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Red & Green

All their lives there had been something grey and dreary
Something blank
Something missing
Then one day, two pairs of eyes met
And in that single moment
A hidden colour was revealed
One that you've only heard in descriptions
In storybooks
In a fantasy
One you've never seen before
But now they're right in front of you
And you know you've found the one

From birth, everyone had a colour they couldn't see. That colour was the colour of their soulmate's eyes. When they make eye contact with their soulmate for the first time, they could see the colour. Most people couldn't see colours like black, brown, or blue. Those were common colours.

Hayami Rinka was special.

Her colour was red, which was a rare eye colour. And it wasn't just red. She also couldn't see pink or brownish red. She had a comparatively larger range of colours she couldn't see than most people.

Since red conveyed a sense of danger, and Hayami couldn't see red, she often didn't know she was in danger.

For instance that one time she scraped her knee when she was five and she just looked at the grey liquid coming out before her mom screamed and immediately took care of her wound.

By the time she was ten she looked at the masses of Valentine decorations, all in red or pink, colours she couldn't see. Red was a colour of love, but since she couldn't see that colour, and she was a stoic girl, she couldn't feel as well as normal people do.

At the age of fifteen, Hayami had became a quiet, stern girl who didn't speak unless spoken too. She came off as cold and aloof but she did her work without any complaint.

She was still blind to the colour red but to her credit she could accurately tell when she was in danger and when she wasn't. She grasped the basic concepts of romantic love but couldn't seem to fully understand it.

That, was of course the same year things began to change.

"Name's Akabane Karma. Aka just like my hair." the boy ruffled his bangs, a teasing smirk on his face. "You can all call me Karma."

Akabane Karma. Hayami had heard of his name back in the main campus where teachers talked in wonder about his grades, then in hatred for his delinquent actions. But finally, she knew the colour of his hair was red (because she never asked).

She watched him try to assassinate their teacher, and fail. Koro-sensei ended up doing his nails somehow.

She stoically kept her face expressionless as the rest of the class laughed at Karma.

Chiba, who sat in front of Karma, could see that Karma was a dangerous individual. He looked outside the window, wondering when the next break was.

Green. The colour of life and rebirth. A natural colour, he was told.

That was the colour he couldn't see. He looked at the grass outside through the curtain of his bangs, but he couldn't see their colour (his inability to see green was one of the reasons he didn't like biology).

Some might ask whether the hiding of his eyes were due to the topic of soulmates. Actually, he didn't hide his eyes in his younger years, but after his peers thought his eyes were scary, he grew his hair to hide them in order to accommodate them. Of course, this lead to other problems like people teasing if he was afraid of finding his soulmate. So Chiba thought no matter what he did he would be a loner anyway.

"Lunch time!" Koro-sensei said cheerfully. "I'm going to Thailand for curry! Goodbye!" and then he sped off.

"How typical of Koro-sensei." Kataoka sighed.

The other students gradually went outside to have their lunch, because it was a sunny day. It would be too boring to be stuck in that old classroom.

Chiba walked outside, holding his lunch box and sat under his usual tree. He couldn't see the layers of green in the leaves, or the fresh blades of grass. But yet he tried to admire the beauty of nature.

Hayami was in the classroom, finishing up a maths question. She absolutely hated to leave anything hanging so she finished the question even if some of her lunchtime would be sacrificed. Hayami took her bento box and walked to the grass. She froze when she saw the masses of her classmates talking and chattering.

Hayami had yet to talk to any of her classmates since the beginning of the school term and she didn't want to start now.

Hayami chose to sit under a tree with another boy whom she knew didn't talk much, like her. So he wouldn't take the initiative to chat and so wouldn't her.

She cautiously walked to the tree and after a moment of hesitation, she quickly sat under the tree, a very visible distance between her and the boy. She opened her bento box and ate briskly.

Chiba saw the usually stoic girl sit under the tree and sneaked a glance at her.

