A/N: Riko got the most votes from Aqours, so I thought I should write another one-shot for her.
//Also, to make up for not writing anything on November lmao
(Soulmate AU)
~~~
"It's that time of the year again!" you could hear your classmates yell in delight.
"That's right, that's right, I hope I finally get what I want this year too..." another one followed.
"Hey, you guys think it'll finally be my year?" a third one laughed.
You knew exactly what they were talking about, and it isn't just Christmas. You see, there's a yearly tradition in which people have a higher chance of meeting their soulmate during Christmas time.
It differs for every person. Most people are born with a tattoo on a part of their body, and others have a timer on their wrist.
But as for you. You were born with neither of those. You don't have a tattoo or a timer. Because of that, you are often teased about how you'll one day end up as a lonesome grandma.
You sighed, "I hope it's finally my year too..."
Numazu City has a population of almost 200,000 people, so why, you always wonder, haven't you met your soulmate yet in your 16 years of living? You're already a second year student, for pete's sake, and your other friends have already found their soulmates.
"Maybe my soulmate just isn't in the main city where I live? Maybe they're in another village..." you grabbed a sheet of paper from your bag and began listing down the villages of Numazu. "Ashitaka, Oohira, Nishiura, Hara Town, Heda, or Uchiura..." you put your pen down, sighing. "...they're in one of those. Or maybe in another place all together. Who knows? Darn, I hope I'll get a sign tomorrow or something."
"(F/N)-san!" one of your friends called out. "Wanna go home together?"
You quickly kept the paper you wrote on and smiled at her, "Ah, yeah, sure!"
"Well, tomorrow is another day..." you thought.
~~~
Hearing the sound of birds chirping and feeling the warmth of the sun, you sat down on your bed, stretched out your arms and let go of a much needed yawn. Your teachers had given your class so much homework than you had less than 4 hours of total sleep.
Still in your pajamas, you rubbed your eyes in hopes of making your sleepiness disappear, which didn't appear to be working, unfortunately.
You felt an odd feeling on your arm, so you checked on it to see if there was something wrong.
"What... Is this?" you mumbled, still feeling groggy.
There were writings on your left arm. There, it was written: After class - Ask Chika-san for the lyrics
"I didn't write this..." you continued as you analyzed the writing on your arm. "My handwriting isn't this clean, and I don't think I know anyone by the name of Chika... Huh, weird. Did I get drunk last night because of all the homework?" you lightly laughed at your own joke because of how stupid it sounded to you. "Of course not."
You stood up and went downstairs of your apartment and head for the sink to wash off the mysterious writing, but no matter how hard you cleaned and scrubbed your arm, the writing wouldn't go away.
"Strange..." you muttered. "It won't come off."
"...Darn, I hope I'll get a sign tomorrow or something."
Your mind automatically reminded you of your words yesterday.
"...I did say that, didn't I?" you thought aloud.
You did your daily routine of eating breakfast, and taking a bath to get ready for another gruelling day at school. You decided to put on a cardigan over your sailor styled uniform to hide your arms. No one would question since it is getting colder everyday, after all.
"Don't want anyone overreacting to this..."
~~~
Throughout the day, your left arm had been acting and feeling weird. It felt as if it was being stung.
You raised your right arm, not being able to move your left, "E-Excuse me, teacher..." Everyone turned to look at you. "May I go to the comfort room?"
Your teacher nodded, and you immediately got out of your seat and sprinted to the girl's comfort room. Your sense of mystery was tingling, and you desperately wanted to find out why this was happening to you.
As you stepped inside a cubicle, you took off your cardigan and examined your left arm once more.
This time, there were more writings.
Lunch break - ask Mari-san about the venue
Ask Yō-chan if the song suits the outfits
Tell Yoshiko-chan to stop her chuunibyou delusions
Practice dog taming with Shiitake
"No way..." you took a deep breath. "Chika... Mari... Yō... Yoshiko... All such unfamiliar names. It's like they're reminding me to do stuff... With people I don't know?"
You shook your head, and put on your cardigan. "I should get to class now, I can worry about this later."
~~~
The bell rang and class had finally ended.
"I'll go on ahead." You told your friends as you hurriedly slung your shoulder bag and ran off.
You went straight home and into your bedroom where you immediately sat down on your study desk and grabbed the piece of paper you wrote on the other day.
The list of villages was still there.
"Chika... Mari... Yō... Yoshiko... Shiitake..."
You recited as you wrote those names next to the list of villages. You wanted to find a connection. Just any connection between the names and the villages.
"Nah," you sighed. "Doesn't ring any bells."
Just when you were about to examine your arm once more, you realized, "Ah... The writings are gone?" You slumped down and placed your head on the desk in defeat. "Just what is this?"
