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Isogai Masami knew better than to doubt whether soulmates were real or not. It simply wasn’t a question in her mind, it was just a fact of life. It was in her youth that she had begun to notice it. The thin, almost invisible red strings that tied people together. Sometimes they were tight, and thick, bound to people like elastic. Stretching and snapping to them with the strength of their love. Some were tangled, reflecting the doubt and confusion that people often felt with their relationships. On others, the string was cut and fraying, trailing behind them, like wisps in the wind.
She knew better than to say anything; her first few conversations taught her that this wasn’t a usual occurrence. So Masami moved on, pretending to ignore the small red strings that connected on human to another. She never quite acknowledged it, but she never felt guilty pushing a friend towards the person she knew was their destined. Nor did it keep her from finding and marrying her own.
When her first son was born, she always kept an eye out for the person who would be his beloved, although the trials and tribulations of motherhood kept her distracted.
“Yuuma, go out and play,” she directed, pointing towards the playground. The rambunctious six-year old enthusiastically nodded and ran off to join his classmates.
Isogai Masami let out a sigh and looked around for any open benches to rest her tired legs. The other parents and babysitters had taken most of the seats, leaving an open seat next to a very loud blonde woman talking on her phone. Masami’s eyebrow twitched, but she’d take anything at this point. She took a seat next to the woman, setting down her bag, full of snacks, band-aids, and half-used tissues. She tried to distinguish the language the woman was speaking, but the words escaped her. Masami pulled out a book from her never-ending bag, ready to get lost in a world of wild romances, kingdoms, and magic.
Masami felt a wave of irritation go over her as the woman loudly laughed, throwing her out of her head space.
“Żegnaj!” The woman said as she hung up. Masami let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully now she could have her peace. As fate would have it, she was not destined to have peace. “Good afternoon! I don’t think I’ve met you yet.” Masami smiled politely, although she wished she could just tell the woman to shut up.
“I don’t think I’ve met you either,” Masami admitted, she couldn’t recall seeing the woman at any of the other parent gatherings. “I’m Isogai Masami.”
“Maehara Felicja,” she said brightly, “It’s nice to meet you. I just came back from an extended business trip, so I haven’t been able to go to any of the parent gatherings.”
“Ah, I see,” Masami said. She paused for a moment, “Felicja? That name doesn’t sound Japanese.” Felicja let out another obnoxious laugh.
“Of course not! I’m Polish! I met my husband working abroad in London. I moved here with him so he could be with his family.” Felicja pointed towards the playground, “If nothing else, you can always spot my son in a crowd.” Masami followed Felicja’s line of sight, spotting a young blond boy who was wielding a stick like a sword. His golden hair matched the woman’s.
“He’s very handsome,” Masami commented.
“He sure is!” Felicja boasted, “He’ll be a ladykiller when he’s older, I’m sure of it.” Masami chuckled. Yuuma was going toe-to-toe with him in a sword fight (although she hoped this wouldn’t end in tears or scrapes). The blond boy laughed as he dodged one of Yuuma’s stabs.
“What’s his name?”
“Hiroto! It’s spelled with the kanji for command and fly!” Masami pointed towards her son.
“That’s Yuuma, spelled with the kanji for distant and genuine.”
“That’s so nice!” Felicja exclaimed with a clap, “Maybe they can do a playdate sometime!” Masami held back a comment that she’d rather not.
“We’ll see, his schedule is a little busy.” Felicja let out another obnoxious laugh. Masami scowled. She just wanted some peace and quiet.
“I understand, poor Hiroto’s day is crammed with extra classes and sports and so much! We’re lucky we could bring him out here today!” Masami slowly let go of the hope that she would have time to make any progress in her book as Felicja just kept talking. The sound of laughing and screaming children filled any silence that fell between them.
“Mommy!” a boisterous voice called, “Yuuma here scraped his knee!” Hiroto was a loud boy, much like his mother. Masami was already in her purse, pulling out a bandage. Her son was trailing behind the boy, his knee red from whatever he had scraped it against.
“Are you okay, Yuuma?” she asked, kneeling down. His lips were wobbly and he was sniffling, but he was holding himself together well. She placed the colorful bandage on his knee with a kiss. As her eyes wandered up to face the boy she loved so much, she started in surprise.
Her son’s red string was tightly tied to the boy next to him.
She stared at the two in awe. It was unheard of to find your beloved so young, and for it to be tied so tight. It was a very good omen.
“Mom?” Yuuma asked, his young eyes confused. She shook her head, jolting out of her musing. She hadn’t realized she had been staring. She sat back on the bench, her heart sinking. She had a bad feeling that she would have to spend a lot more time with Felicja from now on.
“Felicja-san?” she said.
“Yes, Masami-san?”
“I think we might be able to make room next week for a playdate.”
“Wonderful!” The blonde woman exclaimed with a clap.
