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"Hey, when are you going to finish your homework?", Satoru asks after finishing his bag of chips.
"I already finished it", Suguru replies while continuing to write in a notebook.
"Then what are you doing sitting there? Let's go buy chocolate bear crepes~!", he asks jumping out of Suguru's bed.
"I'm composing my motto".
"Again?", Satoru exclaims in disbelief and Suguru has the urge to roll his eyes. "Forget about that and let's go outside! Anyway, it's not that important to look for your soulmate to eat cake".
"It's important. If you don't meet your soulmate then you're missing the chance to have a full life," Suguru replies and Satoru scoffs.
"Full life sounds like a boring life to me," Satoru concludes adjusting his black glasses. "And I don't want to have a certain life path that keeps me from having fun."
Suguru starts to get angry with Satoru but refrains from fighting. There was no point in arguing about it if he has never really won in their discussions.
"Let's go then", Suguru says the words Satoru expected him to say and closes his notebook.
In this world, people are destined to have a soulmate. A person who is compatible with you to the point that you both achieve your goals in life through mutual support.
That's why from an early age, it is sought that you find your soulmate to ensure that you follow your predestined path and consequently you are able to achieve happiness which is what every human being seeks.
Since elementary school he used to exchange papers with phrases with classmates in school as in others around Japan.
Some of them were lucky but most could not write about themselves in so few words, and not necessarily the descriptions made your soulmate recognize you.
Any couple of words, from the most random to the most complicated would attract your interest and half of your soulmate's name would appear.
It all depended on personality so it's a game that TV stations loved to use to attract people to watch their show.
Suguru didn't really find the afternoon show interesting but it had nationwide coverage so he persistently sent out mottos he came up with in the hope that his soulmate one day would see the show, they could meet and....
"The strongest motto for the strongest person," the presenter announces and Suguru finds it hard not to grimace.
It was too redundant!
He didn't like the motto but in an unexpected event of destiny, Suguru's right hand began to itch.
He immediately reached for his palm noticing that it had the kanji 条悟 engraved on it.
"jo Satoshi," Suguru read out loud covering his mouth with his left hand trying to calm his heartbeat because he had thought of another name when he heard that motto.
Yes, you can say it as Satoshi. Yes, his soulmate's parents must have chosen that kind of kanji because they wanted their son to be an understandable person.
"Yeah, there's no way his name is Satoru," Suguru concludes to himself pacing around his room. Although it's likely that Satoru will send a phrase to annoy him, it doesn't make sense that it would be their turn on the same day. Yes, the person behind it isn't Satoru but if he was....
Suguru couldn't sleep the rest of the night. He has to put all his willpower to get up and go to school.
At the time he says goodbye to his home, Suguru hates himself for agreeing with Satoru to join the running club as training to win the top prize in the city marathon.
It's an impossible goal to reach the level of a professional runner in less than a year but his greed won against all logic.
He doesn't find Satoru waiting for him in the club room. It's strange but he decides not to think too much about it for the sake of his heart.
He quickly changes his sports clothes and walks towards the other exit of the school until he spots a living pole with white hair.
Suguru smiles. Not that it was difficult to recognize since there weren't guys of his height. Satoru was in short blue shorts and a yellow sleeveless t-shirt, exposing his whitish skin except for his hands which are tucked away in his pockets.
"And those clothes?", Suguru asks after greeting him.
Satoru shrugs. "I didn't want to wait until summer to try it out," he declares solemnly.
"Exhibitionist," Suguru declares as he makes sure to close his own jacket.
Spring was almost upon us but it was horrendously cold in the mornings because the directors thought it was incredible to build the school in the middle of the mountains. Seeing Satoru just sitting there in the middle of freezing streams gives him chills but what makes the day worse is the presence of that man.
Fushiguro Toji, the club's substitute instructor was annoying.
In the three days he had been there, he sent them to run around the district. He didn't give a shit about those who stayed halfway and instead went to the teacher's room to watch TV.
Oh, and for some reason he knows Satoru and hates him.
With a face of pure malice, he forces Satoru to run twice as many laps since according to him, Satoru is a rich kid and needs challenges that make him know his reality.
