Notes: happy uhhhhhh birthday week? month? (oh god it's May now uh) SEASON to Mahiru lmao

I hit a big months-long roadblock on this chapter because, shocker of all shockers, it's pretty difficult to write about visiting locations when you've never been anywhere close to that general area of the world yourself! Eventually I came to terms with needing to kind of gloss over those details if I was ever going to get anywhere, so please don't be too critical. Perhaps one of these days, when I'm not feeling the pressure of getting a chapter completed, I'll go back and add in an extra scene or two to help build a more immersive world. (But 95% of the time when I say I'll make edits later, I never actually do... so.)

Though this chapter is quite massive enough even without atmospheric fluff... I probably should have split it into two but I didn't wannaaaaaaaa

In any case, as of this chapter the story's main pairing is finally revealed! It's probably not too surprising at this point, and by the time this goes up I'll have updated the tags too, so if you could just pretend to be shocked I'd greatly appreciate it.

I hope you enjoy the chapter!


Blue Marble
Chapter 3

One problem that she'd have to deal with, Mahiru realized after she emerged from her shower, clad in nothing but a towel, was her pajamas.

She was surprised by her own relief that her mother hadn't returned yet. It wasn't that she didn't want her mother to find out about her soulscript or anything. She could share anything with her mother, and it was pretty much guaranteed that she'd somehow find out before too long anyway. It was just... a little too soon to be telling her. Mahiru still had barely accepted it herself; she wouldn't be able to handle the excitement that she was sure her mother would absolutely exude upon finding out.

But the first step to avoiding that discussion was clothing that wouldn't immediately give herself away, and of the three pairs of pajamas that Mahiru had packed, two of them were sleeveless. There was only one pair that could reliably cover her newly enlarged mark, and while she could probably wear that one pair the entire trip if she had to—given that she was going to bathe immediately before bed every day anyway—it seemed like such an unnecessary annoyance.

So she could wear that pair of pajamas for now, but it more or less gave her a finite number of days to tell her mother about her mark, or else she'd notice it on her own. Great.

At least she had something that could still cover her mark, though. Momentarily relieved by that silver lining, Mahiru got dressed and curled up in bed, eager to put all thoughts aside and fall into unconsciousness.


Early the next morning, Mahiru awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling and the awareness of a slight rocking that was a bit too gentle and too prolonged to be an earthquake.

Ah, right. She was on a cruise ship.

She turned over to look at her mother asleep in the next bed as she gradually returned to the land of the waking, remembering boarding the ship, meeting people in the lounge, seeing the canal locks in action, and then—

Mahiru's breath caught in her throat and she sat up in bed with a start, shifting up the right sleeve of her pajama top to take a look—

There, starkly visible against her pale skin, was the soulscript underneath her mark.

Sighing, Mahiru laid back down, flopping her head onto her pillow. What was she supposed to do about that? She turned over onto her right side, safely pinning the mark against the mattress, where it couldn't be seen if her mother woke up. She might be refreshed from a full night of sleep, but she still didn't have the energy to face a level of enthusiasm that Mahiru didn't feel herself.

She did wish that she had someone to talk to about it, though. Her mother was the only person on the ship that she knew and trusted well enough to voice her worries to, and it wasn't like any of her friends back at home had gone through the experience of manifesting their soulscript—

Except for Mikan. She wasn't sure, of course, but Mahiru had been suspecting for a few weeks that Mikan had manifested hers. And if there was anyone in the world that could share apprehension towards soulmates (or towards most things, really), it was Mikan Tsumiki. This even gave Mahiru the perfect excuse to ask if her suspicions had been correct to begin with.

Encouraged, Mahiru shifted to the side of her bed where her carry-on bag was resting, fished out her cell phone, and turned it on, waiting impatiently for it to boot up. She might even be able to get a text response instantly—with the time difference, Mikan would probably be returning home from her volunteer work and preparing to turn in for the night.

Finally the phone booted up completely, and Mahiru's mood dropped again when she saw the icon in the top-left corner.

No service.

Right. Of course. She knocked her cell phone against her forehead in frustration. Obviously her Japanese cell service wouldn't cover Panama, and she hadn't prepared an overseas SIM card either, having expected to go off the grid completely and focus on her photography and catching up with her mother.

There had to be another way, right? Didn't the ship have Wi-Fi? She quickly opened up her internet settings and located the correct network, then watched the landing page load.

Twenty dollars for an hour of internet.

She groaned and dropped her phone back into her bag. She wasn't nearly desperate enough to be paying those prices. Guess she'd be dealing with this on her own, then.

Which was fine. No problem! Mahiru was more than self-sufficient enough to work through her worries on her own. She shouldn't be giving poor Mikan more to fret about, anyway.

Right.

