Birthday Special! [Kuroo Tetsurou, Makoto Tachibana & Miyuki Kazuya]

Kuroo Tetsurou [Follow]

Prompt: Soulmate

*****

Kuroo lived in an interesting world. He lived in a world where one's way to find their soulmate can different with each other and appear on any phase of their lives. Some babies were born with their soul marks on their bodies, some had to wait to get a bit older before they start seeing the red string of fate connecting them with their soulmate that disappear and appear at random, while some live in a monochrome world until they meet their soulmate. A lot of people were desperate to find their other half, but those who doesn't believe it were just as much.

And despite what people think but Kuroo was never interested with the idea of soulmate. He was born with no soul marks, and his world had never been monochrome. So his only option of finding his soul mate was by relying on the red string of fate.

To be honest, Kuroo's red string started appearing when he was seven years old. The string was bright red, tied to his pinkie finger and was so long he couldn't see the end of it. But he turned his head the other way, ignoring the tight grip of the string until it eventually disappear. The red string appeared again and again as he grew older, but Kuroo never bothered to find the person at the end of it.

"One day, you'll have to find the person, you know." It was easy for Bokuto to say that, one day during their joint practice when Kuroo groaned out of the sudden. "I feel sorry for whoever at the other side of it."

"Shut up," Kuroo replied, "if they really want to know me, they could have follow the string."

"Why don't you?" the Fukurodani member asked, "aren't you curious on the person you're fated with?"

Kuroo shook his head, "Not at all."

Bokuto nodded his head, but his eyes didn't belief the other at all. "One day, you might regret it."

Kuroo stayed quiet for a while. He grabbed the volley ball from the floor, throwing it to Bokuto. "Shut up, practice with me."

The red string on his finger kept appearing over and over on the course of two years, more than it ever had before. Mostly, Kuroo ignored it, but one day after practice, he found the color of the red string around his pinkie finger was thinning.

"Kuroo?" Kenma raised his eyebrow at him. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing," the captain replied, "it's just, the red string is weird."

Yamamoto walked to them, hand slung around Kenma who groaned. "What's wrong with it?"

"The color is fading away. It's not as red as it used to."

Yamamoto widened his eyes in horror. "Kuroo-san, I think you have to find that person right now."

"Hah?" All eyes turned to them, even the gym was suddenly silent. "Why?"

"The color of the string also shows your life. If it fades out, it means one of you is about to die."

*****

Kuroo himself felt pretty good. He was healthy, and could dodge unwanted accident if needed. But the person on the other side of the string might not be able to do the same.

He looked at the string still present on his pinkie finger, following its steps and hoping he could meet the person on the other end. Right now, he just hoped that person was in Tokyo.

Kuroo took the train and stopped two stations away from his usual stop, following the string to through the unfamiliar parts of Tokyo he rarely visit. He did a double check of the string on his finger and the building in front of him.

A hospital.

So that's why his soulmate never looked for him.

The captain sighed to himself. He made his way to the lobby of the hospital and was met with the waiting room. A nurse behind the receptionist beside him called out. "Can I help you?"

Kuroo looked down at his finger, for once glad that it was still present. He raised it up. "I'm here following my string."

The nurse was taken aback, but nodded understandingly. She gave him a red card. "I trust you still can see the string? You can follow it through the hospital and show the card to any staff member who ask you. They'll understand, you're not the first one to come here following your string."

Kuroo took the card and flipped it. There was nothing on back, just plain red. "I will."

Thanking the nurse, he followed his string inside the hospital, not paying attention to his surrounding until he stopped in front of a room.

If possible, Kuroo would rather not be in there. Finding his soulmate didn't appeal to him back then and he still couldn't find a reason to. But the idea of knowing one of them might die and not do something didn't sit well with him. He took a deep breath, and slide open the hospital door.

Sitting on the hospital bed was a long haired girl. She sat facing the open window, but when Kuroo stepped inside, she turned to him. A pair of [Eye colour] orbs widened at him, but soon a look of understanding washed over her face.

"This is what it took you to search me?"

Kuroo looked away. "To be honest, I don't want to. If my friend didn't told me what it meant for the string to fading away, I would have stay silent a bit more."

Her eyes perked, "Why is it different if one of us might die?"

Kuroo walked closer. He looked at the chair beside the bed, and when the girl smiled at him, he took a seat. "Maybe I want at least we meet each other before we die."

"Even though you didn't want to seek me out?"

"I don't believe in soulmate. I don't like the idea of the universe telling us who to love. But I hate to be the person who know something might happen to one of us and didn't say anything."

Kuroo looked down at his lap, the red string connected the two of them, shorter than Kuroo had ever see.

"Don't worry, it won't be you."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. "Just because you're the one sitting on the hospital bed, doesn't mean it will be you. For now, the two of us need to be careful—"

"The doctor just left a few minutes before you came in," she said, "he said I only have a few months left. 3 months top."

Kuroo paused, his eyes widened in shock. The whole reason why he bother seeking out his soulmate was because one of them might die, but hearing it from her made everything felt too real.

"I see."

"Yeah," she smiled at him, "don't worry, you'll be free from in a few months."

Kuroo looked at her. He didn't came here looking for love. He came here because he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in guilt. But his heart still ache hearing the confession.

"Have you been here alone all the time?"

The girl looked at him puzzled. "Sometimes my friends and family come to visit. Why?"

"I'll come too," he answered, "everyday, after my practice, I'll come visit you."

"I thought you didn't want soulmate?" She laughed.

"I don't," Kuroo quickly answered, "but doesn't mean I can't have one more friend. What do you think?" He smiled at her, leaning his body closer. "Until one of us die—"

"It's me—"

"Until one of us die," he emphasized, "no one knows what happen in the future, don't give up like that. Until one of us die, I'll come visit you and company you. That way whoever between us will die, that person won't be alone. How does that sound?"

The girl looked at him in shock. She chuckled, but soon turned into laughed. "Okay," she answered cheerfully, "my name is [Full Name]. You?"

"Kuroo Tetsurou," he answered, "nice to meet you, [First Name]-chan."

"Nice to meet you, too, Tetsu," you said, "be careful and don't fall for me, okay?"

"I know," you locked your gaze with him, "it'll be troublesome if I do."