Authors note:
Speaking: "…"
Thinking: '…'
________
After about a minute, the light on their bodies died down, and they separated from the kiss, looking into each other's eyes. Izuku then noticed the marks across his right arm. Now up to his hand, the black wave pattern covered his entire right arm, even extending across his right chest and down into his stomach in an incomplete spiral.
"You know, I've wanted to do this for a while now, but I never had the courage. Then, after I realized you were the boy who saved me, that hesitation just vanished," Luna clarified, looking at him with loving eyes, holding his hand.
"Izuku, I love you," the purple-haired girl continued, hugging him, still oblivious to the markings on both their bodies.
"You don't know how long I've waited for you to say those words. I've loved you for a while too, Luna," he replied, hugging her back.
After a bit, he tried something: going into his mind, hoping that what happened just now wasn't what he thought. But within his mind, he found something, there was a little girl with white hair riding on a crescent moon, happiness radiating from her face.
"Huh, it seems like it happened," the master of space sighed, before separating from the hug and looking at her up and down, stopping at the wave markings on her left leg that looked identical to his own.
"What happened?" the purple-eyed girl questioned, looking at his face.
"The bond happened. It's what I was talking about with the blue elf earlier. Among the Lyn'ari, when someone reaches the age of fifteen, markings start to appear on their body. They grow steadily and have different shapes depending on whether the person is from the forest, the sky, or the ocean. They have two functions: the first is to show which tribe you belong to, and the second is the bond. It links two people's souls, that have a strong connection to each other, together and allows for some interesting interactions," he explained.
Looking at his arm, she finally saw the markings, and when she looked down, she saw the ones on her own leg.
"I-I didn't have a tattoo! Where did this come from?" she questioned frantically.
"I'm sorry to tell you this after it's happened, but those marks show that our souls are now bound together."
"And what does that mean?"
"It means some things are different about us now. First, inside your mind, there should be an avatar representing me that shows you how I feel. After a while, we'll even be able to share thoughts. Second, we'll be able to transfer sacred power to each other, and our combined spells will be much stronger than usual. Third, we'll be able to draw on each other's life force to temporarily survive fatal injuries," Izuku explained, sighing.
"That doesn't sound as bad as you make it seem," she replied, looking at him in confusion.
"Well, there's a catch: if one of us dies, the other will die as well."
...
"And you didn't think to start with that? Can't we remove it?" she screamed.
"Sorry, that's why I asked Kaeleen earlier. It's not possible; you're stuck with me and that mark," Izuku said calmly.
After about ten minutes of discussion and calming her down, they finally sat back down and talked about something else.
"Since we're now bonded, I think it's time to tell you the truth about everything to do with me. Do you remember our first encounter at the apartment, when you slapped me?" he asked, looking at the ocean in front of them.
"Yeah, what about it?"
"At that time, looking back, don't you think it was strange that I didn't dodge?"
"Now that you mention it, you looked like you were in a bit of a daze. Why was that?"
"My eyes have another ability I didn't tell you about. When I'm unconscious, there's a chance I can witness the future and get some details on how to reach it. What I see isn't set in stone, but it's a possibility. Back twelve years ago, on that day, I had my first vision. In it, I saw the two of us at this age, watching movies together. And over the years, I saw you again and again, but every time only your hair and voice, never your face or name. Then, when you spoke at that time, my brain was in overdrive at the fact that I had finally found you...".
_______________________
One hour of explaining everything later...
"So, you're a murderer and want me to join your little vigilante gang, is that right? You have to be joking," she remarked, not really believing him.
"Luna, I'm bonded to you. Look into your mind, I can't lie to you," he clarified, pointing to his head. Following his instructions, she closed her eyes and looked into her mind. After a bit of time passed, she finally found something: somewhere in the back of her mind, there was an emerald-green eastern dragon hovering there, its body slithering through the sky. Its head motioned a nod.
"What have I done!" The realization hit her after seeing the dragon nod. "You don't really expect me to help you kill people. W-why do you even do it in the first place? That's what I don't get," she questioned, walking around the dock in circles.
"At the beginning, when I saw that vision, I also didn't think I'd do it. But then, when I met All Might and witnessed his injuries and the truth of his quirk, it reminded me of something within Aincrad," Izuku began, looking down into the glowing city under the water.
