."

Still laughing, you wheezed out, "You would do that for me? Thanks, dude. That's so sweet."

"Of course. It's my duty as your soulmate."

You stopped laughing almost immediately. His duty.

You smiled awkwardly before sitting back, crossing your legs. Todoroki noticed this, however he didn't say anything, noticing that you were both down to your last few fingers, him on three and you on one. "You're about to run out of fingers."

You blinked, doing a double-take once noticing your lack of points. "Oh! Yeah, you're right. Alright, hit me with a good one."

Todoroki let out a small hum as he looked off to the side to think again, and you took this time to admire his features. His overgrown red and white hair was entering his eyes, and his blue and brown irises shone in the light of the small lamp that was on the table between you two. You looked at his scar, and thought about what he would look like without it. For some reason, you couldn't.

You stopped staring once he looked at you, and his gaze was serious, which was a bit unusual. Sure, his face never usually held any emotion, but it was usually just one of constant wonder, not one where it looked like he was going to tell you how you were gonna die.

"Never have I ever wanted to be with anyone other than my soulmate."

Whot?

You both stared at each other, almost testing one another on that statement. Neither of you made a move to place a finger down.

Since when did he want to be with you? Like he had been saying this entire time: Everything he was doing was because he had to. You were his task. He had been preparing this day all his life, and he would be treating you the same as he would if he had anyone else as his soulmate.

Feeling a little bit triggered, you let out a bitchy statement, half trying to win the game, and half trying to make him realise what he was doing to you, "Never have I ever thought of my soulmate as a task rather than a partner."

He stared at you, almost frowning, and you glared him down. A few seconds passed by before his sister knocked on the door, and right as she opened it, you noticed Todoroki's finger move down quickly before going back up. You felt a pang of hurt in your chest before you stood up from the table, almost knocking it again.

"Oh," Fuyumi said, noticing your abrupt movements. "are you alright, (Y/N)-san?"

You did your best to smile at her before saying, "Yeah! Don't worry, I just think it's time for me to go. It's getting late and I need to be home."

"Are you sure you'll be alright to walk back by yourself? It's getting rather late and we don't want you getting hurt. I'm sure Shouto could go with you—"

"No, no! It's okay!" You said, smiling reassuringly, interrupting her from her idea. "I've got my quirk to protect me, and I'd rather him stay here, that way he won't be walking back by himself."

'I also don't want to talk about what just happened, either.'

Todoroki stood up and said, "I'll take you—"

"NO!" You exclaimed a bit too loudly, causing the two siblings to jump and look at you in alarm. You laughed nervously, "Sorry. But seriously, it's fine. Plus, we're wasting precious daylight while talking about it. Trust me, I'm very capable on my own." You made a point to look at Todoroki when you said that last part, and you bowed low at the two, "Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate your hospitality."

You quickly walked out, leaving the front door quicker than when you left Todoroki's room. You closed the door behind you and breathed out a sigh of relief before making your way home.

Fuyumi was a sweetheart, but she needed to realise that you and Todoroki weren't going to be in love straight away. Maybe you guys wouldn't be in love at all (or maybe Todoroki wouldn't). Besides, if Todoroki had walked you home, it would have probably made things worse if he tried to confront you about what happened.

As you arrived home, you unlocked the front door and shut it behind you once you entered the house. Locking it again, you went straight to your bedroom, flopping down on your bed and groaning miserably into your pillow.

Why was it so difficult?