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Checking his phone one last time, El Matadora scrolled through the group chat to ensure he had all the details right before starting his journey across the world. It had been a while since he had seen his friends and he was really looking forward to this meetup! ...However, something about it was irking him, and he couldn't shake the feeling.
In order to keep in touch after graduation, The Doraemons had started a tradition of visiting each other's houses on a regular basis to discuss new gadget releases and test them out. Initially it was meant to be monthly, but after adult life complicated that schedule fast, they just planned for whenever everyone could make it. They'd made a group chat to keep in touch across time and space as well as plan these meetups, and Med was hosting this time around. Since it had been a while since the last one, everyone was looking forward to seeing each other again.
What really got everyone buzzing was the gadgets they were going to be testing, though. The department store of the future was having a special debut sale on a brand new line of gadgets like nothing that had ever been seen before. They were themed around the human concept of soulmates yet marketed towards robots, and it had everyone in a tizzy speculating about how they'd work and what the results would be and many such things.
Everyone except for one member of the group...Wang Dora. Typically he was first in line to help with planning these get-togethers, borderline micromanaging all of the details and having a big hand in making sure things went smoothly. Sometimes the help was appreciated, sometimes he butted heads with whoever was hosting over it (mostly with himself or Kid, Matadora realized,) but the important part was that he was always involved somehow. This time around, he only briefly participated in a conversation about the gadgets themselves before becoming cagey, and it bothered Matadora in a way he couldn't describe. He was worried for his friend, obviously, but he would expect to feel relieved to learn he didn't have to worry about his rival speaking up to ruin his fun. So what was with the unease in his wake instead?
He put the thought out of his mind upon seeing he'd arrived. Greeting some of his other friends outside, they all headed in together to find the rest of the group had already gathered.
"Welcome, welcome!" Med greeted, and everyone said their hellos and got settled in around the table. Rinho was the first to show up, as expected, and his minidoras were running around and causing mischief. He was keeping an eye on them between talking to (at?) Nichov, who was nodding along as he listened. Dora the Kid was polishing his air canon with a rag, and Doraemon had been talking to Matadora as they walked in. After sitting down, he had immediately started munching on the dorayaki Med had set out on the table, reaching for another immediately after putting the first in his mouth. ...And then there was Wang. The last seat left was the one next to him, so Matadora sat there, and the robocat barely even noticed. He was sitting there with his hands folded and tail waving around, staring down at the table, not really paying attention to anyone else.
"Greetings, Wang-Dora," Matadora said, elbowing him. He hoped using his full name would get some sort of reaction.
Wang looked startled at the touch, but upon seeing who it was he just went back to being quiet, mumbling out a small 'hi' and putting his hands into his sleeves. It made Matadora raise an eyebrow, but Kid started up a conversation with him soon after, so he turned his attention to that to try and put his mind off of whatever was wrong with Wang.
After catching up with everyone for a good long while, it was finally time to start testing the gadgets.
"I'm a bit of an impulse shopper," Doraemon said with a sheepish look and a wave of his hand, "So I....might have bought the entire collection. Did anyone else want to use their versions of the gadgets?"
"Yours should be fine-" Med started to say, before Kid interrupted him.
"What in the world would you need soulmate gadgets for?" Kid said, "Do you need to test your compatibility with that street cat or somethin'?"
"You never know!" Doraemon retorted as he took the collection out of his pocket one by one. "Maybe Nobi will get curious about his future with Shizuka, or something..."
"I still think you're just a hoarder," Matadora said. He eyed each gadget once it was placed on the table, trying to look them all over to see which one he'd want to try out, but then Doraemon brushed all of them but one to the side.
"This is the Soul-Link TV!" He said with a smile on his face, pointedly ignoring Matadora's comment. "It shows you what your quote-unquote soulmate is doing right now. All you need to do is put your hand on the touch pad and change the channel to the kind of relationship you want to see. It covers all sorts of things from romantic to platonic to familial, and probably even more!"
"Really? Can I try it out?" Rinho scooted his chair over and started fiddling around with the gadget. Putting his paw on the touchpad and fiddling with the knob, he tilted his head as he watched what appeared on the screen. When turned to familial, the tv showed a display of what his minidoras were doing in the other room; and when turned to platonic the display showed Med, standing next to him with his hand leaned on the table as he watched alongside him.
"It seems to pick up on strong bonds you've formed with the people in your life," Doraemon mused.
Rinho turned the knob to romantic. The tv switched to static for a bit before displaying....a soccer ball being kicked around on a field?
"My favorite ball!" Rinho said, cheering up immediately. "I didn't know it was going to be played with today, I would've attended the game..."
"GHUH?!?!" Doraemon cried in surprise before quickly recovering, "......I guess it can pick up on bonds formed with objects too. (Makes sense I guess, robots aren't the same as humans after all...)"
"Isn't the concept of soulmates about finding someone you've never met before though? Seems like kind of a ripoff if it plays off bonds you've already made...." said Kid. He started to reach for the gadget. "I guess it doesn't matter too much for the result I want, though. Let me..."
Doaremon shot him a glare. Starting to sweat a bit, Kid took the gadget from Rinho and slid it across the table instead. ".....Give it to my good friend and dear pal El Matadora!! Eheheh......"
"Oh, good. I was wondering when it'd be my turn!" Taking the gadget and situating it in front of him, Matadora fiddled with the knob before settling it back on Romantic. The screen stayed static while he changed it around. "I wonder what gorgeous woman is going to pop up on the screen..."
That made Wang jolt up and stare, quickly burying his face in his paws once more once Matadora put his paw on the touchpad and held his breath. The tv screen blipped back to life, honing in on the one he was destined to romance, his very own soulmate...........Wang.
