Soulmates

it's a weird concept.

Nobody knows who pairs you up. Some people say God, other people say it's Fate. There is no scientific explanation for what happens on your 22nd birthday. No-one knew why you switched bodies. It just happened. Some people never found each other and they were stuck in another person's body. Others didn't like their soulmate and stayed away from them and a few will always be alone because their true love died before they met.

Chuuya was lost in thoughts as he was walking home, thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow is his 22nd birthday which meant: body swap.

He always wondered what his soulmate would look like. He wanted her to be cute and reliable, someone who was good at cooking and if she likes wine that would be a plus. But knowing his luck he was going to get the worst.

He sighed when he opened the front door. He put the groceries on the table and switched the tv on. Their dog, Rashoumon, jumped in the seat next to him and he absentmindedly petted his fur. His mind began to wander again. What if she lived on the other side of the planet? What if they meet and she hates him? What if she is dead?!... before Chuuya could think of other things that could go horribly wrong the front door flew open.

Chuuya looked up to see his flatmate, Akutagawa, enter the apartment. They have been friends for almost two years, he knew all his habits, weird quirks and, unfortunately, his job. Akutagawa worked for someone he knew from the past. A past he'd rather bury but Akutagawa keeps his home life and work life strictly separated so for now Chuuya was save.

So here he is sharing an apertement together, with their dog Rashoumon, in the middle of a big city.

"So what are we having for dinner?" asked Akutagawa when he stepped into the apartment.

"There are some leftovers from yesterday", answered Chuuya as he got up and turned off the TV.

-timeskip to 5 minutes later-

"So...ready for tomorrow?", asked Akutagawa before stuffing some more rice in his mouth.

"Hm", Chuuya gave a little nod before taking another sip of his wine.

"Hey don't worry I'll take good care of your soulmate"

"Yeah yeah I know", mumbled Chuuya absendmindly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No", responded Chuuya knowing Akutagawa didn't like deep and emotional conversations.

"Good, now stop grumbling and help me with the dishes"

-Timeskip again -_- -

Chuuya was lying on his bed, thinking yet again. Tomorrow he will wake up in someone else's body. He tried to calm himself. His soulmate was in good hands; Akutagawa will take care of her. He hoped the same for himself….

…

The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was a face. A face that was not his. Dark brown hair and brown eyes stared at him. He tried to touch it and then he saw he was looking in the mirror. He scanned his surroundings. He was in a tiny bathroom. Behind him were a toilet and a shower on his left was a door and he was standing behind the sink in front of the mirror. And suddenly he noticed it…

Blood

And lots of it.

In the sink, on the ground and a bloodied razor in his hand.

Next thing he noticed was the dull pain in his wrists. He started panicking. This was not supposed to happen! He began digging in the cupboards. First aid, first aid …. Where the hell is the first aid?! Chuuya threw everything out of the cupboards looking for anything that could help him. He couldn't find any bandages so he took a towel and wrapped it around his wrists.

This was not good. He didn't know how much time had passed but he started to feel dizzy. The tiny bathroom began to spin and didn't look so tiny anymore. He tried to sit down on the toilet seat. When he tried to sit however, he slipped on the blood, missed the seat and fell on the ground. He wanted to get up but he couldn't. The blood was slowly leaving his body and he was feeling tired. Oh so tired. He wanted to close his eyes, sleep and let this nightmare be over.

How did this happen? He hoped he was going to wake up in someone's body, check where he was, take the first train to his home, meet his soulmate and get his body back. Simple as that. Curse him and his bad luck he thought before he closed his eyes.

He vaguely remembered that someone entered the bathroom and started yelling at him. After that his world went black.

-Le Timeskip-

He woke up with a headache. That was the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes again. He groaned as he sat up. The light from the window blinding him for a moment. Chuuya looked around. He was in a bed in an unfamiliar room. There was a closet, a bureau with a chair and a nightstand next to the bed. The most normal and basic room Chuuya had ever seen.

He looked down at his wrists and noticed that they were bandaged up. He signed, glanced in the direction of the window and saw that the sun was coming up. It's been one hell of a night.

He wanted to stand up when all of a sudden the door flew open. In the doorframe stood a skinny boy not older than twenty with weird asymmetrical hair and weird eyes.

"Oh good, you're awake. Come on, get up. You promised you would go to the grocery store today", the boy casually announced while he set a glass of water on the nightstand.

Chuuya couldn't find the words to respond. First he passes out in a bathroom and next thing he knows there is an unknown boy next to the bed.

"What?" asked the guy and Chuuya noticed that he probably looked ridiculous, staring with wide eyes and his mouth half open.

"Euh…um…Who are you?" not knowing what to say and with no creativity left he asked the most clichéd question someone could ask in his situation.

