Work Text:
Oikawa used to hate it when ink got on his skin.
He liked his skin the way it was, pale, clear and free from ink. He washed his hands quickly every time he accidentally spilled ink on it, unlike his best friend Iwaizumi.
That was, until he hit seventeen. When you turn seventeen, everything you write on your skin will appear on your soulmate’s skin too. He starts with a ‘Hi’, but he doesn’t get an answer for it. Maybe his soulmate wasn’t seventeen yet, or his soulmate was just cruel.
He repeats it, every day since he turned seventeen for two weeks. He draws doodles on them, cute emojis, flowers, some teasing words, until he gives up. It’s summer, he has better things to do than draw on his skin all the time. Plus, Oikawa didn’t like drawing on his skin anyway.
That was, until one day he wakes up and sees something written on the palm of his right hand. It’s just a ‘Hello’, but Oikawa gets too excited and nervous to write back. The handwriting is pretty and he smiles, trying to imagine how his soulmate might be. He doubts it’s a girl, he has knows he’s into guys for a while now. Yet he doesn’t know what to do, so Oikawa decides to reply later and maybe ask Iwaizumi about it.
His best friend hasn’t gotten a reply from his soulmate yet, maybe they weren’t seventeen yet. An afternoon with his best friend passes and Oikawa still hasn’t asked, because he wasn’t sure how.
“Hey, you know how I tried to contact my soulmate for two weeks straight every day? Well, they finally wrote back, but now I’m too nervous and don’t know what to say.”
Iwaizumi would probably just roll his eyes and tell him to write ‘hello’ back.
“Are you trying again?” Iwaizumi suddenly asks.
“What?”
“Contacting your soulmate,” Iwaizumi explains, pointing at Oikawa’s hand.
Damn, now he saw it. “No. I woke up with it today.”
“You haven’t replied yet?”
Oikawa shrugs. “Eh, no. I’m playing hard to get, you know?”
“You aren’t. Not too long ago you were constantly writing on your skin to contact him! You’re nervous, aren’t you?” Damn it, Iwaizumi knows him too well.
Oikawa sighs and leans back. “Okay, maybe. But what should I say? The first impression is important, Iwa-chan!”
“A ‘hello’ can’t ruin anything,” Iwaizumi replies. “At least you know your soulmate is a lefty.”
“Huh?”
“This is on your right hand. How was he supposed to do this if he’s not a lefty?”
Oh. His soulmate was a lefty. Oikawa likes it, that he knows something about them before even having to write him back. He smiles about the thought.
“Hand me a pen, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa tells him and his friend groans, but he does hand him a pen. Oikawa starts writing on his left forearm.
“Seems like I have a lefty as a soulmate,” he reads out loud and then he settles back and waits.
He doesn’t get a reply until later at night.
Yes, I am.
Why the late reply?
I’m sorry, I had practice.
Practice. Oikawa holds still before writing back. He likes how both of his arms were covered with ink now. He used to hate it, but now he likes it. Usually, you only see the left arm being written all over, because lefties were rare. And here he was, having his words on the left side of his arms and his soulmate’s on the right.
What practice?
I play volleyball.
Oikawa’s heart leaps. Volleyball? Me too! This was way too exciting. They write until the night until he’s running out of places to write on and he doesn’t want to write on his stomach or anywhere else too intimate, since this was their first real conversation.
He finds out that his soulmate is the wing spiker of his team and in his second year, but already captain. It excites Oikawa to know more about him, but the last thing his soulmate writes is ‘Goodnight’ and he can’t stop smiling.
Sure, his soulmate was horrible at writing, he was kind of dense and replied way too simple, but it’s still exciting and Oikawa is glad he had a soulmate who is also playing volleyball. He must be a good player or else he wouldn’t be the captain of his team.
The next day he regrets it a little bit because he has to get up earlier to get off the ink from his skin. It takes him a while and he has to rub his skin until it’s red, but he’s also sad when the words are gone.
