Work Text:
Wherever you touch your soulmate, splodges of colour will appear on their skin. After a short time, they fade away.
Since his childhood, it fascinated Ren to see the colours on his parents' skin swirl around. He would watch them as long as he could, even asking his parents to hold hands, not wanting to let the colours fade away.
There was something hypnotising about the way they moved, the way they would appear out of thin air, just caused by a light touch.
He can’t remember how many times he lay in his bed, unable to sleep, stretching his hands in the air and wondering what colours he must have. In his imagination they would slowly travel across his arms, embedding every inch of his skin with different shades and hues.
Back then, he didn’t really understand the importance and meaning of a soulmate.
How could he? After all, he was still a child.
But Ren knew one thing for sure; he couldn’t wait to meet his soulmate.
When Ren was five years old, he met his soulmate: Gakushuu Asano.
The boy was new in their kindergarten, but after all that didn’t matter.
They were playing tag in the courtyard.
Everything was how it has always been until Ren’s and Gakushuu’s hands accidently brushed.
A warm feeling rushed through his fingers, longing for contact again.
They both froze and looked at their hands.
An excited smile grew on Ren’s face as he grabbed the other's hand. With fascination both observed the spreading colours, a vibrant violet with splodges of copper on Gakushuu’s skin and a warm hazelnut brown mixed with gold on Ren’s.
With the colours also grew the feeling. A warm sensation, slowly traveling through Ren’s entire arm. It was like a hug from his mother, but somehow there was also so much more he couldn’t put into words.
Ren didn’t dare talk, fearing to destroy this delicate moment. He doubted he could talk, every word seemed to get stuck in his throat.
For a brief moment Ren tore his eyes away from their hands and shot Gakushuu, who was following the colours with his eyes, a quick glance.
“Hey Ren, what’s going on? Why are you two just standing there?”
Just as abruptly as the discovery started, the atmosphere was shattered by one of the other children.
Gakushuu and Ren quickly separated, their eyes still locked on their skin.
After a few seconds Ren looked up and presented the other child his hand.
“Wow, you two are soulmates?”, the boy asked, inspecting his hand closely.
Ren nodded enthusiastically, still at a loss for words.
“We should show that to the adults,” Gakushuu said, having already found his voice again.
“Yes, we should.”
“You know, my mom always told me I wouldn’t meet you until I go to middle school or even later.”
The boys sat in the corridor, waiting for their parents to pick them up.
Ren was often the last one to be picked up, so it delighted him to discover that Gakushuu’s dad apparently also worked really long. That just meant that they would be able to spend even more time together.
Gakushuu hummed.
“We didn’t talk much about it, but he also said that he met mom really late.”
“We must be really lucky,” Ren answered with a grin.
Gakushuu opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by the doors opening.
Ren’s mother walked inside and her son excitedly jumped up and ran towards her.
“Mom, mom! I met my soulmate!” Ren started telling her, going on and on about how amazing it was.
“Sweetie, calm down. I can’t understand everything you are saying.”
His mother knelt down to hug him and force him to stay still.
“I found my soulmate! I’ll show you!”
With that he was running off again to Gakushuu, taking the other boy's hand and walking back to his mother.
“Look, look!”
He held up their hands, a wide smile on his face.
“That’s wonderful, Ren. Who would have thought that you’d meet in kindergarten,” Mrs. Sakakibara said, looking affectionately at her son and Gakushuu.
The doors opened again and Gakushuu’s father entered the corridor.
As soon as his son saw him, he ran towards him, still holding Ren’s hand.
“Dad, look who I met!”
He proudly presented their colourful hands.
Mr. Asano ruffled through his son’s hair and greeted him, before noticing Mrs. Sakakibara, who stood up to introduce herself.
And so the chatting continued.
Since that day, Gakushuu and Ren were nearly inseparable.
Ren has no doubt that they would have been best friends either way. After all, Gakushuu is really smart and they have very similar interests.
The fact that they were soulmates was just the icing on the cake.
They often visited each other, exploring nature and doing anything they wanted to do.
Or they would sit next to each other and draw small things on each others' skin, giggling about the fuzzy feeling they got with every touch.
Sometimes Gakushuu’s dad would also bring them to his cram school.
It was always exciting, the surrounding forest seemed to change every time and still stay the same.
All of this slowly changed in their first year of elementary school.
Gakushuu missed an entire week because of some family business and when he came back Ren could tell that something was wrong.
He seemed more quiet, cut off from the world.
During lunch break Ren approached him, taking and squeezing one of his hands.
He knew that their shared feeling could probably comfort him better than any words could.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Gakushuu looked at him and he could see the tears in his eyes, which the smaller boy swiftly blinked away.
“I-, I’m fine.”