Having built up her resolve again, Mahiru got herself out of bed and crouched by her suitcase, picking out her clothes to prepare for the day ahead.


Mahiru was fully dressed and checking her camera settings by the time Asaka had awakened, and once her mother was prepared for the day her stomach was growling something fierce. Breakfast service had just begun, so they headed towards the lounge deck while discussing their plans for the day.

"We'll be anchored here on the lake until the evening," Asaka said as they walked, flipping through the file containing their itinerary, "but we have two choices for expeditions we can take off the ship today. There's the tropical research institute on Barro Colorado—that's the island just nearby—or we could go to the rainforest discovery center a bit further down the canal. Which one speaks more to you?"

Mahiru frowned, peeking over at the itinerary. "I'm not sure. What's the difference between them?"

"In terms of photography subjects? Not much—a lot of tropical birds, some monkeys here and there." Asaka pursed her lips, presumably thinking back on her own experiences at the sites. "You won't really be missing out by choosing either one over the other, so I wouldn't worry about that. The one difference, I suppose, is that going to Barro Colorado will likely involve some boat rides around the island. So if you're getting sick of being on the water and want a bit more time on land today..."

Mahiru giggled. "It's only been half a day! I don't get bored that easily."

With a laugh of her own, Asaka snapped the file shut. "Well, feel free to choose either, then! You don't have to decide right away—we still have breakfast and a photography seminar before we set out, so you have time. For now, let me point you to the best the breakfast buffet has to offer..."

Smiling, Mahiru eagerly followed her mother into the lounge, but stopped short when a hand tapped her shoulder. She turned and found herself face to face with Rantaro Amami, with Shinguji not far behind, and she had to fight back a grimace.

"Hey," Amami said lightly, raising a hand in greeting. "Getting an early start on breakfast too, huh?"

"Ahaha, yeah," Mahiru commented tightly.

"Would you boys like to join us?"

"Mom," Mahiru hissed, but Asaka was smilingly unfazed as she quickly located a table with room for four.

"I think that would be nice," Shinguji said serenely. "If you would like, I could share with you some of the information I read up on local history last night..."

"There he goes," Amami said, though there was fondness in his grin.

Mahiru raised an eyebrow as she chose her seat, trying not to make it too obvious that she was scooting her chair as far from the boys' side of the table as possible. "So he doesn't just 'observe' humanity, but spends his free time researching it too?"

"Kiyo-kun's a bit of an anthropology buff," Asaka said breezily as she took Mahiru by the arm, urging her towards the buffet. "Come on, dear, you really must try the French toast...!"

Mahiru was loath to admit it, but it wasn't absolutely terrible to have the boys join them for breakfast. Shinjugi's tales were admittedly interesting, and he seemed to be an endless font of knowledge on local culture and people. Amami was not so much of a participant in the conversation, occasionally feigning exasperation at Shinguji's long-winded tales, but Mahiru could tell that it was all in could good fun, and that as different as they were, the two boys did seem to be good friends.

During a lull in the discussion, when Asaka had gotten up to fetch some fruit from the buffet, Shinguji took the opportunity to change the subject. "Now, forgive me if this is too forward," he started, "but are you somewhat uncomfortable with us around, Koizumi-san?"

"Huh? What, me?" Mahiru flushed and shook her head. "No, that's not... What makes you say that?"

"You do seem a bit guarded," Amami pointed out.

Mahiru's mouth twisted into a frown, and she turned her gaze back down to her French toast. "I mean... I'm not uncomfortable, really, I just... I'm not really used to talking to guys, I guess? All my friends are girls..."

"Oh, is that all?" Shinguji laced his fingers beneath his chin elegantly and it seemed like he was smiling beneath the mask—somehow, it stayed on even throughout breakfast. "Well, the two of us are quite capable of engaging in girl talk if that's what you would prefer."

"Cut that out," Amami muttered, and there was some sort of movement under the table, indicating that he had just kicked his friend. Boys.

"I'm quite serious though," Shinguji countered, eyes going wide. "Myself aside, Amami-kun is fairly in touch with feminine ways himself, despite his looks."

"Quit saying things that can be easily misunderstood."

Mahiru laughed good-naturedly and went back to stabbing absently at her breakfast. It wasn't like she was only capable of girl talk or anything, she just didn't... really know what to say to these two boys in particular. Shinguji was just too eccentric, and Amami, she suspected, too philanderous—she really didn't want anything to do with them, even if it was just engaging in conversation.

"Kiyo-kun, I just had a thought!" Asaka suddenly enthused as she returned to the table, gesturing towards the cut melon on her plate. "You should tell that watermelon story you told the last time we were here!"