They write more and more. Not every day, but they just tell each other little things sometimes. Not much, because his soulmate was still a horrible writer. It was like texting, only that this was your skin and the other person was your soulmate and his soulmate was really frustrating sometimes.
Nevertheless, Oikawa enjoys writing with his soulmate. But they don’t tell each other their names or anything else personal.
Until one day, months after their first conversation, Oikawa asks him.
Are you a guy or a girl?
Please be a guy, Oikawa begs in his head, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he opens them again and opens his hand.
I am a guy.
He’s relieved. He knows he is gay, but he was still scared. It’s not like soulmates have to be romantic, but Oikawa kind of likes the idea of romantic soulmates. He is maybe a hopeless romantic.
I am a guy, too.
He doesn’t get an answer from his soulmate for a while and Oikawa is scared. Fuck, what if his soulmate isn’t gay? What if he’s scared right now, having a sexuality crisis and then settling down with ‘we should be friends’?
Is this a surprise to you? Not okay?
Yes, I am surprised.
Oikawa holds his breath. He’s scared and writes down: I guess you’re not gay then?
I never thought about it. Oikawa rolls his eyes. From what he knew about his soulmate, this isn’t surprising.
Well, think about it now, Soulmate-kun, because the suspense is painful.
I think I’m okay with this. I hope you are too.
Oikawa can’t help but smile. Any other straight guy wouldn’t have replied this quickly, his soulmate was definitely not straight. You idiot, of course it’s okay. I’m gay.
“Why don’t you ask him what his name is or where he lives?” Iwaizumi asks him one day.
“Now, where’s the fun in that?”
“You’d know who he is and then you can be together.” His best friend looks at him, as if he was stupid and Oikawa sighs. He knew that it would be way easier this way, but he shakes his head.
“This is too forced.”
“What if it’s someone you know?”
“I doubt it. And if it is… wouldn’t this be even more romantic?”
“Romantic? How is that romantic?”
“I don’t know, Iwa-chan, you tell me! Think about it! If I ask them and I don’t know them, we’d meet up. That would be like in one of those dating apps, I’m not interested in that. I want it to be romantic,” Oikawa snaps back.
“You’re hopeless,” Iwaizumi murmurs.
“What? Are you jealous because your soulmate still hasn’t replied to you? What if they haven’t even been born? What if,” Oikawa whispers, “you’ll end up with someone twenty years younger than you?”
“Shut up, Shittykawa!” Iwaizumi glares at him. “What if you know them? I mean, he plays volleyball in High School too, right? What if we meet him?”
“There are hundreds of volleyball teams in Japan,” Oikawa says. “We’d have to go to Nationals in order to meet accidentally. But that would be so romantic!” He smiles widely and Iwaizumi just rolls his eyes.
A day before a game against Shiratorizawa, Oikawa writes: I have an important game tomorrow.
Good luck. I have one too.
Oikawa smiles, thinking about how they’ll both be playing on the same day. I hope we both win. Good luck to you too.
Thank you.
I’m playing against this stupid guy, Oikawa writes, who thinks he’s so much better than me.
I’m sure you’re better.
Oikawa smiles. The guy doesn’t know who he is, if he’s a good player or not and was just being polite, but he is glad. If I win against this team one day, I promise I will tell you my name.
I look forward to it then.
They lose and Oikawa is furious because he hates this stupid Ushiwaka so much and he had a fight with him after the game again and he’s boiling with anger. Okay, technically it wasn’t a fight because Ushiwaka wasn’t a human being with emotions and never got angry but does everything to piss off Oikawa.
He hates him, has hated him ever since their first game.
He’s too angry that he doesn’t reply his soulmate’s question how the game went for a day. When he’s cooled off again, he finally writes back.
We lost.
I’m sorry to hear that.
How about you?
We won.
