Don't forget to read the little short at the end of the story to see how Tsuna and his mother found out what color he couldn't see properly! Enjoy!
Tsuna had beautiful, brown eyes. They were light and cheerful, just as his mothers were. These same eyes caused Tsuna to pity his soulmate (if they even existed). There were so many brown things in the world- dirt, wood, people- and he was causing his soulmate to miss all of it.
Oh well.
His soulmate was causing him to miss quite a few things as well. Such as the night sky. When he was back in highschool, now in college, he and his mother would often stargaze. However it was always a bit harder for Tsuna to make out exactly where the stars were. The sky, instead of being very dark ("Similar to navy blue." His mother had described), it was a seemingly ghostly shade of gray. As were many people's phones, bags, even the text in books and online were hard to make out. He couldn't even see his friend Takeshi's hair!
Tsuna sighed. It was Saturday morning and he was getting some studying done before his class in a few hours. He was trying to focus, but every now and then his thoughts would wander back to his soulmate. He was 23 now and a study revealed that the average age a person would find their soulmate was 19. He tried not to think about it too much on his 20th birthday but he couldn't help being bothered.
Even more so when his soulmate hid from him for another 3 years. So, now 23, he was a bit convinced that his soulmate was non-existent. The only thing still giving him even the slightest amount of hope was his desire to see what the hell the color "black" looked like! He'd often see some people clad in what he knew as the "strange pale color" and wonder what was so attracting about it.
Tsuna sighed once more.
"Ugh, I lost focus again…" He mumbled to himself. Tsuna then decided that since his mind was going to absolutely refuse to concentrate, he might as well go visit the new café "Taste the Rainbow" that had just recently opened on his campus.
Reborn had black eyes. The kind of black eyes that were often mistaken for black holes on earth. The kind that people avoided eye contact with. The kind of eyes that sent slow but steady and creepy shivers up and down people's spines as they felt themselves be pulled into those dark pits that could only foretell of tragic events and nothing good. Reborn considered his eyes one of the best things about him, ironically.
His eyes kept those who were yet to find their soulmates but were still desperate for love (and everyone else really) at bay. His roommate, Colonello, had said "If you keep glaring at everything like that, your soulmate is going to see you and avoid you like the plague, kora!"
He honestly wouldn't have believed all this mumbo-jumbo about soulmates if it wasn't for his inability to see the color "brown." When he was younger he completely denied the existence of "brown" and firmly believed that the color brown and gray were the same- just different names between them.
However, when he met his first teacher in highschool (who looked to Reborn as a gray skinned person) he had been forced to come to terms with the fact that his soulmate had brown eyes.
Today, in the life of Reborn, featured an early Saturday morning class that Reborn wished he'd signed up to have later in the day. He slowly tapped his pen against his thigh as the professor began to casually wrap up the lesson.
"And that is why, students, we-" The old woman voiced, now stopping as she realized it was a mere minute past the end of class and the young adults were already engaged in full packing-up-at-the-end-of-class-mode.
"Well," she smiled, nodding slowly in all directions. "I'll see you bunch Monday. Enjoy your weekends and study hard." Her gentle goodbye fell on deaf ears, except for Reborn of course.
He said his farewell in return to her own, and exited the lecture hall. Unlike the other students who were busy rushing around to get to their next classes or eat and then get to their next class, Reborn had nowhere in particular to be at the moment.
Maybe he'd go for a casual stroll in the rather isolated gardens that led out to a more city-like area. He'd heard of a new café opening around there.
Tsuna rushed along the brick pathway leading to Taste the Rainbow. He hadn't expected rain to start pouring down in a most unforgiving manner. Luckily, Tsuna was close enough to the building that he would be out of the horrid weather soon.
He grasped the metal pull door's handle and entered the shop- allowing the smell of everything from cold sandwiches to hot and freshly brewed coffee to embrace him.
