Every Moment Spent 【 KageHina 】

Prologue

"Mom, what is this mark?"

One day, a child directed his mother's hand to the little enigma placed on his collar, brushing it softly against the skin where the mark was implanted. His eyes, which held a remarkable shade of amber, had lightened up due to sheer excitement, and the smile worn on his face matched with the nest of his vibrant colored hair.

It was natural, for him being a child and one so young, his curiosity would always be at the peak. There were days when he stayed quiet, and days when he'd load numerous sets of questions at his mother and some sounded even ridiculous. This was one of those days.

Yet, his mother was kind enough to be patient, satisfying the little one by giving him her answers in a calming tone. "Oh, this mark?" She smiled, a finger gently tracing about the imprinted buds, and Shoyo could merely breathe out a laughter in response. He nods, nonetheless, his chin by then tilting up further as he continued to grin from ear to ear.

"This is a soulmate mark, Shoyo."

He perked up, curiosity now highlighting his features as he watched his mother moved about without much effort. Soulmate? That was a word he never once heard, and so, he asked for one more time. "What's a soulmate?"

"A soulmate..." Shoyo could tell, his mother was fumbling around in search for proper words to give an easily understandable explanation for a child. In exchange for dealing with his countless questions, he waited for her answer which was quite hard for him, a bit jarring, but that was due to the fact that Shoyo was not one of the most patient children.

"They'reー they're someone who you can spend your whole life with." She finally said, easing him with his little to none patience. "Someone who you will love with forever." Then that clicked a familiar image in his head.

"Oh! Like you and dad? Does that mean you both also have a mark?" His mother nodded at the question with another one of her warm smiles. "We do. But you," She proceeded to say, caressing a thumb against his cheeks, "You have a very special mark."

"I do?"

"You do."

Hinata Shoyo, a child of naivety and figurative sunshine, didn't hesitate in believing what his mother has said. He was special, he believed that he was.

For how long he could remember, Shoyo had a mark imprinted on the patch of his collarbone since birth. As made ascertained by his mother, his mark definitely was unique for every time someone managed a glimpse of his mark, they'd surely tell him that it was beautiful without missing a beat- and he wouldn't agree more.

Said mark consisted of not only one but two flower buds with their veins interlaced on his skin. They varied from each other vastly in terms of colors; one being a brilliant color of an oceanic hue and the other being a lovely shade of an apricot. By special, he supposed that it was a form of a blessing.

They may have yet to grow, but it was a clear indication that his encounter with his supposedly soulmate continued to remain at the ticking hands of the clock away. Shoyo couldn't wait to see them grow, but at the meantime, he was scared. How was his soulmate like, he wondered? Would they be kind? How would they look like?

However, that wasn't what mostly bothered him. What bothered him the most was how so often he had to hear the hushed words of amazement and envy along with judging glances being thrown at his way.

He never expected that this blessing soon became a curse.

Out of spite, few rumors had ignited about him and the consequences he was left to deal with the whispers made behind his back. Shoyo remained to have faithful friends, albeit lacking in numbers, they were the ones who would help standing up for him and honestly, he could never thank them enough.