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You’ve been walking all afternoon, your feet are sore beyond belief despite being encased in comfortable sneakers, and yet Haruka still wants you to go to the movies with her. It’s truly unbelievable how much stamina this girl has. She just roamed the entire Minetan Mall, one of the largest in Japan, and she still has enough energy to go watch a movie. You think she must be on a constant sugar rush or something. You protest and try to tell her that your feet can’t handle any more, but she just gives you a look, blond hair shining in the late afternoon sunlight, sky blue orbs sparkling incredulously.
“You’re wearing sneakers.” she says firmly, as if that’s reason enough for you to go on. And okay, maybe it kind of is, but you’re also really not in the mood for a movie tonight, especially not the one Haruka is dragging you to, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
It’s not because you don’t like the movie, it’s because you’ve never watched it and don’t plan on ever watching it. You live in a world where soulmates exist, where the first words you hear your soulmate say are tattooed somewhere on your arm, whether it be your wrist, finger, palm or shoulder blade. People usually get their tattoos when they turn 8, you were a special case and got yours a year later unfortunately. But you didn’t let it deter you. You had been excited, practically buzzing with eagerness and begging your parents to let you stay awake till midnight.
You had stayed up while going through Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, book four of a series you had recently started and much enjoyed. Your nine-year old heart had grown incredibly emotionally attached to all the characters, and you were so invested that you almost didn’t notice when the clock struck midnight.
But then there had been a tingling feeling spreading along your wrist, and you had put your book down, thrilled to see what sweet words would be tattooed on your arm, hoping for something like your mother’s. Hers read, “you have a really pretty smile”. The first words she heard your dad say were words that had been spoken to her. You had hoped your tattoo reflects your soulmate’s first words to you, too.
You had closed your eyes, fingers crossed, waiting for the tingling feeling to stop and the words to finish forming. And then your eyes had shot open eagerly, flipping your wrist to see your tattoo. And the result had you feeling heartbroken at first, then furious.
Your tattoo read, “Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore died” in beautiful cursive. But the words themselves were not as beautiful. They were a spoiler! You had stared at it, unblinking for a few seconds, and then the meaning of the words set in. Dumbledore was one of your favorite characters! The lovable, kooky old man! How could he just die?! And you were only on book four, why did you have to find out before?!
You hated spoilers, and you were furious at your soulmate, at the fact that the first words he said to you, or the first words you heard him say, were a spoiler. You didn’t have the heart to read book five, six, or seven after that, too scared to go through with the emotionally devastating task of actually reading about Dumbledore dying.
You explain all this to Haruka patiently and with as much emotion as you can muster, hoping your tragic soulmate story will convince her to let you go home and rest. But you should have known it would be a futile effort; it’s Haruka after all. She merely pats you on the back once or twice hurriedly as you gape at her unconcerned nature, then locks arms with you and continues dragging you down the street, your objections falling on deaf ears.
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They’re doing reruns of Harry Potter films at the Kieta Cinema this week, and Oikawa really wants to go watch the one they’re showing today. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. During his teen years, he didn’t really have much interest in anything other than volleyball and high school life was strenuous, so he didn’t have enough time anyway.
Now that he’s in university, he has a much more flexible timetable, which makes it easier to indulge in other activities and friendly outings from time to time. Kuroo recommended the Harry Potter series one day, told him he would like it. He was curious to see if he would. Oikawa still doesn’t have enough time to read the books, but he does have enough time to watch condensed versions of them. Kuroo is indignant when he hears Oikawa’s only going to watch the movies, and tells him the best experience is from the books. Oikawa, in usual Oikawa fashion, waves it off and tells him he’s too nerdy, to which Kuroo responds with a roll of his eyes.
Oikawa’s watched the first five films already, two of them in one go, and he’s found the series fascinating, the mix of magic and adventure intriguing. He especially likes watching the scenes where the characters play Quidditch, and he wouldn’t admit it, but he’s impressed that someone came up with such a sport all on their own. It still doesn’t hold a candle to volleyball, though.
He manages to drag Kuroo and Bokuto with him to the cinema, despite Kuroo’s faint reluctance, because going would mean he’s being disloyal to the books, and Bokuto’s reluctance because of the long commute, but this is the only cinema currently playing Harry Potter re-runs, and it’s the nearest. So Oikawa quells their arguments effortlessly, as one would expect. (“Tetsu-chan! Bo-kun! It’s an experience with your teammates, you know, bonding~~ We can bond during the trip too! Besides, isn’t it better to experience your favorite series in different ways?” “I mean, that is a solid argument…” “See!”)
