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It’s not Tendou’s fault that he had a growing collection of dead leaves piling up beside his doorframe. He was just at the short end of the stick when it came to what his soulmate decided to bond with- which was apparently plants most of the time. His soulmate was decided by fate three years ago- when he was ten years old, a few months after his birthday.
His soulmate was definitely younger than him, as you’re paired with your soulmate when the younger of the two turns ten years old. Tendou was so going to hold it over his soulmate’s head about how he’s the older of the two. He just hopes that his soulmate doesn’t think of him as a monster like everyone else does.
Otherwise, he’d definitely smother his soulmate in hugs when he finds them. What a dream-come-true this world was. A fated lover, platonic or not, decided for you that you are at least 73% compatible with according to studies conducted across the world. Tendou just knew that his soulmate would be perfect. Well, as perfect as someone who constantly is building bonds with just about every plant out there could be. And there’s six new leaves on his bed.
Tendou didn’t mind it too much. It just added to his mystery lover’s personality. They never really “lost” things as much as they just left the simple parts of their gardening escapades on the soil to be forgotten soon after. Tendou knows this for a fact as throughout his entire junior high career so far, he has only found one lost pencil from his soulmate. One pencil. Tendou has lost at least eighteen in the past year as he keeps leaving them on his desk next to his sketchbook and then they roll off to Narnia- more like his soulmate’s common places, but he likes the exaggeration.
Tendou has lost a hell of a lot more stuff then his fated pairing had, even with the countless amount of rotting leaves and blades of grass he keeps finding. Tendou has lost at least seven sketchbooks and he’s lost his shoes countless times. His soulmate only loses the grass he accidentally clips or an entire cucumber that one time. Very few and far between does his soulmate lose things of actual value.
Tendou sighed through his nose as he tumbled out of his blanket and hastily grabbed the leaves and threw them at the growing pile beside his door. He had to constantly dump the entire pile out back through his window once a week. At first his parents were mad at him for keeping the leaves until they found out the rate in which they appear. At all times but when Tendou was sleeping was when leaves would appear. On his bed, in his hair, at school, just wherever he’s at a lot of the time or just somewhere on his body.
He grabbed his phone and tugged it until the cord finally pulled out of the port. It’d definitely damage his charging cord, but he gets a new one bimonthly with how much he keeps on losing it. His soulmate must be covered in charging cables by now. They’d probably never have to buy one in their life if Tendou kept losing them at the current rate he was now.
Tendou lightly shoved the leaf pile away from his door as it had started to accumulate in front of it instead of beside it, and he exited his room to go down to his living room. He wasn’t going to go outside- just because it was summer break doesn’t mean he’d willingly go out in the sun. He’s just too pale and apathetic for that. He plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV to some rom com heteronormative witch show that had a basic plot. It didn’t matter- he wasn’t paying much attention. He just wanted background noise.
He scrolled through his social media as the TV played on in the background, more leaves accumulated around him as his plant-lover soulmate decided to trim leaves at all times of the day. Either they were killing their plants or they had a really, really extensive garden. Is that a tomato on the side table?
Tendou glanced up from his phone to see a ripe tomato just sitting on the side table. It was a glossy red and had a very small and light skid mark of where it had probably tumbled out of view.
“Ah, one of those few rare times, eh?” Tendou joked to himself.
He picked it up and put it in the fridge with a sticky note under it to not eat it unless his parents craved death for desert. Tendou knew that the crops and plants his fated pair grew were just astounding in every way, shape, and form. He had eaten one cucumber, two tomatoes, some carrots, some celery, and very few more of their crops and they are absolutely top tier in his mind. He wished all produce in stores worldwide were replaced with his soulmate’s crops and plants.
He cleaned up the leaves that had spawned around him and just threw them out the backdoor. He got himself a nice mug of coffee to enjoy as he switched the TV to something he actually liked- Bob Ross.
꧁꧂
Tendou shoved his sketchbook away from him as he was too pissed off at the design he had to make for an art project for his ninth grade “interpretation project.” He was supposed to use pointillism and “describe” his interpretation of a plant. He was going with a tomato plant (he won’t tell anyone that it’s because his soulmate deals mainly with tomatoes) and had it with a ton of twists and heart shaped everything to represent how he mainly knows of their structure because his soulmate keeps giving him leaves of tomato plants.
It’s art, people will interpret it as whatever they want. He just wanted his sketch to make more sense so that he could start his final copy. He knew what colors and shapes and thicknesses he’s going to use, he just needs to figure out the goddamn design. He peeked back over to see a tomato leaf had appeared in exactly the same place as one of the ones in the drawing. The sketch still didn’t make enough sense to him to make out enough to figure out a more clean sketch.
“For fuck’s sake-“ Tendou let his face fall onto the polished wood of his desk. He hated this project for the sketching phase alone. And pointillism. Pointillism is absolute hell. He picked his head back up and searched for his red colored-pencil only to not be able to find it.
“So I guess we traded off?” He looked pointedly down at the few more leaves that had appeared on his desk. He gets leaves while his soulmate gets his sketching pencil. Nice.