“Really? You can tell me if something’s wrong,” Ren tried to reassure him.
“I know, it-, it’s just my dad. He seems different,” Gakushuu mumbled.
Ren didn’t know why Gakushuu missed school last week, but his mother told him he should take good care of him. She said he might need some time for himself or just someone who listens.
He didn’t understand it, but he trusted her.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me, if you're not ready. I’m here for you,” he whispered, squeezing the other’s hand again.
Gakushuu just nodded and leaned against him.
“My dad doesn’t want us to visit each other anymore.”
“Huh, what? Why?” Ren disbelievingly stared at Gakushuu.
“He said it’s distracting me from my studies.”
Ren stayed quiet.
He knew that Mr. Asano had his own school, so maybe he was just stricter.
Gakushuu shifted and looked at him, chewing his lip, a sign that he was nervous about the other’s reaction.
To be honest, Ren didn’t like that new rule. He loved spending his afternoons with Gakushuu. But what could he do other than accept it?
So he smiled at his friend and said: “I still want to visit you but that’s fine. We’ll see each other at school every day. I’m sure he’s going to change his mind after a few weeks.”
Gakushuu’s father didn’t change his mind.
Moreso, it felt like he just got more strict. Gakushuu wasn’t even allowed to call him father anymore.
But that wasn’t all that changed. Over the years, Gakushuu started more and more hobbies in- and outside of school.
It started in second grade with soccer and continued with gymnastics, swimming, dancing, playing the guitar and singing. And these were just hobbies, not mentioning all the extra lessons and competitions Ren heard Gakushuu talk about.
And all of that wouldn’t bug Ren, he was proud of his friend for excelling in so many fields, he really was, if it weren’t for the fact that he and Gakushuu seemed to spend less and less time together.
Even during breaks in school, Gakushuu started studying instead of talking with him and their other classmates, like he used to.
Ren doubted that this was healthy. His friend seemed anxious and exhausted, but no matter what Ren told him, he was stubborn to continue with his new daily routine.
The best thing he could do for Gakushuu was to sit next to him and keep him quiet company.
Sometimes Ren would take one of his hands and run his thumb over the back of his hand, hoping to help him relax.
After all, Gakushuu didn’t need to be perfect, he liked him just the way he was.
“Ren, we need to talk.”
Ren looked up to see Gakushuu in front of him. His friend seemed uncertain and tense.
Gakushuu avoided eye contact and changed from one leg to the other.
He quickly stood up and approached his friend, concern turning to self-doubt when Gakushuu backed away.
“What’s wrong?”
Gakushuu took a deep breath, steadying himself, before he addressed him again.
“We shouldn’t spend so much time together. The principal says this whole soulmate thing is distracting me too much.”
Ren could hear the unconvinced tone in Gakushuu’s voice.
He knew his friend had troubles with their last test and wasn’t at his best during the last competition, but he also knew that this must be something he doesn’t agree with.
A small, suppressed anger rose in Ren. How could Gakushuu’s father ask him to do something like that? Couldn’t he see that he was hurting him?
How he was also hurting Ren?
He missed the old times where he and Gakushuu could spend time together, could talk about everything and nothing, just enjoy each others' company.
But Ren swallowed it down, knowing it wouldn’t help their situation.
“Why? He can’t just force you to do everything he wants. Is this really what you want, Gakushuu?”
Silence.
Ren could see how Gakushuu started to chew his lip again, thinking about his answer.
He felt his heart beating faster with every second, anxious that he might have overstepped his boundaries.
“Yes, you are distracting me.”
Five words and his world shattered around Ren.
Maybe he didn’t know Gakushuu after all.
Both grew more distant over time.
They were still friends, or at least Ren thought that they still were. He didn’t know what Asano would say about this. He didn’t seem like he wanted any friends, he and Ren weren’t even on a first name basis anymore.
To be honest, Asano was untouchable.
But Ren was too stubborn to let his soulmate leave like this. After all, they went to the same middle school and were part of the same friend group, even though Ren didn’t know what to think about the origins of The Big Five. This entire power dynamic in this school was odd.
Not many of their old classmates went to Kunugigaoka and the few that did never mentioned their special bond to anyone.
Nonetheless, Ren could still feel the brief pitying looks from some of them.
Asano lost again.
Ren saw him falling to the ground as the pole toppled.
He wanted to run to him, but before anyone could talk to Asano, he already stood up and walked away.
Ren didn’t know why, but he couldn’t shake off this bad feeling as he saw the exchange students follow his friends.
“Sakakibara, call the ambulance, four people. And then help us bring every student inside,” Asano said, his voice wavering for a moment.
Ren startled, glancing at the other who seemed to be in perfect physical condition.
But his eyes were wider than ever before and he could see his shoulders shaking.
