Fandom One-shots (REQUESTS OPEN)

Would Be Bad Boy; Soulmate AU (Tanaka Ryunosuke x Fem!Reader)

Dedicated to Lizzybeth200 on AO3
Original published September, 2019
Word Count: 2062

Soulmate AU: A meter on your wrist shows how dangerous your soulmate is.

[Y/N] smiled as she lightly ran her fingers over the small meter on her wrist. Despite her soulmate looking like such a delinquent, she had never seen it go higher than the few ticks it does when he gets overly competitive. 
 
“Are you sure your meter isn’t broken or that you aren’t just looking at the wrong guy?” One of her friends asked her, sitting to her left as they ate lunch. “I don’t see how his meter could stay so low. He is scary and intimidating.” Their eyes slowly drifted to her wrist as if they were waiting for a sign that they were right. 
 
[Y/N] shook her head. “He is not scary or intimidating, you guys are just too caught up studying how he looks.” She reprimanded. They learned this in elementary school; don’t judge a book by its cover. “I actually have several classes with Tanaka and Nishinoya. They are huge, dorky goofballs who wouldn’t hurt a fly unless they had to. They talk about volleyball most of the time, but they are pretty cool.” She looked down at her wrist after feeling the normal sensation of the meter changing. Seeing the 4 blips that had appeared, she glanced around the cafeteria and saw the two second years hissing at some boys watching Kyoko and sighed sadly.  
 
“Not to mention he doesn’t even seem to know you exist. He is too hung up on the volleyball manager to notice anything else. You deserve-” 
 
[Y/N] couldn’t handle it anymore and stood slamming her fists into the table, “Yes! Thank you, Captain Obvious, I know!” She snapped before turning and storming off. She knew very well that Tanaka had no idea she existed but for her friends to so blatantly rub her face in it was irritating. It wasn’t exactly his fault he didn’t notice her. She made herself slip into the background and avoided being the center of attention. She had heard before that some people could have mismatched soulmates. Honestly, that would explain a lot if that were the case; his obsession with Kyoko, his failure to notice her, the reason the only time the meter moved was when Kyoko was involved... 
 
Lost in her anger and her thoughts, she didn’t notice Tanaka stop and straighten up to stare at his own wrist in the fluorescent light. He quickly looked around the room and caught a glimpse of her just as she disappeared through the door, headed outside. He could tell just from the look she had when she left that her mood was ruined. He looked at Nishinoya before quickly following [Y/N]. 
 
“He is probably better off with someone like her anyway... I am just a nobody.” She said looking at the meter. Was it possible to carve one of them out of your own skin? Could you survive that if no one was there to see you? With where it was, she was guaranteed to hit that major blood vein.  
 
“[Y/N]?” Tanaka came out from the doorway and his voice cut through her destructive thoughts. 
 
“Oh... Tanaka... Hello.” She said dropping her hand as she struggled to hide that anything was wrong with her. She wasn’t even sure why he was out here, but she didn’t want him to feel guilty or obligated to help her. 
 
“I noticed that you got angry and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He said rubbing his neck as he forgot that would incriminate him.  
 
[Y/N] blinked, taking a minute to watch him. Tanaka hadn’t even been looking in her general direction when she snapped, and she hadn’t exactly been that loud. So how did he-… Oh... She glanced at his wrist and noticed the slowly decreasing meter. “I will be.” She had no want or need to lie to him. “I just got really upset about something that was said to me.” She said gently. She smiled and shook her head when she felt the meter on her arm start to rise again and cut him off before he could talk. “It’s nothing Tanaka, you don’t have to worry about it. It was stupid anyway.” She said in a self-deprecating manner. 
 
Tanaka frowned and shook his head mildly disappointed in her behavior as his eyebrows furrowed. “I doubt it was stupid. What did they say?” He asked as he stepped closer to her, hoping he could hide how fidgety he was now. 
 
[Y/N] signed, “My friends just pointed out that the guy I have been sure is my soulmate has a thing for a third year. I started to question everything at that point... Whether he really was my soulmate, whether I was his, and whether he just didn’t care about soulmates and intended on pursuing her even if he was mine. You know, not everyone cares about the soulmate thing and sometimes you don’t share soulmates, so I thought maybe she was his soulmate.” She admitted to him softly. She really didn’t know what to expect from him know that all of that had been spilled. 
 
Tanaka frowned as he glanced at his own wrist. The look on his face showed how devastated he was inside. He was painfully aware that there was a possibility that she wasn’t his soulmate or that he made her feel like she wasn’t his soulmate. “I... Who so you think your soulmate is?” He asked quieter than she thought he could be. 
 
She swallowed hard. If she told him the truth, he would blame himself; if she lied, he would be crushed thinking her heart belong to someone else. “I think it is you.” She didn’t let her eye leave her feet now. She didn’t want to see how hurt he was. 
 
Tanaka felt a lump form in his throat as he tried to keep himself from getting emotional. “Kyoko isn’t my soulmate. I was just trying to keep that guy away from her and when I did... He said he would go after you instead if I would rather. Kyoko wasn’t the reason my danger level went up but... I can see how it would look like that to you and I am really sorry I did that to you.” He said reaching out, he was debating grabbing her hand.  
 
