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[teberial]

chapter eight

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Out of everything that guy did to surprise her, this by far was the most shocking. She completely forgot the fragmented could die if they hadn’t found their soulmates. Ash was considered lucky, in the world of the cursed. Cancer on the other hand… wasn’t. She sniffled. Tears slowly pooled up at the corners of her eyes as the truth kicked in. Instinctively, she grabbed her pillow and held it up to her face, now letting out shallow sobs. The pillow muffled her cries, even though it didn’t matter since she lived alone. Ash’s pillow soon soaked up all of her tears, and she moved the pillow away to catch her breath. She reached back to the letter, wiping her wet face on the pillowcase she had cried on. Reading the note over again, she felt too many emotions. 

“I'm special..? And he tells me now while he’s on his deathbed? No, I shouldn’t feel bad. God fucking damnit.” She began to think of ways where she could “coincidentally” run into him on the streets, but the guy was too mysterious. She didn't know how he did it, but the chances of seeing him after being given a goodbye letter was very slim. Ash frustratingly stood up, wiped her leftover tears and walked towards the bathroom to freshen herself up. 

*rrring* 

Immediately, her attention shot towards the phone, a small bit of hope in her mind as she wished the call was from Cancer. It wouldn’t be possible, she hadn’t given her his number. Now that’s another thing she regrets. Ash picked up the phone and answered in a monotonous, obviously finished crying tone; she spoke the first words in a shaky voice,

 “...hello?” The small bit of hope went away as a male with an unfamiliar tone answered her. What she didn’t know was that Cancer had been using some sort of tech to change the way his voice sounds. The situation was kind of awkward now, he didn’t really know what to say since he didn’t think he’d get this far. He thought ‘fuck it’ and said,

“Hi there, this is Childline, one of your friends told us to give you a call!” This immediately aroused Ash’s suspicion since childline was for, well, children. 

“Childline?? You do realise I’m 20, right?” Her temper was naturally short like her but the tears from before meant her fuse was even shorter.

“I mean…..Adultline, it’s uh, the adult alternative ...for adults.” Cancer most definitely thought he’d fucked it, but thank the lord that Ash was desperate for someone to talk to.

The call lasted well into the night and the two slowly pierced that veil of awkwardness between them. Talking back and forth about their problems, neither of them knew how much help it would be to get those feelings out. Cancer began to realise that maybe leaving so suddenly was inconsiderate on his part so he decided to leave some sort of subtle hint as to where he might be. Holding back a smile, the “Adultline volunteer” simply questioned,

 “So you told me that he’s super tall, has brown skin, crimson eyes and white hair, is that right?” The girl let out a sound indicating agreement.

“Well I don’t know if this helps but I saw someone like that walking around the park’s lake last nigh-”  Ash interrupted with a hint of shock.

“You did?! When??” She asked him pleadingly. The girl was, to her own surprise (and cancer’s) super desperate to see him again. Cancer answered all of Ash’s questions and suggested the guy had a schedule.

“So try tomorrow. It might be an every other day thing… if he isn’t there then it might have been the wrong guy.” Ash shook her head, even though the phone caller couldn't have seen her. 

“Oh don’t worry.” she said sweetly. “You’ve already helped me out so much tonight. Thank you.” Cancer was taken back. He always heard Ash speak to him with such an attitude. Maybe she really didn’t like him.. Maybe he should skip out on tomorrow night and just leave after all.. But, she sounded so concerned and upset about the letter. His mind was going craz-- 

“Hello?”  Cancer snapped out of his thoughts

“Ah, sorry. You're welcome. You should get sleep now. I hope things go well tomorrow with him.”  Ash smiled to herself. 

“Yeah, I should. Thanks again. I needed this.” she hung up the phone. Ash exhaled, and dropped the phone next to her. The day was filled with a lot of emotions, exhausting ones at the least. Ash yawned, got up out of bed and started to prepare for bed. Meanwhile, Cancer sat in silence. He was still taken aback by how open Ash was to him, and he began to think how things would have been different if she knew it was him on the other end. Instead of getting ready for bed, Cancer fell asleep right at that moment. 

