42nd Moon: The Woe of Soulmates

by Thea Chin

  “Jaiden?” Tsukiko gasps, wrapping her arms around his neck for dear life.

  The wolf turns his head slightly back and lets out a bark.

  * * *

  Of course, after all that happened, the fraternity owes Tsukiko a rather extensive explanation. After they’ve ensured that Terena is asleep, Cain confirms that they are all indeed werewolves and that the tattoos which they call soulmarks link two soulmates together.

  “And now, as you might have already figured out, the problem is Terena.” The boy points to a girl drawn at the end of a visual thought map he scratched into the dirt.

  Darren sits hunched over his knees on the edge of a log, poking at the dying fire. “She is not a problem,” he snarls.

  “Right,” agrees Cain half-heartedly. “But you get the point.”

  “So what do we do now? Do we have to be together?” Tsukiko asks.

  “Not necessarily. Nature is strong, but nurture is important too. Some wolves never find their mates or cannot be with them for one physical reason or another,” Mark answers.

  Tsukiko takes a slow breath in, trying to make sense of all the information given to her. “So to reiterate, werewolves exist, and this whole fraternity is a pack of wolves. On top of that, I have a soulmate, Darren, who already has a relationship with his girlfriend?”

  Chan nods. “So what do you want to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Dust doesn’t want to break up with his girlfriend, but your feelings are valid too, not to mention there are risks of him being with someone else. We know what effect your soulmate has on you, so what do you want to do? Be with him, or let him be with Terena?”

  Darren holds his breath as he looks at Tsukiko, awaiting her answer. She shifts uncomfortably in her seat as she looks between the werewolves around the campfire.

  “I think… I think it’s fine if he stays with Terena,” she decides. She can hear a sigh of relief. “I mean, I’m just having a crush-like phase, right? I’ll get used to it.”

  “Ki, are you sure?” Jaiden worries.

  “Yes.” She smiles convincingly.

  “Well then, that went well,” notes Chan. Turning to Darren, the alpha adds with sternness, “Just because you can stay together, doesn’t mean you can forget the rules.”

  He swallows a lump in his throat and nods, “Of course.”

  “We’re done here then,” Chan concludes and stands, heading for one of the tents.

  Darren gets up and walks to his soulmate. “Thanks, Tsukiko. I mean, it’s not like I don’t like you or anything, but I really love Terena, and this means a lot to me.”

  “Of course,” she nods.

  “And uh, sorry for being so rude to you in the past. You… you didn’t deserve any of that.”

  She waves off his apology. “It’s fine; I understand. I’m just glad I know why you did that now.”

  “Truce?” He holds out a hand for her to shake.

  “Truce.” Tsukiko shakes it with a laugh and he prepares to leave.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  “Okay. Good night!”

  “Night!” he calls over his shoulder.

  Jaiden walks over and places a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “I mean, you basically just got rejected by Mr. Tall-dark-and-handsome,” he teases.

  She rolls her eyes. “I’ve known him for less than two months. I’ll get over it.”

  Jaiden knows the soulmate bond never really ends, but seeing the sparkle of determination in her eye, he doesn’t have the heart to tell her. He instead reaches to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and lets his fingertips linger there a second longer than necessary.

  “I sure hope so, Ki. I really do.”

  * * *

  With her brain trying to wrap itself around everything, Tsukiko does not find it in herself to sleep. Trying not to disturb Faith, she quietly exits their two persons tent to stroll around the camp. An hour later, her legs grow tired, and she decides to sit by a cliff, waiting to watch the sun rise from afar.

  “Can’t sleep?”

  She finds it almost amusing how she’s no longer startled by them sneaking up on her like this.

  “No,” she replies. “What are you doing up before noon?”

  Jaiden chuckles. “Just nightmares,” he says offhandedly, taking a seat beside her.

  “Do you want to talk about it? People usually feel better when they do.”

  “Nah, I’m good for now. What’s keeping you up?” he diverts.

  Tsukiko lets it go and replies, “The whole werewolf thing.”