A clear example of abuse of power that he should complain to the school but Satoru asked him not to do anything because he will give reason to the man that he's a spoiled child.
Something that wasn't completely true but in his pride to show that he was right, today Satoru competed with Toji in a race that he couldn't keep up because it was so idiotic to do that.
When he was at the end of his last lap, Suguru noticed that Satoru was lying on the ground while Toji was watching him from above. He lowered his pace so they wouldn't think he was listening to the conversation.
"Ahaha, what's wrong prodigy boy? This should be nothing to you," Toji said with a mocking tone.
Satoru pulled himself together smiling in response. "The wrong in the race is with all this exercise I'm going to turn into a giraffe!"
Toji rolled his eyes. "As if running will make you grow! If you don't want to grow up you'd better play baseball," he replies before pulling out his cell phone. "Anyway, in 10 minutes the horse race starts so I'm off," he says that before walking into the school. His face looked bored but Suguru sensed he was frustrated.
Suguru retraced his steps to meet Satoru. He removed his own warm jacket and placed it on his friend's shoulders.
"You're going to catch a cold if you keep this up."
Satoru smiled wider in response. "Thanks, Mommy."
Suguru rolled his eyes. "Well, with my charity work for the day done I'll get ready to put my stuff by the window".
The first class today is study time. The only time they can switch places without being questioned, and today it falls to him to distract himself by watching the horizon during English class.
"You wouldn't dare...," Satoru replies with a serious look.
"I've eaten sweets with excess sugar to enforce my rights. Nothing can stop me now," Suguru replies before epically retreating to the club room.
Even though they both finished at the same time, Suguru doesn't need to bathe intensely like Satoru, so he changes his uniform, takes the letters he finds while exchanging his shoes for school slippers.
He walks slowly to his classroom and places his things on the desk by the window. He opens his backpack and methodically places colored papers and pens of different types.
For Suguru, it's better to write a rejection letter rather than waste time attending each of the places the girls will ask him to go.
With the recent revelation of his soulmate, he isn't in the frame of mind to reject them without sounding anxious, so he has to take advantage of Valentine's Day, as Mei mei is offering a shipping discount if are more than three items.
Suguru opens the first envelope of a very exotic pink color.
"It's awful," Satoru declares as he skimmed the letter after dragging a chair over to the desk where Suguru is sitting. Unconvinced of his friend's lack of reaction he reads the letter carefully because it was so short. "No, it's garbage," he confirms.
Not caring much about Satoru's opinion this day, Suguru started to write his rejection letter thanking the girl for the wonderful words she used.
"Suguru, don't lie. It's garbage," Satoru barked.
Suguru ignoring his friend's comments continued writing the letter, showering with compliments to the girl for taking the time to formulate those sentences full of touching words.
"Suguru be honest. It's garbage," Satoru claimed.
From the way she wrote, Suguru sensed that she was the popular girl in the class next door so he gambled on putting her name to make it sound like he had been seeing her all this time and make her feel surprised.
Satoru paying attention on what he was writing grimaced. "You're a liar because you don't like it and you know it. You like only receiving love letters to grow your ego. Liar," he says sticking out his tongue.
Suguru with a languid smile pulled out a sheet of sad fox stickers and stuck one on the paper.
"Liar. That's what you are," Satoru repeats before dropping his back on the chair.
Suguru closes the envelope, puts it away on his desk and opens the next envelope of a brown color noticing that there is more than a single paper.
That catches Satoru's interest. "What's that?", he walks over looking at the large text and before Suguru finished reading half of it, he knocks on the desk. "Suguru, be honest. It's garbage," he comments as he places both arms on the desk to use as a pad for his chin. "Another piece of garbage and long on top of it. It looks like she wrote you a Last Will rather than a Love Letter."
Suguru sighs pushing his things away so they don't get in the way of Satoru's arms in his writing.
With a fleeting inspiration, he decides to write one of the shortest replies he's ever made. In honor of the previous girl, he will also be artistic in his words.
Taking one of his maker pens as a pencil and under Satoru's watchful eye, he make an imitation brush to write a couple of kanji that he remembers a lot from the calligraphy club.