[teberial]

chapter seven

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Soon enough, Ash finished making the Sandwich. This time, she didn’t add a heart, only to prevent further embarrassment. Grey walked to Ash and handed her a folded napkin.

“Here, don’t forget this.” Grey gave ash the napkin, smirking as she walked out of the kitchen to hand her customer the plate of food. 

“Tell him it's on the house.” Ash motioned an “OK” sign, and walked out of the kitchen and to the table where Cancer sat. Approaching the young adult, Ash set down the plate and smiled timidly. 

“Here you are.” she said, putting her hands behind her back. Cancer smiled sweetly with a trademark flash of his teeth, then looked down at the sandwich. 

“This looks so good! Thanks, Acchan!” Ash’s expression went from happy to “say one more word and you’re dead.”

“Don’t call me that. Enjoy your meal.” she scoffed and walked back to the kitchen, hands folded to her chest. From Cancer’s point of view, he might have fucked up with that one.

Once Ash was clear out of sight, Cancer began to eat his sandwich. He reached over towards the napkin and fumbled around with it before finally managing to unfold it; for someone who talks so much shit about Ash being clumsy, Cancer was a real piece of work sometimes. After looking at the napkin, he noticed that something was written on it in pink sharpie. More specifically, a phone number… Ash’s phone number. He guessed it was that cutie’s number since her eyes were pink too, which was uncommo-  no...unique. He didn’t know who wrote said number but the only other thing there was a little heart and a note saying “good luck!” His large, brown hands trembled slightly -- not with fear or anything like that but pure anticipation as he imagined Ash’s face upon hearing his voice over the phone. Hiding a huge smile, he folded the napkin back up and stuffed it in his coat pocket. As quickly as possible, Cancer finished the delicious meal, and grabbed a fiver for a tip. He stood up, tucked the seat back and went to the counter, waiting for Ash to come back out. 

Instead of the short girl with the salmon-coloured hair coming out of the two doors, Grey, the Cafe’s supervisor walked through, a mischievous smile creeping on her face. 

“Can I help you?” She questioned. Cancer smiled in reply.

“Yeah! Is Ash still here?” Grey shook her head to say no.

“She just left for her break. Did you need her for anything specific?” he nodded cheerfully.

“Yeah, I just have this for her. Please give it to her and let her know it's from Cacchan. Cheers.” With that, he turned around and walked out of the small, homey Cafe in low spirits. While he seemed like he’d be the 24/7 chill type, he was pretty desperate to see Ash for some reason.

LATER THAT NIGHT

Ash finally got off of work, exhaling deeply. Work was always exhausting, even though she rarely did anything intense enough to be that tiring. After working around food for the entire shift, she felt pretty peckish herself so she decided to stop somewhere for a quick bite to eat. Just as she made up her mind, a familiar voice called out to her from the cafe.

“Ayo Ash!! Your boyfriend told me to give you this love letter!!!” Grey yelled from behind the counter, attempting to embarrass the tsundere.

I’m sure it was obvious that her attempt was a success.

Ash’s face blushed furiously to reveal a crimson tint covering her adorable little cheeks, she ran over to grey, her short legs meaning it was more of a waddle -- but she did it anyway. Quickly snatching the letter from her teasing superior’s hand, she retorted rudely, 

“what the hell is he gonna say this time?!” Grey knew that Ash was clearly feigning irritation but she decided against calling her out for it. She was certain that she could use it later so she saved it at the back of her head as a mental note.

Ash swiftly left the building, throwing open the heavy metal cafe door, the wind chime above it resounding with a horrible clash.

The girl let out a sigh, failing to contain her smile, she wholeheartedly giggled to herself while walking to a food stand nearby. 

Her curiosity was torturing her poor mind but she wanted to wait till she arrived home to open it. Little did she know that it wasn’t the happy kind of letter she’d expected. 

Scarfing the food down, Ash yeeted home as fast as her puny legs could carry her delicate figure. As soon as she got into her room, she dived onto her comfy bed before reaching for the letter.

Using her slightly long, painted nails, she ripped that sucker open and pulled the letter out of the envelope. 

