It started about a week after Suga turned Thirteen. Almost to the day if we're being correct. Honestly both him and his dad had been surprised it had taken so long for it happen. But sure enough, he came home from school one day after a particularly long and hard day at school to find it waiting in the middle of the floor of his bedroom. Of course he'd just stared long and hard at the item without moving. Probably without blinking as well, he can't really remember it's been so long.
Actually, if we're going to be completely honest here we might as well go back to the beginning. In this universe the thing known as soulmates exist. Nobody is sure why and Scientists have spend hours upon hours upon hours trying to grasp some form of understanding of how and why it happens. To no avail. It just happens. No ifs, ands, or buts as his mom had loved to say as she swished a finger through the air. Kind of like she was trying to silently say 'and that's that so just accept it'. Now, it's going to sound odd but, you know when you have a soulmate in the world when items that's important to them just kind of... show up. It was explained to him several times over the years leading up to the day his soulmate presented itself to him, that when your soulmate loses or forgets about something that's important to them the Universe simply brings it to their soulmate.
"It's for safe keeping until you meet," his mother would explain as she rocked with him in the large, wooden rocker on the porch of their Summer cabin. He missed those days the most. With him sitting on her lap, her arms around his middle as they just rocked and talked about anything and everything under the sun until either hunger set in or the sun faded out in the distance. Salty air from the water by the beach clinging to their skin and the inside of their lungs. Those times were always relaxing and calm for him. He used to believe that those days would never end.
Fast forward a few years and reality set in for Suga. Not only were those simple and relaxing days gone but his soulmate never showed up. Not one thing had appeared to him and each week that passed without anything showing up had started creating this emptiness inside of him. His mother had tried telling him to just wait, that there's always a plan for these things. That it would happen in an unexpected moment when he needed it. But he had stopped hearing those words awhile ago and telling them to himself didn't have the same kind of impact within him. In the end he'd just accepted that he had no one made specifically for him in the world.
At first that idea he'd pushed to the back of his mind in an attempt at holding on to his mother's unwavering ideals that everything happens for a reason and that all he had to do was wait for it. But year after year he just stopped believing. The first time the realization set in firmly he's broken down and cried. Of course it had happened in the middle of his Eighth birthday party as his dad walked in with his ice cream cake. Lights dimmed down so the glow of the lit '8' candle in the middle could be seen. Guests were singing and clapping, except for his best friends who were sitting beside him staring with shock and concern.
Iwaizumi had been the first one to fully react to the sudden change in his friend. Grabbing his arm so Suga would look at him he started asking what was wrong and why he was suddenly crying. He remembers the look on his friends face well, even to this day many years later, the warm concern in his expressive eyes, the way his jaw was slightly dropped open as if he was still trying to ask what was wrong but the words just wouldn't spill out.
Then Moniwa had taken his hand and started rubbing his back with his free one. Neither one of them could get any words out, Moni being shy and quiet even around close friends and family and Iwa being awkward in these situations. So they sat there through an off key and horrible sounding rendition of the birthday song.
It wasn't until he hiccuped over the drawn out sound of the ending of 'Happy Birthday' that everyone else noticed, which now makes him laugh awkwardly because who the hell doesn't notice the birthday boy crying? His dad he can forgive. He is a clumsy man and he was trying his best to focus on not dropping the cake so he'd been staring at it and his feet as he walked. But there was so many people there that day and nobody noticed until he was too far gone to console.
If he were to think back now, Suga can accurately say he doesn't remember much past that point. He remembers his friends staying for awhile longer. He remembers his dad ushering people out of the room, and possibly out of the house, before coming in and pulling him into his lap. He remembers watching the candle burn low, wax dripping into the icing in steady streams before it blew itself out. He even remembers confessing to his dad later that night as he was tucked in and falling asleep that he was upset over not having a soulmate because there was no other explanation for it. He was Eight years old when he first felt completely alone in the world. Even if it wasn't true, he still felt it deep down.
That was also the last year they went to the Summer cabin. His dad had tried and tried to convince him that a few weeks, or even days, at their home away from home would do them good. They hadn't officially been there for a stay since Suga's mother had died unexpectedly. That was almost Three years prior to the failed party. It was her favorite place on earth, so close to the water and just far enough out of the way that you seemed in a world all your own. Suga used to feel like it was more of his home than the one they lived in most of the year. Of course feelings change.