"Ahh, the Panama City Watermelon Riot of 1856." Shinguji folded his hands upon the table. "A darkly humorous yet tragic example of American entitlement turned deadly—though, of course, there were other underlying tensions that aggravated the issue. I thought it might not be suitable as a mealtime tale, but if it's being specifically requested, I'll gladly oblige..."

For the time being, fortunately, it didn't seem that Mahiru needed to put much effort on that front—with her mother's urging, Shinguji was clearly capable of carrying the conversation himself.


Later in the morning, after the breakfast buffet had been closed and cleaned up, came the photography lectures that Mahiru had heard about earlier, led by the veteran professional wildlife photographers accompanying them on the trip.

"But not everyone on the cruise is a photographer, right?" Mahiru asked her mother. "You said that some people are pretty much just here for the ride."

"That's why there are different lecture groups depending on experience level and camera type," Asaka pointed out. "DSLR, mirrorless, point-and-shoot, there's even a group for those who just use their phone or tablet. You'd do best with the experienced DSLR users, though," she said, guiding Mahiru to the appropriate group.

"What about you, Mom?"

Asaka waved her hand flippantly. "I'll sit the lectures out this time—I have some emails I want to send before we leave for the day. Unless you want me to stay in case you can't catch everything?"

"Oh, no, it's fine!" Mahiru shook her head; she had almost forgotten that the cruise was just a holiday for her mother, and that she had other work obligations to keep track of in less peaceful parts of the globe. "I should be fine on my own. Go do what you need to do."

With a grin, Asaka stepped away. "I'll head back to the cabin, then. And remember to think about which expedition we're doing today!"

"Right!" After waving her mother off, she joined the group of DSLR users and took her camera out of its case, waiting patiently for the lecture to begin.

Just as the instructor seemed about ready to start, though, Mahiru heard a voice behind her shoulder.

"We can help interpret if you need."

Mahiru jumped and whirled around, nearly smashing her camera into Shinguji's face. A strange sound came from behind the tall boy which, upon finding her bearings again, she identified as Amami stifling a bout of laughter.

"Jeez!" She huffed, pulling her camera close to her body again. "I'll be fine! I know camera terminology, at least..."

"I told him you probably would be," Amami managed between chuckles, then patted Shinguji on the shoulder, who looked only the slightest bit ruffled from his close encounter with a DSLR. "But if you do end up needing help, you can just ask us."

Mahiru gave them a sideways glance before returning her attention to the lecturer as he began to speak. It was true that she had long since picked up English photography terms from online discussions and just out of curiosity in general, but she would still need to concentrate to be able to grasp how it all connected. Despite ignoring them, though, she could see out of the corner of her eye that the boys still remained in the area, relaxing leisurely just on the edge of the group.

After the main lecture had died down, letting the instructor go around to give individualized instruction, Mahiru turned to them with a frown. "So do you two have DSLRs of your own, or...?"

"Ah," Amami laughed easily, "no, we mainly use our phones. If necessary, we have a point-and-shoot camera for slightly better quality."

"So why are you hanging around this group?"

The boys glanced at each other, and Amami shrugged. "Honestly, we've been to all of these lectures often enough, we could teach them ourselves at this point."

That was probably an exaggeration, but Mahiru didn't question it, ignoring them again to flag down the instructor for clarification—he had spoken just a bit too fast when detailing the best settings and techniques for catching the plumage of tropical birds, and she wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing before heading out for the day.

In the few minutes that it took before the instructor moved on to the next person seeking help, Shinguji had apparently taken the hint and gone off somewhere else. Amami was not so prudent, having settled in at a small table on the edge of Mahiru's peripheral vision. She chose to make a show of switching between menus on her camera's screen, continuing to ignore him for as long as possible.

Which wasn't very long, of course. "That's a nice camera," he commented.

Mahiru hummed in muted acknowledgement. As if this guy knew anything about cameras...

"Is that the same as Asaka-san's?"

"No," Mahiru said shortly. See? He didn't know anything. "Mom uses a Nikon D5. Mine's just a Canon EOS 70D." There was really no need to specify the models, she knew, but the flabbergasted look on Amami's face sort of made it worth it.

"So... yours isn't as good?"

That's what he got from that? "My camera's fine."

"I'm sure if you wanted a nicer one Asaka-san would be happy to—"

"There's nothing wrong with my camera," Mahiru cut in, irritated. "It was already a little outdated by the time I bought it a couple years ago, but I saved my allowance and New Year's money for a long time to get it, okay? I got it for myself so I like it just fine."

"Ahh." Amami's face transformed into a soft smile. "Well, that's what's most important, then."

Mahiru pulled her mouth into a thin line and turned away, trying not to be too outwardly rude but finding herself annoyed with everything this boy said. The idea that he was an obvious playboy, and that he might actually think his charms would work on her, only made it that much worse.

