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You let out a deep sigh, your vision narrowing on the target nearly 100 meters away. At the very end of your exhaled breath, you let the bowstring go, the familiar and comforting sound of the tsurune filling your ears. The thwap of the arrow hitting the target made you smile, and upon closer inspection, your arrow pierced the middle, making your smile wider.
"Oh, good job (Y/N)-chan!" Your childhood friend exclaimed, grabbing onto your arm in excitement.
You chuckled at her exciting nature. "Thanks, Miya-chan. But I only got here because of practice." You rubbed your left arm unconsciously, the calloused muscle of having the bow string slap against your arm from stupid mistakes while winding the bow back and releasing it rough under your gloved hand.
Grabbing another arrow from the team's container, you readied another arrow. Pulling the string back as far as it could go before your arm began to twitch in the attempt to hold the tense bowstring, you let out another deep sigh. However, the second before you let go of the string and arrow, the familiar and sudden sting against your right hand made your whole mode flinch.
Consequently, as the arrow fired off, landing meters to the left of the target, the bowstring slapped against your left, making you cry out. You were one of the few members apart of the kyudo club that didn't wear an arm brace on the left hand, choosing to leave it bare, so the pain of the bowstring making contact with your forearm made you let out a yelp of pain, dropping the two meter bow and falling to your knees as you clutched onto your arm in pain. You could feel the blood rushing towards the site of impact as Miya dropped next to you and your captain ran off to get the medical kit.
Letting out a string of curse words, you leaned over your knees, head touching the ground. This was one of the worst injuries you've gotten in a while. The last one that was thing bad was when the boy string hit you right above the eye socket back in the second year of junior high. There was a small bruise there for a week, but you knew this one would be big and last a long time.
"Goddamn fucking soulmate. Had to go and hit whatever ball or bag right when I was shooting my arrow." You thought, tears pricking your eyes as the pain endured. Finally, your captain and coach returned, your senior dropping down on his knees and tending to the sensitive flesh. "At least the competition is in two months. That's enough time to recover."
"You should take the rest of the day off (L/N)." Your coach said, his black hair glinting a slight blue in the sunlight streaming into the kyudo dojo.
"What?!" You exclaimed, attempting to stand up. But the captain's grip on your arm stopped you, and subsequently made you wince as the pressure reintroduced the pain from earlier.
The coach shook his head. "I know you want to keep practicing (L/N), but if you practice while in bad condition, it'll only get worse. We can't have that happen, right?" He explained, quirking an eyebrow up.
You huffed, knowing he was right. "Fine... can I at least watch?"
"If you want, that's fine." The coach explained. Straightening up, he ordered the rest of the small club to continue practicing and that you'd be okay; that included Miya. With a sad and worried glance thrown your way, she joined the rest of her teammates and continued practicing. Only your captain stayed with you as he bandaged up your arm to give it an extra layer of protection. He placed a cold ice pack on the affected area, making you wince.
"Was it your soulmate again?" He asked, brown eyes glancing up. You tensed as you felt his gaze piercing your soul. Despite knowing the third year since junior high, his calculating gaze always unnerved you.
You groaned. "Yeah. I just want to meet him already so I can tell him to stop being such a dumbass."
"Now don't say that." He chastised, flicking your forehead lightly.
Rubbing the reddening spot, you clicked your tongue. "At least your girlfriend only cooks Hiro-san, so she doesn't get painful injuries as much as my soulmate does." You said, referencing his own soulmate.
He laughed at your response, patting your back lightly as he packed up the medical case. "Well, go on and get changed now. No use being in your uniform if you aren't practicing."
Letting out a sigh, you followed his instructions, trudging to the girl's locker room that was left of the kyudo dojo.
Meanwhile, across the Shiratorizawa campus, a boy in your class sat on the ground of the gym's floor, clutching his left arm in pain while his teammates huddled around him in worry.
The next day, Goshiki walked into class with a bandaged around his left arm to keep the newly formed bruise protected at least a little bit. He couldn't help but wince at every little movement he made, the soreness of the sudden bruise making his arm twitch.
"Damn, I knew the pain of soulmates could physically manifest into their injuries if big enough, but this is so much worse than I imagined." Goshiki thought bitterly as he continued to write the lecture notes down.
As lunch came around, his arm was now numb with soreness. It seemed both him and his soulmate were having trouble with the injury, as Goshiki would feel sudden surges of pain when he was doing nothing.
A small figure sat down next to him her bento in her lap. "Hey, Goshiki-kun. Are you okay? You seemed out of it during class." You asked, tilting your head in concern. A pink blush coated your cheeks, making Goshiki's own cheeks heat up.
"O-Oh! Um, yeah I-I'm fine! I think my soulmate just got really hurt yesterday, so I'm feeling the aftereffects of it."
At the mention of his soulmate, your lips tightened and your shoulders hunched forward. A sad look filled your eyes. "Oh is that so?"
Goshiki hummed in response, his own sadness falling over him.
"I want YOU as my soulmate dammit." He thought bitterly. But last he checked, you didn't have a severe arm injury. Suddenly, breaking through the silence, an older male's voice cut through the classroom.
"Hey (Y/N)-chan!" The brown haired boy called towards you. "Do you have a second?"
You nodded, standing up, brushing your skirt free of any dust and dirt. Goshiki couldn't help but glance at your long and slender legs, less than innocent thoughts filling his mind.
"I'll be right back Goshiki-kun." You said, giving him a small wave as you followed your senior out of class, muttering something along the lines of "what is it Hiro-san?".
Goshiki ate in silence, scrolling through his Instagram feed until you returned. Shuffling back into the class, you sat down roughly before shoving food into your mouth angrily.
