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Nagi never really cared about his birthday. If he’s being honest, it’s just another day to him. He’s never seen the point of celebrating it as an adult, so he never does — much to his friends’ chagrin.
He knows his friends love him and want to celebrate him, but it’s just more of a hassle than it’s worth, in his opinion. His friends’ birthdays, on the other hand, he loves to celebrate. So when Chigiri asked for Nagi and Reo’s help planning a surprise party for his soulmate, Kunigami, he said yes.
“I was thinking we could hold it at Rensuke’s favorite restaurant,” Chigiri says, looking thoughtfully down at his notebook. He’s been taking the planning very seriously, complete with notes and tabs to separate them. “I think that’s what he’d enjoy the most.”
They’re camped out in Chigiri and Kunigami’s living room while said man is at work. The party is currently planned for three days from now, on Saturday night, so Nagi goes straight to his browser to find the restaurant’s phone number.
“I agree, he does love that place.” Reo agrees with a serious nod. “Have we decided on a cake design?”
Nagi snorts, drawing both of their attention. Nagi smiles sheepishly, laughing softly. “Sorry, that’s just not a sentence I ever thought I’d hear from Reo.”
The other two laugh as well before Chigiri returns to his former focused state. “He’s just…”
Nagi senses something deeper coming, and rather than calling the restaurant, he tilts his head toward his friend. “He’s what?”
Chigiri looks up at him with a small, nervous smile. “He’s my best friend, he’s my soulmate. I just want him to have the best birthday ever. You only turn 30 years old one time.”
“How long have you actually been together?” Reo asks, leaning his chin on his hand. He and Nagi had met the other two a couple of years ago, and while they are all close, there are obviously things about their past they don’t know — as long as they’ve known them they’ve been together.
Chigiri smiles softly, looking at his notebook. “We’ve known each other since we were five, but we’ve been together since our marks appeared when we were fifteen. It’s always been him and I, and last year he made my birthday extra special so I want to do the same… if not more.” He chuckles before looking back at Nagi and Reo. “You guys have been friends since you were kids too, right? You know how it feels.”
Nagi and Reo look at each other in confusion before Nagi shakes his head. “Not really kids, we met when we were 17.”
Chigiri tilts his head, “Oh, sorry. You mentioned a childhood best friend once so I assumed it was Reo.”
Nagi shakes his head, leaning his chin on his hand. He smiles wistfully, looking at both of them. He’s never told Reo much about it either, so he decides to finally tell him. It wasn’t that Nagi didn’t want to talk about it, it’s just that his childhood best friend leaving has always been one of the biggest… regrets of his life.
“No, my childhood best friend was named Yoichi.” He looks down at the table, letting some of the memories wash over him for the first time in a while. “We met when we were four, at preschool. We were best friends until we were fourteen and his family moved across the country.”
It’s not something Nagi says out loud, not wanting to make Reo feel weird, but Yoichi — Yoichi Isagi — was the only friend Nagi ever had that understood him to such an insane degree. He and Isagi knew everything about each other, Nagi knew him like the back of his hand. There was nothing they could say to each other that would change the way they saw the other; it was truly the deepest relationship he’d ever known and Nagi is certain Isagi was his soulmate.
When Isagi moved away they were too young to have phones, and too young for their marks to appear, so there was no proof and no way to maintain contact. After about five years, Nagi lost hope that they would ever see each other again, and resigned himself to only being able to remember the other boy. Nagi misses him still to this day, but it’s become clear they will probably never see each other again — it’s been 16 years, after all.
“Really?” Chigiri asks, an odd expression on his face. “Wow, that’s crazy. I had no idea.” He hurries to look down and get back to planning, but Nagi writes off the weird behavior as him being confused.
They finish their planning not long after and Nagi and Reo head out. After saying goodbye and driving back to Nagi’s apartment together, they head straight for the living room. It’s late, so Nagi knows Reo will be sleeping on the couch tonight. He grabs a blanket and pillow, handing them to him.
Reo makes up his bed and heads into the bathroom to change into the pajamas he keeps in the closet. Nagi makes them both a cup of tea and drops onto the couch, setting them both on the coffee table. He’ll need to sleep soon, but he’ll stay up for a bit longer.