Tendou was about to pull out another pencil when a piece of paper appeared in his hair. Downfall of gelling his hair up, it becomes a nest for anything his soulmate loses. He tugs the paper out to find a diagram of a tomato plant.
“Hello?” Tendou called out to the open air. “Mister or Miss or Mix soulmate of mine- are ya telepathic or something?” When he got no response he just looked down towards the labeled diagram of the plant he was trying oh so desperately to draw. Why didn’t he think of googling a diagram earlier? He’ll never know. At least he has one now.
“Thanks, fated pair of mine.” Tendou thanked his unknowing soulmate.
He taped the diagram down near the top left corner of his desk, noticing some smudge marks on the drawing. They must be left-handed if they had gotten that much smudges. He referenced off of the diagram for a new sketch of his interpretation and managed to complete the sketch very lightly onto a final-product-paper. He’d leave the pointillism for tomorrow.
Just as he got up to store the paper into a secure place, he felt a tomato fall onto his head.
“Just how much shit are ya losing today, oh dear soulmate of thou?” He joked around.
He picked up the tomato and realized too late that it had a tear in it caused by falling from such “great heights” and he accidentally spilled the tomato’s seeds and guts onto his floor.
“Well fuck you too!” He picked up and tossed the tomato into his small garbage bin. He grabbed a wash rag and cleaned up the mess and then mopped his floor. He didn’t want it to be sticky. Tendou is more pissed off because he knows that those tomatoes and food his soulmate grows are absolutely delicious, and he really had been craving their produce lately.
He put away the rest of his drawing supplies, noticing another pencil had disappeared. He needed to stop losing his goddamn pencils of all things. They’re his main medium of drawing and art. He always had acrylics, but those are a pain in the ass in their own way. Plus, he just loses his paintbrushes anyways.
“Yo soulmate! Please gimme some of that food you be growin’. I’ve been craving it and your tomato exploded.” Tendou attempted to plead with the fates of his soulmate’s lost items. He was very surprised when a few hours later he found a fresh soulmate-specialty cucumber on his nightstand.
“Am I God?” Tendou legitimately questioned himself while staring at the produce residing next to his lamp.
꧁꧂
The sun looked really pretty as Tendou walked home from a day in the park. He needed inspiration and the park was always his go-to. He was just enjoying a lovely walk on the pavement that was almost barren of other humans. Except for he heard a branch scrape against the pavement behind him.
He turned around and saw the motherfucker slither towards him, its speed gradually picking up. Tendou took one deep breath and then took off.
“Jesus Fucking Christ!” He screamed as he continued running, the snake wasn’t that far behind.
This wasn’t his first rodeo, you see. His dear fated mate had multiple times “lost” snakes or turtles or just strays in general and Tendou always had to deal with the aftermath. When he finally meets his soulmate, he’s gonna give them a talking-to about losing snakes of all things. Tendou didn’t even bother to check if it was venomous or not- he doesn’t care at this point, he just knows that he’s not going to let it bite him no matter what.
“Just who the fuck loses a snake!?” He exclaimed as he entered his house, panting and out of breath. At least it hadn’t spawned in his bed like last time. That was absolute hell and caused his utter paranoia for the rest of his life. He now feared snakes with an inch of his life and he would run on the spot if he saw one. He slipped off his shoes and crashed into his armchair. He needed a break from these wild animals. It was his last month of break before he had to start high school and he had to deal with this shit? Nuh-uh.
He flipped on the TV to the news, talking about how someone claimed a bomb in their possession to be one of his soulmate’s lost items.
“Who loses a bomb!? Wait- my soulmate loses snakes of all things so I can’t blame them, I guess…” Tendou sighed, he’s tempted to “purposefully” lose a tarantula just to scare his soulmate. If he has to deal with snakes, they can deal with giant spiders.
Although if Tendou loses a tarantula he’d have to set it loose. Yeah, he wasn’t gonna deal with that. Touché, soulmate. He switched the channel to some volleyball match being recorded live. It was kinda interesting, Tendou guessed. He might join the volleyball club when he started high school for an extracurricular- he used to play for a bit, but ended up quitting because of the amount of bullies he faced. He doesn’t like being called a monster just because he has intuition, so he just quit.
He’d need a great reason to join the team if he decided to in, Tendou checked the date on his phone, one month. He really needed to apply to a high school soon, just which one? He’d decide that later. He still needed to calm down from the snake incident that had happened earlier. He literally had a lot of snake venom antibiotics because of the one time he was bitten by a venomous snake his dear ol’ fated pair had lost.
The game wasn’t that interesting, it was a match between Nekoma and Ohgiminami, it was pretty pathetic to be honest. Nekoma was ten points ahead and Ohgiminami’s libero wasn’t that good. He wished he could just go in there and be a middle blocker for Ohgiminami to help them at least come close to winning. Tendou could point out more mistakes than the amount of fingers and toes he has on his body.
He sighed and switched the channel yet again to another volleyball live coverage. This time it’s Shiratorizawa against some other nobody team. Shiratorizawa was filled with tall guys with a lot of power and prowess. He might join them just because their team is good, he doesn’t know if his own skills could compare though.
