Kouki was pissed.

He was pissed and just wanted to be left alone. But people didn't seem to get the memo, not even with his huge headphones leaking out a loud heavy metal music with a lot of guitars and loud drums. They kept on bugging him, asking to borrow his laptop charger and borrowing his card cause this cafe offered a nice discount for members (they paid him with the same amount of money, but still. He just wanted to be left alone).

Well, maybe sitting in the middle of the cafe wasn't such a bright idea to be left alone. Especially for someone who was clearly too polite to say no, even in the middle of his wildest fury.

Furious Furi. Ha. That's some dry humor that certain someone can appreciate if he cared enough to type without abusing the caps lock.

Kouki decided to save that for later and continued to furiously click on his mouse as if someone on the other side of the net is insulting his mother.

Heck, it would be easier if someone did. Then all of his anger could be channeled to the right place so that he wouldn't have to feel guilty after he got his head cleared afterward.

But the universe was hardly kind to him. Well, not really.

He had been having this ache in his chest for a while now. A seriously annoying feeling that he couldn't get away from. It would be a whole lot easier if it comes from an external source, like an insult, or someone spilling hot coffee over him, or someone borrowing charger and not giving it back. But none of that was happening. Everything went smoothly, and both he and his mother was spared from any insult. Heck, he couldn't even blame it on the weather. The sun as shining brightly with a cool breeze that was perfect for his liking.

It's horrible because the pain came from somewhere in his chest, originating from the pain felt by his soulmate.

Now, if said soulmate would kindly show themselves in front of him and cry, it would really be wonderful. Kouki can do something to make them feel better, thus relieving him from his own pain. But no, of course, that's not the case. His soulmate was still a mystery up until now, someone unknown to him. It's such a shitty world that you have to bear something you have no control over. All you can do is going through it, until whoever your soulmate is calmed down by themselves.

Until then, it's a storm of rage for Kouki, a horrifying feeling that he cannot release out of spite cause duh, that's crazy to be furious over nothing. And yet, he couldn't soothe that feeling cause he didn't have access to its source.

But it's not entirely true, or so legend said. The strong emotion can only be experienced by someone when they had learned their soulmate's full name, consciously or not. Which, not helping at all. Being in the library committee, Kouki had learned at least 200 names, not including ones he flashed in the newspaper that he had to stack every evening. And don't even start on his basketball team. He had learned at least one hundred names of their opponent. As a newly appointed captain, he had to learn his rival team's members after all, including their full name.

Oh, and don't forget his junior high and elementary school's friends name.

How the heck should he know which one of those five hundred people are currently angry right now? And let's take roughly ten percent of those people who might be angry now. How exactly could he calm down at least fifty people that he didn't even close to begin with?

"Could be one of your Facebook friends," Kuroko had mentioned that in his last episode of fury. Ha. that could be his other name. Furi is when he was calm, Fury is when he experienced this kind of soulmate shit. "You heard what people say. The more you read their name, the stronger their affection will affect you."

"Why does it happen only to me?" Kouki remembered whining. "Why it doesn't happen to you? You and Kagami had met. Surely you feel each other's emotion so strongly now right?"

"It doesn't happen that way," the blue-haired boy spoke. "When you've found each other, it's becoming… less agitating. Instead of filling the other with anger, it's the other way around. The presence of other was surprisingly soothing. Somehow it makes you calmer."

"Even if you're the source of their anger?"

" Especially when you're the source of their anger," Kuroko said. "Maybe that's why it's called soulmate. No matter how much you irritate each other, you're also the best way to calm them down. It's like gravity. You would try to defy it every once in a while but you kept being pulled to the other and not in an unpleasant way. That's the beauty of this whole soulmate ordeal, I think. It feels perfect."

Yeah, of course. It's beautiful and perfect . And it's all sun and rainbow except when you're feeling furious over something you don't know, and you're being miserable all alone because you don't know who your soulmate is.

Fate is only beautiful to those who can find their mate. For the lone-chihuahua like Kouki, well, it's pretty much cruel and unforgiving.

That's why Kouki was here, in the middle of the crowded cafe, scrolling through his Facebook feed to see someone who's angry enough to cause this feeling to him.

He could only hope that like many other things, Kuroko was right about this too.

