❥ 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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"Oh my god, I got so many fancams, I'm gonna be youtube-famous overnight!" Hichimiya exclaims, excitement bubbling as she takes the steps down and out of the arena.

"The fact that you managed fancams while it's actually not allowed for the most part of the concert is beyond me."

Aimee, Hichimiya and I had come to Osaka to attend a concert, and the two decide to come back to Tokyo to visit our apartment before they head off back home; Hichimiya back to Miyagi and Aimee over to Kyoto.

Each time Hichimiya gets distracted or wanders off on her own, Aimee shoots me a questioning glance, and it makes me instantly remember the way Semi kissed me as if hinting something. This makes me flush right away, probably provoking Aimee even further, enough that she drags me to my room as soon as we enter our apartment.

Semi is sitting by the desk, scribbling something, and he instantly looks up and stuffs his notes inside his file when Aimee drags me and heads over to him.

"What did you do to her?"

"Well, it's been a while, Miyuzawa."

"You know I hate when people call me that, and yet you have the audacity to provoke me. The fact that you're still shitty hasn't changed."

"And the fact that you still lack respect before barging into a couple's room unannounced still stays the same, I see."

I start to get war flashbacks to Semi and Aimee's constant squabbles back in high school, and I sigh, putting my hands on both of their faces to avoid them from speaking any further.

"Eita, can you go say hi to Hichimiya? She might start bullying Takeru if she is left out on the balcony until she gets bored."

Semi squints his eyes at Aimee, then gives me a small smile before he listens to what I said and leaves the room. I wait until he closes the door, before I let out another sigh.

"And here I thought you two would do better if you spent some time away. Clearly it got worse."

"What am I supposed to do? You said you had something to talk about, and Semi looked oblivious as fuck. Tell me." She says, sitting down at the end of our bed. "How many months?"

"What-"

"What? I thought you were pre-"

"Stop right there!" I hiss, putting my hand on her face once again in embarrassment. "That was NOT what I was going to tell you!"

"What?? But..."

I was pretty sure my talk with Aimee would go like this, so I hurry to shake my head.

Semi had told me that it was more likely for Aimee to open up and tell me something about what was bothering her if I went ahead and told something about myself, as well. And I could understand where he was going with, but it really wasn't the lack of trust thing that didn't make Aimee want to share that fact with me; but the fact that she didn't want to worry me.

I had a perfect excuse cooked up to tell her; I tell her about how things had gone with Dad and how it had bothered me; and Aimee listens intently, nodding her head as she sympathizes with my struggle.

"Takeru is a good kid."

"He is. I love him. Semi has grown really fond of him too."

"I guess he can be kinda okay if he wants to be."

"Aimee." I warn. This makes my now-blonde friend giggle, her short chin-length hair bobbing a little as she does so.

"There's something I've been wanting to discuss with you too, Een." Aimee finally says, her eyes on the posters plastered on the wall. Semi had recently been into some kind of Japanese pop music, and he made me make room for some of his posters beside my own ones. Our little banters about which was better - Japanese music or Korean music - always ended in a tie because of course; music is music whichever language it was in and who makes it.

Aimee's statement makes me look at her in anticipation. She twirls a lock of hair as she continues to watch the poster as she speaks.

"I think I'm gonna date someone, Een."

"Eh?"

It takes a few minutes for me to comprehend what she says, and it makes my eyes go wide, getting up from the bed and standing in front of her, arms held up in front of my chest.

"What? Who?"

"I've been curious for a while and I've been beating myself up a bit about how I think about the entire love thing..." She starts. Her words seem abstract to me, but I remember how sullen she had been after Akaashi had rejected her on Valentine's day earlier this year.

"And, well... I thought about a lot of things. Idiots like Hichimiya and Satori end up together because of love, a dumbass manages to score my precious Een because of love, a total pervert managed to get on with Kanzaki who gets red when someone even says 'boobs'', so..." Aimee finally tears her gaze away from the poster, then looks at me. "If all of these combinations can happen, if love can happen in so many shades like this, then... Who am I to say no when someone says they like me, and want to date me, even if I'm a girl and she's not my soulmate?"

Aimee's big black eyes continue blinking as I look down at my friend, processing the entirety of what she had said.

"And I think you're the first person to tell this to, considering you get off on those gay doujins you had the audacity to bring here with you when you moved in with Semisemi."

"I don't-- Aimee!"

My friend's eyes go wide when I wrap my arms around her, and I realize that my eyes are streaming tears down because I felt so, so happy and can't help but to squeeze her tight.

"Hey, Een-"

"I'm so happy for you." I sob, when Aimee stands up and looks at me in confusion when she sees that I'm crying.

"You don't have to cry, you know-"

"I'm happy. That you told me. That you told me first."

Aimee flicks my forehead, a smile on her face as pats my hair with a chuckle. "Only you, Een. I love you only enough that I'd tolerate Semi for you."

"What's her name?"

"Sh-Shut up." Aimee pouts, looking away, and it fills my heart with so much warmth when I see that her face is reddened as she lets out a little hum.

"I'm guessing I'll find out soon too." I say, wrapping my arms around Aimee once again and wiping my face.

"I'm guessing I'll find out more about myself too. I've really been beating myself about this entire things in ways you can't even imagine..." She pauses, and it hurts my heart to imagine what kind of struggles she must have gone through that she even had to take help from Semi at one point.

"But I'm getting better. I'm learning. I guess the road to loving yourself is filled with a lot of voids that we need to do our best to fill up with something warm, right?"

"You're talking to a language major like me in that way, and you expect me not to cry?"

Aimee giggles in response, looking at me with teary eyes.

"You dummy. I'm not even gonna get mad that you dampened my blouse." She says. "I think we better get back out to the living room. I need to cook something."

"You're gonna cook?"

"Yeah. I owe him."

This makes me raise an eyebrow. "How come?"

"He's... he's taking care of you well, in my absence. And we all know how high-maintenance you are."

"Aimee!"

The way my best friend giggles as she dodges my punch, and later poses for a selfie with me, cooks for my soulmate and decide to not pick fights with him anymore... even the way she asks if I thought her new haircut was "too bisexual"...

It all makes me smile, because I'm going to miss Aimee so dearly when she heads back home, and I'm so, so glad that I spend such a huge chunk of my savings just to get her here.

Aimee had her own share of struggles, and she was trying her best to deal with it herself.

Maybe that was the way some people were; they face their own struggles, while the others need people to help them out.

Perhaps what she needed wasn't me cornering her, like Semi had told me not to, but to know that she still had people who care enough about her - that people love her enough that she can freely live her life and try the things that she wants.

The way Semi ruffles my hair and gives me a hug when he thought that no one was watching - even though everyone was, lets me know that he loved me too, in his own way.

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a/n; i'm so sad because this story is nearing its' end and I've grown so attached to this omg help. :c