Tendou nearly jumped out of the chair as he suddenly felt a furry presence make its way to his lap. He peered down and saw a slightly underfed, clearly stray calico cat. He settled back into his seat and sighed while slowly rubbing its head. His soulmate needs to stop getting attached to animals- Tendou was the one getting the brunt of it. He already had to let go of a different stray the other week, he’d have to beg his parents and give them commissions and whatnot to keep the cutie that was purring in his lap.
“I wonder what’s your name, hmm?” Tendou talked to the cat as if its conscious could comprehend his words.
“Mmmm… What about…” Tendou wracked his brain for a name that wasn’t popular or common. “What about ‘Mesopotamia?’” Tendou picked up the cat and stared at it in the face. At first he meant it as a joke, but now he just thought it’d be kind of cool, albeit silly.
“Yeah. You’re ‘Mesopotamia’ now, got it?” The cat purred, “Good kitty.” Oh gods, now he hoped that his parents would let him keep it this time. Tendou had gotten attached to this stray that his soulmate had lost and now he just needs to keep it.
He put Mesopotamia back on his lap and prepared his speech in his head. He needed it to have just the right amount of begging, selfishness, and persistence. And maybe a bit of crying and just a smidge of gaslighting. Yeah, he has the perfect words for when his parents finally come home.
꧁꧂
Ushijima had begun to wrack his brain to figure out where his hedge trimmers were, as he was in charge of taking care of the bushes out front and the extensive garden out back. He sighed- he really needed to stop losing his things as of late. His dad was putting him under a lot of pressure to become a major-league level volleyball player when he was only fifteen and just trying to get into high school.
He knew that his hedge trimmers were now in the possession of his soulmate, they must be surprised at the increased rate of the things he was losing. He hated stress with a passion, but it prevails with all the pressure people put on him. At least he had gardening as an outlet. Although it was pretty hard to garden when he kept losing his tools and diagrams. His soulmate must already be sick of the random leaves and dirt that he accidentally bonds with- stray animals too.
He ultimately couldn’t do anything about it, so he just grabbed his wallet and slipped on some outdoor shoes. He quietly slid out the front door and walked to the nearest gardening shop. It was just a small quaint family owned shop that liked to help out with fellow gardeners around the area. It was by far his favorite shop in the town.
He walked in, grabbed the stuff he needed for replacements, and quickly made his way back home to catch up on his task. It was always peaceful, albeit a tad dreadful with the amount of leaves he “loses” in the process. Either way, it was a well deserved break from studying and volleyball practice. He just let his thoughts lie dead and left his head empty and clipped the bushes where he needed to.
It was therapeutic. Well it was, until his dad interrupted.
“Wakatoshi! You need to practice more so that you can become the ace of Shiratorizawa.” Ushijima’s dad came up behind him, volleyball in hand.
Ushijima turned and nodded. He put away his gear and changed his outfit to just a t-shirt and shorts. He probably did need the practice after all, high school started in a week’s time.
꧁꧂
To normal people, the gates of Shiratorizawa might’ve seemed daunting, but to Ushijima, he wasn’t surprised or scared if he was honest. His dad had prepared him for the school and the dormitory and everything. His stuff was already moved in, save for the few extra sentimental items he had on his person. Just some books and his plant diagrams that he had to remake a few times.
Ushijima looked down at his schedule for his room number, while he was prepared, he hadn’t memorized the school layout yet. He wondered who his roommate would be. Hopefully someone who wasn’t that talkative or extroverted, he wanted some peace at the very least. Plus, he was very socially inept.
He marched into his room after spending about ten minutes looking for it. He definitely needed to learn the layout of the school- it was massive. He wondered if he would meet his soulmate here. He didn’t know much about them except that they’re an artist and that they either had a pen name, last name, or first name of “Tenori.” They’re art was really good in Ushijima’s eyes.
Ushijima set his stuff down on one of the desks that he had claimed as his earlier, it was the one closer to the window. He’ll wait until his roommate arrived to decide on who got top bunk and who got bottom bunk. He hoped that he could have the bottom bunk, he wasn’t too fond of top bunks since he accidentally fell out of one and sprained his ankle when he was seven. That was very unpleasant.
He was sorting the items on the desk and putting away the things he didn’t need into the drawers when he heard the door open. He looked over to see a redhead who’s hair had defied gravity. He was slouching and carrying two boxes that covered his face plus what seemed to be a heavy art portfolio on his back. Ushijima set his stuff down and immediately offered to help.
“Hi! Uhh, thanks new roommate!” The redhead had replied enthusiastically.
“I’m Ushijima Wakatoshi. And no problem,” He replied monotonously.
“Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you my name- I’m Tendou Satori!” Tendou had said back in a tone that completely contrasted Ushijima’s. “So who has top bunk and who has bottom? I’d prefer top bunk if possible.”
Ushijima made a small sigh of relief, “Then the top bunk is yours. I was waiting for you to decide the sleeping arrangements.”
“Well I hope you didn’t wait long,” Tendou turned around to set down the portfolio with a grunt. He then grabbed one of the boxes and revealed it to only contain a various assortment of manga.