"I liked that you wrote," Satoru nods to show his approval. "It's like you tell her it's garbage but use the word gratitude to tell her that she lacks the ability to summarize her words".
Suguru wrote a brief explanation before adding his reject paper with the others in the envelope, and putting it away in his desk. Then, he opened the next envelope of a purple color.
He read a bit and then placed the letter in a position for Satoru to see, because it was a bit complicated to decipher.
"Suguru, the writing sucks," Satoru sighed pushing the letter with his fingers. "It looks like a kid from kindergarten write this and even a kid could decorate better".
He quickly wrote a general reply letter since he didn't even know if the girl's name was spelled right.
When he is opening the next letter Satoru sighs again.
"Out of the three miseries of letters, the first one has been the best. Suguru, open the last one so you can give me your chocolates," he asks tucking his long legs inside the desk to collide with Suguru's.
They both read the letter and for the first time, he finished understanding all the letters pasted on the paper.
"The best by far, let's celebrate," Satoru exclaims tapping his own fingers between them. A rather curious reaction because he's usually a loud one at expressing himself.
"Tell her she's the greatest, that she should become a writer."
As he was drafting the right words to tell the girl that she writes very well without being cold for rejecting her, Suguru noticed out of the corner of his eye that Satoru stopped looking at the letter to look at him with strange eyes that he had never seen him with before.
It's not like he made weird faces before, but that relaxed countenance of his made Suguru feel nervous and he didn't like it.
"Why are you looking at me a lot?", Suguru questions him checking the temperature of his own cheeks.
"My soulmate's mark appeared", Satoru replies pretending to be distracted as if it's not big news. As if he has no suspicion that they are soulmates.
Suguru gulps. "Can I see it?", he asks rolling each syllable over his tongue.
"Eh? I wanted you to show me yours", Satoru says affectionately pulling his hand closer towards Suguru's hand.
"I was the one who asked for it first", Suguru replied as he moves his right hand away from Satoru's area.
"Then I won't show it to you!", Satoru sticks out his tongue and walks out of the classroom laughing.
Naturally, Suguru chases him through all the classrooms dodging teachers and classroom delegates who tell them to stop. As he leaves the building, he finds Satoru waiting for him before running towards the tennis court but manages to hold his arm halfway.
They struggle, trying to grab each other's right hand. Satoru holds Suguru's left wrist with his right hand but Suguru grabs Satoru's left hand with his right hand. They start stepping on each other's feet to free their hands, feeling pain in the process.
In an oversight Satoru releases Suguru's wrist by sweating, and in quick movements Suguru exchanges his right hand for his left. Now they were both holding their right hands.
However, the realization that once they let go their hands they will find out if they are soulmates hits Suguru with mixed feelings. Taking that time of uncertainty, Satoru violently waves his hands downward to free himself from the grip and in the process a pair of pearls fall to the ground shattering into pieces.
Pearls that were so unique in the world and precious to the soulmates because it was a part of each other's soul delivered into their hands.
Both teens stand in terrified silence, watching as the wind stirs up the large pieces of the physical tokens of their destined bond while the smaller ones are swallowed up by the ground.
"Suguru," Satoru begins, trying to sound calm. "We're 17, almost grown up. Even you always say that I should solve my problems in the most mature way possible," he takes a few steps back. "So don't get angry, it's bad for your health!"
"Satoru," Suguru says calmly placing his hands kindly on his soulmate's shoulders. "THEN WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? ANSWER ME, TELL ME! IF THE ROCKS BE DESTROYED OUR LINK TOO AND WE WILL BE CURSED," he shouts shaking Satoru up and down. "WE WILL DIE, DO YOU REALIZE?!"
"...Shoko once told that a relative of hers had his stone broken but he didn't die," Satoru replies in a cracked voice.
"Then ask her!"
Satoru took out his phone and texted Shoko and they waited.
There was no problem. Shoko is always on her phone in class.
"What did she answer?", asks Suguru when he noticed Satoru staring at his phone after the third notification ring.
"She said he went to a temple," he answers thoughtfully.
