The Bridge Between

Chapter 3: Yuri

Yuri was lounging in the shade of a nearby sakura tree in their garden. The young man always felt at peace in the Bridge Between, especially when his brothers Yugo and Yuto were there too.

After discovering that soulmates were a thing and that the two other boys were his, Yuri hadn't known what to do with himself.

He'd never felt such joy before.

And he'd never felt so much despair when he was told that he had another brother out there that he'd never met. That he'd continue to die for until the other was found.

Yuri never had a true family.

While he's always reborn in a house with parents and sometimes siblings, Yuri was always the outcast. He was too sadistic, too strange, or too distant for those people to truly accept him into their "family." He'd never tell anyone how many nights he went to sleep feeling alone in a full house.

When he found out that he had brothers, brothers whose very souls had accepted him as one of their own, Yuri felt like he would cry from happiness. He'd suspected that the three of them were connected in some way, but the confirmation of that suspicion, of the love he was given in the form of his brothers, had nearly brought him to tears.

When he found out that his family was missing such an important member, Yuri went straight to work with his efforts to find him. Of course, he wasn't alone in his searching. Yugo and Yuto had been searching for their missing brother every time they reincarnated.

It'd taken them a few tries but the three of them had finally found a way to retain their memories of the Bridge Between when they were reborn. It wasn't perfect. They weren't born automatically remembering everything. The memories slowly came to them in their dreams until they reached the age of eight. On that day each of them set out to meet their other brothers. It wasn't ever that hard. Yuri was typically reborn in an affluent family and, by proxy, had many ways to locate his brothers, who were always, at most, a city away if not closer. Yugo was always either reborn in an orphanage or in a foster family, with Yuto being reborn into a middle class family in the same city. Yuri's "parents" usually caved in to his requests to play with his "new friends" after they realized they wouldn't have to deal with their "odd" child as much if he was playing with the peasants.

Then, the next six years were spent with the boys searching for their missing brother as best as they could. And every time they were unable to, their souls reset at age 14 and they met up with Yuya in the Bridge Between.

Thinking of Yuya, Yuri opened his eyes to gaze at the very boy sitting next to him under the tree. The other, noticing Yuri's open eyes staring at him, smiled brightly before turning his attention to Yuto and Yugo in the garden. The latter was trying to climb the marble patio while the former was trying to convince him to do the opposite.

Turning his attention to the boy next to him, Yuri steeled himself.

He'd had a suspicion about the boy and his relation to Yuri and his brothers. Yuri has always been good at reading others and he has a feeling that Yuya is keeping information from them that would help with their search.

No time like the present, he thought.

"You know Yuya," Yuri started, the other glancing over at him in confirmation that he was heard, "I just realized something. You said that bridging life and rebirth was only one of the Bridge Between's functions. What are the others?"

Yuya's attention was now completely on Yuri. His crimson eyes looked into Yuri's purple ones, and Yuri felt like Yuya knew exactly what Yuri was doing. It was almost impossible to lie or trick Yuya. He always seemed to know what the three of them were going to ask before they even had the chance to. Yuya closed his eyes and breathed out a slow sigh.