Forever Souls (Kagehina)

End of Day Two

Tobio arrived behind the gym first, relieved that he'd have a few minutes to prepare for what he wanted to say to his partner.

He had played it over and over again in his mind during dinner. 'I don't want anyone else touching you...' He blushed at the memory, embarrassed by his own words.

The only plus side was that Shoyo didn't seem disgusted by his words. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his first true friend.

"Sorry I'm late..." a small familiar voice walked up behind him. Tobio turned around to see Shoyo nervously playing with his shirt.

"You're not late," Tobio smiled. "I got here early."

"Oh...good..." Shoyo laughs.

"So...um..." Tobio looks down at the short boy who is smiling up at him. "I am sorry about earlier."

"Why are you apologizing?" Shoyo laughs.

"Because I..." Tobio blushes, biting his lip. "I over reacted and shouted at you. I had no right to pull you away from Nekoma's middle Blocker earlier. That was very rude of me and I'm sorry. I'll apologize to him tomorrow, I promise." He bows down quickly.

"Tobio...I'm not mad," Shoyo says as Tobio raises his head up. "Honestly...it made me happy."

"Huh? Why?"

"Well...I've never seen anyone get upset for me before," Shoyo blushes. "Sure you get mad at me, but never for me. It was like you wanted to protect me...it made me happy."

"Oh...well..." Tobio blushes, taking a deep breath. "You're my partner...so of course I want to protect you."

"Is that the only reason?" He asks, hopeful.

"Um...of course it is," Tobio holds back his tongue.

No matter who badly he wants to kiss his partner, after knowing what happened with Inuoka, he doesn't feel right about forcing Shoyo to kiss him. Finding out if Shoyo is his soulmate will just have to wait.

"Oh..." Shoyo's smile fades, he steps back a little, holding his hands in front of his body, twisting his shirt. "I guess I misunderstood..." his vision starts to get blurry. "Sorry...um, I'm gonna head back inside."

"Wait..." Tobio grabs Shoyo's forearm, stopping him from leaving. "Why are you crying?"

"Oh...um...I don't know..." Shoyo didn't realize he had tears, he quickly wiped them away, trying to smile. "I'm fine, really."

"No...you're not." Tobio says, leaning closer, his grip still wrapped around Shoyo's arm. "What did you mean when you said you misunderstood?"

"Well every time...everytime we touch, I feel it...I can feel your warmth," Shoyo looks up into Tobio's blue eyes.

Tobio's soul mark feels like it's on fire as he stares into Shoyo's fiery amber eyes.

"So...I thought that maybe..." he tries to say, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. I was wrong. I'm sorry...I should..."

"Wait...don't go..." he whispers, pulling the smaller boy closer. "I can feel it too."

Shoyo's eyes widen as the taller boy in front of his turns bright red.

"Shoyo...can I touch you?" He asks, raising his hand up near the smaller boy's face.

Shoyo nods yes.

Tobio's fingers brush back the orange fluff by Shoyo's face, gently touching his cheek, stepping closer.

"This feels nice," Shoyo hums under his touch, closing his eyes, enjoying the heat from his partners fingers.