A/N: I wanted to write out a soulmate sakacchan AU., but this is way longer than the color changing one :) Aiko and Soichiro Maeda made an appearance in my fics "Baile el Tango" and "Dinner Date" just so no one is surprised by these OCs.

I know little Sakamoto is a bit OOC from his teenage self, but he is a naïve child who wants to make his father proud.

Why does Sakamoto not know that Atsushi was in his class? I'm excusing it as Sakamoto barely learning his classmates names and there are plenty of people with the same name.

-Lucicelo

Eight year old, Maeda Atsushi listened in pure amazement as his mother told him the story of how she met his father, her soulmate.

Sitting on the floor of the living room, he scooted himself closer to the coffee table where his mother placed a tray of treats. He made careful strides not to drop his juice so it didn't spill, but the crumbs of the cookies still fell onto the floor. His pa ignored the mess since he dropped his own crumbs onto the floor.

As a former delinquent herself, she never once thought of her soulmate until she landed herself in the hospital. A fight broke out between rival gangs and she took a hit meant for her leader. A decision which granted her longtime protective status in her old group. Wherever she went, she bumped into old or senior members of her group which earned her new friends to lessened her boredom as a housewife. Atsushi met the woman plenty of times to the point where he became friends with her son, Kenken.

Safe to say, Atsushi inherited his mother's short attention span since she admitted on becoming exhausted from staying in one place. Due to utter boredom, she scribbled on her arm, an act which she had done in the past multiple times. Her soulmate never answered, so she assumed she didn't have one or they died. Considering her loyalty to the gang, love didn't cross her mind.

At all.

In fact, having no distractions suited her goals at the time.

So, to see perfect penmanship informing her to stop her scribbles, appearing on her arm, Aiko fell off of her bed. As a result, she strained her bruised ribs and got a new set of bruises on her side. Once she managed to get back onto her bed, she grew furious at the audacity for her to stop when she had no entertainment.

Soichiro interjected before Aiko painted a whole different picture. "Aiko, I almost failed my midterm because of your scribbles!"

"It all worked out though. Your professor gave you another chance because you never broke the rules. Hell, you were one of the best students of your university." Aiko shrugged her shoulders before giving his knee a pat. "Besides, you never wrote on your arm. How was I supposed to know that I had a soulmate? For all I knew, my soulmate wanted nothing to do with me. Which suited me just fine at the time, my loyalty was for my gang."

Soichiro took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "My remarks about your lifestyle did nothing more than spark arguments between us. It didn't help that you dressed up as a delinquent when we scheduled to meet."

Aiko snorted. "Remarks? You were an asshole to me because I came to meet you straight from school and embarrassed you. I didn't have time to change into anything else other than my altered school uniform." She looked down at Atsushi to tell him. "Don't you dare repeat bad words, Atsushi."

"So...pa really is a meanie?" Atsushi tilted his head to the side with a cheeky smile.

Soichiro warned his son. "Atsushi."

Aiko snorted. "Nope. Your pa gets real anxious so he tends to overthink things. Although, he was furious when I got my tattoo. The moment the artist finished it, Soichiro called me and sputtered out his disapproval. Your grandparents don't even know about his secret shame." She nudged Soichiro with her elbow and snickered. "Isn't that right, dear?"

Atsushi turned to his father who coughed into his fist. "Your mother's... tattoo placement is in a secret place." He added in before Atsuhi asked. "We are never showing you the placement of this tattoo."

"Boo!" Atsushi puffed out his cheeks. "Why did you two wait so long to talk? I would have started talking to my soulmate right now if I wanted to! You waited until you were old."

"Why I never!" Aiko fake gasped and laid a hand on her chest for added effect. "Do you hear him, Soichiro? Our son is misbehaving and being rude."

Soichiro drawled. "I wonder where he got the example from?"

Aiko stuck her tongue out at him and he smirked right back.

Seeing his parents get into a moment, Atsushi turned his attention back to his cookies. He didn't need to see his parents almost make out or even make googly eyes at each other.

Days later, Atsushi began his plan of scribbling on his arm. Eager to earn a response from his soulmate, he finished his homework before his ma checked up on him. He might have faked some answers, but his mission was important. His soulmate waited for him to speak to him. At least, he thought his soulmate might like to have a distraction from his homework.

Once he sat down at his desk, he picked up a marker and held it in his hand. Before the marker touched his skin, his mind drew a blank. He couldn't think of anything to write down on his arm.

