Kenya plopped into his chair and leaned back. Satoru came in from the bedroom and greeted him with a smile.
"Rough day?"
"Like you wouldn't believe."
"I'll get the bath ready."
Satoru walked by him only to be stopped by Kenya's hand holding his wrist.
"I love you", he said before kissing Satoru's hand. Satoru leaned down to kiss his forehead.
"I love you too."
After a nice hot bath, Kenya sat back down in his chair and Satoru put out some tea for him. He took it gratefully and sipped from the cup.
"What would I do without you?"
"Collapse under stress?"
Kenya laughed. "Probably. You're my rock." He put the cup down and stretched. "I was on my feet all day. What about you?"
"On my butt all day." Satoru had been working on a new manuscript all day. It seemed that Kenya's current client required a lot of footwork. He knelt down in front of his chair and began to rub Kenya's feet.
"Satoru, you don't have to-ah, right there."
"Didn't take you long to quit resisting", Satoru grinned.
"Can you blame me? You're re-ally good." Kenya let out a moan as Satoru worked his muscles. His hands went upward, massaging his calf and then higher. Satoru pushed up his shorts a bit and caught a glance at the mark there. He smiled, pausing in his massage, which Kenya noticed.
"What's that look for?"
Satoru leaned in and Kenya's cheeks were the lightest pink when Satoru kissed the mark, four dots arranged in a square, like a side of dice. On his own leg, the mark was present too.
"What are you thinking about?", Kenya asked.
"About how long it took us to figure it out."
Friends usually found out rather quickly if they were soulmates. A mark could be anywhere on the body, most often in places one could see. But in the event that they were hidden, those especially curious could just ask there friends to show it. Both men thought back to the times they'd even shared a bath and yet hadn't noticed. The inner thigh was a tricky area.
In addition, neither was particularly in a hurry to find their soulmate. Both believed it would happen when it was time. And both were happy with their way. It allowed them to know each other as people before soulmates. It had happened when they were sixteen. They had known each other for years, since elementary school. By high school, neither could imagine life without the other.
A lot of teens by then had been active about finding their one and only but not Satoru and Kenya. It had only become evident to them one night, during a summer festival. An accident at that. Kenya had been jostled by the crowd and tripped, falling to the ground. Satoru had reached out to help him out put froze. Kenya's yukata had risen up, showing more leg and revealing that mark.
It took Kenya a moment to realize what Satoru was staring at. "What? It's just my mark." As he said it, he realized the gravity of the situation. Satoru had never seen it before. And he had never seen Satoru's.
"Satoru, are you-"
He pulled Kenya to his feet and took him away from the crowd. In their solitude, he was able to pull up his own yukata and show him. Kenya felt an indescribable joy but kept his reaction reserved, settling for a calm smile until he looked at Satoru, who was beaming.
"You're mine", he said.
"And you're mine", Kenya answered. They hugged each other, a sigh of relief going through them both.
"It's you", Satoru breathed. "I had wanted but I...I didn't know if you wanted-"
"Satoru, I'm glad it's you", Kenya said simply.
Satoru felt his heart swell and they stood there in each other's arms for a moment, just taking everything in. Then, as if reading each other's minds but still hesitant, they leaned in for a kiss. Non-soulmates got together all the time. Kenya had been certain that if Satoru wasn't his, no one else would be right, regardless of what their mark was.
He had been preparing himself for a life of being single. Meanwhile, Satoru had been content being alone, thinking Kenya was all he needed, no matter the nature of their relationship. There was something fulfilling about realizing you were in love with your best friend. It was even better when those feelings were returned.
"What would you have done if I hadn't fallen that day?", Kenya asked, bringing Satoru's mind back to the present.
Satoru stood up from his kneeling position and sat next to him. "I don't know. We might not have ever come this far. What about you?"
"I might have asked about your mark eventually. But, I loved you before I knew we shared a mark."
"And yet you kept that to yourself for all that time."
"I didn't want to burden you with my feelings. I didn't know if you would love me back. Or if you wanted to find your real soulmate."
Satoru took Kenya's hand in his. "I got both. I think that's a pretty good deal. My friend and my lover are the same person."
Kenya leaned against him. "I agree. The best deal."