Ushijima went back to sorting his desk. He’s surprised that he hadn’t found a lost pencil from his soulmate yet. Those are usually abundant. He was close to just searching his desk for “new” pencils.
“Huh,” Tendou spoke up from his desk. “I’m usually surrounded by leaves at this time- ehh they’re probably starting high school as well.”
Ushijima looked over, “Surrounded by leaves?”
“Yeah. My soulmate is probably a gardener or something because they keep on,” he had put his hands up in the air quotes motion,” ‘losing’ leaves because they bond with plants or trees a lot. I actually had a pile of them at my door because of the rate they kept on ‘losing’ them.” He laughed softly, a fond look prominent in him.
Ushijima let out a small chuckle. His roommate’s soulmate must be like him with a lot of plants and an extensive garden. “Mine keeps losing their pencils and sometimes their art even.”
“Ooh, an artist. I better meet them once you do, I need more art friends,” Tendou replied in jest.
“Sure.” Ushijima wasn’t sure if he could keep the promise, but he could humor the redhead.
“So why are you here?” Tendou questioned, completely done with his desk and now leaning on it.
“I had gotten in on a volleyball recommendation, you?” Ushijima threw the conversation back at the other male.
“I had to take the entrance exams, but I’m also interested in the volleyball team here. You got lucky- the exams are absolute hell,” Tendou shuddered. “Imma go explore the school- I still haven’t gotten it all memorized in me ol’ noggin yet.
See ya!” With that, he took off.
Ushijima’s new roommate was… lively, he guessed. Well, that would put it lightly. More like eccentric. Yeah, eccentric. He was interesting and he also liked volleyball so he guessed that they would get along. Only time could tell.
꧁꧂
Volleyball tryouts had gone well for Tendou. He wouldn’t be in the starting lineup, but he knew that would be there in no time if his guess blocking skills were put to the test. His blocks were accurate and speedy- nothing anyone could match. Ushijima was doing better, he was already a regular and he was well on his way to becoming the ace of the team.
Tendou shuffled into his dorm as quiet as he could with a microwave in his arms. There might’ve been regulations against having food in the dorms, but Tendou needed his instant ramen. He was gonna make sure that he kept the dorm clean- he didn’t want to inconvenience Ushijima with his antics.
When he set the microwave down on top of a wheeled table with a loud “thud,” his roommate spoke up.
“We aren’t allowed food in the dorms,” he spoke monotonously as he always did.
“I don’t like taking breaks while I’m drawing. Besides, I’m not gonna use it that much, I have a really low appetite,” Tendou said his prepared reply.
“Alright. Just don’t get me in trouble for it.”
“No worries!” Tendou exclaimed, just to be told to quiet down by Ushijima. They already had a noise complaint filed about them.
“Sorry,” Tendou rubbed the back of his neck. He sat down at his desk, just to realize that his pencil was lost. He let his face fall to the desk like he had done many times before.
“Here,” Ushijima muttered as he slid Tendou’s pencil on the desk. “It was beside my bed for some reason.”
“It probably rolled off… again…” Tendou sighed and thanked the taller male, pulling out a graphite drawing he was working on earlier that day, before he decided to just go out and buy and smuggle in a microwave. He honestly didn’t know how he pulled it off. People just ignored him even though he was carrying a large 1200 watt microwave.
The drawing was of a tomato plant. After he had drawn one for his junior high project, he decided to practice drawing them until he could do it without any reference. He was almost at that point really, he just needed to remember how to detail the dirt and leaves. Making them look soft yet firm was always the hardest part.
He almost gave in and pulled out his laptop, but then Ushijima rolled his chair to the corner of Tendou’s desk. One of the things Tendou was glad for, he and Ushijima became friends really quickly, and they were pretty comfortable with each other. Well Tendou made Ushijima accustomed to his constant invasion of personal space early on- so it was a given.
“Tomato plants are pretty easy to draw once you figure out the trick to the small hairs on the leaves and how to shade the dirt. Use small and light flicks just above the actual leaf. For the dirt, just fill it in with a light grey and then add black under the loose specs and in the places it overlaps,” he said without a single stutter.
Tendou followed his instructions as Ushijima watched for the next twenty minutes and he ended up with the final product- it actually looked very realistic. “Woah… Thanks, Wakatoshi-kun!” Tendou leaped over and hugged him- just to quickly pull back. He had never done that before and he didn’t want to make Ushijima uncomfortable.
“No problem, I had to redraw tomato plant diagrams multiple times because I kept losing them,” he explained.
“That must be a pain. My soulmate did that too actually- it’s pretty much why I’m drawing it in the first place.” Saying that had just reminded Tendou of how he hadn’t received any leaves since the beginning of high school. He slumped over, “Speaking of my soulmate, I haven’t received any lost items since the start of high school. I actually miss the leaves to be honest.”
“I haven’t received anything from my soulmate either, but our soulmates are probably in high school too. They probably don’t have time to lose things,” Ushijima rationalized.
