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Love is hard, or at least it can be for us ordinary folks.
First, you have to find a nice person to catch your eye and then wait and see if your heart does a flutter, or see if the butterflies in your stomach take flight. If that does happen, you then must be lucky enough for the other person to react the same way.
Then you have to get to know this person, make sure they’re kind and respectful and a good match for you, and if you’re a good match for them in return. Do you mesh well? Do you have the same beliefs and ideas, and do you both want the same things out of the relationship and out of life?
Unfortunately, it does not always end in the perfect love connection, complete with a long, happy marriage and dying together as the cruise ship you’re on slowly sinks into the murky waters below.
Things would be so very much easier if your perfect match were found for you.
Fortunately, in the world that Chabashira Tenko lives in, the name of your soulmate is displayed on your wrist from the moment of your birth, even if the other party isn’t born yet! It’s not necessarily a perfect system, seeing as it’s only the first name, and there are thousands of different people that share the same name, but it helps to give a pretty good idea.
When Chabashira is bored in class, like today, she often traces the beautiful black letters on her wrist, spelling out the name “ Himiko .”
“Chabashira-san!”
And she is often scolded by the teacher for it.
The olive-haired girl sighs, rolling her sleeve back down and picking her pencil back up as if to take notes.
It’s such a lovely day out! It’s a day that should be spent going for a run or sunbathing, or doing anything else that isn’t the Pythagorean Theorem.
Suddenly, there is a knock on the classroom door. The teacher rolls her eyes, muttering something under her breath as she opens the door.
Standing on the other side stands the most beautiful girl Chabashira’s ever seen in her life.
She’s petite with an adorable figure, the Hope’s Peak Academy uniform hanging off of her perfectly. She has a bob of ruby red hair and sparkling hazel eyes that set Chabashira’s heart on fire.
She’s so cute!!!
The teacher looks the short girl up and down with a scrutinizing frown, making a displeased noise in the back of her throat.
“You’re late.”
“I overslept. My bed was very cozy this morning.”
The new girl’s voice reminds Chabashira of (oddly enough) balloons and jellybeans.
The teacher grabs her wrist and drags her into the center of the room. “Well, since you’ve finally arrived, you should introduce yourself to your new classmates.”
The new girl turns her gaze on the students in the class for the first time through half-lidded eyes.
“Nyeh, I’m Yumeno. I guess I’m new in class. Take care of me.”
Instead of going for a proper bow, she merely bobs her head before returning a blank gaze to the teacher.
“There’s an empty spot next to Chabashira. You may take a seat there.”
The new girl, Yumeno, drags her feet down the aisle and practically falls into the seat next to her. The teacher gives her one last distasteful look before resuming her lecture.
The olive-haired girl watches the other out of the corner of her eye, trying to soak up every little detail about her. It’s only been about two minutes, and she already wants to know everything; what she does with her spare time, what are her biggest goals and aspirations…
Who’s name is on her wrist…
“Stop staring at me.” Yumeno hisses suddenly, making the other jump.
“Sorry!” She whispers, “I didn’t mean to creep you out.”
Yumeno doesn’t answer, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
“I’m Chabashira,” She continues, “Welcome to our class.”
Yumeno glances at her. “Thanks.”
“...If you’d like, I can show you around after?”
“...Sure, that’d be great.”
Chabashira smiles.
“It’s a date, then.”
One-on-one time with the new, beautiful girl. How exciting.
-
“...And this is the cafeteria,” Chabashira concludes, coming to a stop in front of the double doors.
Yumeno nods, itching her wrist. “Wow…This school is bigger than I thought it was. Anyways, I didn’t bring a lunch. Does the cafeteria sell food here?”
The olive-haired girl nods happily. “Yeah! I mean, the prices are a little high, but the food is of even higher quality, so in a way, it’s worth it. You can sit at my table as well if you want.”
Yumeno yawns. “That’d be great, thanks…Wait, how many people are there?”
