Work Text:
When You Keika was born, he didn’t have a soul mark on his skin. His pale skin had not a single mark indicating that he has a soulmate. His parents were devastated. There is a possibility that their son might go into the world alone. How could fate be so cruel? But, of course, they were still hopeful that one day, their son’s soul mark will appear.
And it did.
When You Keika was six, he came home from school with a black mark on his right arm. It was an elegant design that began from the base of his palm and twisted up to his elbows in a swirl. His parents did not notice it right away but when they did, they were overjoyed and they hugged the life out of him. It turned out that he just had a soulmate that was younger than him, and the mark appeared once he was born.
Everyone knows that their soul mark changes color to match their soulmate’s hair color. It is not unusual for a person to dye their hair to find their soulmate easier. However, a change in a person’s soul mark’s color still comes a shock because imagine that the mark was brown, and the next time the person sees it, it was yellow.
It was when he was in middle school that the color of his mark changed.
He was at home, getting ready for bed when he saw a bit of white peeking out of his sleeve. The feeling of surprise was all that he could feel once he saw his mark had turned white after he pulled up his sleeve. He ran out of his room and skidded into his parents’ room, screaming and waving his right arm around.
When the accident happened, he did not think of much. He only thought of his parents, and how he was going to see them soon. Never did he thought about the Youmeishi wanting to make him his spirit shadow. Never did he think that spirits wanted to kill him just to become the Youmeishi’s spirit shadow. And he most certainly had never thought that he would have to kiss the person who made him a spirit shadow just to form the pact.
In the hectic new life thrown to his face after his death, it only took him a couple of months to adjust. He still had a lot of space for improvements but he is learning and trying hard, alright? During those months, not once did he look at his soul mark. He was expecting it to be gone, leaving him with no one. He is dead, after all. But he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was still there when he finally took off his top, the mark still glowing white and decorating his arm.
He supposed that fate isn’t as cruel as he thought it would be. But could spirits really end up with their soulmate?
...
A sigh escaped You Keika as he stared down at the swirling mark on his arm. Tanmoku Ki had finally allowed him to get out of the protected clothes. He would never tell anyone, but that damn thing makes him sweat. Who knew that spirits could sweat, huh? He is now blessed with a t-shirt and some shorts. With his long-sleeved shirt out of the way, he could clearly see the soul mark decorating his skin unhindered. His white soul mark.
Keika found it to be an unbelievable coincidence that Tanmoku Ki has the same hair color as his soul mark. He wants to be hopeful and thinks that Ki is his soulmate, but there are surely many others who have white hair in the world, right? And what are the odds that Ki has a mark that matches his hair anyway? As uncommon as blue hair was, there are a lot of ways to dye one’s hair so he doesn’t want to keep his hopes up. Well, there’s also the fact that soulmates have the exact same mark, but he is never one to pry. And who was he to be asking Tanmoku Ki about his soul mark? He was only a spirit shadow, after all.
At first, he thought that Tanmoku Ki’s fiancée, Shin Shiyou, was his soulmate. However, since the woman practically wears clothing that exposes her arms and shoulders, he was able to see the mark with a color unlike that of Tanmoku Ki’s hair. Shin Shiyou had a light brown mark decorating her wrist which immediately tells him that she was not Ki’s soulmate.
He had seen glimpses of Ki’s mark on several occasions. The first one was when the ceremony was held. He swore he saw a flash of blue from Ki’s arms, but they were soon covered by his robes. Keika then decided that he was probably hallucinating.
The second instance was during the ritual when Ki collapsed. However, since he was focused on transferring his spiritual energy to Ki at that time, he missed seeing the blue swirls decorating Ki’s arm. Why would he when he was focused on saving his love’s life?
The fact that Ki always wears his white long-sleeved shirts made seeing his mark all the more difficult. But at this point, Keika wasn’t too intent on finding out about Ki’s soul mark. Knowing would probably be worse than not knowing anything. And one thing is for sure; Keika isn’t good at dealing with feelings.
