It's been tied to Sakura's pinky finger for as long as she can remember. The still invisible thread that says about the long standing legend of mortals having their destined partners. Soulmates, as what they say. It cannot be seen even by her own eyes at the moment, but alas she can always feel it tied on her pinky finger, a resounding weight that always reminds her of the signs within the stars.

'Saachan is lucky to have a soulmate.' her mother would always say to her, caressing her little hands when she admitted to feeling a shift in weight on her right pinky. Her then seven year old mind couldn't comprehend what it was, or why it was so special. 'The moment you feel a connection, nine out of ten it's probably because of your soulmate tugging on your shared thread.'

She gave an experimental tug at the thread on her finger back when she was ten. Nothing special, just a light pull that made her really acknowledge that there was someone out there destined for her. Or whatever that meant. She had waited, more than ten seconds, more than a minute, maybe even an hour, just staring at her finger. But she received nothing in return.

'Maybe your soulmate was just sleeping, Saachan…' her grandma would console her, softly caressing her soft locks, offering her another cookie she had baked for her favorite flower. 'Maybe next time.'

She nervously tugged at her string the first time she met the girls that would consist of the first generation of Hakata members. Nothing special again, just suddenly getting the jitters of anxiety of first impressions. She scratched at her pinky finger, looking at the many new faces that were also familiarizing one another. And maybe it was an unconscious way of her fingers, that they again tugged at the invisible thread and momentarily elicited a startled "Oh!" from somewhere in the middle of their merry circle. 

Sakura was alerted. Would she finally meet her soulmate? 

Suddenly, a jolly looking girl made her way to her. And Sakura looked on, examined the girl's body language, eyes wide when the girl pointed to her pinky. 

"You have a soulmate!?"

Since then, she knew that girl would leave an impact on her life.

"Why can't you be my soulmate?" She asked when they were eighteen. It wasn't long before she heard a snort.

"Silly, what are you saying? I'm already your soulmate." Shige unwrapped her sandwich that Sakura bought for her to make her shut up when she pleaded for it in public. "I'm your best friend." She shrugged.

"Yeah, I know that." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I mean the soulmate that you're tied with a thread. Destined ones. Twin flames. Those kinds." She looked at her pinky. "I admit, when I first saw you, there was dread in my veins when I thought you would be my soulmate but now I kinda want you to. We've been friends for so long, you're familiar… and I guess you're kinda alright."

Shige choked, "Kinda alright!? Oh how you hurt me so much Sakuraaa…!" She placed a palm to cover her eyes for the dramatics. Times like this, Sakura would wonder who was the one who had theater experience between them two. Shige took on a serious note after a while, she waved her pinky. "You can kiss your wish goodbye because this bish is as free as a bird!"

The first time they met, Shige shared that she didn't actually have a thread wrapped around her finger, but she knew about the Soulmate thing because one of her siblings did have it. And she was always fascinated about the unseen and the untold, a girl discovering a same age girl having a soulmate too was like Christmas to her. And since then they have been good friends.

"Kidding aside, it's not like you would lose me…" Shige stated. "Whether you find your soulmate or not, I'm still your best friend. And I think there's beauty in that even though we don't share a thread." Sakura locked eyes with her and swore she saw something twinkling behind her eyes. "And as your best friend it is in my job description to annoy the heck out of you in whatever chance I get." Shige as a best friend was a gem of its own, she wouldn't trade this relationship with anything to this world. "So chin up, you look ugly when you're sad."

The next time she tugged at her string was when she was anxiously waiting for her turn on the stage. She, along with her fellow Hakata members, joined a survival show in Korea and now she was watching from backstage how her members were scored and her eyes turned somber at the turn of events. She bit her lip, it wasn't a surprise that her members were rooting the most for her performance so she really wanted to make her audition to be impactful and take the last push to represent their group and also to be a comforting pillar to her members' dejected expressions. 

Though she was Miyawaki Sakura, she was also human. And humans were prone to the emotions that could rile someone up, or their gut. 

She was filled with nervousness until her toes, and may she admit that she was unmistakably scared too. She did many shows on stage, performed in front of many people from their Hakata theater to the sold out domes back in Japan. But here she was, suddenly feeling under the weather from the way her stomach twisted in knots and the way her toes curled in anticipation for her name. She breathed deeply, and for a moment she forgot where she was. 

She badly needed that tranquility, that peace. And there was one thing that could give that to her.

In her nervousness and her sought for peace, she gave a light tug on the thread that was tied on her finger. 

There was silence that followed. Sakura already knew this. Like suddenly going under a thick woolen blanket, all sounds dulled.

An exasperated groan made its way to her ear and Sakura opened her eyes to the scene. All of the girls were minding their own businesses, some filled with anxiety just like her, and some practicing their dance. She was back to reality.

"HKT48, Miyawaki Sakura!"

Her face suddenly took on a professional look. Eyes on fire, filled with determination. None of the previous anxiety and doubts lingered in her mind. She would show them. 

It was the day that they all dread. March 14, 2021. It just happened all of a sudden, one time they were doing these vlives with the fans and the next they saw themselves performing. For the last time. They didn't expect that it would be full of pain and crying. 

Sakura stared at the way Chaewon cried so hard, she might even be hyperventilating but all she could do was offer her a bottle of water and stare. 

She sighed, she didn't really want to cry openly because she needed to maintain composure but she did shed tears. She cried for her members, she cried for the fans. With her ragged breath she turned her attention to her pinky finger that was wrapped in her invisible thread though she didn't have an ounce of energy to tug at it. Maybe not now, maybe later. Her eyes saw how Chaewon cradled her hands on her lap and she sighed, if only she could turn back time to the good old days she would.

Debut day was fastly approaching, Sakura was on high alert, almost spending the whole day in their practice room every single day for the past couple of weeks. Their debut needed to be clean, precise, and almost perfect. At least that was what they promised to each other when they first practiced for their title track. She sighed, leaned her back on the wall as she caught her breath, she was tired she could even feel the pumping of her blood on her veins, her tired muscles now cramping from the strains. Sakura glanced down to view the time on her wrist watch but her gaze strayed to her pinky. For all the times that she tugged on it she received none of the attention back. Did her soulmate even know of her? That there was someone who was meant for her on the other side of the thread? 

Sakura lightly pulled at the invisible string and she heard Chaewon sigh. Her eyes then trained on her younger leader and watched how Chaewon slumped beside her duffel bag. "You okay?"

"-Yeah, yeah." Chaewon seemed startled by her voice, she shook her head for confirmation. "I'm good, just… something."

Sakura left her with that. It wasn't good to talk to the younger girl with her mind was going into places. So she strolled and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'll leave you into it." And left to her merry way.

Soon enough it was debut day. All members were ecstatic but also felt the nerve-wracking jitters. She explained to them that it was normal, that she always felt so skittish before she stepped on the stage, it had always been like that for as long as she remembered. It was a perfect reaction but soon they would get over it.

It was a big day for her, and she felt like the person at the end of the thread deserved to know about it too.

"Hey," she whispered in her closed fist, in a position that looked like she was concentrating. "Today is a big day for me… this is my third debut actually and this meant a lot to me… I just want you to know." Her delicate fingers, although serene looking, also housed little sha