She began reading.

“Hey there, Acchan. 

I know you don’t like me calling you that but i like the ring of it :)

I’m sure you expected something happy or such but, I’m sorry to disappoint. Turns out that my fragmentation is becoming lethal. I didn’t have the courage to say it face to face, I’m really fucking sorry… 

I’ve always had a pretty shit resistance to my fragmentation but recently I’ve been making more and more trips to the A&E and they told me that I don’t have much time left. I was so tempted to just fucking end it all and stop my suffering but then, I met you. You always got so embarrassed from my words and even though I know barely anything about you, you’re special. You’re so fucking special to me, Acchan. It’s selfish of me to do this but I’m gonna stop coming to the cafe. It’s just too cruel for me to get close to you, only to disappear one day. 

It’s funny, all I need to live is my soulmate, but who the hell knows where they are. It’d be pretty cool if you were them but… what are the chances of that lmao. 

I actually had a dream once, with you in it, if I ever see you again, I’ll tell you what it was about~

You probably have a lot of questions but, I don’t know if I have the answers.

 But hey, guess the cat’s out of the bag now, I’m broken in more ways than one.

You probably think I’m pathetic but it is what it is.

This is goodbye, Acchan. Wipe those tears for me now, will ya?”

[teberial]

chapter six

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The espresso machine whirred, and Ash hummed while coffee dripped into the white mug. Cappuccinos were Ash’s favorite drink to make at work. She was pretty confident in her skills, and really enjoyed latte art. The coffee mug was filled, causing the machine to stop. Ash then grabbed the cup, angling it so she could pour the steamed milk. With a steady hand, Ash neatly poured out a cute cat head, smiling at the work she completed. She walked out of the back room, the cup placed on the center of a white plate. Her hair flowed behind her, a very faint smile on her face as she caught Cancer’s attention. By the time she was back, the tall male was sat at a table with two chairs,, scrolling through his phone. 

“Here you go.” she said, placing the plate in front of her customer. Cancer smiled, thanking Ash while picking up the cup. He took a sip, humming contently. 

“It’s really good! Was the little heart for me?” he teased, licking his lips free of the foam. Even though it might have been for him, Ash would never admit that it was. 

“Are you stupid? It’s a part of the design..” her head tilted to the side, her strawberry-blonde hair covering her reddened face. “I just like making this one, okay?” it was half true; again, she would never tell him that the foam heart was for him. Ash didn’t even recall the thoughts that went through her head as she brewed coffee. That guy really did a lot of damage to her heart. Good damage. The young adult never thought she’d be making little tiny foam hearts for a customer; especially him. 

“Seriously… how can someone like you be so cute?”  Cancer chuckled lightly to himself, sighing afterwards. “I never thought I’d find myself walking so far every day just to see one person..” There was a teasing tone in his voice, as if deliberately saying stuff like that to embarrass the adorable girl.

“Hey, it isn’t my fault you walked. You did that yourself.” Ash frowned, tucking her hair behind her delicate little ear. “Is there anything else you want?” she deadpanned. 

The tease stuck to his name and teasingly replied,

“I want youu…...rrrr best side dish!” Did Ash react exactly how Cancer wanted her to? Yup! Did he feel bad at all? Fuck no! The petite female scoffed, her face contorting with a crimson tint as she walked away to prepare yet another dish for the man who oddly kept directing her attention towards him.

Ash found herself in the kitchen, turning the corner in a wild panic and seeing Grey twirling on a swivel-stool that was NOT meant for someone her size. The look of terror on her face immediately caught the lazy supervisor’s attention.

 “Ash, que esta mal?” She asked, spinning in the chair more slowly now.

“How do you make a chicken pesto sandwich?!”

“... why do you look like you’re gonna shit yourself over it?” grey stopped swiveling

“Because… i need to make a sandwich.. for a customer.”

Grey nodded, swiveling again. “Y´know, i can just make it--”

“NO… no.. I need to make it. That.. Cancer guy is out there.” Ash blushed. She could really be herself around Grey, plus, she didn’t care about putting up a front at a time like this. Grey smirked, watching Ash desperately gain her composure.

