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Nene had always been told that soulmates existed. Everyone said that once you turn sixteen, your left eye would change to match the color of your soulmate’s eyes. And Nene really wanted to believe that.
It wasn’t hard to tell she had loved Rui for many years now. A part of her even wanted destiny to smile at her and allow them to be soulmates, that’s why she patiently waited until at least her friend turned sixteen, and that’s why she was devastated when she saw Rui’s eye was not her violet color but a light shade of blue.
And since them, she had blamed herself, tried to keep a distance from Rui to avoid thinking about stupid feelings. After all, she would turn sixteen in a year, and she wouldn’t be able to escape destiny any longer. It’s a shame that her friend wasn’t willing to let her go.
In the end, Nene could only count the days getting closer until she had to inevitably let go. Even now, she found herself walking home with him after leaving school once again.
“Your birthday is coming closer, isn’t it?” Nene paused the game from her Nintendo Switch, looking up when she heard Rui’s voice next to her. Her eyes stopped at his lips, still afraid to check higher.
“Yeah”.
“Aren’t you curious about your eye?”
Rui talked carefully, probably already knowing she didn’t like talking about that.
“No. I have other things to worry about”.
“That’s fine too”. He smiled. “I guess it isn’t that big of a deal for everyone”.
“Everyone from my class is excited. Some of them have turned sixteen already”. She grabbed the console tighter. “Today, a girl was talking with her friends about how her soulmate had the eye color of the girl she liked. Must be nice”.
“Perhaps you’re afraid that might not be your case?”
Nene stopped walking. For a moment, she felt her heart stop as she finally looked Rui in the eye.
“...What?”
“Ah. I said that out loud”. He shook his head. “Apologies, Nene, it seems that I talked too much”.
“I don’t care. I don’t have anyone like that”. She lied. And Rui probably knew she was lying, but he didn’t say anything about that. “I just… remembered I forgot something important. I’ll go home later, so– don’t wait for me”.
Not waiting for a reply, she put her console in her bag and ran in the opposite direction to their houses.
On the other side, Rui worriedly tilted his head.
“Is it really okay?” He sighed. Maybe she didn’t want to be with him, after all.
Not waiting any longer, he did as she said and walked alone from there.
–
Running was definitely not her thing. Just as she reached Kamiyama’s doors, Nene stopped to catch her breath. Either because of her sudden escape or due to what Rui said, her heart was beating so fast she felt she could die right there.
“Afraid…” If her Switch wasn’t inside, she would’ve thrown her bag to the ground. “Of course I am afraid. I don’t want to accept that I’m such an idiot”.
“Nene?” Just as the short girl was about to cry, she gasped upon hearing Tsukasa’s voice. Nene looked up at him, and then down again trying to avoid his violet eye.
“You’re still here”.
“Hm. Of course! If someone asks me for help, I’ll come running to their rescue!”
“They must have been really desperate to ask you for help”. She smiled faintly.
“E-Eh?!” As greatly offended as always, he crossed his arms. “I’ll assume you don’t need anything, then!”
“Of course I don’t. I’m just here to take a book I forgot on my desk”. Maybe part of that was a lie, but it was true that she wouldn’t want to talk about love with him, the person who seemed to unfortunately have her eye color, out of everyone.
Still, she somehow stopped in her tracks just when Tsukasa turned around.
“Actually, Tsukasa–”
“Hm?” He looked at her.
“What do you think will happen to me?”
“Huh?”
“I… when I turn sixteen… what will I have to do, if I don’t like them?”
“What do you mean?” Tsukasa’s smile twisted for a moment. “That wouldn’t be an issue”.
“Of course it’d be. Everyone expects me to be with whoever my soulmate is”. She said, ignoring that her soulmate was probably standing next to her right now. “But I… I can’t do that to him”.
“Because you like Rui”. He added it so naturally that Nene nodded before she could realize it.
“W-What? No, of course he’s not–!”
“I think everyone knows”. For a moment, Tsukasa’s face looked incredibly sad to be him. He quickly smiled again. “Ignore what everyone else says! If you don’t like your soulmate, pursue the person you really love!”
