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Most people found their soulmate by the time they were twelve. It was when you were starting to transition from a child to a young adult, and it's when you discovered who you were destined to spend the rest of your life with.
Matt was fifteen, and he still hadn't found someone with an even slightly similar tattoo.
If having no soulmate wasn't bad enough, Matt was alone. Hopelessly alone. His parents had died in a fire when he was three, and he's been in foster care ever since.
Each time a new kid came to the foster place he stayed at, he eagerly asked to see their tattoo. Nobody's tattoo matched the one on his inner forearm.
Matt's tattoo was a simple one. It was an arrow made of black ink with an intricate design for the actual arrow part. Wrapped around the tattoo was a feather, seeming to hug the arrow.
The boy found himself switching schools very frequently. Maybe at a new school there would be his soulmate. There was no such luck for the young boy, though.
That's why on his fifteenth birthday he broke into the inheritance he parents had left after their death and ran away from the orphanage.
Matt had a friend there, his name was Near. Near was short, pale, and had white hair. He was often emotionless, but he was wise beyond his years. Matt often found himself venting to Near about how pointless it seemed. He should have met his soulmate three years ago.
Near was usually quiet between these exchanges, either sipping tea or tinkering with a toy train. Four days before Matt's fifteenth birthday, though, Near offered his input.
"There are over seven billion people on Earth, Matt." The pale boy had said is simply, with little emotion in his voice. He sipped his tea. Matt scrunched his eyebrows in frustration.
"I know this. So what? That doesn't help my case," he huffed out. Near shook his head, looking almost disappointed.
"How many countries are there, Matt?" Confusion trickled into Matt.
"One hundred ninety six. So?" Near sipped his tea again, and stared at Matt under his hair.
"Did you know that out of all of Earth's population, less than one percent comes from the U.K.?" Understanding shone through Matt's eyes at that comment. Near continued. "The possibility of your soulmate living here in the U.K. is incredibly thin. For all you know, your soulmate could be on Hawaii right now. Do you understand what I mean?" Matt nodded wordlessly. He thanked Near and left. The next three days consisted of him planning and packing.
At three in the afternoon on his fifteenth birthday, he boarded a plane to the US. Seven months in the United States later, he was no closer to finding his soulmate than back in the U.K. When he contacted Near, he discovered that there wasn't a large search for Matt. It wasn't uncommon for one without a soulmate to go missing. Everybody wanted that special someone, everybody wanted that one to call their own.
Matt traveled to China next. Then it was Japan, the Germany, then Ireland. On year three of exploring countries, it was Matt's eighteenth birthday.
Near had contacted him and wished him a happy birthday. Matt said thank you. Near asked how the search was going. Matt lied and said excellent. He lied and said it was exciting, and that he had gotten a souvenir from every country he'd been to so he could share his experiences with Near. Near could tell that Matt felt horrible and ended the call.
After the call ended, Matt sat in front o his cheap motels mirror. He was currently in Russia.
The traveling wasn't bad. Matt loved the traveling. He's since the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, and other things he never even dreamed of seeing. He had seen them, and they were right there, under his nose.
But it was an empty experience, lacking his soulmate. What good was visiting the city of love if there wasn't anyone to hold him?
Matt glared at his reflection, and hatred coursed through him. "Fuck you," he mumbled out loud, although he didn't know who he was cursing at. A sigh left him and he dragged his hand through his hair.
"Horse shit. This is all horse shit." Why was it so difficult to find a single person? In that moment, Matt decided he hated himself because it should never be this difficult. He was the second most intelligent person back when he was at the orphanage. He should be able to find one person. He spent the rest of the night pointing out the things that he hated about himself.
"Your stupid red hair," he whispered. "And your stupid green eyes." They shone with hatred. "Those damn freckles." Matt rubbed the inked blotch of his skin. "And this stupid fucking tattoo."
~•~•~
Another two years passed, and Matt had travelled the world. Maybe not every last country, but he sure as hell got close. The last country he went to was Nigeria. When nobody else had the tattoo there he left angry and crying.
Twenty years old and he didn't have a soulmate. Twenty years old and has done nothing with his life but travel. And not even with his soulmate.
Soulmates are stupid, soulmates are pointless.
Near had met his soulmate three years earlier, a pretty auburn haired girl named Linda. Matt had talked to her over Skype when he was talking to Near, and he liked her. She was sweet, smart, and pretty. Matt told Near this and Near agreed.
