Part TWO

"Last week, what happened to your foot?"

"Last week...was it over the weekend? I was playing DDR at my cousin's place, and I wasn't paying attention so I accidentally stubbed my toe on the table leg. But hey, I still finished that round with a B+!"

...I'm not sure which part of his sentence I should pay attention to: he plays DDR, or he kept playing after he stubbed toe. Or the fact that he stubbed his toe.

Anyways, moving on...

"Okay...what about your shoulder two weeks ago? It was like Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon I think." A sudden throbbing pain had made me drop my entire paint palette in the middle of art class, not only drawing everyone's attention but also ruining my favorite pair of white shorts. My heart breaks a little thinking about it again.

"Hmm...I don't really remember...I mean, I get hurt like every other day," Sora chuckles.

"Yeah, I've noticed."

He finally stops mid-laugh and shoots me a look. I take that to mean he realizes I'm not amused by this at all.

"Mmm! Hey, you guys should try the fries! They're really tasty today!" Kairi interrupts, pointing at the packet of fries in the center of the table. "Wonder what the cafeteria ladies did different this time?"

Kairi's general ineptness at reading the atmosphere is just a given at this point. Eager for a distraction, I reach for it when Sora's hand meets me halfway. Looking at him, I realize that he's finally wiped that dumb smirk from his face - now, he's frowning.

We don't exchange any words as he finally relents, drawing his hand back a little. I grab a large handful, ignoring his stern look as I take most of the garlic topping. Sucks to suck, Sora.

"Also, what happened to your head a few days ago?" I ask, recalling the sudden migraine that had originated near my temple. I had a history test the next day, and studying was next to impossible with that headache.

"...I got hit by a baseball."

I choke on my fries, cause this is too much. Kairi laughs out loud as well, patting Sora on the back. "Of course that'd happen to you!" she chirps.

I'm laughing more out of disbelief that my life has come down to getting telepathically hit on the head by a baseball...I mean seriously, what are the chances?

"Like I said, accident-prone," Sora repeats, grinning at Kairi. He thinks I'm distracted while chugging water, but I don't miss the fact that he swipes a bunch of fries from my pile. When our eyes meet, he doesn't even look sheepish but has the audacity to smirk. While eating my fries!

Unfortunately, I'm preoccupied with removing the chunk of food lodged in my windpipe - otherwise, I would've taught him a lesson about taking my food.

He suddenly laughs aloud. "Wait, did you already starting feeling things in June? Cause when I broke my leg - "

"You actually broke your leg?" I exclaim. "That hurt like hell! I was basically handicapped for an entire day!"

"Yeah, me too. Actually I was handicapped for like three months."

"How in the world did you break your leg?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"You fell down the - "

"Oh my god, Sora, you fell down the stairs?" Kairi exclaims. "How?"

My words of protest die on the tip of my tongue, and an unsettling feeling swirls in my stomach...which I think is actually guilt. Okay, while I was mildly inconvenienced by my pain seizures, he actually tumbled down the stairs? Maybe I'm overreacting a little...

"Oh, so, my brother stole my Game Boy, and he was showing off how he was taller than me by like five centimeters, so he held it over his head and I jumped to reach for it and then - "

"...are you serious?" I hiss. "The way you said it, I thought someone pushed you or something!"

"That's crazy, why would someone push me down the stairs?"

"I don't know - ask yourself!"

"Man, Naminé, I do feel bad for you," Kairi finally says.

"Thank you," I chirp, glad to have Kairi on my side.

"I mean, seriously, this guy ends up in the hospital like every other month." She gives Sora a gentle shove, eyes immediately widening and checking that we're both okay. "Sorry," she mumbles, caressing the area that she hit.

Sora smoothly shoves her hand away. "It's not like I'm made of glass, Kairi," he says with a grin.

"Yeah, well, now Naminé feels everything you feel, so I gotta be extra careful."

My heart swells at Kairi's words, so I smile and hope that conveys some of my gratitude.

"Yeah," I add, "and if you're getting hurt for these random reasons, I guess I'll have to accept my fate of a very painful life...oh, how I miss the good old days when nothing ever hurt for no reason…"

Sora scoffs. "Did you forget this thing works both ways?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you not know your cramps are killer?"

...

It literally takes my mind ten seconds to wrap itself around Sora's words. "You - !" I instantly draw a deep breath and remember to keep my voice hush-hush, "are you talking about my - my monthly cycle?"

"Yeah," he proceeds, his voice at normal volume, "your period. Shark week. Riding that crimson wave."

Oh my - we aren't actually, are we...? Yeah - yeah, we actually are. Wow. I'm cringing so bad I'm afraid my face will permanently look like this.

"Oh god, I don't even wanna know where you got those from," I mumble.

"My mom," he answers honestly, taking more of my fries, but now there's legitimately a more important matter at hand. "She was the one who realized that the pain you always get at the end of the month is probably - "

"Can we not," I hiss quietly, "talk about my...period? We're in the cafeteria, for god's sake!"

