Chapter Text
The moment almost lasted too long in Oikawa's opinion, his breath catching in his throat as he tried to keep it together. It wasn't every day that you met your soulmate and it wasn't everyday that you found out your soulmate was supposed to be your new step brother.
Oikawa's mind silently cursed his father, for thinking that love could overpower the connection of a soulmate bond and for having kids with aa woman that he had loved instead of with his soulmate. In all honesty his father had been happy with his mother, they had always maintained great communication, which was key when trying to keep the spark alive with out a soulmate bond to key you into the other person's emotions. But of course a relationship without being soulmates was pointless, because at some point, sooner or later, you would find 'the one' and end up leaving the other person anyway.
His father was the first of his parents to find their real soulmate, a woman in his cycling class that he fell head over heels for after holding out for almost an entire month. Oikawa had never understood trying to deny ones basic biology, but his father had always been on the less traditional side. Needless to say that after his father cracked the divorce paperwork was drawn up and put through the courts within a month. The wedding happened shortly after that and Oikawa had found himself outside of the loop for the entire thing. He had been away at boarding school through everything, the only updates he had gotten were periodic messages from his mother, asking if he was okay and if he had been eating enough. Apparently both of his parents had thought it best not to tell him, but finding out in a phone call on the train home had not been pleasant at all. Needless to say he had been irritated, that irritation only flaring more when he was informed of his apparent dinner plans the day of his return from school, to meet his new step-mother and siblings.
The two girls seemed nice enough, both of them giving him cursory glances and gentle smiles as he shook their hands and introduced himself as he was expected to. In all honesty he couldn't bring himself to care about the girls in light of his discovery, his eyes continually darting to the taller and darker older brother. His new step-brother was shorter than he was, but much better built, stocky and obviously in good shape. Oikawa couldn't pull his eyes away from him, especially the small star shaped mark on his neck, displayed for all to see, unlike Oikawa's own soulmate mark. In truth it was strange to have a soulmate mark in a place that was visible with clothing on, usually they were found on ones torso or upper arms or legs, so seeing one so easily shown threw Oikawa for a minute. Not to mention the mark was the exact same as his own.
"Oikawa, this is your new step brother, Iwaizumi, say something nice why don't you?" Oikawa's father was trying to break some of the obvious tension, finishing up the introductions and hoping that speaking would snap Oikawa out of whatever trance he seemed to be stuck in.
The young man tried to force a smile as he pulled his eyes away from his step-brother, suddenly feeling very aware of himself, "Hello, it's wonder to meet all of you," Oikawa's smile was almost forced as he tried to look at anyone but Iwai.
"The same to you Oikawa. We've all heard so much about you from your father. It will be nice to hear if half of the stories he told are actually true," Oikawa's new step-mother smiled, effectively relieving the tension in the room and brushing off Oikawa's strange behavior.
"I hope he didn't tell you too much." Oikawa joked, his hand moving out so he could shake everyone's hand again, needing to do something with himself and this new energy that seemed to be thrumming within him.
"I'm sure he told us enough," The older woman replied, opting for a hug instead of a handshake in true motherly fashion.
"Well now that we got that out of the way why don't we all sit down for dinner?" Oikawa's father said once it looked like everyone was relatively at ease. "I'm sure Bre made something wonderful as always."
Oikawa thought that was a great idea, until the woman of the family took one side of the table and his father took the head of the table, leaving him alone with Izazumi on his father's left. The older man gave Oikawa a strange look when he hesitated in sitting down, clearing his throat as if to point out that Oikawa had better manners than what he was showing.
They managed to make it all the way through dinner without incident, Oikawa answering a large number of questions before they all moved into the sitting room for desert. Before they could all get there Oikawa excused himself to go to the restroom, needing a moment to himself to recollect himself and think about how to approach this soulmate business. The surprise on his face was genuine when Iwai said that he needed to go as well, offering to accompany Oikawa to the bathroom even though there were plenty of others within the large house. The declaration came as a pleasant surprise though, because it gave him the chance to speak to Iwazumi in private, something he figured the other man wanted as well.
He had been right of course and as soon as they were out of earshot Iwai grabbed Oikawa's arm, dragging him into an empty study and forcing him to stop in his tracks. Oikawa didn't really like the determined look on Iwai's face, it made him scarier, but he resolved himself to the conversation they were about to have.
"Why were you staring at my neck earlier? It was really creepy you know. And why do I have this feeling that I know you?" Iwai asked, slowly letting go of the pressure around Oikawa's arm.
"This is going to be a little weird for a minute, but I swear it's easier to show you than it is to explain." Oikawa sighed, his hands going to the belt around his waist as he started to undo his pants. His hands were shaking slightly and he had to take a deep breath to steady himself, but after that he was fine, undoing the button and fly on his pants before pulling them down, shifting his boxers up higher on his thigh and letting the small star shaped mark come into full view. It was a little mortifying, but Oikawa managed to finish while only sporting a light pink blush, slowly pushing his glasses up on his face as he looked at his mark and compared it to Iwai's.
A small black star with little dots on the very ends graced both patches of skin, marking two different bodies and connecting them together by fate. It was almost ironic how small their soulmate marks were, but they were there none the less.