It's lucky that Matt is gay otherwise Near would have probably traveled to whatever country Matt was residing in and cut off his manhood.
Linda liked Matt, though. They weren't close, but she did understand the struggle of searching for a soulmate. Linda was from America, and had travelled to the U.K. to look for her soulmate. It didn't take her long. Near had moved out of Wammy's some time back, and they lived in the same apartment complex. Linda's tattoo was on her hand, and Near had seen the familiar book tattoo. Boom, happy ever after.
When Matt Skyped Near and Linda, drunk and angry, he said that he's moving back to the U.K. He was sick of looking for a soulmate. He claimed it was pointless and he gave up. Before Near had the option to say anything, Linda invited Matt to move into their apartment till he could get back up on his feet. Near didn't disagree. He would never disagree with Linda. Two weeks later, Matt arrived at their apartment.
He hadn't lied when he said he bought souvenirs. He dumped a box full of them in front of Near, and they heard glass cracking. Near looked at Matt with a raised eyebrow.
"That was probably the snow globe from Sweden," Matt explained, rubbing behind his neck awkwardly.
Matt, Near, and Linda sat down and drank tea at the kitchen table, and Matt told them about what the other countries were like. He kept it animated and exciting.
He was breaking a little bit on the inside.
~•~•~
Two months later, and Matt had a job at an electronic store two miles away from the apartment. He paid half of the bills, and was looking for his own place.
Near was at work. He finished uni early due to how intelligent he was. He worked as a detective. Matt could probably finish uni just as quick, but he needed some time to clear his head a bit more before he built his entire future.
Only Linda and Matt were at the apartment. Linda was making tea, and Matt was scrolling through Craigslist for a studio.
"Matt?" Linda asked. Matt paused, looking to the girl.
"Yeah, Lins?" Matt asked, using the nickname he had developed for her.
"What are you going to do about the tattoo?" Near and Linda didn't mention it often, and Matt didn't expose it often. He kept to his long sleeves. It was an unspoken agreement they had. Matt lost hope, and they didn't want to hurt the boy anymore by mentioning what he had but couldn't find.
But the lack of comments didn't help Matt with it, and both Near and Linda knew this. The tattoo was still there, and when Matt showered they could still hear him cry. When the tattoo was exposed, they still saw the hatred that he stared at it with. The tattoo was the cause for Matt's suffering, and they all knew this.
Matt's body was tense as he gave the simple reply, "I don't know." Linda moved to sit besides Matt, a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You could get a coverup. With a different tattoo, something your choice. That way you won't have to look at it so much." Matt thought. He smiled at Linda.
"I'll put some thought into it."
~•~•~•
A month passed and today was the day Matt would get a coverup. He decided to get the Zelda symbols covering the arrow and feather.
Matt walked into the tattoo parlor, and it smelled clean. It was empty besides the woman at the front desk.
"Hi, I'm Mail Jeevas. I came for a coverup," Matt said, unknown feelings and anticipation squirming inside of him. The woman smiled brightly.
She couldn't have been much older than him. She was pale, and curvy. She was big in the right places, and she had beach blonde hair tied in pigtails. Blue eyes were framed with dark eyeshadow, and her lips were a deep purple. Her ears were pierced to the cartilage, and her nose had a shiny ring going through it.
She wore a tight fitting, black and red corset. To top off her outfit was a pair of short shorts, fishnet leggings, and six inch heels. Her arms were covered in sleeves, except her right arm had a gap. A daisy was there, surrounded by blue ink. Her soulmate tattoo. Matt's heart ached.
"Hi!" She greeted enthusiastically. "I'm Misa! I won't be doing your coverup, but don't worry the dude who will is really good. You wouldn't want me doing your tattoo anyways, I'm shit." She burst into a fit of giggles, and Matt couldn't help but think about how enthusiastic she was. "So, I need to know what type of ink the tattoo is so it's a matched ink." Matt rubbed his elbow as she poised a pen over a sheet of paper.
"Soul mark tattoo," he explained quietly. Misa looks up quickly, eyes full of pity.
"Oh honey," she whispered sadly. May quickly shrugged.
"It's nothing. Just wanna cover it up," he rushed. Misa's eyes still held a form of sadness, but she didn't comment on it again. It was uncommon to get your soul mark covered up, but when you did it was often treated as a light subject. Losing your soulmate, or losing hope in them was one of the worst things anyone could imagine.
Matt shook away the thought.
"Blood type?" She asked, her voice soft as she held the pen poised above the paper.
