Welcome to this lighthearted, somewhat self-indulgent, mostly realistic interpretation of a soulmate au.
Slowburn, little antics, and sass ahead.
Crossposted on Ao3.
Hikaru meets his soulmate on April 6. He remembers this event vividly...mainly because the entire school stares at him for weeks after. Apparently, carrying an unconscious girl to the infirmary with an extremely panicked expression on his face while having the reputation of "suave and mischievous" isi pretty conspicuous.
His first impression of her is that she's a bitch, for the lack of a better term.
(His friends are horrified when he tells them this, but she simply rolls her eyes and dismisses the offense, saying that she had thought everyone in the host club were pretentious bastards, anyways, so they were even.)
He is walking towards Music Room 3 when a girl rushes past him, sobbing uncontrollably and wiping away tears. He blinks in surprise, then recognizes the girl as one of Honey's regular customer. She's an heiress to some tea company that never stops squealing about how adorable their golden haired friend is. Although Hikaru's somewhat reluctant to approach the sobbing girl, she's still a customer. Kyoya would kill him if he knew that he walked past one of their upset customers without lending a hand.
"Are you alright, beautiful?" he asks cautiously, fully aware that this female is still inconsolably wailing. Females are fiery, whimsical creatures; he had learnt that much in the past. Hikaru braces himself for an onslaught of complaints, and she doesn't disappoint.
"That...that horrible girl!" The pompous girl wails, latching onto his arm. Hand trembling, she points an accusatory finger. Trying not to visibly cringe at her sudden contact, Hikaru instead chooses to focus on the matter at hand. Eyes trailing upwards towards where the girl is pointing, his golden orbs meet deep chocolate brown. He discerns a flash of surprise in those eyes before that emotion is smothered.
She has ginger hair, and if Hikaru had been paying attention, he would've noticed that her hair was the exact same shade as his. But alas, he's too focused on the rather apathetic expression on her face as she gazes at the girl clinging onto his arm with mild disgust.
"Oi, what kind of bitch makes a girl cry?" Hikaru demands, slightly irritated by the tightening grip of the girl around his arm. Kyoya's going to kill him for being late to the Host Club. Hikaru inwardly wishes that he had stayed with Kaoru and Haruhi to talk to the teacher after class; they're probably at the club wondering where he is.
She blinks for a moment, looking taken aback. She doesn't cringe at his language (thank God, because Kyoya would totally have a fit if he heard that Hikaru was cursing at a potential customer) but she does look mildly surprised. Her chocolate brown eyes bore into his, searching for something. Then, her eyes trail upwards towards his hair and she lets out a small sound that sounds like a combination of a groan and a gasp. "Oh, shit...so you are my soulmate."
Hikaru freezes in his tracks, because those are the exact words that he had poured over as a child. They are the words etched onto his left wrist, the words that his "soulmate" would first speak to him. His mother had explained the concept of soulmates to Hikaru and Kaoru softly when they reached age eight. Hair color, age, and conversation, she would explain. That's how you find your soulmate.
Hikaru faintly recalls his mother's horror when innocent little Kaoru asked what "shit" meant, and then pointed at Hikaru's soulmate tattoo for explanation when Yuzuha demanded where he heard the word.
Sixteen. That was the magical number, the age that you would meet your supposed "soulmate". Apparently, if you were different ages, you'd meet twice by coincidence: once when you turned sixteen, and once when they turned sixteen. Hikaru never put too much thought into the matter before. But now, staring at his soulmate eye to eye, Hikaru suddenly wishes he had paid more attention to the lecture about soulmates back in middle school.
They're now standing awkwardly in the hallway, unsure of what exactly to do. Meeting your soulmate is supposed to be a life changing moment, but all Hikaru wants to do is get this heiress off him and go to the Host Club. Meeting his soulmate on the way there wasn't exactly the plan. The girl clinging to his arm is blissfully silent, too shocked to make any more complaints.
