❥ Soulmate AU; Where your soulmate gets a mark on his skin, the moment you fall in love with him.

• Semi x Een •

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"Unrequited love is so nasty. Like, what the fuck? It finds its way inside, but it won't leave you the fuck alone. Kill me."

Aimee had already been called out by the librarian twice, and she had her head resting on the table while I sat doing math problems, beside her.

I had called it, when Semi refused to reply to any of the insults Aimee sent towards him. In fact, he asked if he could borrow my headphones, going so far as to asking me for recommendations for some 'soothing' music.

At that point, I wasn't sure if he genuinely wanted music, or if he was doing that to irk her even further.

I offered him my study playlist, which he is currently listening to while he does his past papers - fully ignoring and more importantly, not paying any attention to my friend at all.

"I know it is, Aimee. What are you going to do about Oikawa?" I whisper.

"I knew he wouldn't like me, the day I went to Seijoh's cultural festival. I mean, it doesn't matter to me, since I don't like him that way either. I'd tell you who it is that he likes, but I'm keeping it a secret for his sake."

"It's fine, I can respect that."

"Yeah. That's why... He likes someone else and I can totally respect that too, you know... And before long, I realised that I was starting to like someone I have no chance with."

"Why? Who is it? The guy who you thought was your soulmate before?" Semi's voice interrupts, making Aimee lift up her head and squint her eyes at him.

"You're supposed to be listening to Een's music, you jerk." She hisses, slamming her fist on the table. This earns a big frown from the librarian, and I facepalm before I go to apologise to her.

"You know, you don't have to add an insult to each sentence you say to me," I hear Semi saying, when I approach our table again. "And I know I have earned those and I'm trying to do better for her, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"And really. I don't care if you call me a jerk. I may be one, but there's no way I'd leave Een. No fucking way. No matter what she does. So your insults don't affect me at all. You can go ahead and say whatever you have to say to vent out the fact that you're feeling helpless." Semi's brown eyes look a little clouded as he spoke, and I could tell he was just as mad as he was at me a couple days ago.

I was slowly starting to understand why my best friend and my lover hated each other so much.

"You're such a jerk. Do you have any sense of delicacy?" Aimee shoots back, her eyes turning duller with every word she spoke.

"Well, do you? What kind of satisfaction are you getting by running away from your problems and venting your frustration out on me? Why can't you be mature enough to face them, instead? Or at least, if you can't, let people help you, dammit. For fuck's sake, Miyuzawa, you're older than me. Shouldn't you be the more mature person between the two of us?"

Things were going even worse, and I raise a hand at Semi to motion for him to stop. Aimee wouldn't shut up even if I asked, but when I do this, Semi takes a deep breath and puts my headphones back on.

"I'm not going to say anything else to you, for Een's sake. Because she actually likes you for some reason, and because she considers you as her friend. Talking to you isn't helping to me, I'd rather actually do this and get Een to smile, than listen to everything you say. So don't talk to me unless you have something nice to say about Een."

I could hear the soft music blaring from the headphones, and Semi picks up a new sheet of paper before he starts to write again. I motion for Aimee to follow me outside, which she does without a word.

"I hate that he's right." Aimee has to say, aggressively punching a button on the vending machine. When her green tea can comes out, she picks it up, taking a sip and looking at me.

"I'm really pathetic right now, aren't I? I'm being so childish."

"You have reasons, it's fine. And I agree with Eita about you talking to me about this. Really now, what are you planning to do?" I ask, patting her shoulder. She puts a couple sheets of tissue paper on the ground before she sits down on it. Taking out a packet of juice for myself, I sit down beside her and wait for her to speak up again.

"Well, I guess it's about time I told you about what happened when I first went to Fukurodani, right?"

"I'm surprised that you've kept it a secret from everyone. You didn't say a single word to any of us."

Aimee fidgets a little, taking a small sip of her drink and placing the can on her left. She gives me a little nod, taking out her smartphone. She taps on the screen a couple times before she shows me a picture of a black-haired boy taking a bite out of a slice of cake.

"His full name is Akaashi Keiji."

"Akaashi..."

"I took this picture the last time I went out with him. And he's the setter of Fukurodani. He's somewhat quiet, he likes reading more than watching movies, because he says it's more peaceful after the kind of environment he has to go with during volleyball practice. Isn't that cute?" She has a smile on her face as she spoke about the boy she was in love with. 

Even though I was itching to know what else happened, I couldn't help join her in smiling.

"Akaashi is to me what Semi is for you. Een, tell me, what is Semi, to you?"

I didn't need to hesitate before I replied. 

"My everything."

