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𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷

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On Nobara's 16th birthday, Maki Zenin's name appeared on her skin permanently. Since she's the marked half, she knows Maki doesn't know a thing, only she knows and she intends to keep it that way.

When her name appeared, it was as if she received a painless tattoo in an instant, one second there, and the next there was her name. Fading on to her skin to stay eternally.

Only one partner receives a name. The most common placement is the arm. Size and writing vary. Studies of marked people attempted to find similarities and realized there were none. When Nobara learned only one partner has a name, she was shocked and slightly disappointed. She thought that would make it harder for one half to find the other. But according to her mother, they're tied together by fate, chance meetings will occur throughout their lifetimes typically. However, sometimes even that's not enough and soulmates can find it hard to find the other.

Though it seems she was either the luckiest or unluckiest person in the world considering Maki was right in front of her only months after Nobara learned of her existence. She was truly grateful for the fact Maki doesn't also have her name on her body. Nobara plans on keeping that information to herself. Maki didn't need to know a thing.

When Nobara was a child, she compared the soulmate system to a scavenger hunt. In that childish outlook of hers, she thought it would be a 'mission' for one to find the other. One half is given the information, and a sure point in time that their paths will cross. They have to make the most of it. The ability to sense the bond is stronger for the person who receives the name.

Upon learning this fact, Nobara knew she wanted to be marked. She didn't want to be the half without a name, that felt like you were waiting for your other half to find you. Waiting around was something Nobara despised doing. Something that hadn't really changed as she got older either. She wanted to be able to be the half that took action and find her person herself. The person who doesn't receive a name still can sense the bond, but more faintly. It's harder for them to detect the other.

The bond can be compared to a two-way connection with one half having the stronger signal.

If your soulmate dies, you'll know immediately since the connection is broken instantaneously. The other party can feel when it breaks as though their body was ripped apart. A type of physical pain manifested through mental turmoil. It's always the same response from anyone who is unlucky enough to experience it, 'I felt like my body was on fire, and my skin was tearing and I automatically knew what had happened...'

There is grief counseling for those who have lost their soulmate, and some come to find love with the others who have had this tragedy happen to them, sometimes making the best of a broken situation is all one can do.

Nobara researched much more about the soulmate bonds a year before her 16th birthday. It began to feel more real than just the fantasy she had imagined would be her life when she was younger. Her ideas changed as she got older, and how she saw herself had changed as well. She wanted to have some clue as to who she could end up with because the more she thought about the bond itself the more it felt like a rope tying her down. Instead of the string gently pulling her to her intended match.

The system is said to never be wrong and there is no way to tell who you will be paired with. Although the system is told to be completely accurate, some people are still seen as outcasts because they are outliers within the perfect system.

People who do not align with society's already established ideals are generally cast aside.

She learned exactly what that entailed with more deep diving. It seemed the information was made deliberately hard to find. These situations she found out about seemed incredibly rare then.

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