"Then what are we waiting for?", Suguru takes Satoru's hand and drags him out of the school.
"Suguru, it's still school time!", Satoru complains.
"Now is not the time to think about that!"
There is a nearby shrine 20 minutes away called 'The tomb of stars' . He and Satoru usually visit the place from time to time to make social life for Riko.
Possibly she is in school right now, but Tsukumo almost every day wanders around there, so she can help them with this problem.
Kuroi was sweeping when he sees them walking up the large set of stairs.
"What can I help you?", she asks politely.
"The destined pearls broke," Suguru says with a sheepish grin.
"Right...let's go inside," Kuroi nods and walks them towards the shrine interiors.
It was the first time they will meet Riko's grandmother. They had never seen her in paint but she had a bad reputation of being a grumpy lady by her two granddaughters.
Suguru hoped she would tolerate them.
When Kuroi open the sliding door an old lady in a miko outfit walks in and unlike other older people she wasn't that short. From the wrinkles, she will be 70 or 80 years old?
"Grandma, I don't think the soulmate destiny bond can be broken just because the balls were destroyed," Satoru exclaims without letting Suguru make introductions and explain the case. Despite the reproachful look Suguru gives him, he excuses himself by pointing out that he raised his hand first.
Tengen simply rubs the wrinkles on her forehead. "These kids today...do you remember their mottos?", he asks.
"Yes".
"A whole TV show does," Satoru adds.
"Put your hands together."
On their knees they both move to face each other at an angle that Tengen can see their palms together as if they were arm-wrestling.
"Not like that. Just with your right hands," Tengen explains as she arranges their right hands on top of each other.
Satoru is not satisfied with the formation. "Grandma, can I be the one to squeeze the hand upwards?"
"Now I understand why you broke their pearls", Tengen mutters quietly but clearly enough for both teens to hear her. "Ok. Repeat each other's motto at the same time."
"Nothing that can fix a cup of somen."
"The strongest motto for the strongest person."
"Now move your hands apart slowly."
As they moved their hands away, a blue colored pearl appeared in Suguru's palm while a purple colored one remained stuck in Satoru's hand.
"If you two break the pearls again, repeat the same method," Tengen added wearily.
"Grandma, can we create more of these balls?", Satoru asks out of curiosity as he looks at the pearls he holds with two of his fingers.
"You can create hundreds", Tengen replies as she pulls out a tobacco pipe. "It was a fairly common method of suicide in the Heian era."
"Agh! This day has been exhausting!", Satoru yells while shaking his hair with one hand.
With all the soulmate stuff, Suguru forgot that Satoru couldn't rest from the morning run.
"Are you feeling okay?", asks worryingly.
"Yeah, I just need a nap," Satoru replies stretching his arms. "Besides, there's only 2 days left until the crazy old man leaves".
"Right," Suguru reminded. Professor Yaga will be out of the hospital next week, after falling off a bridge to save his young son. A story of field trip and family love that will warm the hearts of everyone in his class when the teacher returns.
Now what does he think of school....
"We still have to pick up our stuff without getting punished," Suguru comments half-heartedly.
Satoru groans in pain. "Can I stay at your place? I don't have the legs to reach my house!"
"Since when do you ask permission to stay at my house?", Suguru asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I always ask your mother for permission!", Satoru exclaims offended but suddenly he switches to a serious face. "By the way, before I forget it, I want to ask you if anything will change now that we're soulmates?"
"Change?", Suguru looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"You're not going to turn into some weird guy who out of nowhere fell in love with me?", Satoru looked at him doubtfully waiting for his answer.
"Why would I do that?", Suguru answers him without thinking much and noticing that Satoru looked at him with angry eyes he realized that it wasn't the right answer. "What I'm saying is that I have no problem if everything is equal or that we start something," he clarifies looking at him eye to eye so he knows he means it. Even if something tells him it's a bad idea.
Satoru looks at him thoughtfully, weighing his answer. "Maybe," he affirms to himself with a smile before taking Suguru's arm and caressing it with his cheek.
Suguru feels a shiver run through his body that makes him feel things but he lets it caress him.
Now he can't excuse himself that he's not living a full life.
The best one of all.