Sure, he drew random lines or shapes because of boredom, but not with a purpose. He wanted to know about his soulmate and to communicate with them. He didn't want to wait until he grew up to meet his soulmate. His parents could have been together sooner if either one of them took charge.

Looking around his room, he tried picking anything to draw on his skin. In his panic, he started with an apple. A misshapen apple that made him facepalm in how ugly it looked. Looking down at his arm, he saw nothing.

No surprise there.

In his second attempt, he went ahead and drew a wonky looking house. He huffed out in annoyance. Maybe his soulmate was way older than him and his drawings exposed his young age.

In his third attempt, he decided on a bird.

The drawing of the bird made a smiley face appear next to it.

Atsushi had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming or did it himself. Gulping, he almost jumped in place while he drew a weird looking flower, his soulmate drew a nice looking rose in return.

Atsushi jumped in excitement and screamed. "Ma! Pa! My soulmate just wrote back to me!" Getting up on his feet, he ran toward the living room, flailing his arm in the air. "Ma! Pa! Look!"

Aiko jumped back from Soichiro's side, both of them blushed at being caught in a tender moment. Atsushi tended to drop in during the worst moments. The couple still didn't know how to time any private moments and hide them from their child. Half the time, Atsushi stuck his tongue out and apparent disgust and complained about his gross lovey dovey parents.

Soichiro faced away from his son, knowing full well that his face resembled a tomato. "This child..."

Aiko recovered fast and grinned at Atsushi. "Ah...that's great!" She muttered under her breath. "Wow. I didn't think he would jump into putting effort on writing to his soulmate to heart."

Soichiro peered at Atsushi from the corner of his eyes and reprimanded him to hide his shyness. "Don't yell in the house, Atsushi."

His pa's reprimand didn't stop Atsushi's enthusiasm. "But look!" Atsushi presented his arm and pointed at the misshapen bird. "See! The smiling face is my soulmate! They responded to me! Let me write down my questions..."

Aiko giggled. "Acchan, you have to ask him for his name first and then put down yours."

"Why?"

Soichiro explained. "Manners."

"Ah, but I want to know everything about them. I can ask for their name some other time." Atsushi puckered out his lip. "I'm sure you didn't do that."

Aiko shook her head. "I asked for his name so I could use it when I insulted him back."

Soichiro nodded his head. "Besides, I'm sure your soulmate's parents are overseeing the communication unless they are significantly older than you. It's only polite to show proper etiquette."

"Fine."

Hi! I'm Maeda Atsushi! What's your name? :)

He showed his arm to his parents. "Happy?"

Soichiro inspected Atsushi's arm and nodded in approval. "Your handwriting and grammar has improved. Nice work, son."

Atsushi stood up straighter from the praise from his father. He wanted to show off to his soulmate and look cool so he wrote at a slower pace. Standing in place, he waited for a response as he jumped on the balls of his feet.

Sakamoto prepared to write down his full name for his soulmate on his wrist with a small smile on his face. He tended to ignore the drawings that his soulmate doodled onto his skin to not distract himself from his studies. He yearned to write back. After seeing the happiness between various soulmate couples he encountered in life, he wanted to feel the bubbles in his stomach.

Remembering the different scribbles throughout the years, Sakamoto saw the progression of his soulmate's drawing and writing skills. He knew that his soulmate didn't mean to write about a toy or a grocery list on the back of his hand. In those moments, he watched in awe that someone out there was connected to him.

He wanted nothing more than to become their best friend.

A friend for the rest of his life.

With pen in hand, he wrote the kanji for Sa, before his pen was snatched from his hand. Stunned, he looked up and saw the fury etched on his father's face. He never understood his father's hatred for soulmates. Whenever anything related to soulmates popped up, his parents became awkward and shuffled away from even acknowledging it.

"Father I-"

"Stop this foolishness!" His father demanded.

Sakamoto hunched his shoulders. "Father, my soulmate is calling to me. I had to answer th-"

"You are to focus on school, not fairytales! This soulmate will move on with their lives and forget all about you."

Sakamoto piped up, wanting to defend his soulmate. "But, my soulmate introduced-"

"No, buts! I don't ever want to see you mark your body ever again! Ignore your...soulmates words as well. They won't matter in the long run. Your future career depends on you, not love." With that last sentence, Sakamoto's father stomped out of the room, leaving Sakamoto in confusion.