 “Ohhhh i see.. You want to make a sandwich for your little crush? How cute.” If it was even possible, Ash’s face became even redder. She huffed loudly, and gently nodded.

“Don’t tell anyone or i’ll kill you. Now give me the recipe.”

“Only if you tell me why you like this guy. I thought you were mad at him.” Ah, the downfall of being a tsundere. It took Ash a second to decide whether she should avoid the question, or get over it and come forth and blurt all her feelings. 

“Ugh. Fine. Only because it's just you here.” Ash inhaled slowly, and started to speak, making sure she gave no eye contact to her supervisor. “I don’t know.. I really don’t. I’ve never been treated this way before. He talks to me, he doesn’t care that I’m fragmented. He is too…” ash rambled on “he’s also really tall.. And really good at flirting. His eyes are really pretty, and his scar is so mysterious.” she mumbled a few other words, and finished with a bright red face. 

Grey smirked. She knew Ash’s true personality, but she’s never seen this side of her friend. Ash hasn’t felt this… ever. 

“Wow, Ash. This is pretty serious huh? I'm surprised. You’ve really fallen for this guy.”

“Just.. give me the recipe” Ash said with a beet-red face. Grey smiled, and walked away, motioning for Ash to follow her. The pair found themselves in the kitchen, ingredients all set out to begin making the sandwich. 

“So.” grey clapped her hands together “it's pretty simple. Chicken, pesto, red peppers, flatbread.” ash scoffed with a tone of “fuck you”.

“You could have told me that this entire time?!” Grey chuckled with a layer of pride, along with a cheeky grin.

 “Yup!”

[teberial]

chapter five

THE NEXT DAY

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Cancer was out of the house a lot earlier than normal. Although his stony face didn’t show it, he was trembling with anticipation for what was to come. Ash invited him for a free coffee in return to finding her diary. It was a great offer, really; the drinks were delicious, but expensive. 

Ash stood at the counter, hands rested at her hips, showing off the stained apron. She was lost in thought, not really paying much attention to who walked in and whatnot. Her thoughts were elsewhere. 

“you just have a cute smile.”

The female’s face immediately reddened; hands moving to her face as she groaned loudly.

“.... Ash?” questioned Choro. Ah, shit. Ash’s glance shot up at her coworker, moving her hands and spinning around. A day never passed where that girl didn’t make an embarrassment of herself. She slipped on her own feet, stumbling over before awkwardly standing straight. “You really need to be more careful, Ash.” Right she was. The fragmented female caught her balance, sighing quietly. 

“Yeah yeah, forget that happened.” Little did poor Ash know, she was being watched. Watched by the one and only; you guessed it. 

“...” the moment the tall male walked in the cafe, he caught sight of Ash… stumbling about. He smirked, watching the young adult attempt to keep her balance while her head spun. Walking up to the two with a mischievous smile, Cancer leaned over the counter, directly in front of the girl that was still flailing around. “Hey Ash, I’ll take you up on that free drink now!” He spoke enthusiastically while she was still playing off whatever happened. 

Wait.. that voice. Ash turned around, seeing the mischievous male whose name was the opposite of his personality. Cancer. His ruby-colored eyes stared right into her pink ones, a gaze that seemed like it could kill. Almost immediately, Ash stood up straight, acting as if nothing happened. 

“... Oh, uh.. Hi Cancer.” she mumbled. Said male’s smirk grew wider. 

“Hey, Ash~” he replied, his stained hand supporting his chin. The tone of his voice was teasing; deep and silky. Ash’s expression went blank and cheeks dusted pink. 

“You want your drink or not?” she was monotonous, but still caught off guard by the sudden change in tone. 

“I’d love a drink!” Cancer’s voice was back to his normal tone, smiling teasingly.

“Okay then. What drink do you want?” Her attempt to reply with the same amount of kindness was comical, so she earned a (poorly hidden) laugh from Cancer.

“Pfft,” Cancer stood up straight, looking down at Ash purposely. “that attempt was adorable. I’ll have a cappuccino.” The reaction he received was just as perfect as the last; the female’s face reddened yet again.

