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From childhood, Oikawa heard about the Red String of Fate from the adults in his life. Sometimes it was just overheard — a conversation here, a mention there. Others, it was directed towards him — how when he turned thirteen and the string wrapped around his own pinky, he’d surely find the most beautiful woman of his life on the other side. He was young, so he ate up that story. The promise of some princess being pulled to him by a magic string was appealing.
So, of course, when he woke up on his thirteenth birthday and felt the unfamiliar weight on his finger, he’d been excited. He’d looked down at the finger it settled on, examining the crimson knot that was now wrapped around his pinky. His fingers would follow their way up the weave of the string, examining the fiber… but after a few inches, he’d noticed that it started to fray, unraveling into two rougher paths. And he’d panicked, if just slightly. He’d seen depictions of how the red string was meant to look in books and online. It wasn’t supposed to be broken apart.
Oikawa wasn’t the sort to just reveal that he had a problem, so he hesitated at first. However, he was also the curious sort of kid, and his curiosity had managed to overcome his distaste for admitting there was an issue within a few hours. He’d tried looking online at first, but he wasn’t finding anything that really answered his questions.
His first thought was that maybe the string was being torn apart because something bad had happened. He wasn’t usually so pessimistic, but it was hard to assume something good with something so out of the ordinary. When he’d looked into that possibility, though, he learned that that certainly wasn’t it. It would just snap in that case. The string certainly was still connected to something else, even if in two.
He’d tried another idea, that maybe his soulmate was just a little off from their thirteenth birthday and that the string would fix itself. It wasn’t as though they were born on the same day at the same hour, right? That would be absurd. He’d quickly learn that that wasn’t the case, either — that more so than the string actually appearing, it was just a manner of beginning to be able to perceive it. So, even if his soulmate was born a month or two later than him, the string would still behave normally.
When he just asked his parents directly, their immediate reaction had been to take him into a doctor, but she’d had no answers, either. Apparently, it wasn’t unheard of, but there wasn’t really research into the topic. In any case, he would still be able to find a soulmate. The one or two known stories she’d heard of, one part of the string still connected to someone.
So, with that, Oikawa had put it out of his mind. A couple days later, he returned to school, and he found that half the string connected to his childhood friend Iwaizumi. And he was happy with that. It had taken a bit of explaining to his parents that his string was connected to a boy rather than a girl, but they were supportive enough. The two boys began going out by the end of middle school, were well-established in their relationship by the time they made it to Aoba Johsai. They were happy enough.
(Iwaizumi’s string was frayed too, though. Oikawa sometimes had to wonder if they led to the same place.)
It was during one of their practice matches that Oikawa and Iwaizumi would see their relationship change.
Inarizaki had accepted Aoba Johsai’s offer, which had surprised a few players — though neither the schools’ teams were considered poor by any means, Inarizaki was considered several cuts above Aoba Johsai. A few players had theorized that it was in part due to how hot Oikawa had been on high school teams’ radar during his last year of junior high. (A lot of their upperclassmen despised that hypothesis just as much as Oikawa quickly rising to a starter position.)
They were in the middle of stretches. Oikawa had been (much to his soulmate’s dismay) doing his next to Iwaizumi, being sure to throw in remarks to be obnoxious as possible. Iwaizumi, per usual, opted to knock Oikawa on the shoulder, pushing him aside. “Cut it out.”
Oikawa, having expected the push, easily caught himself, grinning. “C’mon, don’t be a stick in the mud, Iwa-chaaaaan~”
The only reaction that would get him from Iwaizumi was a devastating eye roll.
It was just as Oikawa pouted at his soulmate’s reaction that they heard the gym doors open, signaling the entrance of Inarizaki’s team. And Oikawa felt a tug at his pinky, like his red string was being tugged.
Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi and opened his mouth to argue with him, assuming it had been him yanking the string to prevent Oikawa from saying something out of line. However, it was clear from Iwaizumi’s small frown as he looked at Oikawa that he had assumed something similar — that Oikawa had yanked the string to annoy him.
Another tug. No one else would notice it — one could only see a string of fate that was attached to them. But Oikawa’s eyes began to wander down the string. For once, not the half that split off to connect with Iwaizumi, but the other. Iwaizumi’s second thread led to the same place, trailing up to a guy on Inarizaki’s team. Another first year, just like them, sauntering next to an identical boy.
And that boy yanked at the string again, staring back at Oikawa and Iwaizumi with a wide, teasing grin.
Another soulmate.