“That’s the most I’ve ever actually heard about Isagi.” Reo comments as he comes back into the living room.
Nagi gives him a sheepish, apologetic smile. “I know, I’m sorry. It’s just… hard to talk about.”
“You were really close,” Reo says quietly, “weren’t you?”
Nagi sighs and smiles down at his hands. “We were only fourteen, but… I think he was my soulmate. My parents used to say we argued like an old married couple, that we were two peas in a pod.”
Reo nods, “Where did he go?”
Nagi shrugs, “His dad got a new job and moved them across the country. He didn’t like me very much because I ‘lacked the needed motivation to go anywhere in life.’”
Reo tilts his head, confused. “At fourteen years old?”
“Yes!” Nagi exclaims, “I never understood, but it’s not like I could do anything about his opinion, I was just a kid.”
Reo sighs, leaning back. “I understand why you don’t talk about it. I’m sorry you went through that, man.”
Nagi smiles ruefully, standing up. “Thank you. I’m going to get to bed.” He heads toward his room, pausing in the living room doorway. “Night, Reo.”
“Goodnight,” Reo murmurs back, “see you in the morning.”
When Nagi reaches his room, he changes into some pajama pants, brushes his teeth and falls into bed. He stares up at the ceiling for a few minutes, not wanting to fall back into the misery he so carefully keeps inside, but in the end he sighs and lifts up his wrist. He takes off the watch on his right wrist, the band carefully chosen so that it would be big enough to cover his mark.
It’s a circle, about half an inch across with a faint resemblance to yin and yang - like a water color painting. The tears hit him suddenly and he raggedly gasps, running his other thumb across it. Nagi lets the sadness wash over him for the first time in a long while. Nagi is usually able to pretend it’s not there, like he’s not permanently heart broken, but occasionally it does come out. He shoves down the sobs that fight to come out, not wanting to alert Reo, and buries his face in his pillow.
When he does finally fall asleep, he dreams of Isagi, of their times together.
<><><><><>
“What’s your name?”
Nagi looked up from the dinosaurs he was playing with, finding a small boy with shaggy black hair and blue eyes smiling at him nervously. Nagi was surprised; it wasn’t often that someone came up to him like that.
“Um… I’m Seishiro. What’s your name?” Nagi answered softly.
The other boy smiled wider and sat down across from him. “My name is Yoichi - Yoichi Isagi!” He looked at the dinosaurs Nagi was playing with and pointed at them. “Can I play with you?”
Nagi nodded slowly, offering him his choice of dinosaurs.”If you want to…”
Isagi looked confused. “That’s why I came over here. You looked nice, I wanted to meet you.”
That made Nagi feel warm inside, though he didn’t fully understand why then. “Oh… okay. Let’s play together.” He smiled at the other boy with a renewed excitement. “Which one do you want, Yoichi?”
The other boy laughed, happy to have won him over. “Can I have that one?” He pointed to the T-Rex, Nagi’s favorite. Rather than hesitating, as some kids would have, Nagi happily handed it to his new friend.
The smile on Yoichi’s face and his excitement made it more than worth it.
<><><><><>
Some kids of Nagi's age, seven years old, had a lot of friends. Some kids had to fight to play with who they wanted, or had to agree to take turns with someone else – not Nagi. Nagi happily only had one friend, Yoichi. And while Yoichi did have friends other than him, three years into their friendship had proven that he would choose Nagi over anyone else, any day.
“Sei, you’re here!” Isagi yelled, running over to him as he got out of his mother’s car on a regular Tuesday morning. They were in second grade, and were lucky enough to share a teacher this year.
Nagi smiled and ran up to his best friend, meeting him halfway. He turned to wave at his mom, who was pouting at them and waving back. He rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head at her before returning his attention to Isagi. The other boy smiled up at him in excitement, hooking their arms together.
“I wanted to ask if you could to come to my house for a sleepover on my birthday.” Isagi stated, looking up at him (because Nagi was somehow already tall for his age at seven years old) with big blue eyes.