"Which expedition are you going on today, by the way?" Amami continued, undeterred. "Shinguji-kun and I are going to Barro Colorado, so if you and Asaka-san are also—"

"We're going to the other one!" Mahiru instantly decided, turning towards him with a huff. "The... the one further down the river."

"The rainforest discovery center?"

"Yes. Mom and I already decided."

There was an amused twitch of Amami's mouth that Mahiru was quite sure she didn't like, but he didn't try to counter the lie. It was going to be true soon, anyway. "You'll enjoy it, I think. One of the best places in the world for birdwatching—not that I'm much of a birdwatcher myself, but I know a few who swear by the place."

"Uh... well, that's good," Mahiru said lamely. She wasn't much of a birdwatcher either, but it was nice to hear that she'd be guaranteed at least a few good shots.

"Yup." Amami got up from his seat, stretching a bit as he stood. "Guess we're headed in different directions for the day, then. But do you want to join us in here after dinner for games?"

Mahiru looked at him warily as she packed her camera back in its case. "Games?"

"Asaka-san hasn't told you about our game nights?" Amami jerked his head in the direction of the bar in the center of the room—or rather, at a set of shelves next to the bar. "There's some board games over there, though Shinguji-kun and I also have our own that we brought along. I think Jan mentioned that he brought some this time too... Anyway, there's a whole group of us, and you're more than welcome to join too if you want."

Well, if it wasn't going to be just Amami and Shinguji, again... "I'll think about it," she said.

Amami smiled and raised a hand in a lazy wave. "Well, I should be heading on over to the Zodiac loading station, so maybe I'll see you later tonight if you decide to stop by. Have fun in the rainforest today!"

Mahiru huffed, tightening her grip on her camera bag's strap. That almost made her want to not have fun, just to be contrary—but she wasn't going to let her pettiness towards the playboy ruin her day.


Regardless of whether or not Mahiru would have chosen to go to game night on her own, it seemed that her mother had already long since made the decision for her.

"Oh, it's a lot of fun!" Asaka gushed on their way back late that afternoon. "There's usually not much to do when we're out at sea anyways, so the younger folks usually get together to play games after dinner."

"The younger folks and you, you mean?" Mahiru teased cheekily.

"Hmm?" Asaka pretended to be focusing quite intently on cycling through the photos of quetzals and macaws in her camera's memory. "I'm sorry, Mahiru, I must not have been paying attention because surely I didn't hear what I think I just heard..."

In any case, once dinner service was over and they were on their way through the Pacific locks, Mahiru and her mother went to the lounge to find a small group already settling in around a table.

"Ah, so you did decide to show up," Shinguji welcomed them in English, gesturing to some open seats between the Dutch graduate student, Jan, and the group of French university students. "Welcome, welcome. We were just about to choose which game to start with."

"What sort of games do you play?" Mahiru asked as she sat down, looking at the boxes stacked on the table. She wasn't sure she recognized any of them.

"They're pretty into social deduction games," Asaka explained.

Jan nodded. "Like Werewolf, Avalon, Secret Hitler..."

"Hitler?!" Mahiru exclaimed, shocked, and the girl to her right, Manon, chuckled.

"I was surprised the first time I heard the name, too," she said, her English thick with a French accent, "but it really is a fun game." Manon leaned a cheek against her hand—and Mahiru caught sight of the university student's soul mark, a splash of forest green on the underside of her wrist with thin soulscript encircling her forearm like a bracelet made of pine needles.

Mahiru hadn't thought of her own mark for most of the day, focused as she was on her craft, but upon the visual reminder she was itching to place a hand upon her shoulder, over the mark covered by her sleeve. She was suddenly hit with the realization that she may very well be in the presence of her soulmate, right in that very room. Most soulmate pairs were aged within five years of each other, and she was currently surrounded by nearly every student-aged passenger who was on the ship. Jan might be a year or two older than the upper end of that spectrum, and Manon was obviously not her match, but other than that, it could be Nicolas, Sarah, Julien, Amélie... even Shinguji or Amami, loath though she was to admit it.

"Anyway," Amami said, cutting into Mahiru's whirling thoughts, "why don't we just start with Werewolf for now?"

"Very well." Shinguji pulled out a box from the stack and opened it, taking out a small deck of cards. "You should catch on quickly, Koizumi-san, even if you've never played before. It's a simple game of an informed minority and an uninformed majority. There are two Werewolves who are aware of each other's identities, and their objective is to kill the Villagers until they have a majority and can no longer be chased out of town. The rest of the players are innocent Villagers—the uninformed majority—who need to correctly identify the werewolves in order to survive. Of course, even with their numbers, the Villagers are at a disadvantage, so there are also the Seer and the Doctor on their side..."