Reborn cursed multiple times under his breath. He knew that when he did a random (1)triple-take towards his umbrella that it was a sign. No use complaining about it now. He was too deep in the garden for turning back now to be reasonable. He was closer to the café than he was to his dorm, and besides, he had his fedora to cover his head for now.
A lightning strike flashed through the sky momentarily.
Reborn walked a bit faster.
"So unexpected, desu~!" Haru exclaimed, her eyes darting around the scene outside the window, witnessing the umbrellas on the exterior patio tables fly around wildly.
"That's what I said…" Tsuna whispered more to himself than anyone else. "Ah," he turned back to Haru and she did the same towards him, smiling. "I'm ready to order now."
"Well then," Haru grabbed a blue pen from behind her ear and snatched a small notepad from her rainbow themed apron. "What will it be? And don't forget about your friend-of-an-employee discount!"
Tsuna chuckled and then glanced back at the cutesy, mini menu laid out in front of him. "I'll take a slice of the…"
Ring, ring. A small chime sounded through the café, a waitress calling a greeting to him from a booth where a lone guest with upwards facing hair sat. It appeared to be a boy with brown hair.
Noticing the "please sit yourself" sign, Reborn choose a two person table. With his back facing the brown haired boy, he heard the waitress call to him "Just a moment, sir!" and used his hand to show acknowledgement. Reborn looked over the menu that was already provided. The bold COFFEE section caught his eye and he began skimming over it.
"...and a glazed doughnut with sprinkles."
"Mhm," Haru hastily wrote down the boy's extended order. "Hungry aren't we?"
Tsuna shrugged. "Rain makes me that way."
"Okie dokie, I'll have that right out to you soon desu~! And with your discount applied that'll be 10.50!" Haru chirped out happily, feeling glad whenever one of her friends stopped by.
"Okay, thank you." Tsuna smiled gratefully, giving his waitress exact change after digging in his pockets a bit.
Haru bounced away and headed towards her other new customer, passing by and asking "How are you doing over here?" to previously served people.
"...and a plain cake doughnut." Reborn added impulsively, having seen it last minute and deciding that it sounded good.
"Okay, desu~!" Haru wrote down the short order of a coffee and a doughnut, then put her trusty pen back behind her ear. "Your total is 6.43. That'll be done in just a-"
Haru stopped speaking. The man she was serving had the blackest eyes she'd ever seen. Not to mention how long Haru had been working in service, so she had seen a lot of eyes.
He seemed to know that Haru had been caught by surprise by the menacing color of his eyes and let a small smirk break through.
"Thank you, that'll be all." The man nodded his head towards Haru in a dismissive way as he handed her a little more money than required. "Please, keep the change."
Haru only absent-mindedly nodded and left the table in a rush. After handing the orders to the kitchen staff, Haru hurried back to Tsuna. You see, Haru had been told by all of her friends, Tsuna included, what colors they couldn't see and in return she would often inform people of what eye colors she came across. True, the only time that the stranger was actually her friend's soulmate was in the case of Hayato Gokudera and Yamamoto Takeshi, but that's a different story.
Tsuna looked through previous text message conversations, having been bored during his wait for his pastries. He would've texted Hayato or Takeshi but they were both in class right now and he didn't want to distract them.
"Tsuna, Tsuna, Tsuna!" Haru "fast-walked" over to where her friend was seated, slightly flailing her arms about.
"Yes…?" The brunette looked at her in a confused manner, head tilted and one eyebrow raised up.
"That guy over there-" Haru took a deep gulp of air, catching her breath a bit. "-he has black eyes!"
Tsuna's eyes widened for a second, but the surprise in his eyes was quickly replaced with disbelief.
"Like the old lady at the convenience store 2 weeks ago? Or like the middle school boy with bull horns at the playground you saw?" Tsuna complained, internally cringing when he heard the unintentional bite in his words.
