Anime Oneshots

Banana Fish (Ash x Eiji Soulmate AU)

Eiji's POV:

"I've had this mark on my wrist my whole life. Has it ever been so faded?"

"Eiji, I-" 

"I can't really remember. I always look at it, wondering who my future lover is. Wondering where on earth they are. I know if they die, it burns and since it isn't burning, they aren't dead, so why is it faded?!" I panic. "What's wrong with it?"

"Eiji... Do you really want to know?" she asks me. 

"I'm no child, mother!"

She sighs and gives me a look full of pity. "It- it means that they're almost dead. It will start to hurt soon so-"

"No!" I interrupt her again. Any normal day, this behavior would have gotten me a smack upside the head. "That can't be! That's not fair! I don't even know them yet!" 

My mother only shakes her head. "I'm so sorry Eiji..."

"It can't be. They will be fine, I know it!" I cradle my right arm. 

The mark of a Lynx had always been there, smiling at me. It was there when I was bullied, it was there when I hurt my ankle, there when I fell into depression. It couldn't just leave. My life wasn't exactly hard, but I could tell my other half has it rough. I just want to make their life better. I just want to be there to love them. I'm not there to heal them, nor be with them at their dying breath. I curl up in the corner my room on the floor, feeling like there is nowhere else to go.

As I await the burn, the world feels like it stops. The clock seems to stop ticking and the distant noises of cars fade. I only hear my own heartbeat, feeling like I am betraying my lost soulmate, breathing so easily while they are not. While they get closer and closer to their last breath. Hours pass and it's still just as faded as before.

"You should eat, big brother!" my kid sister smiles. She holds out her hand to me and for her sake, I take it. I pick myself up and let her lead me to the kitchen. 

"Sit! I'll start boiling some water!"

I do as she says and start to watch the water boil. They say a watched pot never boils, but it's like even the kettle felt bad for me, letting me stare blankly as it steamed. My sister is forbidden to touch the kettle when it's hot because she's so clumsy, so I get up to pour it in our awaiting cups of dry tea leaves. I slowly pour the boiling water into her cup, then mine, watching it flow. 

Suddenly, an unbearable burn starts on my wrist and seems to travel to my heart. I feel like I'm dying. Did I burn myself? or... I look at my mark, my beautiful, strong mark. It glows a cruel red as it burns my skin and my heart. I drop the nearly empty kettle and fall to my knees. I feel nothing for a few seconds after I hit the ground, but that blessing doesn't last long. My whole body begins to burn and my heart feels like it's being torn in half. My vision blurs with my own tears and the pounding of blood in my ears keeps me from fully hearing my own blood-curdling scream. I grasp at my heart through my clothes and sob. My mother was right. They really are gone. I feel footsteps and the hands that catch me before I let my whole body just collapse onto the floor.

Amid the agony, I think about how painful it is to lose someone I never knew. Someone I never got the chance to know. Someone who must have been the most amazing person to walk this earth. It just hurts so much, I don't see how it could be anything other than a grave loss. 

"It's okay baby. Mummy's got you," I hear as someone holds me. I barely register their words, the world going hazy from the pain.

"I just- I just wanted the chance to love them," feel my lips move before everything goes black. I welcome the darkness.