"It's no longer home to me," was the final words spoken about going to their Summer cabin. His dad never suggested it again.
For the next few years his dad had tried his best to keep up the ideals and hopes his mother had held and spoken of when it came to the soulmate issue. That's what they called it now, the soulmate issue. It was fitting, really. To Suga it had become a huge issue as it broke away slowly at all the things he'd been told as he grew up. The things he'd believed wholeheartedly. Soon his dad also stopped mentioning soulmates altogether.
At least until we come to the day previously mentioned. A week after turning Thirteen, almost to the day, the first sign of his soulmate connection showed up in the form of a keychain. A small, Silver thing laying in the middle of his bedroom floor. At first he'd thought he'd dropped something on his way out that morning, but upon leaning in for a closer look as his heart rate spiked at the thoughts forming in his mind, it was clearly not something he owned. It was hard to tell exactly what the design of the keychain was from where Suga continued to stand, his body feeling heavy and numb. He vaguely hears his dad calling him in the distance but he doesn't register the words, just keeps staring for several minutes.
It's when rapid footsteps are heard coming his way that his body is released from its frozen state. Blinking rapidly he surges forward, grasping the cool metal in hand hands before turning to yank open his desk drawer and toss the item inside. Effectively slamming the drawer closed with an echoing thud. The footsteps and call from his dad were almost to his door when he thumped his butt down in the computer chair. Yanking the messenger bag over his head he made quick work of pulling out a textbook and shucking off his school Blazer.
This continued on for a few months. Each week there would be various pens and pencils showing up, or a pack of gum, even a few hair ties which gave him the impression his soulmate was a girl. Suga simply threw the writing utensils into the mix with his own, figuring a soulmate wouldn't really care about getting those back anytime soon, and continued to look and touch the items as little as possible, instead he tossed the other small items away in his desk drawer with the keychain he still hasn't looked at. It just seemed easier to cope with the suddenness of it all that way. And when the drawer got so full he couldn't close it properly anymore without crushing what lay inside Suga grabbed a small box and emptied it quickly in handfuls, still trying to avoid the subjects all together. Until he felt himself grasp the cool metal of the keychain. He would find himself gripping it tightly in his fist before dropping it back into the drawer with a soft clatter.
It was around Six months after it all started when larger items started showing up Once or Twice a month and it would continue that way until High School when it would bump up to at least Once a week. Those were too hard to ignore and toss into hiding without looking at them. Of course when the larger items started showing up his father found out about the whole thing, even walking into his room one day to find him trying to stuff a Toy Story Alien plushie into a box in his closet. Suga had stared at his father and vice versa, neither one saying anything. He knew his dad could understand what was going on, Suga wasn't one for anything having to do with Space or Aliens, so he grimaced slightly under the sharp stare just waiting for the response to it all. He'd been genuinely surprised and quite happy when his dad suddenly blinked and turned away mentioning that dinner was ready and he needed Suga to set the table.
Even after dinner his dad said nothing and Suga did not bring it up himself.
Things progressed like this through the rest of Middle School and then all through High School. He'd gathered and packed away quite an impressive collection of items that Suga kept telling himself none of it mattered. It just became an everyday thing for him that wasn't anything to concern himself about. In his last year of High School he'd accepted that it didn't really matter if he ever met this soulmate of his. He would hold onto the items as they showed up and if anything happened then so be it. But, at the same time, Suga wasn't going to just wait around for the Universe to get its ass in gear and show him who he's apparently supposed to be fated with. Suga dated who he liked and allowed himself to be open to relationships instead of being like Moniwa and choosing to wait for that one person.
Moniwa's soulmate seemed beyond obsessed with Volleyball, which none of them minded since it was all their sport of choice. But the obsession was, well, extreme to say the least. His room was filled with extremely worn down Volleyballs, numerous magazines about the sport with little notes in the margins and even things like pads and tape would show up. They all knew it wasn't Moni's since there was always the same initials on every item somewhere. U.W. Of course Suga once teased him that maybe his soulmate was the famous Miracle Boy Ushiwaka. Moni didn't speak to him for a week after that he'd been so embarrassed, probably since Suga had teased him with said person across the room while they were at training camp with each others teams.