"Dazai, I have no time for your games. Get up and get going", was the boy's response before he stepped out the door.

Well, that was a fail, Chuuya thought. Following the boy's instructions, he got up. He wanted to chase the guy and interrogate him but he spotted a mirror in the corner behind the door and he became curious of how he actually looked like now.

To say his soulmate was not what he expected was an understatement. he was totally flabbergasted when he saw his reflection. Tall. That was the first thing he noticed. Damn he was tall. He watched his reflection smile. And to be honest it didn't look bad.

The rest of his body wasn't so bad either. He was very slim and he wore black jeans and a white dress shirt which has some blood on the sleeves. He also noticed he had a bandage around his neck and arms. But all that wasn't important.

What bothered him the most was the fact that his soulmate was a man.

A man!

A good looking man…but still! This was the one he was supposed to spend his entire life with!

This was a lot to take in, because this wasn't just a normal male, no no, this was a suicidal male.

He must have been standing there for some time because the boy from earlier came back.

"Come on Dazai, you haven't even changed your clothes. And what are you even doing standing in front of that stupid old mirror?" the guys expression changed in a look of annoyance.

Chuuya couldn't take it anymore. He needed answers and he needed them now!

He took a hold of the boys shoulders, surprised that he was actually taller than someone and had to look down for once, and asked: "Who are you?!"

The guy looked shocked for a moment before his face turned into a confused expression.

"uh...Dazai? maybe you should lie down for a moment…"

"No! I need to know! Who are you? Who am I? Am I this Dazai person? And where are we?!" Chuuya was shaking the poor boy back and forth. Why didn't he just answer his question?!

"Okay okay. uh... s-so you are Dazai Osamu, remember? And my name is Atsushi Nakajima? And…uh. w-we're in our apartment?" Atsushi was confused. Yesterday he bandaged Dazai up, like he had done many times before when he passed out in the bathroom. The next morning he would just wake him up like nothing happened and their day would proceed like normal.

But this was something new.

Did Dazai hit his head?... Oh no, what if he did!? What if he had amnesia now!?

And all of a sudden Chuuya wasn't the only one who was panicking anymore.

-Timeskip…again-

Atsushi and Chuuya were both sitting at the table in the living room. Atsushi thought it was a good idea to sit down, drink some tea and hopefully Dazai remembered who he was and everything would be fine. To be sure he cancelled all their plans for today including Kunikida's birthday… he really wanted to be there though. Oh well, Dazai was his responsibility and he came first.

"So…um… Dazai? uh… you don't need to worry, okay? I'll make sure you get your memories back." Atsushi declared, determined to help his roommate.

"Urgh…. Okay, so first of all… I'm not Dazai and I'm not missing any memories. My name is Chuuya Nakahara… and apparently I'm Dazai's soulmate", he mumbled the last part, secretly hoping the boy didn't hear him.

Again, luck wasn't on his side. But was it ever?

"Wait, what?! You're his soulmate?!" Atsushi was stunned. He was happy that Dazai didn't lose his memories and also that he was the first to meet his soulmate. But still… what?! Soulmate?!

"Um yeah, my birthday was yesterday and I turned 22. I have to find my body and turn back to normal! So which city is this?" Chuuya didn't want to stay here. He wanted to find his body, turn back to normal and beat the shit out of his soulmate for almost killing him.

"Uh well I wouldn't call it a city but we're in Ada", Atsushi answered him.

"What?"

"You know… Ada. Close to Ablaine"

"Ablaina, oh no that's so far away", said Chuuya, more to himself than Atsushi.

"And where do you live?"

"We have an apartment in Yokohama", Chuuya answered while taking a sip of his tea.

"We?"

"Yeah, I also have a flatmate so you don't have to worry, that crazy Dazai person is in good hands"

…

When Dazai opened his eyes all he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. That alarmed him. He quickly got up from the bed he was lying on a scanned the room. It was just a normal room if you didn't count the ridiculous amount of hats. There were hats everywhere: on the desk, on the chair, on the coat rack and even on the nightstand. Dazai didn't want to stay in this weird room any longer but before he could grab the doorknob he heard someone knock on the door.

"Hey, you awake?" asked a voice from the other side.

"Um.. yeah", not sure if it was a good idea to answer an unknown voice. The door opened and there stood a male. His hair was black but white at the tips. He was sickly pale and Dazai wondered if he just met a vampire. But his grey eyes and slim build weren't what Dazai surprised the most. No. What shocked him the most was that the boy was actually taller than him!

