a/n: the idea of writing a soulmate AU came from @VioletteFelines while I came up with the soulmate AU description idea thing- idk how to describe it- also I don't think I did the concept of soulmate AUs right but oh well- (it'll be a special kind of soulmate AU :') )

Soulmate AU where you can't speak when in the presence in your soulmate until the two of you mutually love each other.

The quirk of the Reader: Mind Reader - the user can read the minds of people in a fifty feet radius at will - however, they can only read the minds of two people at max. the user also must focus to get the best effect, or they will only get strands of the thoughts. they read both good and bad thoughts: there is no way to listen to only one type of thought. if they read minds for too long, they start having hallucinations that can be shocking.

Also, this oneshot is gory + includes character death, so don't read if you're sensitive to stuff like that!

"A fair warning about the boss, he's kind of a germaphobe..."

Chrono whispered to me through his mask as he led me through the long, winding tunnels underground that according to the white-haired male, led to the Shie Hassaikai base. In response to his warning, I forced a smile on my face, even though my palms were sweaty and clammy.

I couldn't exactly tell what expression Chrono had on his face, but from the way his voice slightly shook, I had a feeling that he was nervous. He wasn't the only nervous one; I was too. From what I had heard about Overhaul, I had pieced together that he was a cold, calculating Yakuza leader that didn't hesitate to kill people if they didn't do what he wanted.

The very thought of working for someone this violent scared me greatly, but I was already this far. I was pretty sure that Overhaul or Chrono wouldn't let me go after I saw the location of their base.

"Ah, here we are. Mind your head..."

The masked male next to me said, reaching up to a latch similar to a door that led to an attic. He pulled it down, and the smell of fresh, clean air rushed down to me - a contrast to the dank, stale air of the underground. A wooden ladder then extended down to the two of us, and Chrono turned to me.

"You first, I'll follow after you."

"O...Okay..."

I responded, not wanting to be the first to enter the base since I knew that everyone would be staring at me, but I knew that I should probably be compliant with what Chrono wanted. He might be nice, but there must be a reason why he's the right-hand man of such a ruthless Yakuza leader, right?

I nervously climbed up the ladder, my eyes stinging as they were exposed to the bright, fluorescent lights of the room. Upon entering, I noticed that there were many people clad in masks standing in the room, making me feel exposed and out of place. Once I took a closer look around the room, I realized that not all the people in the room were human: a black, bird-looking plushie was glaring at me with distrustful, blood-shot eyes.

Feeling the tense atmosphere of the room, I tried soothing the situation, smiling hesitantly at them as I said,

"Uh... Hi?"

None of the men made a move to reply to my greeting - well, except for a man with wild, unruly blonde hair sticking out from the back of his mask. He looked to me, and exclaimed, a fist up,

"Ooh man! Someone new! I wonder if they have a strong quirk? It's getting boring fighting Overjerk..."

"Rappa, your talk of fighting someone is getting repetitive and annoying..."

A tired-looking man with spiky white hair said, eyes closed, his hands up to his face in a peculiar sort of pose. He had a beak-shaped mask on that had three dark straps: two running along the sides of his face, and one that trailed up the bridge of his nose up to his forehead and into his hair.

"Tengai, you're getting repetitive and annoying-"

I heard the quiet creak of the ladder behind me, and I turned around, desperate for a familiar face - or should I say, figure. Chrono had gotten up from the underground, and he walked past me. I then heard him sigh at the group, and I watched as he put his hands on his hips.

"Guys, please stop being so rowdy. We have a new guest here, and they should feel welcomed. I'm not usually one to scold everyone, but please."

"I don't like this new person already. They seem extremely disrespectful and I don't think we should have someone like this in the Shie Hassaikai. They greeted us with a simple 'hi,' can you believe it?"

The black plushie suddenly spoke up, pointing a tiny finger in my direction, its whole arm shaking. Its voice was squeaky and shaking with obvious anger, and I pursed my lips. I felt bad.

Was I not supposed to say that...?

"I'm sorr-"

My voice died out as soon as a brown-haired male walked into the room, a decorative plague mask covering the bottom of his face. He was wearing a neat, black dress shirt paired with black dress pants, and his lidded yellow eyes flashed when he spotted me, a curious glint in his eyes. He turned his gaze to Chrono, and the male in front of me took that as the signal to speak.

"Overhaul, this is the person I was talking about, Y/N. They have quite the powerful quirk in terms of utility, and I think you'll find that they'll be great for the Shie Hassaikai."

So this was Overhaul...

I slowly let my gaze trail over his features and noted how smooth his skin looked. From the nose up, he looked very handsome - pretty even. Overhaul's eyes were the most striking feature of him; they were a glowing shade of gold, with tiny, dark pupils in the center of them.