“Yeah, but I should’ve at least received a lost pencil, or paper, or- just something!” He had started to spiral. He really missed the constant reminder of his soulmate.
Ushijima patted his back, “It’s okay. You’ll probably find something of theirs soon.”
Tendou sighed, but appreciated the comfort. “You’re right, I’ll just focus on school until then. And manga. Manga’s good.”
Ushijima let out a small chuckle and went to stand up as Tendou leaned over to sign his piece. When Ushijima looked at the signature he almost let out a gasp. “Tenori,” was what the signature had read.
“Here, Wakatoshi! You can have it since you’ve helped me figure out how to draw tomato plants,” Tendou tilted his head when he saw the pure look of shock on his roommate’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Ushijima quickly composed himself, “It’s nothing. Thank you, Satori.” He took the drawing with shaky hands.
꧁꧂
Ushijima had no idea what to do with this information. He could tell Tendou, but that might ruin their friendship, or it could just make things very awkward. He didn’t want to lose his best friend. He didn’t even know if Tendou was gay- or worse, what if he was homophobic? But based on studies, soulmates are 73% compatible at the very least. So he shouldn’t be worrying, right?
He still worried anyway. He just was in a constant state of shock with the new information that his roommate- his best friend, was his soulmate. He wished he had gardening to calm him down now. Sadly there was a “no plant” policy. He could smuggle in a plant or two like how Tendou smuggled in a microwave, he guessed. Yeah. He’d just do something out of character and break a rule.
So that was why he was at the plant store. He needed some plants, pronto. He was looking between flowers and produce. He’d get more out of the produce, but the flowers were aesthetically pleasing.
He decided on tomatoes. The plant that had damned him. Why did he have to be the one to figure it out? He wasn’t good when it came to romance, or love, or soulmates. He was very uneducated. He just sighed while he carried a box that secretly contained potting material and gardening tools. He’d just make a small window garden, he’s sure that Tendou wouldn’t mind.
He was only questioned by a classmate to which he responded that his parents had found some stuff he might’ve wanted from his room. It was a plausible excuse, they were only a month into the school year. Ushijima made it to his dorm. Tendou was there, drawing another tomato plant at his desk. It’s been a week since he had found out and the guilt was eating him alive.
But he wouldn’t fold and just tell Tendou. Their friendship was more important than their soulmates. Tendou looked over at him as he put down the box. Ushijima didn’t say anything, he just quietly cleared the window of any dust and set up the pots. He’d only gotten three as there wasn’t much space, but it’d do.
“Whaddya got there, Wakatoshi-kun?” Tendou peeped from right behind him, seeming to have snuck up on him.
“Making a window garden,” Ushijima replied firmly.
“It’s very unlike you to break rules, Wakatoshi-kun,” the redhead stated, clearly amused.
“I miss my garden at home,” Ushijima said, not wanting to go further into explanation of how it was his way of dealing with stress.
“Tomatoes, hmm? I bet I had some influence on your decision,” Tendou stated, ending with a small laugh. His laugh was pretty cute if Ushijima was honest.
No. No, no, no. He couldn’t be thinking like this. He needed to keep their friendship- but studies proved that they would be compatible- but 73% compatibility still means a 27% incompatibility. Ushijima wouldn’t ruin this.
“Tomatoes are my favorite plant. Influence or not, I still would have picked them,” Ushijima replied, as cool as ever. His personality wasn’t that hard to maintain. It was pretty hard for him to break character, to be honest.
“Ooh, I like all kinds of produce- especially the ones my soulmate grows! They’re the best!” Tendou exclaimed, now smiling at the thought of his soulmate’s vegetables, fruit, and gords.
Ushijima stood as still as stone. He needed to stop hearing about Tendou’s soulmate- it was him after all. He just needed to take some breaths. He somehow broke out of the static that he felt trapped in for a moment. He just needed to breathe and push through.
“Your soulmate must be a great gardener then,” he replied as much in character as he could.
“Yeah! I feel really guilty whenever their produce hits the floor or if it spawns in an unsanitary area. It’s kinda funny actually,” he was doing that thing where he rubbed the back of his neck and pulled at the bottom of his gelled hair. Tendou actually felt embarrassed. Ushijima wanted to tell him that it was cute that he did that, but he remained composed.
“Hm,” Ushijima gave him a sign of acknowledgement.
He finished setting up everything, now he just needed to water the soil. He got lucky that the sun hit the plants just right. He was going to need these tomatoes to grow so that his stress relieving method actually worked.
꧁꧂
Tendou was ecstatic that Ushijima was growing tomatoes. He loved home-grown food and plants. They tasted better- you could taste the “love” grown into them. But ecstatic or not, he was still running late to volleyball practice. He needed to rush to his dorm to put his art supplies there and then rush to the gym, which were very far apart. He’d probably just be about six minutes late if his guess was correct.
And correct it was. He quickly made it to the changing rooms and changed into some practice gear. It was just a week since Ushijima had brought in the tomatoes, meaning a month and a week into the school year. Yet Tendou was still running late for volleyball practice.