Making her appearance, Sakamoto's mother worried her lower lip as she peeked inside of her son's room. Her heart lurched from seeing her son's dejected form. His confidence seemed shattered and broken. Her husband molded their son into such a compliant and obedient child. She expected him to not contact his soulmate in order to keep approval in his father's eyes.

A brief moment passed before she grew comfortable enough to inquire. "Dear? Are you alright? Your father is having a bad day, don't listen to him."

Trying hard to hold back his frustrated tears, Sakamoto nodded his head to her question. He turned his attention onto his homework and ignored the rest of her babble. The words on the paper blurred into a mess.

He ignored the frantic words that formed on the back of his hand.

Sa? Soulmate? Hello?

Are you there?

Sa?

Sa?

Is everything okay?

Ever since their first contact, Sakamoto read all the various different questions about his wellbeing. Seeing the pleading words on his skin, never failed to bring Sakamoto into a spiral of despair. Through his quest in wanting to make his father proud, he tore his eyes away from his skin when any indication of his soulmate appeared on his skin. Hiding his pain with a neutral mask, he went through his schooling, excelling on every aspect given to him. All these activities distracted him from ignoring his soulmate.

His father boasted about his successes to his co-workers, beaming at having such a prodigy for a son. His childish desire to make his father proud - dimmed - after the pen incident. Those words rang hollow. Still, he followed his father's word and made sure to present himself in a positive light. Anything to keep family appearances.

He tried rationalizing his reasons whenever he overheard the fights between his parents. His perfection and excellence kept his family glued together. This didn't work for long since their fights transitioned into a daily occurrence. No good news swayed a decent enough day to lessen the thick tension that built up in their home.

On his final middle school project, his teacher assigned a family tree sort of assignment. Thinking it was easy, he wrote down his family members, even adding soulmate underneath their names. Once he managed a decent enough family tree, his mother interrupted him and asked him about his assignment. When he answered, his mother admitted her truth to him and showed the proof on her wrist.

With all the pieces at his disposal, everything clicked into place.

No wonder his father went ballistic whenever he saw drawings and writing on her skin. The feathery and crisp writing of another person contrasted with his bulky and rushed words. The good morning on his mother's wrist never appeared on his father's wrist.

They were not soulmates.

His father prevented years of communication because of his own failed attempt at forming a bond with his soulmate. The man waited too long and didn't follow the usual trail of connecting with his soulmate.

In a rare fit of rage, he let himself get consumed by his anger and wrote the whole truth in his assignment. No use keeping it a secret anymore.

He submitted his assignment.

When he received his assignment back, with a perfect score, he ignored the flash of pity in his teacher's eyes.

Later that afternoon, he tuned out his father's yelling when he looked over his assignment. Catching the words, shameful, embarrassment, disgraceful, and a line of other words didn't stir any shame in him. If anything, his stirring anger at his father developed in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed his words and faced forward.

To make matters worse, his own soulmate seemed to have grown tired of his lack of correspondence. His heart seemed to squeeze in itself when he read his soulmate's final message.

Don't bother responding back to me. Grow a pair and be ready to explain yourself in person. Asshole.

"Son, can we speak in the living room please?"

Sakamoto paused in his essay to turn toward his mother. "Yes, mother. I shall see you in a moment." Turning back to his homework, he heard his mother leave toward the living room. He heard another woman's voice drifting toward his room.

Lifting himself up, he patted himself down before he left his bedroom. He walked toward the living room, overhearing his mother's conversation with her guest. This guest must be important for his mother to introduce the both of them. His mother tended to leave the home to meet with her friends, but she tended to not bring them home. His father allowed only his business partners to make impromptu appearances for dinner.

He scored his features when he saw a woman with short black hair and brown eyes sat close to his mother's side. She wore a well fitted dark grey pencil skirt and blazer ensemble. She wore minimal makeup, a similarity to his mother who didn't overdramatize her features. A personal preference of hers.

"There he is." His mother introduced them. "Son, this is Yuri. My soulmate."

Sakamoto saw his mother's soulmate's apprehensive smile. She tried keeping a strong front, but he noted her nervous mannerisms to cope with his reaction. He began with a nod, then he bowed low to her. From his angle, he saw the peeks of flowers on both of their wrists. He sat down in the couch across from them and their explanations spilled out of them.

"Son, I understand your confusion. I've only ever talked about her in passing and since you're old enough to understand." His mother clutched Yuri's hand. "I couldn't handle staying with your father any longer. We have split up and he relinquished custody of you. I'm not sure if he will change his mind since you are his only child. He didn't argue when I said I was taking you with me. In a week, we're moving into Yuri's apartment.