"You," his soulmate says, breaking the silence. She's glaring at him. Hikaru's slightly amused: it was a rare, rare occasion to have a girl not swooning and sighing around him. "Do you know how much trouble you gave me last year?"
Hikaru pauses. Then, he uses his rather profuse vocabulary. "...what?"
"I'm talking about your—our...my hair!" His soulmate gestures towards her auburn locks. Hikaru scowls, ready to defend once again that his hair color is natural, god damn it, but instead she throws him for a loop again. "You dyed it!"
Hikaru pauses again. This time, he recalls his pseudo-fight with Kaoru. They had dyed their hair (blue and pink respectively), but Hikaru hadn't put much thought into it at the time. He and Kaoru always had their own little joke that hey, maybe the two of them were soulmates. It always made the girls in the club swoon, even though both twins know it isn't true. They tried before: Kaoru had dyed his hair green, but Hikaru's hair had stayed mercifully ginger.
"Oh," he says lamely. "Sorry?"
"You'd better be. It took me forever to convince my professors that it was my soulmate's doing, not mine. And even so, they still sent me here," his soulmate mutters, mostly talking to herself now. Hikaru raises a questioning eyebrow, and the girl somehow manages to read it. Maybe it's a soulmate thing. Or maybe it's just her. "I transferred from Lobelia this year," she explains curtly, gesturing in the general direction of the girl's school. "My father was so angry."
Hikaru repeats himself again, feeling slightly bad about the situation. "Sorry…?"
"It's fine, it was bound to happen somehow," she waves off the matter, still scowling. Everything about her body language screams it's not fine, but Hikaru takes her word for it. "He just didn't want me running off to find my soulmate. He figured that if I stayed in a girl's school, there'd be less of a chance for me to find you. Of course, I tried to tell him that my soulmate could be a girl, but he didn't really listen."
His soulmate is turning out to be a lot more talkative than Hikaru originally pinned her to be, although maybe that's just because she's annoyed by the whole situation. Women, his father always advised him sagely, talked a lot when they were angry.
The heiress that is still clinging onto his arm coughs, a strict reminder of the situation at hand. "Okay, I get it. But this young lady here," Hikaru does some kind of gesture towards the heiress with his free hand before continuing, "told me that you're the cause of her tears. Miss…"
"Mariko...Mariko Tachibana," the heiress supplies helpfully, glaring hatefully at his soulmate. There's something smug about the look that she sends towards the girl, and Hikaru purses his lips and reminds himself to count to ten before continuing.
"...Miss Tachibana is one of our most prized customers at the Host Club," Hikaru finishes smoothly. "As a Host, it's my duty to make sure all young ladies are smiling. And if that means interfering with girl...friendship...problems…" The ginger tries not to cringe, but this is literally the thing that Tamaki's been drilling into them for the past few years. "...then so be it."
"Nice sentiment, but she's not really my friend," his soulmate returns coolly, her countenance taking a complete 180 turn from her earlier infuriated state. Now, instead of fire, she's as cold as ice. "Tell this bitch to stop bullying her classmates and I'll call the hair dye incident even."
Hikaru's amber eyes glance over at Tachibana, who is turning a rather violent shade of red. "Miss Tachibana?" he prompts.
She's trembling, her lips wobbling and eyes watering in a way that indicate an impending outburst. Hikaru waits for a few seconds, but after about five seconds of silence, he decides that's enough. He turns around to face his soulmate. "Bullying?" He questions.
"Tachibana finds it funny that she can threaten others from attending your...Host club...using her family's power," the ginger haired girl explains, brown eyes sharpening calculatively. She's observing Tachibana with a rather detached expression. "Although I have no inclinations towards attending your Host Club, I admit that a couple of my friends enjoy going there. Unfortunately, due the Tachibana family's outreach and the potential threat of dissolving agreements between their families, my friends have been unable to attend the club recently."
Hikaru absorbs the information for a moment. Then, trying not to glare at Tachibana, he asks lowly, "Did you?"