“Don’t worry, not too many. You’ll love them, I promise!” Chabashira insists, grabbing the shorter girl’s hand and pulling her through the doors.
The room is abuzz with loud chatter, students walking to and from tables with trays of food in hand. Chabashira looks back at her, giving her a wide smile as they move up to the canteen.
They quickly purchase their lunches before the taller girl eagerly brings her newest companion back to her table.
“What are your friends like, Chabashira?” Yumeno murmurs.
“Oh, they’re great people! Two of them are actual real-life soulmates!”
Yumeno’s eyebrows raise. “Really? Are you sure? The odds of finding your real-life soulmate are slim. Maybe a mistake was made?”
“Trust me, even if these two didn’t have the names on their wrists, they would still be soulmates. It’s the way they look at each other and how they interact with each other. It’s looking at each other and just knowing before evening seeing each other's wrists. It’s…It’s my dream to find that, Yumeno-san.”
“Sounds nice…Do you think you’ll ever find that, Chabashira-san?”
Chabashira pauses slightly, looking down at the cherry-haired girl with a soft smile.
“Lord, I hope so.”
The two keep going until they land in front of a table, Chabashira pulling out a chair for her new friend to sit on before sitting herself.
“This is Yumeno-san,” She announces proudly, “She’s new! Yumeno-san, these are Akamatsu, Harukawa, and the soulmates I told you about, Sonia and Nanami.”
Yumeno’s eyes widen as she sits down across from those two. “Wow…How does it feel to live my dream?”
The blonde flushes, squeezing her partner’s hand. Both are wearing short sleeves, making it impossible to hide the matching names, which makes Yumeno’s heart flutter with jealousy. She wants to find that with someone as well.
“We just got lucky,” The other girl yawns, “You will soon someday.”
Akamatsu turns her eager eyes on Yumeno, ready to begin grilling her about herself and her life before coming here. Yumeno just sits back, resigning to just answer and get it over with.
-
Chabashira once again sits, tracing the six-letter name on her wrist, sitting cross-legged on her bed in the middle of her room.
Her mouth twists into a slight frown looking down at it. It’s a shame that it doesn’t say ‘Yumeno’...But then again, she doesn’t actually know Yumeno’s given name now, does she? She should make a point to find out at some point.
She’s known Yumeno for about two months now? It doesn’t matter how much time they’ve really been going out together, but man, has it sure been nice.
In fact, if she didn’t know any better, she’d say she’s starting to get an itty bitty crush on Yumeno. But, of course, who could blame her? What’s not to love about Yumeno?!
With her jellybean voice and her cranberry-coloured hair, dazzling sense of style and parlour tricks that may or may not be real magic, Yumeno-san is the ideal girl. The ideal everything! Yumeno is—
Okay, maybe it’s more than just a small crush.
Chabashira’s phone lights up with a notification from said girl, and her heart clenches. She wants to hang out later, and the athletic girl is more than happy to oblige.
The olive-haired girl is quick to make a grab for her phone and type out an eager reply.
A part of her inside wonders if she is coming on too strong, despite her only intention right now being to form a close friendship with the intriguing young mage. It’s not like Chabashira wasn’t mocked in the past for how strong she can come on and, as a result, scare potential friends or partners away in the process.
Sometimes she’s been too eager during the friendship, and that would just push the other person away. The athletic girl is no stranger to heartbreak.
To play it safe, she reads over her reply a good three times to make sure that it was just right before sending it. When Yumeno responds with a flourish of adorable emojis, well, now, she can’t help the little squeal of excitement that comes out. No one is around to hear it anyway.
Tenko grabs her pillow and hugs it to her chest, zoning out as she finds herself lost in a whirlwind of fantasies about her newest friend.
That’s not weird, right? Especially if they’re a crush as well? No, surely it’s not odd; it’s okay. It’s just normal teenage girl behaviour.