Oikawa should be happy, but he isn’t, he still is pissed off and he’s jealous, so he just writes ‘Congratulations’ back and then ignores his soulmate’s ‘Thank you’. He ignores him for another week until one day he writes him back.
I’m holding my promise. When we win against this team, I’ll tell you who I am.
Why?
He doesn’t know why exactly. Oikawa just feels like it was the right thing to do.
Because that’s more fun, isn’t it? Keep the suspension. Unless you don’t think I can defeat them.
I do. I think you can do it.
Oikawa smiles and he writes back ‘Thank you’ and draws a little heart behind it. He’s disappointed when he doesn’t get one back.
Maybe Oikawa is a little bit in love with his soulmate. Maybe. He doesn’t know how he looks like and his soulmate is still horrible at writing back and has no appreciation for using emojis, but he always writes back and he always lifts Oikawa up when he’s sad.
But Oikawa never stops smiling, when he writes with him and gets to know him better. He knows that he doesn’t watch movies, that his parents have a farm, his father taught him volleyball, he never had a girlfriend or went on a date. He was probably really old fashioned, but Oikawa likes it.
Matsukawa once said his soulmate sounds boring, to which Oikawa has defended him.
“He’s just a little bit old fashioned and a gentleman!”
Yeah, he probably has a little crush on the guy whose name and face he doesn’t know because he still hasn’t been able to beat Shiratorizawa and their stupid captain Ushijima Wakatoshi.
How do you look like?, Oikawa asks.
What do you want to know?
How tall are you? I hope you’re taller than me, Soulmate-kun, because I prefer my guys taller.
I’m 189.5cm
And Oikawa feels like he’s dying. He’s almost 190cm! This is way too good to be true. He takes a deep breath and writes back
Are you lying just because I said I like tall guys?
Why would I do that? We’re soulmates either way.
That was true. I’m 184cm, so you’re about 5cm taller. Not much of a difference, but you’d still have to lean down to kiss me.
Oikawa’s cheeks are flushed and his heart was beating faster as he wrote this. What will his soulmate say? He was so nervous to look, but his soulmate being the idiot he is, just wrote: ‘You’re tall too.’
“What an idiot!”, Oikawa groans.
So, what’s your hair color?
Little by little he finds out more about his soulmate’s appearance and he just pictures him to be hot. He might not be and then he’s disappointed, but he just hopes and hope is all he has. He finds out that his soulmate weights almost 13 kg more than him, despite not being that much taller and he now also imagines his soulmate to be really muscular.
He almost asks what his soulmate’s shoe size is, but that might be too personal, because of the saying. Not that his soulmate would get the reference, because Oikawa is sure he wouldn’t. This night, he dreams about his soulmate, despite not knowing how he really looks like and when he wakes up, he doesn’t remember the face he dreamt of, but he knows it was a good dream.
When he starts his third year, he becomes captain of the volleyball team and his soulmate congratulates him.
This is our last year, better pray I can beat this stupid team
I know you can do it.
And then there it was. A smiley. It was just a ‘:)’, but it was the first smiley he has gotten from his soulmate and Oikawa is so happy about it, he washes off the words, but leaves the smiley. His friends mock him about it, but Oikawa ignores them. He’s sad later when the smiley disappears from his skin, but the smile on his lips doesn’t every time he thinks about it.
What if we can’t defeat them? Oikawa asks.
I believe in you.
But what if? Everything’s possible.
Then I hope you will still tell me your name.
Are we getting impatient? ;)
Yes.
Oikawa takes a deep breath and bites down on his lips, smiling at that word. Me too, to be honest. I want to meet you.
Me too.
Where would we go on our first date?
For a long while, his soulmate doesn’t reply. But when he does, he writes: ‘Maybe we’ll go out to eat.’
Oikawa can’t believe he waited ten minutes for this ridiculous answer! He has been so nervous, thinking that maybe his question has been too much. Stupid Soulmate! I was worried! And all you do is reply with the most boring date ever!
