A/N: Day ten. Today's theme is; The closer you are to your soulmate, the hotter you get, and the farther away you are, the colder you get. When your soulmate dies, you lose the ability to feel temperature.

A Game Of Hot And Cold

"Hey, Shō-chan, there's a party tonight. You wanna come?"

Hinata Shōyō glanced up from his open book at his best friend Izumi with a smile. "Sure! When is it?"

"Nine, I think." Izumi sank into the desk next to Hinata's and reached into his pocket, producing a rice ball, which he took a large bite out of. "I can pick you up if you want. The party's about twenty minutes away from here and your house is in that direction, anyway."

"Okay!" Hinata agreed happily. He paused for a moment as Izumi polished off his rice ball, mouth quirking downwards in a tiny frown. "Say, Yu-kun... It's pretty hot today, huh?"

The boy glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. "No? Not really." He shot Hinata a concerned look. "You're not sick, are you, Shō-chan? That would be the worst timing ever. I heard this party's going to be the biggest one of the year. If we missed it that'd suck."

Hinata laughed softly, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me!"

"Well, good." Izumi stood from the desk and kicked the chair back into place, slinging his bag over his shoulder right as the bell rang. "I'm going back to my class now. See you tonight!" He waved, and Hinata returned the gesture with a smile, but it dropped from his face as soon as Izumi was gone. He slumped into the desk with a loud yawn, staring back down at his book. Truth was, he'd been really hot all day, and couldn't seem to focus on anything.

The previous night he'd tossed and turned for hours, skin sticky with sweat, blankets tossed to the side and fan on the highest setting. Nothing had been able to fix it, and Hinata had resorted to sticking his upper half in the icebox and placing cold packs under his armpits in an attempt to get cool, but even that hadn't done a thing.

Maybe I'm just stressed, Hinata tried to reason with himself. I have a huge test coming up so maybe my nerves are getting to me. Yeah, that's probably it. I'll be fine at that party tonight. I'm not sick. He let out a breath, letting his head drop to the table, resting on the open pages of the book and closing his eyes. Relax. I'm sure it'll be tons of fun...

At eight, Izumi showed up in front of Hinata's house and honked the horn several times. Hinata waved goodbye to his mom and skipped out the door with the promise to be home by one. Izumi kicked the door open for him and Hinata got in the passenger seat, buckling up as his friend pulled out of the driveway.

"Who else is coming to this party, Yu-kun?"

"Oh, probably everyone. The person hosting it is super popular. I heard about it from one of the senpais."

"Ooh, so there will be upperclassman there?" Hinata's eyes widened a fraction at the news.

Izumi chuckled. "Yeah, but don't worry; there will be plenty of first-years there, too. I heard even that nerd Yachi Hitoka is going, and there was a rumor floating around that some new boy who just moved here is making his first social appearance. All the girls are nuts for him."

"Mmm," Hinata mumbled, not really paying attention, resting his face against the cool glass; a momentary relief from the heat, which seemed to be getting worse. He contemplated stripping and turning the AC on full, but figured that might come off as a little bit strange, so instead bored down with a sigh. Seeming to mistake this for boredom or impatience, Izumi said, "Don't worry, we're almost there."

As soon as the words had left his lips, they were pulling up in front of a large, fancy-looking house. Hinata could see flashing multicolored lights through the windows and the vibrations from the loud bass music could be felt even from their spot all the way down the driveway.

Izumi parked the car and they started walking towards the front, joining a thick crowd heading in the same direction. When they reached the doors, they were quickly swept up by the crowd and dragged inside, though by some miracle managed not to lose each other. The house was utterly packed, people standing back-to-back and shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines in a can.

Hinata was constantly being hit by some extremity, his shortness playing to his disadvantage in the hectic environment. Izumi tried his best to shelter his friend, but he was fairly small, too, and therefore didn't offer very much protection. The strugglingly two made their way through the house, past a kitchen where a keg-stand was taking place, and past a set of stairs, towards the area that seemed to be the dance floor.

"Let's find a less crowded spot!" Izumi shouted, and Hinata nodded wordlessly as they circled the mob of gyrating bodies, searching for a tame spot to settle. Hinata had to dodge several elbows and almost got stepped on three times, nearly faceplanting as he swerved to avoid getting a drink dumped on him. He'd been dragged along to his fair share of parties by Izumi, but this was by far the craziest. Hinata could barely tell person from person, they were packed so tightly together, swaying and bopping to the music.

The heat was absolutely unbearable. Hinata could feel himself sweating like a cold glass in the sun. and he was beginning to feel faint. "There's a spot!" Izumi yelled, pointing at a relatively empty corner, grabbing Hinata by the wrist and dragging him in that direction. Girls swept past them, bodies in constant motion, and Hinata felt as if the lights were spinning in his eyes. "Yu-kun, I— I don't f-feel very well..."

Izumi paused and looked back at him questioningly, eyes widening when he laid eyes on him. "Whoa, Shō-chan, are you okay? You look like hell." He rested a hand on Hinata's elbow, sending fire across his skin. Hinata shook him off, the body heat too much for him to take, and stumbled back through the crowd, head fuzzy and eyes watering. Izumi caught him as he swayed and struggled to hold him up by the armpits. "Whoa, Shō-chan!"