“Duh.” Nagi snarked, squealing when Isagi poked him in the ribs in response. “Of course I will,” he glares with no heat behind it, “you don’t even have to ask. Who else will be there?” Nagi didn’t care about his own birthday, but he was eager to celebrate Isagi’s.
“No one else,” Isagi said simply. “Just you.”
“I–” Nagi started and stopped. “Are you sure?”
Isagi laughed like it was a no-brainer. “I don’t want to spend it with anyone else, stupid. You’re my best friend.”
Nagi felt that newly-familiar warm feeling again, like he usually did when Isagi said things like that. “Well yeah, you’re my best friend too, stupid.” He said it teasingly, making the other boy laugh.
“I better be.” Isagi teased back, leading Nagi into their classroom before going their separate ways to their seats. Nagi sat on the left side of the room, two rows away from where Isagi’s assigned seat was.
Their teacher entered the room, and not long into the lesson he brought up a partner project. Nagi felt the dread fill him as he realized he may have to work with kids he doesn’t know.
“We’re going to pick your partners with a game. I’m going to hand a coin to you two, at the start of the rows.” Their teacher handed one coin to the boy at the start of Nagi’s row and one to the girl on the opposite side. “We’re going to flip a coin and whoever wins can pick their partner, and we’ll go until everyone has paired up.”
Nagi didn’t think it sounded like much of a game, which he communicated to Isagi with an eye roll. The other boy shook his head, trying not to laugh. The coin flips started and, because the other kids apparently suck at flipping coins, it finally got to Isagi. The other boy made a triumphant sound when it landed on heads and looked up. Five other kids raised their hands, hoping to be picked by the boy.
Isagi was just… just like that. He was like sunshine personified, and unfortunately Nagi was not the only one who thought that way. He resigned himself to being partnered with some other kid, knowing Isagi might want to work with someone else.
“I pick Seishiro.” Isagi stated, smiling at Nagi. The other kids groaned, put out over not being chosen. Nagi knew he looked surprised, which made Isagi roll his eyes then. The other kids all paired up eventually and Isagi swapped desks with someone so he could sit in front of Nagi and turn backwards to share his desk.
“You should stop looking so surprised when I pick you.” Isagi murmured quietly, smiling at him fondly. “In fact, you should get used to it.”
Nagi would always remember the way that sentence made him feel so incredibly special.
<><><><><>
“Seishiro, are you ready to go?”
A 12 year-old Nagi looked up at his mom, purse over her shoulder and keys in her hand. He jumped up, running over to her excitedly. “Yes!”
She gave him a ‘certified mom look’ before looking back at the living room where he’d been sitting. He sighed and went back, cleaning up the Pokemon cards he was playing with before returning to her side. “Thank you, sweetie.” She patted him on the head, something that was getting more difficult by the year with the way he grows in height. “The movie you and Yoichi are watching starts in twenty minutes, so let's go!”
The two hurried outside, piling into the car and heading to the movie theater. Yoichi and his parents had been gone on a trip for the last three weeks, so this was the first time seeing each other since before they left. Nagi hated the time apart, and loathed that they were too young for cell phones.
They arrived at the theater within ten minutes and Nagi hurried, pulling his mom along by the hand while she laughed. She and Isagi’s mom would be watching their own movie together, but their movie wouldn’t start for another fifteen minutes.
“Hurry up!” He groaned, making her laugh even harder. “Mom, it’s not funny!” He pouted at her until she finally gave in, allowing him to pull her along. As soon as they entered the theater he looked around until he found the back of Isagi’s shaggy black hair. “Yoichi!”
The other boy spun around, looking for Nagi too. When his big blue eyes found him, Isagi suddenly looked relieved and emotional. It wasn’t something Nagi was used to seeing; Isagi was always happy, always laughing, always smiling. Nagi hurried faster, wanting to know what was wrong.
When they reached each other Isagi immediately pushed himself into Nagi, wrapping his arms around the taller boy’s waist and pressing his face into his neck. He wrapped his arms around Isagi’s shoulders, allowing him as close as he needed. They didn’t say much, but Nagi remembered seeing the concerned expression on his mom’s face as well.
“Are you okay?” He asked in a whisper, where only Isagi could hear.