Yuri spoke up. "It must seem like we began an affair behind your father's back, but we kept communication way before Kimi married him. His hatred of soulmates made me scared for Kimi. She spoke to me everyday and I always thought we wouldn't ever meet again became of these circumstances. Kimi always spoke well of you and I wanted to meet you."

Sakamoto pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I understand. "

Both women slumped in relief and stress left their faces.

As a rational person, he knew their plight and didn't judge them for keeping up appearances. This chance to grow on his own terms and not under his father's expectations made him look forward to this move. He ignored the warmness on his arm where his soulmate's impacting words reappeared in his mind.

To conceal his sadness, Sakamoto commented. "Although, my academy will not find my transfer as a good idea."

Kimi snorted. "The academy your father pushed you into is a front for his business partners. Son, you're naturally gifted. Whether or not you attend a prestigious academy, you'll do well and achieve your best." She chuckled. "I'm sure your new school will provide ample opportunities for you to grow."

Yuri nodded her head. "Yes, I'm sure you'll do well in my old high school. They have decent scores throughout the grades and the teachers are amazing."

Before Atsushi entered high school, having passed through a small margin, he wrote one last message to his soulmate and left it to them to respond to him. He had to focus on life and himself. Atsushi threw himself into his gang and made careful strides not to mar his skin. He learned to doodle on paper, since his skin became a forbidden area for him to draw or write on. His teachers reprimanded him for doodling on his booklets, but he didn't care about their opinions.

He needed an outlet to his constant energy and to not give into the urge to resume doodling on his arm. Besides, he already revealed himself as a slacker, so they backed off after a while. Every once in a while, his health teacher reamed him for his drawings, but the man did the same to any student that seemed like a troublemaker.

Mario and Kenken learned to never ask about his soulmate. Both of them had open communication with their own soulmates which made them curious about his own. He implied a bad initial meeting just to get them to stop bringing up the subject. He loved his friends, but the two pounced on him for every little embarrassing thing that happened to him.

Their teasing resumed after they stopped bullying Sakamoto and his crush became obvious to them.

Thinking back on it, their stint of bullying on the ever perfect Sakamoto was fruitless and plain stupid. The guy did nothing more than excel in academics and receive praise from the rest of their classmates. Sakamoto didn't seem bothered from their attempts and his popularity soared. Nothing they did flustered the guy.

Sakamoto saved their lives from the fire that broke out in the science room. The guy could have blamed them and gotten off scotch-free, but he took the blame and wrote an apology to his teachers. A sure mar on his perfect record. Atsushi didn't think Sakamoto ever got in trouble.

The intense stare in the photo he took became his phone background.

Guilt formed in the pit of Atsushi's stomach over having feelings for Sakamoto. Despite his jerk of a soulmate, he didn't want to betray them in this way. He fought with himself to write to his soulmate, explain his conflict in falling for another person who wasn't his other half. Yet, his resentment over his soulmate never answering to complete their full name, prompted him to continue to flourish his crush.

Besides, he warned his soulmate to respond back to him with the truth. He couldn't lie about not responding to Sa. He initiated the first contact as a child, it was his soulmate's turn to put out an olive branch. Anything to soothe a misunderstanding or to confirm abandonment.

In a way, he hoped for abandonment.

Any thoughts of his soulmate disappeared and all he thought of was Sakamoto.

This crush on Sakamoto developed so swift and fast. He still functioned the same as before, but his heart beat faster in the vicinity of his crush. The bubbly feelings made him happy and giddy to come to school. He even stopped his smoking habit, saving him money, and attended school on a regular basis. Safe to say, the disappointed glances from his parents went away on his sudden change of behavior.

He understood the feelings of the other girls in school who fell for Sakamoto's charms. After some time, many of them transferred those feelings into adoration once their soulmates made their appearance on their arms. Aina kept up her quest in winning Sakamoto, but even her determination lessened when her soulmate caused a rose to appear on her cheek.

As Sakamoto drew something on his wrist, Atsushi noticed a black smear on his left wrist through his peripheral. Looking down, his eyes widened at the sight of a watch. A perfect and precisely drawn watch, but a watch that he didn't draw.

Looking back at Sakamoto, he saw the same watch on his wrist.

Atsushi's arms fell to his sides.

Sakamoto.

Sakamoto was his soulmate.