"On Floor 60, I witnessed something terrible: an entire society of people destroyed. Everything was rotten and ruined; the people that were alive didn't even have a glimmer of hope in their eyes anymore. And that continued from Floor 60 all the way to 74, where me and Kaachan are currently. And we learned why: because the floors weren't supposed to be like that, not even the bosses existed anymore; instead, they were replaced by henchmen."
"Henchmen?"
"Henchmen of the gilded emperor Midas. He's the reason why everything is in that state. At the beginning, those floors were like any other; they even had the biggest human kingdom in the entire world with a hero the people looked up to. But among the citizens, there was a large portion living in poverty."
"Among them was a young man with great ambitions, but he was driven into a corner. In a dire moment, due to his growing greed for money, his aura awakened and took on the property of the Golden Touch. That man was Midas. Now possessing power, he challenged the kingdom and amassed a large army but was eventually stopped by the hero."
"However, the hero, who had a righteous heart, spared Midas and threw him into prison to rot. But Midas escaped soon after, and this time accounted for the hero's generosity. He tricked him, turning him into a gold statue and using it as his new symbol to show the kingdom they had no hope of beating him. And that's what happened: he conquered the entire kingdom and ruled with a golden fist; no one dared to oppose him," he explained to her.
"And when All Might told me he wouldn't retire and would keep going even if it killed him, I had flashbacks of that. So, I made a deal to make sure he stays alive until a new symbol could take his place. Because if the public loses its symbol, the world will take the path of Midas. In the meantime, while he's not active and training his successor, I'll make sure the villains still have something to fear, even if it means dirtying my hands. Once the new symbol rises, we'll stop with our mission. But I can't watch another society fall because of a hero who's too righteous for his own good. The people need someone like that to believe in, so yeah, I'll continue to keep the villains at bay until the next symbol is ready," he finished.
"Wow, I—I don't know what to say. I thought you were just going on a power trip because you can force your ideals onto others with the amount of power you have at your disposal. But what I don't get is, why don't you become the next symbol yourself then?" she questioned, looking at him.
"Because I'm not that kind of righteous person. Sure, I save people and want to protect the innocent, but... my mind is so messed up from living a life within Aincrad since I was four. Where killing someone isn't really something people frown upon. I mean, I've lived a large part of my life with animal humans who kill for a living, and barbarians who wouldn't flinch while killing their companions in ritual combat. Luna, I'm by no means a normal sixteen-year-old; heck, I even died once and fought death battles more than most heroes ever will. If I see a criminal hurt a child, I probably wouldn't think twice about killing them for what they've done," the master of space explained.
"I just wouldn't make a good symbol," he sighed. Feeling through their bond that everything he's saying is the truth, the purple-haired girl sat beside him, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I don't know what to tell you, but I can feel through the bond that you're telling the truth. I also felt the emotions in your head about what happened and what you went through. So, I'll do what I can to help you, but only under one condition," she stated adamantly.
"What condition?"
"I'll help you, but if I feel you're going too far or about to do something you'll regret, we call this off. And I won't take no for an answer," the moon girl declared, facing her lover.
"Alright, let's do it. I promise we'll call it off if things go too far," Izuku agreed. Afterward, they spent the rest of the evening in Azure Reef Spire and then spent the night together at Izuku's house. Over the following months, they started training to get her to a combat-ready level. After Luna discovered her new tattoo would remain on her skin even outside of Aincrad, she noticed it was located on her left leg and abdomen, mirroring Izuku's pattern, with a spiral in the opposite direction on her stomach.
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A couple of months later...
It was Luna's birthday, and Izuku had planned a surprise party for her. After all, he had plenty of time to plan it. In the morning, he left with her for the university, he to teach his class and she to attend hers, pretending not to know it was her birthday, as she hadn't told him. But he had already seen it years ago. Before leaving, he instructed a certain newcomer to prepare everything for their arrival that afternoon.
On their way home, they had their usual conversation, with the white-haired girl praising him for his lecture of the day and wanting to know a little more about the subject, as always. When they arrived, the swordsman let her enter the apartment first because he knew what was coming and didn't want to be in the way.
"Happy birthday, Luna!" a group of six people shouted. The six were the three Bakugos, along with Asahi, Inko, and their daughter Kasai. The apartment was decorated, and the table was set with a white cake topped with a crescent moon and a star.
"Happy birthday, Luna," Izuku said calmly, coming up behind her and giving her a light kiss and a hug.
"Thanks, but how'd you even know?" she asked, a few tears escaping her eyes. Leaning in close to her ear, he whispered, "I saw it in a vision two years ago," so quietly that only she could hear. After holding the hug for a moment, she separated herself from him when she noticed someone she hadn't met before.
