Soulmate AU, in which each person bears three tattoos of their soulmate's defining hobbies/interests.

I don't believe in soulmates. Honestly I never understood the whole thing; everyone in the entire world had their fate tied to another individual, and we didn't have a say in who we're supposed to fall in love with. It sounded like a bunch of crap to me.

I frowned down at the three tattoos on my wrist: a video game controller, a rabbit and a pair of chopsticks. These were the three main interests of my supposed soulmate, but I had no intention of being with him. My heart already decided on who I wanted to love, and these permanently inked symbols on my skin wouldn't get in the way of it.

"Ohayo (F/n)-cchi!" A voice calling out to me dragged me out of my thoughts. I looked up in the direction of where it came from only to see a blonde boy in his grey and white school uniform waving eagerly at me from the corner of the street.

My frown turned into a smile as I laid my eyes on the owner of the voice, and the person I'd been in love with for just over a year. "Ohayo Kise!" I waved back and broke into a quick trot to catch up to him.

Kise laughed, and I felt my heart swell as I giggled with him. We resumed the walk to school together, happily chatting about anything and everything. It was always with him that I felt like this, the fierce warmth of love that overtook my body every time we were together.

He stretched his arms over his head and the sleeve of his blazer slipped down just enough for me to catch a glimpse of golden yellow. I already knew on Kise's own arm was a tattoo of a large sunflower, along with a hairbrush and an intricate looking pendant. Whoever his soulmate was, it was obvious she was a very sophisticated kind of person. Maybe she would have even been a better match for him considering his popularity and modelling career.

But Kise felt the same about soulmates as I did. I caught feelings first out of us, and I was very hesitant on acting upon my feelings until Kise surprised me by asking me out on a date, and we talked about our feelings and the whole 'we aren't each other's soulmates but we're in love so what should we do about it?' thing.

We agreed to keep a low profile on our relationship until we were old enough to get our tattoos removed or covered up, and we'd also promised not to get them removed with our soulmates but with each other instead.

Kaijo High's gates appeared as we rounded the corner, and we stopped at the front double doors.

"I'll see you after school then!" Kise said as he turned to me.

"Bye Kise." I smiled back and gave him a small wave before we parted to go to our classrooms.

Nobody at school knew about my secret relationship with Kise. It was forbidden to fall in love with someone who wasn't your soulmate, but that didn't mean people didn't break that rule. A lot of couples who were serious about being together would simply fake being soulmates and get their tattoos removed so no one would be able to tell, since the tattoos disappeared once soulmates touched their arms together in a symbol of unity. Kise and I had tried that once, forearms pressed together and hands clasped in pretense of the little ritual just to see what it would be like.

The school day wasn't anything interesting. During lunch, my friends were theorizing over their soulmates' identities as per usual, trying to tap into their inner Sherlock Holmes to figure out who their partners were.

"It's so unfair that (Friend's name) is the only one who's found her soulmate," one of them said good humouredly. "When's my beloved soulmate going to show herself to me?" He flopped his head in his arms dramatically, making us all laugh.

"I mean, your soulmate likes skulls, maybe karaoke and. . . knitting? Shouldn't be too hard to find someone like that." (Best friend's name) chuckled, nudging him. He/she then turned to me. "What about you, (F/n)?"

I'd zoned out for a few minutes and blinked rapidly at my friends all looking at me eagerly. "Oh um, I'm sure mine will show up eventually." I shrugged.

The bell rang to signify the end of the lunch period and then it was just a matter of sitting through the last few classes of the day. I got up and arched my back in a long stretch after we were finally dismissed to go home and hurried to pack up and finish my cleaning duties. I said goodbye to all of my friends and we made promises to hang out over the weekend.

I left the building and started walking through the school grounds to the front of the school. It was a cool spring day and a breeze blew through my hair as I hummed a song under my breath.

"(L/n)!" A voice behind me shouted, and I turned to see my classmate Ichijou running up to me. He stopped in front of me, panting. "I'm glad I found you!"

"What's up?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. Ichijou wasn't someone I talked to a whole lot. I wondered what he wanted from me.

Ichijou caught his breath and straightened up to look me in the eye. "You're my soulmate!"

"Huh?" I stared at him with my mouth slightly agape, trying to process what he just said.

Is this some kind of prank? I wondered wildly, but deep down I knew Ichijou wasn't that sort of person.

"(Best friend's name) confirmed it for me! See?" He unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt and showed me his arm. Sure enough, those were my interests tattooed on his skin. It was true after all.

"Then these must be yours." I tried to keep my voice level as I rolled up my sleeve to reveal my own tattoos.

