Mark 13

 As Present Mic, Yamada Hizashi was a celebrity.

He had no problems when he was single in finding interested partners if he wished, and he never had to worry about being alone. For awhile, when stardom had been new to him and he was young and stupid, he'd come home with a new person every night. He was always careful, however, and had remained safe and clean during that time, thank goodness.

But he'd always craved <i>more</i> - someone who wanted <i>Hizashi</i>, not Mic, another person to spend the rest of his life with.

His soulmate.

She lay beside him in their spacious bed right now, and finding her made him happier than he'd ever been. But the reveal that his oldest friend shared her Mark had caused something to snap inside him. Hizashi descended into a very dark place he thought he'd crawled free of long ago, and Elly was at a loss how to comfort him. After Aizawa left he had done nothing but cry, and it took several hours before he was exhausted enough to open up.

"I'm scared," he sobbed while she hovered anxiously near. His glasses were on the bedside table and his naked eyes red and puffy from weeping for so long.

"There's nothing to be scared of. I'm here."

"You won't leave me?" He sniffed once, angrily wiping at his eyes with the back of one hand. "I hate crying! An' I really huh - hate, hate this. If - if you've got another soulmate, you have another choice, right? You might leave me."

Elly goggled at him in shock, her purple eyes wide and dark. "Oh my god, Hizashi, I would <i>never</i>!" She threw herself into his arms and he caught her gladly, holding her tight. "Don't you ever, <i>ever</i> think that. I'm staying with <i>you</i>, sweetie, you're my forever love."

"Forever," he whispered, repeating her and adding, "Forever home."

"Hmm?"

"We haven't talked about my childhood, have we." It was not a question and she felt him tense up as he spoke.

"Not much. You just said you were raised by your grandparents."

"Yeah, uh... that's 'cause my parents kinda gave me up," he mumbled.

"What?!"

"They didn't like me very much, I don't think. At least, that's what little five-year-old me thought." Hizashi buried his face in her neck, the smell of her perfume calming him some. "I don't really wanna get into it, but my grandparents kicked me out as soon as it was legal, too. I might have some, uh, issues."

"My god." Elly pulled herself up so she could hold him better. "Poor Zashi," she choked, softly and slowly stroking his long blond hair. "That's terrible. I'm sorry." A few well-placed kisses in his hair and he tilted his face up toward her for more. Elly peppered him with the lightest brushes of her lips until he was dreamy-eyed and panting.

"I know you love me," he whimpered. "I <i>know</i>. It's like, a definite thing. But when that - when he --"

"I sympathize. If someone else had come saying that they matched with you <i>I'd</i> have gotten upset!" She hissed a little at the thought.

"Yeah." He laughed under his breath.

"Don't worry too much about it. I like when you tell me how you feel. I want to know as much as I can about you, not just the 'fun' stuff. And I want to help, Hizashi. You can always come to me."

"Thank you," he said in a much calmer voice, sighing shakily in relief as his body relaxed the rest of the way.

"Thank <i>you</i>." She smiled and let him roll her underneath him on the bed. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah. I dunno what came over me." Hizashi cleared his throat. "I know you're mine an' I'm yours, then that irrational, paralyzing terror hit me all of a sudden, really bad." He shook his head, golden hair falling over his shoulders onto her. "I love you, babe."

"I find your reaction super understandable, especially given your childhood." She brushed some of the hair back to uncover his cheek for a tender kiss. "I love you very, very much."

He smiled, and she was happy to see that the spirals in his eyes weren't thin with anxiety anymore.

Just past the other side of their shared wall, however, Aizawa was having a much harder time. He had no one left in his personal life to share problems with and this was a complicated one.

"Shit," he muttered as he flopped face first onto his bed. Like the rest of his surroundings the mattress was economical, covered with a simple white cotton sheet set and black comforter on top. He groaned into the pillow and rolled over to stare at the ceiling while his mind wandered.

<i>Maybe I can move</i>.

No.

That wouldn't work because he honestly didn't want to. This was where they had moved in together. Aizawa could touch the walls, the fixtures, everything <i>he'd</i> once touched. He could look at the patio doors and almost still see him there, silhouetted against the coming dusk of the night.

He closed his eyes and rubbed a hand across his tired features. This place had <i>memories</i> and he wasn't going to let that be torn away from him, too.

"<i>Shit</i>," he said more forcefully, grinding his teeth together.

Aizawa wasn't a social man by any means - nor did he want to be -- but he wasn't truly a hermit. Not being able to talk to Yamada would mean he would lose his only friend. He would eventually be forced to interact; he saw no logical way out of this mess. All he could do was vow he wouldn't let his friend's soulmate charm him away from his past.

At least he had one thing going for him - he didn't make friends easily, if at all. He reached out to turn the light off and huffed a bitter puff of air at the traitorous Mark on his arm as it came into view.

The dark-haired man snapped the light switch down and stuffed the offending arm under the pillow in one swift, angry movement.