After a quick rundown of the various roles in the game, Nicolas volunteered to moderate and the rest of the cards were dealt out to the group. Mahiru peeked at her card, hoping to be a Villager who could simply lay low for her first game—but, just her luck, she was a Werewolf. Thrown into the thick of it before she even really knew how to play. Great.

"All right, everyone close your eyes," Nicolas instructed after they all had the chance to see their roles. "And now Werewolves, open your eyes and silently identify yourselves."

Mere moments after closing them, Mahiru opened her eyes to see who her teammate was and forcibly swallowed back a groan.

From the other side of the table, Amami gave her a small wave.

"Once you've identified your teammate, close your eyes again," Nicolas said, and Mahiru complied, frowning. "It's time for the first day. Everyone wake up."

Mahiru already felt entirely out of her depth, suddenly struck with the paranoid fear that the rest of the town would be able to tell how frequently she had opened her eyes in the past thirty seconds just by looking at her. In view of everyone else, she offered an uneasy smile, hoping she'd be able to remain unnoticed.

"Good morning, everyone!" her mother opened, quickly assimilating into the game's setting. "Should we all go around and introduce ourselves, like usual? Just give your name and role," she added, turning to Mahiru. "You don't necessarily need to tell the truth for the latter, of course. For example, I'm Asaka and I'm a Villager." She winked. "Am I really, though...? That's for everyone else to figure out."

"Precisely," Shinguji agreed. "We have two Werewolves in our midst, so at least two of us will be lying. It's unlikely the Seer and Doctor will readily out themselves from the start, either. As for me," he said, placing a hand to his chest, "my name is Korekiyo, and I'm a simple Villager."

"Same here," Amami said, taking his turn. "I'm Rantaro, and I'm a Villager."

He said it so smoothly, so naturally, that Mahiru was a bit unnerved to find that even she almost believed him.

As the rest of the players went around to give their own introductions, Mahiru took careful note of their tone, cycling through her own planned line in her head. She was fairly confident in sounding persuasive in Japanese, but accomplishing the same in English would require some mental preparation.

"I'm Mahiru," she said when her turn finally came, the second to last before Jan. "And I'm a Villager."

She really hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

Once the introductions were complete, Nicolas announced the start of nighttime and the town fell asleep once again.

"Wake up, Werewolves," he prompted, "and choose your first kill."

Mahiru opened her eyes and caught Amami's gaze before gesturing towards Shinguji; she had very little idea of how the game would go still, but she got the sense that the tall boy was entirely too insightful to keep around for too long.

Amami seemed to consider the idea, rubbing his chin in thought, but ultimately shook his head with an air of finality—and instead pointed towards Asaka.

Mom?! Miffed, Mahiru answered with her own firm shake of the head, pointing again at Shinguji. Shouldn't the most dangerous Villager be the first to go?!

Undeterred, Amami continued to point at Asaka with a relaxed air of confidence, as if certain that Mahiru would do as he said eventually.

Mahiru gripped her fists tightly, not wanting to give the boy the satisfaction of leading the game. She wanted to oppose him with everything she had, especially if he was targeting her mother. But at the same time... he was her teammate, so they would have to agree at some point. And he was much more experienced at the game than she was. But... but still...!

"Werewolves, please make your decision," Nicolas cut in. "If it takes too long I'll give you a time limit."

Annoyed, Mahiru decided to be the mature one in the situation and cooperate—so, reluctantly, she pointed to her mother with a nod.

"All right," Nicolas said, "Werewolves, go to sleep. Doctor, please open your eyes..."

Mahiru sat silently with her eyes closed, trying to calm her nerves, as the various stages of the night phase proceeded.

"Okay, everyone wake up," Nicolas said finally, "It's now daytime. This morning, unfortunately, Ms. Asaka was found dead in her home—"

"The first night again?!" Asaka exclaimed, tossing her hands in the air. "I swear this happens every other game...!"

"The dead cannot speak," Shinguji said smoothly. "At least not without making the proper preparations first..."

Asaka snapped her mouth shut with a mild pout, then sat back in her chair to watch the rest of the game unfold.

"I suppose this means the Doctor protected Kiyo last night?" Sarah guessed.

"It's always a toss-up which of the two the Werewolves target first," Amami said, shrugging. "I thought we promised to stop meta-gaming, though?"

"Wait." Mahiru tried to grasp the situation, furrowing her brow. "I get Shinguji, but are you saying Mom is just as good at this game, too...?"

"Oh, she's a master at reading others' expressions," Shinguji confirmed, his eyes becoming crescent moons from his hidden smile. "Quite a shame for the town that we lost her on the first night. But at least we have the daughter to pick up the slack for us, hmm?"

It took Mahiru a moment to realize what he was saying. "Oh, wait— you mean me?"

"Does Ms. Asaka have any other daughter here?" Julien joked.