Where do you want to go?
Surprise me.
“I think I really like him, Iwa-chan, it’s killing me!”, Oikawa says.
“Just ask him his name.”
“No, I can’t! I’ll tell him mine after our game,” he replies. He will win, he knows it. he has to for his own and his soulmate’s sake.
“You’re stupid,” his best friend tells him and sighs. “And how can you know you like him? You barely know him!”
“I know! But he’s so cute, and he always replies, and he once drew a smiley! A smiley, Iwa-chan, it was so sweet! And he’s taller than me and also really muscular,” at least Oikawa thinks he is, “and I’m just really weak. I bet he has a beautiful deep voice and can lift me up with one arm.”
“Now you’re exaggerating. You’re not exactly tiny, Trashykawa.”
Oikawa pouts. “You’re mean.”
“I’m just saying… I know you like him and he’s nice and all, but don’t read too much in just words. You don’t even know how he looks like and you might get disappointed later. I don’t want that.”
“You’re just saying this, because your soulmate still hasn’t replied to you!” Oikawa is angry at those words and leaves him after calling him stupid. Later he realizes he only said that because he was his best friend and wants what’s best for him. He apologizes the next day and they’re good again, but Oikawa knows, that Iwaizumi is right.
So one day, he tells his soulmate about it.
Do you like me?
Yes, I do.
But do you like-like me? Oikawa feels like a stupid teenager in love, but then again, he is a stupid teenager in love.
Yes.
Do you know what I mean? We don’t really know each other or how the other looks like.
Do you not like me? his soulmate asks. Oikawa stares at the message and takes a deep breath.
I do. I like you. He blushes and bites down on his lower lip.
Then it’s good.
It’s just, Iwa-chan said I shouldn’t read too much in it. I might be disappointed later.
You’re my soulmate. I don’t think I will be disappointed.
Oikawa smiles and he’s happy with this answer, so he only replies with a heart on his palm and falls asleep. The next day he wakes up, there’s another heart on his right palm.
They won against Karasuno, only to lose against Shiratorizawa again.
Oikawa is angry and getting himself something to drink from the vendor. He wants to write his soulmate and tell him that he lost again and there was only one game left in this year he could play to win against this shitty team, when Ushijima appears.
“What are you doing here, Ushiwaka? Stalking me?” Oikawa hisses as he gets his drink and opens the bottle.
“I wanted to see you,” Ushijima says.
“What?” Oikawa stares at him. “You’re stalking me. You could’ve just said you wanted something to drink, you know?”
“You lost again.”
This guy really pisses him off. “Great, I know. It’s not like I don’t. I was there, you know.”
“You could win,” Ushijima says. “If you…”
“Shut up!” Oikawa takes a deep breath and then tries to smile again, hiding the outburst he just had. “Please, Ushiwaka, spare me with your words. I’m really pissed off right now.”
Ushijima looks over him and nods slowly.
“And my soulmate is too.”
“Your soulmate?”
“Yes. I have one. I bet somebody like you doesn’t or hasn’t found theirs yet.” Oikawa smirks. “I bet he’s not happy about the fact I lost.”
“He?”
Oh, fuck. Oikawa curses himself for letting this slip. “What I’m saying is, that you don’t just piss me and my team off. Say, do you believe in soulmates?”
“A little bit,” Ushijima says.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying you’re even too good for soulmates now? You always think you’re better, right?”
Ushijima shakes his head. “That’s not it. I have one too, but…”
“You’re having second thoughts about your soulmate? You know, I feel bad for whoever that poor person is.” Oikawa leaves him there and later writes his soulmate, that they lost.
I’m sorry. I am sure you will win the next time.
He doesn’t tell Oikawa until the next day that they won their game. This is one of the reasons he likes him.
They lose against Karasuno.