Isagi nodded, not saying anything right away. “I just missed you.”
Nagi relaxed marginally, but knew that wasn’t all. They talked a little throughout their movie, leaning their heads in close, but Nagi didn’t get anything of substance out of him. When they left, Isagi asked his mom quietly if he could spend the night at Nagi’s house, hugging her goodbye when she said yes. They both climbed into the backseat, and while Isagi grabbed his hand and looked out the window sadly, Nagi caught a similar look from his mom.
That is what set him on edge more than anything – it made him feel like he was the last to know something important.
They reached Nagi’s house and headed straight to his bedroom. As soon as they entered it was like a switch flipped. Isagi started to cry suddenly, making Nagi scramble to gather him into his arms again. In his hurry he accidentally knocked them both to the floor, but Isagi didn’t complain and just leaned into him instead.
“Yoichi, what’s wrong?” He asked desperately, wanting to do anything he could to stop whatever was happening from hurting the other boy.
He finally calmed his cries enough to respond to Nagi, but the answer felt like a death sentence.
“At the end of next year we’ll be moving away.” He whispered, eyes filling with slow, continuous tears. “I begged them not to do it, but… it’s for my dad’s work, and I don’t–” A sob broke free, causing Nagi to hurry and gather Isagi back into a hug, even though he felt his eyes fill with tears, too. “I don’t have a choice.”
Nagi felt like he froze for a long time before finally feeling the understanding dawn on him. “But…”
“I know,” he whined, tightening his arms around Nagi’s waist, “I… I know.”
That decision would change Nagi and Isagi’s lives in ways they couldn’t even grasp at the time.
<><><><><>
“Say your goodbyes, Yoichi.” Isagi’s father’s firm voice instructed. He hadn’t been a fan of the ‘unnecessary drama’ they were apparently causing, though Isagi’s dad had never understood the depth of their relationship the way their moms had. “We need to leave.”
Nagi looked away from the older man and toward his best friend. They both had tears cascading down their faces as they came together for one… last hug. Nagi felt as though his heart was leaving with the other boy, and even though they had almost two years to prepare for this moment, it suddenly was nowhere near enough time.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Nagi would have to lose the only person who understood him, liked him, enjoyed his company. That he would have to lose his… well. He wasn’t sure how to describe the other boy. His person, his rock, his other half, his best friend, there were too many names, yet somehow none of them gathered the weight of his feelings for his best friend. Nagi pressed their heads together, squeezing him tighter. “This won’t be the last time we see each other.” It’s the only thing he could say that might make it better. “It won’t be.”
“You promise?” Isagi whispered in his ear.
“I promise.” Nagi responded, just as quiet. “I…”
They pulled back, both unsure of what to say next. “I’ll miss you, Seishiro. Every day.”
The wobble in Isagi’s voice and the way his cobalt blue eyes were shining set off the tears in Nagi’s eyes like a sprinkler, and his mom came forward to pull him into an embrace. “I’ll miss you, Yoichi. Every day.”
Watching Isagi’s family’s car turn around the final bend until Nagi couldn’t see it anymore made Nagi want to curl up into a ball and wait for the day he came back, but instead his mom turned him around and pulled him into a tighter hug.
“I’m so sorry honey,” She whispered, “I know how much you love him.”
Nagi’s breath caught. Love. That’s exactly what it was, that was the word he had been trying to find; the only word suitable enough to describe the way he felt about the other boy. And now he’ll never know if Isagi loved him, too.
“Yeah,” Nagi whined into her neck. “Yeah, I really do.”
So yes, Nagi’s biggest regret in life is that he wasn’t able to tell Isagi that. That single thing weighs down on him more than anything else.
<><><><><>
The day of Kunigami’s surprise party comes and Nagi finds himself feeling nervous for some reason. He’s not sure why, it’s not like he’s going in blind – he literally helped plan the whole thing – but for whatever reason his anxiety is trying to get to him.
“Ready to go?” He asks Reo as the other man comes down the stairs from his bedroom.
