The Soulmate Link | SaneGiyuu

Eight - Giyuu's POV

Giyuu stared at his phone, still feeling the lingering warmth of Sanemi's voice in his ears. The call had ended minutes ago, but his heart was still pounding, and his thoughts were a whirlwind of emotions. Happiness, warmth, confusion, and a hint of concern—it all flooded him at once, but the happiness overshadowed everything else. He couldn't help but smile, his cheeks flushed as he sat on the edge of his bed, replaying Sanemi's laugh over and over again in his mind.

Sanemi's voice had been everything Giyuu imagined and more. There was a roughness to it, an edge that sent shivers up his spine, but it was also surprisingly warm, especially when he laughed. That laugh had been like music to Giyuu's ears, a sound he hadn't realized he'd been longing to hear. It had made him feel light, like the weight of the world had momentarily lifted off his shoulders.

But the longer he sat there, thinking about Sanemi, the happiness began to fade, slowly replaced by a gnawing fear and a creeping sense of shame. Giyuu knew what this meant—he liked Sanemi, and not just as a friend. The flirting, the late-night conversations, the way they joked around with each other—it had all gotten to him, and he'd fallen for Sanemi harder than he cared to admit.

He was pissed at himself for it. Sanemi was just another person, a fleeting moment, a brief feeling of interest that wasn't supposed to mean anything. Giyuu had a soulmate out there, someone who was meant to be his perfect match, his other half. They were living their life somewhere in the world, and here he was, falling for someone else. It felt wrong, like he was betraying not only his soulmate but also the idea of soulmates in general.

But no matter how much he tried to push it away, the thought of having both—Sanemi and his soulmate—kept creeping back into his mind. It was a selfish thought, one he knew he shouldn't entertain, but he couldn't help it. The connection he felt with Sanemi was real, and it scared him how much he wanted to explore it further.

For the past few days, Giyuu had been tapping into his soulmate link more and more, unable to resist the curiosity that had been growing inside him. He used to shut his soulmate out, ignoring the faint pull in his chest, but something had changed recently. Maybe it was Sanemi, maybe it was just time, but Giyuu found himself wanting to know more about the person he was destined to be with.

The emotions that flowed through the link were a mix of his own and his soulmate's, clashing and blending together in a way that was both comforting and overwhelming. There were moments when Giyuu got busy or distracted, and the connection would slip away temporarily, but he figured that was to be expected after years of keeping his soulmate at arm's length. The bond wasn't as strong as it could have been, but it was still there, and it was growing stronger each day.

Giyuu leaned back against the headboard of his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he let out a frustrated sigh. He was in over his head, caught between two people—one he'd never met but was supposed to spend the rest of his life with, and the other he'd only just started to get to know but couldn't stop thinking about. It was a mess, and he had no idea how to sort it out.

The guilt gnawed at him, reminding him of the promise he'd made to himself years ago—to never let anyone in, to protect himself from the pain of losing someone again. But now, with Sanemi in the picture and his soulmate's emotions bleeding into his own, that promise felt impossible to keep.

Giyuu closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to steady his racing heart. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to navigate this confusing mix of feelings. All he knew was that he couldn't keep ignoring the connection he had with his soulmate, and he couldn't keep denying the pull he felt towards Sanemi.

Somehow, he'd have to find a way to reconcile the two, to figure out what he really wanted and what he was willing to risk for it.

Giyuu lay on his bed, the quiet of his room accentuating the whirlwind of emotions inside him. He thought back to his childhood, to the tender touch of his mother's kisses, the solid comfort of his father's strong arms, and the gentle care his sister Tsutako had given him. Those memories were bittersweet reminders of the affection he had lost.