Notes: I have feels because of my Haizaki time travel fic, baby, don't forget my name, and after seeing this soulmark au floating around, I decided to do something semi-productive with them. Thus, this is silly and ridiculous.

Also, yes, that was a shameless plug.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket.


Curled around his bicep in an elegant, fanciful font is this:

"Wow, he's cute. And angry. Are those piercings? Ahh, they're so cool. I bet he has a tattoo. Shit, that's hot."

Those words make up the first thought - or rather, thoughts - Shougo's soulmate will have upon meeting him, and they're so fucking embarrassing, what the fuck. Clearly his soulmate is a huge fucking dork, and even worse, they're the reason Shougo decides to pierce his ears at age thirteen and then get a beautiful and damn expensive dragon tattoo that wraps around his belly button and dips well below his navel at age sixteen.

He wants them anyway because they're damn cool, but even he's not sure how much influence the ink on his skin might have had over the decision. Likely quite a bit, and his fucking soulmate will know right away, and that's irritating too. He tries not to think about it.

He mostly succeeds until he's twenty, and he bumps into someone on a sidewalk. He steps back, an irritable "Watch yourself" on his lips - and then he really gets a good look at the guy. He's blond and smiling and is stupidly attractive. What the fuck. He's so pretty. It's ridiculous. What the fuck. His smile is gorgeous, and he's clearly fucking built under that shirt, and he's staring dazedly down at Shougo. He's taller by a few inches, and that's another thing that pisses him off.

"Watch yourself," he says anyway, but the guy speaks at the same time. "What?" Shougo grunts, glaring.

"I didn't mean to- uh, I asked if you had a tattoo?" The guy tells him, chucking a little to himself. "Just- I was wondering."

Heart practically stopping at those words, Shougo sucks in a sharp breath. Obviously it's not the first time someone's asked him that - or some other variation of those words - and there's not really anything special about this moment. But it feels like it anyway, so rather uncharacteristically, Shougo pushes up the sleeve of his shirt and demands, "Is this you?"

Startled, the guy obligingly leans forward and tilts his head a little to read the words, and pink dusts his cheeks even as a brilliant, happy smile tugs at his lips. "That's- Yeah, that's me," he says, wonderingly.

Holy shit. He and Shougo share a wide-eyed, breathless moment, and then the guy is pulling up his own shirt and turning around, asking, "Is this you?"

He's distracted for a moment by those back muscles - because hot damn, but he manages to pull his eyes up to the mark. A messy, impatient scrawl, this guy's soul mark takes up a small portion of his shoulder blade. The words are blunt, mortifying, and pulled from Shougo's own head:

"What the fuck. He's so pretty. It's ridiculous. What the fuck."

"Oh my god," Shougo groans, ears hot. He covers his mouth, incredulous and disbelieving and so, so excited. "My parents' marks are so sweet, and ours are fucking stupid. What the fuck."

The guy - his soulmate - whirls around, eyes bright and delighted. "So it's you? We're-? You're my soulmate!" He laughs, and it's a really good sound. Shougo could get used to hearing it.

"Yeah," Shougo agrees, smiling.

Suddenly the guy hugs him, crushing him to his chest. "My name is Kise Ryouta. I'm so happy I finally get to meet you!"

"Haizaki Shougo," he says, bringing his own arms up to return the embrace. "Me... too." Kise is basically a stranger, and Shougo's still kind of miffed about the few inches of height Kise has over him. But he smells really good, and he is ridiculously pretty.

Kise pulls back and grins down at him. "So... Do you have a tattoo?" He asks, glancing at his earrings knowingly, and Shougo shoves him away with a huff.

"Bastard," he scowls, but his lips keep quirking up against his will. "It's not because of you," he says stubbornly.

"Right," Kise laughs again, and Shougo rolls his eyes.

And honestly, this is pretty great. Well worth the stupid fucking soul mark, he has to admit.