Hayami felt someone was staring at her so she turned around and saw this weird creepy dude with long bangs staring at her. Hayami gave the boy one of her death glares, green eyes glittering before turning coldly away.

Chiba froze when the girl looked back at him. Her eyes… they were something special. They were sharp, cool and shaped so perfectly.

And in that moment, he saw the secret colour in her irises and Chiba blinked.

By the time the boy had recovered, Hayami had already turned away.

Chiba continued to stare, his heart pounding and cheeks oddly flushed. Time seemed to stop as he hoped for the girl to turn around again.

Hayami could still feel the other boy looking at her and felt annoyed. She shifted away slightly.

Chiba suddenly realized he was behaving weirdly, and whipped his head away, still blushing madly. Losing interest in his lunch, he toyed with a blade of grass, admiring its vibrant colour.

That colour… green… her eyes…

His breath hitched. His soulmate…

Chiba looked up and saw the different hues of green. Everyone else was talking and laughing as if nothing special had happened, but Chiba knew this was a turning point for him. The deep green hidden in the shadows, the light green of fresh, delicate leaves, the yellowish green when sunlight shone between leaves, it was all a huge palette.

But after the discovery, Chiba had to work hard to get closer to the girl (was her name Hayami?) since he could see she was as quiet as he was, or even more. Chiba also knew since he covered his eyes, she would not know that they were…

He could not bring himself to finish that thought. Still blushing, he quickly ate, hoping that would distract him from his thoughts.

As it turned out, it was difficult to get close to Hayami.

A couple of other girls, like Yada and Kurahashi tried and tried again to talk to her. She would answer coolly or not answer at all, and that would always put them off.

Karasuma found out Chiba and Hayami were the top gun users in the class, and because of that he paired them together. So far the only minimal conversation they had was about shooting.

Obviously Koro-sensei had tried, and after some time Hayami had opened up a bit but her communication with others was still poor.

After a few weeks of Koro-sensei's continuous effort to make Hayami talk (which mostly failed), Koro-sensei sought out Chiba, whom he thought was the most likely to get close to Hayami.

"Chiba-kun," Koro-sensei said. "You must have noticed how quiet Hayami-san is. I am your target, but I am also your teacher, I have the responsibility to look after my students."

Chiba nodded, not sure what to say. He felt guilty because he had done some research, there was a science paper about how the inability to see red might make the person less able to feel. That might be one of the causes of Hayami's problem.

"From my observation, you and Hayami-san usually work together." Koro-sensei continued. "Therefore you have the highest chance in this class to have her open up, even just slightly. I have tried, but maybe because of the age gap, and that she thinks I am just her target and not her teacher, I have failed many times. So please talk more to Hayami-san and make her feel welcome."

"Okay." Chiba agreed, and then student and teacher parted ways.

The appearance of the colour green still surprised Chiba sometimes.

Hidden among the bushes and trees, Chiba was surrounded by his special colour, and that made him feel very comfortable yet filled him with a sense of wonder.

Hayami, next to him, wordlessly pointed at a target. Chiba looked through the scope and fired. The bullet landed bullseye.

"Good work." Hayami approved. Chiba thought it was already an improvement that she spoke.

Over the next few months, Chiba and Hayami started to gravitate towards each other, which was natural since they were both quiet and professional, and were both snipers.

"You sure like the grass." Hayami remarked one time at lunch. They were sitting under their usual tree, like how they first met (although the distance between them was smaller now).

Chiba didn't look up as he focused on braiding three blades of grass together. "I like the colour. It feels fresh."

Hayami wrinkled her nose. In the months she had known her partner, he seemed to be drawn to nature. She saw him gazing at trees and leaves occasionally. But by now she was used to it.

"Rinka-chan!" a cheery voiced called. It was Kurahashi, and she was one of the three people in class Hayami allowed to call her by her first name (along with Yada and Nakamura). "Wanna go shopping with me and Touka-chan this afternoon?"

