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The world was blindingly black and white: a bleeding canvas of monochromatic misery.
You didn't know how you could miss something you'd never known before, but you missed color all the same. You ached to know what the sky actually looked like, what the grass actually looked like. But everyday, you continued to endure this colorless cycle, the same bland hues boring into your retinas and making you feel less and less hopeful with each sunrise and sunset. You wondered if you'd ever meet the one who was supposed to paint your days with the color of their love.
Sometimes you wondered if your soulmate was in a cemetery somewhere, long dead. Or maybe they’d already found happiness with someone else and had no reason to come looking for you. Several of your friends had already succumbed to that idea; be with someone you know, don’t go looking for someone else that might not exist, someone else that might not want you.
But you, being the hopeless romantic that you were (emphasis on hopeless), had already made the decision to wait for your one true love. You wouldn't know what to do if they had waited for you, only to find you had already settled down with someone else. In your head, your soulmate was someone who waited. Someone who longed for you as much as you longed for them. Someone prone to large gestures and dramatic proclamations. You knew you might've just been hitting the romance novels a little too hard and with your luck, your soulmate probably had a beer belly and a sour attitude. But you waited for him, all the same.
Then one day, sooner than you expected, but longer than you would've liked, your agonizing wait came to an end.
Captain Narumi was in your neighborhood again, taking down more Kaiju, and you were out for your daily stroll. You always trusted that he'd take care of everything so you continued on your walk without a care in the world (much to his annoyance). You even watched from the sidelines, snacking on a bag of chips. When he finally had his hands free, you offered him the rest of your bag.
He sank onto the bench next to you, snatched the bag, and chomped on the chips while he grumbled about what an idiot you were for wandering into an active battle zone.
"Same time tomorrow, Narumi?" You teased.
Before he could complain any further, someone you didn't recognize came bounding towards him.
"You gonna fucking nap all day Narumi, or you gonna actually help?"
The stranger realized Narumi wasn't alone upon coming closer, and when his eyes met yours, the whole world exploded into bright, vivid color.
You'd spent all this time wondering what the sky looked like, but when the moment finally came, you couldn't focus on anything but his eyes. You wanted to get lost in them. You thought to yourself, his eyes were going to be your favorite color. His voice was going to be your favorite sound. His smile was going to be your favorite sight. His cologne was going to be your favorite smell. His lips...
Your heart roared in your chest and you wondered if he could hear it. Or if his own heartbeat was drowning it out.
You were struggling to breathe properly and yet you'd also never inhaled a fresher breath of air in your entire life. Like you'd never lived before him. Like you were finally waking up. Everything just made sense now. Any struggle you had before him was no struggle at all because he was finally in front of you and how could you take your life for granted when it now looked as beautiful as it did.
It appeared as though he were trying to adjust to the same whirlwind of emotions that you were, because he suddenly tripped on his own feet, his breath lurching in his throat as he approached you.
However, Narumi didn't notice in the slightest. "Y/N, meet the biggest fucking pain in my ass- Vice Captain Hoshina of the Defense Force's shittiest division."
You didn't know if you should shake his hand, hug him, kiss him. You just wanted to touch him. Run your hands through his hair, brush your fingers across his cheek, nudge your nose against his. But you didn't even get to introduce yourself to him before Narumi started dragging him away, effectively breaking the trance you'd been in.
You jumped to your feet. "Wait! Where are you taking him?!"
He waved you off as he walked away, lugging Hoshina behind him. "None of your business, squirt. It's Defense Force stuff, nothing to concern yourself with. I'd tell you to keep yourself out of trouble but I know you won't, so I'll see you later, yeah? Thanks for the chips."
Hoshina finally snapped out of his dazed state and started wriggling out of Narumi's grasp. "Get off me Narumi, I'm trying to talk to her." He moved towards you but only made it one step before Narumi yanked his arm back.
"Like hell you are, didn't you say we have work to do?"
If looks could kill, Hoshina would've killed Narumi a thousand times over. If looks could kill, Hoshina's glare would've dragged Narumi's ass down to the deepest, darkest pits of hell and driven a stake through his heart, effectively condemning him to the Underworld. But looks couldn't kill. And as much as Hoshina shoved Narumi off, punched his arm, and spat profanities at him, Narumi wouldn't let up.
Especially not now that he knew Hoshina was interested in you.
You were Narumi's favorite toy outside of his console and he wouldn't dare let Hoshina play with you.
When it finally looked like Hoshina had the upperhand, Narumi played his favorite trump card. He called in Hoshina's Captain.
Hoshina had just finished wrestling Narumi to the ground when Captain Ashiro arrived to take him back home.
He was torn between wanting to ask for your name, to ask for your number, and needing to follow his superior's orders. In the end, he left with her, his head hung low and his feet dragging as they went.
Narumi was smug but not for long. You punched him in the arm and he was shocked at just how much power you packed into one fist, especially for a civilian with no combat training.
He scoffed at you. "All this, for one man?"