For now, you decided, you should just observe what happens next.
~~~
As the days passed by, you managed to scribble more and more on the piece of paper you dearly kept.
Not only did it have a list of villages and a few names, but it now has more names, and a few more locations to it.
But, still, it wasn't enough to pinpoint where this whole thing was coming from.
"(F/N)...?"
If only you had one more clue... Just one more hint...
"(F/N)!"
Maybe something pertaining the identity of these people? That would be such a great help right now.
"Hey, (F/N)! Are you still even alive?"
You flinched as you turned to look at your classmate beside you, "Oh, I'm sorry... I guess I was spacing out, haha."
Your classmate smiled at you, "That's fine! I was just curious about that sheet of paper there. There were so many scribbles, it was hard to identify just one set of words!" she laughed.
You felt yourself blush in embarrassment, "Err, yeah, I know my handwriting isn't the neatest..."
"That isn't why I approached you though!"
"Ermm so my handwriting really is pretty bad since she dodged it completely..." you thought.
"I mean," she continued. "I didn't know you were into school idol groups too!"
"School... Idol groups?"
True, you've heard of the phenomenon but you've never really listened to their music or paid attention to the media surrounding them.
"Yeah! Aren't those the names of Aqours? They're from Uchiura and are getting more and more attention and fame!"
"This is it!" you thought. "My chance for more info!"
You laughed lightly, "Ahh, actually, a friend introduced them to me recently. I haven't actually dived into their fanclub or anything like that..." you played along, hoping to gain new information.
You could see something in your classmate's eyes shine, "Then you've come to the right person! I'm a self-proclaimed super high school level school idol group fanatic!"
"...and an otaku as well, huh?" you thought.
If this was going to give you new info, then who are you to complain?
"Well then, please tell me everything you know."
~~~
You scratched your head as you proceeded to analyze the situation further the moment you arrived at your apartment.
You have formed the following conclusion as you drew circles and lines to represent the connection between the lists you've written out in the past few days.
First off, this is all coming from Uchiura. The names you had written down are members of a school idol group called Aqours. Well, minus "Shiitake" because your classmate told you that was the name of their leader's dog.
The other locations that you've written out such Ryokan Inn, or Uranohoshi Girls' Academy are popular landmarks in Uchiura.
"Hm... This is what I've got so far."
You closed your eyes, focusing on the problem at hand.
How would you meet her in the first place?
You looked at your left arm, which was completely clean for the day. You directed your gaze to your clock. It was currently 11 PM.
"She must be asleep by now."
Now that you were more sure and comfortable with the identity of your supposed soulmate, you grabbed a pen and wrote on your arm, not expecting any response in particular.
Good morning. Have a nice day :)
~~~
"Did I write this?" Riko asked herself as she woke up and looked at her left arm. "I'm sure I washed everything last night before going to bed..."
But somehow, the messiness of the handwriting and the little smiley face at the end made her feel like she can trust these words.
"You know..." she mumbled. "Maybe I just forgot to wash this one off. How strange..." she proceeded to once again write down reminders for her throughout the day.
"A notebook would be much more efficient than this, but I always seem to forget about it..." she sighed. "Well, it's a nice snowy weekend today. Time to practice at Mari-san's place for our Christmas concert!"
~~~
You read the new writings on your arm.
There were more than usual.
This person seemed like she leads a busy life, yeah?
Your phone buzzed. Startled by it a bit, you slowly got it and opened to see a notification of a new text message from the self-proclaimed SHSL school idol group fanatic.
Aqours is coming to Numazu!!!!!!!! aaaaAAAAAaAaaAaaaaAa
（╯°□°）╯︵(\ .o.)\
You felt your heartbeat quicken. Was this your chance?
You replied.
Eh... What do you mean?
Your friend replied without missing a single beat.
They're coming here for a Christmas live! You planning on going?! 'Cause I sure am!!!!!
You looked at the date on your phone, it was currently still the 17th. You still had a week to save up on money.
Okay, let's go together.
OHHH WISE DECISION, MY FRIEND. Let's get the VIP backstage ones! ;D
And how much do those cost??
Oh, um... I think it's [censored because of how expensive it is] ¥ for one ticket.
You almost spat out blood due to how expensive they are. You wished someone would gift you a ticket for the holidays. You sighed as you sent in your reply.
Alright, I'm still going.
YESSSS!
~~~
The week after that was full of you doing a series if part-time jobs to earn money to buy a single concert and still have enough money to pay rent for the month.
It was now the 24th, the day the both of you decided to buy your tickets.
"You ready to buy your tickets, my friend?" your classmate asked you with a playful grin on their face as the two of you met up near the concert venue.