Mahiru shook her head. "No, of course not! So, I mean... yeah, I'll do my best." She nodded, hoping to come across as sincere as possible. "For the sake of the town."

"Hmm." Shinguji stared at her for a long moment, just long enough that she had to fight down the urge to fidget under his gaze, before he sighed and shook his head. "How unfortunate. I was going to keep quiet a bit longer for you, but perhaps at this point it's best to bring this game to a swift end and hope for better teams next time. Koizumi-san, I'm afraid I must expose you as a Werewolf."

"What?!" Genuinely shocked, Mahiru slammed her hands on the table and looked around at the group. "How could you possibly know that?!"

"Well, that wasn't a denial, for one thing," Amami pointed out, and Mahiru turned an embarrassed glare onto him. Some teammate he was being...!

"Indeed," Shinguji agreed.

"You did kind of just admit it," Manon said.

"Well this just isn't really fair," Mahiru grumbled. "It's my first time playing this game, of course I won't be as good at deception..."

"Oh, not necessarily," Shinguji said, folding his hands together. "In a way, your inexperience is an asset—none of us are familiar with your tells yet. Give it one or two more games and I imagine you'll be quite hard to read. On the other hand, if it's someone I've played innumerable games with, such as Amami-kun, I can read him nearly ten out of ten times. He's the other Werewolf, by the way."

Amami chuckled in the face of the accusation. "You think so? But you'd be wrong. Besides, given that I know what tells you know about, I also know how to subvert them."

"Yes, you certainly did try. Normally, as Werewolf, you don't hesitate to kill me off first. But going out of your way to avoid that, in itself, says quite a lot."

"Does it now? You're exhibiting a few tells yourself, you know. But for the sake of the town, I won't go exposing your role..."

Manon leaned closer to Mahiru. "This is how Werewolf always turns out when those two are on different teams," she whispered conspiratorially. "Usually it's best, at times like this, for one or both of them to be dead before the end of day 2. So what do you think? Should we vote off Ranta first and give you another night to try being Werewolf by yourself?"

Mahiru considered the idea. It was certainly tempting, and while under normal circumstances she might have felt a little lost as the only remaining evil role, she had already more or less admitted to it, so there was no reason to stress about staying inconspicuous. But...

"Well," she started, tilting her head thoughtfully. "At this point I'll admit that I'm a Werewolf, sure. But Amami isn't." She gave what she hoped was a confident smile. "Sorry, but you're off the mark. My teammate is someone else." And for the first time, she was glad that Amami was her teammate—because it was so, so easy to deny association with someone like him.

For a beat, Manon was silent, before she giggled and raised her hand. "Excuse me," she said, cutting into the boys' continued discussion, "I would like to formally nominate Mahiru to be voted out today."

Mahiru's expulsion from the game was swift and unanimous—and though a tiny part of her was a little put out that Amami didn't hesitate to contribute his vote as well, she knew that part of the game was cutting ties when needed. She had just done the same herself, after all.

Of course, Amami only lasted until the following day phase, managing to stealthily kill Julien in the interim but unable to talk his way out of suspicion, and the game quickly came to an end.

As Nicolas gathered the cards to shuffle them again, Mahiru turned towards Amami across the table. "Some Werewolf you are," she said in Japanese, more confident in keeping her tone on just the right side of unaffected cordiality when speaking in her native tongue. "Isn't it a bit hypocritical of you to insist on killing my mom for her intuition, then immediately speaking up against meta-gaming?"

Amami chuckled. "Sure, but when it's a game of deception, hypocrisy isn't exactly out of line." He accepted his role card, but didn't look at it yet, placing it face-down on the table and instead turning to Mahiru with what he probably thought was a charming grin. "Pretty unlucky of you to end up being a Werewolf with me for your first game, though. It was basically guaranteed that either Shinguji-kun or your mother would find me out immediately. Sorry about that; hopefully you get a better role this time."

"Jeez," Mahiru huffed, turning away to take the card Nicolas dealt to her. "Why would you bother apologizing for that? It's just a game."

The second game did run much more smoothly, though—as did the third, and the fourth. And once again, Mahiru found herself completely forgetting to fret about the soulscript on her shoulder.


The second full day of the cruise brought them into the Gulf of Panama, where all the passengers were given the opportunity to disembark and explore the islets in the area. Mahiru wasn't about to try her hand at kayaking, so instead she spent most of the day in a Zodiac boat with Manon, Emélie, and Sarah, letting themselves be ferried around to snap pictures of the rest of the tourists enjoying the experience.

Predictably, by the time evening came around, Mahiru had filled up nearly an entire SD card with photos. Her tendency to want to preserve every possible moment really did a number on storage space...