I could tell that he was a germaphobe like Chrono had said, from his plague mask and from the thin, white latex gloves that were stretched over his hands. I wondered if he'd be difficult to work with.

I then opened my mouth to speak, but to my shock and surprise, I couldn't. I tried as hard as I could, but a single word wouldn't come out of my mouth. It was like I suddenly lost my vocal cords, and I didn't like it. This situation seemed eerily similar to the concept I had heard of since childhood; the concept of having a soulmate.

It was well known that if your soulmate was in the room, you couldn't speak until the two of you loved each other. This made it difficult for people to fall in love, as they couldn't speak, but then again: the couple could fall in love with each other through actions.

There's no way... Is Overhaul my soulmate?

I looked to Chrono with wide eyes and he stared right back at me. We both knew what was up, and judging from the look on Overhaul's face, and his furrowed eyebrows; he couldn't speak as well. Chrono then briskly walked forward and motioned to Overhaul to follow him. He then told the rest of the Shie Hassaikai (who had been watching very intently) to go back to work. I vaguely heard the plush complaining that the new person was trouble and "no good" as he walked away. The words stung slightly but I ignored them.

In the end, I was the only one left in the room. I didn't bother trying to tune into anyone's thoughts since I knew I would just get a wave of scathing remarks that would probably hurt my feelings. That was something bad about my quirk; I couldn't toggle whether or not the thoughts I heard were good or bad.

I then heard Overhaul saying something frustratedly in the other room, his voice muffled. Chrono then responded, and I decided to make the daring decision of reading their minds, and I heard the thoughts of Overhaul. They were jumbled and frantic as if the very thought of having a soulmate scared him.

"They're diseased and have a quirk! Why couldn't they have just had no quirk?"

"Having them around will only hinder my work! I won't be able to speak for myself with them around..."

"They're quite attractive though... It's a real shame-"

"Wait, what am I thinking? A relationship will only get in the way of things...!"

Meanwhile, Chrono's thoughts were the exact opposite of Overhaul's. They were calm and level-headed. I realized at that moment that there was probably a deep, underlying reason to why Chrono was Overhaul's right-hand man; he could calm down the Yakuza leader rather effortlessly, with his soothing words.

"Kai must be so freaked out..."

"I don't blame him though. It must be difficult for him."

"I think that having Y/N as his soulmate would be good for his mental and physical health. Perhaps Y/N could get him to stop overworking himself so much."

"I don't doubt that Y/N and Overhaul will make a great couple."

The last thought shocked me so much that it caused me to lose my hold over my quirk, which was probably a good thing. If I used my quirk for too long, it always led to me hallucinating.

I then decided to just wait patiently, rocking back and forth on the heels of my feet, until the two masked men came out of the room. Overhaul's face seemed to be flushed, the yellow-eyed male refusing to look me in the eyes. Chrono nodded apologetically at me and said, as he got two notebooks out with pencils for each book out.

"The two of you will figure something out, I know it. For now, I think the two of you should communicate with us with these notebooks."

He handed a set to Overhaul, who took it begrudgingly, and then Chrono turned to me, handing a notebook and pencil to me as well. I opened it up and wrote something.

It's nice to meet you, Overhaul.

Overhaul looked at the writing, looking away after he read the words. He flashed a look to Chrono, who sighed.

This was going to be difficult, wasn't it?

TIME SKIP

It had been a week since I had joined the Shie Hassaikai and I already had a crush on Overhaul. I loved how devoted he was to his goal, even though he planned to reach them through violent ways. Surprisingly, he hadn't assigned me a mask yet, which was weird since he always complained of the germs people would share in the air if they breathed without a filter.

Anyway, right now, Overhaul was deciding who was going to come with him to a meeting with Shigaraki, and I watched as he jotted down the notes of who he wanted to come. When he finished, he handed the notebook to Chrono, who read it out loud.

"Overhaul says that he wants Mimic, Y/N, and I to accompany him on this trip."

"...Y/N? Really? Well, I won't question your judgment, Overhaul..."

Mimic said, sparing a quick hate-filled glance at me as he stepped forward, and I gulped, walking forward as well. Overhaul looked between the two of us with bored eyes and then motioned to Chrono to give the notebook back to him. When Chrono did, he scribbled something down quickly and then showed it to his right-hand man again.

"Overhaul says that Mimic needs to stop making unnecessary remarks or he doesn't get to go."

I heard Mimic let out a squeak of protest next to me, and I sent a grateful glance to Overhaul who just looked away. He had a faint blush on his face, and I wondered if I did something wrong. I thought about delving into Overhaul's mind, but I always felt bad whenever I decided to look into someone's thoughts. It felt wrong morally and though I could figure out what my boss was thinking, I decided not to.