"I know you probably have a lot of questions, so let me explain", Akutagawa began to speak and didn't leave room for any of Dazai's questions. Chuuya gave him a text he had to study by heart because he wanted to make sure his soulmate got the best of the best. "My name is Akutagawa Ryuunosuke and I live in this apartment with another male named Chuuya Nakahara. Yesterday was his birthday and he turned 22. Which meant he swapped bodies with his soulmate AKA you. You probably want to know how you look like right now, there is a bathroom across the hallway. I'm going to make breakfast now so if you're hungry just follow the smell of eggs and bacon", he finished before he turned around and disappeared.

Dazai was stunned. First of all, that guy talked hella fast and he probably missed some things. Second… what the hell?! His soulmate?! After the first shock disappeared, he found his strength back and rushed to the bathroom.

And there was the second shock.

In front of him stood a male with orange/brown hair and blue eyes. That he was a man didn't really bother him since he was kind of flexible with this kind of thing. His hair was asymmetrical and longer on his left which vaguely reminded him of his flatmate. He wore a white button up shirt, black pants and a choker. (somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if this guy always slept with his clothes on). But his weird clothing aside…

Why the hell was he so short?!

…

"So…what's the plan?" asked Atsushi

"You bring me to the train station, I take the first train back home and then I meet my soulmate, simple as that. But first I need to make a call, lend me a phone", It wasn't a question and Atsushi gave him his mobile without asking any questions.

Chuuya typed the number he knew by heart and the phoned beeped twice before he heard the monotone voice of his flatmate.

"Akutagawa speaking"

"Hey Emo, how are things over there?" asked Chuuya with a calm voice but on the inside he was dying to know what had happened in his apartment.

"Don't call me that and yeah everything is fine. Your lover has been standing in the bathroom for almost 15 minutes, probably wondering why you are so short." Akutagawa answered dryly.

"Oh shut up you eyebrow-less vampire!" Chuuya snarled back. "So how are you? Everything good?"

"No. Rashoumon pied on the floor five minutes ago, so I had to clean first thing in the morning and because your cheeky buttmate is still in the bathroom I couldn't get dressed. And right now I'm in the kitchen trying to find something to eat since we ran out of eggs and bacon and you didn't buy anything but wine and some groceries, Mr fancy hat", Akutagawa's voice sounded irritated and for a moment Chuuya was happy he wasn't home. He knew his vampire flatmate wasn't a morning person and if something didn't go his way he would be irritated for the rest of the day.

"All right then, good luck. I'm doing wonderful by the way thanks for asking. But I have to go now. I'll take the next train to Yokohama and I hope I'll arrive today and otherwise tomorrow. See ya", Chuuya ended the call before Akutagawa could complain more.

"Was that your flatmate?" Chuuya turned around and he saw Atsushi watch him with sparkling eyes. That guy was way to energetic this early in the morning.

Chuuya just answered with a simple "Yep" but Atsushi didn't leave it at that.

"Soooo how is Dazai doing?"

"Pfff well Akutagawa didn't say much, he was just complaining like he does almost every morning" Chuuya mumbled walking to the front door to grab a coat that would fit him and get ready to head out.

"Hey, wait! I'm really worried about Dazai you know!" Atsushi stated while he went after Chuuya.

"I told you, he'll be fine. Akutagawa will take care of him. Now lend me some money so I can take the train", the red haired male said and he held out his hand.

"Nuh-uh, I'm coming with you", replied Atsushi determined.

"As long as you're paying I'm fine", Chuuya murmured and he stepped out the door.

…

"You done yet?" Akutagawa asked while he banged on the bathroom door. Chuuya's soulmate has been there long enough and even though Akutagawa took the day of he didn't want to walk in his pyjamas all day.

Dazai came back to reality when he heard someone knocking on the door. He has been staring in the mirror for a long time. However, he couldn't help it. The person in front of him was a real cutie. He tried all kind of expressions with his new face: smiling, frowning, looking angry… it was so funny he lost track of time. And now his angry host was hammering on the door.

"Yeah, I'm good", said Dazai and he opened the door. There stood Akutagawa, in his pyjamas, with adorable bed-hair and a very annoyed expression.

"Finally! Breakfast is on the table", and that was all he said before he shoved passed Dazai and slammed the door in his face.

"Wow. Someone here is a little prickly", Dazai said, holding his hands up and turning around to walk into the direction of where he thought the kitchen would be.

He followed the hallway and he ended up in the living room. On his right were a sofa, a TV and some bookcases stuffed with all kinds of random things. It was a very spacious room and it looked very cosy.

On his left was a little kitchen with a dining table. When he saw the food he rushed to the table and he scarfed his it down, not realising how hungry he was until he took the first bite of his sandwich. But when he wanted to take a glass of water he heard a sound. First it was very quiet and he just ignored it, however, the third time he heard it, it sounded like a growl. And he slowly turned around.

His first instinct was to run as fast as possible but he knew that would only make things worse so he slowly crouched down and held his hands up.