Reo’s apartment is much different than Nagi’s, about ten times fancier and so much bigger. Though, to be honest, Nagi feels like it’s cold and impersonal; not that Nagi’s is the epitome of warm and cozy or anything. When they went to college they moved to a bigger city, and even though they were done with college they still live there. Nagi’s mom eventually moved nearby after his dad died three years ago, so he’s not missing anything back in his hometown.
“Yeah, let's head out.” Reo says, checking his hair in the mirror before they leave. On the car ride there, Nagi finds himself feeling less and less anxious the closer they get, which he would’ve thought would be the opposite – given his nervous system today. He chooses not to speak on it, not wanting to somehow jinx it. “You’ve been quiet the last few days.” He observes, glancing at him briefly in worry. “You okay?”
Nagi gives him a tired smile, nodding his head. “I just haven’t been sleeping well. I’m okay.”
Reo seems to know he’s lying, but humors him. “Okay… Well, how do you think Kunigami is going to react?”
Nagi looks at him playfully, “If you think his reaction is going to be anything other than him praising Chigiri and worshipping him, you’re wrong.”
Reo laughs, nodding his head. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”
The rest of the drive is quiet as Nagi sinks back into his thoughts and Reo focuses on the road. The restaurant is farther away, so they drive for about twenty minutes before they reach it. Chigiri reserved a party room that has access to a back patio attached to the restaurant, and they’re bathed in the warm yellow glow of lantern lights. Before they even enter the bar, Chigiri appears before them.
“Hey, guys! Thanks for coming!” He has what Nagi would call a mischievous look on his face, but he brushes it off as the redhead leads them to the party room. Kunigami isn’t there yet, but the rest of their guests are. “There will definitely be people here you don’t know,” he pauses, glancing briefly at Nagi, “and some you do, but feel free to mingle with them.”
Nagi makes eye contact with Reo, who shrugs at the odd wording. Nagi tries to shrug it off too, but can’t shake the feeling that he doesn’t know something important — something that has become a pet peeve of his. As Chigiri breaks off, he stops across the room to speak quietly with a boy with golden eyes and short brown hair with the underneath layers dyed yellow.
Reo leads him over to the open bar across the room, leaning against it next to him. Nagi stares at the drink menu while Reo looks around the room, not paying much attention to the purple haired man.
“Wow, there are a lot of people we don’t know here.” Reo comments idly.
The guy with yellow eyes that Chigiri had spoken to appears next to them with a playful grin. “Hey, you’re Nagi right?”
Nagi squints his eyes, nodding slowly. “Yeah…”
“I’m Bachira! I have known Chigiri and Kunigami since high school.” He smiles, tilting his head. He’s nice, but Nagi’s not really sure why he seems to know him. “Anyway, I’ve heard a lot about you,” This only raises more questions, “And I came to invite you to sit with us. We have a mutual friend who’s been dying to see you.”
Yet again, Nagi feels like he doesn’t know enough. “Yeah, sure. We’ll get our drinks and head over.” Bachira nods and all but skips away.
“Weird guy,” Reo murmurs, looking at Nagi. “Who’s he talking about?”
Nagi shrugs, ordering their drinks. Once they receive them, they turn away from the bar to search for Bachira. They spot him across the room, talking excitedly to someone with black hair. Nagi looks at Bachira before looking at the man he’s speaking to.
It only takes a second, one single second, to recognize him. His heart starts pounding as he realizes he’s staring at Yoichi. He’s even more beautiful than the last time he saw him, and Nagi can’t stop staring at his smile, the same, familiar smile that is forever seared into Nagi’s memory.
He stops in his tracks, wondering if he can trust his brain right now. Isagi is here, only thirty feet away. He’s holding a glass of something, laughing at something Bachira says with a radiant smile — like sunshine personified.
“Yoichi?”
The smaller man turns his head so fast it’s almost imperceptible. He sees the moment Isagi recognizes him, too. His wide, familiar cobalt blue eyes widen and he jumps to his feet, knocking his chair over behind him. He doesn’t seem to notice the spectacle he caused, eyes never leaving Nagi’s. He starts running toward Nagi, carefully avoiding bumping into anyone else on his way.
Nagi, though still in shock, finally registers what’s happening when Isagi gasps, “Sei!”