She really was trying to rid herself of that habit, but at the moment the best she could bring herself to do was inspecting each photo on her mother's laptop screen, finding the ones that were similar enough to only justify keeping one, and carefully choosing the one with better focus. It was slow work, and the frequency with which she filled up her SD cards meant that it ate into her free time more often than she was happy with, but this time, at least, it gave her an excuse to pass on game night in the lounge. It had been fun enough the night before, but she had already spent the entire day fielding conversation attempts from Amami and Shinguji whenever they happened to cross paths, and it was just too... exhaustingly annoying to be around them any longer.

She shook her head as if to rid herself of any thoughts of them and turned back to her photographs, only to frown when she noticed the trailing ends of Shinguji's hair on the edge of a picture. She wasn't even free of them on her own time, jeez... She hadn't meant to shoot any photos of them, but she had been snapping the shutter pretty indiscriminately all day. She skipped through that batch of photographs as quickly as possible, having gotten into the rhythm of choosing the best shots to keep, and idly noted that, predictably, Amami showed up as well, not too far from Shinguji. Her frown deepened; it was nice to be going through that day's shots after the near-impenetrable wall of tropical birds from the day before, but she wished that she had some more palatable subjects to be looking at.

She hadn't been paying much attention to what was going around her at the time that she snapped her those shots, too focused on her viewfinder, but she rolled her eyes as the quick slideshow of photos told the story of Amami being splashed with some water, laughing it off, and then shrugging off his overshirt to wring the excess water out.

Her fingers abruptly froze above the keys, bringing the scrolling photographs to a stop as her breath froze in her throat.

Before she could process any rational thought, before panic even had the chance to set in, she hit delete.

Wait... what? The next instant she half regretted the action, not fully believing what she had seen and unable to re-confirm it after permanently deleting the photograph from the SD card directly. She checked just to make sure, but no, it hadn't been sent to the recycling bin; it was simply gone. It had just been a quick glimpse, too, the briefest flash of color, and there was nothing in the photos directly preceding nor following the one she had deleted to hint towards what had been there.

So had that just been her imagination?

She hadn't just seen her mark on Amami's shoulder, right...?

She shook her head, disbelieving, still alternating between the two images the deleted photo had been sandwiched between. In one photograph, Amami was removing his overshirt, and in the next he had turned enough that his right shoulder was out of view. The image between those two... could have been nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was entirely possible that her eyes had been playing tricks on her.

No, she had seen her mark. The soulscript was relatively new, but the specific shape and color of her mark was so intimately familiar to her, she knew there was no way she could have misidentified it for anything else. And though she might have wanted to believe it was her eyes playing tricks on her, at the same time that was the last thing she could bring herself to accept. Because that would imply that she was hoping for... Rantaro Amami to be her soulmate?!

No. That was simply not possible. That boy had to be one of the very last people she would want to be bonded to.

But... she was?

Amami was her soulmate?

Slowly, Mahiru stood up on shaking feet. She... she needed to take a walk, to get some fresh air. Staying in the stuffy cabin, staring at a computer screen, wasn't doing her any good. She had to... do something. Go somewhere. She had to clear her mind somehow.

Snapping the laptop shut, she grabbed the lanyard with her card key and left the room, letting her feet lead her to the lounge deck. She needed something— maybe something to read— one of the photography magazines in the lounge...

No, the boys might still be playing games there, and she didn't want to— she couldn't

Right, the tourism center! She still hadn't looked at that brochure with the tour line's history that her mother had mentioned!

She knew she must look ridiculous, spinning on her heel just above the stairwell landing as she corrected course from the lounge and headed the other way down the hall for the tourism center instead, but she didn't care, she just needed something...

She located the tourism center quickly; the gift shop was already closed for the night, but the free brochures were stored in receptacles on the outer façade, sporting translated versions in various different languages. She grabbed the Japanese version and unfolded it, greeted with colorful photographs and blessedly familiar script, and she eagerly immersed herself in the text.

It was boring, so boring, just the typical story of an immigrant setting out for the American dream and eventually building up what was in current times a massively successful tour company. That sort of tedium was probably what Mahiru needed the most at that moment, though; nothing complicated, nothing about stupid soulmates or stupid boys or—

Her attention was caught by a familiar shock of red hair, and she noticed a bit belatedly that one of the promotional photos in the brochure did, indeed, feature her own mother, laughing cheerfully as she kayaked in some exotic location. And in the kayak to her mother's left...

The paper crinkled harshly between Mahiru's fingers. Why?

Why was Rantaro Amami pictured there, shirtless but for a lifejacket, his right side clearly visible to the camera—and to her mother?!

There was no mark in the shot, but that didn't make Mahiru feel any better. It was common practice for soulmarks to be airbrushed out of such photos, unless a waiver is signed to explicitly allow them to be shown. This wasn't an avenue for her to deny the facts; try as she might to deny it, she knew what she had seen in the deleted photo.

