Then I Met You

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"And then I met you, and slowly but all at once, my whole world began to change."- R.M. Broderick

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For the majority of his life, he's lived in black and white. Quite literally.

But he's fine with it because it's normal. Everybody's world is in black and white until they find their soulmate. When and only when they find their soulmate, their black and white world would fade into that of color.

For all of his nineteen years of life, Shun Kazami has been living in black and white and at this point, he's questioning if his soulmate actually exists. He doesn't worry about it too much though, since there are other important things going on in his life. Like this twenty page essay that his professor assigned about a month ago that he has yet to finish and is due next week. His best friend, Dan Kuso,however, thought otherwise.

"A world full of color is really beautiful, you know."

"Hn." Was all the younger male got in response as the older man types away on his keyboard noisily, creating loud and unnecessary clicking and clacking sounds, much to Dan's annoyance. Having quickly realized that the older male in front of him wasn't going to pay him any attention, Dan promptly slammed the laptop shut, unbothered by the fact that Shun's fingers were still on the keyboard. With a hiss, the raven-haired male slipped his fingers out of the slammed laptop and gave his best friend his signature glare. Dan tried his best to seem unfazed but the look in his eyes told a different story.

"I'm being serious, Shun." The younger ignored the snort of laughter that came out of the older and pressed on. "It's just...the world seems more alive when you find your soulmate, you know?"

"Can't say I do." Shun answered back coolly. "Well, if I had Runo as a soulmate, I'm sure that the world would indeed be more 'alive'." A quick flashback of all the times that he's seen Dan and Runo's loud bickering and how it usually ends up with Dan being slightly maimed in a some shape or form had him shuddering. The older male silently thanked whatever higher being that was up there that he wasn't destined to have Runo as a soulmate.

"Hey! Sure she's pretty...fierce but that's not the point!" Dan faltered slightly before getting back on track. "Point is, maybe you wouldn't be so grumpy if you actually saw the world in color."

"That requires me to find my soulmate. And I could search for them until the end of time, but I still wouldn't be able to see like you or Runo until I could actually find them."

"Well, maybe if you tried looking for them, there's a chance that you'll find your soulmate. Like...like Ren and Fabia! If Ren hadn't visited Bayview around the same time Fabia came here to visit, they wouldn't have found each other!" Dan pipped up excitedly.

"That was pure coincidence." The raven-haired male argued. It was remarkably ironic that Ren's home country of Gundalia and Fabia's home country of Neathia were at war with one another during that time but yet, the two enemies were soulmates. Nevertheless, it was quite eerie that if Ren and Fabia hadn't both decided to seek some refuge in Bayview two summers ago on that exact same date, they wouldn't have ever found each other and Shun wanted nothing more than to argue that it was coincidence and leave it at that. "They're just one case and you forgot the fact that there's the possibility that my soulmate could have died already."

"Well..." The brunette tried coming up for a reason, having forgotten about that possibility. "Well...maybe that is true. But don't you want to at least try? Maybe they're out there somewhere and they're waiting for you."

"Dan, there's 7 or so billion people in this world. My soulmate could be anywhere." He emphasized the last word as he flipped his laptop back open. "I really need to work on this essay or else I'll have nothing to help my grade when finals come along."

xoxo

Shun mumbled profanities under his breath as he attempted to take pictures of the writing on the signs surrounding him, hoping that the Google Translate app on his phone would have a somewhat rough translation of the foreign writing that appeared all around him. Once his trip was over, he was definitely going to kill Dan.

The day finals were over was the day that Dan shoved a plane ticket in his face.

"Finals have officially ended and summer's here! So now, you have no excuse to use that finals are keeping you away from finding your soulmate! I've saved up money from helping out at Bakugan Interspace to buy you this ticket!" The brunette beamed brightly as the raven-haired male started to study the ticket.

"You bought me a ticket to Moscow, Russia?" Shun asked, incredulously.

"Yep! I figured that your soulmate probably isn't here in Bayview or Wardington or Japan in general, so-hey! Ow! What was that for?!" Dan yelped in pain as he rubbed his forehead where Shun had just thrown a pen at him.

"You do realize that I don't speak Russian at all, right?" He seethed, gripping the ticket.

"Y-Yeah...but no matter! Love knows no language!" The younger male recovered rather quickly, which earned him another pen thrown at him.

