The Void Between Us

Monologue + Short Story

Hair colour description of the characters (since I don’t have precisely completed character sheets for them)

Kai Akiyama (the MC)- black hair

Maxine Madd-Diaz (Kai’s soulmate)- brown with blonde highlights

Kane Akiyama (Kai’s step-brother)– bright red hair

Max entered the keycard and burst through the door to see Kai strangled by his older brother Kane. Kai refrained eye contact with Max as he gasped for air. Kai’s body fumbled around as he attempted to retract from his brother’s extensive grip. The room was disarranged. The wallpaper peeled off the wall and there were fist-size holes pierced through as the insulation was visible. There were clothes, books, sheets of paper scattered all over. Kane cocked his head towards the boy who stood at the door in his school uniform. Kai turned his head away from the brown-haired boy and clenched his fists.

Why is he here?

The taller man smirked. Max couldn’t understand the conflict between them but he knew he had to save Kai. He promised to save Kai.

“Speak of the devil.” Kane threw Kai on the ground and walked up to Max to get a good look. Max held his stance because he knew running away will do nothing. Kane held Max’s right hand to see his golden ring which flashed a charcoal colour. The taller man hummed and turned his head to Kai. “So your soulmates with this guy? Wow. I didn’t think you swung that was since I sho-

“Sh-shut up.” Kai coughed out. He murmured something under his breath and looked up towards his brother. Tears streamed down his face. “I don’t know who he is. He was so obsessed with me once he figured out that we were soulmates.” 

Kane pouted. “Awe no need to cry now. The love of your life is here to rescue you.” He laughed maniacally as he looked to see Max’s face turn pale.

The hurt expression on Kai’s face contradicts the words that came from his mouth. Yet, a sharp spike pierced through Max’s heart. Kai decides to put the hatred, all the blame on Max. Kai wanted to protect himself by condemning others. It felt as if his old persona came back-

Then he realized.

Kai got his memory back. 

Max raised the palms of his hands to his face. Everything he had done to get close with his soulmate crumbled instantly. The rush of adrenaline surged throughout his body. He wasn’t sure what to do next. Max has a feeling that Kai is furious with him and doesn’t want to see him anymore. Maybe, everything that Kai went through the past couple of days was Max’s fault. Max suddenly felt something wet on his palms and oh-

-he’s crying.

Kane took Max’s hand in his and used the other to softly wipe away the tears. Max was deep in thought as he observed Kai and how he had become so broken. The black-haired boy weakly pulled himself up and made his way to the bed. Kai bit his lip to avoid him groaning in pain. He deeply exhaled as he plopped himself on the bed. 

“Hey babes,” Kane called out to Max, who snapped back to reality. The red-haired man tilted Max’s chin up to face him. “My eyes are right here. It seems like you mean a lot to Kai.” The redhead’s hands began to travel down to Max’s hip as he pulled the brown-haired boy towards him. “I have quite an idea follow me.” 

Kane led Max to the open couch and sat the small boy down across the room from Kai. Max’s eyes darted towards Kai, who winced to his own touch. Kai had his back turned away from Max. He faced towards the balcony door, which was wide open. Wing surged in as it blew the curtains wildly. He couldn’t care less about a word Kane said to him. All the questions Kane asked blew past him. Max was solely focused on Kai. He watched as the wind played with his hair. Max wished that was his doing. He watched as Kai raised his arms, twisted his wrist to gently place his palms on his touch-starved cheeks. Max knew at that moment that Kai was anxious. Max’s wished that those were his hands. 

Kai attempted to control his breathing. He just wanted Max to go home and not be a part of this conflict. Then, Max watched as Kai struggled to take off his shirt. He couldn’t contain himself any longer. 

Max stood up and started to make his way to Kai. Kane pissed off, grabbed a handful of Max’s shirt and tossed him in front of the balcony door. Max got a closer look at Kai, whose breathing was rapid as he whispered Go Home Max. Max reached out his arm in Kai’s direction. 

Kane scoffed. “No no no.” He slapped Max’s hand down and grabbed the front of his shirt. Kane led him towards the balcony. The rain fell like pellets as the wind blew harshly into Max’s face. The tides beneath the balcony were crashing roughly against the side of the house. 

Kai’s eyes widened as he saw his older brother hanging this soulmate over the balcony. Kane only held onto Max’s shirt. Max tightly grabbed onto Kane’s arm. 

“Since you were ignoring me before Maxine, I decided this would get the best reaction out of you.” Kane scoffed as he turned towards Kai. “Is he really obsessed with you or is it the other way around? Tell me Kai-dear.” 