The practice match didn’t exactly give time for Iwaizumi and Oikawa to find out what the hell was going on at first. They’d tried to go over to the guy beforehand, but their coach had stopped them — and the other guy (Miya Atsumu, they’d learn during the game) didn’t seem like he was allowed over to their side either. It wasn’t until after they’d changed out of their team uniforms that they were able to get out of there.
Oikawa dragged a somewhat less energetic (though curious, even if it didn’t show; they knew each other well enough for Oikawa to be able to tell) Iwaizumi behind him as glanced around for Miya, frowning a bit. He could see that the string led this way, yet Miya was no where to be found, and a dead end was straight ahead. Iwaizumi furrowed his brow, approaching the end of the alleyway by their school to examine the thread. “It—”
Before Iwaizumi could finish his sentence, the two were caught off-guard by a loud “wahoo!”. Oikawa’s immediate reaction was to dart behind his soulmate and hide. Which wasn’t appreciated by the man in question, considering the twitch in his jaw, but he allowed it. Perhaps because, even if he was less reactive than Oikawa, he had been startled, too. Most wouldn’t be able to tell, but Oikawa could see the slight widening of his eyes, the tensing of his muscles.
The boys whipped around to find one Miya Atsumu. The Inarizaki player had his hands on his hips, his pinky bearing a crimson knot, and a shit-eating grin on his face. “Did I scare ya?”
Oikawa, still grabbing Iwaizumi’s shoulders and using him as a human shield, immediately stuck out his tongue. “No.”
“Please get off of me,” Iwaizumi said bluntly.
Oikawa did not get off, instead gripping Iwaizumi tighter. (The calmer of the two, despite seeming to be annoyed, allowed it with a heavy sigh.)
“I totally gotcha!” Atsumu said brightly.
“You did not!”
“Did to!”
Iwaizumi grit his teeth, which was enough to get Oikawa to stop with the argument. As much as he loved pressing his buttons, he didn’t want to legitimately anger his soulmate.
Well, one of his soulmates, apparently.
Atsumu played with the string that connected him to the other two boys, humming. His every action seemed to thrum with energy, as though he couldn’t stay still. “So, you two are gonna be my soulmates, huh?” he asked with a confident little smirk that annoyed Oikawa in a way he couldn’t explain. (Iwaizumi would later point out that maybe the two were cut from the same cloth. Oikawa resented the implication.)
Iwaizumi sighed. “I guess so.”
Atsumu opened his mouth to say more, but his attention would be dragged away by a near-identical voice calling his name. The confident Inarizaki student provided a wink and wave, providing a little sticky note to the two boys before beginning to stroll off.
On it, all there was a phone number. That cocky son of a bitch.
Of course Oikawa, never knowing what was good for him, would end up participating in a group chat with Atsumu and Iwaizumi despite his annoyance with his newly discovered soulmate. (He was pretty sure that the only reason Iwaizumi had suggested it was due to the fact that they were bound by fate and would prefer decent communication if that was the case.)
At first, it was mostly Oikawa and Atsumu butting heads while Iwaizumi played peacemaker. Maybe he was right about them being a bit too similar — they kept saying the same sort of shit, kept ended up annoyed by the same families of phrases. And as much as Oikawa would boast about being his own type, Atsumu was starting to make him doubt that. He even briefly considered owing Iwaizumi and apology! Of course, that was a thought easily dealt away with.
He found himself slowly becoming a bit lonely without the banter, though. Like it was meant to be there. He’d find himself checking his phone often, looking for another obnoxious text from Atsumu. When he wouldn’t find one, he’d start instigating himself, looking for him. Because it was starting to feel like that rhythm they took in their conversations was natural.
Iwaizumi’s annoyance slowly faded to something more similar he treated Oikawa with. While he wasn’t unruffled, he was able to handle it without legitimate frustration. It was more just a small twinge of annoyance while being brutally honest, something that truly fit Iwaizumi’s style of affection. Oikawa thought he’d be more jealous about sharing that with another person, but he found himself oddly enjoying it.
It wasn’t as though Atsumu was all just energy without substance, either, even if he tried to make it seem that way himself. He was kind when it mattered. He was skilled. For someone who acted so carefree, he could read people surprisingly well and was surprisingly intelligent (even if he didn’t always apply it). In the beginning, those positive qualities only served to annoy Oikawa further. As time began to pass a bit, though, he’d find that he enjoyed them, how they seemed to complement his personality in the oddest ways.
And maybe that was why when, over break, Atsumu asked to meet up with them again for something that resembled a date, Oikawa accepted on the behalf of both himself and Iwaizumi, albeit trying to make it sound reluctant.
Three soulmates, together. It was a nice thought, when Oikawa really let it sink in.
(Though he wouldn’t say that directly to Atsumu.)