Kouki stopped when he saw one of his childhood friend, Suzuka, was writing an angry status. All caps lock and some angry emojis. Well, that qualifies as furious. Kouki was about to type a reply to soothe her anger when another reply popped up before he even clicks send . It's from a boy he didn't know. Apparently, it's her soulmate.

Well, darn .

He went to scroll his Facebook once again, only to find another angry status from Aida Riko. he flinched when thinking about the opportunity. But well, now he thinks of it, Coach was always angry. It's like she used facebook for dumping her rants. And besides, it's her PMS schedule of the month. Hyuuga-senpai always made sure everyone knows so that they didn't take whatever harsh words coming out of her personally.

Hyuuga-senpai. Yeah, now that sounds more soulmate-ish.

Kouki kept scrolling on and on and on until he found another angry status in between Mitobe-senpai's photo posts about his family vacation, and Tsuchida-senpai's dating photo with his girlfriend (soulmate?). However, upon seeing the name, he gulped.

Kasamatsu Yukio?

Well, that's a probability. Kasamatsu-senpai was almost consistently furious. Besides, his status was now in full caps lock, with a nice mix of angry words and curses. That ought to be enough to trigger this furious feeling in Kouki's chest. Besides, it's not like the soulmate thing only works in traditional couple. It happened to Kuroko and Kagami, and to Midorima and Takao too.

But that guy though?

Kouki was about to type a reply, trying to soothe his anger when he caught the comment section was already filled with Kise's rant, that was decorated with a lot of poo and crying emojis. How the model could make a line of words look loud and whiny was beyond Kouki.

And surprisingly, Kasamatsu looked a lot calmer in his next replies, showing something that made Kouki exhales in relief.

Phew! Thank Heavens it's not him. Not that Kouki could refuse if it happened, but he was so grateful that he didn't have to spend his entire life around Kasamatsu. He's too scary.

The anger in his chest didn't cease. If anything, it grew impossibly worse that Kouki decided to slam his laptop shut, stuffing it into his bag, and left the cafe. It didn't help being in the crowd. He couldn't find someone angry enough to cause this feeling, and yet he couldn't release it. He might as well go to the arcade just to hit something to channel his anger. Maybe the boxing game, or the shooting game. Whatever works, really.

Kouki halted his steps when he saw a fancy black car on his way to the arcade. It was leaning in an awkward position, with the left part of the car was definitely way too low and too close to the pedestrian path.

An accident?

Now, he might be too furious to actually care, but just like the laptop charger and the cafe card case, he was too polite to ignore someone who needed his help. Kouki sighed, cursing his mother's gentleness that was sure he inherited in his DNA as he rushed to the car, trying to help. But upon closing into the scene, he could see a familiar redhead standing near the poor-fated car, one hand on his own hip while the other was raised to his ear, apparently trying to call someone.

When Kouki stopped and realized who that person might be, it was already too late for him to turn back. A pair of red eyes was spotting him, making him froze on the spot.

"Seirin's number twelve?"

That made the already furious Kouki even angrier. But he decided to ignore it. "Akashi-san?"

A moment of silence before they both spoke in unison. "What are you doing here?"

Kouki was the first to answer the question. "Well, what do you think? This is where I live," he said, a little bit too furious to be polite. Kouki couldn't help but flinch a little. Furious Furi or not, it's Akashi Seijuurou in front of him. A mighty, scary high schooler that was sure could be a Yakuza lieutenant if he chose that path in life. "W… What are you doing here?"

"Business matters, none of yours," he said sharply, looking as angry even though his face was in every manner of calm. His eyes, however, was in every manner of anger. "The new driver doesn't seem to be able to manage the vehicle in the small street like this. As you can see, he hit the fence and it's so bloody hard to reach a towing company hotline at a time like this."

Kouki snorted at that. "Even though you're an Akashi?" he said, mouth being faster than his brain.

Oh, shit.

A pair of red eyes were now completely looked murderous, glaring at Kouki in a way that made Kouki convinced that Akashi could actually burn him alive with some kind of heat vision.

But no, as crazy as the world he lives in, there was no such thing, and Kouki was too furious to feel afraid right now. Akashi Seijuurou or not, he wouldn't back down just because Akashi couldn't take some harmless joke.