Ignoring Mario's commentary on the phone, Atsushi fought to keep himself on his feet. The identity of his soulmate crushed him. All this time, his soulmate resided right before his eyes and still made no attempts to write on his skin. Running on autopilot, he followed Mario and Kenken as they hurried out of the video rental store. Sakamoto handed the bundle of dvds in his hands and began speaking to them.

As Sakamoto turned away to leave, Atsushi pushed the dvds into Mario's arms. He didn't listen to Mario's exclamation as he pulled Sakamoto out of sight. Finding a private hallway, Atsushi almost tossed Sakamoto against the wall in fury. Ever the perfectionist, Sakamoto reclaimed balance with grace and poise.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Atsushi cried out in devastation.

Sakamoto gathered himself and pushed his glasses over the bridge of his nose. "I don't quite understand, Maeda-san. Wasn't my mission to your satisfaction?"

"I wrote on my arms for years. Years. Do you have any idea how much I suffered? I- I thought my soulmate died or just ignored me because he discovered I turned into a fuck up. Sakamoto, y-you're my soulmate!" Atsushi presented his wrist as proof, causing Sakamoto's eyes to widen. "You never responded back to me. Why? "

Sakamoto reached out his hand and held Atsushi's ink stained wrist. Almost delicate in his grip, he traced his fingers over the watch. "I-I'm sorry."

Atsushi's jaw clenched in anger. "Explain yourself!"

Sakamoto lowered his head, shocking Atsushi on his vulnerability. "At my current age, I should have followed my heart. Please, let's sit."

Breathing through his nose, Atsushi moved his arms from Sakamoto's sides, letting Sakamoto walk toward a staircase. He followed after him in silence while his anger simmered into a light irritation. Sitting right next to each other, his usual heart palpitations from being near Sakamoto didn't surface due to his anxiousness on their situation.

"My parents are not soulmates." Sakamoto began. "I discovered the truth in middle school when I received an assignment to describe my family. When my mother saw my assignment and the soulmate label under the names, she admitted everything. She spoke about a woman, not my father."

"Huh?"

Sakamoto continued. "She explained how she hid her true soulmate from her parents, claiming that her soulmate died. Despite their open views, my grandparents wanted grandchildren from the union. Despite the rise of adoptions, they wanted a true blood grandchild. She found my father through marriage prospects who followed none of the soulmate lore and married him. My father entered the marriage pool after a bitter first contact with his soulmate. She married her high school sweetheart and wanted nothing to do with him. He waited too long to act."

Atsushi muttered. "You almost did the same shit."

Sakamoto licked his lips. "My parents recently divorced. This left me in the custody of my mother, we moved in with her soulmate, who is a lovely woman, and thought about contacting my soulmate. This new freedom from communicating with you didn't set in because I grew used to looking over my shoulder for my father. Seeing my mother and Yuri's tender smiles...I...I wanted the same. I just didn't know how to begin writing."

Atsushi said. "Wait...you didn't know how to begin the conversation? B-But, you have an answer to everything."

Sakamoto worried his lower lip and looked at Atsushi. "Even I have my moments, Maeda-san."

Running his fingers through his hair, Atsushi sighed. "Acchan. Just call me, Acchan."

"Atsushi-san."

Atsushi squinted his eyes, tilted his head to the side, demanding. "Call me, Acchan."

"Atsushi-san." Sakamoto's eyes twinkled. "Please, I insist."

"Pff. Whatever." Atsushi rolled his eyes with a huff.

Sakamoto reached out his hand and curled his fingers around Atsushi's wrist. Atsushi stiffened from the contact. "Atsushi-san, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not writing back. I'm sorry for all the years of anguish. Will you...give us a chance?"

Atsushi nodded his head without a shred of a doubt. "I forgive you, but you have a lot to make up for. I'm not letting you off the hook that easily."

"I don't expect you to forget the past, but," Sakamoto released Atsushi's hand and removed a pen from his jacket pocket. "We can start over." Unbuttoning his sleeve, he pushed up the fabric to expose his arm.

Atsushi watched Sakamoto write his whole name, making sure that each word appeared clear and legible. Taking off his jacket, Atsushi pushed up his own sleeve to see the words appear on his own skin. Seeing Sakamoto's full name on his arm - verified their bond. His stomach fluttered as he held back tears from developing.

All of a sudden, Sakamoto placed the marker in his hand. Getting the hint, Atsushi wrote down his whole name under Sakamoto's. A bit sloppy, but his excitement made him giddy to make sure they sealed their meeting. When he finished, he compared both arms.

Identical.

The end.