One Piece X Reader: SOULMATES

Reader X Ichiji "Appreciation"

Returning to his room in the mansion, the redhead shed himself of his cape and slumped onto his bed, not exactly knowing what to do with himself in his free time- in fact he never knew what to do with himself when there wasn't a mission to preoccupy himself with.

Thinking back to his last mission, Ichiji backtracked everything that happened- right down to the very fine details, how damn easy it was, how efficiently fast they were done with the deed, how it was irritatingly a complete and utter waste of his time and energy.

Honestly, he thought he should have been annoyed- but he wasn't.

He just felt empty.

It was always a void of nothingness that engulfed his soul, it never bothered him, nor did he ever think he should have been bothered by such nullity, it was just always there.

He was a soldier who would die to complete his mission- simple as that.

Until it suddenly wasn't simple anymore.

Feeling the bridge of his nose moisten, the prince removed his sunglasses and rubbed the creases in between his eyes calmly, though he was silently put under confusion when something contracted in his chest at the memories.

There was one day where something just changed.

During a mission to aid some group in their meaningless turf war, as the violence of the utter annihilation of their enemies sweeped over the streets- which wasn't as difficult as it should have been, something changed.

He actually felt something- or at least he thought that's what it was.

He didn't notice it at first as he was wiping out the low-lives, but as the dust began to settle a little more, the prince could feel his blood was pumping a little warmer- as if excited.

He was left puzzled feeling this for the first time, it was unusual- but admittedly not entirely unwelcome.

After pondering over it for a good few minutes once the fight was officially over, he could say that it felt nice- enjoyable in its own way.

It was something akin to a fire and a magnet, once his brothers pointed it out to him, Ichiji realized his body was repeatedly trying to lure him in the same direction- a direction that felt warmer.

Curious..

As his family finalized the details with their clients, the oldest son focused solely on the new sensations traveling through his body, it was a rushed, warm feeling- surprisingly he could actually feel his heart beating in his chest, that was new as well.

He didn't exactly know what to make of it, but ultimately Ichiji found himself enjoying it- like a pastime or something to distract himself with.

Yes, he decided he liked it very much.

But then it went away just as suddenly as it appeared.

Once he returned to Germa, the sensation was absent, no longer could he feel the gentle thumping of his heart against his own rib-cage, the warm blood in his veins slowed down- returning to a dull drift.

The next thing Ichiji realized was that he was strangely left amiss, the void inside himself that he never thought once about was suddenly plaguing the back of his mind to the point he was getting behind on sleep- not that it bothered him, it was just something he noticed.

He couldn't stop feeling cold for some reason, he was constantly freezing- was he always this frigid?

Absentmindedly pressing his palm to his chest, Ichiji paused- as if waiting for something- his heartbeat to thump back.