Chapter Text
Yosuke Hanamura knew all about the soulmate markings, it was impossible for anyone to avoid in this world. It was especially impossible in a town as small as Inaba, everyone wishing to find their soulmate until they realize that they knew everyone and it was none of them in this god damn town. Yosuke was well aware of his soulmate mark, it was in the middle of his god damn forehead, so obvious and so embarrassing.
He would be lying if he said he hadn’t tried to hide it before, he opted out of it when he found that bowl-cuts were...not his look. Back then though he’d been in the big city! Maybe he’d run into his soulmate while they were both running to school, or when carrying papers too big and not seeing the other, he’d often thought about how he would meet her, bearing such a strange soul mark.
He thought, maybe if he’d just been a touchy person, if he was very affectionate with his friends, maybe one day he’d find one of them to be his soulmate with a casual passing touch he never thought of. Unfortunately, that never happened. Yosuke however, started to feel comfort in that touch affectionate attitude. It was rare to see him not resting an arm on his shorter friends or grabbing on to them when he started to get nervous.
Then they moved to Inaba. How the hell was he supposed to find his soulmate in this town, this town that was entirely too small and filled with too many judgemental people? Not only that but his affectionate attitude? Ripped away as he realized how uncomfortable the residents of Inaba were with that.
He got the stares, especially from the older people, about his mark. He was able to ignore it mostly, he had been doing that his whole life anyways. That didn’t stop the whispers at school though, students would talk about how strange his mark was, why the hell it was on his forehead? Why wasn’t it normal like on his hand, why he didn’t seem to be normal with how overly affectionate he was, why he couldn’t just act like everyone else. Couple that with the shit he got over Junes, it hurt. It hurt a lot.
Eventually, he stopped caring as much, he kept his soul mark out only due to the fact that it was the only way his hair looked good. At least, that’s what he told himself. He quickly stopped his casual touching, holding back the urge. It ended up not being that hard, he didn’t have many friends in this town anyway.
Then came the transfer student, Yu Narukami was his name? He was the talk of the town, all the girls hoped he would be their soulmate, that was until they got a look at his soul mark. He hadn’t met the guy yet, wasn’t all too interested. The rumors around town spread fast though and Yosuke learned that this Narukami guy had a soul mark even stranger than his own. He severely doubted it, who’s could be stranger than his own?
Lost in his own thoughts he didn’t even notice the trashcan in front of him until it was too late. Great, now he was headfirst in the trash, and it smelled bad to make matters worse. He heard a small laugh, clearly trying to be held back, and felt his stomach drop. Great, just what he needed today, he wondered who it would be until he got himself out and was met eye to eye with an unfamiliar gray bowl cut.
“Hello…?”
‘’Hi uh- It seemed like you needed help? I guess not you got out on your own pretty well.’’ The stranger said, avoiding eye contact, ‘’I hope this isn’t a normal occurrence.’’
Yosuke struggled with words, stuck staring at the big black soul mark right under his eye. That was, indeed, one strange soul mark for a stranger to have. Does this dude get decked? What the hell can his soul mark mean? More importantly, he wasn’t staring strangely at Yosukes mark, did he not care? It had been a long time since he met someone who didn’t stare with judgment at his mark.
“You’ve been quiet for a bit, did you hit your head? Do you need to be taken to a doctor?”
Shit. Yosuke has been too lost in his thoughts and now the poor guy was worrying over him!
‘’I-I’m fine sorry, was trying to remember if I’d met you before. I’m Yosuke Hanamura, you must be the new transfer student!” Yosuke said, standing up quickly and grabbing his bag.
‘’Ah yes, you already knew? Guess this is a small town after all, I’m Yu Narukami.’’ The transfer student said, finally making eye contact with Yosuke and flashing an unforgettable grin.