Kai’s eyes scanned the room anxiously. Why would his brother do such a thing? He wanted to save Max but was frozen in place, unsure of what to do. His hands clenched the bedsheets behind him to hide his cold, sweaty, trembling hands. Kai watched as his brother pulled a sharp blade from under his blouse.

“Kai. Listen to me.” Max called out. “Remember that time when you were at my place, and you were very anxious about the scary movie we were watching? You got scared pretty easily, not going to lie.” Max chuckled. “But I remember you crossed your arms and held your cheeks to imagine it was someone else as I was right next to you. I pushed away your arms and placed the palms of my hands on your face. At that moment, I knew I had to rescue you from the misery you were living in. Even though you can imagine someone else holding you, being there for you, you will never feel genuine happiness from that. It will only bring you an immense amount of sadness once you realize you are alone in the end.

“Before you lost your memory, you were this stuck-up guy who hung out with the wrong group of people. The first time I met you, you jumped from the second-story window and landed on me, coincidentally. Before I looked at my ring, I immediately knew you were my soulmate. You smiled so genuinely around me, and I felt comfortable with your presence. Those couple of seconds felt like a dream I never wanted to leave. But once I figured out your personality, the way you act around others, I felt anxious to be around you. You even admitted that you were embarrassed that I was your soulmate because I was a guy. I didn’t want to be seen next to you. I just felt uneasy being next to you; however, you always wanted me by your side. You were this selfish, toxic, ingenuine person, and the people around you were ‘hyping’ you up like you were some Godly figure. 

“However,” Max shifted himself in Kane’s arm and faced Kai. Kane cleared his throat as he started to lose patience. “Once you lost your memory, it was like you were a whole different person. You didn’t have a care in the world and abandoned all your old friends. You treated me so nicely and you were bragging about me being your soulmate to our classmates. It made me wonder if your toxic personality was just a persona to hide your true innocent self. You were constantly asking about your previous self when you had amnesia. To be honest, I know nothing about you Kai, just by name only. I was constantly conflicted between telling you who your friends were or not saying anything because I was afraid to lose you. I was afraid your other persona would overtake you and you would leave me… you would abandon me.” 

“We don’t have all day, lovebirds,” Kane growled as he almost closed the distance between the boy and the blade. Max held his breath as he spoke with a faster tone. 

“Yes, I’m sorry for being selfish and wanting to hang out with my boyfriend- my soulmate for a while. Even if I try to explain myself, I have taken advantage of you to some extent and I deeply apologize for it all. You probably won’t even accept my apology. You may look at me as this f*g who forced his homosexuality onto you- I’m not sure if you swung that way…” Max exhaled out as he looked down at the crashing waves, ashamed of what he said. 

Kane aggressively turned his head to Kai. “Well then, it looks like Kai was the more obsessed one. Kai has that manner to become attached to others without physically showing it. Kai, do you have anything to say in response because I heard everything I needed to hear?” He said sarcastically.

Kai wiped his eyes. He opened his mouth multiple times, yet he was unable to form words. The black-haired boy was speechless. Kai was scared to lose the love of his life, but he was unsure how to save him. Max sacrificed so much for him even before when Kai mistreated him. Now his soulmate is here risking his life once again. Kai, hopelessly, looked down at his hands trembling. He wanted to save Max, yet he was scared of what his brother would do. 

Spanish came out from Max’s mouth. Kai couldn’t understand a word. Kai attempted to mouth the phrase Max studdered out as he stared blankly at his hands. “Akiyama… You have been the best soulmate and the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. I was quite skeptical of you at first but I’m glad I had a good time.”

Kai finally held eye contact with Max.

“I hope you find a significant other who is way better than I could have ever been. I have done nothing but cause trouble and pain and I deeply apologize.”

You haven’t caused me any pain, Maxime. You were the first person to ever show me how to properly love someone, especially myself.  

Max released this tight grip on Kane’s arm. “I love you so much, Kai Akiyama. We’ll grow old together in another life. Don’t worry about me. It’s fine. I’m fi–.” 

Kane pierced the blade through Max’s body. His body jerked up as the light slowly faded from his hazel blue eyes. Kane retracted the knife and dropped the boy off the balcony.  

A blood-curdling scream came from Kai’s mouth. His ears rang, and he surged toward the balcony edge; however, Kai sensed a tug at his sleeve from his brother. He felt everything slowing down around him. 

“You could have saved him if you didn’t lie to me at first-” Kane’s voice was barely a whisper. The redhead placed his palm on Kai’s cheek. Kai slapped his hand away. He looked down to see Max smiling as he swiftly fell through the air. 

“MAX!!!!!!” Kai yelled out as he ripped his hand away from Kane. He stepped over the balcony, not even batting an eye at Kane. He jumped off the balcony to see Max already submerged in the water.