“Tsukasa…” Nene blinked in surprise. “That’s so cheesy”.
He made the same noise a videogame character would make after taking damage.
“Just because somebody said you have to be with your soulmate, it doesn’t mean everyone was to follow their orders. You are you, and you make your own story”. He made a pause, dropping his persona for a few seconds. “Of course, a star like me knows it well!”
“But… I just can’t stand it”. Before she could avoid it, tears started to fall through her cheeks as she grabbed the end of her uniform. “Even if I want to be with Rui, he will love someone else. And that person will feel the same. And I would just be a bother”.
“Don’t worry about the others now!” He held her shoulders tightly. “You can achieve whatever you want to do, so–! Do what will make you happier! If you love Rui, go ahead and keep loving him!”
“Tsukasa…” His hands were shaking now. Not enough to realize it by looking at them, but it was easy to tell now that he was touching her like that. “What about you?”
“Ah”.
“What if you do end up being my soulmate? I… don’t want to drop a friend for something stupid like a childhood crush”.
He quickly hid the surprise from his face as he let out a loud laugh.
“Then, we’ll stay as friends! Who says soulmates have to be romantic? Divas and stars are destined to be the best of friends!”
“Ew”.
“E-Ew?!”
Nene smiled, sighing as she wiped her tears.
“I guess you’re right. I will never say this again, but… I’m glad we're friends”.
“That’s right! Go for him right now, Nene!”
“Yeah, I think I’ll pass. But… I’ll think about it”.
“Then, I’ll be going”. Tsukasa spoke up to break the silence that had formed. “Farewell, Nene!”
“Bye”. Waving her hand, she waited for her friend to disappear before walking home again.
–
“Nene, are you okay?”
“Ah– sorry”.
A few days had passed since her birthday, and she kept rubbing her now orange left eye, unable to stop thinking about it.
“I don’t think that’s good for your eyes”.
“Right. It’s like my hand moves alone”. She sighed, looking at her hand.
“...Would you be willing to talk for a minute?”
Fuck.
Her eyes widened as she stopped walking, not even daring to look back at him. Those words never meant something good.
“Wh… sure”.
“You see”. Rui touched his lips with his right thumb, trying to find a good way to say what he had on his mind. “I’m not too fond of soulmates”.
“Oh”.
“I wouldn’t care if I never met whoever has a blue eye like this”.
“Is that so”.
“In fact, I talked with Tsukasa-kun about this. He said you two are soulmates, and madly in love”.
“I see”. She frowned. “Wait, what?! Did he say that?!”
Rui chuckled.
“Not at all. I had the feeling you weren’t listening to me”. Both of them stopped walking. “But he did mention you didn’t care about that”.
“Well… that’s not a lie”.
For a few seconds, none of them said a thing. It seemed that Rui was still struggling with his words when he suddenly turned around to face his friend.
“I like you”.
“You… what?”
“I like you. I don’t care about soulmates. Whatever destiny had ready for me, I don’t want it. I love you, not a stranger whose only connection to me is our eyes. You feel the same, right?”
Saying her heart skipped a beat would not be saying enough. At that moment, Nene wouldn’t be surprised if she dropped dead right there.
“Why… how do you know that?”
“We’ve known each other since childhood. I think I’d be more surprised if you told me you didn’t know I like you”.
“Yeah… about that…”
“Oh”. He covered his mouth, trying not to laugh again. “You didn’t know, did you?”
“H-Hey, cut it out!”
“Apologies”. Rui breathed in before he grabbed the short girl’s hand. “What do you say?”
Nene lifted one of her eyebrows, as if asking for more details.
“None of us is interested in their soulmate. If that’s the case, then–” So even Rui could have a hard time finding the right words in this situation. Surprisingly for them, she was the one to finally speak up.
Getting out of his grip, she stepped forward and hugged him instead, burying her face in his shoulder.
“Let’s go out”.
“...Right what I was thinking”. After a brief moment of confusion, Rui smiled, hugging her back.
For the two of them, the whole soulmates and destiny thing didn’t seem to be as important as people said, after all.