"Well, I'm just saying. You kept going on and on like you got the short end of the stick, when I have to go through this too - "

"Oh please, my thing is nothing compared to all these mini-accidents you get in every other day - "

"Nothing? It's like I'm dying! And - "

" - just exaggerating. They can get kinda bad, but it's nothing compared to a broken bone - "

"...have to die once a month and that's not fun, just F-Y-I."

"Wow, Sora," Kairi interrupts with a cheerful laugh, "who knew your soulmate would be Naminé?"

The word 'soulmate' makes me cringe again. "Remember what Ms. Lockhart said? Sharing pain doesn't actually mean anything," I remind her.

"C'mon, rumors are based on some truth," Kairi says with a sly grin. "You two are meant to be! Oh my god, this is so exciting! Two of my friends are soulmates!"

"Eh, I'm with Naminé on this," Sora says. "The whole thing doesn't make much sense in my opinion. We just met, and she's 'the one'? I haven't even met everyone I'm gonna meet in my life, but I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with her? I mean, for all I know…" He turns towards me and looks up and down, like he's sizing me up for a fight. I hope he knows I'm confident I can take him.

"Maybe she liking scaring little kids for fun," Sora suggests casually.

"Excuse you! You probably glue pennies onto the ground and watch kids try to pick them up!"

"What? Well, you probably glue quarters!"

"No I don't! I like kids, okay?"

"Sure. See, my point is, I know literally nothing about her...except the fact that she has killer cramps - "

"Cafeteria!" I exclaim loudly to drown out his words.

"Maybe if they were less painful - "

I laugh sarcastically. "It's not like I can control them - have you taken a biology class?"

" - either way, I find it hard to believe that my soulmate is sitting across from me right now."

He looks at me and I hold his gaze. There's not even the rhapsodized 'spark' or 'instant connection' - though I know they're largely a metaphoric construct of popular media. Yeah, it's also hard for me to believe that this person in front of me is my...soulmate.

Barf.

"What're you looking at?" Sora asks.

"What? What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking cause you're looking at me!"

"No, I'm looking cause you're looking!"

"See?" Kairi chirps. "You guys are friends already!"

Sora and I manage to respond almost simultaneously with a crisp,

"We're not friends."


A few weeks later, when I'm finally not swamped with homework and assignments, I decide to take Ms. Lockhart up on her offer to discuss pain sharing. She's mildly amused the entire time I'm explaining my situation, chuckling while I'm trying to talk about something serious, until I finally call her out on it.

"Is it really that funny for other people watching?" I ask. "Watching me and Sora in pain at the same time?"

Ms. Lockhart begins laughing but catches herself this time. "I'm sorry, Naminé, I'm not trying to make light of the situation or anything. It's just...interesting because you two tend to clash, and it's like you're only in agreement when it comes to your pain."

"Is this the universe's idea of an ironic joke?" I roll my eyes. "Cause I'm not amused."

"Sorry, carry on. What were you saying?"

"Oh! So, like, I gave up on getting Sora to be more careful, because he's like not even trying. Do you know any other way to reduce the pain?"

Ms. Lockhart sighs. "That's honestly the one surefire way to go about it. I mean, no one's figured out mechanistically how the whole thing works, so - "

"OW!" I shriek. I'd been feeling intermittent strikes of pain on the inside of my wrist for the past few minutes, but this last one had been too painful to ignore. "I'm sorry, just give me a moment…" I pull out my phone and compose a quick text that reads clearly: WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING STOP.

"Is it…?" Ms. Lockhart trails off.

"Yeah." I sigh, stuffing my phone back in my pocket. "Ow!" I complain again, this time the pain slightly more bearable but still too sudden.

"Here, try this," Ms. Lockhart suggests, handing me a hot pack. "Hold it over where it hurts."

"What does this do?" I ask curiously, following her instructions. Not long after, another moment of pain strikes but it's considerably duller this time. "Oh! How does this work?"

Ms. Lockhart shrugs. "I mean, I think the heat blocks out some of the pain receptors to your body or something? You can ask your bio teacher for more details."

"You mean Mr. Strife?" I tease with wiggly eyes.

"Is this a thing among you guys?" Ms. Lockhart questions with narrowed eyes. "Teasing me and Mr. Strife?"

"Just me, Kairi...and the rest of our grade," I answer with a sweet smile. Another jolt of pain and I'm at my limit - not for pain, but for patience. "Excuse me," I say before standing up, turning around, and dialing a familiar number.

"What - "

"Didn't I tell you to stop?"

"Gosh, I hope you felt that. You probably busted my eardrum."

"Stop exaggerating, I didn't feel anything!" I ignore the tingling sensation in my ear. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Ay, we're just playing rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins gets to slap the loser's wrist."

