Chapter Text
Goto Ryuji gasped for air. His whole body was shaking, and cold sweat was pouring down his deathly pale face. Both hands frantically touched his chest and leg, checking, making sure there were no injuries let alone severed or split open.
‘Wha- what has happened? Why- Did I get attacked? Who attacked me?!’ Ryuji frantically looked around, looking for the unseen attacker. But even with his keen senses that capable of detecting stealth skill of his fellow S-rank, the Japan’s strongest S-rank Hunter couldn't find any attacker in his office.
Ryuji inhaled shakily. He needed to f*cking calm down. He's an experienced Hunter. He knew very well how dangerous it was to allow oneself to be overcome by fear and panic in critical situations.
‘Breath.’ Ryuji commanded himself. ‘Ignore the pain, it's just an illusion. Your leg is fine, so is your chest. You’re fine. Breath.’
Ryuji needed to repeat his command for quite a long time. Apparently because the shock and the pain was much heavier than anything he's ever experienced until now, it wasn't easy for Ryuji to get rid of it. The S-rank needed extra effort, so much extra effort.
A second after the Draw Sword Guild’s Guild Master managed to calm himself, he instinctively once again observed the situation and racked his brains to find out why he was suddenly in excruciating pain. Considering he was still alive, that meant an assassination attempt could be crossed off the list -for now. No assassin would pass up the opportunity of Ryuji became so defenseless.
But if it wasn't for the assassination attempt, then what was the-
Ryuji's eyes fell to his wrist.
The Japanese’ eyes widened, and his body shook violently again. But this time for a different reason.
‘No. It can't happen! NO! He- he can’t- My Soulmate can't- JIN-WOO!’
(“Listen, Ryuji-“ Ten year old Ryuji tried to be attentive, just as his mother ordered.
“When you are 17 years old, a name -soulmark- will appear on your wrist. The name belongs to your most ideal partner -your soulmate- whether it's platonic or romantic. When you meet someone whose name is the same as the one on your wrist and they're indeed your soulmate, you will feel a feeling you've never felt before. For the first time in your life you will feel complete.”
Ryuji’ mom paused to take a breath. When she continued again, Ryuji could detect there was a slight tremor in his mom's voice.
“But on the other hand, when your soulmate dies, you’ll feel it, because not only you’ll feel torn apart, you’ll also feel what they experienced in their last moments. Worst of all, your soulmark-“
The trembling in his mother's voice grew obvious, to the point that little Ryuji became worried that his mother would cry.
“It will also disappear, leaving no trace that the two of you were once bound by fate.”)