Oikawa is shattered and can’t believe this actually happened. They lost against Karasuno. They won’t ever be able to go to Nationals, always losing against Shiratorizawa, but this time against Karasuno. He won’t even be able to play against Shiratorizawa.
Oikawa is so angry, especially after his talk with Ushijima, where he tells him that he should better not forget his pride. He’ll show him. They won’t be able to play against each other in High School anymore, but there’s still college. It wasn’t over, it’s not over.
Oikawa changes his clothes and then writes his soulmate with a black marker. He’s so angry right now, that he doesn’t care how big he’s writing those words. He’s mad and he’s wearing long sleeves anyway, so nobody will see it. He just writes ‘WE LOST AGAIN’ all over his left forearm and then leaves.
Their team goes outside, towards the buses, when they come across Shiratorizawa. They’re still in their volleyball uniforms since they still have one game. It wasn’t over for them.
Oikawa looks over to them and so do so many others from their team, with spite and hatred.
“What is this, Ushijima?”, somebody from Shiratorizawa asks their captain.
“This is from my soulmate,” Ushijima just says.
Oikawa stops, when he sees it.
It’s written big and clearly over Ushijima’s left forearm. WE LOST AGAIN.
He feels sick and runs inside the bus. Nobody suspects anything, they just think he’s still angry about their lost game, which he is, but this was so much worse. His soulmate was Ushijima Wakatoshi. His rival.
He feels like this is a cruel joke. Ushijima. He can’t believe he thought he was in love with Ushijima. He can’t believe he stayed up late at night to write him, writing all over his skin, his arms and legs. He can’t believe he smiled every time he got a message from his soulmate and smiled about the heart and the smiley. He can’t believe he told him he likes him.
It was cruel. But it did make sense. Ushijima is the exact same height like his soulmate, they had the same eye- and hair color, he was the captain and wing spiker of their team, he was a lefty, he always won the games Aoba Johsai lost and was horrible at flirting. Oikawa can’t believe he didn’t notice.
It was so fucking obvious and he didn’t notice. Not even Iwaizumi even thought about the possibility.
His soulmate. This is wrong. Ushijima is not Oikawa’s soulmate and the past year has been a lie.
“Why exactly should I go to Shiratorizawa’s game against Karasuno?” Iwaizumi asks.
“Because you have to. Please,” Oikawa begs. He hasn’t talked to his soulmate- no, Ushijima- ever since he found out.
“Explain yourself. I won’t go there alone!”
“It’s him.”
“Huh?”
“He’s-… Ushiwaka, he’s my soulmate.”
Iwaizumi stares at him with a shocked expression, but then he laughs. “I should’ve known. He’s a lefty, a captain, tall, always won-”
“I know! I know, okay!” Oikawa groans.
“But does this mean you’re in love with Ushijima?” Iwaizumi asks.
“NO!” Oikaa shouts. “You were right, okay? I shouldn’t have read so much into it, is that what you want to hear? I’m having a crisis, Iwa-chan, don’t make fun of me. I was wrong. I hate Ushijima and my soulmate. But… I can turn this around and take this to my advantage.”
“How?”, Iwaizumi asks. “You’re thinking up something stupid, aren’t you? I don’t want to know. Don’t.”
“Please, Iwa-chan! You just have to go to the game and report to me! I can’t go!”
“Why?”
Oikawa grins. “I will stay at home and write ‘IDIOT’ all over my forehead during the game. He won’t be able to do anything against it,” Oikawa explains. He has thought about his plan all night and thought he was a genius.
“No, Trashykawa!”
“You’re my best friend! Pleaaase!”
“No, I will not- this is childish.”
“It’s Ushiwaka, Iwa-chan! We lost against them! It’s not just that. It’s…” Oikawa lost his words and looked down. “I really thought I liked him. I thought I was falling in love. He’s my stupid soulmate. He wrote with him for a year, all the time, he knows so much about me and I feel betrayed. Please, do this for me.”