Kouki was ready to retort back, before seeing a suitcase near Akashi's feet. A fancy one like those businessman use, at that. There was also a little bit of eye bags under his furious gaze, making Kouki somehow convinced that Akashi was in a hurry.

He shook his head. What did he care? He was angry!

Wait, he cared. And no, he wasn't too angry anymore. Seeing Akashi like this made him a little bit sad, even. All of the burning rage he previously suffered was now reduced to a tamer feeling.

"Are you in a hurry?" He asked.

Akashi raised his eyebrows, not expecting such thing. "Well…"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

Akashi mentioned something about the famous building in the heart of the city, making Kouki sigh. Of course he would go there. It's not that there are other building that was as fancy and as tall as that one.

"If you're in such a hurry, why don't you take the train instead?" Kouki asked. "It's faster than waiting for the tow car to come."

"I didn't know this area," he said. "I could get lost."

"I could show you the way," Kouki said, not knowing why would he help this absolute guy. But he acted against his better judgment. It's good manner to help someone who's in need, is it?

Those reasons seem dull, even for his own thoughts.

Akashi seemed to weigh down his options for a while, before finally glancing at his wristwatch once again and sighed. "Fine," he said. "Show me the way."

They walked side by side, in a hurried manner that soon left Kouki out of breath. But Akashi seemed okay, and he somehow felt okay too. So he kept going and want to the nearest station to take the train to the building.

The train ride was quiet and short, but in such a short time, Kouki realized that he wasn't angry anymore. Hey, that's good news. He's so glad that whoever was on the other end of his fate was finally managed to get themselves together. They probably had found the solution to whatever caused them mad. But there's just one this strange thing… he couldn't find the empty feeling he usually had whenever he experienced such strong emotion.

Kouki thought that it might be just him being distracted, but the more he tried to find the anger left in his heart, the more he was covered in a calm feeling. Like finally the world made sense and he had a way out of whatever trouble he had before.

Covered in calm feeling .

Kouki turned to Akashi, who was standing in a relaxed position and looking very out of place aboard this train with his expensive suits and all. He was typing on his phone, but none of his previous irritation seemed to stay in his eyes.

Kouki furrowed his eyebrows. Oh no, no way. It might be just his wishful thinking.

Out of curiosity, Kouki flicked Akashi's ear, making the other boy shot a look at him. However, his anger was losing its bite.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Just curious," he said. "Anyway, you don't remember my name, don't you?"

Akashi blinked for a moment. "You're Furihata… right?"

"Furihata Kouki, yes," he said as he gave out his hand. "Nice to meet you again, Akashi Seijuurou."

Akashi furrowed his forehead, but he accepted the other's hand anyway. "Nice to meet you, Furihata Kouki."

And at that exact moment, even though it's perfectly bright outside, Kouki seemed to feel some kind of thunder flashing, along with a strange calm feeling filling his heart in a way that was confusing, but not unpleasant. In fact, it was the opposite of unpleasant. It was comforting and reassuring, like every problem in the world wouldn't matter anymore for Kouki, for he will always have a perfect solution, or at least have the strength to let them pass without him falling to the ground in pain. But if only Kouki stayed with this guy.

His soulmate?

Akashi seemed to freeze, too. His eyes were showing gentleness that Kouki never thought possible. The redhead seemed to pick himself up faster, for he smiled to Kouki in a manner that he never thought he would see.

It was so beautiful that Kouki believed that he could see it for the rest of his life and he would never get bored.

Kouki didn't know how long had they been shaking hands, and it was probably bordering freaky. But he didn't care because of that feeling… it was so worth every unexplainable anger he felt before.

When they finally arrived at their stop, Kouki released the other's hand. "It's our stop," he said, after clearing his throat. "Let's go."

They walked side by side out of the station, to the building that was Akashi's destination. Occasionally, their hand was brushing against each other. Sometimes Kouki did it on purpose, and he was sure that Akashi was also brushing his hand on purpose. You can't really trace someone's palm with your index finger by accident now, would you?

As soon as they arrived at the building, Akashi turned his eyes back to Kouki's, offering a smile that was so bright that it made Kouki's heart flutter. So this is what it felt like, to have found a soulmate.

"Hey, after this, would you go somewhere to play streetball in the park behind the building?"

"I'll lose," Kouki said. "But okay."

"Perfect. How about we play at seven and then pick up dinner at eight?"

"Perfect."