34&29 for Erich/Kisuke/Alexis is possible? I love these three dorks.
skyshinigamialchemist
(34: Accidental Hug, 29: Soulmates – Erich/Kisuke/Alexis)
Erich breathed a sigh of relief as Yhwach’s body began to fade and the heavy press of the man’s twisted reiatsu slowly lifted.
They’d done it. They’d won!
“And stay gone!” Alexis shouted as she let her bow fade away, then turned towards him with a sharp-vicious-pleased grin. “Never thought I’d get to fight a legend.”
Erich huffed a weak laugh and straightened up, running a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. “Never wanted to,” he replied, feeling his limbs already beginning to tremble in reaction to the fight he — they — had just survived. He’d taken the brunt of Yhwach’s attention, the legendary Quincy progenitor singling him out for some unknown reason, and if he never had to fight another enemy who could control his body or block his soulbond with Alexis it would be too soon.
(Never again.)
(He never wanted to feel so empty again…!)
(He hadn’t even had the odd hum of his unknown soulbond!)
Arms wrapped around his chest from behind, jolting him out of his thoughts and making him stiffen in reaction.
(Who…?)
(That wasn’t Alexis!)
“You’re alive,” Kisuke whispered into Erich’s neck, relief-happiness-joy pressing against Erich’s senses. “I thought— I could feel you fighting, but he… he…”
Erich clenched his jaw and awkwardly patted one of Kisuke’s hands as he cast a pleading look at Alexis, hoping she would intervene before he had to figure out how to react to a Shinigami hugging him. When all she did was arch an eyebrow and grin brighter, he scowled at her in exasperation; he might have come to care for Kisuke over the past few months, but—
Something clicked into place, hum resolving into sensation and Erich froze.
(No.)
(It couldn’tbe.)
(Kisuke was his second soulmate?)
(Wait— Kisuke had been able to feel him fighting Yhwach’s control?!)
“Sorry, sorry!” Kisuke yelped as he abruptly let go and darted backwards, leaving Erich’s back feeling unexpectedly cold and exposed. “I didn’t mean to, uhm— that is, I… didn’t think? I’m sorry! I know you don’t like being touched by surprise—”
“You could feel me fighting,” Erich interrupted Kisuke’s tangled apologies, spinning on one heel to face the man as he did.
Kisuke’s eyes went wide and he took another half-step backward, gaze sliding to the side and hand rising to rub at the back of his head. “A-ah, well, I mean… your reiatsu. I could sense your reiatsu still.”
“Really now.” Erich crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at Kisuke, feeding a bit of reiryoku into his limbs to steady himself as he did; he… really wanted to sit down, wanted to rest, but this… he refused to have this conversation while Kisuke could loom. “You could sense what I was doing through his control.”
“Well… yes? I’ve always had sharp senses,” Kisuke attempted to explain, gaze still not quite meeting Erich’s.
“Sharp enough to feel something purely internal?” Erich bit out, unsure if he was more offended by Kisuke’s attempted lie or by the fact that Kisuke had never once mentioned them being soulmates.
(How long had Kisuke known?)
(How long had he stood by and said nothing?!)
“Er…”
Erich grit his teeth, biting back the angry-desperate-infuriated words a part of him wanted to spit in Kisuke’s face, and did his best to force himself into a more… rational mindset; for all he knew, Kisuke might have only just discovered that they were soulmates himself. Since no one had any indication of who they were paired with until they acknowledged liking their soulmate, well…
It was easy for someone like Kisuke or himself to… overlook things until the last possible moment.
“How long have you known?” Erich asked when he finally managed to pull himself back under control.
Kisuke gave him a wide-eyed look and asked, “Known what? There are a lot of things—”
Tired of the deflections, Erich mentally yanked on their connection, making Kisuke’s breath hitch in his throat. “That we’re soulmates,” he said aloud for Alexis’ benefit.
(Oh, he hoped she didn’t react poorly to this.)
(They’d been separated for so long after their deaths, he didn’t want to lose her again!)
Kisuke stilled, tongue flicking out to wet his lips as his gaze darted between Erich and Alexis. “Erich-san…” he paused, swallowed, and then forced himself on, “How would you have liked me to announce it? ‘Rerugen-san, I know you hate most Shinigami, and sometimes still fear me, but I just found out we’re soulmates’? I wasn’t about to force anything on you when it was clear you wanted very little to do with me!”
“I don’t fear you!” Erich snapped before he could think better of it, then scowled at Alexis as a whisper-soft thread of amusement brushed against his mind. “I haven’t been afraid of you for months now,” he clarified grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Erich-san, you were terrified of my presence just last week,” Kisuke replied dryly.
“Last week?” Erich frowned as he dredged his memory, trying to figure out what Kisuke meant; he honestly hadn’t been afraid of the man — or any of the other Shinigami who frequented the shoten — in months, to the point where he—
Where he sometimes fell asleep on the couch.