"Lemme take a guess: you're losing like crazy, aren't you?"

"Oh hey. How'd you figure?" he responds, voice dripping with sarcasm. "No man, it's not my mom. Hey, you can say hi to the reason I'm super grumpy these days. You know, I didn't realize your PMS - "

"Sora!" I shriek, ignoring the laughter from at least two people on his end.

"He's just trying to be funny," an unfamiliar voice speaks up. "I'm Riku by the way."

...oh my god. He's friends with Riku? This is so embarrassing. Riku's a well-liked guy in our grade, though I don't know him that well. Great, this is how Sora's slowly ruining my impression in all our classmates' eyes.

"...still couldn't get out of dishwashing even when I told my mom I'm PMS-ing. It's not fair, she always gets a pass for a whole week!" Sora complains.

"Hey, sorry, I totally forgot you're stuck with this guy," Riku speaks up. "We'll stop playing."

"What?" Sora protests. "You're just saying that cause you're losing."

"C'mon man. And you should've told me about Naminé, I totally forgot."

"What? We can't play cause I've got this person stuck on the other end with me?" Sora complains. "What next, I can't ride rollercoasters? No more eating contests? You might as well tell me to stop living."

"Thank you, Riku," I chime in. "And Sora, stop being a drama king. Why don't you guys do something that involves less physical activity? Maybe try...chess?"

"You know how to play chess man?"

"Well - no. You?"

"No. Your idea sucks, Naminé."

"Well, your life sucks, Sora," I return. "Keep your hands to yourself, and don't you dare hurt your hands for the next few days. I have an assignment due for art, and you better not screw this up for me."

"Okay, okay, I'll be careful," Sora says nonchalantly. "But you do know that all these accidents happen to me. I can't help it."

"Just - try." I sigh. "Bye."

"Everything okay?" Ms. Lockhart's voice actually scares me a little, since I'd forgotten she's in the room. Smiling sheepishly, I sit back down.

"Yeah, just...dealing with the situation. I mean, I guess it's a good thing that I know who my person is. At least now I can tell him to stop doing dumb stuff."

Ms. Lockhart chuckles. "Yeah, I noticed Cloud - Mr. Strife, he's a little more careful with himself after we found out I share his pain."

"I wish Sora were like that...he doesn't even think before he gets in all these accidents." I sigh helplessly. "This whole thing sucks - I mean, now I have to live life with double the pain."

"Well, you've been focusing a lot on the drawback," Ms. Lockhart muses. "Like they say, look on the bright side. Have you ever thought about maybe why we share pain with someone?"

"The universe was sadistic and bored?"

"Interesting concept, but let's stick with something a little more concrete. Try to think about what's changed since you started sharing pain with Sora."

Ms. Lockhart has to leave after that, so I'm left with my own thoughts. Which I seriously think about the whole way home. But discovering Sora's my person hasn't changed much in my life: I still go to school, I still hang out with Kairi, I still suffer pain seizures at the most inconvenient times. I mean, I guess I can now hunt Sora down and rant the hell out to him. He's usually in pain as well, so my magnanimous conscience is merciful and cuts rant time in half (I could probably go on for an hour or so).

Can't he take better care of himself? That's all I'm asking for.

("Maybe when your periods become a little more bearable," had been his response early on.

I'd pinched my wrist, making him wince in pain. His hands had reached to caress that area, but shielded by his wrist brace, there wasn't much he could do.

"You - you're masochistic!" he'd pointed out.

"Whatever works," I'd responded before turning on my heel and walking away.)

Like I said, since meeting Sora...life goes on. How are things any different for the better?

Just as I'm forgetting about all the technicalities behind this pain-sharing business, a few months later, I get my answer to Ms. Lockhart's question.


"Seriously, I'm balling with my friends, and there's this cute girl in my history class watching, so can you get ahold of yourself? What is it, your cramps again?"

"...this is the girl's bathroom, Sora."

"Yeah, whatever, it's like 5:00 pm so everyone's gone home."

"H - how'd you find me?"

"I called Kairi, and she said you were heading to the bathroom before she left for her game. Which was like twenty minutes ago...so, does it still hurt? Don't you usually take painkillers if it's this bad?"

"...I'll be fine. Ju - just give me a few minutes."

"Okay, I think I can still get a few minutes in - wait, are you...are you crying?"

I inhale shakily, hands pressed against the cold bathroom stall's wall. But a hiccup later, the dams break and I'm a sobbing mess again. One thought repeatedly echoes in my mind.

Goddammit, Xion.


A/N: I'm super excited about the warm support for this short series! Here's part two, and let me know what you think. Exploring the ramifications of soulmates and sharing pain is actually a lot of fun.

I've actually hit somewhat of a crossroads in my writing, so if anyone's willing to hear my thought process, leave a message!

I only have three chapters planned out for this story, which means the next part is the last part...but we'll see! ^^