Soulmates

[...Zzz...]

They say that when you meet the one you're destined to be with for the rest of your life, your entire world would brighten up around you. It is said that the moment your eyes meet with the eyes of that one special person, you would start to see colors.

People who haven't met their soulmates could only see shades of black, grey, and white. Kozume Kenma, a second year high school student from Nekoma High, was one of these people. He could only see the monochromatic world as it was.

Funny thing is...he didn't really care.

In order for one to find their soulmate and see colors, they needed to have eye contact with them. You could already imagine the terror in Kenma's face when he learned about this. The gamer instantly became more uncomfortable around others and started avoiding looking them in the eye.

Although that didn't mean that he hated the idea of having a soulmate.

In fact, it would be nice to have someone other than his next door neighbor to talk to sometimes. But Kenma was very shy and he didn't know how to make friends on his own. His inability to express his emotions openly often leads a lot of people to mistake him for being a cold person.

Gaming was the only thing besides volleyball that he found fun. He didn't like people and he didn't want to be around them either. He felt contented in his isolation where he didn't have to worry about what people thought of him. That was what Kenma had believed back then.

If it weren't for his friend Kuroo then he never would have met his team in Nekoma, he never would have met Hinata from their school's old rival, and he never would have met her.

It was an odd meeting because the two never have spoken to each other before, despite being the same year. Although he noticed her around the school during their freshmen years, Kenma never paid much attention to her before. She was an honest, bubbly, and somewhat naive person from what he could tell. Other than that, that was all he knew about this stranger.

It was on his second year of high school that they finally spoke. She initiated it since Kenma wouldn't even dream of trying to talk to a girl by himself. She was cute and short, a type of girl that many guys in his year would confess to.

He noticed that she was anxious about something and tried to stutter out the words.

"C-C-Could you m-meet me a-after your pr-practice, K-K-Ko...Kozu-Kozume...-kun..?"

Any guy would be surprised for a cute girl like his classmate to ask to meet with them. Except for Kozume Kenma. He was almost sure that she wanted to ask him about his best friend Kuroo like most girls would in his year.

This time he was wrong.

He met her again after their volleyball practice; she was playing with a cat just outside the school gates. When his teammates asked what she was doing there all alone, she seemed to hesitate about something...until her eyes met his own.

"Ko-Kozume-kun!!"

At that instant, he noticed that her eyes began to change, almost as if they had...color?

From nature's greens to the sky's blues to their uniform's blazing reds, he could see it all clearly. Color was beginning to paint itself into his once dull black and white world. Kenma was stunned.

What's more is that he hadn't expected for the very person to give his life color would confess her feelings to him that same day. This girl he barely knew started shouting at the top of her lungs about how she felt about him. This stranger that gave him a brighter and more beautiful view of everything he once knew. This girl...was running away!?

"Huh?"

By the time he managed to snap out of it, she was gone. He didn't even get a chance to ask for her name.

Kenma sighed and looked down at the red envelope in his hands. That girl gave that to him, right? Hesitantly, he opened it and pulled out a piece of paper.

A love letter, to be exact.

He began to read the letter silently, his lips curling into a small smile when he skimmed through the contents. There were words that she crossed out and replaced with less embarrassing ones. The paper was decorated with little doodles and stickers too.

It was adorable and creative, definitely suiting her character.

Dear Kozume Kenma ❤,

I know writing love 💌 letters is a bit old school and no one really does this sort of thing anymore... But I had to do something that explains in detail about why I like you a lot!! 💞 I guess it would be better to tell you this face to face, but if you're reading this letter then that probably means that I chickened out. Sorry! 🐤

Kenma chuckled at the drawing of a chicken walking away.

You probably don't know me very well since we never even spoke to each other before but I have always liked you since first year!!! 😣 We weren't exactly classmates though...

The first time I saw you was when the volleyball club was doing their laps before our morning classes. Our senpais made you run extra laps and I wanted to say something to encourage you back then... 😗

Ah, so she saw that?

After that I noticed that I paid close attention to you whenever you're around. I saw that you play video games 🎮 most of the time and you always look like you were enjoying them, so I wanted to try playing too! I thought that maybe we could play video games together and become friends.

But... I found out that I suck at video games. 😅

How do you do it, Kozume-kun? You make it look so easy! 😤 I'm super jealous of your skills!

I'm bad at video games and I'm bad at sports, but you're good with both of them. I envy you sometimes...

Kenma felt his cheeks turning red. He didn't really think any of that was even special about him.

I noticed you more and more throughout our freshmen year. I didn't know why but I was always happy when I got to see you. 😆💕

I wanted to be closer to you somehow, but I'm not good at anything you are. We probably don't have anything in common either. 😖 Is it weird for me to want to be with you even if we don't share the same interests..?

