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In this world, people have lots of varying opinions on the matter of soulmates. Some people believe that soulmates are destined to be no matter what, and hold off on any and all romance until they find theirs. Others believe that while ‘other halves’ have been essentially proven to exist, there is no guarantee of ever meeting yours. These people simply go about their lives as normal, with the additional hope that mayhaps one day they’ll meet their destined lover. On the complete other half of the spectrum, some people have zero interest in soulmates and completely ignore such fantasies of meeting someone made just for you.
Natsume Sakasaki fell somewhere in the second category. As a fortune teller, he knew full well the power destiny held. However, he also knew better than anyone that the future is not set in stone. Destiny is not a prophecy, and as such, having a destined other means nothing. There was no purpose in helplessly holding out for someone whom he may or may not even meet in this lifetime. It was something that to him, happened if it happened, and if it didn’t then that was fine too.
Statistics don’t lie though, and Natsume had quietly resigned himself to a fate of simply living life without having met his other half. That was simply how his life was likely to play out, and seeking out the person whose eyes matched his would take too much effort to be worth attempting to change that. Imagine his surprise then, when he looked up at his last customer of the day and came face to face with the one person he would never have thought to meet in his life.
The door jingled with the sound of bells as it opened, and inside stepped a good-looking young man with orange hair brighter than the sun. He seemed to be coming back from work, with a bag swung over his shoulder and and a jacket draped over arm. He donned a white button-down shirt that had its first button sloppily unbuttoned, the sleeves loosely rolled up to the elbow. His hair was gelled back and the stranger walked with the wear of a full shift of customer service. Yet Natsume noted the quiet, joyful humming done under the stranger’s breath, completely unperturbed by the wear and tear of whatever mundane job they held.
The stranger had been peering around his shop with completely unsuppressed amusement, hands reaching to fondle a shiny piece of merchandise when Natsume finally decided he had enough of simply watching them dawdle around his place of business.
“How may I be of assisTANCE?” He inquired from his place seated behind the counter, careful not to allow this new customer to catch a full glimpse of the design in his eyes. It was called a soul gem, and the defining factor in how someone knew if another person was their soulmate. Every single person born on this Earth had a soul gem, which was a symbol placed somewhere within the iris and dyed a certain color––or colors. Both placement and design are essential in finding out if someone is one’s match, and disregarding one while paying attention to only the other is a recipe for disaster.
In Natsume’s case, his soul gem was a cluster of seven star-like splashes of color spanning the upper right part of his iris. They were a mix of a smokey blue and citrine, the colors bleeding into each other like watercolors on a canvas. It was an easily recognizable pattern, and so Natsume didn’t want his guest recognizing it until he knew more about them. He didn’t want to get his hopes up about meeting his soulmate, only to find out that they were the scum of the Earth in the end. Yes, it was much better to test the waters of the situation before committing to anything…
The orange-haired guest jerked their head up to look at him with eyes the size of saucers. It was almost as if… they had forgotten whose shop they were in, which was ridiculous. They had entered this shop of their own volition, so how could they have not realized that someone would be sitting watch over the establishment? Absurd.
“I always pass by this place when I go to and come home from work!” They chirped in response to his question, a bright grin spreading across their face. Natsume couldn’t help but blink in response, feeling blinded by the intensity of such cheer. “I wanted to know what it was because it always seems so busy! That means it’s gotta be good, right?” Natsume huffed. How dare he say that to his face? “My services are nothing but exempLARY. For you to think that they could ever be otherwise is a sin worthy of a fate worse than deATH.”
The stranger didn’t even seem to be fazed by the statement, one that left most customers shrinking back upon hearing and offering up their most humble apologies. Instead, the man let out a boisterous laugh and strode up to the counter that Natsume sat behind. The cards that had been in Natsume’s hands before were now gently splayed across the glass thanks to the customer’s disruption ruining Natsume’s focus. There had been no point in him attempting to continue to practice the trick when he would soon have his hands full with the man who may or may not proceed to become the one whose fate matched his.