....Wait, Wang??
Matadora blinked. The rest of his friends were standing behind him, looking on, but it barely crossed his mind in the confusion. On the screen, Wang buried his face deeper into his arms, now fully laying them on the table.
"....Surely this has to be a glitch, right? Do I have the wrong setting?" Matadora checked the knob again, but sure enough it was still set to romantic, and rebooting the machine just gave the same result. When the screen turned back on, Wang was finally out from his arms, but he was still avoiding the gaze of the rest.
He spoke up, and Matadora looked to him directly. "It's not a glitch. I tested it on my own copy of the gadget before we met up.....before the plans were even solidified." Matadora's eyes widened as he finally realized why Wang was being so cagey. "....It's so embarrassing!" He continued, burying his red face in his sleeves once again. "And in front of everyone...I almost didn't come."
Everyone was staring. Wang was obviously uncomfortable, and as surprised as he was he didn't want to torture the man...well, not like this at least. Pushing the gadget over to someone else and standing from his seat, he put a hand on Wang's shoulder and gave him a smile. "Hey, why don't we go talk about this somewhere else? Just to stop everyone's staring....I can't let them steal my job of ruffling your feathers, after all."
Wang grumbled but nodded, standing up next to him. For a second Matadora considered grabbing his paw to guide him away, but Wang folded his arms into his sleeves and the thought went as fast as it came. Taking the lead regardless, Matadora led the two of them to a nearby door and opened it, letting Wang step inside first.
Flicking on the light and shutting the door, they found it was a small closet. Cramped....not very comfortable, and not good at making things any less awkward between them. Wang just sighed and sat on the floor, resting his arms on his knees, and Matadora crouched to be on his level.
"So..." The bullcat prompted, trying to give him something to work with, "We're destined to get together, huh...?"
"According to the gadget, yes," Wang said. "And it's not a glitch, the results are consistent...Somehow, this thing thinks we're meant to be."
Matadora thought for a second. "Well.....if you're upset about this gadget's result, why not try another one?"
Wang didn't look entirely convinced, but he reached into his sleeve and pulled out another gadget from the collection regardless. "This is the red rope of fate. You wrap it around your wrist and it'll find your match and wrap around their wrist to match. You're supposed to follow it to find them." Wang wrapped the rope around his wrist and tied it, and as soon as the knot was tight the rope sprung to life. It slithered out the bottom of the door, rustling around outside for a moment......before slithering right back under the door and tying itself around Matadora's wrist.
The two watched the rope make it's short journey, and after it was concluded Matadora couldn't do anything but shrug. "Well, we can't argue with results like that. It seems we really are soulmates."
"But how?" Wang cried, "It could never work! We do nothing but argue all the time and we can't stand each other. I don't want to be stuck cleaning up your messes for the rest of our lives."
He hesitated. "....And yet...."
"...And yet?" Matadora repeated.
Wang was still blushing, but the air around him changed. It didn't seem to be embarrassment anymore, it seemed to be.... "I will admit, you do have a certain charm about you. Your attempts to be suave are embarrassing to watch, but they are kind of cute in a pathetic sort of way. And your strength is genuinely something I admire, it really comes in handy when we're all in a pinch."
Soaking in the compliments, Matadora thought about how they made him feel. Pride washed over him as he expected, anyone would when hearing their rival admit their strengths, but there was also another feeling. A feeling more warm, more genuine......something he couldn't explain. He wanted to play up those aspects of himself, he wanted to hear him say it again. The phrase stuck in his brain and he got the feeling it wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
In order to keep him from covering his face, Matadora took Wang's paws in his own. Never in his life did he want to admit any of this, but here he was, running his mouth in a way he'd never done before. "You aren't the only one who's been thinking like that. Yes, you're an irritating nag, but sometimes it's......it's.....beneficial.........when you hold me back from doing things that are stupid. And your skills with marital arts really are something to be marveled at. I've never been able to figure out how you're able to put skill over brute force so effectively."
Wang's eyes widened at the compliments, and that look made Matadora tack one one final thing. ".....Not to mention, when you blush like that? I've never really noticed it, but up close like this....it really does make you look cute."
The look on Wang's face after that made Matadora chuckle. Not out of malice, but affection-his reaction to being told he was cute was somehow even cuter, and it made a laugh bubble out of Matadora's chest. Wang's tail waved around and he squeezed his paws, struggling to articulate what he wanted to say.
"So...you do think we can work," He finally managed to say. "Have you just secretly been in love with me this whole time or something?"
"Pretty well kept secret if even I didn't know," Matadora retorted, "But.....I can definitely see it. I guess I just never thought to put it under that name."
The two went silent to contemplate for a bit. Even sitting back, Matadora's legs were brushing against Wang's due to the size of the closet. As they sat, Matadora found himself staring at Wang's face, noticing details he never had before. The gorgeous emerald of his eyes, the way his nose scrunched when he thought, the subtle twitch of his ear...It's as if he'd gotten lost looking over it all.
"Does this mean we should date?" Wang spoke suddenly.
Matadora blinked in surprise, then grumbled. "You stole the words right out of my mouth...." Leaning forward and taking his paws again, he smiled at him once more. "Yes, I think we should. That doesn't mean I'll go any easier on you when we fight, though." Wang nodded, seeming comforted, and Matadora pulled him up.
Wang was the first to open the closet door. "Let's go rejoin the others. I've been craving some of that dorayaki all day, I hope they saved some for us..." The two of them headed out and down the hall only to see a scene more intense than when they had left- Everyone staring at the screen, Med looking sheepish, and Kid pointing at the display in shock....before the two could ask what was going on, he answered their question.
"YOUR SOULMATE IS A THIEF?!"