The black haired boy looked at you nervously. "What happened (L/N)-san?" He asked, his eyebrows creasing in worry.
"I don't wanna talk about it." You huffed, your eyes stuck on the window on the opposite end of the classroom.
Without warning, the bell went off, signaling the end of lunch and beginning of the next class. With a sigh, you packed up the rest of your bento and headed towards your seat. "Guess we can talk some more during P.E." You told Goshiki with a wave before sitting down at her desk to wait for the teacher.
What Goshiki was expecting to talk about during P.E. was the most recent shonen jump issue or the new game you had been waiting for finally coming out, he did not expect to be talking about the bruise that seemed to take up your entire forearm.
"Damn gym teacher making me take off the bandages cause its "not apart of dress code". Not apart of dress code my ass." You grumbled angrily, mocking the teacher's words in a high pitched whiny voice.
As your hand glazed over the bruise in an attempt to keep it away from the rest of your classmate's views, Goshiki felt a small tingle on his left arm... right when you were massaging the injury.
Feeling dizzy, Goshiki ran past his gym teacher, yelling out that he was going to the nurse's office. He should've been happy. He had liked you ever since the day he met you in junior high, but... there was no way you liked him back. There was no way someone as amazing and talented as you could ever like someone as sloppy and loud as he was. He always dreamed of being soulmates with you, but having it actually happen to him... was terrifying.
He hid in the bathroom for the duration of the gym period, only returning to class for the last class before school was let out. You tried to talk to him, but the boy couldn't meet your eyes, no matter how much he tried.
There was no way he could tell you.
His conflicted feelings followed him to volleyball practice, where he performed the worst he had ever done in his entire volleyball history. He added on extra penalties to his punishment laps for getting distracted. His seniors and teammates were quick to ask him what was wrong in the locker room.
"Goshiki-san, did something happen today? You were really off during practice today." Semi mentioned as he pulled his sweaty shirt off. "Is it your arm?" He asked, referencing the stabbing and burning pain the first year experienced last night.
Goshiki shook his head. "No... not exactly." He muttered in response, hunching his shoulders as if it'd make him disappear.
"Oya?" A familiar and mischevious voice echoed before its owner leaned on Goshiki's bare shoulders. "Don't tell me you found your soulmate!" Tendou teased, poking Goshiki's cheek.
The ravennette's cheeks were quick to flare up in embarrassment at his senior's spot on guess. He turned quickly, throwing Tendou off his shoulder. "Wh-what? Of course n-not! Wh-why would you e-even think of that?!"
Tendou only smiled down at Goshiki teasingly, while his other teammates were quick to congratulate him (although Ushijima stayed quiet as usual).
"But wait," Semi interrupted the clapping and cheers, "why are you so nervous about it then? I thought you were ecstatic about meeting your soulmate?"
"I am!" Goshiki responded immediately, only to shy back into himself. "But... my soulmate... I don't think she'd never expect me to be her soulmate. What if she hates me? Or finds me annoying and loud? Or just see's me as a friend? I mean, we've known each other since junior high, so of course she'd only see me as a friend at best!"
The team stared at Goshiki in shock, even Ushijima turned his head in concern. After all, Goshiki was always so loud and full of energy and confidence. To see him like this over his soulmate, the one meant to support and be with him for the rest of his life, was strange and awkward at best.
Stepping forward, Reon placed a gentle hand on Goshiki's head. "I doubt she would think that. After all, soulmates are supposed to complete each other. She may be shocked at first, but I don't think she'll reject you."
Goshiki hummed in response, but still had doubts. These doubts continued to swim in his mind while he changed and started heading out for the door, until...
"Goshiki. If you really love her, then she will love you back." Ushijima's deep voice rang through the locker room. He didn't look back towards the first year fanboy of his; however, Goshiki could feel the faint tone of support coming from his senior.
A wide smile spread across Goshiki's lips as the last traces of his doubts were wiped away. "Right! I'll see you all tomorrow morning for practice." Goshiki exclaimed before running out of the locker room, leaving his teammates in shock from the speed his mood changed.
Goshiki, despite going through hell for the last couple hours, ran at full sprint towards your dorm room, which he had been to a hundred times to study and just hang out.
Skidding to a stop at the door, he lifted his fist up to the door and knocked quickly, not letting up until you answered the door. You rubbed your eyes tiredly as you looked up to the boy. You were in your pajamas and a new bandage was wrapped around your arm.
"Goshiki, what are you doing? It's like 9 o'clock. Shouldn't you be going to bed?" You asked tiredly. You let out a yelp as Goshiki grabbed onto your shoulders, inadvertently pushing you further into your dorm room.
"(L/N)-chan, I know this may sound crazy but I'm pretty sure we're soulmates, no, I'm completely 100% sure that we're soulmates and I wanted to tell you as soon as possible and that I've loved you since junior high an-"
Goshiki's rambling was cut off quickly as your hand came up and smacked him across the face, sending pain through his body. You were quick to yelp in pain as well and grab onto the side of your face.
When the pain had subsided from both of you, the two of you stood in silence, staring at each other in shock.
"You're... my soulmate." You whispered, still holding onto your cheek. It was then that realization hit you. "Oh my god, you're my soulmate and I slapped you mid-confession!" You screamed in terror. "I'm so sor-MMH!"
This time it was your turn to be cut off as Goshiki slammed his lips onto yours with almost bruising force. If it weren't for Goshiki holding onto your waist, your knees would have buckled from the sheer force and passion in his kiss.
It was sloppy, awkward, and not the best first kiss when compared to your friends but... it was perfect for you.