Iwaizumi sighs. “Okay. I will.”
Oikawa beams at him. “Thank you, Iwa-chan! Make sure to take good pictures!”
“I’m trying really hard here, but this is so complicated,” Oikawa complains. He was sitting in front of a mirror trying to write ‘IDIOT’ right all over his forehead, so it won’t appear mirrored.
“Oh my god,” Iwaizume says. “It appeared.”
“Really?”
“Yes! Everyone’s laughing and holding their breath. Oh god.”
“Show me!” Oikawa shouts, excited. Iwaizumi changes to FaceTime and he films the moment. Everyone is staring at Ushijima, who had ‘IDIOT’ written all over his forehead in the second set of the game. Nobody knows what to do and Ushijima has no idea what’s happening.
Oikawa laughs. “This is better than I thought it would be! This is the best!”
“Okay, this is childish, but,” Iwaizumi laughs. “It is funny.”
Oikawa looks at himself in the mirror. He looked ridiculous, but at least he was at home and not in the middle of a game.
This is when his sister comes in his room. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry, Iwa-chan, I’ll call you back later!” He hangs up and turns over. “I’m playing a prank on my soulmate.”
“I can see. Why?”
“It’s funny, isn’t it, Onee-san?”
“If that’s how you and your soulmate are.” She raises her eyebrows.
“What are you doing here anyway?”
“Mom wanted to give me something and I thought I’d say hello. I didn’t expect to find my brother writing down ‘IDIOT’ all over his forehead.”
“He deserved it,” Oikawa explains.
“What did he do? You know him?”
“Yes. It’s Ushiwaka,” Oikawa explains.
“You mean… your volleyball rival you always talk about?”
“I do not always talk about him! And yes, that guy. I found it out and he doesn’t know it yet, so I’m paying him back.” Oikawa grins.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“You really liked your soulmate, didn’t you? Mom told me you seemed to be really in love with him.”
Oikawa blushes and shrugs. “Eh, but that’s in the past. That was before I knew it was Ushiwaka.”
His sister laughs. “You’re hopeless. He’s still your soulmate, you know. It’s not his fault he always wins against you.”
“I know. But he’s so… arrogant. He thinks he knows what’s best and I just…” Oikawa shakes his head. “I really hate him. He always tells me I should’ve come to their team and then I’d be able to win and that I have too much pride.”
“He’s not wrong.”
“Onee-san, now you’re just being rude!”
His sister sighs and sits down next to him. “You liked your soulmate, right? Why? What made him different from this Ushiwaka?”
Oikawa thinks about it. “A lot of things. First of all, he’s my soulmate. And then… he was always so nice, and gentle and thought about a lot of things. He never told me he won when I lost, unless I asked him about it, because he was so careful about my feelings. He listened to my rambles without sounding uninterested. He cheers me up when my friends are picking on me. He was so blunt and old fashioned, but I liked that.”
When he looks at his sister, she’s grinning. “Sounds like you really like this guy.”
“What? No! That was back then! But this is Ushijima! He’s a horrible human being”
“Now you’re exaggerating. It’s not like he’s two different people, you know? You just never knew this guy from this side. But now you know both sides of him and can’t deal with it and instead are behaving childish.” She brushes her fingers over his forehead. “Soulmates are special and not everybody can deal with them. I’m not saying you have to, but… your reason is stupid.”
“Excuse me?”
“My best friend, she and her soulmate aren’t together. Well, they are, but just platonically. They don’t click as lovers, but as friends just fine. Others still haven’t found their soulmate, are waiting for them or lost them. You… you have the opportunity to be with them. And you actually fell in love with them. The only reason you’re holding back is because you’re stubborn. Or should I say prideful?”
Oikawa hates this. He knew she was right. “But it’s still… Ushiwaka.”
“I’m not saying you have to go right back to falling in love with him! I’m just saying, give it a chance. Give him a chance, so you can fall in love with him again. This time, with both sides of him.”