They reach their destination just as the sun is sinking below the horizon, deep pinks and reds painting the sky, fading golden daylight dipped with orange as it creates faint dancing shadows. It’s pretty, Oikawa thinks off-handedly, not really paying much attention to the beautiful sunset as he counts the number of people in the line at the front desk of the cinema. Oikawa, Kuroo and Bokuto enter the cinema, front doors sliding open automatically, Bokuto complaining that it’s cold as a gust of cool air hits them; a result of the air conditioning.
Oikawa looks around casually as they stand in line, hands in the pockets of his navy blue hoodie. He’s only half-listening to Kuroo and Bokuto mildly bickering about which snacks to buy in front of him. Disinterested -because he knows both are going to end up going for the classic, popcorn- he takes his time looking at the neon displays in the cinema, and observing the staff workers. His attention is refocused to the doors as they slide open and two girls walk in, one of them clearly dragging the other as she covers her ears.
It’s an entertaining sight, and so he twists around a little to watch them, an amused smirk playing at his lips. There’s no one standing behind him, so he has a clear view of the two as they squabble. One of them looks like your standard bubbly blonde with a bright smile, but has the prettiest sky blue eyes, ones that are sharp and intelligently observant as they take in their surroundings, still talking to her friend as she does. Probably good at multi-tasking, he’d say.
The other has (h/c) hair, and is trying (and failing) to dig the heels of her sneakers into the ground. She has her hands clamped over her ears, probably to block out whatever the blonde is saying. Maybe the blonde is scolding her? Or she doesn’t want to go to the movies? He theorizes, eyes alert as they scan over her. Whatever, he shrugs it off a minute later. It’s of no consequence anyway. The (h/c)-haired girl looks average, not out of the ordinary in the least. As he’s about to dismiss her, something sticks out in his observations. Her eyes. They’re not the most stunning color he’s seen, but there’s something kind of alluring lurking in the depths of those (e/c) orbs. It’s attractive, he muses, thumb unconsciously running over the tattoo on his pointer finger.
They’ve come closer now. I must have been staring for a good five minutes, he realizes with a start. Bokuto and Kuroo are still arguing, debating over whether they should buy sweet or salty popcorn. Fools, Oikawa rolls his eyes somewhat fondly, you always pick butter popcorn. He’s about to voice his thoughts when he realizes the girls have stopped just a few feet behind him.
His body is still half-turned toward them, and the blonde looks at him sharply, wondering why he’s staring. There’s a challenging glint to her eyes, but she’s still talking to the girl next to her in a sing-song voice. The girl in question is still covering her ears, but she’s noticed him too and her eyes rove over him quickly before dismissing his feasibility as a threat. Astute, he thinks, one eyebrow cocked. The line becomes shorter, and he turns around, drawing forward with Kuroo and Bokuto, who have now moved on to playfully arguing about whether butter and caramel popcorn are a good combination with Coke. At least they’re on the right track.
Oikawa takes out his phone then, left hand still hidden in his hoodie pocket as he dismisses the notification from his Instagram, instead clicking on his messages app. He’s replying to a few messages from Hanamaki when he realizes the two girls are within hearing distance of him now. He can hear their conversation and he snorts quietly in amusement when he hears what they’re arguing about.
The blonde one is loudly singing out what seems to be random facts from the Harry Potter universe, but what he comes to recognize as events that happened in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Possibly spoilers? He can hear the other girl muttering something under her breath quickly, and it seems she’s trying to block out what the blonde’s saying. Maybe she didn’t watch the previous book or read the series?
This argument of theirs continues for a few minutes as the line moves up, Oikawa mindlessly scrolling through his phone, although he’s focusing more on the two arguments happening in front and behind him. It’s quite a good source of entertainment, and he’s giving Hanamaki a play-by-play account of the events, and Hanamaki’s just as entertained, even offering to audio call so he can listen.
Oikawa shoots down that idea unfortunately, saying the providers of their entertainment might find out (the line is quite cramped, although there is a lot of space). He would have texted Iwaizumi too, that would have been even more entertaining since he would have been annoyed at Oikawa, but he’s offline. (Oikawa spams him just to make sure, and he knows he’s going to get in so much trouble for all those messages later).
It’s their turn to pay for the ticket and buy snacks, and Kuroo and Bokuto have finally ceased their little argument, now grinning at each other, proud they made the right decision. They finally look toward Oikawa for his input, and he sees they’ve chosen butter popcorn, like he thought they would. Feeling a little smug that he was right, he nods and tells them it’s the right choice. They pick up their snacks and start heading toward theater room B.
The sound of argument from the two girls has ceased, he notices suddenly and looks back curiously. The blonde is looking smug as she pays for the tickets and food, chattering amiably with the cashier. The (h/c)-haired girl sees him looking, and just shrugs helplessly, a look of defeat on her face. He grins at her, and turns back slinging either arm across Kuroo’s and Bokuto’s shoulders. Looks like the blonde won.