Ichijou's eyes lit up and he beamed, a light blush on his face. "They are! I can't believe we're gonna be together!"

His innocent happiness stabbed my heart with guilt. This was it. The terrible moment I had to go through for the sake of my own happiness with Kise. "I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head.

"What are you apologizing for?" Confusion spread over Ichijou's face and his smile faltered. His hand was outstretched towards mine to touch tattoos together.

"I recognize you as my soulmate but I don't have any feelings for you."

"Wait. . . you're rejecting me?"

"Please excuse me." I gently pushed past him. Kise would be waiting for me so we could go home together.

"W-wait!" Ichijou said desperately. He grabbed my shoulder. "Can't we talk about this?! You're my soulmate so—!"

I shook my head again, my lips pursed together tightly as I looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes anymore. Ichijou slowly let go of me.

I'm sorry Ichijou. You're a nice guy but I can't be in love with you.

I adjusted my grip on my school bag and started making my way to the entrance of the school. I just reached the courtyard and was about to turn around the corner when a feminine voice spoke up loudly on the other side of the wall.

"Kise-kun, please wait for a moment!" She said, sounding desperate. I stopped and pressed my back against the building, my heart suddenly thumping in my chest. Who was that girl? And what did she want with Kise?

"Tachibana?" That was Kise, his voice sounding surprised.

"Kise-kun, we're destined to be together!" Tachibana declared. "We're soulmates!"

"Really?"

"Mhm!" She hummed happily.

"I see. Well then I'm really glad you're my soulmate, Tachibana."

What?

My mind went blank. Did Kise really say that? There must be a mistake. But I knew what I heard, loud and clear as anything.

Gritting my teeth, I ducked my head low and took off. I didn't care if they saw me anymore. I passed by the two of them as I ran for the school gates.

"Oh my!" Tachibana exclaimed, but I didn't even bother looking at her.

Kise said something that was lost to me. I was already past the school entrance now and sprinting down the sidewalk. Footsteps thundered behind me in hot pursuit. I knew who it was without having to turn around, but I didn't want to look at him.

"(F/n)-cchi!"

No. Why should I stop for him? What exactly am I to you, Kise? He said he was in love with me.

Was I just someone to keep him happy until he found his real soulmate? Did he not mean anything he's ever said to me? Have I just been living a lie of blinded love?

I even rejected Ichijou for you, yet you couldn't do the same for me. . .

A hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back before I could turn the corner, and I swiveled around to face Kise.

"(F/n)-cchi, why are you running away from me?"

I tried to yank my arm away from him but he kept a firm grip on me. "Shouldn't you be with Tachibana?" I snarled at him, still tugging on my captured wrist. "I heard what you said to her. You're happy that she's your soulmate instead of wanting to be with me!"

Kise's eyes widened in surprise but they softened as he smiled at me tenderly and let go of my wrist. "(F/n)-cchi, I don't know anything about Tachibana except for my tattoos. The only reason I said I was glad that she's my soulmate is because if she was destined to be for me, then she'll make her future husband very happy.

"But when it comes to you," he continued passionately, "I know your favourite songs and how you cope with sadness and the ice cream flavour you hate the most and which store makes your drink the best and your favourite jokes and video game and which anime is your favourite and what you want to do when you're older and how you have every accomplishment you ever want to achieve mapped out."

It was my turn to be surprised, and I stared at Kise in disbelief, my cheeks burning at his confession. It was true. Didn't Kise tell me something like this before? He fell in love with me because of what he saw in me. He knew a lot about me. Even some things I'd never told my best friend, and I knew equally as much about him.

"And you want to know what else I know?" He asked.

"What?"

"I know that I'm a hundred billion percent in love with you."

My heart almost skipped a beat. I knew without a doubt that I loved Kise, and I knew he loved me too. But we'd never actually admitted it to each other, always skirting around the words and being too shy to say it outright. Except for right now.

"I'm. . . a hundred billion percent in love with you too," I mumbled, my blush increasing.

Kise beamed and I couldn't help smiling back in return. He held his arms out and wrapped me in a warm embrace as I hugged him back fiercely, trying to communicate my love to him. It felt so right, just like every moment with him. He leaned in slowly, his lips almost on mine but I stopped him by putting my finger between us and smiled in amusement. "Not yet, remember?"

He blinked, caught off guard but then chuckled as he remembered another promise we made: to have our first kiss when we turned eighteen and could start our path on becoming proper lovers.

"Not yet," he agreed, instead choosing to lean his forehead against mine. His hand went to intertwine itself with my own. "But soon."