Chapter Text
Red string/thread of fate- The string that connects two souls, destined to be together, regardless of time, distance and circumstances.
The thread may tangle, stretch, cross paths, shorten but never break.
Note: The red string being cut is one of the worst things that can happen to a person.
Hayato Kamitani does not believe in soulmates. He knows they exist, that everybody has one. That doesn’t mean he likes them. They are a hindrance, someone holding them back. They have nothing to do with him.
His parents had been soulmates.
Now all that remained was a sad, pitch-black, neatly cut thread dangling from his mother’s finger.
Even his own thread was black.
He didn’t even know who they were, where they lived.
He just knew that his soulmate was either dead or…
Or they wanted nothing to do with him.
And he stayed up many nights staring at the neatly cut ending of the thread.
Despite not believing in soulmates, despite saying that they only wasted time, it stung every time he saw the thread.
It was a not-so-gentle reminder that he was destined to alone.
That he was never going to feel as happy as people do when they find their soulmates.
It stung every time they had another piece in literature talking about soulmates. Or had to study about soulmates in psychology.
He remembers the day he looked at his beloved red-thread because he felt like someone had hurt him badly in his heart. He had learnt that everything related to soulmates gave you feelings in your heart. The red thread, the one that would lead him to the person that would take care of him forever, love him like no one else ever would. The person the universe had destined him to love, to spend his life with, to be happy with. He remembers stopping dead in his tracks, the world stopping around him, his surroundings changing to only a blur of colours and sounds.
Because his beloved red-string wasn’t endless anymore. It was torn, it was black, it was neatly cut off. It was still there, but it’s not the one he knew.
That was the day Hayato Kamitani was reduced to a mere shadow of the person he was before.
The day he cursed every god in existence, cursed the universe itself, but for all that it was worth, couldn’t turn the thread red again.
That was the day Hayato Kamitani swore he didn’t want anything to do with soulmates ever again.
~~O~~o~~O~~
Ryuuichi Kashima had thought he had lost enough when his parents died. But the universe decided it wasn’t enough.
It was the middle of the night when he felt like someone had stabbed him right through his heart. Not physical pain, but like someone had taken his heart and stabbed it multiple times. Sitting upon his bed quietly, so that Kotaro doesn’t wake up, he turned on the light. But he froze, catching sight on his hand on the light switch.
A pitch-black, frayed thread instead of the bright red one.
That meant his soulmate had died.
Before he even knew who they were, before he could even experience their love.
It hurt knowing he was never going to meet them.
He remembered his parents. Whenever they were together their string was taut, signifying just how much love there was between them. He absolutely adored them.
So it was obvious that he spent a good amount of time fantasizing about how his life with his soulmate would be.
He spent so many days as a kid trying to untangle the thread whenever they tangled up. Nearly got himself lost because he tried to follow it to wherever it leads him to. To whoever waited for him on the other end of the thread.
He remembers being so excited whenever he would feel a pull on the thread, It excited him to no ends.
He smiled at the memory.
Then the tears welled up.
He would never get to be like his parents, like almost all the people around him. He would be alone.
Probably not alone, he has Kotaro, but you know what he means.
“Mom, Dad, I wish you were here…” he whispered as the tears travelled down his cheeks.
“I don’t know who to tell, my soulmate’s gone… I lost more people.” A choked sob.
“How much more do I have to lose?”
His heart broke even before someone managed to give it love. It hurt him so much.
It felt like a part of him had been killed.
He couldn’t stop his tears no matter how he tried.
It was his soulmate after all.
And he wanted them so badly.
Ryuuichi Kashima and Hayato Kamitani were both unaware of how their lives would tangle, intertwine and merge together.
After all, fate may be a cruel mistress, but she never makes a mistake.
~~O~~o~~O~~
The first day at the daycare was going quite well. Ryuuichi did feel a little bad for leaving Kotaro alone, but he seemed fine. The twins, Kirin and Midori had just been picked up by their moms. Ryuu won’t lie, he was a little relieved when they were picked up. He had just taken a deep breathe when the door was slid open roughly.
“Oi Taka!”
Standing in the doorway was another boy. A little taller than him, completely emotionless face, but not older than him.
“Who are you?” The boy asked him. “He has a nice voice,” was Ryuu’s first thought.
“I-I’m the new helper here. Kashima Ryuuichi. Middle school, third year.”
Why was he stuttering?
“Oh. Kamitani Hayato. Same class. You must be the transfer student we were told about.”
“He might not be all that bad,” Ryuu thought, a smile forming on his lips.
“Nii-chan, I’m not going! I’ll play with Ryuu” Taka shouted, clinging to Ryuu’s legs.
“I said we’re going!”
“NO!”
Bam!
Taka started bawling as he was hit by his elder brother.
“You didn’t need to hit him!”
“Words aren’t enough to convince. Anyways, mine’s handled. You should look after your own, he looks lonely over there.”
“Yeah yeah.”
That was the first time Ryuuichi met Hayato.
It was just the start.
~~O~~o~~O~~
When Hayato looked back to that day five months later, he marvelled how far everyone had come.
Hayato Kamitani had somehow been trapped in the spider web of Ryuuichi Kashima’s sweet words, his kindness, patience. Somehow he had become a part of his world, just like Ryuu had become a part of his.
How did someone as cold as him, become the best friend to someone like Ryuu?
It was a mystery. Hayato wouldn’t lie, Ryuu was the closest thing he had to a family. His own family was broken, frayed and neatly cut.
Just like the thread dangling from his finger.
It still stung him. That, someone, had rejected him without even getting to know him. That the person who was supposed to love him wanted nothing to do with him. Despite not even knowing him.
He watches the string on Taka’s fingers trailing endlessly. No matter how much he said he didn’t like soulmates, he still felt a very sharp pang when he realised that probably everyone in the room had their own soulmates.
He looked at Ryuu next. He had only meant to look at him, but found himself captivated by the smile on Ryuu’s face, as a chuckle escaped his lips. He was pretty sure that whoever would be his soulmate, would be very lucky. Ryuu was the most caring person Hayato knew. He imagined how much Ryuu would love them. Ryuu deserved a lot of love. Scratch that he deserved all the love in the world.
“Hayato? Hayatoooo! Are you even listening? We know Ryuu’s pretty, but don’t stare so much, it’ll make him uncomfortable!”
That idiot Usaida.
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing nothing!”
Why was Ryuu blushing? That was strange. Although, that boy was pretty much an open book.
“We need to get to class. Oi Kashima, let’s go.”
“Oh is that time already?”
“Yes, now let’s go.”
Closing the door to the daycare room, they left for class.
That was when his hand brushed against the brunette’s.
There was a strange feeling. Like a slight pull. But they were running late. So he didn’t pay attention to it.
Yet it was a familiar sensation, like one he knew, but had just forgotten.
Like your favourite childhood song that you re-discovered years later. You knew the feeling all too well but had forgotten the words to.
It was strange.
It remained in the back of his mind the whole day.
It wasn’t until Taka was telling him how he felt his thread was pulling him earlier in the day, that the realisation crashed on him.
The feeling came from the thread. The thread pulled him. Like it did so many times, so many years ago.
But why would a black, cut thread pull him?
What was happening?