  “You know, you’re surprisingly taking the information in super well. Faith fainted when she first found out, and my mother avoided my father for like a whole week, apparently.”

  “I don’t know; I guess I had a feeling all along, so I’ve been preparing for the news.”

  Jaiden spots some small flowers growing by some weeds. “What gave it away?”

  Tsukiko frowns and massages the bridge of her nose, not really knowing the answer.

  “You think you knew before your concussion?” Jaiden suggests, plucking at the plants.

  “Maybe…” She shakes her head. “The first hint I can remember was when I saw Darren’s wolf form on the streets, but even then I was very calm about it. I mean, I thought I was crazy to think it was him, but I really believed it.”

  He starts twisting them together, forming a chain of flowers. “Having met before seems to be the only logical reasoning, but at the same time, I can’t believe that he didn’t tell anyone, especially me or Chan.”

  Tsukiko scrunches her nose. “It kind of hurts to think about.”

  “Your head? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

  “No, it’s not that bad.” She lets her hand fall back into her lap. “Anyway, what’s it like being a werewolf and having to hide your identity all the time?”

  Jaiden snorts at her wording and continues knitting flowers. “I’m not some sort of superhero or anything. We don’t transform unless we’re alone in the mountains like here or when our soulmark glows vibrantly, indicating that our soulmate needs us. That’s how Darren knew to go get you the other night.”

  Tsukiko nods in understanding. They sit in a calming silence until she speaks again. “Can I um…”

  He raises a brow at the girl’s fidgeting.

  “Can I see you transform?”

  Jaiden laughs. “Of course you can, but only if I get pets.”

  “Deal.”

  He stands up, placing what has become a halo of flowers where he sat, and begins growing silver fur.

  “What’s awesome is that we invented clothes that change with us, or we’d have to run around naked when we change back. Courtesy of one of Destiny’s many researches, actually,” he says. “We can still understand you after we turn unless it’s a full moon. Once a month, we fall back on our natural instincts, just like in movies.”

  Soon, Jaiden’s mouth forms into a furry muzzle, inhibiting him from forming proper syllables, and Tsukiko is left with a beautiful silver canine standing in front of her.

  When he finishes transforming, he boops her arm with his nose before rolling over excitedly.

  She laughs at his pup-ish antics and leans over to scratch his ears. That is when they hear two other voices. Seems like they aren’t the only ones awake at this hour.

  “Darrennnn,” a feminine voice giggles.

  “Shh,” comes an equally cheery male voice. “You’re gonna wake up the others.”

  “Whatever,” she titters. “I love you!”

  “I love you too, sweetcakes.”

  Jaiden feels Tsukiko’s hand grow tense, and he lets out a whimper of concern.

  His noise pulls her thoughts back to the current situation. “Ah sorry. It seems like getting over my soulmate’s a little harder than anticipated, but I’ll be fine,” she assures him.

  Jaiden grunts, unconvinced.

&n
bsp; “Darren, stop it~”

  Tsukiko freezes up again. She can hear her increasing heart rate pounding in her head

  “You really want me to?”

  Giggles.

  Jaiden growls and gets on all fours, prepared to head towards the couple to confront his fraternity brother.

  “No wait, Jaiden, stop,” Tsukiko begs, standing in front of him. “It’s not our business to interfere. I’ve already made my decision, so there isn’t any reason why you need to go.”

  He narrows his eyes at her and circles her a few times. He looks ready to pounce.

  “Jai—”

  Tsukiko yelps in surprise as he gives her ankle a small nip, causing her to trip backwards. Instead of meeting the hard ground, she lands in a pile of silver fur. At the same time, Jaiden grabs the crown that he made earlier and places it on her head before nuzzling into her side, trying to comfort her aching heart.

  When she finally realizes what he is attempting, Tsukiko smiles to herself and brings a hand up to continue petting him to which Jaiden lets out a low noise of content. She lets his deep breathing drown out the commotion in the woods and focuses on the sun that is just beginning to peek up from beneath the cliff. Before long, the comfort of Jaiden’s steady breath and warm fur creep up to her eyelids which droop and droop until they shut altogether.