She saw Hiroto and Felicja the week after that, and again a few weeks after that. It soon came to be that her son and Hiroto rarely went a day without seeing each other. They were attached at the hip. Even as the two boys outgrew their clothes and found new interests, they were never that far from each other. Masami even found a steady friend with Felicja, despite their initial meeting.
“Mom! Felicja-kaa-san! Hiro-kun and I want to go to Kunugigaoka!” Yuuma told her one day. Hiroto was next to him, enthusiastically nodding. Masami took a sip from her coffee.
“Are you sure? Isn’t that a very hard school to get into?” Felicja asked, cocking her eyebrow. Yuuma nodded.
“We’ll study hard we promise!” They chorused. Masami chuckled, they had probably practiced this.
“I don’t see why not. Yuuto could probably tutor you two,” Masami said. Her husband turned around.
“I’d be happy to,” he said, a smile in his eyes that promised a rough path ahead. A shiver went up the two boys spine and Masami laughed.
It was a tough exam season for them, but they passed with flying colors. Yuuma had ended up in Class 1-B and Hiroto in Class 1-C. Even though the boys had ended up in different classes, it had done nothing to interrupt their friendship. Yuuma told her about meeting Hiroto outside to eat lunch together and how Hiroto would cheer him on at Tennis practice, just as he would Hiroto at Soccer.
It was remarkable, how after all these years, their red string was still just as taut as it had been the very first day they met.
Then the day came.
She had seen people with their strings trailing behind them – their destined gone forever. She had only imagined the heartbreak that these people must feel, knowing that their soulmate was gone before their time. But that day, the day she looked down to see her own red string severed and floating in the wind, was the worst day of her life.
Masami got the call an hour later. An accident. A drunk driver in the rain.
She had often thought of her power as a gift, but now it was nothing but a curse, a constant reminder of what she had lost.
Yuuma was devastated. Hana and Rei were young and the full emotional impact was lost on them, a small blessing. Over the coming days, a parade of people came to give her their condolences. Empty words to fill her empty heart. She was lost in her grief, although in her few moments of clarity, she was glad to see that Hiroto never left Yuuma’s side through it all. Even through the months, when the grief began to take her health, Yuuma stepped up to the plate with Hiroto silently supporting him.
“Mom, I was dropped down to Class 3-E,” Yuuma told her one day, “They found out about my job.” His weary face was full of shame, as though he had somehow disappointed her. As though he was supposed to balance school and extracurriculars and work and taking care of his siblings.
“It’s okay,” was all she could say, “It’ll be okay, Yuuma.” She took her son, her poor son who had to grow up too quickly, in her arms and let her embrace tell him that everything was going to work out.
As his third year started, she began to regain her strength. Her illness was subsiding and she was finally able to start work again. Masami later found out that Hiroto had also been dropped down to Class 3-E. It comforted her to know that Isogai wouldn’t be without a friend in the class that even she knew was nicknamed the End Class. She watched her son lose his confidence over the months as he hid his grief to become the pillar of strength for the family.
Then something remarkable happened.
Masami wasn’t sure what it was, and she wouldn’t find out until nearly the end of the year, when the news spoke of octopus monsters and middle school assassins, but his silent grief slowly turned into quiet confidence. He was becoming the young man that she knew and hoped he would be. He held his head higher and his back straighter and even as Felicja complained to her about endangering students and lawsuits against the school, she couldn’t put her heart behind it. Yuuma would later tell her, years later, about an unkillable octopus they called Koro-sensei that gave them the best years of their life.
Masami realized later that it was this formative year that gave Yuuma the basis for the rest of his life. Even though he and Hiroto decided to go to different high schools, they never wavered in their friendship. Their red string was just a tight as it was the day he had met Hiroto.
In his second year, he came out to her.
“Mom, I’m gay,” he said through tears. Although she had known for years that he was destined to love and be loved by a friend he had met playing knights on the playground, she still embraced him as though it was news. It was a big step for him and she knew that. Her heart ached as she watched him step out of the room, her own red string drifting behind her, worn, faded, and fraying. Masami knew that her son would soon find the love that she so missed.
The seasons faded, waned and waxed. She took the photo of Hiroto and Yuuma next to each other, each holding their respective diplomas. The three years they spent separated each other in school had only grown their friendship. Even though they were to attended different colleges, they were close enough together that they had decided to live together.
“It’s amazing, huh? It’s been 12 years and they’re still attached at the hip,” Felicja said to her. She crossed her arms, admiring the two. A smile graced Masami’s face as Hana and Rei went to get a photo with them.
“I’m glad they’ve always had each other,” Masami said honestly.
“When do you think they’re gonna realize?” Felicja asked.
“Huh?”
“Please, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. They’re hopelessly in love with each other.” Masami’s eyes widened in surprise. She had known that they were destined for each other, she just hadn’t realized that other people had realized.
“I think my son has some inkling,” Masami admitted, “I’m not sure if Hiroto knows yet.” Felicja snorted.