Kurahashi, knowing Hayami's coldness, prepared herself for another rejected idea.

Hayami hesitated. She hadn't been out with her classmates (friends?) before, but would this be a good start? She sneaked a look at Chiba and he nodded, just enough to be visible to her.

"Okay." Hayami agreed.

Kurahashi's eyes widened. "Ooh, nice! I'll see you after school!" and then the girl ran off to find Yada.

Chiba noticed a tiny satisfied grin on Hayami's face.

"This looks good on you! Try it out!" Yada put a dress in Hayami's hands.

Hayami thought Yada had a pretty good fashion sense, so she didn't argue.

Over the course of an hour, the girls went to different shops, tried different clothes out and occasionally bought something. Hayami found herself somewhat enjoying the time spent.

"This will go nicely with that dress you got in that other shop, Rinka-chan." Kurahashi said as she took a red top.

Hayami took it, slightly frowning. Of all colours it could be, it had to be red. Not wanting anyone else to know about her colour, she took it without saying anything and tried it out. When she got out of the dressing room, both of her companions were nodding in approval.

"Red fits you." Yada remarked. "Combined with that black and white skirt, this gives off a mature look."

She looked at the changing mirror. Since she couldn't see pink, her skin was a yellowish colour, her lips colourless and obviously she couldn't see how the red top would match with her.

How ironic that the colour they thought would fit me was the colour I couldn't see, Hayami thought bitterly.

"So, Maehara, what's your colour?" Okajima asked the boy excitedly. They had just finished one of their perverted talks. Chiba sat behind Okajima but fortunately he could tune out their conversation.

"It's a secret!" Maehara replied cheekily.

Okajima narrowed his eyes. Everyone knew about Maehara's womanizing habits, so was Maehara searching everywhere for his soulmate?

"What's yours then?" Maehara challenged.

"Umm…" Okajima turned red.

"Black? Brown? Blue?" Maehara tossed colours out, grinning. "What else? Purple? Amber? Green?"

At the mention of the colour green Okajima turned even redder and averted his gaze.

"Hah!" Maehara pointed a finger at Okajima. "It's green!"

Behind them, Chiba tensed up. His colour was green too.

"...Yeah, it is…" After a few seconds of silence, Okajima admitted it. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" he asked suspiciously.

"My lips are locked!"

"Locked with a girl's lips, you mean." Okajima snarked.

"I'll give it to you that was a good one." Maehara said. He sighed. "I won't tell you my colour but I'll tell you I met my soulmate at a really young age but I can't remember who she is. That's why I have my habit of flirting with girls. I want to find her after all those years."

"You sound way too dramatic for a teenager." Okajima said. "But you'll find her, don't worry!"

Okajima himself met his match in kindergarten. He remembered he was in a playground with some other kids, but like Maehara, his memory of her was blurry. But what he could remember were those green eyes, wide and innocent.

Okajima peeked at Hayami's empty seat next to him. He had a crush on the girl, but he was so sure she would eventually end up with Chiba.

He knew she had green eyes, but there was obviously a difference between the innocent eyes he remembered and the cool look in Hayami's eyes. Maybe she changed a lot? He didn't know. But it was a wild fantasy to imagine Hayami Rinka as his soulmate.

Chiba was an observant boy, and he could see that Okajima liked Hayami. This wasn't a problem to him, but still Chiba felt slightly annoyed as Hayami was supposed to be his soulmate, not Okajima's. He also disapproved of the perverted looks Okajima sent Hayami.

Okajima's colour was also green. This might lead to him believing he was meant for Hayami.

Chiba felt a sudden spike of anger and clenched his fist, then the anger disappeared. True, he and Hayami were soulmates but they were just friends who recently met. They weren't ready to go to the next step. It wasn't like they had a special, exclusive relationship.

He took a book out and the noise alerted Okajima and Maehara of his existence.

"Whoa dude, I nearly forgot you were there." Maehara said while Chiba just stared at him.