Tachibana trembles, and slowly detaches herself from Hikaru. This situation is so reminiscent of that other heiress, Ayanokoji Seika, that bullied Haruhi last year that Hikaru can't help the anger that leaks into his gaze for a second. "I'm going to bring this to the attention of the other hosts," Hikaru states, closing his eyes as he attempts to keep his temper in check. Kaoru would've been better at handling this. Or Kyoya, preferably. "And if these allegations are proven true, which shouldn't be hard with our resources, you will be banned from our club. And this incident will be brought up to your family and the administration."
He's not really sure about the last part. Considering Tachibana's still the heiress to an important company, the school board will probably let the incident slide by. But he knows for sure that Tamaki won't allow the girl to visit the Host club again.
Tachibana lets out a wail now, crying and darting forward. She almost manages to slap his soulmate in the face, but Hikaru's faster. Gripping Tachibana's outstretched hand with his left hand, he casually adds, "And I guess we can add attempted physical assault to your list of grievances."
If Kyoya were here, he would probably be proud of how Hikaru was handling the situation.
Tachibana jerks her hand out of his grip, cradling it tenderly for a moment before scowling at Hikaru. With the most menacing glare she can muster, she whips back to face his soulmate. "Screw you, Amegawa," she hisses. "Mind your own business."
His soulmate looks remarkably unperturbed. "Sorry, I can't," Amegawa apologizes insincerely. "I'm sort of a busybody that pokes her nose into everyone's business."
Hikaru resists the insane urge to snort at that comment. Tachibana lets out an infuriated huff and shoots Hikaru a venomous glare before stomping away.
The two of them stand in the corridor for a moment in complete silence. It's as if all the bravado from before suddenly evaporates. Hikaru isn't really equipped to dealing with these kind of situations. Flirting with girls at the Host Club is one thing, but this person is supposed to be his soulmate. People say that soulmates complete you, and meeting your soulmate changes your entire world.
Hikaru still feels exactly the same way he had five minutes prior to this uncomfortable conversation, if not a little more confused. "So, uh…" he attempts, summoning all of his Host experience in order to come up with a decent conversation topic. "Sorry for calling you a bitch earlier."
He can feel himself cringing at his own words. Nice of you to remind her, a voice says snarkily in his head. Another voice pipes up, sounding remarkably like Kaoru. Well, she's lived with those words tattooed on her wrist for her entire life anyways.
"Apology accepted," she nods her head, unconsciously brushing a ginger lock behind her ear. "You...you're one of the Hosts here, right? Kind of like the White Lily League?"
Hikaru tries not to cringe at the invocation of the melodramatic club and the memories the name brings up. He really does, but somehow she manages to read his expression. A wry smirk spreads across her face, and Hikaru's subtly reminded of Kyoya. "Not a fan?" she guessed, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow. Hikaru's deeply etched frown is enough of a response. She laughs, and although it isn't the same melodious tone as Haruhi's, there's something about her laugh that is warm. "I'm not either," she admits. "They're a little too extravagant for my taste."
"What's your name?" Hikaru blurts out, his impulsiveness too much to resist as he asks the question he's been meaning to ask for this entire conversation. Somehow, his usual Host suaveness has abandoned him completely.
She tilts her head slightly, studying him. Then, her lips curve into a small, genuine smile. "Miyako Amegawa. And you're either Hikaru or Kaoru Hitachiin."
He blinks, taken aback. Then, his mouth opens, but before he can ask, she cuts him off. "I was researching the other day about any gingers around school, considering my birthday was a few months ago. You and your brother have quite a reputation, and considering the notoriety of your hair-dying incident last year, it was just a matter of figuring out which one of you was my soulmate."
Yep, his soulmate is definitely a female Kyoya. Or, at least, she's just as OCD about knowing things as his glasses-wearing peer.
"Why didn't you come to the club if you knew?" Hikaru asks, confused.
She rolls her eyes. "I've heard all about your twincest act, Hitachiin. You two would probably welcome me with the exact same lines and the words etched in my skin don't sound much like something you'd say in a Host club. I figured something would happen eventually, if all of this soulmate talk is as reliable as people say. So, which one are you?"