If Haru was offended, she didn't show it. Instead she playfully rolled her eyes and waved her hand nonchalantly. "Minor mistakes, minor mistakes desu~! I have a feeling about this one, like when Goku-kun met Yamamoto-san!" Haru's eyes sparkled with interest.
"Haru-"
"Hard Joe and a Plain-Sweet-Sally, ready to go!" A chef called from behind the counter to Haru.
"Oh! His order is ready! I'll slip him your number- or maybe your address- or I'll just tell him to come over here and eat, er, meet you! I'll decide on the way there desu~!" Haru fled away with a wink and blew a kiss.
"Don't do any of those! Please, Haru! Haru! *sigh* Haruuu…" Tsuna cried to no avail.
Reborn's order came rather quickly, as it should've since it was so simple. That he expected. What he hadn't expected was to find a number written on his coffee's cup. The waitress had seemed very immersed in her conversation with her other customer. However, Reborn had looked into her eyes directly and nothing had changed so it couldn't be meant to be.
Maybe he'd humor her.
R-(So I guess you don't believe in the whole "soulmate thing", do you?)He texted the number, biting into his doughnut and accompanying it with a sip of coffee.
The reply was given quickly.
T- (I'M SO SORRY THAT SHE GAVE YOU MY NUMBER SHE'S BEING REALLY ANNOYING!(2)OTL) was the text message that came back from the number.
Confused, Reborn turned around, only to see the waitress placing many plates of sweets on the brown haired boy's table as he visually sulked and verbally scolded her.
"How could you Haru!" and "Don't worry Tsuna, jeez desu~…" were the only pieces of their conversation that Reborn could pick up. He'd been forced to come to the conclusion that the waitress, "Haru" as the one known as "Tsuna" kept addressing her as, had been trying to set him up with Tsuna to see if they were soulmates. Reborn began facing forward once again and wondered if this "Haru" did this sort of thing very often. Honestly, if it ever worked at all it had to only be a 1/10 or maybe, just maybe 2/10 chance.
Smirking, Reborn decided to humor the boy instead.
R- (So it seems you're interested in me, or at least your friend thinks you are.)
Reborn heard a small "Hieeeee" sound from behind him and assumed that it was Tsuna.
T- (I'm really sorry sir OTL. She thinks that we could be…soulmates (3)#*_*#)
R-(Who knows? We could be.)
T-(Well, what color can you not see? I can't see the color that everyone knows as "black.")
Reborn shivered a bit as he noticed the odd sense of relief and calmness that had washed over him. When had that happened?
"Brown." The next text simply said. Tsuna put down his phone temporarily so he could properly indulge in the pastries that he'd ordered. He tried not to stare at the man's back, as sometimes people could feel that sort of thing.
A part of him hoped that this man wasn't his soulmate. Tsuna hadn't exactly put on any sort of fancy attire, maybe not even casual. He threw on whatever was closest, which just happened to be sweatpants and a shirt that he wore yesterday and was yet to wash. Meanwhile, the man he was texting was wearing a sharp, black (he assumed it was black as he couldn't make out the color) suit with a matching fedora.
He looked sloppy in comparison! Wait, Tsuna thought. I still haven't asked his name…or given mine.
T- (Btw, my name is Tsunayoshi Sawada but I prefer to just be called Tsuna. What is your name?)
The reply was a bit delayed and Tsuna used that time to eat more of his food.
R- (Reborn, and I prefer to be called Reborn.)
Tsuna chuckled a little bit at the joke Reborn made.
T- (Don't you have a last name?)
R- (I wasn't kidding, I prefer to be called just "Reborn.")
T- (Oh, ok.)
There was another pause, except this one was awkward, unlike the one before.
T- (So what color are your eyes? Mine are brown.)
R- (They're black.)
T- (Haha, that's funny! xD)
R- (How so?)
T- (Because my friend, the waitress "Haru", said that we could be soulmates and our eye colors and the colors that we can't see line up with one another.)
R- (Hmph, I guess they do.)