Standing beside Izuku was a young teenager about the same age as them. He had short snow-white hair and blue eyes and was dressed in a black butler suit with a blue tie, white gloves, and a silver chain hanging from his right pocket, connected to his belt. When he approached, he bowed, holding his right hand behind his back and his left over his heart.
"Sir, I have prepared everything you tasked me with and ensured that everyone arrived on time. Also, allow me to wish you a happy birthday, Lady Luna," he stated respectfully, bowing the whole time.
"Thank you, Satoru. You've done very well," Izuku praised him, prompting him to stand up.
"Uh, Izuku, who is that?" the white-haired girl whispered in his ear, leaning in.
"You asked me where I was in Aincrad when I wasn't training you, right? Well, you weren't the only one I trained. Luna, meet Satoru, my self-proclaimed butler," he said, looking at the white-haired servant.
"Oh, okay. Hi, Sir Satoru. I'm Luna Hoshino, Izuku's girlfriend. Nice to meet you," she said, a bit awkwardly, bowing slightly.
"The pleasure is all mine, Lady Luna. And please feel free to call me Satoru, as you are my master's girlfriend, and I will gladly carry out your wishes," the white-haired butler stated respectfully, bowing.
After the exchange, she looked at Izuku with a surprised expression that seemed to say, "Why is he acting like that?"
"Don't look at me like that. He's the one who decided he wanted to do this; I didn't ask him to become my butler," Izuku said, crossing his arms.
The party began, and everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves, with Satoru serving drinks and cleaning up any messes.
After a while, Luna's phone rang, and when she looked to see who was calling, she looked momentarily confused and surprised. "Izuku, I'll excuse myself for a bit; I need to take this call," she said before opening the door and stepping outside. Through their bond, Izuku sensed that whoever called her had really surprised her, though he wasn't sure if it was in a good or bad way.
The party continued for a while without incident. The green-haired swordsman was talking to his mother while playing with his little sister, who had long white hair like Asahi and beautiful emerald-green eyes, just like his own. But then, four people in the room sensed something outside, Asahi, Katsuki, Satoru, and Izuku, all realizing at the same time ‚An awakening!'
Excusing himself and telling everyone he needed to check on his girlfriend, the emerald-eyed teen left the apartment, running toward the yard after closing the door. Jumping down the stairs, he saw something that made his blood almost boil. From the bond he shared with Luna, he felt her distress, and his concern intensified.
On the ground near one of the benches in the yard, Luna was kneeling with her phone on the ground beside her, crying and holding her hands in front of her face. Purple and black aura leaked out of her uncontrollably, darkening the ground around her and causing it to sink beneath her.
Unbothered by the force of her aura, the swordsman walked up to her, pulled her out of the strange, liquid-like ground, and sat down on the bench with her in his lap. She clung to him, crying into his shirt as he hugged her back, gently petting her head.
After a minute of sobbing and Izuku reassuring her that no one was leaving her, her aura finally calmed down. He gently asked, "What happened? Who made you cry?"
Slowly stopping her crying, she reluctantly answered, "My older sister."
"I thought you loved your sister. What happened?" he asked, concerned.
Flashback
Luna's POV
‚She's never called me. Maybe she remembered my birthday?' Luna thought. After all, her parents had sent her plenty of gifts and were the first to call her, much to her annoyance. Smiling, she closed the door behind her, walked down the stairs, and sat on a bench before picking up the phone.
"Hey, Onee-Chan! How are you?" she asked.
But on the other end, she heard no voice, only rustling sounds. Then, the rustling stopped, and an uninterested female voice spoke, "Who's there?"
"It's Luna, your little sister. You called me."
"Huh, that can't be right. I'd never call you. My butt must've accidentally hit the button."
"Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me? Maybe today's a special day?"
"A special day? What the heck are you babbling about, you brat? The only thing I have to say to you is, 'Fuck off, and don't call me anymore.'"
Tears already forming in her eyes, the white-haired girl asked weakly, "Do you mean that?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I? I couldn't care less about you. As far as I'm concerned, you could disappear, and I wouldn't care. Life was better without you. Mom and Dad should have never had you, you attention-hogging bitch..." the voice said before hanging up, leaving the moon-eyed girl on the bench in shock and broken. She fell off the bench and began to cry, her previously purple aura gaining a jet-black color.