He rushed out, hoping to dodge the coach and just slip into warmups, but of course, he wasn’t so lucky. The coach called him out and scolded him and then let him go do warmups. He would have to do fifty laps around the school after practice though. Tendou just shrugged it off- he had pulled this shit before and he would probably do it again. No point in complaining.
Tendou slipped in next to Ushijima, wanting to start up a conversation about the latest issue of Shonen Jump. It wasn’t that great, literally all the chapters featured were fillers. Ushijima was more interested in the ads anyways, so talking about the actual features just ended up with Tendou poking fun at Ushijima’s interest in the ads.
Volleyball practice went well, but Tendou had to stay after to complete his laps. He really should have a bigger appetite with how much he did stuff like this, but alas, he just had to end up completely winded from running. When he entered the locker room, Ushijima was still there for some reason.
“Sup, Wakatoshi-kun. Whatcha doin’?” Tendou asked while changing out of his practice gear.
“I’ve seemed to have lost my coat, have you seen it anywhere?” came Ushiten’s quick reply.
Tendou looked around the room, he didn’t see it near or in any of the lockers. He was about to reply with a “No, I haven’t,” when he found the coat beside the bench he was sitting on. He picked up the coat and handed it to the taller male with a loud, “Here ya go!” and waited for Ushijima to put it on so that they could head out together.
It had become routine at that point to walk back to the dorms with each other- it made sense, they did share a dorm. Ushijima seemed more hesitant than usual when he walked up to Tendou so that they could start their walk though.
“You okay, Wakatoshi-kun? Ya seem kinda down,” Tendou voiced his thoughts. He was walking ahead so he turned around and was now effectively walking backwards, his arms spread out as if he was balancing himself.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry, Satori-san,” he replied curtly.
Now Tendou was suspicious. Normally Ushijima didn’t add a suffix to his name. He was going to prod more, but the look on Ushijima’s face told him that it was something he wasn’t comfortable talking about, so Tendou just responded with a “If ya say so,” and then proceeded to change the topic to how the art teacher was complaining about all the tomato plants he was drawing.
“I just wanna learn how to draw them completely from memory! She’s mad that they’ve been my subject for the past three projects about shading and Impressionism- plus my logo for my sketchbook- annnndddd now I see her problem,” Tendou said as they entered the dorm building.
Ushijima didn’t add much to the conversation like always- Tendou usually carried the conversation, but he didn’t mind. He was just glad that someone would listen and put up with his antics. Plus, that meant Tendou could ramble on for as long as he liked without being interrupted. It was pretty nice.
When they reached their room, the first thing Tendou took a note of was his shortage of instant ramen. He dropped his bag off beside his desk and pulled out his phone to set a reminder for the weekend to smuggle in more. It sucked how much stuff he and his roommate had to smuggle in. They couldn’t use the “my parents found some stuff and sent it over” excuse every time. People would get suspicious.
Tendou sat in his chair and spun around in it for a bit. He needed to start on a new art project, but he also wanted to bring up Ushijima’s strange behavior from earlier. He stopped spinning when the chair faced towards the bunk beds. Ushijima was thinking hard about something, but Tendou knew he couldn’t pry. It was that look Ushijima had when he was upset or worried about something he really didn’t wanna talk about. Just slightly off from his usual worry face.
Tendou just swiveled back to face his desk and opened his laptop to pull up the art assignment. “ Interpretation Project: Draw something that has multiple layers. It could be anything so long as it’s not literal, and you draw it on a grid and use different methods and mediums for each square. It should be on an 8x10 piece of paper with each square being one inch thick with a one inch border around the whole drawing. Good luck!! :) ”
He hated this project. Something that had multiple layers? Like paper? An art program? Tomato plants? Wait, wait, wait. He could definitely use tomato plants here. Just to spite his teacher. But it’s an interpretation project, so it can’t be something literal. She even said so in the email. Just what could he draw?
He looked around the room, but to no avail. All ideas he had were just too literal. And he couldn’t do the human mind- that’s too obvious. He needed something more obscure. He saw a leaf spawn next to his sketchbook. That was something he hadn’t seen happen in about a month. He picked up the leaf and stared at it for a few moments. What if he made an interpretation of the ideas of soulmates. It’d definitely be more abstract than his usual work, but it’d be pretty original. And if it wasn’t original as an idea, he could just make it original in how it’s represented. Better than he could with “personalities,” or “the human mind,” as the subject. But before he started…
“Wakatoshi-kun! I finally got a leaf from my soulmate for the first time in like,” he paused for dramatic effect, “ever!”
Ushijima looked over from where he was having what seemed to be a midlife crisis at fifteen. “Good for you.”
Tendou just beamed and spun around in his chair one more time before pulling out a sheet of paper to start on his project. He hoped Ushijima would feel better soon, even if he couldn’t help him out of that “midlife crisis.”
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The teacher liked his finished product to say the least; she gave him full marks plus a snide comment about tomatoes. Tendou came rushing back into his dorm with the graded worksheet, about to yell to Ushijima the news. It took his teacher five weeks to grade his paper- she might have as well been an English teacher with how long she takes to grade assignments.
