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Shit.
Hakuno groaned as she fell onto her ass, hearing her skateboard rolling off, hitting the steps nearby. Her eyes opened, looking over the man that she had slammed into. He was a foreigner, that much she was certain about. Romans had blond hair, but the man’s hair looked more like melted gold than Nero’s hair color.
She felt bad as she slowly moved to stand, making her way over to the blond's side. She extended a hand out toward him, to try to help him out. She didn’t even have a chance to warn him before she had slammed right into him.
“Are you alright?” Hakuno asked, ignoring the fact that those red eyes were glaring at her.
Yeah, this man was definitely not Roman. She watched as he got up, the glare not leaving her as he did.
“I was doing fine before someone decided to crash into me, while they attempted to ride a piece of plywood down a stairwell.”
A piece of plywood? Hakuno laughed, shaking her head.
“It’s a skateboard. I’m really sorry for running into you, but you seem okay.”
He wasn’t bleeding anywhere. Nor was any of his clothes torn. At least, not that she could see anyway.
Gilgamesh huffed as he brushed the dirt off his nice dress shirt. The girl was lucky that she hadn’t ripped his clothing. He doubted that she could afford to replace it, considering her own pants were ripped in the knees.
“I would ask why you are even attempting to slide down a stair railing with that piece of driftwood you have, but I doubt your reasoning would make sense, much like your clothing choices.”
Hakuno rolled her eyes at that. What an asshole. He wasn’t even supposed to be in this area right now. He was being rather audacious for a foreigner.
“Why are you in the temple district? It is after hours. It’s not open to the public right now. Even the priests have gone home for the day.”
“I could ask you that same question, Mongrel.” Gilgamesh gave her a look. She was being bold in asking such a thing when she was the one who crashed into him like a tornado.
“I live here. My name is Hakuno Octavia Augusta Kishinami Quirinus. I live with the god Romulus-Quirinus.”
That, of all answers, was not what he had been expecting. Gilgamesh paused. No, he couldn't have heard this girl correctly. There was no possible way that someone like her was the girl he had been looking for.
His eyes scanned her person again. It made sense, Gilgamesh thought to himself. She was rather plain, much like the records he had read from his past self about the woman with the same name.
“What a coincidence,” Gilgamesh began, moving closer to Hakuno’s side. “I happen to be looking for Romulus-Quirinus.”
Hakuno raised a brow at those words. He was looking for her father? Why? What for? It wasn’t often that her father met with foreigners.
Perhaps it was for some trade deal. She didn’t exactly keep up with what her father was up to that well. He was always busy with work during the day and into the evening.
“My father is still working. If you’re looking for him, you’re at the wrong place. I can show you the way to senate if you’d-”
“That is not necessary,” Gilgamesh waved a hand at her. He had only been here to see Romulus-Quirinus about his daughter since the man insisted that Hakuno shared the same soulmate marking that he had upon his wrist.
He would see how true that was himself. He had remembered well that the god had said the mark was located upon the back of her neck. He wouldn’t put it past the Romans to lie to him about this in order to cheat him somehow.
Soulmate markings were much like birthmarks. Real ones were easy to spot and confirm their validity. He knew how tattoos looked, just in case the Romans were lying to him about Hakuno.
“Since you owe me for crashing into me with that death weapon you have, you should accompany me to dinner while we wait for your father to complete his work.”
Hakuno frowned a bit at that. She didn’t know this man from anywhere, and he wanted her to go to dinner?
“And where would we even go eat, Blondie? You haven’t even given me your name.” Or why he was here to meet with her father. She eyed him as she waited for an answer.
“Gilgamesh,” Gilgamesh shrugged as he looked over the girl a bit more. “And judging by that rag that you are wearing, you no doubt enjoy Japanese food. I have passed by quite a few Japanese establishments.”
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She was going with him. He needed to confirm if the information that Romulus had told him was correct and if her mark was indeed real if the god had not lied to him.
“...Fine. I suppose we could enjoy some ramen together.” The man was being rather insistent. She had her phone on her too. If Gilgamesh tried anything, she could just call one of her cousins or something to come pick her up.
She still had her skateboard too. She could always just whack him with that if he tried to kill her or some shit.
Good. He nodded, motioning for Hakuno to get her piece of driftwood.
“Go get your piece of plywood, Anzu bird. Wouldn’t want you to not be able to make your nest without it.”
She didn’t know what the hell an Anzu bird was, but she wasn’t going to leave her skateboard here anyway. Hakuno moved, picking it up, and checking to make sure it didn’t get too messed up. It had crashed hard into the steps.
Gilgamesh watched her look over that board in her hands as she returned to his side. He frowned a bit. She looked rather concerned about it as he motioned her along.
“You are cradling that thing like it is a child,” Gilgamesh noted, shaking his head. “I do not understand the significance of it.”
He wouldn’t. He didn’t seem like the type to enjoy anything that she liked. He was probably a politician like many in her family were.
“If it breaks, then I have to build a new one. I just built this one last year.”