Which explained why Shun was in this predicament. Dan had bought him a two-week trip and while Shun had every intention to immediately fly back home the first three days he landed, he felt guilty. Sure he didn't want to be in Russia where he couldn't even speak the language or somewhat basic English for that matter-he more than once cursed himself for not paying attention in his foreign language classes-but he couldn't bring it upon himself to disappoint Dan. His best friend had saved up a decently large amount of money from helping out at Bayview's largest gaming arena, Bakugan Interspace, when he could have spent the money on himself. The older male figured that he should at least humor the younger male and even if he couldn't find his soulmate, he'd make the most of it. He rather liked Russia, actually. The architecture was very fairy tale-esque and while the food was different from the food back home in Japan, it was still delicious.

He stopped in front of a gift shop whose windows were lined up with Russian dolls. He figured, as he opened the door to the shop, that he should buy at least buy some souvenirs for Dan as a small thank you for the unwanted trip. The exact moment that he was about to walk into the shop, a girl who was on her way to leave, tripped and fell onto him. The Japanese male stumbled a bit for the unexpectedness of it, but regained his balance, gripping her shoulders to prevent the both of them from falling.

"Are you all right?" Was Shun's immediate response before he internally groaned at himself. He couldn't believe it. He spoke Japanese to a Russian girl. How embarrassing was that-

"Oh, I'm so sorry for crashing int you! I'm just so clumsy!" Was the girl's immediate response as she graced him with a sheepish smile and Shun could only stare at her in awe for two reasons. Because one, she spoke Japanese and two...his world was no longer black and white.

His black and white world started to fade slowly but surely, like watercolors pressing on a canvas. His eyes widened as strange yet beautiful shades of what he could only assume were 'colors' started to replace his black and white world. It was all so new and it was all so...beautiful. Shun couldn't help but look around the shop, awestruck by the beautiful plethora of colors surrounding him and looked out of the window shop to view the streets of Moscow with new eyes. The fairy tale-esque buildings looked beautiful and vibrant. If this was how Moscow looked like in color, he could only imagine what Bayview would look like once he came back home.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the girl's eyes trained on him, looking at him worriedly, perhaps wondering if he was all right. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Are you seeing in color as well or am I the only one?"

"Oh!" The girl gasped in delight as she quickly glanced around at the new world around her, her lips parted slightly from shock and awe clearly drawn on her soft and delicate features.

"Oh." She tore her attention away from the gift shop back to Shun, where her doe eyes looked to him with innocent fascination. "Then that must mean that you're my...and I'm your..." She took a deep breath before she gave him her name.

"Alice Gehabich." She smiled warmly as she stuck her hand out.

"Shun Kazami." He took her hand, shaking it gently.

Their hands drop after their handshake was finished as Alice continued to look around the gift shop. Instead of doing the same thing, Shun found himself staring at her in awe, almost chuckling out loud at her confusion. She was staring at a grandfather clock with her head cocked adorably to the side, most likely trying to decipher what color the wood of the clock was.

"I-Could you help me?" The words left his lips before he even had a chance to stop himself.

Alice turned her attention away from the grandfather clock and back at him. "Oh, what for?"

"I...I need to buy souvenirs for my friend. He bought me a ticket here." Shun finished rather lamely. Oh God, was this how first meetings with your soulmates were supposed to go? Where they supposed to be this awkward? Where was the warm and bubbly feeling you get inside that Julie couldn't stop chattering about when she first met Billy? Then again, it was Julie that he was talking about-

His breath got caught in his lungs as large doe eyes turned into half moons and heart-shaped lips curved upwards. "Oh, of course! There are a lot of beautiful souvenirs here for your friend-" And before he knew it, Alice took him by the hand and led him further into the shop. She talked a bit about how he must buy a good amount of gifts back for Dan, considering that they wouldn't have met each other if it wasn't for him.

"Perhaps we are destined to be." Alice said shyly, the color of love painting her cheeks. It was then and there that Shun felt himself falling and he was falling hard.

Falling in love with finally seeing the world.

Falling in love with colors.

Falling in love with Alice.

He could only nod in response as he squeezed her hand a bit tighter, asking her about herself. They've got a lot to catch up on and it seems, he mused as he found himself smiling fondly at Alice giggling at something funny that he had just said, that he wouldn't mind his visit in Moscow.

The End.

