Perhaps his fascination with space, the stars and the mystery, with the constellations whose histories were written with both stories and divination, had resulted in his perpetual contemplation over fate. Over the ever-dwindling numbers on his wrist, ticking down to the very second where he would meet the one person who was meant to be his soulmate. Heâd always known that his numbers were strangely small compared to the rest of the people he knew. Where they still had their numbers in the tens of thousands of hoursâOikawaâs had reached hundreds of hours by the time he hit his seventeenth birthday. And it had been terrifying, really.
So he tried to shove his worries out of his mind, and concentrate on school. And so, time went on.
Until the numbers dwindled down to such a point that in just four minutes, Oikawa would be standing in front of the one person who would come to mean so much to himâto meet this one person who would complement him so perfectly that it wouldnât matter how flawed Oikawa was, his soulmate would be the one to fill in the gaps that Oikawa had so futilely tried to cover up. But exactly how would he meet his soulmate in this crowd filled with people? What was their name? What would they be like? Could he trust them like he so desperately wanted to?
Trembling hands clenched at his sides, and Oikawa drew in a deep breath as he continued to walk.
The numbers never failed. He would meet his soulmate; they were walking towards him just as surely as he was walking towards them.
And yet, he pulled his sleeve up as he walked, staring at his wrist as only a starved man would; anticipation and nervous energy welled up inside of him; he could hear the numbers counting down with every second in his mind, his thoughts both reverberating and deafening. His usual confidence had failed him. There was nothing that could prepare him for something like this.
And yet, time continued to move on, merciless in its constancy.
Six seconds were left. Now five⊠then fourâŠÂ âThree, twoââ
Choking out the last number when he crashed into a smaller body, Oikawa barely had enough time to react, catching the other person against his chest before they both tumbled onto the floor. Eyes wide as the situation struck him, he quickly let go of the other, exclaiming out an apology before his words could fail him.Â
âSorry⊠Hi.â He breathed out, hungrily taking in the features of his soulmate. His soulmate had freckles. âIâm Oikawa Tooru.â