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You’re resigned to your fate now, trudging inside theater room B with a heavy heart and heavy feet. You really, really, really don’t want to see Dumbledore die. You’ve decided you’re going to close your eyes as soon as it looks like anyone’s going to die. Haruka leads you along the rows, choosing the one just below the center. “Up-close and personal!” she grins. I don’t want to be up-close and personal when Dumbledore dies, you think sullenly.
There’s loud chatter coming a few rows in front of you. There’s not a lot of people at the cinema today, so you can see quite clearly where the noise is emanating from. It’s a group of three boys, the ones who were standing in front of you in line earlier.
You can see the backs of their heads from where you sit, black, brown, black and white all bobbing together. Your eyes fixate on the back of the brunet’s head, his hair looks fluffy from the back too, not at all messy. You’d seen him as you walked in, and you’d been immediately enamored. Because how could someone be so handsome? His perfectly coiffed brown locks, deep chocolate brown eyes, high cheekbones, and a smile playing at his lips. His soulmate would be so lucky, you think wistfully.
You’d seen him staring at you earlier, at first thinking it was weird he was looking at you, then seeing the curiosity in his eyes, realized he was probably staring at the whole mess that was you and Haruka. You had torn your gaze away from his then, not wanting to be caught staring.
You did peek at him in between a few times when Haruka had been occupied (with her phone, to search up more spoilers), always making sure to study his expression, so you could look away when you knew he’d look toward you. It wasn’t that you were being creepy, he just radiated this aura that made people want to look at him. It wasn’t just his looks, you noted, but you couldn’t quite grasp what else it was.
The movie starts then, and the beginning intro with the Harry Potter logo shows up. All thoughts of the brunet disappear as you focus on the movie, because despite your reluctance, you know the film is going to be epic.
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You’re left sitting there with your mouth wide open as the credits roll out. The entire theater is silent, the ending scene of the movie sinking in, and then there’s a burst of chatter as the lights turn on, everyone shielding their eyes quickly.
In the end, you had to look at the Dumbledore death scene. You couldn’t tear your eyes away. And knowing what was going to happen (courtesy of your soulmate) did prepare you for it a little, but didn’t soften the blow.
It seems Haruka was surprised by the scene too, because she’s gushing about it now, especially Draco Malfoy and his troubles. He’s always been her favorite, inexplicably. You’re listening to her chatter as she walks ahead a little, adding a few comments here and there as you head up. You’re moving without really looking, and then you hear it. The words. “Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore died.”
You start in shock, Haruka looking at you in concern. Recognizing the sound came from behind you, you whirl around and shout furiously, “You! You’re the one!” You blink in surprise as you realize you’ve come face to face with the brunet, his friends flanking him on the step behind.
His chocolate brown eyes are wide in surprise, but then recognition settles in as he breaks out into a wide smile. It’s blinding, to say the very least. “That’s not how I imagined this conversation going, but I’ll take it.” he says teasingly.
You take a step back to put some distance in between yourselves. He notices, eyes assessing you quickly, but merely smiles amusedly, choosing not to speak about it. “At least your tattoo was much better than mine. Mine was a spoiler! I hadn’t even finished the fourth book when the tattoo showed up.” You scowl, recalling the frustration you felt, but it’s weak, without as much emotion.
He laughs, and extends a hand out to shake yours. You go to shake it as he says, “Well, let me take you out to make up for it. There’s a café next to the cinema?” He’s smiling charmingly, brown eyes twinkling invitingly. He takes the hand that’s clasped with his, and entwines it with his own, ignoring the slight snickering coming from behind him, courtesy of the black-haired guy.
You flush slightly, but tell him you’ll go as long as he buys you scones to make up for the hit your nine-year old heart took. His eyes flicker with something akin to mirth as he agrees, and then he leads you out, asking about your favorite color, song, movie, everything. You’re barely keeping up and you nudge his shoulder, telling him to slow down as he laughs at you. You don’t know him, but you feel at ease, comfortable, even as you joke, “Wow, I can’t believe my soulmate’s teasing me already, after dropping that huge spoiler on me when I was just nine.” “Guilt-tripping never works on me, (Name)-chan~~” “I need a different soulmate.” “Rude, (Name)-chan!”
~~~>>
“They’re like an old, married couple already.” Haruka giggles, gazing fondly at her friend. “At least Oikawa’s met his match.” Kuroo says, snickering as he watches you prod Oikawa’s shoulder as you blush, Oikawa laughing and apologizing as you scowl. Bokuto doesn’t reply, so he looks to his right to see him staring at Haruka, blushing. Understanding what happened, Kuroo snickers again. “That has got to be the weirdest soulmate tattoo ever.” Then he realises he’s the only one who hasn’t found his soulmate yet, and he groans as he leaves the other two and slinks out of the room. Why am I the last one, ugh.