Okajima flushed. "You heard what I was talking about earlier, didn't you?"

The only indication Chiba gave was to slightly nod his head.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Okajima said frantically.

"Okay. I won't." Chiba answered simply.

Okajima looked openly relieved. "Thanks."

After that incident, Chiba found himself sticking closer to Hayami, as if to send a warning flag to keep other boys away. Hayami didn't seem to mind though.

"Today you two will try to shoot right after being underwater." Isogai said, holding a piece of paper. "Water is Koro-sensei's weakness so we might surround him with water on that island."

The snipers nodded. They had practiced non stop outside for two hours, only stopping for a water break. It was a fairly hot day so they were both glad to enter the swimming pool Koro-sensei built.

"Surface after three seconds, okay?" Kataoka said as she sat on the edge of the pool. "I'll be here in case anything happens."

Three.

Two.

One.

Chiba and Hayami plunged into the water together, the cool water meeting them. Bubbles rose to the surface as they held their breath.

Under the water was so peacefully silent. The light from above cast beautiful patterns on the rocky surface of the pool. Hayami could feel her hair floating up.

The girl looked at Chiba, who was right beside her. His bangs were floating up too. Hayami stared more closely and then she saw the biggest secret of her classmate.

His eyes.

And it wasn't just that. It was that colour - the colour red, was it?

Hayami continued to stare. His red eyes was making her feel butterflies in her stomach, and she wasn't sure if they were the good kind or the bad kind. Her body fell limp and she began to sink.

They were just supposed to be under water for three seconds, but it felt so much longer.

Chiba noticed what was happening. Alarmed, he grabbed Hayami and swam furiously towards the surface.

At around the same time, Kataoka also saw something was wrong and dived in with a splash. Together they brought Hayami to the surface.

"Hayami! Are you okay?" Kataoka asked, panting a bit.

Hayami slowly opened her eyes and was greeted with the familiar scenery of the hill.

Only some parts of it were not so familiar after all.

She looked down and saw her skin with pinkish tones in it. Of course, being completely blind to the colour made her didn't know what her skin was supposed to look like.

Is that… someone calling me?

"Hayami!" Chiba said, gently shaking her.

Someone's holding me, Hayami thought vaguely. Her confused eyes wandered over to where other people were sitting.

Nagisa was looking at where she was in concern while Karma was sipping strawberry milk like he always did.

Karma's hair is red, Hayami thought. The colour was so bold, standing out so much.

"Hayami!" Chiba said more anxiously, worry evident in his voice. Recognizing him, Hayami looked up dizzily and her green eyes met his red ones. In his hurry Chiba forgot to move his bangs to properly cover his eyes.

Red, red, red. It was everywhere.

Sensory overload. Sensory overload.

Hayami couldn't think. She could faintly hear people yelling for her, but then her vision became black and she faded away.

Hayami woke up under the shade of a tree. She brushed a strand of damp hair from her face and stopped.

Red, red, red.

"You're awake." A cool voice said. Hayami spun to see Bitch-sensei, sitting next to her with sunglasses and sipping a cold drink.

"Bitch-sensei." Hayami acknowledged.

"Chiba-kun carried you here in case you're interested."

Hayami flushed. "I wasn't." she found herself saying automatically.

Bitch-sensei ignored her. "Your colour's red, is it? Like your face right now." She tossed a pocket mirror at the girl. Hayami opened it and glared at her reflection with that… colour on it.

"I can tell you your face shouldn't look like that. It's redder than normal. "

"How did you-" Hayami stopped herself. "Your colour's red too, isn't it Bitch-sensei?"

There was silence.

"Then Karasuma-sensei's eyes are red too." Hayami said, closing the mirror as she couldn't bear to see herself.

This got an immediate reaction from Bitch-sensei.

"Hey, brat, stop jumping to conclusions like that!" Bitch-sensei yelled, pissed off. She snatched the mirror back. "Although, Karasuma would be a challenge to seduce, I like challenges…"

Hayami stood up as Bitch-sensei got distracted by thinking up ways to seduce Karasuma. She walked to the school building and took her phone out from her bag. Then she went to the washroom and turned her phone on.