“Wakatoshi-kun! Wakatoshi-kun! Guess what finally came back,” Tendou exclaimed to the younger male, now heaving from sprinting across campus.
“Your art project?” Ushijima replied, as calm as always.
“Yes! My art project! She gave me full marks!” Tendou yelled back, jumping into his swivel chair. He did a few good victory spins and then turned to face Ushijima who was on his own bed.
“She said that it’s nothing she’s ever seen before- that it was really original. Plus- she’s really glad that I didn’t put in tomatoes this time.” He finished his statement with a lopsided grin.
“Good job.” Ah, leave it to Ushijima to have plain or bland responses. Tendou didn’t mind though. To him, that statement meant everything.
“Thanks!” He spun around once more, before getting motion sick and getting up and doubling over. “Fucken hell. I need to stop spinning in that chair.”
“Yes. You should probably stop doing that,” came Ushijima’s reply. He’s gotten better; he wasn’t acting depressed or as if he was in a midlife crisis anymore.
“Shush, you,” Tendou retorted playfully.
He sat back down in his chair and drummed his fingers on the arm of it. The leaves had been appearing again, but they were only tomato leaves- most likely from the window garden they had been running. Tendou was starting to feel more depressed as the reality hit that maybe he wouldn’t be notified of his soulmate’s existence for the rest of high school. No more leaves, no more produce- he wouldn’t miss the snakes, but the sentiment was still there.
Speaking of random animals given to him courtesy of his soulmate, he really missed Mesopotamia. His cat that his parents had let him keep. Tendou had gotten really lucky with his sob story about how he got chased by a snake. He trusted his parents to take care of the feline, so he wasn’t too worried, but he needed more pics to boast about the kitty.
His phone dinged.
“I swear, I am literally God. I need to get a cult following- I literally control the universe!” Tendou exclaimed. The notification was an image of Mesopotamia curled up in the pile of dead leaves that he had forgotten to throw out when he left. His parents left them there; it was Mesopotamia’s favorite place to nap.
“Just like the last time I reminded you,Satori. You are not a god just because a coincidence happened,” He set his textbook down. “And you definitely do not need a cult following to help inflate your ego.”
“Ah, blunt and stern as always, Wakatoshi-kun,” Tendou replied nonchalantly, making another spin before jumping out of the chair and using one of the poles of the bunk bed as support. He somehow still felt like he was going to throw up.
“Ah shit-“ his stomach felt like it was twisting in ways that were simply impossible and he started heaving. “I think I’ve attained motion sickness.” His face felt green.
Ushijima got up from his position and took Tendou’s arm and led him into the bathroom over to the toilet. “Please don’t throw up on the floor,” his tone lacked any sympathy, but the sentiment was with the way he stayed and slowly rubbed the redhead’s back. Good thing his hair was gelled up- he wouldn’t have to pull it back when he threw up.
“Don’t worry Wakatoshi-kun- you know how low my appetite is. I probably have nothing to even throw up in the first pla- fuck-“ Tendou’s face contorted into a really painful expression. Ushijima continued his small but helpful ministrations.
Tendou started breathing through only his mouth, just dry heaving at this point. He leaned more over the toilet just to lean back. “I probably need to eat something by that logic then.”
He stood up, albeit very wobbly and with the help of Ushijima. His face burned as bright as some of the tomatoes in the windowsill. He slowly made his way to the stack of instant ramen by his desk, just to be led away by Ushijima, and was seated on his roommate’s bed. Ushijima then took up the task of following the instructions on the instant ramen cup and putting it into the microwave after filling it with water.
“Thanks, Wakatoshi-kun. Sorry for distracting you from your studies though,” Tendou sighed at the end of his apology. He really hated it when he had to let Ushijima take care of him. It had happened more times than not. He wasn’t proud of it, but Ushijima didn’t seem to mind.
Tendou curled up on the bed; half out of pain and half out of emotions. He just wanted both to stop. He shifted again as his knee was two seconds from dislocating when he felt a pencil on the bed. He thought it was just Ushijima’s when he remembered that he only used mechanical pencils- never the smooth round ones without erasers.
Tendou picked it up just as the microwave beeped, causing him to toss it out of his own hands in utter surprise. But as he looked at the floor where it landed, he could see his quality grade, greatly saturated, magenta colored pencil. He had lost that when it rolled off his desk two days ago. Why would it be in his roommate’s bed?
He didn’t get to think about it for too long before Ushijima came back with the ramen and a set of chopsticks from Tendou’s desk. Tendou didn’t know how he found those chopsticks, Tendou had lost them only a few hours before classes had started when he was rearranging his desk for the nth time. It took Tendou approximately four seconds to connect the dots.
Holy shit- Ushijima was his soulmate!? But how? It would explain the leaves- he did mention having a garden at home. Plus that time he helped him with his tomato plant drawing. Or even the midlife crisis situation in general. Wait- did he know!?
Tendou looked at Ushijima, uncomfortably making eye contact. Ushijima gave him that questioning gaze. It looked like the normal everyday Ushijima, but his head was tilted just ever-so-slightly to the right and he had just the slightest pout on his lips. Tendou suddenly remembered that Ushijima had went through the trouble of making him food and was offering it to him. He shot his hands out to take the items with a quick, yet quiet “Thank you,” and he started to quietly munch on his food.
