“Levy!” I looked up from the book I had been reading when my friend, Lucy Heartfilia, shrieked my name.
“What is it, Lu-chan?” I asked, noticing she looked excited about something.
“Guess,” she grinned, her entire face lit up now with excitement.
I shrugged. “You passed your chemistry exam?”
“My exam isn’t until next week,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You know that. Guess again.”
“I’m out of ideas,” I said, unable to keep a smile from my own lips as she practically radiated joy.
“I’m at two hours!!” She squealed, jumping up and down. “Look!” She held out her wrist, and the black numbers against her skin slowly darkened until I could see them. Indeed, she only had two hours, four minutes, and thirty-seven seconds left until her timer would be at zero.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Nervous,” she admitted, blushing a little. “I can’t imagine who my soulmate is going to be. I mean, I’m supposed to go—” She cut off with a gasp.
“What?”
“Levy, in two hours I’m going to be with you in your apartment!” She exclaimed.
“Lu-chan, I don’t think we’re going to be soulmates,” I teased.
“True, since your countdown clock still has a couple of years left, but what about your roommate? I finally get to meet him tonight, right?”
When I realized what she meant, I felt my heart fall into my stomach. That’s right. She would be with Gajeel and me for game night, so he’s really the only one she would be able to meet. But Gajeel told me he still had a while left on his clock. I frowned, remembering how he had answered me the day before when I had asked him how much time he had left. “Who knows?” Had been his answer. That could really mean anything, actually. Maybe he just didn’t want to tell me because he was trying to spare my feelings.
I was suddenly no longer in the mood for our upcoming game night. If I have to watch Lu-chan and Gajeel as their timers run out together, I don’t know what I’ll do. I clutched my wrist tightly. One thing was for sure, it would definitely break my heart more than it already was.
~Gajeel~
“Hey metal head,” Natsu Dragneel grinned as he punched me on the shoulder. “Are we still on for game night?”
“Yeah, flame brain,” I smirked.
“So, what’s your roommate like? The one you’ve been telling me about in class all semester.”
“Levy?” I asked, wondering why he cared. “She’s a Shrimpy bookworm. She has a big heart and is a lot prettier than she thinks she is. She’s kind of oblivious when it comes to that stuff, though.” Finding myself prattling on, I cleared my throat as an excuse to stop talking. “Why are you wanting to know what the Shrimp’s like?”
He grinned, holding out his wrist. “My countdown clock is at two hours. Seeing as how you still have a few years left, I assumedyou weren’t my soulmate. And Levy is the only other person who’s going to be at the apartment tonight, right?”
“Unless you count the cat,” I murmured, humorlessly.
“Well, at least now I know she won’t be bad to spend the rest of my life with. She actually sounds pretty cool.”
I couldn’t respond. I was focusing all of my energy on not punching him in the face. He honestly hadn’t said anything bad, but the urge was still there, and it nearly won. The thought of him being with Levy—kissing her, marrying her, having children with her—sent my blood boiling. I clenched my fists tightly, trying not to think about it.