The problem facing her now was...

Furious, Mahiru stormed down the hall and found the closest door to the outer deck, crumpled brochure in hand. Like a homing beacon, she quickly located her mother sitting at one of the lounge tables on the observation deck, nursing a colorful drink.

The deck pounding dully beneath her feet, Mahiru stomped over. "Mom!"

Asaka turned to look at her, beginning to raise a hand in greeting, but she stopped when she took in her daughter's features, her own bright expression quickly dulling into concern. "Mahiru? What's—"

After quickly confirming that there was no one around to overhear their Japanese conversation, she shoved the brochure onto the table in front of her mother, jabbing a finger at the offending photograph. "This!" she exclaimed.

Asaka looked at the photograph curiously for a moment, and her gray eyes brightened. "Oh! That's a picture of me and Ranta-kun in Bali—"

"I don't care where it was!" Mahiru interrupted. "You've seen his right shoulder! You knew!"

Asaka was silenced, her face blank before relaxing into an exasperated smile. "Yes, I knew. Mahiru, why don't you sit down and—"

"So what is all this, then?!" Mahiru gestured to the deck surrounding them, to the very cruise ship that they were riding on. "Did you tell him?! Was this entire trip just a way for you to set me up with—"

"Mahiru." Asaka's eyes had hardened into firm disapproval at the accusation. "Stop this. Just sit down and we can talk."

Losing the searing burn of anger in the face of her mother's solemnity, Mahiru sighed, slumping into the chair adjacent to her, frustrated defeat settling upon her shoulders.

"Now," Asaka started, carefully folding the wrinkled brochure closed again. "Yes, I knew that Ranta-kun is your soulmate."

Mahiru grimaced; she had acknowledged in her mind that it was likely true, but hearing it vocalized made it all the more real. "Then—"

"And," Asaka interrupted, "I know he's not what you were probably hoping for. But do not misunderstand me, Mahiru. This trip is a valuable experience that I wanted you to have. I didn't know that Ranta-kun would be on this cruise, but of course I knew it was possible. Even so, I didn't want to let you miss out just because you might discover that your soulmate isn't who you wanted." She smiled softly. "Besides, Ranta-kun really is a good kid. I think you'll come to like him."

Mahiru scrunched her nose in disgust, but suddenly another thought occurred to her. "Wait... you didn't tell him that I'm matched with him, did you?"

"Oh, come on." Asaka bopped her daughter atop her head with a chuckle. "You think I would do that? I raised you to be an independent woman who can make her own choices." Her grin widened. "This is your life, and it's your decision when and how to bring it up with him. I would never take that away from you."

Mahiru stared down at her hands clasped before her, knuckles still white with anxiety. It was a bit more reassuring to hear that, sure, but still...

A soft smile on her lips, Asaka stood up from where she sat and patted her daughter reassuringly on the shoulder. "Don't be afraid to take the time that you need, dear. And, good news, I just found out that we were able to be added to the extension trip. That gives you a few extra days to see what kind of person he is."

"The extension..." Mahiru had nearly forgotten about it, and though it had been an exciting prospect just two days earlier, now the thought of being in Amami's presence for longer than necessary was yet another stressor she did not need.

Asaka smiled down at her, her gray eyes shining kindly under the floodlights lining the deck. "Try not to worry, Mahiru. I know you will anyway, but just try to relax and let things happen as they will."

Mahiru sighed and looked out over the water, at the receding glow of the bay in the distance. She really did wish she could handle spontaneity the way her mother could; so far her soulmate experience had been little more than an unpleasant rollercoaster ride, and she hated it.

"Do you want me to leave you alone for a bit?"

"Yeah," Mahiru confirmed, nodding minutely as her left hand subconsciously reached to grip her shoulder. "Let me think by myself for now. I'll come back inside soon."

"All right." With a last pat of her shoulder, Asaka stepped away. "I'll be in our cabin if you need me."

After her footsteps receded, Mahiru was left by herself at the table. There were others on the deck, conversing in muted conversations in foreign tongues, but with those being easy enough to tune out she was ostensibly alone with just her thoughts and the vast, dark sea.

In the end, she really did wish her soulmate had been a girl, after all.


Notes: I don't know what everyone else calls this pairing (apparently there are a couple more authors for them on AO3 now! awesome!) but I've been calling it Amahiru haha.

I want to credit Yumaru-san (yumarumaruyuma on twitter) for converting me to this ship; like four years ago, I think, she tweeted about wanting to see a shojo manga-type story with Koizumi and Amami traveling the world, and I was instantly super intrigued haha. So I guess this whole fic is thanks to her!

By the way, I posted the first part of a story about Mikan and her soulmate a week or so ago so if you want to know what's going on in that little corner of this universe, feel free to check out Decorating with the Stars in the Sky!