Tobio didn't even try to fit in.

His mark shone black on his jaw, and he didn't even attempt to angle his face down to hide it, the way he had first year. He just clutched his single suitcase, the one with the broken handle, and followed his foster brother, Tsukishima, and his Soulmate through the crowd. A few students shouldering past against the current did double takes, but for the most part everyone ignored him. Which was just what he was used to.

Roommate assignments were handed out from the school's fancy mahogany desks. Tsukishima immediately turned to him, looked down his freckled nose, and said, "Here, hold these." He dumped several lumpy bags into Tobio's arms.

Tobio glared from under the weight, but Tsukishima and his Soulmate (a freckled boy named Yamaguchi) were already hurrying off towards the dorms. Tobio stumbled after them as carefully as he could, trying not to drop any of Tsukishima's bags. He craned his neck to try to read his roommate assignment and barely caught a glimpse of a typed name - Hinata Shouyo.

There was no thrill like some rumors said you were supposed to feel if you read your Soulmate's name, but then Tobio had never expected any of the soulmate "thrills." Not with a black mark, a dead mark, scarring his skin. "Who's Hinata Shouyo?" he called to Tsukishima, who had already stalked ahead.

He paused and turned his head slightly. "You've never heard of Hinata Shouyo?" He sounded disbelieving, like he'd known Tobio was stupid but he hadn't thought he was this stupid.

He shook his head and Tsukishima paused in the hallway on the rich velvet carpet, hands on his hips. "The cheerleader?"

Tobio hadn't known their school had male cheerleaders. "Maybe I've heard of him," said Tobio, but he still wasn't so sure. He didn't keep up with the gossip and goings-on that involved cheerleaders and popular kids.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes dramatically. "Idiot." He grabbed Yamaguchi's arm and, after leaning in to give him a very loud kiss, started strutting off down the hallway again.

Tobio followed, focusing on not dropping bags (when Tsukishima said he'd kill him, he was serious). Before too long, Yamaguchi stopped in front of a door, reached into his overpriced khakis, and pulled out a key. "Here it is, love," said Yamaguchi, in a happy voice that showed how "lucky" he thought he was to have a Soulmate like Tsukishima, as he swung open the door.

Tsukishima gave Tobio a snotty smile over his shoulder. "Maybe you can move into the nice dorms if you find your Soulmate. Oh, wait - you don't have one."

He and Yamaguchi snickered, clutching each other to emphasize the point, and Tobio just stood there glowering, waiting for the hilarity to pass. Finally Tsukishima stopped laughing long enough to snarl, "You can ditch the bags inside," and point inside his dorm.

Tobio quickly walked past them and dumped Tsukishima's bags on the single queen-sized bed. He barely glanced around the dorm room, which was better than the one he'd be staying in, before hurrying out the door. Holding his breath.

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose at him one last time before slamming the door in his face. Tobio scrambled down the hallway with his suitcase, only pausing once he reached the exit, where he could finally take a deep breath.

Tsukishima wore so much cologne.

Tobio left the dorm, thankful for fresh air, and examined his roommate assignment again. He was on the third floor, which was nice - not so many steps. He found the dorm, which was much plainer than Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's. They were staying in the suites, which was for students who had already found their Soulmates.

He climbed the steps, keeping his head down. Students jogged past him, sparing him a glance - or two, if they spotted his black mark - and then continued on. He hurried through the plain hallway and found his dorm room, which had a sparkly "Welcome!" sign on the door.

Tobio frowned. None of his past roommates had welcomed him, and he didn't see signs on any of the other doors. He chewed his lip for a moment before pushing open the door and walking inside.

A short, orange-haired boy was balancing on one of the beds, hanging a volleyball poster on the wall. He was dressed in gym shorts, shirtless, and Tobio checked his dorm assignment one more time.

"Hey!" said the boy, glancing over his shoulder and grinning toothily at Tobio.

"Are you really a cheerleader?" Tobio blurted out, clutching the paper that read Hinata Shouyo.

The boy laughed a little, blushing. "Yep! Uh - Hinata Shouyo. Nice to meet you." He jumped off the bed with a startling clunk and bounced across the room, thrusting out his hand. Tobio's ears flushed - he was kinda cute, in an adorable-puppy sort of way.

"Um...hey." He shook his hand limply, wondering when Hinata would notice his black mark and recoil, gasping out OMG, I'm so sorry, I didn't know-

"Is that bed okay?" asked Haninata as Tobio sat down on the remaining one. Tobio glanced down.

"Yeah?" The beds were the same except that Hinata's was covered in a dark blue comforter and multiple throw pillows.

"Oh. Okay, sorry." Hinata laughed nervously, rubbjing his neck. "I hope you don't mind that I was hanging up stuff," he added, gesturing to his half of the room, which was covered in posters and photographs.