“Asano, what happened? Are you okay?”
“Quick, it’s urgent.”
And with that he was off, approaching a group of first graders standing outside the school building.
Ren hadn’t seen Asano cry since they were five.
And now there he was, sitting alone in the student council room, quietly crying to himself.
Ren hadn’t meant to spy on him, but he worried about him after he saw the exchange students, the blood in the principal’s room and had to listen to Asano’s conversation with 3-E who didn’t know about any of the events.
And now he stood in front of the student council room, seeing his friend cry through the crack of the door.
He should go in there and comfort him. Say something, offer him help.
But he couldn’t. He was afraid.
Afraid of being rejected again. Afraid of hearing this cold tone his friend developed over the years. Afraid of overstepping another boundary.
Ren felt his chest tighten and guilt overwhelming him as he reluctantly turned away and walked to the school exit.
He hears a loud crash and laughing before he can even realise what happened.
Asano was on the ground, prepped up against the wall, surrounded by multiple desks and chairs.
The principal stood in front of the entire class and looked at his hand.
“Asano!” The four Virtuosos ran up to their last friend, trying to help him.
Asano was nearly manically laughing, talking to the principal, how he finally showed his fatherly side.
But he couldn’t hide the pain on his face while he pressed one hand at the back of his head.
It felt like a thousand thoughts raised through Ren’s mind at the same time.
First things first, Asano needs medical help and they should all get away from the principal.
“Koyama, help me support Asano. He has to get to the infirmary. Araki, Seo, look after the class and calm them down. And bring them away from the principal. We don’t know what he’s capable of.”
The others nodded and immediately started.
Koyama and Ren hauled Asano on his feet and started their walk to the nurse.
Asano must have hit his head really bad if the way he leaned on Ren was anything to go by.
“Asano, we’re getting you to the infirmary. Just walk a bit more, okay?” Ren tried to fill the silence and reassure Asano.
They slowly made their way through the hallways.
Multiple teachers looked out of their classrooms, having heard the commotion. Ren was glad that they understood his and Koyama’s glances and took care of their assigned classes.
It felt like an eternity until they finally reached the nurse.
Ren was thankful for Koyama, who quickly recounted the events because he didn’t think he could form a coherent sentence.
The nurse ushered them out of the room to examine Asano in peace.
“You stay here, I will look after Seo and Araki,” Koyama told Ren as soon as they stood in the hallways.
“What, but-”
“No buts. If there is one person he would want to talk to, it’s you. Don’t worry, we got this.”
And with that Koyama ran off before Ren could even disagree.
He didn’t know what to do. He felt anger, worry and fear.
And he felt guilty. He was Asano’s closest friend. He saw his dad changing, and he still did nothing. How could he even call himself his friend? He wasn’t there to comfort him when he was crying.
No, he couldn’t spiral down. Right now Asano needed reassurance.
After a few minutes that felt like hours, the nurse opened the door and let Ren step inside.
“He seems to be alright, but I called the hospital to pick him up for a check on potential head traumas,” she informed Ren before leaving them alone to talk in private.
“How are you?”
Ren cringed. That was one of the most unnecessary and obvious things he could have asked, but he didn’t know what to say.
Asano looked at him and sat back in the bed, leaning against the wall before he sighed.
“Terrible. I thought-, I thought that this is exactly what I wanted, but,” he looked up and tried to blink away some tears, “but I don’t feel happy.”
His voice was quiet, contrasting with his usual confident remarks.
Ren swallowed, he knew there was so much to unpack. So many things left unsaid for years, too many to talk about right now.
He didn’t know what to say, so he just trusted his instincts.
With hesitant steps, Ren slowly approached Asano, sitting down next to him. He looked into his violet eyes and carefully cupped the other’s face. The colours and the warm feeling started to appear, dancing across their skin. It almost looked like they wanted to mix, overcoming the barrier of skin.
“Asa-, Gakushuu, I don’t know everything that happened between you and your father, but we all care about you,” he whispered softly, brushing the uninjured cheek with his thumb.
Instinctively, Gakushuu leaned a bit into the contact, biting his lip, trying to keep back his tears.
“Ren, I-, I’m trying, but he doesn’t see me. It’s as if he doesn’t even love me, no matter what I do,” his voice came out hoarse.
Ren felt tears meeting his skin. Slowly he put their foreheads together, their noses almost touching.
He couldn’t say anything about the principal, sweet lies being pointless.
“We’re all here for you. I’m here for you. I won’t leave you, I promise.”
It’s all he could give him, but he meant it with all his heart.
Wordless Gakushuu grabbed Ren’s arms, as if to confirm that he wouldn’t go away.
They kept quiet, seeking comfort by the presence of the other.
After all, they still were kids.
But it would be easier together.