  * * *

  That next week, Tsukiko is due for a hospital check-up for her concussion, and unfortunately, the only time she can schedule one is during her chemistry lab lectures. Jaiden insisted on going with her, but she told him to attend class and take notes for both of them.

  Thus, Tsukiko is now sitting in the examination room alone, nervously tapping her fingers together.

  “Miss Tsukiko Tsujii?” the doctor reads off the chart as she enters.

  “Yes, that’s me, Dr. Lawrence.”

  “Great. How are you feeling today, Miss Tsujii?”

  “Fine. Everything seems normal.”

  “Good.” Her gloved hands slam the patient folder shut. “Any pains of any sort?”

  “No, thankfully.”

  “Alright then. The nurse notes that all your vitals are normal, temperature normal, no chief complaints… We’ll just scan your head and send you on your way. Please follow me.”

  Tsukiko nods obediently and does as told. Together, they ride to the top floor of Valentine’s Memorial and enter a room lit by vertical beams of blue light. A radiologist is already situated in the next room separated by a glass window and a wall of computer screens.

  “This is… quite advanced, isn’t it?” Tsukiko comments nervously, scanning the number of wires and gadgets around her.

  “Don’t worry,” says Dr. Lawrence. “This is all covered by the school insurance paid for by your scholarship. Now if you can please lay here with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms slightly away from your body.”

  Tsukiko lays down on the table of an MRI-like machine and positions herself as instructed.

  “Now close your eyes and try not to move,” the doctor tells her as the machine slides her into a glass tube.

  “How are you feeling?” she asks after a few minutes, but Tsukiko can barely register what she’s hearing anymore, let alone respond. A blue liquid seeps into the chamber.

  “Good night, Miss Tsujii.”

  * * *

  “How’d everything go?” Darren asks her when they meet at the water fountain later that day at Destiny.

  “The doctor said that everything’s normal,” Tsukiko answers. She’s surprised that Darren is initiating a conversation with her. Even though they’ve resolved their conflicts, there’s still an air of awkwardness between them.

  “Did he say anything about your memories?”

  “She, and they might never return. Permanent retrograde amnesia, she called it.”

  Darren hands her the cup he was filling. “I’m sorry, but at least you’re alive.”

  Tsukiko thanks him. “I’m still young, so I hopefully am not losing too much.”

  “Yeah… Hey, I’ll photocopy you the chem notes later, and Jaiden also wanted to give you this.”

  He hands her an envelope, so she peers inside to find four tickets to Jolly Land, the nearby theme park.

  “His company bought these for some clients who ended up cancelling their flight here, so his father gave them to Jaiden. He said he’d give two of them to me if I convinced you to come along, so are you down?” So that’s why he approached her.

  Tsukiko looks at the date on the tickets.

  “I’ll talk to your supervisor to allocate your work to someone else that day,” Darren quickly adds.

  The girl shakes her hand from side to side. “It’s alright; I’ll just come in the day before.”

  Darren quickly lights up and grabs her hand, an action he almost regrets because of the tingling sensation that comes with it. “Thank you so much, Tsukiko! I’ll get those notes to your desk right now.”

  * * *

  Theme park music blares through speakers as Jaiden rushes up to the front gates after finishing his last class.

  “Hi Ki, Darren,” he greets. He looks between his two friends with an uneasy feeling churning in his stomach. “Did you wait long?”

  “No,” the girl answers, letting him take her bag from her. “We’re also waiting for Terena anyway.”

  “Her club meeting ended at 10:30. She’ll be here soon,” Darren informs the two.

  “You know her schedule better than you do your own, don’t you, you lovebird,” Jaiden says mockingly to his friend.

  Darren grunts and gives his friend a shove.

  Tsukiko turns to look at the entrance of Jolly Land expectantly. Just then, the other girl comes running and waving at the three of them.