"Gen, you absolute fucking idiot. He's not just a man, he's my man. He's my person."
His eyes widened. "You're telling me your fucking soulmate is the dweeb from the Third Division??"
"Ahh, so he's in the Third Division. Thanks for that. I think it's time for an address change now."
He took hold of your arm, his grip tight and getting more tight by the minute. "Wait, wait, wait, back it up. You're going to move to his city?? To be with him?? I refuse."
You glared at him, the fire in your eyes reflecting Hoshina's earlier emotion. "Gen Narumi, you do not tell me what I can and cannot do. Now, I'm going home, you're going to let me, and then you're going to think about what a dick you're being. Goodnight." You yanked your arm away from him and stormed off, leaving him sulking to himself.
The next day you surprised Narumi by showing up at his work. He thought you'd ignore him for days, weeks, months even. But you weren't there for him. You were there to join the Defense Force. He declined you over and over again, but it was hard to deny you when you officially took the Defense Force exam and got the highest score out of all the applicants. He did attempt to reject you again, even after your impressive feat, but he got an earful from his Vice Captain and was forced to allow you admission into the Defense Force.
You wasted no time. Immediately following the induction ceremony, you requested to be transferred to the Third Division. Narumi laughed in your face. Months went by and your transfer was rejected multiple times. At first, you tried bribing Narumi. Bought him sweets and games, spent time coddling him. But that just made him more eager to keep you around.
So then you had to switch tactics. You followed him around, annoying him to no end, at any time of day and any time of night. The middle of the night was your favorite time to bother him. You didn't need sleep when you laid awake at night thinking about Hoshina anyway, so you figured you might as well make good use of the time.
Once, you even threatened to burn Narumi's house down if he didn't let you transfer and when he didn't believe you, you singed his eyebrows off while he was sleeping as proof of your dedication. He was both too good of a friend to report you and too embarrassed that he had let you get the upper hand on him, so the incident remained undisclosed.
Eventually, you hit him where it hurt the hardest. You threatened to smash his gaming console to bits and when he said he'd just buy a new console, you said you'd never stop hunting him down. He wanted to buy a Yamazon package? Stolen from his doorstep. He just got a special edition new video game? Down the garbage disposal it goes. He was both impressed and terrified of your nerve and that led him to finally approve your transfer, claiming that you were a crazy lady and you were Hoshina's problem now.
And then finally you arrived on site at the Third Division's base.
You thought you'd gotten used to seeing colors, gotten used to red's and yellow's screaming at you, used to being soothed by blue's and green's. But Hoshina's violet eyes were something else entirely. They were entrancing, seductive, and devastatingly gorgeous.
You had planned so many different things to say when you finally saw him again but your words sank back down your throat when you met his gaze. You forgot what you wanted to say, you forgot what your job was, you forgot what you were there for, all you could think about was that you never wanted to look away from those eyes ever again.
"Hiya stranger." He grins.
"Hi back."
"How's the love of my life doing?"
Shades of red flood your cheeks. You barely knew this guy, you did not expect him to be so bold.
"Love of your life? You don't even know my name." You tease, trying to sound more confident than you felt.
"Ahh, well I say we fix that. What's your name, gorgeous?"
There's no use in trying to resist him, he's your soulmate after all. He's the whole reason you made a job change, an address change, a life change.
He gives you a tour of the base and spends hours just talking with you, spending every second he can with you. He's enjoying the conversation and the colors just as much as you are.
"You really singed Narumi's eyebrows off? God, I wish I was there to see that."
"You wanna see a picture? I snapped it while he was yelling at me." You show him the photo of Narumi flipping you off in the aftermath.
He laughs so hard he has to lean on a nearby lamppost to steady himself. "You really are the one for me, damn."
You smile at that. He's really taking this soulmate thing to heart. He has no reservations whatsoever about giving you every part of him, and you'll gladly take anything you can get.
He admits to you that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about you since the moment he met you. It seems that initial interaction with each other, though brief, was enough to change both of your lives for the better and it warms your heart.
You tell him you thought it was impressive how he put Narumi in a chokehold just to get five more seconds with you. He puffs out his chest and you laugh and then he laughs.
It seems you always find ways to laugh together. And when you think you're the only one stealing glances, you look over to find he's already gazing at you. And when you tell him about your life, about your experiences, he understands. And when you get excited, he matches your energy, and when you slow down, he matches your pace.
The more you get to know him, the more you understand how he's your soulmate.
It only takes a second for you to like him, a minute for you to love him, and one tour around the base for you to be planning the rest of your life with him.
And when you finally think that there's no way that anyone could be this happy, that something has to be wrong, that any second you're going to wake up in black and white again, you decide to tell him that you're already planning the rest of your life with him. Babies, house with a picket fence, matching gravestones, the whole deal. You want to know if you'll scare him off, if he's not really the one, if you've imagined all this vibrant color the last few months.
But then he smiles, leans against your shoulder and murmurs against your neck, "What color do you want that picket fence, love?"