Soulmate Au: the first words said to your soulmate appear on their wrist and vice versa, when said.
Requested (I changed the specific colours, but otherwise nothing else)
Tags/Warnings: GN!Reader, Poly relationship, Meet cute, Starts off focused on the 4
Word Count: 2.1k+
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
Kozume was on a rowboat in life. One that was too big for him to grab onto both oars at the same time. His little arms were too small and weak. It was fine though, he would guess. Being alone wasn't bad. It was peaceful, he didn't have to think about anyone else, his imagination could run wild and free about sea monsters and dragons flying overhead.
It was a sudden change when a new player appeared in Kozume's row boat. It got a bit bigger and stronger, but most importantly someone could grab the other oar.
Kuroo and Kozume met at a young age. They both remember meeting clearly, but the realisation of being soulmates came a bit later. When parents are talking, kids don't really want to speak up after all.
Surprisingly, it had been Kozume to speak first, cutting into the silence of them standing stiffly in his bedroom. And with that, "Wanna play Virtua Fighter 4?" was permanently inked onto Kuroo's wrist in a golden brown.
For Kozume, in crimson red the word "Sure" was printed.
Though at the time, neither quite understood the intricacies of being soulmates, it slowly became obvious to each other why they were. Kuroo was understanding, able to pick up on Kozume's mental tune. He knew when the younger boy was excited or bored behind the plain expression he often wore. He didn't need to ask if Kozume was happy, tired, or having fun. He just knew, and Kozume greatly appreciated that.
Kuroo enjoyed Kozume's analytical mind. Though perhaps not as intuitive as Kuroo was with emotions, Kosume was quick to learn and adjustable to understand if Kuroo wanted a change of pace. He brought something new to the table in his own way, usually in the form of a new videogame, often one with puzzles to solve or challenging battles.
They had nine steady years of sticking together as best friends, partners, and soulmates. Nine years until another wrench got thrown into the mix.
Bokuto was an oddball, an unexpected meteor that wasn't picked up by radars. Not that a small row boat had radars in the first place. Nor would it matter when a tsunami was heading their way.
Kuroo and Bokuto met in their 1st year of high school during a tournament. Standing on opposite sides of the net when the tension is at its highest and the crowds cheering seemed to stuff everybody's ears. It was a close game with Kuroo blocking many of Bokuto's hits and Bokuto's frustration climbing. There weren't any direct words exchanged between them until late in the second half when Bokuto landed with an annoyed grunt.
"Stop blocking me!"
Kuroo found his pout and pinched nose entertaining. "Can't, sorry! It's my job!"
Nekoma came out on top that game, and in his petulant state Bokuto didn't take notice of the crimson text on his wrist until they were about to get on the team busses.
While his team still weren't ready to leave, he took the opportunity to run for where he remembered seeing the red team's bus. His teammates were screaming after him as he fled.
He sprinted faster when he saw the familiar spiked black hair about to step on the vehicle. "Wait!"
Kuroo didn't even look over before the spiker took a hold of his wrist and pulled up the sleeve. "Ah—uh?"
Bokuto hadn't said anything about Virtua Fighter 4, did he?
"What's up with you?" Kuroo asked, yanking his arm back.
"You, your soulmate?"
Kuroo's brow quirked.
Noticing the confusion Bokuto pulled his jacket sleeve up, showing the black-haired bow his words that were printed on the skin. "But you're my soulmate!"
Kuroo was stunned for a moment, staring at the familiar colour and words on this stranger's wrist before slowly lifting up the sleeve of his other arm where, lo and behold, said "Stop blocking me!" in silver-grey ink that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
Kozume found Bokuto utterly tiring. But the new set of silver words on his wrist were undeniable. "So you're Kenma!"
To which Kozume replied "Ya." Letting the simple response be stuck on the loud boy's wrist, just beneath Kuroo's words, in the same golden colour.
Boats upgrade all the time, it was nearly a ship at this point. Not that it mattered much when the still had to row everywhere.
Collectively, their parent's were all baffled. It only became worse, perhaps better, once another year passed, and Kozume finally entered high school.
Tokyo, though pretty easy to travel across, was big enough to make seeing Bokuto regularly difficult. Unlike Kuroo and Kenma, who had been neighbours for close to 10 years now and practically glued to each other's side all the time, Bokuto was alone. Alone and often wishing he could spend the afternoon spiking Kenma's tosses in and around Kuroo's blocks.
No one could quite toss like Kenma. And every time Bokuto came home to his own team after a visit to the two, he was reminded of the fact.
Akaashi was a welcomed surprise.
Seemingly showing up out of the blue, Akaashi was just what they needed.
Had Akaashi's teammate never suggested going to watch that tournament, and if they didn't happen to walk in just as Bokuto was flying through the air to land an impressive spike, they probably would have met much later in life.
"Heya! You're Ah-kashi, Right?" It would be imprinted on Akaashi's wrist forever in silver ink.
"It's Ah-ka-ah-shi." In teal to match the boy's eyes, sat pretty on Bokuto's clean wrist on its own.
The four finally met all together during that years' inter-high preliminaries tournament. And as soon as they did, it clicked. Fresh introductions plastered onto their wrists. It just made sense somehow. The four balanced well.
Akaashi and Kenma enjoyed the presence of each other, often talking about things that sparked their interests in quiet tones that were calming. Akaashi knew how Bokuto worked, memorized it like a ballet routine much like Kuroo was with Kenma.