“Shut the hell up, asshole. I’m not fuckin´ cute.” ash stomped away, mumbling to herself. 

‘That was so cute though!’ cancer thought.

“You’ll have to excuse her, she’s… not used this kind of attention.” Choro said, walking up to where Ash originally was. Cancer turned to face the other female. The curly haired worker smiled welcomingly, starting a casual conversation with Cancer while Ash made the coffee. Hearing that from the waitress, and knowing that Ash can have those kinds of reactions, Cancer was more than determined to make sure he kept getting those reactions out of her.

[teberial]

chapter four

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´Crap. This is bad. How long have I been looking at him for?´ Ash thought

Ash’s gaze switched between the taller male’s eyes, and then the floor. Her already-red face became redder. 

“How the hell am I supposed to know you’re not some total creep? At least start with your name.” she said, eyes looking down at her notebook. He seemed to notice where her gaze was now fixated; so he gripped onto the book tighter. He didn’t want to stop talking to the female, yet. 

“Cancer.”

“... come again?”

“My name. It’s Cancer.”

“Like the deadly disease?”

“I guess..” He mumbled. Ash raised her eyebrows in disbelief, scoffing. 

“Nice. I’m Ash.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Ash.” he politely answered, sticking out his right hand. Ash went to grab it, suddenly stopping once she realized something… His hand was stained black. 

“Are you fragmented, too?” she asked. Cancer frowned and quickly stuffed his hand back in his pocket. “Don’t be like that. I am too.” She said, showing her wrist. The taller male saw the mark for only a few seconds, Ash now pulling it away and now putting out her other hand. “My journal?”

“Oh.. right” he replied, handing her the item she asked for. The female took hold of it, sighing as a very small smile appeared on her face. 

“Listen,” she started, expression becoming blank again. “I usually don’t do this.. but.. that journal is really special to me. I appreciate you returning it. Come by the shop tomorrow and I’ll make you a drink, for free.” she offered.

“Maybe I will.” he said, trying to stop himself from beaming (he failed),while  watching the petite employee run back into the cafe.

 Ash opened the book the moment she was inside; something seemed off. 

All of the pages containing her vents were torn out. 

Ash’s stomach dropped. No… no no no. She frantically flipped through the other pages, stopping upon one. A small note written in purple pen slipped from out of the page, floating to the floor slowly. She picked it up, and read it to herself. 

I don’t know your name but you’re doing amazing. You just need to take little steps forward, I believe in you.

A note? Did that Cancer bastard do all this? Ash angrily spun around, pushing open the door as she poked her head out. He was gone.. Dammit. The barista shut the door behind herself, walking behind the counter again as she forcibly stuffed her torn diary away. It was then, when a familiar voice approached. 

“Was that your diary you just stuffed in there?” the voice inquired. Without turning around, Ash spoke.

“Hi Grey. …  Yeah, it was. Some pages were torn out, I think that Cancer dude did it.”

“Well, it could have also been someone else’s doing. Maybe that ‘Cancer dude’ just found it like that.” her supervisor said. Ash sighed, nodding her head in agreement. 

“You’re right... i hope that's what happened. If not, i’ll beat his ass.”  

“It’ll be okay, kid. Don’t worry about it.” With a gentle pat on the head, Grey was off to do whatever a supervisor did. 

Yeah, maybe it really was okay.

[teberial]

chapter three

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He caught her, his left arm behind her and his right in front, holding her left. He held her tightly in fear of her falling and hurting herself. She thought she was safe.

She should have guessed, he was the only one in the area but… why? 

Why would he exert even the tiniest amount of effort for her? 

Did he have an ulterior motive? Did he want to get close to her just so he could hurt her?

Like everybody else?

A million questions ran through the conflicted girl’s mind, all of a similar nature.

She couldn’t get any words out, it was impossible, her brain was struggling to process it all. Why does he always come to her rescue? There has to be a reason for it all. Nobody’s nice without having a reason.

Ash was brutally cynical, despite knowing that the people she works with are genuinely kind, she doubted their motives. 

You can’t blame the girl. She’d been abandoned by, well, everyone.