  “Hi!” Terena greets cheerily. “Sorry for the wait!”

  Jaiden steps in front of Tsukiko’s view as Terena kisses Darren on the cheek. “So to the park then?”

  “Yeah!” Terena chirps, taking Darren by the arm and leading him to the front gates.

  “Ew,” Jaiden comments jokingly.

  Tsukiko shrugs. “It’s kind of cute though.”

  Jaiden turns his head to the side to look at her. She has her eyes trained on the couple.

  “Do you, um.” Jaiden cuts himself off. “N-never mind.”

  She blinks at him, curious. “What?”

  “Never mind!” he insists with scarlet cheeks.

  Tsukiko doesn’t think much of his words and hands her admission slip to the ticket master. Once inside, a mascot greets the two of them.

  “Hello there! I’m Jolly Quokka. Welcome to Jolly Land!”

  “Aha thanks,” Jaiden laughs awkwardly.

  Tsukiko, on the other hand, is staring starry-eyed at the giant quokka in front of her.

  “Let’s take a picture together to commemorate your date!” it suggests.

  “Oh, we’re not—”

  “You two are so cute! You know, couples get free matching Quokka headbands! So, how long have you two been together?”

  “It’s our first date!” Tsukiko announces, grabbing Jaiden’s hand.

  The male looks at her with incredulous eyes. He can feel heat spreading across his face and to his ears. Still, a part of him wonders if she wished he were Darren.

  “Adorable!” coos Jolly Quokka. “Then we most definitely have to take a picture!”

  After Jaiden is scammed into buying one of the photos, the two are freed to enjoy the day.

  “Sorry for doing that,” Tsukiko apologizes once they are away from Jolly. She lets go of Jaiden’s hand, leaving him feeling dreadfully cold.

  “I-it’s fine.” He clears his throat. “You really like Jolly Quokka don’t you?”

  The girl brings a hand up to touch her new headband. “Yeah… it’s really cute, don’t you think?”

  You’re cuter. He clears his throat again. “Well um… I guess these mark us as a couple for the rest of the day, then.”

  The girl frowns. “Does it b
other you? I just wanted the headband. We can take them off now if you want.”

  “I-it’s fine. We can keep them on. W-why don’t we, um…” He huffs a sigh, still unable to finish what he was suggesting earlier

  “Pretend to be a couple for the day?” she fills in for him.

  “Y-yeah! I mean, there are so many couples everywhere; I feel left out!” he blabbers before letting out a sigh and hanging his head. Who is he kidding? He isn’t her soulmate, the one her heart beats for, almost literally. “Never mind,” he says again. “It’s a stupid idea.”

  “No, it’s not it’s not stupid. Jolly Quokka said there’s a lot of couple events today, so this could be a good opportunity to check them out. That is, only if you don’t mind either.”

  His ears perk up at the response. He mind? Oh, Jaiden would be delighted. “I d-don’t mind.” He clears his throat and looks down at her hand. He swallows a lump in his throat and reclaims it. Carpe diem.

  Tsukiko intertwines her fingers with his, and Jaiden almost pees his pants.

  * * *

  Three rides and a bag of cotton candy later, Jaiden is still swinging her hands between their two bodies. His steps are light, clearly enjoying himself.

  “What next?” he asks.

  A voice over the speakers booms before she can answer. “Step on up, couples of Jolly Land!”

  She turns towards the noise and sees an event happening on a nearby stage. “Best Couple of Jolly Land Competition” the banner reads.

  “How about that?” Tsukiko point. “They say first prize gets an XL Jolly Quokka stuffed animal!”

  Jaiden’s stomach does a gymnastics routine upon reading some of the contents of the event from the banner, but seeing the excitement in her eyes, he is not about to say no to her. “S-sure.”

  Tsukiko frowns at his hesitance. “Do you not want to? I understand since I’m not your real—”

  “It’s fine!” Jaiden cuts her off loudly. “I want to do it. I really, really want to!” He drags the girl onto the stage, snarling every time she suggests that their participation is not in his best interest.