However, if Yumeno could see inside her head, she’d most likely be disgusted. But minds are private for a reason.
-
The two of them decided to see a movie and then go out for milkshakes afterwards.
It’s a good plan; it’s a fun night (that may or may not seem a lot like a date), and Chabashira gets to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Yumeno.
Chabashira must’ve spent far too much time obsessing over what she was going to wear (After all, despite all of the fantasies, it’s not a date, so she doesn’t necessarily have to look perfect but still wants to look nice because they’re going out and she wants the possibility of a date in the future and—). Still, in the end, she thinks she chose well. She’s pulled her long brunette hair back in two tight French braids to compliment the maroon sweater dress and black tights she picked out with Mary Janes.
She’s not used to dressing this feminine, but damn she looks good. She wonders what Yumeno is going to be wearing.
In a completely normal way, of course, not in a perverted way. Of course.
But she’ll look beautiful in anything. After all, this is Yumeko we’re talking about here!
Chabashira lingers awkwardly in front of the movie theatre, checking the leather watch on her wrist every three-to-five seconds. The agreed-upon time for the meet-up is still in about ten minutes which is another ten minutes before the movie. The athletic girl, being a nervous, pinning wreck, showed up early-she knew this -so she herself should at least understand why she’s worried Yumeno isn’t here yet.
She’s early !
She’s going to lose her mind.
“Oh…So you’re early too.”
Those five words get the brunette’s heart racing as she whirls around to take her in.
Oh God, Yumeno is breathtaking. Despite the fact that she’s wearing a chunky white-knit sweater over khakis, the taller girl still can’t help but-
“Yeah, I was running ahead, so I just decided to come,” Chabashira chuckles awkwardly, fidgeting with one of her braids, “Anyways, I’m glad you’re here now.”
Yumeno hums.
“So, how are you liking the school so far?”
“It’s nice. Everyone is really nice,” The mage smiles slightly, “I also like that the friends I’ve made at this school so far have an actual appreciation for real magic,” A scowl, “The people at my old school weren’t as nice about it. But no matter; I know it’s real, and all of these new people know it’s real. But if my soulmate never believed in my abilities…Despite all of my self-confidence, it would probably shatter my heart.”
Before she knows it, Tenko is grabbing the shorter girl’s hands to express her passion further. “Well, of course, they’ll know, Yumeno-san! How could anyone deny that truth or deny you?! If your soulmate’s that much of an idiot, I’ll beat the crap out of them!”
The cranberry-haired girl laughs softly. “Thanks, Chabashira-san, that means a lot.”
“Yeah, so if—...What’s your soulmate’s name, by the way?”
Yumeno moves to roll up her sleeve. “Oh, it’s—”
Before she can finish her sentence, they’re interrupted by a random passerby stumbling on a crack in the pavement, tumbling forward and hitting Yumeno, knocking them both to the ground.
“GAH!”
The male who smacked against her yelps, immediately scrambling to his feet and extending a hand to her. “I’m so sorry, miss. Are you okay?!”
Talk about a meet-cute. Tenko scowls at the thought.
Yumeno accepts the hand with a shy smile, a slight flush of pink on her cheeks. “Nyeh, I’m okay, thank you. Are you?”
His eyes sparkle as he takes her in. “Yeah, I’m good, thanks. I’m really sorry about my clumsiness; it seems to be a huge problem for anyone that comes into my proximity.”
“It’s really no big deal,” Yumeno’s eyes are shining as she stares up at the very tall boy, “Really, I should’ve been—”
“Excuse me,” Chabashira interrupts smoothly (it may be kind of rude, but when jealousy rears its ugly head…), “But my girl here and I are about to be late for a movie. See you.”
She grabs Yumeno’s arm and starts tugging her in the direction of the theatre, resulting in a blubbering boy and a confused little mage.