“Why must you talk so wisely? Are you an old woman?”
His sister smacks him against his head. “Don’t call me an old woman!” She ruffles his hair. “So, did it help?”
“I guess.” He looks down and sighs. “But what if he doesn’t want to?”
“You’re my brother. Look at us.” She pushes him to the mirror and looks over his shoulder. “We’re gorgeous. It’s the Oikawa genes. Okay, you look like an idiot right now. Which is…” She points at the writing and Oikawa rolls his eyes. “Plus, I bet he likes you too.”
Oikawa thinks about it. Well, he did say he liked him. Then, he remembers the conversation he had with Ushijima after one of their games.
“He said he only believes ‘a little bit’ in soulmates!”, Oikawa shouts.
“Don’t worry about that. It’s the Oikawa genes.”
“Don’t you have any other argument?”
“No.” She grins at ruffles his hair. “Go get him.”
Oikawa forgets that he still has ‘IDIOT’ written all over his forehead, when he arrives at the hall. Iwaizumi is standing outside, waiting for him.
“Dude,” he says. “You… you have this written all over your forehead.”
“What?” So this was the reason why everyone was staring at him. Oikawa rushes to the restroom and Iwaizumi follows. He tries to rub it off, but it doesn’t work.
“Give it up. I bet Ushiwaka tried to do it too during the breaks, he still has it on his forehead.”
“I hate myself!” Oikawa complains. He takes out his marker and crosses the word out. “Better?”
“Actually, no.” Iwaizumi grins and then takes a picture of him. “I’m going to send this to Mattsun and Makki.”
“No! Iwa-chan, please!”
“We should head back to the game, Shiratorizawa might actually lose,” Iwaizumi just says, while Oikawa runs after him and shouts. Both of them stop, when they see that Karasuno actually has the chance to win.
They don’t move, the game is too intense and when Shiratorizawa lose their last set, Oikawa moves. He just moves on his own, going down and waits. He doesn’t know what he’ll do once Ushijima comes outside and he realizes that he’s kind of revealing himself to everyone as Ushijima’s soulmate with that stupid word written on his forehead, but he doesn’t care.
Ushijima steps out of the gym and stares at him with wide eyes.
“Seems like I finally saw you losing, right?”, Oikawa asks.
Ushijima doesn’t say anything and Oikawa is feeling nervous. “Say something, stupid Ushiwaka.”
“I-” But he doesn’t say anything else. Oikawa takes out his marker and writes down on his forearm.
So you can’t say anything nice to your soulmate unless it’s just a written text?
Ushijima stares down at his own forearm, where the words slowly appear. His team mates and so many other stare at them and then Ushijima smiles. He actually smiles! Oikawa has never seen him smile, which has always pissed him off. That guy won so many times and yet he didn’t smile.
And now he did, just right after he has just lost his last High School game.
“I’m glad,” Ushijima says.
“What?”
“I’m glad it’s you.”
Oikawa widens his eyes in shock. “What?! Is this some kind of joke? I was shocked when I found out! What do you think why I did this?” He points at his forehead and Ushijima shrugs, still smiling. “How can you smile when you just lost?!”
“I am angry I lost,” Ushijima says. “But it’s one game. And this is… you’re…”
He is his soulmate. Meaning, they were going to last an entire lifetime. Oikawa swallows hard and blushes now. “Idiot,” he murmurs. “This isn’t how I thought our first meeting would go.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ushijima!”, somebody from his team shouts. “Coach wants to talk to us!”
“Go,” Oikawa says. “I want to disappear from here too. Enough people have already seen me like this.”
Ushijima nods and goes. Oikawa can’t believe this has just happened. When he comes home, he looks down at his right arm.
Can we meet?
Oikawa hesitates before writing back. Okay.
