AN: Hey guys, Nezu here! Oh my god, it's been a while since I've posted anything... Sorry! I know I have a lot of ongoing fics aiting to be updated, but I don't have the time at the moment to continue them :/ They will be finished eventually, just when I have the time! Anyways, I was on tumblr the other day, and I saw this AU that got a lot of notes, and I just knew that I had to write a fanfic for it! Technically, I should be writing an essay for school, but... eh.
Based off of this Tumblr Post: Soulmate au where when you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever the hell you want, it will show up on your soulmate's skin as well.
Orange is Jurina's writing
Green is Rena's writingEnjoy!
P.S. Comments make me happy, so feel free to leave them!
--
Rena is sitting in class on a normal Thursday in school, watching her friend Acchan bumble her way through writing the date on the whiteboard during English class (really, Acchan? "Sathday?"), when the drawings start appearing on her arm. She had been looking down, doodling in her notebook absentmindedly, when she spots an elaborate doodle of a puppy on her left arm.
At first, she passes it off as her own disconnected thoughts leading her to accidentally drawing on her arm. However, the next thing she knew, more and more details started appearing, as if someone were
drawing on her skin, and before she knows it, a surrealistic image of a puppy wagging its tail stands in all its glory on her arm, engraved in black ink.
Letting out a squeak of surprise, Rena gasps and shoots up straight in her seat, eyes widening dramatically and hands flying to cover her mouth to silence herself.
"Rena?" Shinoda-sensei, who stands at the front of the room with Acchan, frowns in concern. "Is everything alright?"
"Y-yes!" Rena stammers, still shocked, her left arm still shaking with apprehension. "I'm fine!"
In the seat next to her, her best friend, Kashiwagi Yuki, gives her a worried glance before noticing the highly-detailed image of the puppy on Rena's arm.
"Rena!" she exclaims, leaning over and gripping Rena's arm. "Did you draw this?"
"No!" Rena replies, eyes furrowing and willing herself to calm down. At this point, the rest of the class had all turned to witness Rena's distress in confusion.
"I didn't! It wasn't me! I don't— I have no idea where this came from! It just appeared in front of my eyes!"
"Let me see," Shinoda murmurs, gingerly taking Rena's arm. After ten seconds of an unsuccessful attempt to smudge the image away, Shinoda looks down at Rena with an amused expression.
"I think you should talk to your parents about this," The teacher chuckles, shaking her head. "There's nothing wrong, trust me. But it's your parents that need to explain this... occurrence to you."
--
That night, Rena learns about soulmates.
"Around this age," her mother had begun to explain gently, "you receive a soulmate. You know that you have a soulmate when whatever they write on their skin begins to appear on yours."
"So, that puppy on my arm..." Rena bites her lip. "My soulmate drew that? On her own left arm?"
"In exactly the same position," her father confirms with a nod and a soft smile.
"And if I write on myself, will it appear on my soulmate's skin?"
"Exactly," her mother replies with a big grin. She had been absolutely ecstatic when she had found out about the puppy image. "You should try writing back to her sometime. You can communicate through messages."
Rena bites down on her lip a bit harder.
"Maybe I'll wait a little," she murmurs a bit hesitantly. "It seems a bit... soon."
And right on cue, Rena notices a bit of writing begin to appear on the back of her hand.
Let's keep on running tomorrow too!Rena cracks a smile at that. It seemed that her soulmate is the motivational kind. Then she promptly bursts out laughing as the writing continues:
Remember to kill Mayuyu for making you wait! >.<And apparently, her soulmate had a grudge against this Mayuyu girl as well. Rena giggles quietly to herself as her parents share amused glances with each other before leaving Rena to the new scribbles appearing on her body.
--
The days tick by, and Rena finds herself constantly entertained by her soulmate's doodles. In fact, Rena hardly believes that they could be called doodles anymore. No, her soulmate's drawings were masterpieces, only getting more and more detailed by the day. That puppy that had been drawn in haste on the first day suddenly paled in comparison to the wolves and deer and trees and wildlife that now decorated her left arm.
One day, during a particularly boring history lesson, Rena finally decides to write. She takes out a black ballpoint pen before pursing her lips and thinking of something to say.
You're really good, she scribbles hastily on the back of her left hand.
Not even five seconds later, Rena notices a reply being written.
Finally decided to respond to me, huh Rena can't stop herself from giggling, writing her response to the right of her soulmate's.
Sorry, but your talent is simply too great for me! How did killing that Mayuyu kid go?