“He’s always had a thick-head. He got it from his father (Masami didn’t have the heart to tell her that he probably got it from both of them). I think living together will do them well.” Masami couldn’t help but agree. It was one thing to know that your four-year-old son was going to fall in love with his four-year-old soulmate someday, it was another entirely to watch him fall in love through the years and be too damn dense to realize it. Masami watched the two take selfies together, silently contemplating their relationship.
“Felicja, want to take bets?”
“Ab-so-lutely,” she responded instantly, “Two years.”
“I give them till the end of college.”
“Deal.”
As fate would have it, Felicja and Masami would having coffee together when they finally got the call. It was only a few months after classes had started and they began living together.
“Mom, I’m dating Yuuma,” Hiroto had said over speakerphone (unbeknownst to him).
Felicja, ever the blunt one, could only blurt out, “FINALLY.” Masami was silently thankful she didn’t have to give the woman 5,000 yen. The virtues of both of them being wrong, she supposed. Masami never got a call from her son, the serious young man deciding to tell her in person on his next visit him.
“I’m dating Hiroto,” he said. Hana and Rei let out sounds of surprise.
“Really?!” Hana exclaimed enthusiastically, “When did that happen?!” Her surprise was betrayed by a tone of knowing in her voice. Masami was beginning to suspect that her daughter could see the red strings just as her mother could. Yuuma took his siblings’ questions like a champ, with patience and grace. When Hana and Rei had finally tired themselves out and went on to entertain themselves with something else, she and her son were finally alone.
“Mom, are you okay with…” he trailed off, carefully choosing his words, “…with Hiroto and I?”
“Of course, Yuu, I’m glad you could find someone to love just as I loved your father.” Yuuma turned red. “I’ve always suspected you two would end up together. Ever since the day you two met, you were inseparable.” She took her sons hand. His calloused, hard-working hands. The red string flowed through her fingers. “I believe you and Hiroto will make a good couple.” The worry washed off his face, assured by her words.
“Thanks, mom,” he said quietly.
“I love you, Yuuma.”
“Love you too, mom.”
Yuuma left the next day, to return back to school and his beloved. The house grew quieter without him, even though he made an effort to call at least once a week.
“Mom, I think I love him,” he told her one day.
“Don’t be afraid to tell him,” she advised, “Life is too fleeting for that.” He hadn’t responded, but she knew that her words resonated with him. He had seen more than enough death in his life already to know the truth in her words.
Summer came and went, the seasons waned and waxed.
“Mom, we’re going to study abroad together.”
“Adventure will be good for you two,” she had said, remembering the vacations she and her late husband took before they settled to have kids.
They would be studying abroad in London for a year. They hoped to find Hiroto’s grandparents in Eastern Europe. Felicja would later tell her that they hadn’t approved of her marriage to Maehara Eito, and that they were certain to disapprove of her son’s relationship to Yuuma.
“But nothing I’d say would stop him,” she said with a shrug, “The boy’s strong-headed and strong-hearted. He’ll be fine.” Masami didn’t doubt her for a second. The radio silence from her son was painful, but the few calls she got on Skype helped settle her heart. She watched her daughter Hana graduate from middle school and enter high school. Her youngest son entered his final year of middle school, growing more confident, just as Yuuma had. She noticed, with some amusement, that both of their red strings were taut and strong, just as Yuuma’s was, even if she had yet to meet the people on the other end of it. She suspected that when their family loved, they loved to the fullest extent.
When her son finally returned, he came back with a smile, the weight of his experiences, and his hand in Hiroto’s. “Mom, I have so much to tell you!”
“I can’t wait to hear it.”
They finished their education two years later. Yuuma had accepted a job in business development and Hiroto (finding stability with Yuuma) had discovered a passion in engineering and was working in product development. Neither she nor Felicja could be prouder.
It was a day in the middle of May that she got the call.
“Yuuma! You haven’t called in such a long time. Hana got into her first-choice college!”
“That’s great, mom!” he said excitedly.
“So, what’ve you been up to?” she asked. She heard shuffling on the other end of the phone.
“Mom, I have some news for you.” There was momentary silence on the line as her son found his words. “Hiroto and I are getting married.” Tears welled up in her eyes, memories of her own engagement going through her mind. She imagined what Yuuto would’ve thought of the news. She glanced down at her frayed red string, remembering the days when hers was just a strong and bright as Yuuma and Hiroto’s.
“I’m so happy for you, Yuuma. You two are great for each other. I love you, Yuuma.”
“I love you too, Mom.”
They would get married one spring day, almost eighteen years after they first met. Their red string just as strong and bright as ever. Masami would later get drinks with the woman she had initially disliked, both of them crying and boasting about their sons. Masami thought of the day that her son first met Hiroto, the first time they came home covered in dirt and scrapes, the day they both got into middle school and the day that she learned of her husband's death. The octopus monster that Yuuma was still tight-lipped about, their high school graduation, and the day that he finally realized his love for his best friend.
Masami couldn’t be prouder.