…
“My soul mark changed its color,” Ki muttered to himself when he caught a glimpse of his mark from his sleeve. “It grew darker.”
“Yeah?” Keika hummed nonchalantly from the couch in Ki’s office. “At least it was in the same color group. Mine had a really drastic change.”
Tanmoku Ki looked up from his mark, turning to observe the spirit shadow that was lounging on the couch while absentmindedly playing with his strikingly familiar shade of blue hair.
“Really?” Ki asked with hidden curiosity.
“Yep. It changed from black to white,” Keika replied, his face turning towards Ki to eye at his hair. “It is probably as white as your hair now.”
Keika averting his eyes away made him miss the surprised look Ki had when he mentioned his mark was white. Instead, he kept talking while turning to inspect his nails.
“It gave middle school me quite a shock. I’m pretty sure I gave my parents a heart attack when I barged into their room screaming bloody murder.”
Ki was silent as he listened to Keika, his eyes staring intently at his spirit shadow. Or more specifically, his hair is a very familiar shade of blue.
The spirit shadow, however, did not acknowledge Ki at all. He kept talking while picking at under his nails.
“That was not the first time I gave them a fright, to be honest. They were pretty surprised that I was born without a soul mark. Luckily, it did appear when I grew older.”
Ki has a hunch about something the moment Keika mentioned his soul mark was white. He is not 100% sure yet but there are too many coincidences for it not to be. Now all he has to do is keep asking the distracted Keika about the details of his soul mark.
“How old were you when it appeared?” Ki asked, trying to glimpse at the bit of white decorating Keika’s palm.
“Hmm… I think I was six? I’m not so sure.”
“And it was black when it first appeared?”
“Yeah. I mean- Hey, Tanmoku Ki, are you okay?”
Keika frowned worriedly when he saw Ki mumbling under his breath with his eyes wide open in realization. The man’s striking violet eyes were glued to Keika’s own. They were filled with surprise, happiness, and a bit of something he doesn’t quite know yet.
“Tanmoku Ki?”
Keika frowned and leaned further away from Ki’s desk when a smile suddenly lit his face.
“…I think you are my soulmate.”
Keika blinked and shrugged.
“Great.”
“…”
“Wait, say what?!”
Tanmoku Ki chuckled at his spirit shadow’s confused face. He stood up and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he walked towards his Keika. He took a seat beside the spirit on the couch, reaching out to roll up the sleeves of Keika’s shirt as well. Ki aligned both his and Keika’s arms alongside the other. An identical mark sits on their right arms, one white and the other a dark blue. Ki heard Keika take a sharp intake of breath and releasing it shakily.
“Huh,” the other muttered while trying to suppress his smile. “Who would’ve thought?”
Ki looked at his Keika looking at their mark. He smiled when the spirit looked at him with a beautiful beam. But then he frowned a little, reaching to gently caress Keika’s mark with his thumb.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your mark?” Ki asked. “Didn’t you realize its color?”
“I actually noticed, you know, that my mark is white like your hair,” Keika said while looking at him with happiness. “But I don’t want to keep my hopes up that I am that blessed to have you as my soulmate. It is extremely rare that a person’s soulmate happens to be in the same country, let alone the same city.”
“Well, I am very happy that I met you, Keika,” Ki said. He pulled the other into his arms and rested his forehead onto Keika’s forehead. He felt warm when his soulmate smiled and reached up to cup his face.
“I’m glad I met you too, Tanmoku Ki.”
The two spent a moment in silence, but Keika soon sprang up and turned pale. Ki frowned in worry and turned to his soulmate.
“Keika, what’s wrong?”
Keika faced Ki with dread on his face.
“Shin Shiyou… SHIN SHIYOU IS GONNA KILL ME!”
Ki stared at his soulmate for a second and began chuckling, kissing the side of Keika’s head.
“I will protect you. Don’t worry.”
“I know you will. I love you, do you know that? It feels so good that I don’t have to push away the feeling anymore.”
“I love you too, Keika. I always have.”