Sanji dropped his bag next to his desk and slumped down in his chair, barely giving Usopp setting up a complex still life in their window seat any mind. He was far more exhausted than he expected for the first week of classes. It was

Thursday evening

and there was only one class left before his weekends started. Her seriously debated dropping this one while he still could, but Usopp was taking it as well. He was not about to leave a friend hanging like that.

The work load, while tough in order to look good when he applie to All Blue, was not what had him so beat. All week it had been a wild goose chase, trying to find his elusive soul mate. All he had managed to find out was that they were indeed behind the dorm door that never seemed to open and they were female as near as Brook could tell. The RA had not talked to her long enough to know how she identified and one could never assume.

"Usopp, remind me again why we are taking Aesthetics from six to nine again?"

Usopp adjusted a rubber chicken on a cutting board as he chuckled. His first drawing assignment was to do a still life based on someone you live with, so Usopp had purchased a bunch of cooking paraphernalia from a dollar store. The rubber chicken was a hilarious stand-in for an actual bird.

"We are taking it then so we don't have to take a lecture class twice a week and have Fridays off. It's worth it."

Usopp stood back to look at his handy work and nodded to himself. "Besides, maybe your soul mate had the same idea. Brook told me she was likely an art major based on what he helped her bring in. Two large portfios."

Sanji smiled a little despite his frustration. He wondered if that was so and found himself pondering what sort of artist she might be. A painter with a crisp classic style, or a free-spirited sculptor came to mind. Though a female variety of his punk tattooed roomie could also be intriguing.

"I hope she did." Sanji leaned his chair back, balancing on the back legs. "It's like she is avoiding me..."

Usopp's expression was sympathetic when he turned from his work. "Maybe she is shy. And if she doesn't have pain, there's no reason to hurry."

Sanji frowned at this, setting his chair legs back down. "But seriously, it's not like I'm a scary brute man like Zoro. She has nothing to fear."

Usopp rolled his eyes. "Have you forgotten you're a flirt, dude? She may be a Bond Purist and you chasing the ladies is offensive to her."

Sanji sat bolt upright in his chair. "Shit, I hadn't thought of that! She might hate my guts for admiring other ladies!"

Usopp shouldered his messenger bag. "That's why I said something. Now we gotta go unless you want to be late and miss her walking in."

Usopp laughed as Sanji had gone from semi- lathargic and alarmed to running out the door with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "Dude, are you trying to look desperate?"

Sanji passed her door, noting no change in his vision. She must have left already. While he did not admit this to the artist on his heels, late at night when he could not sleep, he found himself sitting outside her door just to feel the closeness of their bond. He could tell when she was in her room with minimal effort now because of this.

Now he was asking himself if chasing down one's soulmate could still be considered stalking.

Despite a certain degree of effort and the steady stream of idle chatter from Usopp, he found himself going over possible scenarios of finally meeting this mystery mate of his. He wanted to casual about it, though he was not sure how casual he could be after running off in the direction of the colors several times that week.

If there was one thing he could add to what he knew about her, it was that she was either incredibly fast or a chameleon. She always evaded him, even when he broke out into a full run. Then there were times when he knew she was close but he could not begin to figure out where she was.

He would be insulted if it were not for what Usopp had pointed out. Bond Purists staunchly believed people should not have any romantic relationships outside of the soulmate bond. Sanji was not of that mind, and had dated back in highschool, though he was always clear that it was just for fun until he found his soulmate. Yet if she was indeed a Bond Purist, it was probably shocking if she saw him lavish attention on their dorm mate Nami and later Nami's pretty soulmate Vivi.

He could not help it though. They were such lovely ladies and while he knew nothing would come of it, he wanted them to know they were admired.

"Sanji, you're walking into the wall." Usopp grabbed his shoulder before he completely missed the lecture hall door.

He felt a blush creep across his cheeks as Usopp pushed him through the door with a hearty laugh. The lecture hall was dark saved for the faint glow of the screens in each desk, so he could keep blushing unnoticed.

Unfortunately that meant he couldn't begin to guess if his soulmate was in there until he and Usopp found a pair of seats and signed into the desk system. The college logo at the top corner of the screen appeared red and gold to him.

His sent a private message to Usopp's desk.

[ She's here! ]

Usopp looked down at his screen and then looked up and grinned in the glow of his screen.

[ Class won't be so bad for you then? Is she close? ]

Sanji glanced around at the other students. It was chilly in the hall so most of the feminine figures he could make out where huddled in hoodies.