Shhhhhh you can't let anyone know it was me Rena nearly laughs out loud, and she doesn't even care about the rest of the class staring at her like her heart had just jumped out of her chest and was currently dancing around, laughing at her.
My name is Matsui Rena, she finally introduces herself.
What's your name?Matsui Jurina! We have the same last name! What a coincidence!--
The next thing Rena knows, she and Jurina spend practically all day writing to each other in class. They play games like Hangman and Pictionary (Rena excels at Hangman, and Jurina is a boss at Pictionary), but there are plenty of times when they simply chat with each other.
Who's your favorite singer or music artist? Jurina asks her at some point.
I'm a big fan of idols. AKB48 and the rest of the 48 Group, for example. I also really love American singers though.
Ooh! I'm a big fan of American artists as well! I've been listening to Katy Perry recently.
I really like her! Rena grins, happy that they've found another thing in common.
What's your favorite song of hers?And a heartbeat later—
'I Kissed a Girl' They go to lunch, and Yuki doesn't even want to know why Rena is blushing so hard. She tells her friend that she looks like a tomato as they sit on the rooftop of their school, and Rena only flushes harder.
(Later that day, it's Yuki's turn to screech in class— being the overreacting queen that she is. Rena only grins as she grabs Yuki's right arm and bears witness to a picture of an alpaca starting to shape itself on the back of her best friend's left hand.)
--
For the rest of high school, Rena finds herself learning a lot of a little part of her soulmate. She knows that Jurina's favorite colors are orange and green, and that she loves sleeping with someone else (all innocent and just sleeping, of course) because she's afraid of the dark. She learns that Jurina is two years younger than her, but Rena really doesn't care, because younger girls are cute and Jurina acts Rena's age or older anyways. Rena also figures that Jurina's always known that she wasn't straight and that she'd always preferred girls.
Jurina, in exchange, knows that Rena loves to read manga, and that Rena's best friend is Yuki. She knows that Rena had been confused about her sexuality for a long time before reaching high school and becoming "acquainted" with Jurina. She also knows that Rena doodles on her arm whenever she gets anxious, and Jurina does her best to calm her by filling her arms and hands with colorful happy images of cute animals and anime references.
It is at times like this that Rena understands why Jurina is her soulmate.
(She still doesn't know where Jurina lives though.)
--
Rena moves to Tokyo with Yuki to attend college (because they've miraculously been accepted into the same one), and Rena's jittery and nervous over the entire ride. Jurina, who's still in high school but now on break, sends Rena doodles on their arm throughout the whole trip.
And Rena doesn't stop herself from smiling when a drawing of a puppy and a rabbit cuddling next to each other comes into focus.
I'm the puppy, Jurina says,
and you're the rabbit, Renahyon!
Thank you, Juu, Rena responds with her own nickname,
I love it--
College is fun and thrilling, but also brings a bit of doubt into Rena's conscience.
It's in college that Rena meets Furukawa Airi, and it's in college where Airin asks Rena to go out with her.
Yuki thinks its stupid.
"You're not even going to end up with her! It's pointless!"
"How do you know that!" Rena snaps back. She firmly believes that she's in love with Airin, regardless of the beautiful forest and flowers that now color her left arm. In fact, Rena deliberately covers her arms with long sleeved shirts or sweaters now, and hardly draws on her arms anymore (she tells herself that it's because she doesn't want to disturb Jurina's masterpieces).
"Jurina is your
soulmate, Rena!" Yuki shoots back, crossing her arms. "Do you even know what that means? You're supposed to be together! With each other! And not with anyone else!"
"And yet you're going around with literally
anyone other than your soulmate." Rena huffs, crossing her arms as well.
"Hey, at least Mayu and I have come to a mutual agreement!" Yuki throws her hands up in the air in frustration. "We're allowed to sleep with anyone until she comes down from her hometown after she graduates from high school."
"And how is that any different from what I'm doing?"
"I'm not in love with the people I sleep with!" Yuki retorts, "I've acknowledged that I'm going to love Mayu for the rest of my life once we get together for real! Besides, have you even talked to Jurina about this?"
"Yes, for your information." Rena uncrosses her arms. "She's okay with it— Airin and I, I mean. Hell, she even said that she was happy for me! Satisfied?"
Yuki just shakes her head and retires back to her room.
--
A full year later, Rena finds out that Airin had slept with Akane, a girl whose arms were littered with drawings with a style that belonged to Airin alone. Airi had found her soulmate, and there was no way that Rena could get in the way of that.
So she lets Airi go.
But that doesn't mean that Rena isn't hurt.