[Y/N] shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I understand why you would-” She stopped and blinked, suddenly face to face with him as she tried to decipher what he had just said. “Wait, you got mad because he mentioned me? I... Am your soulmate?” She asked as a smile crept onto her face.  
 
Tanaka laughed at her reaction as he reached out taking her hand without hesitation now. “I wanted to knock his teeth down his throat when he let your name come off his tongue but when I felt your meter spike, I knew I had to ignore him and check on you. I am sure our guardian deity took care of him though.” He said watching her gently. She was even more beautiful up close like this.  
 
 [Y/N] was stunned to silence as she stared at Tanaka. His words started sinking in after the shock melted away. She was his soulmate and he was hers. Not to mention, he had gotten angry to defend her not Kyoko. “I... don’t really know what to say. I am just kind of in shock.” She admitted as she glanced down at their hands only now realizing that he was holding onto her.  
 
Tanaka shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. There isn’t anything you need to say now. Since we are both aware now that we are soulmates, we have all the time in the world. Let’s just take things at a slower pace and get to know each other in our own way.” He said giving her hand a reassuring squeeze.  
 
The young woman continued to watch their hands for a moment before looking up at him, beaming happily. She had always known that he wasn’t as rough as his appearance suggested but it was nice to be able to see a secret soft side. “I would like that very much.” She said without hesitation.  
 
Tanaka smiled as he pulled her hand gently, leading her back into the cafeteria ignoring her friends as he took her to where Noya was sitting. “Would you like to sit in at my practice today?” G=He cocked his head to the side hopefully. He didn’t get a chance to hear her answer before his best friend got involved.  
 
“Get some Ryu!!” The shorter male yelled excitedly as they approached him. He was especially happy that his baldheaded best friend had managed to find his soulmate.  
 
[Y/N] blushed as the Libro made such a fuss but did her best to focus on Tanaka and his question. “Sure Tanaka. I would love to.” Her response was soft and sweet.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
“Alright, listen up! Todays practice is going to be a little different than normal!” As Coach Ukai explained to the team the rules of the practice match they would be having today, Tanaka keep a close eye on the door, getting more fidgety than normal as time went on. She was just running late... She was still coming, right? She wasn’t the kind of girl that would just stand someone up, was she? The questions running through his head seemed ridiculous to him, but it didn’t stop the nagging in the back of his mind. 
 
“Tanaka-senpai?” Tsukishima asked, loud enough for the entire team to hear, his tone was dripping with sarcasm. “If you need to go to the bathroom so bad that you are this antsy, I am sure coach would excuse you.” 
 
“Yes, yes. You can go Tanaka. You could have interrupted; you don’t usually let my talking stop you normally.” Ukai said with a sigh as he motioned for the second year to go.  
 
While several of his teammates choked back laughter, Tanaka grabbed the first year’s collar. “Why you little-” He didn’t appreciate the snarky middle blocker trying to embarrass him.  
 
“Excuse me?” A musical sound reached Tanaka’s ears and he immediately dropped Tsukishima, spinning to face the door. There he saw [H/C] hair draped over someone’s face as they bowed before the coach. “I am terribly sorry to intrude after you have already started... Tanaka asked me to watch him practice.” He was beaming when [Y/N] finally straightened up.  
 
All eyes went from the mysterious young woman to the delinquent who was grinning like an idiot as he hurried over to her like a puppy who was happy to see his owner. “Everyone, this is [L/N]- my soulmate.” It felt nice to drop that bombshell on everyone, especially when the gym got louder from all the confused and excited shouting.  
 
“Wait, Tanaka found his soulmate?! How did Tanaka get such a catch?” Narita asked, skeptical as he looked between the pair.  
 
“I feel bad for her.” Tsukishima said as he studied the girl who was now half hidden behind Tanaka. “She is doomed to live the rest of her life with him.” He said smirking as Tanaka glared at him.  
 
“Come on guys, you might scare her.” Asahi said, his eyes looked like he was pleading for everyone to calm down.  
 
“That’s enough!” Coach Ukai yelled over everyone. “Everyone, I want you to complete two penalty laps of dive receives for your disruption.” He demanded as he moved over to the pair. He looked at Tanaka and shook his head though he didn’t seem upset with him. “Go join the others and then we will get started, and don’t worry, she can stay.” 
 
Tanaka beamed happily as he nodded and ran off. He was even more energetic than before now that she was there, he felt like he could take on Date Tech or even Shiratorizawa all by himself.  
 
Ukai looked at the suddenly nervous young woman and smiled at her, trying to help ease her mind. “The team might not show it right now, but they are all happy for the both of you. Tanaka is a good kid and a fierce player; he deserves all the happiness he can get, and I think you are all he has ever wanted. Feel free to stay and watch it might give him a boost.” 
 
[Y/N] gently watched Tanaka as she nodded, smiling at the coach’s kind words. “Thank you very much.”