The both of you successfully bought your tickets and decided to meet up tomorrow two hours before the start of the concert.
~~~
Today was the day of the concert. This time, there weren't any writings anymore.
This made you feel nervous. You couldn't believe it, you might finally meet your soulmate for real now. You took deep breaths as you changed for the concert. You and your friend are going to meet up soon.
You smiled, "Good luck. Do your best at the concert... Alright?" you whispered to no one in particular.
~~~
"Riko-chan!" Riko turned her head to Chika.
"What is it, Chika-chan?"
"Do you feel nervous? I somehow feel a bit nervous..." Chika giggled.
Riko shook her head, "For some reason, I don't..." she looked at her left arm. "I feel as if I'll be okay for this concert."
They were currently backstage, prepping for the concert.
"You think something special will happen today?" Chika asked with a grin.
Riko laughed, "I sure hope so."
"Okay, girls, it's showtime!" Dia yelled as she finished up her little sister's makeup.
Riko stood up with a confident smile, "Let's do this."
~~~
Meanwhile, you were engaged in a battle with an energetic crowd, but you still ended up in a nice seat with a nice clear view of the stage.
"Isn't this exciting, (F/N)!?" your friend spoke, shaking, and their eyes sparkling.
You were feeling nervous too, but damn, your friend needed to chill more than you.
You heard the music start playing.
"IT'S STARTING!! OH MY GOD." your friend yelled, earning a few stares from a lot of people.
You mentally facepalmed, "God, save me."
"IT'S AQOURS, (F/N)!! LOOK!! IT'S THEM!!!"
As she continued to scream and yell, you focused on the nine people dancing on stage.
Now, you did your research on them and listened to their songs. They were pretty good, and you liked their group.
As you watched them dance, you found yourself smiling. They just had this aura that energizes everyone and makes them happy.
One of them met your gaze, it was the one with long almost red hair. If you remembered correctly her name was Riko. Since you made eye contact, you smiled at her and yelled, "Go, Aqours! Do your best!"
You swore you saw a blush on her cheeks.
~~~
"Tonight's show was great, wasn't it?" Kanan said as she wiped her face with a towel.
"The crowd was amazing!" Hanamaru answered, eating a slice of bread.
"I hope they liked our new outfits!" Yō said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure everyone did." Yoshiko answered.
Riko still couldn't let that feeling go, when a certain someone in the crowd smiled at her. It sent her on a mental rollercoaster, and it almost made her forget about the next step of the dance they were doing. Fortunately, she had no mistakes.
"Ah, the meet and greet portion is about to start." Chika said, changing into a casual shirt.
The nine of them went into their places and waited for the line to come in.
Despite all of that, Riko still couldn't entirely focus.
~~~
"Let's go in line already, (F/N)!" your friend dragged you along the way to the backstage.
"Geez, I can walk on my own, you know?"
"I know, I'm just super excited!"
You felt a sting on your left hand.
You quickly checked what it was.
☆ Great job today, Aqours!! ☆
Zero to One, let's go!
You smiled at the sentiment. Looks like they're really happy about today.
You thought it was cute.
"Which line are you going for, (F/N)?"
You had already decided which girl you were going to see first.
A day before the concert, you had cancelled out all possible options except one: Sakurauchi Riko.
But before you could answer, a crowd busted in, separating you and your friend.
"(F/N)!"
"Darn!"
As a result, you were at the very last of Riko's line.
"...I hope the time doesn't run out."
You waited minutes, which turned to almost an hour.
And finally, it was your turn, but the thing is, you were the only fan left. You could see the other eight members looking at you and Riko, which only added to your nervousness and the pressure.
"I hope you liked the show." Riko said, giving you a closed-eye smile.
"I... I did." you found yourself lost in her eyes. She was... Beautiful.
You let Riko sign the merchandise that came with the VIP ticket.
"I hope you'll continue to support Aqours!"
They were about to exit, when you for whatever reason yelled out, "...w-wait a sec!"
All nine of them looked at you, confused. Gulping, you grabbed Riko's left hand.
"E-Excuse me, what are you trying to do...?" Riko asked, blushing a dark red at your bold actions.
You didn't say anything, you only showed your left hand which had the same words.
Riko couldn't believe her eyes.
You grabbed a pen from your pocket and began writing on your hand.
I finally found you :)
The school idol gasped, she recognized that handwriting and that smiley face.
Riko felt a sting on her left hand, and sure enough the words faded in on her skin.
The other eight members smiled, seeing Riko so happy made them happy too.
She got the pen from your hand and wrote on her left hand:
You found me :)
You felt the sting on your hand too.
With tears in both of your eyes, she pulled you into a hug.
The both of you felt the writings on your skin fade away as Riko whispered into your ear, "Thank you for finding me."