Ruby Red Threads

#07 Akito



Soulmate. Ren is my soulmate.

I turned the idea around in my head all night yesterday, and yet it has not started sounding any less absurd. I never asked for a soulmate. All I've ever wanted is a flawless high school record and a college degree, and this whole fate business is only getting in the way. I was supposed to read through next week's syllabus last night, but I wasn't able to because my mind kept drifting back to Ren and his bruised knuckles.

It's that string, I remind myself. That red string that keeps yanking my thoughts back to him over and over.

Fate, she said. A supernatural power. The will of the universe. And I have no choice but to believe her, because as improbable as it sounds, I don't have the luxury to call it ludicrous after every impossible thing that Ren has made me feel. I just don't see the point of it. Having a soulmate. Why would you want to involve yourself so deeply with another at such a cost? Why should I feel the pain that's Ren's to feel?

But now that I know why all of this is happening, I'm one step closer to making it stop. The thought brings me some comfort.

"Morning! What are we having today?" a sing-song voice asks from the doorway.

It's seven in the morning, and I'm in my cramped kitchen, getting together breakfast for my sister and me. "Soba," I answer without looking up from the vegetable cutter. She's woken up earlier than usual today. She finishes up late at work, so she normally gets out of bed only a half hour before it's time for school to start and takes the train after she's ready. It's up to me to pack lunches for the both of us.

"Mmm, that sounds good," she hums, sidling up beside me. "I'll get the water heated."

"I can do it," I mumble, swiftly dicing up the onions and sliding them into a sizzling pan with practised ease.

"Nuh-uh, too late!" She announces with a punch to my shoulder, then proceeds to haul a cooking pot from the drawer with visible difficulty. I leave her be, even though I don't understand why she's pushing herself this way. We already established that this would be my job. "Alright, thank you."

The shuffling of steel stops. "Akito, we're siblings," she grumbles quietly. "You don't have to thank me. Especially not for something this silly." She's looking at me with her arms crossed, waiting. I don't understand. When somebody goes out of their way to lend you a hand, it's common practise to thank them. What does being family or not have anything to do with it? The expression on Nee-san's face tells me that it isn't a good idea to voice my thoughts, however, so I wordlessly continue to rummage through the shelves for salt.

She sighs and gives up, and we work quietly together for some time.

Then she brings him up. "So I talked to Rubi yesterday, and...you and Ren seem to be pretty close," she says slowly, and there's a glint in her eyes and a slant to her smile that I don't know what to make of.

"We're not," I answer tightly, switching off the stove with a flick of my wrist. "It's done."

"You're not?" she asks, narrowing her eyes at me. "I thought the two of you were spending a lot of time together."

I can't exactly deny that we are. "Can you bring out the dishes?" I ask in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Ren.

She looks bothered by my lack of a response but does what I ask her to, and together, we clear out the counter before setting down our respective breakfasts on its surface, pulling up stools to sit on because we don't have space for a separate dining area in this house. Joining our hands, we murmur a small prayer to express our gratitude for the meal before us and pick up our chopsticks to help ourselves.