Hayami looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. She had photos of all colours she used to couldn't see in her phone and she opened it.

Eyes roaming over the screen, Hayami mentally read out the names of the colours. Yes, she could see them all.

The chattering of her classmates could be heard outside. They must be returning to the building for lunch break.

Switching off her phone screen, Hayami put it in her pocket and stepped outside, ready for the outside world.

Kataoka informed her she was out for fifteen minutes at the most. Which was good as she didn't miss a lot.

This also made other classmates worry because practicing in the summer heat had to be difficult and everyone knew about the snipers' overworking tendencies.

When Chiba asked if she was alright, Hayami answered with a short "I'm okay" and they didn't talk for the rest of the break.

Hayami also avoided looking at Chiba.

At first Chiba was confused. For the past few months he had carefully tried not to offend Hayami. Now something was off.

Then he realized they had been underwater the same time and she must have somehow seen his eyes and understood that they were meant to be.

Chiba decided he would give Hayami some space. After all that piece of information would need to take some time to digest.

Apparently Hayami's definition of "some time" was four hours.

After the practice session, everyone gradually went home. Chiba and Hayami stayed behind to help to clean up.

Finally, among the trees behind the hill, Hayami confronted Chiba.

"You knew." she said icily, turning to look at the boy briefly. "You knew all the time."

There was a short pause. "Yes, I knew." Chiba said, who was feeling an odd mix of dread and excitement.

Hayami didn't say anything, which prompted Chiba to elaborate.

"It was that day when Karma first came back to school. We were sitting under the same tree at lunch and I just… knew." he finished rather lamely.

"Was that why you tried to get close to me?" Hayami asked, still not looking at him.

"That was part of the reason why." Chiba said carefully. He could feel his palms getting sweaty. It felt like Hayami was interrogating him. "And we also work together often as snipers."

"I see." Hayami nodded slightly.

They had both heard people sharing the moment they found their soulmate. It was usually a very romantic, dramatic scene which resulted in a hug or even a kiss. Or at least some meaningful eye contact.

Now, they were just two middle school students, standing away from each other, neither one attempting to make conversation. Even if they talked it would sound like one of their usual conversations, short and to the point.

It was a bit awkward but they both swore it would be even more awkward if they suddenly became sappy, affectionate romantics.

Hayami hesitated, then asked softly,"Can I see your eyes?"

"Sure." Chiba knew Hayami was going to ask that question sooner or later. He expected it.

What he didn't expect was, instead of him brushing his bangs away, it was she who took a step forward and did that.

Chiba froze as they made eye contact. Hayami observed his eyes; they weren't as scary as he claimed them to be, they were sharp and a red colour. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach again and hastily let his bangs fall back.

"They're not bad." Hayami muttered. Chiba self consciously patted his bangs.

"So. What happens now?" Chiba asked.

"I don't know. What do you think?" Hayami replied.

"You're not supposed to answer a question with another question."

"Well… to be honest I don't know much about this kind of thing."

There was another silence. Then they began to talk at the same time.

"Ah. You first." Chiba offered.

Hayami wanted to refuse, but that would just make things unnecessarily complicated.

"...I was thinking of taking it at our own pace."

"Oh." Chiba noticed the slight blush on Hayami's cheeks. "I was thinking of the same thing."

"So, that's solved." Hayami said matter-of-factly. She was rather glad to be on the same waveline as her partner (they were always in sync anyway).

Hayami soon got used to the newly discovered colour. It was no longer surprising. But if there was something she in all honesty detested, it was blood. Being a girl made things worse, with those dreaded monthly visits.

After their failed assassination at the island, everyone sat on the chairs sullenly. The snipers were particularly bothered by the fact that they had failed.