Trusting people blindly was an impossible task for her.

This train of thought felt like it lasted for ages but in actuality, it started and ended in a matter of seconds.

“-ay?” The girl could hear a really faint set of words near her but she didn’t know what they were.

“W-what? Say that again.” She asked him with a monotonous tone.

“I said, are you okay? I had a feeling you’d turn up if I just waited around here. I was so relieved when I saw you! But still, you scared the hell out of me. One moment, I see an angel flash the prettiest smile at me and the next, she’s carelessly running on the soaked pavement about to fall.”

“Y-yeah, I’m o...k…..ay...” Once again, her brain was trying to process things.

´D-did he j-just call me an angel?´ Ash frantically thought.                                  

Ash’s mind was racing. Her act was slowly deteriorating. It was the first time anybody had complimented her on her smile nonetheless. She’d always been insecure about it but.. for some reason, one line from him and she felt happy?

“You sure?” he replied with a voice wracked with worry. Ash snapped out of it. 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She deadpanned; stopping only to realise where his right arm was. Ash forcibly pushed herself back, falling onto her ass. She didn’t even care much that she was soaked. These feelings were all new to her, so this was a crazy experience, altogether. 

The male laughed. 

“Is there a problem?” The girl lashed out, the words shot out like bullets, full of aggression.

“I wasn’t laughing AT you. I just misjudged you. You don’t just have a cute smile.. everything else about you is just as cute! I was laughing at my own stupidity.” clarified the mysterious person.

Ash’s heart skipped a beat. 

“C-CUTE?” the words came out without the tiniest amount of effort.

After the enmity and embarrassment faded, Ash, once again, was flustered. She felt her body completely heat up. Usually she’d never let herself get like this; she’s always forced herself to have an attitude. There was an excuse for it. Since she was bullied for being a frag, Ash really couldn’t show her weak side. So as a result of being tormented, she locked her true feelings away, keeping a cold and emotionless personality. Yet the male stood above her was her exact opposite. 

Little did she know, they were much more compatible then she thought.

The two had gathered quite the audience. People were looking directly at them.

Ash averted her eyes to the ground but she felt a gaze that stood out.

She looked back up to see a set of white teeth beaming in her direction, she lifted her head even more to see a pair of sunset red eyes. These eyes were focusing on her eyes, Ash saw the crowd, there were so many girls that she thought were prettier than her, but he only saw her.  

These eyes looked at her… like she was human. They accepted her. They valued her. They cared for her. 

One look into those eyes and her face burned up. They weren’t just appealing because of their unique colour but because of the words they held behind them; the emotions they hid. She couldn’t stop staring into those glowing red orbs. He was one of the Complete but he had the same eyes as Ash, the eyes of a Frag.

[teberial]

chapter two

. ‘I can’t believe she’s been fighting all of this on her own.. I say fighting, it’s more like being beaten senseless... We’re a lot more alike than I thought. I really shouldn’t be looking through this but… I can’t help myself. I can’t have her go through this alone when I have a chance to help her.’ he thought

“It would be too forward of me to approach her directly, I guess I can just help in little ways.” the guy said to himself as he decided to do whatever was necessary to help her.

He pulled out his trusty purple pen and wrote a little note:

I don’t know your name but you’re doing amazing. You just need to take little steps forward, I believe in you.

“I hope she finds thi— wait, what am I doing? I can just put this in her diary!” he said with a mischievous grin.

Meanwhile, Ash was frantically searching for said diary. She noticed it was gone during her break, and had been looking for it ever since. All she could do was hope it was accidentally left at her apartment, or elsewhere. Some of her friends from work had noticed too. 

“Looking for something?” inquired Grey, Ash’s supervisor. The taller female stood behind her, inquisitive glance and all. Ash replied with an audibly surprised gasp, rapidly turning around to face her… although she had to lift her head to the sky.  

“Not really...” she started, her hands awkwardly at her side. “I think I dropped something on my way here. That’s all, not a big deal.” It was clear that she was putting up a front. That only caused Grey to become more curious, stepping in front of the employee, hands on her hips. 