She wasn’t exactly ready to lose it. The roads in Rome weren’t the greatest to skateboard on. All the marble around the city made falling hurt more than if she was in California or even Tokyo skating.
“You built that yourself?” Gilgamesh looked over the skateboard in her hands a bit more as Hakuno nodded.
“Painted it myself too.” She was rather proud of that fact too. Her eyes looked over him a bit more. He definitely wasn’t Roman, but she couldn’t place where exactly he was from. “You said you were here to meet with my father, but you didn’t mention where you are from.”
“You are interested in me then?” Gilgamesh laughed at that expression that met his gaze. Such an interesting woman. Not many people looked at him in such a manner. As if she was trying to process why he did the things that he did.
“I am from Uruk. Further East. My homeland is far greater than anything your Empire has to offer.”
Somehow, she doubted that. Hakuno shook her head. The Roman Empire was the greatest empire that ever was or has been. Her people conquered anything and everything.
“The Empire has made many people’s lives better. We have started to conquer out in the East as well. Perhaps we will end up conquering your land too, Gilgamesh.”
The laughter bubbled forth at those words. Gilgamesh couldn’t stop himself. The laughter wouldn’t stop. Conquer his land. That had to be the funniest, most foolish thing that he had heard in a rather long time.
“I think not. But it is adorable that you believe so. My people are not so weak.”
That may be, but still. Hakuno opted to nod, walking alongside him. Her eyes took in his outfit. He was definitely a politician. There was no missing the nice clothing that many of her cousins wore. She paused as she caught sight of his wrist. She recognized that mark on his wrist.
“That’s funny. I have the same birthmark on the back of my neck.”
Oh? Gilgamesh paused from looking at the directions on his phone. If she was bringing it up then that saved him a lot of work. Perhaps he could see if the markings were real.
“Do you? You should show me. My marking is rather unique.”
It was, Hakuno had to admit. She didn’t mind showing him though. She moved her hair out of the way, turning around so that he could see her birthmark properly.
“Mine is too. It’s a star like yours is.”
Gilgamesh leaned in, taking in the sight of her marking. He traced a hand over it, feeling it.
It was real. Fake soulmate marks felt more like tattoos rather than the real deal. He had seen too many fake soulmate marks in his lifetime already.
“Did you know? There are some parts of the world that believe people are fated to one another. Some people wait their whole lives to find the person with their matching birthmark, or rather- soulmate mark.”
Soulmate markings. She had heard about that before. It was impossible to not hear about that in Rome. Almost everyone talked about that. Especially during Venus’ month.
“I have heard about soulmate marks. We Romans believe that Venus splits humans into pairs when we are born. Sometimes we find our partner, sometimes we don’t. It is up to chance.”
Gilgamesh snorted as he traced along the star on her neck. Gods. That was amusing. This woman really said the most amusing things. Someone like that would be his fated soulmate.
He would have to reward that god later. It would seem the Romans were not trying to cheat him for once. He supposed that even a snake could be honest every now and then.
“The gods have nothing to do with it. You’ll find in time that the gods are useless more often than not.”
“My father is not useless. He is a good god.” Romulus was the greatest god in all of Rome. He had taken care of her all of this time. The god had even adopted her when she had been little.
He would agree to disagree on that matter. Gilgamesh kept his hand on her neck for a moment longer before he pulled back.
“It is rather interesting that we both have the same birthmark, Hakuno. Since you believe in your gods so much, then that must mean your Venus has promised you to me, no?”
Wait. That wasn’t what she had meant when she had said that. Hakuno looked over at his own marking on his wrist. It was exactly the same as hers.
There was no way that he was her soulmate. Sure, most people in Rome talked about it, but she didn’t actually believe in it. She had yet to see anyone find their soulmate. At least, from around the people that she knew.
Her uncle Caesar did not count.
She wasn’t going to back from Gilgamesh. She wasn’t going to allow the man the pleasure of giving her a hard time any more than he already had.
“If you’re my soulmate, then that means we’re connected in some manner, right? That means I should feel something when you kiss me.”
Gilgamesh laughed, again, the sound echoing a moment before he leaned in.
“So eager to kiss me? There are other ways to go about this, you know. But I suppose that you are not bad looking, for a Roman.”
For a Roman. Hakuno resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He liked to talk too damn much. Was he sure that he wasn’t a Roman himself?
She stood on her tiptoes, closing the distance, and slammed her lips home to his. She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but the man wrapping an arm around her, and moving his lips against hers hadn’t been it.
Fuck, it felt nice. This wasn’t good. She nearly dropped her skateboard at how nice this felt. Her heart pounded as she pulled back when the need for air became too much.
“Well, Hakuno? It looks like you’ve felt a variety of things from our embrace.”
He sounded so smug. Somehow, he looked even prouder than before.
“You promised me ramen. Maybe I’ll tell you what I felt while we eat.”
Hakuno felt her face warming as the man grabbed her hand, laughing as he all but dragged her down the streets of Rome.
If he was truly her soulmate, then she had many questions. Mostly about her luck.
But for now, perhaps her luck wasn’t so bad. She could just whack him with her skateboard if really turned out to be bad luck.