Well... What I'm trying to say is that... I like you. I really really like you, Kozume-kun. From your adorable pudding colored hair to your quiet nature, I like every part of you.

From the moment I started noticing you, I felt like I found a missing piece of me. It felt like this huge wave of a new kind of happiness rushing through me and I couldn't do anything but to let it take over.

I thought that this whole time that maybe I was waiting for you all along.

So...if you would be willing to...please be my boyfriend!!!

Kamiya Yume

[. . . !]

"Hey, Kenma?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask something of you?"

Her gentle voice pulled him away from his daze-like state, his game paused in his hands. "What is it?" He asked as she sat up on the bed and unconsciously started playing with her hair.

It was a quiet Friday night and Yume was sleeping over at his house. Along with some extra clothes and her very own 3DS, she also brought the school work that the pudding head had missed while he was sick for the past two days.

If being holed up in his room doing homework wasn't bad enough to begin with, his parents were delighted to officially meet the girl that their introverted son was dating, and bombarded Yume with questions about their love life. Plus, there was that photo and three minute video of the two cuddling that Kuroo and Akira had for future blackmailing purposes.

Kenma was clearly self-conscious and slightly annoyed that his folks would pry into his personal life through the means of his girlfriend, but Yume managed to answer their eager questions without saying anything that would cause him to feel embarrassed.

"Well, it's getting late now and I'm pretty sleepy," She began, twirling a lock of light brown hair around her finger. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me giving you a goodnight kiss..?"

Although Yume knew perfectly well how much her boyfriend was too bashful to talk about his love life in front of his parents, he didn't seem to dislike feeling that way whenever she said something cute. The blush on his face must be reaching to the tip of his ears by now...

"Sure," He nodded shyly. It was hard to get used to kissing her without turning bright red.

Smiling at the sound of his affirmation, she gently cupped his cheeks and leaned forward, planting a soft and sweet kiss against his lips. "Then goodnight, Kenma." She whispered and nuzzled their noses together. "Don't stay up too late, okay? You promised you would take me to the arcade for our date tomorrow~"

"Yeah," He flashed her a miniscule smile.

"Can you win me a toy from one of those crane games?"

"Mm-hmm."

Yume nodded with a big grin and laid back down. After mumbling another good night, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

"....."

"....."

"...Yume?"

"Mm?"

"...Do you believe in soulmates?"

One eye opened to peek at him while her brain was trying to fight off drowsiness. "I think the idea of a soulmate is nice, but I don't necessarily believe in those things." She answered truthfully and was a bit interested to know why Kenma would have asked her such a question.

Yume let out a giggle as he looked at her and away, a signal that he wanted to say something more, but didn't want to disturb her trying to sleep.

"Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?"

Kenma slowly shook his head, a small frown on his lips. "It's nothing, I was just wondering. What if you belong to someone else?" He muttered glumly.

"If that someone else is a reincarnation of you then I wouldn't mind dating him in my next life." She laughed.

Kenma hummed thoughtfully at her response and laced their fingers together when she slid her hand on top of his. The warmth of his hand curled around her cold one and Yume couldn't help but smile blissfully.

"...Kenma?" She said, calling his attention.

"Hm?" He responded.

"Do you like volleyball?" She asked quietly.

Kenma paused to think, "Mm? I guess it's kinda fun."

"Do you like Kuroo?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

Kenma shrugged, "Meh. He annoys me sometimes."

"Pfftb! He's just trying to look out for you," She laughed.

"I guess."

"...Do you like me?"

Kenma blinked at the question and looked directly into her eyes. The carefree expression she wore earlier was now replaced with a frown. Yume held her breath, worry clouded her features as she waited for him to reply. Although Kenma didn't even need to think of his answer for this particular question.

"Yeah." He shyly nodded and gently squeezed her hand to assure her. "I do."

A cheerful grin made its way to his girlfriend's lips and she couldn't help but pull the adorable blonde down on top of her. There was a chorus of muffled giggling as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug and nuzzled his chest.

Normally Kenma would have been completely flustered that he was in such a position, but he was already used to the affection Yume loved showering him with. Whether it were hand holding, hugging, or even kissing, he would gladly accept them all as long as it was from her.

If someone had told the game addict years ago that he would find his soulmate in an honest, bubbly, and naive girl like Kamiya Yume then he probably would have snorted and rolled his eyes at the ridiculous assumption. "If we happen to get reincarnated," Yume smiled at him. "Then I'd still date you in my next life, Kenma."

The pudding head looked down at her and blushed, his heart drumming in his chest as a small smile tugged the corners of his lips. His arms gently enveloped the small girl to reciprocate her embrace as he whispered into her ear, glancing at the love letter and red envelope sitting on his bedroom table.

"I wouldn't mind trying again. As long as it's you."

THE END