She drowns herself in literally anything else— schoolwork, her part time job, other college friends. And Jurina's still writing to her, desperately asking how she's doing, and why Rena stopped replying to her (
Hey, how are you? We haven't talked for a while. How are things going?) But Rena never answers, and three months later, Jurina's writing and her drawings simply disappear altogether. Then there's the occasional lecture from Yuki, but mostly Rena can just sense the disappointment and frustration radiating off of her friend.
The writing doesn't come back, and there are no questions or any attempts to try to contact Rena, but two months pass and Jurina starts drawing again.
Rena just stares in awe at the magic that spills across her skin everyday. Sometimes there's marker, other times it's pen, and occasionally, there's full on paint. It's not hard to tell what Jurina's feeling at the moment when she's drawing. When she's sad, a storm cloud would appear. Happy, and a flower with a smiley face or something like that. Heck, chicken wings, ramen, and melon pan would show up when she was hungry (although Rena knows that Jurina draws the melon pan on their skin out of respect for her. It was Rena who loved melon pan like no other). Once, Jurina painted a full sunset on her stomach, and Rena had gone to sleep smiling that night.
'Jurina truly is a skilled artist', Rena thinks to herself. Today, Jurina's simply using a ballpoint pen, and at first, Rena can't tell what Jurina is drawing.
The next thing she knows, Rena's staring at a picture of a puppy and a rabbit pressed up next to each other, nuzzling each other's noses, and her heart starts to hurt.
Jurina misses her. It's obvious, and it's painful.
Yet Rena can't bring herself to do anything.
--
Rena is there when Yuki first meets Mayu in person, and she thinks that its the most beautiful yet heartbreaking sight she's ever seen. It was beautiful in that Yuki has never looked happier, and the way that she picks Mayu up and spins the younger girl around in her arms, both of them laughing uncontrollably, looks like a scene from a romance novel.
It was heartbreaking in the sense that Rena convinces herself that Yuki and Mayu would never be her and Jurina. No, there was no way that Jurina would ever want to actually be with Rena. Jurina, the sociable, friendly, and damn artistic Jurina, would never want to spend the rest of eternity with the quiet, subdued, and introverted Rena, who had been avoiding her own soulmate no less.
Jurina would meet Rena, and then realize that she would rather be alone until the end of forever instead.
--
Rena can't tell why Jurina keeps up with the skin drawings, but she swears that its for her. When Jurina draws the puppy and the rabbit, for example. Eventually, Jurina starts leaving messages for Rena as well, although they're in places that Rena wouldn't usually look, like the underside of her finger, and even the back of her ear.
And then one day, Rena finds a little message tucked beneath her ankle—
I'd do anything for you to come back...Rena can't help but acknowledge the tears trickling down her cheeks.
--
"You're only hurting yourself," Yuki sighs, reclining on their sofa, Mayu on her arm.
It's summer, a week after Mayu came to Tokyo, and Yuki's soulmate has officially moved in with them. Frankly, Rena thinks that MaYuki is the cutest thing ever. Yuki when she was frustrated on the other hand... not so much.
"I haven't spoken to Jurina in months," Rena groans, flopping down on the other couch. "There's no way."
"You don't know unless you try!" Yuki argues. She only wants the best for her friend, and she puts everything she has into shaking her shoulder. "Come on, Rena! Please! Think! You're hurting not only yourself and Jurina too! Think about how much pain she's in! Imagine her thinking about how her soulmate
doesn't even love her.""And just how would I even find her?" Rena snaps angrily, abruptly standing from her position on the couch. "I don't even know where she lives, let alone what she looks like! For all I know, she could be on the other side of the globe!"
"With a name like 'Matsui Jurina'?" Yuki snorts indignantly. "Like she'd be anywhere else other than Japan."
"Look, I appreciate you trying to help me, Yuki, but—"
It's Mayu that interrupts them this time, her eyes narrowing as she pulls out her phone.
"What did you say her name was?"
Rena and Yuki share confused looks before Rena turns to Mayu and replies.
"Matsui Jurina."
Suddenly Mayu lets out a squeal of delight and she's suddenly grinning, jumping up from the couch, launching herself at Rena, and tackling the older girl into a hug.
"I knew it! I knew it! This is great— no, this is more than great! This is freaking amazing! A miracle! Oh, this just couldn't be more perfect! This—"
"Mayu!" Yuki laughs, pulling Mayu away from Rena and into her own embrace. "What's so perfect?"
"Matsui Jurina is moving to Tokyo next week!" Mayu's still beaming as though she smile would never leave her face.
"Wait, how do you know?" Rena gasps out, not believing Mayu's claim.