He dragged him through the crowd frantically, making a beeline for the kitchen. Hinata became limper and limper until Izumi was basically lugging him along like a sack of flour. When they reached the kitchen, Izumi made for the fridge, leaning Hinata against a counter. Unable to support himself, he tumbled to the ground, limbs feeling like jelly, skin wet with sweat and burning hot.

"Oh my God!" Izumi squeaked, panicking, hovering around Hinata like a distraught mother. "What do I do, Jesus, what do I do, oh God, oh God. Are you dying?" Tears welled in his eyes and he rested his hands on his head with a look of utter horror. "Oh God, my best friend is dying!"

By this point, other people had started noticing Hinata's predicament, and a small crowd had gathered around them. One petite blonde girl elbowed her way through the crowd, kneeling beside Hinata. "He's burning up," she said worriedly. "Quick, please get him some ice!" She turned to the gathered crowd and waved them back. "Don't worry, everyone, I've had some first-aid training. Please go back to the party!"

Slowly, the people blended back into the crowd with worried murmurs, the blonde girl turning back to Izumi, who had collected the ice. "Here you go, um..."

"Yachi Hitoka," the girl introduced, wrapping the ice in a towel and placing it against Hinata's neck. Izumi introduced himself and Hinata, shaking her hand.

"Yo, paramedic girl, we got another one!" someone called from another of the kitchen's entrances, surprising everyone, and Hinata weakly turned his head to see two people carrying in an unconscious dark-haired boy between them. Yachi let out a small noise of panic. "O-okay, um... Get him over here and lay him down please."

The two boys did as instructed, setting down their unconscious friend a few feet away from Hinata. His skin was burning. If he looked down he was certain it would be on fire. Unable to say anything, he started to cry, whining incessantly as his skin felt like it was going to melt right off. "Oh, goodness, they're both getting worse!" Yachi flitted from one to the other frantically, rubbing ice against their skin. "I can't cool them down!"

"Let me help!" Izumi grabbed some ice from the freezer and started helping her, rubbing a bare ice cube across Hinata's forehead. The cold seemed to burn worse than the heat, and Hinata cried harder and swatted it away with a hand. "Too— it's too hot!" he cried, gripping Izumi's sleeve desperately. Before he could respond, Yachi stopped, holding up her hands, startling the two boys who'd carried in their unconscious friend and Izumi. "HALT EVERYTHING!" she yelled, eyes whipping between Hinata and the dark-haired boy.

She took deep breaths and slowly lowered her hands. "I— I think I know what's going on here. Izumi-kun, if you would, please drag Hinata-kun over here."

"O-okay..." Izumi blinked and grabbed Hinata's arm, earning a loud cry of protest as the touch seared into his skin like a hot iron. "Sorry, Shō-chan, I'm very sorry." Izumi dragged him the last few feet and dropped him on top of the unconscious boy, and suddenly, the fire went out. Hinata let out a gasp of air, panting heavily as his skin returned to its normal temperature, and he sagged against the dark-haired boy, completely limp with the relief.

"It— it stopped," Izumi said in wonder, looking to Yachi for an explanation. The girl sagged against the counter with a relieved sigh. "Oh, thank goodness. I was terrified for a moment there." She straightened once more and brushed herself off carefully. "These two are soulmates." She waved a finger between the two boys stacked on top of each other, Hinata having fainted as well. "I've seen the symptoms before. The only way to cool them is to have them as close as possible. If we leave them like this for a while, they should wake up soon." She frowned slightly. "Although... perhaps we should move them to a safer spot than the kitchen."

Izumi shook his head in disbelief. "You're right, but this is... crazy." He sighed and placed his hands on his hips. "Of course Shō-chan would find his soulmate before me..." He kicked the kitchen tiles dejectedly. "Man, this blows." He sighed again. "Oh well. Let's move them."

Hinata woke, and for a moment was unsure where he was. But there was one thing that had changed; there was no more heat. He was the perfect temperature. The coolness felt amazing, and for a moment he just lay there, basking in the relief of it. Then his memory came flooding back, and his eyes flew open.

The first thing he saw was an arm slung over his torso and he stiffened with an audible squeak of terror. Oh God what happened where am I who is this what happened last night did I get drunk and sleep with someone oh no but wait I would never do that Yu-kun would never let that happen but who is this then oh God.

His tensed-up position woke whoever was draped over him and they immediately let out a scream and fell backward off the bed, dragging Hinata—who was tangled in the blankets—with them. They scrambled away from each other, breathing heavily, and Hinata turned wide eyes upwards to meet a cool blue gaze. "Who are you?!" they yelled at the same time, pointing accusingly at each other.

Hinata sprang to his feet and held up his fists. "You pervert! What were you doing sleeping with me?!" His eyes widened and he gasped. "Hey, wait a minute, I know you! You're the guy that fainted last night!"

"Actually, you both did."

"AHH!" Both boys whipped around to find a small blonde sitting calmly in a chair by the doorway, watching them.

"W-wh-wh-who the heck are you?!" Hinata stammered. "What on Earth is going on?!"

"Calm down," the girl soothed, raising her hands in a placating manner. "You may not remember, but we met last night. Both of you fainted at the party from being overheated and, well..." She scratched her cheek nervously, a blush creeping up her neck. "I'm not exactly sure how to tell you this, but, um... you two are soulmates."

There was a moment of silence; of quiet processing, and then: "HEH?!"