And where he sometimes slept poorly, dreaming of tangled memories of the war that left him disoriented and…
Afraid.
(Oh for heaven’s sake!)
“You…!” Erich bit back a curse and stalked forward, jabbing a finger into Kisuke’s chest and glowering up at the man. “I had a panic attack because I dreamed about the war and didn’t recognize where I was when I woke up, Kisuke! Not every piece of fear or panic I feel is directed at or caused by you!”
The look of sheer befuddlement on Kisuke’s face would have made Erich laugh if he wasn’t so offended by the man’s assumptions; he’d known Kisuke tended to assume the worst, but for him to rely solely on a one-sided soulmate connection — which everyone knew only transmitted the strongest of emotions and very little else! — was… absurd.
“You didn’t react well to my presence—”
“Because I didn’t know where — or when — I was!” Erich’s breath hissed between his teeth in frustration, and he scrubbed at his face with his free hand, his other hand flattening against Kisuke’s chest as a brace. He was… this whole conversation was exhausting and he just wanted to go home.
One of Kisuke’s arms cautiously wrapped around Erich’s back, tugging him a step closer. “I think we should table this for the moment,” Kisuke suggested, the connection between them practically vibrating with the man’s jumbled emotions. “Even before you… uhm… woke the connection on your side, I could sense your exhaustion. I should have insisted we leave sooner.”
Erich snorted at Kisuke’s careful wording — woke the connection indeed, what a way to say admitted to himself he actually liked Kisuke — and let his forehead come to rest against the man’s chest. “Alexis…?”
“Oh, don’t mind me,” she said airily, even as warmth-reassurance-love slipped down their connection to sooth his frazzled nerves. “The real surprise here is that the two of you only just settled your bond.”
“What— Lexi!” Erich pushed away from Kisuke just enough to give Alexis a narrow-eyed look. “What in the world do you mean by that?”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Love, I found the two of you bantering as you took down an enemy together, what in the world was I supposed to think?”
Erich groaned as Kisuke gave a startled laugh, and let his head thump back against Kisuke’s chest, heat rising in his cheeks at the memory; he rarely bantered on the battlefield because he couldn’t often afford the hit to his concentration — banter did not come naturally to him and never had — but something about Kisuke made it… easier. Not easy, because he doubted it would ever be, but… he’d gotten used to semi-playful conversations while they sparred, and that had apparently carried over to when they fought alongside each other.
“You’re welcome to come back to the Living World with us,” Kisuke said as he slowly wrapped his other arm around Erich as well, clearly trying to telegraph every motion. “I know he’s missed you.”
Alexis hummed. “I didn’t think you Shinigami let souls leave so easily.”
“Ex-Shinigami, thank you,” Kisuke said with a small huff. “And I live in the Living World, and so does Erich-san these days, so I don’t see why you shouldn’t as well. If the old geezers complain, we can just point out that you’re part of the reason the Three Worlds still exist.”
She laughed, warm-bright-sharp, and said, “I think I’m going to like getting to know you.”
Kisuke stiffened at her words, shock-surprise-hope rippling through their connection before he tamped the emotions back and cleared his throat. “Ah… thank you?”
“You’re very welcome,” Alexis replied with amusement, then added, “That offer comes with a bed, right? Because I think I could sleep for a week after that fight, and Erich’s almost asleep already.”
“Right. It does, yes,” Kisuke said firmly, then shifted his stance and—
Erich yelped as he was swept up into Kisuke’s arms in a princess carry. “Kisuke! I can walk!”
“Maa, but you shouldn’t have to,” Kisuke said smugly as he turned towards the exit to the throne room and started moving, Alexis falling into step with him. “You deserve a bit of pampering after all that, and I think Alexis-san will agree with me.”
Alexis chuckled and leaned over enough to brush a soft kiss to his forehead. “Go to sleep, love. Kisuke-san and I will deal with anything that comes up while you rest.”
Erich turned his head enough to glower at Alexis, then heaved a sigh at the unrepentant look he got back, knowing that he wasn’t going to get free any time soon.
Besides, embarrassing as it was, it was also… kind of nice not to have to pretend; he was exhausted and wrung out and empty, and neither Kisuke nor Alexis needed him to force himself on past his limits.
He could just… rest.
He closed his eyes.
And slept.
#in this universe soulmates are just ‘anyone you have a soul deep connection with’
#so they can be romantic or platonic or qpp or however else you want to be
#because all it takes to realize the connection is to actually go ‘oh i like this person’
#but until you do you have nooooo idea who you’re partnered with
#so it’s sort of ‘friendship is great!’ the au
#meet and befriend as many ppl as possible in order to find ur soulmates!
#anyway when one person triggers the connection they usually inform the other
#but Kisuke didn’t
#it’s not really a taboo to withhold that info it’s just not common
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