Being the genius he is, Hikaru asks: "Huh?"
"Are you Hikaru or Kaoru?" She asks, staring at him with a pensive frown. "I'm afraid I can't really tell since I haven't interacted with either of you. And whenever I ask any girls about you two, they don't know how to tell you two apart, either."
Hikaru's tempted to introduce himself as Kaoru. He's really, seriously tempted, but Amegawa's piercing gaze is scary enough that he hesitates. And that's enough.
"Hikaru, there you are!" Kaoru calls out to him, a relieved expression on his face as he approaches the two. "Everyone's been wondering where you went; you're super late. Why are you out...oh."
His twin studies the scene with a flabbergasted expression that would've made Hikaru laugh (had it been any other incident). "Oh," Kaoru says again, dumbfounded. He puts the pieces together much faster than Hikaru did, glancing at Amegawa's ginger hair and sensing the rather awkward atmosphere. "You must be Hikaru's soulmate?"
"I...um...yes," Amegawa answers haltingly. "I'm Amegawa Miyako."
The grin that sneaks on Kaoru's face spells nothing good. Hikaru reaches forward to stop his twin, but he's not fast enough to stop Kaoru's next comment. "Nice to meet you, future sister-in-law! I'm Kaoru."
Hikaru groans. He has no idea where his brother's meddling nature popped up from, but he's sure that their mother is partially responsible for it. Yuzuha Hitachiin had always been invested in her son's love lives; but more than that, she told so many stories about how happy she was with their father and how their soulmate would make them feel whole. That's one of the things that Kaoru's been repeating for the past year: "It's alright, Hikaru. I know you like Haruhi, but there might be someone else out there who you'll come to love more, someday."
Hikaru knows all of this. He's been told that he should feel happy for Haruhi, considering she met her soulmate one year earlier and Tamaki would make her happy. But knowing that he has a soulmate doesn't change the fact that it hurts whenever he sees his blonde friend and Haruhi hold hands and laugh together.
Amegawa shifts awkwardly. "Nice to meet you, Hitachiin-san, but—"
"Nah, just call me Kaoru. It's pretty confusing considering there's two of us, right?" Kaoru laughs, snaking an arm around him. Hikaru glares at his brother, but Kaoru simply pets his head. He pets his head! As if Hikaru's some kind of child! "And may we call you Miyako?"
Amegawa looks reluctant, but Kaoru's persistence wins. "Alright," she concedes, shoulders slumping slightly. "It's been a pleasure, but I really need to leave, now. I need to turn in my dissertation to our professor before he leaves."
"Hikaru can walk you there," Kaoru says loudly, nudging him none-too-subtly towards the girl. "Don't worry about it, bro. I'll handle Tamaki."
Although Hikaru knows his brother's doing this with good intentions, it takes all of Hikaru's self restraint to not blow up right there and then. Instead, he grits his teeth and says, "Yeah. I can take you there, Amegawa."
"Call her Miyako," Kaoru insists.
"Amegawa doesn't mind me using her last name, right?" Hikaru turns to the ginger haired girl, who looks remarkably relieved at his usage of her last name and hastily nods. "Cool. Now, shoo, Kaoru."
"Roger that!" Kaoru salutes, sending Hikaru a wink before scurrying off back to the club.
"Sorry about that," Hikaru says uncomfortably. He's beginning to feel like a parrot. Considering the amount of apologies he's uttered to Amegawa today, she probably thinks he's a wuss. "He's usually a lot more mature and calm, but when it comes to soulmate stuff…"
"Nah, I get it," Amegawa shakes her head, the action seemingly dissolving some of the tension in her body. "You don't really need to come along, you know."
"He's probably already at the club announcing our meeting to the world," Hikaru disagrees. He shoves his hands into his pockets awkwardly. "It's fine, really. Might as well come along. It's better than being trapped with my friends for an hour: they'll just spend the entire time teasing me."