Mayu sticks out her tongue, holding up her iPhone right in Rena's face.
It takes a moment for Rena to register the Instagram profile shining obviously in front of her eyes. There's a picture of a mature, yet-childish looking girl pouting cutely at the camera, something sparkling in her eyes as she holds up a college application letter.
'I've been accepted!' the caption of the photo reads,
'Tokyo, you'll be meeting MJ next week! Wait for meeee~ I'm following you @Wmayu'Rena shakes her head in disbelief, turning on Mayu with wide eyes.
"Just— how?"
"It's good to keep tabs on your best friend," Mayu giggles before rolling her eyes, "Even if she did refuse to tell me the name of her soulmate for a solid 5 years. And you won't
believe which apartment building she's moving into."
--
It's the day that Jurina is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo, and Rena couldn't be more nervous. She shudders even though its the middle of summer and the air conditioning isn't even on that strong, and Yuki places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
They're standing in the lobby of their apartment complex, and Mayu is set to arrive with the younger Matsui from the train station at any minute. Rena soon finds herself pacing, much to Yuki's chagrin.
And then she walks in, and Rena can't breathe.
Jurina's even more perfect in person, with a beautiful mane of raven black hair, a tall figure, and the lithe body of a track and field athlete. She's drop-dead gorgeous, and Rena can't help but gawk a little. Yuki pinches her back into reality.
The next thing she knows, Mayu is introducing Yuki to Jurina, and the two taller girls are laughing lightly together. Rena smiles, still standing a ways away. Jurina's laugh reminds her of the days when they would doodle messages to each other on their arms during class, and Rena has to force down the nostalgia because it feels like lifetimes ago.
She bites her lip out of nervousness before taking out a ballpoint pen, her eyes still on the occupied Jurina. Slowly and deliberately, Rena begins to write on the back of her left hand.
Your laugh reminds me of all those times you made me smile
Would it be okay if I came back to you?
Well, you don't really have a choice. I've already found you A laugh escapes Rena's lips when Jurina's eyes widen at the writing on her hand, her mouth gaping open. Then her head shoots up, and she's scanning the lobby, looking for Rena.
Mayu chuckles and is about to put Jurina out of her misery with Jurina's eyes finally locks with Rena's, and Rena's heart clenches with joy as she witnesses the younger Matsui start tearing up, her lower lip trembling.
Rena raises the back of her left hand, her scrawled message and beaming smile on full view.
"Hey there, my little artist."
(What follows is Jurina ramming herself into Rena and pulling the older girl into a hug. "I'm slightly taller than you," are her first words, accompanied by a little smirk.)
--
As it turns out, Jurina moves in with Rena, and its the four of them: Rena, Jurina, Yuki, and Mayu. They're all roommates, and Rena can't be happier. By the end of the summer, it dawns on the four of them that they can just
buy the apartment together. It's a rather large apartment, and they can't imagine living apart from each other, and then they're happily sharing the cost.
Naturally, Rena and Jurina share a room (even though there's a perfectly good and unused bedroom next door. For some reason, both Mayu and Jurina both refused to occupy it, preferring to stay with their soulmates instead.) Rena, who had no use for much of the space in their bedroom, contentedly helps Jurina move in all her art supplies into their shared room— easels, brushes, pens, crayons, paper, and everything.
Jurina loves when Rena agrees to model for her. Rena is shy and hesitant, but eventually opens herself up to the younger Matsui. It doesn't take long for her to bare her heart completely to Jurina— the younger girl makes it easy to love her.
A full month into their official relationship, Jurina paints the sky in all its magnificence on Rena's back one night as the sun is going down. Rena giggles slightly at the ticklish sensation of the brush on her back, and Jurina laughs along with her, occasionally pressing kisses on any non-paint covered exposed skin. It's supposed to calm Rena down, but it only makes her laugh harder.
But the best part is when Rena turns around after the paint is dry, and she's looking into Jurina's eyes endearingly because she just can't believe that this amazing person is the one who she's going to be spending the rest of her life with.
And Jurina isn't looking at the sky on Rena's back, but rather, the sky in Rena's eyes, everlasting and eternal.
"You're beautiful, Rena," Jurina whispers, leaning in to place a chaste kiss on Rena's lips. Butterflies erupt in Rena's chest, and she swells with happiness.
"You're not so bad yourself," Rena teases when they pull away.
"I love you," Jurina says, nothing but honesty in her tone, and Rena sees the sky Jurina painted on her back in the younger girl's eyes as well.
"I love you too," Rena replies, a smile on her lips. Everlasting and eternal.
And she means it.