"Haha don't you recognize me? It's me…your boss?" Dazai tried to reason with it but his voice went to deaf ears and he yelped when a shadow jumped on him.

-Timeskip .-

Dazai sat on the couch glaring daggers at the dog in the dog bench. How dare that thing jump him?! He was lucky Akutagawa just came out of the bathroom and dragged the dog of off him to put him in his little prison.

"Why do you have that thing anyway?" Asked Dazai still looking at the dog. He was jet black, not a single spot on his fur was white. A German Shepherd. In Dazai's opinion, very scary dogs.

"He's being with me since I was 10. And don't insult him", Akutagawa said, a little irritated. This weirdo has caused nothing but trouble since he woke up. First stealing the bathroom then he made Rashoumon angry…what's next?

"Hmm, isn't that like really old for a dog?" Dazai asked suddenly feeling bored.

"Dunno" Akutagawa answered, not in the mood to chat with her. He even had to put Rashoumon in his bench for this chick! His dog was clearly not fond of her and if he wasn't then Akutagawa wasn't either. He turned around and started to clean the kitchen.

Just as Akutagawa dropped the last plate in the sink he got a text from the same unknown number Chuuya called him with.

"Hmm, Chuuya is on his way here with someone called 'Atsushi'", he said reading the text.

"Oh? Atsushi is coming too? He's my flatmate by the way", Dazai clarified.

"I didn't ask anything" said Akutagawa dryly as he sat next to Dazai on the couch and turned the TV on.

"Just trying to make conversation", he mumbled but Akutagawa didn't hear it and awkward silence enveloped them again.

…

"excited?"

"no"

"curious?"

"no"

"nervous?"

"…no"

Atsushi was annoying.

Chuuya wanted to spent this travel in silence, since the train station wasn't that far away they decided they would walk down the calm and serene little village. In silence.

That was the plan, but Chuuya's good luck betrayed him yet again and Atsushi started to ask irritating questions.

"Aha you hesitated, so you're nervous, right?" Atsushi walked backwards in front of Chuuya all the while looking him straight in the eye and Chuuya began to feel a little uncomfortable.

"…maybe", he mumbled and he looked around the neighbourhood to avoid Atsushi's piercing gaze.

"Ha! I knew it. But no worries Dazai is a good guy, I'm sure you will get along", he tried to reassure him.

"You sure? Then why did he try to kill himself?" that question has been on Chuuya's mind since he woke up this morning. What the hell was Dazai thinking?!

This time it was Atsushi's turn to avoid eye contact.

"Well, um, it's his hobby…I think", he answered quietly while slowing his pace to walk next to Chuuya again.

"You think?" Chuuya asked frowning.

"Yeah, uum, he sometimes talks about suicide…or he hurts himself…but he always survives in the end. I mean we never had to go to the hospital. Whenever he passes out I just bandage him up and when he wakes up he just acts like nothing happened", as Atsushi talked his voice became more and more serious and Chuuya listened quietly.

"I don't know the specific reason but when I ask him why he wants to commit suicide he just answers 'why not?' and then I ramble about how amazing he is and shouldn't kill himself and in the end we just laugh it off. I tried guessing why but I couldn't find an answer. I thought maybe I could ask his family? But he never talks about them and when I ask he just avoids the question. His past is also a great mystery to me. Even though we've been flatmates for 2 years I barely know a thing about him. Kinda weird, isn't it?" Atsushi finished.

"Hmm", Chuuya didn't really know how to respond since he and his flatmate were basically in the same situation. They didn't know each other's past either.

"Well, that's my answer", Atsushi said and he shrugged, "But enough about Dazai, tell me something about you"

Chuuya's mood dropped "Why would I tell you anything?" he said grumpily.

"Well, you're my best friend's soulmate and I deserve to know who you are", Atsushi said determined.

Chuuya signed. This kid was really troublesome.

"All right, listen. My name is Chuuya Nakahara I'm 22 years old, I live with a social misfit named Akutagawa Ryuunosuke and his creepy dog Rashoumon. I don't have any family and I work as a coroner in Yokohama. So if you don't stop asking annoying questions you will end up on my table one of these days", Chuuya expressed through grinded teeth.

Atsushi backed away not used to seeing such an angry expression on Dazai's face.

"Sorry", Atsushi mumbled and they continued their walk in silence unaware of the upcoming dangers…

AN: hey there thanks for reading hope you enjoyed... sorry for all the timeskips... Not a native English speaker so also ignore the typos and weird sentences...the lay-out is messy sorry for that too...Also a lazy ass so the updates may take a while...I'm just a bad writer in general hahah XD

I'm also the editor (yes I'm an editor surprise surprise XD) of Cold Hearted written by a friend of mine she's amazing go check it out ;) she goes by the name Ruby Belinsky.