"A positive," Matt said, voice quieter than before. She scribbled it down on the paper, handwriting seeming to be perfect. She went over a few more questions that Matt answered quickly, and then he signed a waver stating that he couldn't sue if the tattoo went wrong.
"Okay, hun, just take a seat while I go tell Mello all the works filled out," she says. Matt nodded before sitting out on one of the cushioned seats. He digs he nails into his palm as a wave of anxiety covers him.
He was positive that he wanted to do this, he really was, but he couldn't help the fear that clutched him. What if he found his soulmate soon after, but he didn't have evidence that they were destined? He spent the next five minutes going over all the possible scenarios in his head before Misa came out and called him to the back.
When he got to the room, he was practically shaking with nerves. It looked like a cliché tattoo room, with a leather chair in the middle.
"Go ahead and just sit down, Mello's getting the template for your coverup. He'll be in any moment, hun," Misa said before leaving the room. Matt sat stiffly on the seat, his nerves wracking with anticipation.
Today he would cut all ties off from the soulmate bullshit and he didn't know if this made him happy or sad.
Finally this so called "Mello" came in, and Matt almost swooned at how attractive the man was.
He was at least six foot, and lean but muscular. His skin was pale, and pretty much unblemished, excluding a large scar going down the left side of his face. Curiosity trickled through Matt, wondering how it got there. His hair was light blond and hung just above his shoulders, hanging slightly into crystal blue eyes that made Matt star struck. The man was absolutely gorgeous, and he wouldn't have minded getting fucked by him, for lack of better words.
"Hey, so you're Matt?" Mello asked. His voice was like silk, and it took all of Matt's will not to shriek like a girl. Swallowing his saliva, he nodded, his wide, green eyes staring at the man the entire time. Mello looked at Matt for a moment. He evaluated him. He realized why Matt was staring, and he smirked. "Cute," he stated simply. Matt's face heated and he nibbled on his bottom lip in embarrassment.
Mello turned away from Matt, grabbing a pen. Matt tried his best to get his breathing under control. Had he died and gone to heaven, because this man seemed unreal. Mello turned back around.
"So soul mark, huh? That's a serious thing to fuck with, you know that, right?" Matt chewed his lips hard. The way he said 'fuck' was just so . . . Ugh. Matt nodded, still not trusting his voice. "You know you can talk? I'm not gonna bite," Mello said. The blond paused, eyes sweeping over Matt's form. "Actually . . . I may have to take that back." Holy shit, was he trying to have Matt have an aneurysm?
"Aren't you a perv," Matt managed to get out, though he voice was croaky and broken. Mello chuckled, pulling his hair back into a low ponytail.
"Only for you, cutie." Matt's face flushed like an apple for probably the millionth time in the last ten minutes. He was going to die before he left the tattoo parlor. Before Matt could even think of a clever comeback, Mello was back to business. "Can I see the tattoo? I need to figure out how I'm going to do this." Matt nodded and slipped off his striped jacket, leaving him in a short sleeve black shirt. He flipped his arm over and held it out, showing Mello the tattoo.
As Mello's eyes landed on it, he gasped. Before Matt could process what was happening, Mello had snatched his wrist, tugging the arm closer to his own body. Matt gasped in pain at the sudden movement.
"Ow, that hurts," he mumbled, trying to take his arm away from Mello. The blond didn't let go, but rubbed the redhead's arm.
"Sorry, cutie. Is this your soul mark?" He asked, finger jabbing the arrow and feathers. Matt looked confused but slowly nodded.
"Yeah, why?" Mello dropped Matt's arm and leaned down. For a split moment, Matt thought the blond was going to kiss him, but then he turned at the last minute, showing his ear. "What the heck." Mello chuckled before pointing behind it.
"Look." Matt obeyed the orders, and looked behind Mello's ear before gasping loudly. His right hand clutched onto Mello's shoulder, and his left hand went to trace the tattoo behind Mello's ear.
"Oh my gosh," Matt whispered. "No, I looked everywhere." Mello moved, snatching Matt into his arms. Mello pressed his lips to the smaller boys ear.
"And to think. If you got another tattoo artist . . ." They were quiet, letting their fate sink in.
"This is unreal," Matt whispered.
"Yeah, you're telling me," was the quiet response. They stood there for a long time. Mello gripped Matt's forearm, and Matt rubbed his index and middle finger along the ink behind Mello's ear.
The arrow and the feather wrapped around it.