They meet the same day. It’s late and already dark outside, but that’s not why Oikawa is so nervous. He has no idea what to do. At least that stupid writing finally got off, but it hurt like a bitch and he hates himself a little bit.
They meet on a playground and Ushijima’s already there. He’s freshly showered and still wears the ugly jersey jacket from Shiratorizawa.
“Couldn’t you change clothes?”, Oikawa asks.
“I went here right after practice,” Ushijima explains.
“You had practice?” He’s not surprised, when Ushijima nods. They’re silent for a while, but it’s not an awkward silence.
“I’m glad you came,” Ushijima says.
“I was angry,” Oikawa says. “Really angry. I felt betrayed, because I thought I liked you.”
“What changed your mind?”
“My sister. She said that I should give you- or us a chance.” Oikawa looks down. He’s too nervous to play the playful and teasing act he usually does.
“I should thank her.”
“Why aren’t you angry?”
“Remember our conversation after you lost against us?”
Oikawa grunts. “Yes, Ushiwaka, I do. Not really pleasant memories.”
“I told you I only believe in soulmates a little bit, because I like you.”
Oikawa gasps. He looks up and in Ushijima’s dark eyes and he’s blushing now. “What are you- are you stupid?”
“I liked you,” Ushijima points at his arm. “And you.” He points at Oikawa. “I liked both versions of you. Unlike you, who only liked me as your soulmate.”
“If you liked me, why were you always such an asshole to me?! You know, this isn’t how you court someone you like, right? I shouldn’t be surprised, though. Your flirting skills are horrible, I knew this within a day we were writing.” Oikawa rambles and rambles, because he still can’t believe that Ushijima liked him.
“It was never my intention to be rude to you,” Ushijima says and somehow Oikawa believes him. He knows his other self, the one he only knew through their writing on their skin and he knows the person Ushijima was.
He takes a deep breath. “Okay.”
They don’t say anything, until Oikawa asks: “Why a playground?”
“Don’t you like it?”
“I’m surprised.” It’s not like he hated it, but he didn’t like it either.
“You said I should surprise you on our first date.”
Oikawa blushes and he can’t believe Ushijima remembers. But for the first time, he finally gets it. This is the same guy he has talked with for over a year, the same exact guy that made him smile every time he looked at his arms.
“You have to walk me home then, it’s late and dark outside.”
He does. They talk throughout the walk and it’s at first really awkward. Oikawa does most of the talking, but slowly, they get more comfortable around each other. Slowly, they bring out topics they have talked about in the past, but were never able to really discuss because there was limited space on your skin. Oikawa doesn’t believe this, but he actually smiles most of the time.
When they stop in front of Oikawa’s home, he turns around and says: “This can’t really be count as a first date.”
“I know. I will take you somewhere else next time.”
“Next time? We’re getting confident, aren’t we?”
Ushijima seems flustered by this and looks down. “Well, we are soulmates.”
“I guess that’s right.” Oikawa takes a deep breath. “You know, this could be counted as a date, if…”
“If?”
“You kiss me.”
Ushijima is shocked by this. Ah, right, Ushijima hasn’t had his first kiss yet. Oikawa rolls his eyes. “Do you remember what I said about your height?”
“That I’d have to lean down to kiss you?” Ushijima is blushing and it is way too adorable and Oikawa can’t believe he thinks Ushijima was adorable.
“Yeah, but I take it back.” Oikawa steps forward, goes on his tiptoes a little bit and presses his lips softly against Ushijima’s. It’s nothing spectacular, there aren’t fireworks or his heart isn’t beating against his chest to hurt, but it’s nice and feels warm and makes him smile.
“Have fun walking all the way back to your home. Don’t get abducted by aliens,” Oikawa jokes and disappears through the door.
He always wanted to have a love life like in the rom coms and always wanted a super cute story about how he met his soulmate. Maybe what he had now was close to it. He wasn’t in love with Ushijima, but he thinks, he could be.