He had way too much on his mind and the whole Ushijima-being-his-soulmate situation just made him even more nauseous. He chucked the styrofoam cup into the small trash bin next to the chair that he wanted to set ablaze. His grip on his chopsticks tightened until his knuckles turned white and he curled in on himself.
Ushijima just sat down on the bed beside Tendou and went back to slowly rubbing his back. It was soothing enough that Tendou loosened up his position and rested his head sideways on his knees to face his potential soulmate. He sighed and just went for it.
“So… Wakatoshi-kun..,” he paused, looking for the correct words.
“What is it, Satori? Do you need to go back to the bathroom?” Ushijima replied, oblivious to Tendou’s findings.
“Um…” Tendou tucked his head back into his knees. “I think we might be soulmates-“ he rushed out the sentence. It was muffled and too fast to be heard though.
“I’m sorry Satori, but could you please repeat that? I couldn’t hear you.” Ushijima stopped rubbing his back and turned so that he was facing Tendou’s body directly, even though he only saw the backside of the redhead’s hoodie.
Tendou lifted his head and maneuvered his body to face Ushijima. He took his roommate’s hands into his own and looked him in the eyes. He was trying to display an aura of confidence even though he was practically trembling. How the hell else was he supposed to react to potentially finding his soulmate so early into his high school career.
“Wakatoshi-kun…” Tendou had to break the eye contact- it was too much for him to handle. “Wakatoshi-kun, I think… I think we’re soulmates…” Tendou loosened his handhold. He was ready to be shunned, or just to be reacted to negatively for some reason. He didn’t want to ruin the friendship, but he knew that if Ushijima were to accept him, that he would happily spend his life with his fated pairing.
“Satori- um…” Ushijima stuttered for what seemed like the first time ever. “Satori, we are soulmates. I’ve known for a while, actually…” he trailed off, looking towards his tomato plants. Or just anywhere but Tendou.
Tendou looked back up and exclaimed in pure shock. “What!? Wait- wait- wait- What do you mean by ‘you’ve known for a while?’”
Ushijima replied, still refusing to look at the redhead in front of him. “I’ve known for about two or three months. I apologize for not telling you; I value our friendship and didn’t want to ruin it.” Ushijima squeezed his eyes shut, scared to even be looking now.
Tendou unclasped a hand from Ushijima’s to hold the other’s jaw and face him towards himself. He waited until Ushijima peeked his eyes open to say, “Silly Wakatoshi-kun! Why didn’t you just tell me!? I’d love to be your soulmate. You’re very stupid sometimes Wakatoshi-kun!”
Ushijima let out a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you, Satori. I was just being cowardly, and I apologize for that.”
“There’s no need to apologize! I’m just happy that I know now that you’re my fated pair. Plus, I was having a mini panic attack on whether I’d mess up and wrongly call you my soulmate…” Tendou had let go of Ushijima’s hands completely to rub the back of his neck with one and rest the other in his lap.
Ushijima took Tendou’s hands back into his own and pulled the redhead closer. Thankfully, Tendou was more confident and tugged Ushijima the rest of the way until their lips smashed together in a kiss that was probably too harsh to be considered one. They pulled away with smiles upon their faces and Tendou’s small giggles were heard throughout the room.
Tendou leaned back in to kiss again. He wouldn’t even dare to call it a redo kiss for the first one- he was too sappy for that shit. He loved his first kiss even if it had felt more like smashing his head into Ushijima’s, but he still cherished it. The second kiss was more slow and passionate than the first and when they pulled apart again, Tendou asked Ushijima a question.
“Wakatoshi-kun, would you please be my boyfriend?” Tendou dragged out the “please.”
Ushijima let out a small chuckle and placed a chaste kiss to Tendou’s lips before answering with a soft “Yes.”
Tendou made a small squeal in delight just as he heard pounding on the wall. “Fuck.” They might have been too loud, but Tendou honestly didn’t care. He was too happy with his soulmate to care, but Ushijima was more responsible and shut him up with another small kiss.
Tendou leaned far enough into it to topple onto Ushijima in a heap of giggles. He just started smothering his newly obtained boyfriend in chaste kisses just as he promised himself that he would a few years back. He was just happy to be in his boyfriend’s arms, smothering him with his love while giggling without a care in the world. His own definition of perfection.
Tendou suddenly stopped kissing his boyfriend and put on the most serious face Ushijima had ever seen adorned on the redhead.
“Now that I know you’re my soulmate, I’m gonna punish you for the amount of snakes you’ve lost. Thirteen is too many times to let it slide!” He slipped back into giggles.
Ushijima smiled back. “Of course, Satori. Of course.” He wrapped his arms around Tendou and pulled him onto his chest, ready to discard his studying and everything else to just cuddle. Tendou pushed up with one arm so that there was some distance between their heads and looked Ushijima straight in the eyes.
“No, but seriously. Who the fuck loses a snake!?”
꧁꧂