"Correct answer." Aimee swipes her finger through her pictures, putting it back in her shirt pocket and reaching for her drink. "I went to Fukurodani after three of my friends from there told me that they found a third year who had the same mark as me."

"Wait, Akaashi wasn't the person you thought was your soulmate?"

"No. He wasn't. It was actually a weird dude called Konoha. I don't even remember his full name."

"You're kinda cruel."

"Yeah, I know." She says, taking pride in what I said. "So anyway, I was really embarrassed when we compared marks and it was different. So I kinda left without a word, and Akaashi found out that Konoha hadn't contacted me even after I left. Not that I cared, because I wasn't going to talk to him either. I mean, I did laugh it off a little and say bye, but that's all. It's complicated."

"That sounds so twisted."

"Hmm well. As embarrassing and sad it was when we found out it didn't really match, I wasn't actually mad. Because Akaashi had invited me out for dinner with Konoha to get him to apologise though it wasn't his fault. But Konoha bailed at the last minute." Aimee facepalms a little, and I see that she was smiling slightly. "But Akaashi was nice enough to ask if I was feeling hungry, when Konoha ditched us after we both showed up."

"Akaashi sounds like a very sweet person."

"He is," Aime sighs loudly, standing up. "I was actually happy to have made a friend like him. He's a second-year, and wasn't even 18 by then. I like his company, and we started going out for food every other weekend. Before long, I realised that being around him was starting to get painful, after I realised I like him."

"Oh, Aimee..." I wanted to cry because I couldn't think of anything better to say to comfort her.

"So, I've been coming up with excuses to not visit him, since his birthday a couple weeks before yours. Because I don't want to see that my mark and his don't match. I mean, I know it won't match because there's Oikawa," She pauses, her frown deepening as she spoke. 

"But it still makes me sad. I mean. The thing with Oikawa was just funny, but after awhile it's just. I feel terrible."

"Aimee... I really don't know what to say in this situation, and now I want to stab myself."

Aimee chuckles a little, as she presses another button on the machine. "Please, don't do that. I feel a little better now that someone else knows."

I am wondering why she is buying another can, but when I see that it is mango juice, I feel myself perking a little and standing up.

"Ai, are you-"

"If you know, then why are you asking?"

Aimee was as bad a tsundere as Semi was.

"I'm not sure if this would make you feel any better, but my little brother is also in love with someone and he's actually dating the person now. I don't think the soulmate mark thing is such a big deal. I mean, this is the twenty-first century, people are more open than before. You might be expected to be with the person you share the mark with, but that's about it. You don't have to."

Aimee doesn't respond, taking the can along with her and I follow her towards the library again.

"Um and well. Valentine's day is in a week, right after me and Eita's next entrance exams. Will you help me make chocolate for him?"

Aimee looks back at me, perking up a bit at the mention of cooking. She gives me a nod, and I give her a smile in response.

"And while we are at it, why don't you make some chocolate for Akaashi? I mean, he could enjoy your company just as much as you enjoy his, so it's not fair that he's kept in the dark. It's a perfect chance to tell him."

Aimee's face is a little red as she stands in front of the doors of the library. Six years, but I had never seen her look flustered before.

"Een, I'm not the chocolate-making type, and you know it."

"And if you're worried about him being younger, then... You're closer to Kanzaki than I am. And you know how happy she is with her soulmate, even though he's a second-year, like in your case."

There is some more silence as she opens the sliding doors of the library, stepping in. Semi does not even notice us until we approach the table he was sitting at. He takes one glance at me, refusing to even look at Aimee before he goes back to doing his worksheet.

"You know, I think I'll make some chocolates with you, then." I hear her say while turning to look at me. I give her a big nod in approval, sitting down beside Semi while my attention was still on what she was doing.

"I still don't like you, but," Aimee says to my soulmate, placing the can she bought beside Semi's calculator. "You can quit the crap of calling me Miyuzawa. I'm Aimee."

Semi doesn't respond, instead turning to glance at me. I give him a nod, smiling a little.

I wasn't sure if he heard what she said, because he doesn't turn the music off until after Aimee is seated in front of him again. Putting his pen away, he then opens the can, taking a sip before he looks at my friend again.

"Thanks."

It was going to take a long time for everything to be fine.

Scratch that, everything would never be fine.

But if we tried our best, we might be able to be happy, despite everything not being okay.

And for me, seeing my soulmate sipping a drink that my best friend gave, while he tried to study... 

And seeing my best friend actually considering advice that my soulmate had given to her...

That was the start of things looking up.

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a/n; ohmygodohmygodohmygod //scREAM//