Chapter Text
The world is different now from what it was even just half of a century ago.
Soulmates are an actual thing in society, albeit very rare. It started off as rumours, some people somewhere on this globe suddenly, somehow, sharing their pain with someone else. As soon as scientists confirmed these rumours, the world turned on its head. Most people became obsessed with the idea of finding their own. But people soon found out that finding your soulmate is extremely unlikely and it became a fairytale.
Koushi grew up hearing this fairytale from his mother.
“Some people in this world are lucky and some are the luckiest people in the universe. The lucky ones, like your father and I, find someone and fall in love and are happy for the rest of their lives. The luckiest people in the universe find the one person the universe destined for them. Their soulmate.”
Koushi loved the story and from the day he understood (at least partially), he hoped to meet his soulmate one day.
*
When Koushi enters the teachers’ lounge Monday morning, it is buzzing with chatter.
Koushi goes to take some tea before heading to his classroom when he runs into someone. Someone he doesn’t recognize and Koushi likes to believe he knows all the teachers in the school. The stranger might be the most handsome man Koushi has ever seen, with his dark hair and the warmest eyes he’s ever looked into. He stares at the other man far too long for it to not be noticeable.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Koushi smiles “My name is Sugawara.”
“Hello, Sugawara-san,” the stranger says. Koushi all but melts hearing the other man say his name. “My name is Sawamura, and you really don’t have to apologize.”
“So, Sawamura-san,” Koushi tries his best not to flirt but as he says the name of the other man, he can’t help it, “What do you teach?”
“I teach Physical Education and coach the volleyball team,” Sawamura-san answers.
“Makes sense,” Koushi mutters under his breath, giving Sawamura a good look up and down.
“Huh?” Daichi scrunches his brows. “I didn’t catch that.”
“I just said that it sounds fun,” Sugawara says.
*
Somehow, Daichi doesn’t believe the other teacher, maybe it’s the glint in his eyes or the way his lips curve slightly as if he could burst out laughing any second now, and so Daichi only hums in response. When the school bell rings and interrupts them, Daichi is both relieved and annoyed. Annoyed, because he was making a friend at his new workplace and he wouldn’t have minded talking just a bit more. Relieved, because for some reason Daichi had felt like he was being evaluated the whole time and he doesn’t know if he has been up to par.
As the day progresses, Daichi's mind continues to wander to the conversation this morning. He keeps thinking of the other teacher, Sugawara-san, and his silver hair and mischievous eyes.
*
As Sugawara walks home that day, he suddenly feels a sting in his palm. It’s faint, maybe a trick his mind played on him. He shakes his head and continues walking, smiling at an old lady that passes him. He walks a few steps and then he feels the faint sting again. And once again, he convinces himself that it is just a figment of his imagination. He shakes his head once more and continues walking, speeding up slightly. When he feels it the third time, he can’t pretend it’s just his imagination any longer. He reaches his front door and unlocks it.
As he takes off his shoes, he feels the faint sting again, but this time it’s on his forearms. Koushi could swear he recognizes this exact pain, but he can’t place it.
“I think it’s time for a cup of tea,” Sugawara mutters to himself.
*
Daichi loves teaching volleyball, he always has, but sometimes the kids test his patience. He knows that he was probably the same way at their age, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. So for, what feels like, the 117th time, he shows them what a nice, solid serve looks like. Daichi takes his spot at the end of the court, as he’s done so many times before, throws the ball up and when it reaches the perfect height on its way down, he hits it. The sting it leaves in his palm is barely noticeable.
“Did you pay attention?” he asks the kids on his new team. A few of them nod; most of them just look tired.
“Okay, listen,” Daichi looks at the most tired boys, “Practice is almost over so how about you do five each and then you can go shower?” He might be going easy on them, but it is the first practice of the year, and he doesn’t want to scare any of them away just yet.
“Try to aim it at me and I’ll receive it,” he tells one of the boys, who shows a bit more skill with the serving than the others. While Daichi has never been the greatest spiker, he takes great pride in his abilities as a receiver, so the serve from the kid isn’t difficult but it is nice. He begins to look forward to the practice he has later this week with an actual team.
“Good job guys,” Daichi says to the kids. “Let’s clean up and then you’re free to go.” He claps his hands once, signaling to the boys that they should get moving.
Once the team finishes putting away the net and balls, Daichi locks up and begins his journey home. As he walks, his mind drifts back to the conversation with Sugawara-san this morning and he hopes that they will get a chance to continue talking tomorrow.