They collide like rocks crashing together, firm and unforgiving as they wrap their arms around each other tightly. In the commotion Nagi drops his drink and nearly knocks down Reo behind him, but he has little care for anything other than Yoichi Isagi being in his arms for the first time since he was fourteen years old.
“Oh my god,” Nagi breathes, unable to say much more than a quiet, disbelieving, “Yoichi…”
The rest of the world melts away as Nagi comes to focus solely on Isagi, wanting to suck up every moment of their reunion. Isagi finally looks up, realizing he needs to look up even more with how tall Nagi is now and he chuckles. “You’re a giant.”
The sound of his voice wraps around Nagi, warming his entire body. It’s deeper now, but still familiar. “You’re just short.” He murmurs back, making Isagi laugh delightedly and pull him into another tight hug.
Nagi catches Chigiri’s eye over Isagi’s shoulder, who gives him a nod and smile, giving him silent permission to peel off from the group and away from the party. Nagi hums, leaning into the hug. “Let’s move outside.”
Isagi nods, but doesn’t pull back more than he needs to in order to lead the way out to the patio. In the yellow light of the lanterns, Nagi gets to take in the sight of an older, even more beautiful Isagi. His hair is still shaggy, though not so much so as when they were younger. His face has slimmed with age and his blue, blue eyes look darker and wiser than the last time Nagi had seen them.
He wonders what isagi is seeing in him, but doesn’t need to wonder what the other man is thinking for long. “You’re… you’re here. I can’t… it’s been so long.”
Nagi nods and walks toward him, wanting nothing more than to touch him. “When I saw you, it was like… I knew it, I knew you, and then you turned around and…”
“And I knew you the second I saw you.” Isagi whispers. “I missed you more than anything. Every day. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Nagi’s eyes burn with tears and he places a hand on Isagi’s cheek. “Me neither. I– I’m just so glad you’re here.”
Isagi smiles as his eyes overflow. “Can we go somewhere else? You live here, right?”
Nagi nods again and points at Reo, “Yes, I just need to tell him I’m leaving. Do you have a car here?”
Isagi nods and waits patiently as Nagi tells both Reo and Bachira that they’re leaving. He comes back and Isagi grabs his hand before leading the way to his car. He gets into the passenger side, buckling up as Isagi starts the car. He looks up, finding Isagi staring at him with a bittersweet expression. Nagi smiles and unbuckles so he can reach over to pull Isagi into a hug. Almost as soon as Isagi is in his arms, he feels the smaller man’s shoulders start to shake.
Nagi hums softly and brings one of his hands up to hold the back of Isagi’s head in an attempt to soothe him. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” Isagi says, voice muffled into his neck, “more than anything.”
They finally pull back after a minute and Nagi proceeds to give Isagi directions to his apartment, finding himself unable to do anything but stare at the other man during their drive there. He’s still in disbelief, trying to convince himself that Isagi is really there in front of him. When they arrive, Nagi leads the way to his place, letting Isagi enter first.
Thankfully he cleaned a bit this morning, so it’s not as messy. He looks around his own apartment, trying to see it with fresh eyes like Isagi.
It’s cozy, not huge, but two bedrooms and two bathrooms. His mom helped him decorate, so his furniture matches and the lamps that she picked gives the room a soft, ambient glow. He has his video game collection assembled in a cabinet with glass doors next to his TV and a basket full of blankets on the other side.
Isagi turns to look up at him, a happier smile on his face than before. “Can we sit?” Nagi nods, following the smaller man until they drop onto his couch.
Neither of them are really sure where to start, so Isagi chuckles and turns to face him. “How are you? How have you been? What’s life been like?”
Nagi laughs at all the questions, knowing he’d probably have asked the same things. “I’m okay. I work as a video game designer, I live alone, not really anything exciting. Life has been… good? I moved here for college with Reo, graduated, and my mom lives here now.” Isagi briefly gets a confused expression on his face so Nagi clarifies, “My dad died a few years ago and she was lonely back home.”
Isagi looks at him empathetically, “I’m so sorry, Sei.” The familiar nickname brings back the warm feeling he hadn’t felt since he was 14. “My dad died too, when I was 22. I um…” he looks down at his hands. “I was planning on coming back once I graduated. I wanted to… see you again. But then my dad died, I had just graduated but my mom needed me.”