Bokuto and Kuroo managed to pull the most energetic and exciting parts out of each other and the group, keeping things upbeat and happy. Bokuto often was curious about what Kenma was doing on his phone or PS4, giving the quieter of the two a chance to happily ramble about games and play with more people. And Kuroo and Akaashi found each other's intelligence interesting to explore.
Finally, when back home and away from his Nekoma partners, Bokuto had someone to rely on in the same way.
It felt right, like floating on a ship with the wood in all the right places. Maybe they'd let the current take them somewhere instead of trying to row such a heavy thing.
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
Shinzen High, with their green uniforms and matching green landscape, were a great location to host the training camp with the hot summer temperatures. It was also great with all the space available, with a new team joining and all.
No teams would be arriving for another week, however, but despite that, Shinzen's volleyball team was eager to prepare for their arrival, and you were now in the middle of it.
Managers were hard to come by, often students would rather be active participants in the sport, or they would just find another club to join entirely. Which was fine, but with players needing to practice, and the coach's coaching, someone needed to set things up that fell outside of the immediate court. That duty fell on Otaki, the manager of Shinzen high's boy's volleyball team, and she was stressed. So much so that she wasted precious prep time, to find even just a temporary helper to help with things in the week leading to the training camp.
You gave another grunt as you lifted the attached desk and chair to stack on top of another at the back of the classroom. It landed with a metallic thud, and you prayed that there were no exams being written nearby.
Classrooms near the gym that weren't hosting exams were being converted to temporary sleeping spaces for the teams during their training camp.
"Last one," Otaki said. Her blonde ponytail swung as she placed the last cot and pillow on the group. She quickly ran over to the side of the room to grab your water bottles, reaching yours out for you to take a hold of as she got closer. "Thank you again, (L/N) I don't think I would have been able to set this up without an extra hand."
You took a sip of water and waved your free arm back and forth, "It's no problem really. I finished my exams already anyways."
"So you're still willing to help out when the teams arrive?"
You both stepped out of the classroom, quickly making your way to the gyms where the team was practising. "Ya, totally. I never managed to join a club anyways, maybe I could help you out and get the Counsellor off my back. And it definitely beats working on the family farm in this weather."
Otaki sighed. "I'd appreciate the extra help, the boys are a handful."
"I'm sure they are."
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
Volleyball players were —often— tall and very intimidating, especially with their tendency to yell and send balls flying so fast you were sure they would break a bone.
You stared, wide-eyed at the teams in front of you as they played roughly, doing their best to win and avoid punishment. It was already late in the day, the sun beginning to make its dip toward the horizon. And yet, every single player was playing as though they just got on the court.
"(L/N), come on. We gotta start cooking now." Otaki slung her arm into yours pulling you toward the gym's exit where the other managers were waiting with kind smiles.
"We're all here? Then let's get to work.
Everyone rushed out of the gyms as soon as food was called. The quad soulmate group was no different, quickly grabbing their servings of food and sitting down to eat. Kuroo, being the resident pest he was, decided to mess with Bokuto as soon as they sat down.
Seeing the duo-toned-haired boy eagerly shoving rice into his mouth, Kuroo smirked. "Yah, Kuroo! Don't eat so quickly you'll choke!"
Bokuto's brows furrowed and swallowed all the rice he held in his chipmunk cheeks with a single gulp, he huffed. "It's Bokuto."
"Kuroo."
"Bokuto."
Akaashi and Kozume sighed, opting to ignore the two and have their own conversation over the table between bites of food.
"Kuroo."
"Bokuto."
"Bokuto."
"Kuroo."
Kuroo slammed his fist into the table. "Aha! Got you!"
"Damn it!" Bokuto whined, shoving more rice into his mouth to muffle the cries. Kuroo continued to laugh until a new voice popped in at the end of the table.
"Um, do you all want some more rice?"
Kuroo smirked, turning his head with a keening smile. "Hi, I'm Bokuto Koutarou."
At the chance to introduce himself to a new person, Bokuto's head shot up. "I'm Kuroo Tetsurou!" He paused, throwing his head pitifully into the stranger's stomach. "Damn it!"
Breaking away from their conversation, Kozume and Akaashi sighed. Kenma, brushing his bleached hair out of his face, pointed to his teammate next to him with his thumb. "He's Kuroo."
Kuroo smirked.
Akaashi nodded his head toward Bokuto, whose face was still pressed into the stranger's stomach. "And he's, Bokuto."
You blinked, head tilting as your mind spun in circles around the conversation. "Okay? I'm (L/N). Do you four want some more rice?" You looked at the weeping boy pressed against your abdomen. Sighing, you set the bowls of rice down on the table for them to split and raised your hands to brush them into the tired boy's hair. "Maybe some water?"
Unbeknownst to you. The three that weren't crying, caught sight of the familiar colours as they appeared on your skin, popping out like vinyl text on a shirt. They took a look at their wrists, the ones that only had one phrase on them, now paired with another in sage green.
When they looked up again, Bokuto was looking up at you with appreciative eyes, which you returned with a somewhat confused smile, and it clicked, just as it did before.
Even with all the wood and upgrades in the world, ships can't voyage with their sail.
•──────⋅☼⋅──────•
I've written 3 oneshot's in 3 days. They're not long. But I'm writing. Totally not stressed.... Totally not. Definitely not a form of escapism. Help.
And nowwww. I haven't written anything in a month and am working on 3 oneshots simultaneously all of which really should just be individual short stories instead. I refuse to miss my upload dates. Help - Bacon
Posted: 21/11/2021