We then set off for the meeting, the rests of the Shie Hassaikai waving goodbye to us.

As we walked, Overhaul immediately went to the front of the group, his posture confident and relaxed.

He must be very confident... Wish I could just read his mind right now, but I'd hate myself for doing so...

Suddenly, Chrono tapped me on the shoulder and I heard him whisper into my ear through his mask,

"Shigaraki doesn't know about you, so he won't take any precautions around you. If you sense anything weird in his thoughts, tell me immediately."

I nodded, my mouth dry from the sheer nervousness of meeting Shigaraki. He was the infamous leader of the League of Villains and I had heard about him on the news before. From the pieces of information I had gotten from news articles, Shigaraki wasn't someone to be messed with, like Overhaul. However, if Overhaul wanted to meet with him, I would follow in blindly.

When we made it to the meeting spot (which was in a forest), I let my senses reach out and was shocked with the sound of a raspy voice suddenly rushing into my mind. The voice was full of hatred as it spat,

"What idiots! They think we want to work with them... My plan is working though. We'll get payback for Magne's death and Compress's lost arm."

I immediately turned to Chrono, tugging on his sleeve. I was about to take out my notebook when suddenly a blue flame blazed between the two of us.

"Sh*t!"

Chrono cursed as he pulled down his hood to reveal his hair, and the strands lifted, weaving around in the air like white snakes, alert and ready. His dark eyes searched through the trees, and I quickly dug into the pockets of my jacket for my daggers.

My quirk wasn't attack-oriented at all, so I had taken on some training of fighting with daggers. I tried to collect my thoughts so that I could use my quirk well. Unfortunately, my breath was growing heavier and I realized that I was panicking.

Next to me, Overhaul had taken a glove off, his golden eyes blazing in rage. The aura he was radiating was terrifying and I was glad that it wasn't aimed toward me, or my legs would be jello by now. Mimic had suddenly turned into a large man with a furious look on his face, making him look like an angry porcupine with his spiky hair. I had never seen him in his human form.

"You've done it now, you lying filth!"

Mimic roared, his voice now a whole lot deeper.

Suddenly, I spotted a man with purple patches of skin covering certain spots on his body emerging from the forest, and he smirked when he met my gaze. He held his hand to the side of his body, a blue flame curling around the length of his patchy arm.

This was the guy who tried attacking Chrono and I...!

I quickly threw a dagger in his direction, but he quickly dodged, and the knife sunk into the old bark of a nearby tree.

"Nice try, babe. I think you'll have to try harder if you want to actually hit me though."

The flame-wielder teased huskily and then he lifted his hand in my direction, but he let out a noise of shock when the ground leading up to him suddenly deconstructed. The earth crumbled under him and he lost his balance. I looked to my left and it was Overhaul, the male seething quietly as he lifted his hand from the ground.

He then met his gaze to mine and I had a feeling that he was willing me to read his mind. I complied and heard the familiar tones of the Yakuza leader's voice.

"We need to come up with a plan. This isn't going well at all. Mimic is having a fit, while Chrono's quirk can't help us in this fight.  He has to stay still, and with this many people here... I hate to admit it, but we're outnumbered. We have to rely on each other."

I frowned and slowly nodded, turning to look for the flame-user male that had fallen. I had to make sure that he was down.

"Dabi, you idiot...!"

A raspy voice called out and I recognized it as the voice I had heard first when we entered the forest. A pale-blue haired male stepped from the shadows, flanked by a blonde girl in a school outfit and a man who looked like he was composed entirely of a single, dark purple warp gate.

"Ooh, I like them!"

The blonde girl cried out as soon as she lay her eyes on me, her golden eyes wild with excitement and bliss. She grabbed a knife from a holster tied around on her leg, and she aimed the knife at me. She started to ramble, her voice rising drastically as an insane look took over her features.

"I just want to stab you~ I wonder how your blood would taste? Hm, maybe I'll figure out right now!~"

She threw the knife at me and a strand of Chrono's white hair suddenly struck her, making her freeze in place. The warp man was about to step into help when Mimic quickly jumped in front of him, making the man hesitate a bit. As this was happening, I quickly stepped out of the way of the knife, accidentally bumping into Overhaul in the process. He flinched, body tensing up and I quickly backed away from him.

"What the hell?"

I heard him scream in his mind and I grimaced.

"Sorry."

I mouthed to my boss and then I quickly listened in to Shigaraki's thoughts, dropping my quirk from Overhaul.

"I'm just going to rush in and decay the stupid birdman! He'll be dead and everything will be alright."

Upon hearing the League of Villains leader think, I grabbed the nearest weapon - which happened to be the knife the insane girl had thrown at me.

