Chapter Text
i. fleeting
Everyone knew the legend about soulmates. Every child was taught about it in school by sixth grade at the latest, if they hadn't already heard stories from their parents or older relatives before that. All great love stories circled around the famed and magical moment of locking eyes with a stranger and suddenly seeing the world in technicolour for the first time. That was how you knew you'd met your soulmate, the one that was made for you and who you were destined to be with for the rest of your life, until they passed away and the colours before your eyes faded together with them. The pinnacle of one's life was to find their soulmate, their perfect other half. Their perfect happiness.
Of course it was mostly fairy tales, if Iori was to be asked.
Izumi Iori lived a perfectly ordained, monochrome life, and he was perfectly happy with it, thank you very much. He was an honours student in his high school, excelling in both sports and academics, and coveted to become the student council president on his final year. Keeping up with his grades and all the extracurricular activities, he frankly didn't have time to think about soft and silly matters such as love and soulmates. He'd have to graduate first, and maybe once he was settled in college or his working career, he'd meet his soulmate and start dating them.
If he even had a soulmate. Or was ever able to find them.
Iori's parents were soulmates, their interests and eccentricities perfectly aligned, and their love for each other still as ardent as the day they had first met over 25 years ago. Thus Iori knew that soulmates did exist. But he was also a realist. There were over 13 million people in Tokyo alone, and the chance of finding the one that would make colours burst before his eyes was minuscule, if not nonexistent. He knew most people never met their soulmates, instead eventually settling down with someone nice and marrying them, acquiescending to a quiet life of greyscales. Iori assumed this would be his fate as well. He was fine with it. He could be perfectly happy with that.
With these thoughts in his mind, he adjusted the strap of his school bag on his shoulder and stepped on the train to make his way home. He was tired, the student council meeting having dragged out far later than it should have thanks to the current council president's inefficiency (Iori couldn't wait to take his place next year and make the council run smoothly, in accordance to his high standards). The sun was slowly disappearing behind the tall buildings, and Iori remembered his parents telling him the colours of the sunset were the most beautiful of all. For him with his black and white vision, the diminishing light only meant his family's bakery would be closing soon and he'd have to hurry home to help his brother with the dinner.
Holding on to a ring to keep his balance, he swayed gently with the movements of the train, finally removing his eyes from the slowly darkening sky behind the window and letting his gaze sweep over the packed carriage. What caught his attention was a boy appearing around his own age, clinging to his own ring at the other end of the carriage, near the doors. He seemed to be furiously texting someone on his phone, completely absorbed in his own world. That was, until the train made a sharp turn.
The boy looked up in alarm, nearly losing his balance, and his eyes locked with Iori's. In that moment, in reality just a fraction of a second, time seemed to slow down around them. Colours bloomed before Iori's eyes, and the world became so bright that he felt nearly blinded. The soft glow of the sunset surrounded the boy with vibrant hair and brilliant eyes, making him look ethereal. The boy seemed to realise what had happened at the same time Iori did, and quickly stuffed his phone in the pocket of his hoodie, giving Iori a winning smile and a shy wave with his now free hand. Warmth filled Iori's chest and slowly rose to his cheeks as he gave a small wave back. There it was. What he had never expected to experience himself.
After a brief moment of hesitation and looking around, the other boy seemed to make up his mind. Daringly he let go of his ring and started making his way towards Iori, pushing through the packed train and offering inaudible apologies to the people who he bumped into. Iori could only watch, his heart beating thunderously and his air growing thin from excitement, frozen in place as his soulmate advanced towards him. What would be their first words for each other?
Then the train slowed down to a stop on a station and the people around them started to get off, moving towards the doors. The red-headed boy looked confused at first, then started struggling against the flow of the crowd, growing desperate in his attempts to push his way through, but eventually Iori lost sight of him. When the train started moving again, his soulmate was gone.
His carnelian eyes would haunt Iori for the rest of his life.