a/n: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ don't let my usual complete romantic apathy fool you- i'm always down for a soulmate au. also, if you can guess what the title's from, i love you. unbeta'd.
It all started when Mika asked her if he could bring a friend the next time they went out to lunch.
"Come on, Yuu!" he said. "It'll be fun. Though, I can't figure out if you two are going to be arguing the whole time or making out."
"But Mika, Sunday brunch is our thing!" said Yuu, completely aware of the fact that she was whining. "It's the only time we have to catch up on everything, and you want to bring someone else in?"
"I'm telling you, it'll be fun," said Mika. "Just come prepared to talk, okay?"
He hung up before she could answer him. Sighing, Yuu put down her phone, knowing that she should have expected something like this sooner rather than later. Ever since Mika had met his soulmate two months ago, he had been subtly pushing her out the door of her tiny apartment and into the various bars and nightclubs that littered the shadier part of their town. She knew that for most of their lives, he'd been basically ignoring the words curling around her left bicep (whoever thought it was a good idea to immediately say 'What the fuck, you dumbshit?' to anyone had the worst sense of humor), but since he found love, it seemed like he automatically thought everybody else needed to find it too.
What a dumbass, thought Yuu. Like I'd want someone who says that the first time they see me anyway.
Nevertheless, she sighed again and pulled out her clothes for brunch the next day. She wasn't going to let some stranger get in the way of her time with her best friend.
The minute Yuu woke up, she knew it was going to be a bad day.
There was no hot water for her shower. Her coffee machine broke. The second she stepped outside to grab her newspaper, it had started to rain, and her cat had decided to steal her skirt and hide underneath her dresser.
"Come on, Asuramaru, I need that," she said, reaching for him and wincing when she felt him claw her hand. "You're an asshole, you know that?"
He just hissed angrily. Sometimes, she wondered how she ended up stuck with him, and how Mika got Asuramaru's much nicer sister, Krul. (Though Krul also had her asshole cat moments.)
"God fucking dammit, Asuramaru!" she snapped at him. "Why are you such a dick? Now I'm going to be late!"
Yuu looked under her dresser one more time, shining a flashlight on Asuramaru. The only thing she could see was the cat, sitting on her skirt with what looked like a tiny, tiny smirk on his face.
Yuu was, in fact, late for brunch with Mika. Luckily for her, it looked like he and his friend were also running late, so she walked up to the counter and ordered her usual sandwich and coffee. She stepped back for a minute, observing the rest of the people inside- there in the corner was a couple, around her age, and they were feeding each other bites of some kind of pastry, but she couldn't tell what exactly it was. In the other corner, there was an older man, staring down at his phone and reading something. Scattered around the other tables were some people looking like they were nursing hangovers, and others who looked like they'd just walked out of church.
I wonder what that guy's thinking, she thought as she tried to make it look like she wasn't watching a man in a bright green suit do a crossword. She kept watching him when she heard her name called, only vaguely heard the bell jingling as the door opened as she carefully picked up her coffee, trying to balance it out with her sandwich in her other hand. She only stopped watching the man in the green suit when she turned and smacked right into the person behind her, spilling her coffee all over his shirt.
"What the fuck, you dumbshit?" he snapped at her, reaching around her to grab some napkins from the counter.
Yuu didn't even pause before replying, "Maybe you shouldn't have stood right behind me, you absolute nut!"
They both froze and stared at each other for a full minute. While they just took each other in, Mika walked up and grabbed the guy by the shoulder, saying "Hey man, what's up? I see you met Yuu."
The man completely ignored Mika and instead pointed at Yuu, saying, "You...you said…"
"And you said mine," said Yuu. She couldn't believe this.
Mika immediately figured out what had happened, and he beamed like he'd just won a million dollars. Grabbing Yuu's now-coffeeless hand, he led both her and the man away to a table outside. Glancing behind her, Yuu could see that everyone in the shop, man in the green suit included, was looking at them and hiding smiles. Meeting one's soulmate was a big deal, after all, and most people absolutely loved to witness it- it was supposed to be good luck for them, or something like that. Yuu was never one for superstition, though, so she'd never believed it.
Once they were outside, Mika turned them both to face each other. "Yuu, this is Shinoa, the friend I told you about. Shinoa, this is Yuu."
"Nice to meet you," said Yuu absently. She was too busy staring at her soulmate (and if that wasn't the strangest thing to happen to her today, she'd eat her hat). He had purpleish hair cut short, and was only about a centimeter or two taller than her. His face gave Yuu the feeling that he spent most of his time making fun of other people, which was immediately confirmed by the next thing that came out of his mouth:
"I would say the same, but well, it really looks like you're not that interested in talking. You like what you see?" he said. Now, she could hear his smirk as well as see it.
"What? No! No, I was just staring at you because you look so, uh, stupid!" Yuu said quickly. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she could feel her face getting hotter.
"Right," he said, drawing the word out.
"Okay, well, now that you've met, I'm just going to go now," said Mika, already backing away. "I've got a date with Mitsuba! Yuu, we'll catch up next week. Remember, safe sex is the best sex!"
He ran off, not waiting to hear Yuu shout "What the hell, man?" after him. Yuu buried her face in her hands; she knew that at this point she had to be tomato-red and practically glowing. "Dammit, Mika, I don't even know this guy yet," she muttered.
"So now that this is sufficiently awkward, do you want to come back to my place so we can, you know, get to know each other a bit?"
"What?" said Yuu, incredulous.
"Not like that, unless you want to," said Shinoa with a slight leer. "Wow, you really are a cherry girl, aren't you? I didn't really believe Mika when he said that, but now…" Ignoring Yuu's sputtering, he continued, "But I really do need to grab another shirt, since you kind of ruined this one."
"Oh crap, right," said Yuu, feeling like she was about to die of embarrassment any second. Mika was the worst bro ever. "I'm sorry about that. Sure, I'll come with. Promise you're not secretly a serial killer or something? Mika'll definitely hunt you down if I vanish and he doesn't get details about all this tomorrow."
"Promise," said Shinoa, smiling a bit more genuinely. "Come on, let's go." He took her hand and led her down the street, squeezing it gently. Yuu felt the beginnings of butterflies in her stomach, and turned away slightly, so he wouldn't see the tiny smile on her face.
Maybe today wasn't such a bad day after all.
hope you liked it! hmu on tumblr at purple-dragon, requests are always open!