It makes Nagi happy to know Isagi was missing him just the same. “I understand. But, even if you had I wouldn’t have been back home, I would’ve been here. I’m sorry about your dad, Yoichi.”
“I still don’t know what his problem with you was, but it very much affected our relationship.” He says solemnly, looking down again. “I didn’t speak to him for over a year,” Nagi’s breath catches in surprise, making Isagi look at him with a wry smile. “I went to my mom for everything and if I did have to talk to him for some reason I made it as short and sweet as I could. I know now, as an adult, that the amount of money you make actually matters, but I couldn’t forgive him for separating us.”
Nagi smiles back, but feels as though a weight is suddenly on his chest. Did Isagi love him back? Did he feel the same as Nagi?
His eyes shoot down to his own wrist, where his watch band is sitting over something that could change their lives all over again. Isagi catches the action and opens his mouth, leaning closer. “I have to tell you something.”
Nagi is surprised by the serious tone, but nods anyway after looking down at Isagi’s wrist, also covered by a band.
“I loved you,” He almost whispers, “And I thought we were soulmates.” Before Nagi can feel devastated by the past tense, Isagi continues. “And I still do. We’ve known each other since we were four years old, and even then I knew you were my person. And when I saw you tonight, it was like it all came back to me. I remembered exactly how much I love you.”
Nagi’s heart threatens to beat out of his chest, but he manages to respond. “I love you. When we were younger I knew it, but I could never find words deep enough to describe… us. When you left, my mom hugged me and told me she was sorry because she knew I loved you, and I realized that was the word I’d been looking for, and that I would never get to know if you felt the same.”
Isagi moves closer to him, close enough that their legs are touching and he can place his hands on Nagi’s cheeks. “I did, and I still do.” The relief he feels threatens to overwhelm him. His eyes burn and his breath catches again as he stares deep into Isagi’s beautiful blue eyes. “Sei,” Isagi’s voice breaks slightly and his eyes look shiny, “Kiss me please.”
Nagi doesn’t need to be told twice, so he leans in, gently pressing their lips together at the perfect angle. Isagi gasps slightly against his lips, but his hands go to Nagi’s shoulders. One hand tangles itself in the shaggy platinum hair at the base of Nagi’s neck and the other digs into the base of his neck with his nails. Nagi pulls back a bit, drawing a small whine out of Isagi, and takes the smaller man into his lap. Isagi’s legs bracket his thighs and he sits comfortably on his lap. Isagi makes a sound of approval and pulls him into another kiss, taking his time to please Nagi, wanting to make up for lost time.
When they do finally pull apart, breathing heavily and smiling wider than either of them have in years, Nagi stands up, picking Isagi up with him. He walks them straight into his bedroom, setting Isagi down while he finds something for the smaller man to sleep in. When he hands off the clothes that will definitely be too big, they change into their pajamas and climb into Nagi’s bed.
Once they’re in and settled Isagi is facing him, laying on his side as Nagi mirrors the position opposite him. “I…” Nagi pauses, “Do you want to see my mark?”
Isagi looks nervous, but nods. They both move to take their bands off, hiding their marks until they’re both ready. “Ready?” He asks, voice shaky. Nagi nods and flips his arm over when Isagi does.
They match perfectly.
Isagi’s mark is identical to Nagi’s, and seeing the familiar mark, his mark, on Isagi awakens something in him. He looks back at Isagi, who’s already staring at him heatedly. “Sei…”
Nagi doesn’t need to hear the rest of his question. He leans in to capture his mouth again, kissing him gently but firmly, suddenly feeling possessive. Isagi is his, his soulmate, his person, his best friend, his fated love.
Isagi climbs into his lap again, taking the kiss up a notch. Nagi loses track of time after that; he’s not sure exactly how long they were drowning in each other, but he does know that he feels happier than ever before. When Isagi is lying with him, curled into his side with his ear over Nagi’s racing heart, Nagi finally feels at peace.
He’s not sure what’s going to happen next, but he knows he’s never letting Isagi – his soulmate – go again.