"Does this look familiar to you?" Oikawa asked, a small smile now on his face as he looked between his leg and Iwai's neck.
"You can't be serious right now," the other man spent more than a few minutes just staring at the mark, his face frozen in shock. His hand reached out, fingers gently brushing the pattern on Oikawa's thigh before moving up to his own neck, brushing the mark he had since birth as he watch Oikawa pull his pants back on.
"Oh I am serious. We're brothers and soulmates Iwai, there's really no getting around it. I'm pretty sure we've just erased all doubt." The taller man answered as he refastened his belt, eyes catching Iwai's and keeping their gazes locked as he worked out what to say next.
Iwai beat him to the punch, "This is more than a little messed up. You do realize that right?"
"Well there really isn't much we can really do about it now Iwai-chan. Our parents are already happily married and this isn't really something we can just run away from. We do have to think about our next move though, because this is going to be much more difficult to hide now that we both know," Oikawa leaned against the door to the study, crossing his arms and looking up at the ceiling. "The biggest question is when should we tell our parents?"
The other man seemed to consider this for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in thought as he frowned. There were so many different scenarios and so many different possible outcomes it wasn't a choice to be made lightly.
"Well we should probably make sure before we tell them, because what if we're wrong? There have been cases of people mistaking their soulmate marks before," Iwai seemed to debate this for a moment before looking up to Oikawa, "I mean most people just have to kiss to know right? Like going all the way solidifies the bond, but just a kiss triggers the start right? So if we kiss and nothing happens we're wrong."
"And if I'm right then we'll start the bonding process," Oikawa finished the end of the thought, giving Iwai a smile as he pushed himself off the door and moved into Iwai's personal space. "I think you just want to kiss me Iwai-chan."
Neither of them pulled away once Oikawa was close, their breath ghosting over the other's face as they just sat and took a breath for a moment. It was strangely intimate, they weren't even touching, but being close felt right, like being in a safe harbor during a storm.
"I just want to make sure is all." Iwai had to keep himself from moving even closer, his hands moving to Oikawa's waist to keep him where he was.
"So are you going to kiss me? Or am I going to have to do . . ." Oikawa was trying to be cheeky, his last comment cut off by a strong pair of lips on his own.
The kiss was gentle at first, but it seemed to light a fire inside of both of them, forming the first tentative bond between them. Iwai's hands moved lower on Oikawa's hips as the taller man wrapped his arms around Iwai's neck. They stayed like that for a while, both moving their lips together and catching little breaths before diving in for more. It wasn't uncommon for the first kiss to be raw and passionate, but the flood of emotions through the bond, as faint as they were with the minor bond, kept them from thinking clearly for a moment or two.
Eventually they both needed to fill their lungs properly, causing the kiss to break. They were still holding each other though looking into each other's eyes as they panted and caught their breath. It was different, feeling someones emotions always brought a new flood of self awareness, changing your place in the world to something relevant to the other person.
"Was that proof enough for you Iwai-chan?" Oikawa asked once he had caught his breath the electricity around them only growing as they stood so close.
"I think we can safely say that you were right Trashy-kawa." Iwai smirked, slowly pushing Oikawa away from himself in order to break the spell, "But now that we know what should we do about it?"
"Well we have to tell our parents obviously," The taller man answered as he started pacing behind the desk in the study. "Or we could not tell them, but that's just begging for trouble later, especially if we get caught doing something like we just did." He took a moment to pause, his mind finding an alternative that might work for them. "You're coming to Saint Emanuel's with me in the fall right?"
Iwai looked a little confused by the question, wondering exactly Oikawa was going with it, "I am, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"What if we waited until we went back to school before we did anything together. Anything that would strengthen our bond anyway. Then we could take our time and explore this new feeling while we're at school. It should give us enough time to figure out what we want from this relationship and bond properly should we choose. We can tell our parents when Thanksgiving break rolls around and we're home for a few days. That way we know for sure and we can have more privacy." Oikawa explained, his eyes lighting up as his plan continued to expand.
The other man seemed to consider for a moment before nodding his head, a small smile coming to his face, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Not to mention it would keep things decently quiet until we're ready to tell everyone." He seemed to stall for a moment, giving OIkawa a worried little sigh, "But that means we would both have to control ourselves for the next three weeks."
Oikawa gave a little shrug at that, but he was biting the inside of his cheek at the idea. "It should be a problem, we only just met and we haven't done more than kiss, so the bond isn't very strong yet. It's not ideal, but I think we can make it work."
"If you're sure than I guess we could try this. I think I can handle myself for a few weeks. We'll just have to avoid any unnecessary contact." Iwazumi seemed to agree, shifting to the door before opening it. "We should head back, we've been gone for too long."
The other boy couldn't deny that, heading out the door in front of Iwai and walking back into the sitting room. Once they were both back they picked opposite sides of the room to sit on, trying to ignore the glances from the parents.
The rest of the evening would go by at a snails pace for Oikawa, making pleasant conversation getting more and more boring as the night went on. Eventually Oikawa excused himself to go to bed, using the excuses that traveling had taken a great deal of energy. Before he left he managed to sneak in a glace at Iwai, giving him a small smile before heading to bed.