Then suddenly some of the their classmates became sick. Hayami stared in horror as blood sprouted from Okajima's nose. Their sick classmates also had an odd flush on their cheeks.

Red. Red again.

Chiba found Hayami's hand and gripped it. She took a deep breath and he smiled reassuringly at her.

It's okay. I'm here. You don't have to be afraid.

Karasuma organized a mission to break in the hotel to get the antidote. The remaining classmates went to their rooms to change into clothing they can get dirty. Hayami loitered, looking around a bit nervously.

"Ryuu," she called softly to Chiba. He knew she only called him that when she was afraid or being serious. He slowed down to walk next to her.

Hayami moved closer to him, until their bodies were physically touching, which never happened when there were other people around.

She slowly raised a hand until she could brush Chiba's bangs away slightly, just enough to reveal his eyes for a second. Although a bit shocked, he let her, because he knew she didn't think his eyes were creepy.

It was ironic how Chiba thought his eyes were scary, but they were the same shade of red that reassured Hayami.

It was seven years after graduation.

Seven years after they killed Koro-sensei.

Seven years after they met each other.

Seven years after they knew.

But maybe all of that would vanish in a single second.

Hayami watched helplessly as a car suddenly swerved around the corner on the street. The loud honking. And the person, her soulmate, that was in the middle of the road, who realized it too late.

Too late.

She briefly heard someone screaming (was it her?), her fingers clumsily fumbling for her phone. The phone clattered to the ground, next to the pool of crimson blood slowly spreading out.

"Ryuunosuke!"

(Maybe she would always have a grudge against blood.)

God knows how long later, Hayami knelt at her bathtub, scrubbing at the blood stains on her white skirt, no longer clean and pristine. She could see the sunlight from the bathroom window.

After a change of clothes, Hayami prepared to visit the hospital again, even though she had just returned to the apartment fifteen minutes ago. Their apartment.

Hayami felt her heart clench, but she refused to let tears fall. Grabbing the keys, she strode out of the door.

The first thing Chiba registered was the systematic beeping. Which would mean he was in a hospital.

His mouth felt impossibly dry, and his skin and hair oily. What happened?

He remembered the car crash. Rinka's scream. And her green eyes, looking desperately at him.

He slowly opened his eyes to let them adjust to the light. The lighting was dim, so Chiba assumed it to be nighttime. Through the curtain of his bangs, he could see the faint silhouette of his bed, and of a person sitting next to him, probably asleep.

Chiba turned his neck, which proved to be a bit difficult. "Rinka," he whispered, his voice coming out as a nasty croak.

There was no reaction from her. She was slumped on the chair, peach coloured hair messy, which was unlike her.

"Rinka," he said again.

This time she stirred. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Chiba could see the dark circles beneath them. He felt a twinge of guilt when he realized he had caused it by worrying her.

"Ryuunosuke," she breathed and brushed away his bangs oh-so-gently, so they made eye contact. "You're awake."

They looked into each other's eyes (and souls, as they say the eyes are the windows to the souls), before Hayami finally pulled away. "I have to tell your family. They'll be overjoyed."

And indeed they were.

People he knew visited. Old classmates, his relatives, his colleagues. But his immediate family and Hayami visited the most often.

His bedside table was soon filled with get well cards and flowers. He particularly liked the fresh green leaves of the flowers.

Soon he was all recovered and alright, although Hayami never forgot the scare he brought her.

Ryuunosuke was walking around a jewelry store one day. His eyes caught a certain something, and he was immediately attracted to it.

He held back a smile. She'll love it.

There will always be a reason that their engagement ring has a ruby and an emerald right next to each other.

A/N: Okay I saw this prompt on Tumblr via Pinterest and thought it would fit ChibaHaya… and it did.

By the way we have reached 5000 views! Isn't that awesome? Thanks for your support! And also thanks for the favourites and follows!

For next chapter we'll celebrate the Tsundere (Yandere?) Sniper's birthday. And don't forget to review! I'll love to know what you all think!