The man’s hands come down to grip the edge of the counter, leaning the brunt of their weight onto the sturdy piece of furniture. They gave Natsume another charming smile and a guilty laugh, letting out a bubbly apology all the while.
“Sorry, sorry! I’m sure your stuff is great! I didn’t mean to offend you!” He glanced around once more. “You’ve got lots of shiny stuff here, so I love the place automatically! What do you do here anyways though? Fortune telling, right? That’s what the sign outside said. That’s pretty cool!”
“While I am a fortune teLLER, I can do much moRE. I can perform hypnotism or create concoctions to help you with your proBLEMS––for a price, of course... Do not hesitate to inform me of your ailments.”
The orange-haired customer seemed to be genuinely blown away for a solid moment before coming back again with ten times the force as before, a wide grin across their face. Natsume could almost swear he saw a dog tail wagging behind them, but that was unbelievable. His imagination was overactive today it seemed…
“That’s so cool!” The stranger exclaimed. “A little bit more than sketchy, but still super cool. How much does your fortune telling cost? I wanna try!”
Natsume stiffened up, slightly miffed. He was used to having his work looked upon critically by non-believers, but hearing those words coming from the man who was supposed to be his destined half stung slightly more. Not that Natsume would ever admit that though. He had his pride to maintain after all.
He jerked himself up out of his seat and swiftly strode over to the curtain covering the doorway several strides to his left. With one smooth swipe of the arm he brushed the covering to the side, looking to his soulmate with a fiercely determined and anticipatory gaze. If anyone pointed out that mayhaps his determination came more from wanting to gain his soulmate’s appreciation rather than a desire to prove a stranger’s judgement wrong… Well, Natsume would scoff and say that simply wasn’t true, but then again Natsume was never good at accepting his own emotions.
The orange-haired stranger blinked at the sudden movement and for once in their interaction, stood unsure of what to do. “Ah… but… how much will it cost?”
“For you, nothing.” And it certainly wasn’t just because he was Natsume’s soulmate. No, not at all.
The stranger beamed at Natsume, and he suddenly vaguely regretted the decision to allow them a free reading. The sheer happiness radiating off them over such a simple thing was overwhelming. It was too late to take his words back now though, so Natsume simply swallowed his emotions and gestured the man in.
“Wow…! You’re so nice! Thanks!” They cheered, practically bouncing past Natsume to take a seat at the table situated in the darkened room. Natsume followed suit shortly after, double-checking the lock on the store entrance first before joining his guest in the back room. His footsteps were light and cautious, as if he were self conscious. He wouldn’t want to appear as if he were trying too hard after all.
The room darkened even more when he allowed the blackout curtains to drape back down over the doorway, leaving the two cast in darkness. The faux night was fleeting though, as Natsume was quick to lean over and flick on lanterns near the entryway. He repeated the motions several times as he trailed along the edges of the small room. Darkened lights kept the image of fortune telling up with his clients, yet they still needed light to go through the motions of his practice. Blatant artificial lights also weren’t the answer, as they ruined the image of ancient history that fortune telling held. Therefore the only conclusion would be to go with something a little more… antique. Lanterns were the perfect solution.
Natsume turned back to face the table and as a consequence, his soulmate as well. The man was fidgeting in his chair, fiddling with his bag as he looked around every few seconds. His feet swung under the chair even though he was most certainly tall enough to have them sit comfortably on the floor. It was horribly childish… but also endearing, much to Natsume’s chagrin. He would take that observation with him to his grave.
He slid into his own seat with practiced ease. The fabric covering the crystal ball was pulled off with a flourish, leaving a sparkling orb in its wake. It immediately caught Natsume’s soulmate’s attention, and his eyes went wider than the moon.
“Wow…!” He gasped, leaning in as close as Natsume would allow him in order to peer at the orb. “I’ve never seen one of these in person before…! It’s so pretty! I love it.”