-
Yumeno found it kind of odd that Chabashira suddenly got protective (Was that the right word? Perhaps jealous?) of her when she bumped into that kind stranger. And the way she phrased it, “my girl,”...almost as if they were together.
She smiles at the interesting thought. But it would probably never be, anyway. The mage had silently promised herself to her soulmate long ago.
“What flavour of milkshake would you like, Yumeno-san? I can go order for both of us!”
Chabashira asks cheerfully, eyes glued to the menu of the ice cream parlour, snapping the shorter girl out of her thoughts.
“Huh? Oh…strawberry?”
The olive-haired girl beams. “Wait right here!”
Yumeno can’t help but smile again, watching her friend happily bounce up to the front counter to place their order.
Her gaze then falls to her arm, still buried underneath her very thick sweater. She rolls up her sleeve, tracing her fingers over the five-letter name.
A most-beautiful name.
Himiko drops her sleeve just in time as Chabashira returns to her earlier than expected, holding one of two purple and red cups out to her. A couple of napkins are in her hand as well in case one of them has a little spill.
“What do you say we walk around town with these while it’s still a little light out?”
Yumeno readily agrees.
-
Chabashira is happily babbling about an anime she’s recently started watching that’s really caught her interest.
It’s not one Yumeno’s seen before, but from just the way that her friend is talking about it is enough to convince her to give it a shot.
In fact, she’s so immersed in Chabashira’s words that she’s stopped paying attention to where she’s stepping, not noticing a bit of concrete jutting out of the ground more than normal.
She trips, milkshake going flying.
“Yumeno-san!”
Yumeno is able to save herself from hitting her head by taking the majority of the impact with her arms, but as a result, gets them all scratched up.
“Are you okay? Yumeno-san? Let me help you up!”
“Fine…”
How embarrassing, stumbling and falling twice in one day within hours.
The cranberry-haired girl accepts Chabashira’s hand easily, allowing herself to be hauled to her feet.
“You’re bleeding! Hold on; I’ll clean you up.”
The athlete sets her drink off to the side, gathering the napkins and rolling up Yumeno’s sleeve. Yumeno watches carefully as she wipes away the blood with a perfectly-composed face, revealing the name underneath.
Chabashira takes one look at it and freezes, staring unblinkingly at the shimmering letters reading ‘ Tenko .’
Yumeno senses the change immediately, shooting her a worried look. “Chabashira-san? What’s wrong?”
Chabashira takes a moment to make sure her voice won’t shake too much before answering her. “I-I…No…S-Say Yumeno-san, what’s your given name?”
“Hmm? Himiko . Why, what’s yours?”
Well, that confirms it.
The olive-haired girl lets go of Yumeno’s arm in favour of rolling up her own sleeve and showing her wrist to her.
“My given name is Tenko .”
Yumeno inhales sharply.
The name on her wrist. And her own name is clear as day on Chabashira’s wrist.
That only means one thing.
“You’re most likely my soulmate.”
“And you’re most likely mine.”
What a dream come true! Neither of them imagined that it would be this easy to find their soulmate, even if the reason for finding out was somewhat misfortune.
After silently gawking at each other for a moment, Chabashira remembers herself and finishes cleaning up her soulmate’s arm. Yumeno briefly turns her head away, silently mourning the loss of her milkshake.
“Would you like to share my milkshake? It’s peanut butter flavour. O-Or we can go back, and I’ll get you a fresh one! Yeah! Or—”
It’s clear that the shock of finding her soulmate in Yumeno (also her crush) has really shaken Chabashira up.
Yumeno reaches out and takes her free hand, startling Chabashira.
“Hey, I know it’s daunting and strange and new. But we don’t need to worry about what this means right away if we don’t want to. We’ll have all of the time in the world for that. For now, let’s just have a good rest of the evening and enjoy each other’s company, okay?”
Chabashira looks into her soulmate’s eyes and then down at her smile and knows that things are okay.
There’s no rush. They can be happy.
They will be okay.