Ｎｅ

Coming to in Darkwick’s infirmary, the first thought Sho had was ‘Not again.’

There had always been an unspoken worry, when he worked alone in his food truck, that one day he’d have an ‘episode’ in the middle of service. He’d pictured a thousand ways it could go wrong, and today, he got his answer for what would happen if his soulmate connection backfired on him while he cooked.

The moment Nicolas realized he was waking up, he breathed a sigh of relief, sitting down at the student’s side. “Shohei. Good, you’re already awake,” he began, a tired smile on his face. “Your brother tried calling you, so I answered it and explained the situation to him. How are you feeling?”

Why the fuck would he answer my call? And what does Hyde want now? Sho thought, already annoyed by the situation. “I’m fine. I can guess what happened.”

Nicolas nodded, familiar with Sho’s situation. His soulmate connection was strong, and his soulmate seemed sickly - often having episodes of nausea, dizziness, and occasional blackouts. “You were cooking when it happened. I gave you a local anesthetic, but I had to stitch up your arm.”

Great, Sho thought, crashing back onto the bed. “Can I leave, then?”

“Not yet. Sorry,” Nicolas shook his head. “I know this routine is probably getting old to you, but... I’d like to run a few more tests on you to make sure that your blackout was because of your soulmate and not your own. I’ll be keeping you for observation a little while longer.”

As Nicolas walked off, muttering something about him being needed in the staff lounge, Sho considered getting up and leaving. He knew he was fine. It was times like this that Sho thought that Leo was onto something when the influencer suggested ditching his soulmate.

When he was younger, he barely ever felt anything from his soulmate. Occasional fatigue and body aches, as if they were an active person, but nothing extreme. if anything, Sho considered himself the problematic one in their connection - he was always getting injuries from accidents or fights. He remembered falling off his skateboard once and his knees being torn nearly to the bone - and he remembered, at that young age, he felt more guilty than he did sorry for himself.

As he got older, though, he noticed his soulmate more. Mostly in the past few years, when he started having blackouts. He’d feel it mere moments before it happened - a rush of nausea, and his world would spin before he hit the ground. Tests ruled out the cause being something on his end - which meant it was his soulmate having the main symptoms.

At times, it made him wish he didn’t have a soulmate at all. Even though he was considered one of the “lucky” ones with such a strong connection to his soulmate - after all, the more pain you shared, the stronger the connection was - he didn’t see it as luck at all. He was jealous of those who had dull pain receptors when it came to their soulmates.

“Nicolas not here?” a familiar voice rang out, pulling Sho out of his thoughts.

He looked over to see a trio standing at the infirmary door - the Hotarubi ghouls and the inspector. Subaru looked pale, leaning on Haku for support. “He just stepped out. He should be back soon. Something happen?”

Haku, who spoke before, looked to Subaru as if inviting him to explain. Subaru shook his head before turning back to Sho. “It’s nothing,” Subaru insisted. “I was injured on a mission, and it was too much for anomalous medicine to take care of.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” Sho furrowed his brows and stood up. “You guys can stay here. I’ll go get him.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that -”

“Chill. I was looking for an excuse to get up and walk around anyway,” Sho waved a hand at Subaru, a gesture to urge him to calm down. “I’ll be back.”

As the rider retreated from the room, Haku looked over at Subaru, his expression growing serious. “How long as it been now since you found out he was your soulmate?” Haku asked, his brows furrowing. “You could avoid incidents like this for both of you if you told him.”

The inspector’s eyes widened. “Wait, are Kagami and Sho...?”

Haku raised a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. “Subaru figured it out a while ago, but he’s been lying to Sho about it.”

“It’s not a lie,” Subaru corrected him. “Just a secret.”

The inspector looked down, seeing the consequences of Subaru’s secret. When he’d passed out at the temple after using his stigma, the inspector was already worried... and then they saw his arm tear open. Then they’d seen smaller punctures appear - as if someone was getting stitched up. Unfortunately, it simply aggravated Subaru’s wound, making it worse. “Why don’t you tell him?” the honor student asked softly.

Why don’t I tell him? Subaru thought, remaining quiet in the face of the question. The answer, to him, was simple: fear. He didn’t want to see rejection in Sho’s eyes, to see the man pull away from him when Subaru told him. Subaru had always liked the idea of a soulmate - someone who was meant to complete him, who would understand him.

What was he supposed to do if that person pushed him away?