Extra:

A twenty-four-year-old silver-haired male sighed in frustration as he adjusted the bothersome tie around his neck. He hated wearing business suits but what could he do? He was a business tycoon after all.

Klaus von Hertzon was currently in Moscow, Russia, for a meeting with Dr. Michael Gehabich, a scientist whose inventions fascinated him, which in turn made the Russian scientist receive some large amounts of money from the younger German male to sponsor his work. He had never seen the scientist in person before, only through photos that he's seen online as well as the few video chats that Klaus would initiate, to see how the Russian male was doing on his projects. Klaus was actually in Russia in place of his father for a business trip, but when Dr. Gehabich heard of his presence in Russia, he had insisted that the wealthy man come visit his home. The German male easily accepted.

"Here we are sir, Dr. Gehabich's home." The chauffeur announced and Klaus was grateful for his parents for forcing him to learn multiple languages. He would die from embarrassment if he didn't understand Russian and came to the country without knowing the language.

"Thank you. Please wait for me; I have a business meeting later this evening." He informed the chauffeur as he walked towards the Gehabich manor. It was certainly not a very small house like the ones he saw earlier, but its' size was much smaller than his mansion back home in Germany. He rang the doorbell and it was not very long before the door opened to reveal a young woman answer the door.

"Oh! You must be Mr. Klaus von Hertzon! Grandfather is expecting you. Please come in!" She chirped cheerfully as she opened the door a bit wider to allow Klaus to enter the house. He didn't budge at all.

His black and white world disappeared and in place, a kaleidoscope of color took its' place. He looked around his surroundings in awe, marveling about how everything was so beautiful and wondered how he had wasted his life in a mundane black and white world.

"Sir? All you all right?" The girl asked worriedly.

"Do you see it too?" He could barely make out, still in awe about the colors around him.

"I apologize, but what are you talking about?" Klaus turned to look at the female in shock, as she had a mixture of both a confused and worried look on her face.

"The beauty of the world...of color." The German male could hardly whisper out, staring intently at the female in front of him. She was his soulmate, he knew that for sure, but why hadn't she seen color as well-

She looked around their surroundings, frowning slightly. "I don't see anything, Mr. von Hertzon. The world is still in black and white for me-"

Klaus' heart felt heavy and his stomach tied itself in knots and he felt sick. His soulmate had another soulmate that wasn't him. He had always wanted to spend the rest of his life with his soulmate, whose soulmate should have been him. While it wasn't uncommon for people to share a soulmate, he didn't want that. Klaus wanted someone who he could spend the rest of his days with, someone who could know him inside and out. It seemed that Dr. Gehabich's granddaughter was his soulmate...yet she was unable to find hers yet.

"I apologize, miss, but I must be going. I have a business dinner tonight to attend and I cannot miss it. Please tell Dr. Gehabich 'thank you' for inviting me here and he shall receive more funds for his projects in the near future. Thank you and good evening." Klaus said rather hurriedly as he turned around and half-sprinted back into the limousine. He didn't stop until he reached the comfort of the cream leather seats, shaking and breathing deeply as he clutched his pain-filled heart.

"Please drive to the Moscow International Business Center. I have a business meeting there." He managed to muster out as he tried to control the tears that were threatening to stream.

"Yes, sir." The chauffeur started the engine and he was on his way. Klaus stared out the window at the beautiful colors that painted his once mundane world and let out a sad laugh. His world was now beautiful but he couldn't have the person who made it beautiful for him.

xoxo

Note: *throws confetti* (*>v<)ゞ*゜+ Whoop whoop~! This is my first ever Shurisu one-shot and I'm so happy that it managed to turn out all right! This is based on the Tumblr soulmate AU! that you might have seen everywhere: "AU where everything is black and white until you meet your soulmate" and I've been thinking about it for such a long time that this was the end result of it! For those of you who are KlausxAlice shippers, I apologize for the bittersweet extra that I added! That extra wasn't a part of the main plot of the story, but it could be if you really wanted it to. The extra took place long before Shun and Alice met each other, hence why Alice couldn't see in color but Klaus could. I wanted to write a scenario where the possibility of your soulmate having a soulmate that wasn't you sort of thing happened and I don't know why, but I chose Klaus. If you want, you could imagine that it was Lync in the scenario instead of Klaus! Please review your thoughts and I might see you in my future one-shots! Bye~!