Keep me in distant sight

Chapter 17 : Home

Despite his best reassurance that he was able to meet his Soulmate's family, Akaashi had to wait until the end of the Bright Day before he could face his "in-laws". It isn't a problem of losing consciousness - granted, he is sleeping like he has a whole lifetime of sleep lacking, but he is getting better at having full conversations. He is less eloquent than before however, something Kōtarō can't know but he himself has noticed after a few "days". He struggles a lot more than before in articulating his thoughts and constructing his speech. He wonders if it's momentaneous or if it will stay forever. He chooses to speak in a simpler form for the time being.

Before that meeting, he had asked, no, ordered his Soulmate for a haircut. It's been long overdue, considering his hair falls below his chin. It's also to allow them to grow back stronger, since they are frayed past the point of saving. He almost asks for dye but after some thinking, he decides he doesn't need it. Also, he doesn't know if nillians practice dyeing their feathers so...

In any case, Kōtarō was in charge until Oikawa put his foot down. The human was just outside Kōtarō's home - their home, he should say- when he had declared loudly that he didn't trust someone that only shed feathers to do a good job on hair. He had also said that Akaashi was "a true beauty that shouldn't be degraded by an awful haircut", to which Kōtarō agreed wholeheartedly before understanding the self-own they just have done. Inside their room, Akaashi had laughed under his breath quietly, amused and fond of his Soulmate's antics. He had patiently waited for the other human to come to him, with Kōtarō on his heels of course. Oikawa had explained a bit about who he was. How he had come to the stars and never left. How he had taken it upon himself to help the newcomers because he would have given both of his kidneys to have help in the beginning of his life with his Soulmate, a sausian he called Iwa-chan. To the surprise of Akaashi, he wasn't a day over 35 in appearance but he was actually way, way older: he was born in 2100. Akaashi was launched in 2411 and landed in 2415. The math is simple.

And still, when he had expressed his doubts, Oikawa had merely rolled his eyes before speaking in his old language, Japanese. U.L was a mix of many languages so some words were familiar to Akaashi, but a vast majority of speech remained non understandable. He might have rehearsed a whole plaidoyer if Akaashi hadn't stopped him. After all, he was in space with a Soulmate from another species, another planet entirely, with a bond that stretched for light years. A human surviving more years than usual for their kind was definitely weird but at this point, he will accept everything thrown at him.

"How come you're so old? Does your Soulmate's kind has a way to keep you young?"

Oikawa had nodded.

"You can be offered the same thing, if you wish to. However, you need to be careful about your health."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah it's true they hide how soulbond works. You die when they die. Even if you are 25 or even 7, if the bond is formed and your soulmate dies, then it's over for you. If they fall sick, you do as well. My neighbor was diagnosed with kidney cancer when I was a kid. His wife was a healthy 58 years-old. He died in barely two years and his wife manifested the same disease after they learned his diagnosis. They died at home, they were in their garden. Same time, to the exact second. You share more than just a soul. You can say you share the same body divided in two parts. It isn't all pretty and beautiful. It can be really gruesome when health fails you. We had so many cases of young teens or even children dying because their soulmate had an accident..." Oikawa had trailed off before he coughed lightly, noticing the somber atmosphere. "Let's get you that haircut."

"How come Kōtarō didn't fall into a coma as well then? Because we hadn't met properly?" Akaashi had asked after some time, when Oikawa was busy washing his hair.