T- (So…do you want to like, um, find out if we're soulmates or not?)
R- (And if we're not?)
T- (Well, what would you consider us to be right now?)
R- (Acquaintances.)
T- (Whether we're soulmates or not doesn't really matter since either way we'd have to build off of the relationship that we have with each other right now if we wanted to become closer, which you have said is "Acquaintances".)
R- (Whoever said that I wanted to become closer?)
T- (Er, well…)
R- (I'm teasing, so if we're not soulmates, friends-with-benefits it is?)
T- (THAT'S NOT THE KIND OF CLOSER THAT I MEANT!)
R- (Again, I'm teasing. Now are you done with your massive amount of baked goods?)
T- (Don't judge me, I need this energy for my classes later.)
T- (And yes I am. Time to look into your eyes and either feel the world change around me or feel nothing ;) )
R- (Such kind words.)
Just as Tsuna stood up, the storm decided to give the little café a nice "Fuck you" and the lights flickered for a moment before shutting off completely.
Reborn heard everyone in the store groan, but he himself kept quiet and was only a bit peeved. He nearly jumped, not quite but nearly, as a small form bumped straight into him before flailing and falling onto the ground.
"Oww…" The form complained and Reborn recognized the voice as Tsuna. "R-Reborn?" Tsuna called out looking around but not seeing anyone.
Reborn, knowing that his suit was causing him to blend in with the store's darkness, took one of Tsuna's hands and used it to lift him off the ground, ignoring the small "Hieeee."
Reborn held Tsuna's hand above his shoulder and looked deeply into the brunette's eyes. However, he couldn't see the iris, only the (4)sclera. Damn, I can't see the important part. Reborn complained mentally.
Reborn took a step backwards, about to let go of the boy's hand but he instead accidentally griped it tighter as he fell backwards having slipped on an overlooked napkin on the ground.
Tsuna suddenly fell forward and landed on top of Reborn, nearly straddling the man.
"S-S-Sorry!" The brunette repeated over and over again, whilst covering his blushing red face. However Tsuna forgot to make an actual effort to move off of Reborn.
Suddenly, the café's lights hummed with life as they flickered a bit before clicking back on.
There were many sighs and other expressions of relief but the one sound that Tsuna could clearly make out was a certain nosey brunette girl's giggle.
"Well Tsuna, I wanted you to meet him but it seems you went above and beyond."
"HIIIIIEEEE! S-Shut up Haru! Why do you always have to-"
"Um," A deep voice spoke from beneath Tsuna, who blushed because he could feel the vibration. "Can you get off of me now?"
"Oh my god, I'm so so sorr-" Tsuna turned to face and get off of Reborn, but for just a second, it felt like everything had paused.
Tsuna made direct eye contact with the man beneath him and he felt a strange wave of relief, ecstasy, and calm pour over him. Reborn's fedora and suit faded away from the pale gray color to something akin to a dark, empty void. But the thing that really took Tsuna's breath away were his (now, obviously) soulmate's eyes. His pupils and irises seemed to collide into one, leaving only black ovals surrounded by white.
Tsuna stared deeply into the new color that had introduced itself to him, and he fell in love.
Reborn was…surprised. The boy in front of him, Tsuna, seemed very unaware of the good his eyes were doing for him. His eyes were just, something else really. They were a new color for him. They were warm and were practically inviting him in for a hug. His black pupils helped make the color pop out more noticeably as well. The boy's hair was also a similar color, although looking a lot more fluffy. But the color of his eyes and hair brought together his whole face and made it, well, beautiful.
Tsuna stood up and inched backwards away from Reborn, who was now standing as well.
"U-Um, I, well," Tsuna sighed, his face dropping to a pout then back up to a nervous smile. "Hi."
"I don't believe I've properly introduced myself." Reborn smirked, a bit enjoying the brunette's nervousness. He took off his hat and placed it over his heart, taking a small bow towards his soulmate. "My name is Reborn, and I believe you're my soulmate."