Amegawa bites her lip before nodding her assent. "Okay, follow me."
She turns around swiftly and begins striding down the hall. Hikaru follows her, speeding up slightly so that he can walk alongside her. They trek down the hallway in silence for several minutes. The entire time, Hikaru's wondering what the standard procedure for meeting a soulmate is. His mother said that she and their father just clicked, and he immediately asked her on a date. Hikaru's pretty sure that Amegawa would not appreciate a spontaneous confession of love. He's also pretty sure that he doesn't love her, because when he thinks of love, he sees short brown hair and the friendly smile of his crossdressing friend.
"Hey, listen." Her voice breaks the silence once more. He glances to his left, and is surprised to see a small blush appear on his soulmate's face. She's not blushing from love, but embarrassment. Hikaru's not exactly sure how he can tell. "I'm sorry if I come off as a bit harsh. It's just that...well, despite everything that people tell me, I don't really know what to do about all of this soulmate stuff."
Her admittance makes something in Hikaru soften, and a grin tugs at his face. "Well, it's not like they have an exact handbook for the first meeting or anything," he quips.
"They do, actually," she counters, and Hikaru can't help the snicker that escaped his lips.
"Seriously? Did you read it?"
"It's bullshit, and I still can't believe I wasted half an hour of my time reading it," Amegawa rolls her eyes, looking a lot more relaxed than earlier. "For example, you are not going to propose to me right now."
"Agreed," Hikaru says immediately, and she raises an eyebrow. Immediately, he flushes a bright red. "I mean, it's not like I don't like you? I mean, I just met you. It's just that...well, I don't like you. Love you. Yeah, that."
Screw being suave. Hikaru just wants to get a full, coherent sentence out without sounding like a bumbling idiot. "Plus," he rambles, "I kind of maybe like someone else? Although I guess I'm kinda screwed anyways since she's already head over heels for her soulmate. Plus they're both my friends and I should feel happy for them and should be in love with you right now. Why am I not in love with you? That would make things easier."
She stares at him, completely mystified by his word vomit. Hikaru wishes the earth would swallow him whole. Finally, she laughs again. "Stupid," she says, her eyes dancing with mirth. "You just met me. Of course you're not in love with me."
Hikaru blinks. "Oh, you're right."
"I'm always right. Remember that, Hitachiin." She snorts, flipping her hair almost arrogantly, but he can tell from her tone that she's teasing. He takes this moment to study her, to figure out what kind of person Miyako Amegawa is. Her ginger hair is messily pulled into a ponytail, and although her eyes display calculative cunning, he sees there's some kind of presence about her that's welcoming. She's the kind of person that anyone would spill their troubles to, and Hikaru realizes that she's not like Kyoya. She's more like Kaoru, and something about that makes him like her more.
"Hikaru."
"Huh?" He relishes in the surprise that flashes through her eyes. It's pretty hard to elicit such a response from her; he can tell already.
"I mean, we're supposedly soulmates, right?" He shrugs uncomfortably. "Just call me Hikaru. And although we might not be head over heels for each other, you seem like a pretty chill person. We can be...friends?"
She pauses for a moment, then nods. "I'd...like that."
"Then, may I call you Miyako?"
"Sure. Hikaru," she adds his name rather tackily, but it's a start. They shake hands. Then, she nods to herself. "Well, the classroom is right downstairs."
Then, that's when the first mishap happens. Miyako stumbles, and Hikaru's eyes widen in horror as she trips and falls down the stairs. He's not fast enough to catch her, but he manages to stop her from falling down the second flight of stairs. He curses, frantically turning her around and studying her. "Amek...Miyako?"
She's unconscious, but he finds to his relief that she's still breathing.
Shit, shit, shit.
Hikaru scoops up the girl's prone body, mindful of her neck and head. Then, he rushes down the stairs and runs to the nurse's office as fast as he can.
(In short, it was a rather eventful first meeting.)
Feel free to leave a review!