Natsume internally preened under the praise, even if it wasn’t explicitly for himself. It didn’t matter though. Any praise for his practice was praise for him.
“What’s your name?” He asked, voice quiet and smooth. He was beginning to slip into the mood, an elaborate act that he pulled together like a puppeteer in order to bring out the most of his practice in the eyes of his customers. Most of it was frills neatly sewn onto his true work, made to decorate it and look pretty. It did its job though, and most of Natsume’s customers left his practice satisfied. He liked to believe that they would feel the same with the bare bones treatment as well, but he knew the masses were easily wooed by pretty things. It reflected nothing of his own skills as a fortune teller if they were more pleased by pretty antics than just the simple awe of fortune telling.
“Subaru! Subaru Akehoshi!” Natsume was pretty sure he stopped breathing for a second upon finally hearing the name of his soulmate. He could finally assign a name to that stupidly pretty face he’d been enduring for the last twenty minutes. It was a name he would either remember for the rest of his life or force himself to forget after tonight.
Natsume hummed in acknowledgement and held out his hands to Subaru in a clear gesture to place his hands into Natsume’s. If you asked Natsume, he would say that it would be to ground Subaru when he had to look into the crystal ball. (He knew full well that wasn’t true.)
“I am Natsume Sakasaki. I want you to look into the crystal bALL. What do you SEE?” He watched intently as Subaru squinted into the ball, looking with more intensity than Natsume had ever seen on his face during their short time in each other’s company. He couldn’t help but want to poke the furrow in between Subaru’s eyebrows, with how cute it made his expression. It wasn’t fair, and Natsume did not like how it made him feel.
He was staring so intently at Subaru’s furrowed eyebrows that he was caught off guard when Subaru jerked his head up and opened his mouth to speak, “ I saw–– Wait, your eyes! Those are my eyes! We match!”
It was too late when Natsume realized his mistake, eyes going wide and jerking back in response. His arms pulled taut when he tried to yank them back with him though, held firmly in place by hands that held more strength than he would have ever guessed beforehand.
Subaru’s eyes were sparkling and the grin on his face filled with more elation than Natsume even knew could even be seen in a human being’s face. He didn’t seem willing to allow Natsume to go anytime soon, and so Natsume resigned himself to slouching back down into his chair.
“No, they don’t.”
“Yes, they do!” “No!”
“Yes!
“No––”
“I’ve been looking all my life for you! I know those eyes better than anyone! They match! You’re my soulmate! I finally found you!”
Natsume couldn’t find it within himself to deny the earnest gaze Subaru was giving him any longer, and conceded with a tired, “Fine… Yes, they do… I’m your soulmATE…”
Subaru beamed at the admission, eyes glazing over slightly. He let go of one of Natsume’s hands to scrub hurriedly at them before snatching Natsume’s hand back again as if the redhead would disappear into thin air if he let him go for even one second. There was a certain desperation in his grip, and without thinking Natsume squeezed back ever so slightly. It was enough for Subaru though, and before Natsume knew it, Subaru was launching himself across the table at him. Forgotten were the crystal orb––though Natsume was careful to shift it just slightly to safety––and the desperate hand holding. Instead he takes in a hug with a value worth two decades of love, a tight embrace that left Subaru’s face buried into Natsume’s shoulder. The orange hair brushing against his face tickled, but somehow Natsume couldn’t bring himself to mind it. All his previous worries and insecurities all seemed to be ebbing away with Subaru’s warm embrace, and he allowed himself to gradually melt into the tight grip his soulmate held on him.
“I’m so happy I finally found you Natsume… I’m so glad… I thought I’d never find you…”
Maybe, just maybe, he didn’t have to think so hard about whether or not to accept who his soulmate was. After all, destiny had its own plans for him, and going with the flow wasn’t always so bad.
He could love his soulmate. He could love Subaru.