14 Days | KiriBaku | BakuShima

Day 10

"Kiri!"

"Huh?" Kirishima jerked upright, just in time to see the last of his classmates trailing out of the classroom. Midnight stood at the front, fussing around in her bag. Slightly confused, his eyes flickered to the right to see Ashido leaning over his desk, her black and golden eyes wide with concern.

"Hey, you alright?" she asked, poking him in the forehead. Kirishima recoiled, playfully smacking her hand away. "You've been totally out of it all day."

Kirishima blinked. "It's the end of the day?"

Clearly, that was the wrong answer, because it earned his a worried sigh and furrowed brows. "What's wrong, Kiri? You can tell me," Ashido promised, her tone sincere.

Oh yeah, of course. My soulmate appears to be an asshole who won't talk to me, I have a crush on a guy who has a soulmate, and last night I had a super creepy dream about our domestic life. But I'm fine!

"Just...a weird night," Kirishima mumbled, pushing his chair back and getting to his feet, picking up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Ashido was right beside him. He hated having such aggressive thoughts, especially towards his friends, but that part of him was something he couldn't seem to silence. Flashing the pink-haired girl a grin, they went to exit the classroom together, only for a lilting voice to call him back.

"Oh, Kirishima! Can I speak to you?"

Blinking a few times to clear his mind of the fog that seemed to have settled into it, Kirishima turned. "Of course!" He sent a bright smile to Mina, who told him she was going to the dorms before bounding out of the door, her pink hair bouncing in time with her steps.

"What did you want to speak to me about, Midnight-sensei?" Kirishima asked politely, making his way back over to her desk. His teacher was rummaging through her bag for a moment before she let out a delighted crow of victory, pulling out a sheet of paper and slamming it with unnecessary force onto her desk.

Chuckling to herself, Midnight raised her eyes to look at Kirishima, who was thoroughly confused but trying to to show it. "I did some research on what you asked me about soulmates." Upon seeing his blank look, she elaborated. "About some people not having them?"

"Oh!" Kirishima felt a flush rise in his cheeks. "You didn't need to do that, Sensei."

Midnight shrugged, unbothered by his apparent embarrassment. "I wanted to. Topics like that are interesting to me." She paused, then cast her dark eyes down to the lone paper on the wood. "You asked me if it were possible for someone not to have a soulmate, and I suppose the answer I gave was incorrect."

"A-sexuals and people not seeking one, right?" Kirishima murmured, the memory returning and momentarily driving back the uncomfortable feeling in his mind.

"Exactly!" Midnight declared, but then picked up the sheet and turned it to face him, a slender finger stabbing at the second paragraph or so. "But then I found this!" She turned it back to face her and began to read. "One can safely assume that, if one can activate the perks of their soulmate connection, then their soulmate is out there, waiting. Only if there is no glow to your forearm can you declare with confidence that your soulmate is lost or has never existed in the first place." Midnight looked at him excitedly, but didn't say anything.

"So..." Kirishima mused. "If you can't communicate with your soulmate, you don't have one?"

"Precisely!" Midnight yanked her yellow blouse sleeve up and trailed her pinky across the delicate surface of her skin. A thin, blue line appeared under her touch. "If I did that and nothing came up, I wouldn't have a soulmate."