Hidden Names (TodoShinDeku)

Chapter 13

Izuku said nothing as he just clung to Hitoshi as tightly as possible. He hadn't been this pain free since the last time they touched, even with the help of the others, it was never completely gone. There was always a ache in his chest that got sharper and sharper until he just couldn't take it anymore.

In all honestly, he wanted Shoto as well, but he didn't think he was in any position to be making demands.

Thankfully, it just took one small look in the half and half teen's direction and he was by Izuku's side, rubbing a hand up and down his back reassuringly.

"Well so much for our plan then." Kaminari mumbled, watching the three together.

"Thanks for trying." Izuku croaked, his throat hoarse from the screaming.

Hitoshi had his head on top of Izuku's, holding him tightly. "Why did they need to try? I told you on that roof that anyone would be lucky to have you as a soulmate, I'm included in that anyone." He whispered, the hurt not being concealed in his voice.

Shoto lent his head on Izuku's back, resting his forehead in between the shorter boy's shoulder blades. "You've known me for over a year, did you really think I'd reject you?" He asked, just as softly and hurt as Hitoshi. Even though he had been one of the people telling Izuku is was his choice, he couldn't help but feel betrayed.

"I- I just..." Izuku trailed off, unsure of what to really say to defend himself.

"So we're just gonna go..." Sero said, pointing to the door as he and the other three teens exited.

Once they were all gone, Hitoshi spoke up again. "You'd really rather go through all that pain than just telling us?"

Izuku shook his head, still clinging to his soulmates. "Y-you don't get it! I-I didn't want to stay away from y-you guys. I just-"

The room fell into silence as Izuku tried to find the right words.

"Why then? Please just help us try and understand." Shoto whispered, his arms wrapped tightly around Izuku's waist.

"I d-didn't want t-to screw up y-your guy's cha-chances of being pros." Izuku whispered, but something about it almost sounded... not genuine.

Hitoshi looked up at Shoto, both of them seeming to have the same thought, but unsure if it was really the best option.

"Is that really why?" Hitoshi spoke slowly, not breaking eye contact with Shoto as he asked his question.

"Y-yeah-"

Once again, the room fell into silence.

"I can't believe you just did that." Shoto said, his voice once again monotone as he directed his attention to the completely blank Izuku.

Hitoshi shot the dual haired teen a glare in return. "You didn't try to stop me. Besides, what else were we supposed to do, he's obviously lying." He defended.

Shoto shook his head, softly letting his fingers brush some of Izuku's curls away from his face. "We're not supposed to betray his trust like this. We're his soulmates, we should just wait for him to tell us on his own accord." He explained, keeping his voice low.

Hitoshi stayed quiet for a bit, thinking of what the correct course of action would be. "Don't tell me what we shouldn't do, look me in the eyes and tell me not to." He said, looking up at the other boy.

"I-I can't." Shoto said, his voice strained as he spoke. "I can't do it because I don't have an objective view point. I have a vested interest in knowing the truth and am willing to do anything to find that out. I can't make that decision." He explained, and it took Hitoshi all of two seconds to figure out that he was trying to distance himself from the situation.

"He's our soulmate and there for our responsibility. We're the only ones who get to have some sort of say in this. You either let me do this, or you tell me no. Pick one, Todoroki." Hitoshi said nearly hissed at the other boy.

He didn't want to have to hold onto Izuku's consciousness longer than necessary, mainly because he knows the boy can get out of it himself. The only reason he was probably still under, was because he was weak and exhausted from the pain he had been going through before hand.

There was a tense silence as Shoto shook his head, willing himself to make the right decision. "Don't. We can't- we can't do this." He answered.

Hitoshi nodded, accepting the answer. He himself wasn't even sure he wanted to know that badly. He hugged Izuku back into his chest and Shoto moved his head and arms to where they were before. After that, Hitoshi released his mental hold over the short boy, and his sniffling resumed. With a little bit of luck, Izuku wouldn't even notice the lapse in time or memory.

Shoto moved his head back, let his hand wander through the green head of curls. "We know you're hiding something, but we'll wait for you." He whispered, now being able to tell Izuku that confidently.

The shorter of the three stiffened. "I'm- I'm not-"

"Midoriya, we're your soulmates, we have a knack for this type of thing." Hitoshi said, just a pinch of amusement in his voice.

After a few seconds, Izuku spoke back up. "It's not a big deal, I promise." He whispered, clutching onto Hitoshi's shirt tighter.

"It was a big enough deal to keep you away from us, even after you touched Shinso." Shoto pointed out, but went quiet afterwards when he realized how pushy he had sounded.

"Please, just leave it. I promise that I'm okay and it's all gonna be fine. I promise." Izuku whispered, sitting up so he could look at both of his soulmates. He grabbed each of their hands, squeezing tightly. "I promise." He repeated when neither said anything.

"Jesus, we get it, we get it." Hitoshi said, pulling Izuku back into a hug, this time leaning onto Shoto who hugged both of them.

"We get to be normal soulmates now, right? No more running or hiding? No more, flocks of boyfriends?" Shoto asked, just a little bit of jealous in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah we can." Izuku whispered.

The frown on his face said otherwise though.