[ Can't tell. She is here though. Wish Brook would tell me more, but he was right to keep her privacy...still frustrating...]

Before Usopp could answer, the professor slid into classroom and called the students to attention. Sanji barely heard the eccentric old man until he announced their in-class assignment.

"You will be assigned a partner based on your seat number. Don't talk to them, just observe them. Then you will make one of those aesthetic memes you see all over the internet for that person. Submit it to my desk in a hour."

The professor sent the the numbers and proceeded to read a book while the students worked out their partner assignments.

Sanji glanced to his left, where the lucky person he has to make a meme about sat. They were looking back at him as the professor remembered to bring the lights up so people could actually see their partners. Even with the better lighting, he could not tell much about their face, only that there was one in the deep recesses of their deep hood.

The jacket they wore was long, black and semi-fitted, making their more than ample breasts apparent.

Well, at least she has a nice figure...

Lithium could not believe her rotten luck. She had been successfully avoiding her soulmate for most of the week and then he walked into her last class of the week. It was a three-hour lecture no less. As if It could not become any worse, he sat several seats down the row from her corner seat and no one filled in the gap between them.

He seemed preoccupied with looking around the room, even when the professor had began the class. They were in close enough proximity that the colors no longer shifted so he seemed to have no idea she was fifteen feet away.

Then the professor announced the in-class assignment. She was grateful that partners did not have to communicate but her heart leaped in her throat when she saw who she was paired with.

I can't get away from this Sanji guy...even random number generators are against me...

Lithium looked over at him while making sure her hood still concealed her face. She would have done this even if she had not been running from Sanji. Anthros, regular and reverse, were often the most discrimated against of the supernaturals so she did not want to bring more trouble on herself than needed.

She realized she had never truly looked at him before. He was too far away to see his eye color, but his hair was a rich blond tone she could actually appreciate since he was here, cut asymmetrically so only one of his eyes was visible. His dark jeans hugged legs that seemed impossibly long, his basic blue teeshirt hugging the rest of his lean but muscular frame. The unusual curl of his eyebrow brought a small smile to her lips.

If the prospect of him and his amorous ways toward any woman, even their dorm mates, Nami and Robin, did not terrify her, it would have been easy to admit destiny could have done far worse by her.

He would probably be disappointed to learn his soulmate is a reverse anthro...I bet pretty women just eat him up...

She turned back to her screen to begin her work. She found it surprisingly difficult to keep her previous knowledge out of it, removing pictures more often than settling on them. She had never had so much trouble with a creative assignment before.

I blame you, Sanji...

She glanced back over at him as she finally whipped her project into submission. Based on the frustrated gestures he was making on the touch screen and the tightening of his jaw, he was experiencing his share of difficulties as well. A small swell of sympathy rose in her, knowing it must be challenging for him not seeing her face.

She sighed silently, and brought up the private message screen, setting her screen name to her desk number.

[ Relax and don't think so much. Go with your gut and see what happens. ]

She sent it and flipped back to the submission screen, focusing on that task so she did not see when he received her message. She sent it to the professor's desk seconds before he answered.

[ Thank you. I just didn't want to screw it up and make you upset with me. ]

She smiled, but also rolled her eyes. She was sure he was about to start flirting with her, despite not even seeing her face.

[ You won't. Finish your work, okay? ]

[ Yes ma'am! ;) ]

If she rolled her eyes any harder, they would have fallen out. She could not completely fault him though.

He knows not what he does...

She pulled out her tablet and opened her drawing program, quietly sketching for the remaining twenty minutes. She concentrated on her lines until she realized who she was drawing.

Sanji...get outta' my head!

The professor began displaying the pairs of aesthetic memes. She looked up at each of them long enough to see if they were worth looking at. Most were thoughtful but she identified a few creepy dudebro-types by some of the unsavory implications being made their choice of pictures, regardless of the gender of their assigned person.

Then the professor flipped to hers and Sanji's memes. "I wonder if these two know each other. They look like two halves of the same coin."

She stared at the screen, her mouth hanging open, though no one could see it. The professor was not just saying it to make a comment.

Where she had placed a sun-drenched beach, he put the night sky broken by the sharp edges of a pine forest canopy. Where she placed a man in a sharp suit, he placed a woman in a casual skirt and plain black teeshirt. Sun and Moon, black and white.

Two pairs were the same though. Two pictures of hands and two soft blue shades.

Lithium saved a screen shot of the silly memes, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. She needed proof of it.

Just who the heck are you Sanji?