Iwaizumi had the same idea though he didn't really date all that much. Sure people like and respect him and he has numerous admirers but, unfortunately, those who don't know him well enough tend to think he's a scary guy. Really he's an adorable little softy. Iwa's soulmate was, interesting to say the least. His collection was made up of similar Volleyball related items like Moni's but not on the same scale. It also had numerous Plushies of a certain animal that he refused to show or share, Iwa prefered to hide most of the items like Suga. The one item he did have from his soulmate that he didn't mind to share out in the open was this extremely soft and beautiful blanket. It was simple in design, just striped of Black and Silver. The larger stripes were separated by a very thin stripe of Gold between each one. The color combination is what Suga found so beautiful, though he's not sure why.
Of course nothing ever came of the few relationships Suga actually had until he was in his second year of University. Several things happened that year actually. His dad had announced that he wa retiring and moving into their old Summer cabin for good so during his next break Suga would head home to help sort out the family belongings and help him move. Another thing that happened was he met Oikawa Tooru, the first person to actually steal his heart. The third was he finally met his soulmate.
No, Oikawa Tooru is not his soulmate, though he truly wishes he was.
His soulmates name is Yamaguchi Tadashi and he is actually a kouhai of Oikawa's, which is how they met. Suga had traveled with Oikawa to meet his family, they only lived an hour from their Campus, and on the way they'd stopped at a convenience store to pick up a dessert of some sort. They'd settled on pudding and while Oikawa was paying Suga had stepped outside, colliding with the one and only Yamaguchi. Suga wouldn't have even realized they were soulmates if it hadn't of been for two key events that had lead up to their meeting.
The first being that he'd gone home to help his dad sort and move. For the first time since it had happened Suga had opened his old desk drawer and actually looked at the keychain he'd received so long ago. It was actually pretty nerdy and adorable. It was a small loop with four little charms on it. A star, a little rocket, an alien, and a small disc with the letter 'T' engraved on it. That had sparked Suga to slip it onto his key ring and approach his boyfriend about it later. Tooru was a believer in all things extraterrestrial so it was natural that he'd assumed he was possibly the long expected person of fate. Until Tooru had spoken up about already meeting his soulmate when they'd been kids and it had quickly become a platonic relationship.
In his heart, he had been disappointed. He would have been lying if he'd said otherwise. But he would also be lying if he'd said he didn't love Oikawa Tooru.
Said other event had happened after the move itself to what used to be his home away from home. When his mother had passed away Suga had been given her locket. He barely wore it, afraid he'd lose it and afraid his soulmate wouldn't take the same amount of care about his things as he had with theirs. But on the day of the move Suga had put it on so it wouldn't get lost, but he hadn't realized the clasp was broken so it had in fact gotten lost along the way. So when he ran into the one and only Yamaguchi the first thing his eyes had been drawn to, well after the large mess of freckles all over the guys face, was the dainty locket hanging in front of the shirt.
It had been a very awkward conversation to say the least. Tooru had walked out and taken in the situation before storming off without a word to either one of them. Understanding his boyfriends need of privacy, Suga took Yamaguchi in hand and lead him to one of the few places he knew well. A Cafe that he and Tooru visited almost daily for their caffeine fix before or in between classes. It had only taken him the time span of half an hour to know that he felt nothing for this person. There was no spark, no compatibility, no… Anything. The whole conversation was just awkward and full of weird feeling silence, and not the kind you have when meeting someone new. What Suga did learn was that Yamaguchi was already in a long term relationship with a Middle School sweetheart and had no interest in a soulmate. He wore the locket just in case he did run into Suga so he could find a way to return his stuff.
And so that leads us to today. Suga and Tooru waiting on the deck of the Summer cabin near the water, his mother's favorite place on Earth when she'd been alive. Tooru sitting in her chair with Suga sitting on his lap, watching the distant waves crash against the sand and rocks of the beach as the sun drifted slowly towards the horizon. The sky stained an ombre of Blue, Orange and just a hint of Pink. They waited in silence, not looking towards the waiting boxes of long collected items for their owner to come pick them up.
His ideas were different from his mothers when it came to soulmates, as his clearly did not work out the way the Universe had intended it to. And despite the popular belief that one could not be happy without their fated other half, Suga was one of the happiest people he knew. Tooru made him feel safe, content, happy, relaxed and so much more. So after so long of feeling alone inside, despite it not being true at all, Suga finally understood that even in a world filled with soulmates you can still choose and find your own happiness. You can choose who is yours to keep.