Things then seemed to happen in slow motion after that.

Shigaraki ran towards Overhaul, a hand outstretched, and I vaguely heard the warnings Chrono shouted out to Overhaul. I then threw the knife towards Shigaraki, hoping that it would hit him. I shut my eyes.

If it missed and Overhaul was killed, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.

I heard the noise of a pained groan and I opened my eyes.

I had gotten Shigaraki, and now he was staring down at the knife that was embedded in his stomach in horror. He looked up to me, his crimson eyes trembling in their sockets, and he choked out, blood seeping from his mouth,

"How-How did you know?"

The whole clearing was silent and I felt everyone's shocked gazes on me. A firm hand was then placed on my shoulder, and I heard the deep voice of Overhaul speak out loud.

That could only mean one thing...

"They have a useful quirk. You shouldn't have attacked me anyway..."

Overhaul said coldly as he walked over to Shigaraki's shaking body. He then placed a bare hand flat against Shigaraki's chest, and watched with a blank expression as the male exploded under his touch. Overhaul then turned to Shigaraki's underlings, who were silent with disbelief.

"I'd advise for you all to run. I don't think you want to mess with the Shie Hassaikai."

The warp man was the first to speak, his deep voice full of regret and sorrow.

"...I told him it was an immature move, but he wouldn't listen. We will be leaving now."

The man's body extended into a large warp, and each member of the League of Villains left slowly, heads bowed in defeat. When all of them left, the warp closed and Overhaul faced me. He was covered in Shigaraki's blood and rashes were forming all over his exposed skin, but it didn't seem that he minded at all. He touched a hand to his green jacket, and it quickly reconstructed. The dark blood that was once staining the jacket was now seeping into the earth and with that, he slipped back on his glove.

"I... I'm really grateful for you saving me back there. I would've died if you didn't have that quirk of yours..."

Overhaul said, extending his gloved hand out for my hand and I hesitantly took it, feeling the smooth feel of latex against my skin. He hummed happily at that and then he took out some tissues, wiping at the blood on his face and arms.

"Let's go now. I don't think it'd be beneficial for us to stand around like this. Chrono, Mimic, let's go. It seems that they weren't exactly honest with us. From now on, we should have Y/N check for us, hm?"

Chrono dipped his head respectfully in response, while Mimic just huffed and went back into the hollow bird plushie.

It was strange how none of them were phased by the fact that a person had literally just died in front of them, but I imagined that they were probably used to it by now.

As I walked away, hand still holding Overhaul's, I glanced over to the pool of blood that used to be Shigaraki. It scared me how easily Overhaul had just killed someone, without even flinching, but I knew that he was just doing what he had to do.

After all, I shouldn't be doubting my soulmate's actions, right? I had already chosen this way of life by joining the Shie Hassaikai, so I might as well go along with the way things are run.

I just don't think I'll ever get used to seeing someone's life being ended right in front of my eyes.

BACK AT THE BASE...

As soon as we got back to the base, Overhaul took me to his office, for what he called "personal time" to Chrono and Mimic. I entered first and flinched when I felt an arm wrap around my waist, Overhaul picking me up effortlessly. He carried me over to his desk, and set me down on the smooth, glossy wooden surface.

His eyes were lidded and heated as he gazed into my eyes, and I hesitantly touched the tip of his mask. I then smoothed my fingers over the gold on the edges of the mask, inching closer and closer to the clips of his heavy plague mask.

When my hands reached their destination behind his ears, I asked softly, my lips slightly parted,

"Can... I?"

"Of course."

Overhaul replied, his hands settling onto my hips, and I unclipped both sides with ease. I took the mask into my hands and gently set it to the side on the table. My soulmate then, without me asking, pulled down the black face mask that was underneath the plague mask, letting the thin material settle under his chin.

The bottom portion of his face was now revealed and I marveled over how beautiful Overhaul was. I let a finger run along his jawline, the feeling of smooth, unblemished skin greeting me. Overhaul was practically perfect, and I couldn't believe that he was my soulmate.

"I love you, Overhaul..."

I whispered to him shyly and he smiled, leaning forward slowly to brush our noses together. I could feel his warm breath fanning across my lips, and I couldn't handle it any longer. I quickly pressed our lips together. We kissed for a bit, and then Overhaul broke the kiss.

"You're not as diseased as I made you out to be, Y/N..."

"So I'm just a little diseased?"

I teased, slinging my arms around his neck and he smirked, moving down to nuzzle his face in my chest. One of his hands slid up the bottom of my shirt, the nimble latex-covered fingers teasing the skin under there. He then whispered in my ear huskily,

"I'll have to run a check-up on you to figure that out, Y/N... Perhaps we should start now?"

a/n: i feel bad for killing off shigaraki :(((