"No, it's fine." Tobio set his single suitcase on the bed and Hinata's wide eyes followed it.

"That's all you have?" Hinata asked, a kind of awe in his voice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

"No posters?" asked Hinata, excitement creeping into his voice, and he started to bounce a little on the balls of his feet.

"Um, no."

"So-so-" Hinata swooped his arm around the room. "Can I put up my stuff all over? If-if you don't mind?"

"Sure," said Tobio, a little surprised that he was being asked. Usually people ignored him and just did their own thing.

"Really? Thank you!" Hinata bounced for real this time, grinning, and Tobio could maybe see the cheerleader in him. Maybe. If he wasn't such a boy and if cheerleaders weren't supposed to be preppy blonde chicks.

"Do you have a blanket or anything?" asked Hinata, still talking a mile a minute (Tobio almost missed a few words), as he fished more posters out of his bags. "I have an extra one if you want. Here-" He bent over and dragged out a heavy blanket, dark blue like his own. "I brought it for my soulmate, in case I find them this year, but you can use it until then!"

Tobio took the blanket, pretty surprised. People usually didn't talk to him at all, much less offer him things besides the middle finger.

"I don't know why you and your soulmate would have separate beds, but..."

Hinata started, face flushing. "Oh. Oh, um...I didn't think of that." He laughed sheepishly, rubbing his neck again.

He was cute blushing. Tobio had to look away to stop the flush from showing on his own freckled cheeks. Damn. How was he supposed to stay a whole year sleeping in the same room as a cute guy like this? And why was Hinata being so...so nice?

"Well, if you need any more stuff-" Hinata glanced back at Tobio and froze. "Oh!"

There. There it was. Here it came: the shock, the apology, and inevitably, the avoidance. Tobio swallowed and tried a hollow laugh.

"Oh," said Hinata again, stepping forward, eyes huge. He was staring right at Tobio's jaw, where the black mark partly his under his chin but not enough to make it invisible. "Are you...are you..."

"I've got a black mark, yeah," said Tobio. He was used to this part. Hinata would start spewing sorrys and then hurry out of the room, citing other plans. When they were forced back into the same room, the awkwardness would be thick and uncomfortable-

"Can I touch it?" asked Hinata, wide-eyed, hand already hovering near Tobio's face.

What? "Um...sure." It felt just like any other mark, just like skin, except that it would never spark, never connect with someone else's fingers the way that marks were supposed to. No one had ever asked to touch it. People only wanted to touch other's marks in hopes of finding their soulmate.

Hinata reached out tentatively and brushed his gloved fingers over Tobio's jawbone. His expression was awed, lips parted temptingly, and Tobio was struck with a sudden urge to touch those lips the way Hinata was touching his face. He bit his tongue - no.

"Wow..." breathed Hinata. "Cool."

Tobio really did laugh now, a bitter thing bubbling in the back of his throat, which made Hinata blush again and drop his hand. "Not really," said Tobio.

"And...and it means...?"

"That my Soulmate's dead, yeah." Tobio averted his gaze, preparing himself for the inevitable horror that had followed him around since before he could remember. Dead. It meant that as far as everyone else was concerned, he was dead too. Useless. He forced a smile for Hinata, but the other boy was still looking awed, as if he'd never seen anything so fascinating.

"That sucks," he said, eyes glued to the mark. Then he shook himself a bit, like he'd been rude, and gave Tobio an awkward half-smile. "Well - I got in a motor accident," he said abruptly. "Chopped off half my leg." He yanked up a pant leg to reveal a complicated metal contraption. Tobio stared.

"Oh," was all he could say, his mind staggering. "Sorry, man."

"It's okay," said Hinata, laughing a bit, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Just...yeah. Sorry for sharing."

"No, it's okay." Tobio watched as Hinata shoved his pant leg back down. Why was he showing him this? Was this somehow the equivalent of a black mark? Wasn't it a little early to exchange battle wounds? They had just met, after all. And while he didn't exactly try to hide his black mark anymore, he didn't go around bragging about it. Maybe Hinata was proud of his injury. A metal leg was sort of cool.

"Anyway..." Hinata scratched his neck (a nervous habit?) and half-grinned. "You wanna go get food?" He sounded hopefully, inviting, and Tobio stared again.

An invite to go anywhere was ten times weirder than any injury.

"Okay..." he said uncertainly, glancing at the door, and Hinata's face split into the biggest smile Tobio had ever seen. For him? What the hell?

"Great!" Hinata sounded relieved, even excited, and Tobio couldn't fathom what was going on in his head. This was insane. No one wanted to hang out with "that poor black mark kid." He was a social outcast. But Hinata had already bounced towards the door and was waiting expectantly.

"Coming?" he asked, and Tobio just followed, mind blown.

Who was this Hinata kid?

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review if you want me to continue!