Tsuna blushed, "S-Sawada Tsunayoshi…" Tsuna said, just above a mumble. "Nice to meet you."
(1)- When you do a "triple take" you look at something three times in a row!
(2)- "OTL" Looks like a stick figure kneeling/bowing and in the scene Tsuna is apologizing so he does a kneeling emoticon as well...
(3)- "#*_*#" is a blushing emoticon!
(4)- The "sclera" of the eye = the white of your eye.
Extra
"Tsu-kun!" A young, brunette mother called from the floor to her child who was sleeping on a nearby couch.
"Mm.." The little boy tossed and turned away from the voice before slowly opening his large, brown eyes. "M-mama.." The boy sat up and lazily wiped his eyes, whilst yawning.
"Tsu-kun, do you want to play a game with me?" Nana, the mother, offered. Her eyes lit up in joy when the boy gasped loudly and nodded his head up and down very quickly.
Tsuna crawled down off of the couch and walked over into his mom's lap, as she was sitting with her legs crossed which left the perfect spot for him. In front of the two Sawadas were blocks of every color- yellow, blue, green, red, purple, etc.
"Here's how you play," Nana reached over her son a bit and grabbed the blue block, briefly staring at it lovingly as it's color reminded her of her dear Iemitsu's eyes. "Just name the color of each block that Mama picks up, okay?"
"Ok!" Tsuna beamed, getting excited to show his mother how smart he was.
"Then let's start with the one I'm holding right now." Nana smiled and put the block directly in the boy's line of sight.
"Blue!" He exclaimed proudly, giggling afterwards because he knew he got the answer right.
"That's right honey, this is a blue block!" Nana said, a little disappointed because she thought it would be cute if she and Tsuna both had blue-eyed soulmates.
And so the game continued smoothly, with the only problem being Tsuna's struggles to pronounce some words. It came down to a white, gray, and black block.
Unless his soulmate's eyes are some other kind of color combination, it has to be one of these. Nana thought with an unusually serious look on her face. She didn't play around when it came to her son's future love life.
"Tsu-kun, now I want you to say the names of the colors of these last three blocks and then you'll have won the game!" Nana said cheerfully, encouraging the boy to continue. The order that he should say is white, gray, and then black.Nana thought.
"Yay! Yay! Tsu-kun will win for Mama!" Tsuna put on a determined face and took in a deep breath before shouting- "WHITE, GRAY, GRAY!" Immediately after shouting the colors, Tsuna jumped up out of his mother's lap and began yelling "I win I win I win!" over and over again.
Nana's eyes darted from her shouting son to the 3 blocks and back and forth again. "W-Wait Tsu-kun! Please, can you say those colors again? In that same order?"
Tsuna stopped jumping around and calmly walked over to the blocks. "White...gray...gray?" Tsuna's eyes began to get teary as he cried out "D-Did Tsu-kun get it wrong? D-Did Tsu-kun lose?" The boy began bawling.
Nana hopped out and cradled the boy in her arms, shushing his cries. "No, no, you didn't lose at all. You won! You really won!"
Tsuna's cries slowed to a sad sniffle. "I-I did?"
"Yes," Nana kissed Tsuna's forehead before reaching behind her and grabbing the black block that Tsuna saw as gray. "This color, you must remember what I'm saying right now Tsunayoshi," Now Nana really had Tsuna's attention. She only called him by his full given name when she was serious. "The color of this block is called "Black." I know it looks just like the color gray and in your case, a lot of things will. But someone who is destined to be very important to you will have eyes that are, well at first, this color." Nana smiled, happy that she could so properly yet simply explain how soulmates worked to her young boy.
Tsuna stared long and hard at the block in his mother's hand before something clicked in his head. He titled his head a little bit to the side before giving his mother a goofy, lopsided grin. "Okay, I got it."
In hindsight I probably should have placed that short before the story- but whatever! I hope you enjoyed! 3