“Are you sure it’s simply ‘nothing’?” Ash was silent again; she averted her gaze from Grey’s. “By the looks of it, it’s something. Just tell me, maybe I can help find it.” Grey finished, awaiting Ash’s response. The barista was reluctant to speak but there was no escaping the supervisor’s soul piercing glare. It was like an abyss, which didn’t really reflect her bubbly nature. Ash knew that if she could trust anything with her personal issues, it was Grey.

“It’s just a diary.. I dropped it earlier.” Ash mumbled. Grey had a humourless look on her face, which really wasn’t common. 

“Hmmm, that’s quite the problem you got there, I’ll see what I can do.” said the supervisor reassuringly. “I can probably get some employees together to help you look for it.”

“Seriously? … thanks..” As much as Ash’s expression was blank, she was really grateful. Ah, Grey always coming to save the day. No wonder she was the supervisor. Grey simply nodded, her hand reassuringly placed on the smaller female’s shoulder before walking away to inform the other employees.

Thankfully this was a small business, so there were only 5 workers - the low amount of staff meant that they were all quite close to each other, and thus, close to Ash.

You’ve already met Grey; the tall, kind supervisor with thick, black, poofy hair that swayed just above her slender shoulders. Everyone counted on her to brighten the day. Feeling bad? Walk up to Grey, mention something about bread, and you'll be on the floor wheezing in no time. Quite the tactic. 

Then there was Orange, basically a devil in a very short person’s body. It made sense since they’re closer to Hell. They had the humble duty of being the janitor; cleaning -accidental and purposeful- messes, and other things a janitor would do. Hair as red as the King of Hell themselves, with a little ahoge sticking up boldly. The hellish janitor had a petite stature despite having such a big personality. 

Last but not least, Choro. Being the same height as Grey, her tied up messy hair complimented her appearance adorably. Being the waitress, she was required to wear a neat white button up tucked under a black pencil skirt. You can’t forget about her little apron, either. Choro was the customer favourite, which wasn’t a surprise. They even titled her as the ‘Ultimate Cute’ at the end of a popularity poll. 

After everyone was informed, they wished the frantic employee luck, and promised to look for it at every moment they could. 

[i]A: hm… maybe it dropped outside. 

Ash let Grey know that she’d be stepping out, quickly running to the door as the bell jingled, signaling she was gone. Rain was pouring, -as it usually does in the Land of Tea- but Ash paid it no attention and rushed to retrace her steps, attempting to remember the spot where she had collided into the taller male. After a few minutes of frantic searching, Ash found the spot, but no diary. She felt her chest sink. Uh oh. 

“Fuck... fuck fuck fUck fUCk shiT fuCk BITCH shit shit FUUUUCK, THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME RIGHT NOW” The fragmented soul despaired. If anybody read even a single line of what was in that diary-- … Ash was shivering; from the cold or the fear? She didn’t know.

´Wait, there was a lost and found somewhere around here, wasn’t there?´ She thought

The girl made her way to the lost and found as fast as she could. She got hit by a really intense wave of deja vu, and soon realised why. The human wall she crashed into was waiting in the very same spot as before, holding a small book that had a striking resemblance to… Ash’s.. diary.

However, the deja vu and relief was followed by an equally intense wave of vertigo.

Her knees buckled. A huge weight was lifted off of her chest. She couldn’t help but smile. 

People were staring. Judging. She could already hear them, “Isn’t that Frag like, an adult? Pfft, pathetic.”

It hurt, it really did, but she couldn’t get rid of the dizziness.

The ground was saturated with rainwater, but that thought didn’t come to mind as she was stomping towards the male. One misstep, and her legs slipped below her, quickly losing her balance. Just as she was about to drop, Ash saw something dash towards her from amidst the chaos. She fell. Straight into the strangely comforting arms of a strang- no. 

It was him.

[teberial]

poopie art

it’s my basic ass bitch oc, luci. she’s a hoe

[teberial]

chapter one

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND

.

“Huff.. huff.. huff..” 

Oh, Ash. Late per usual. She dashed through the crowds of people, pushing her way forward as she mumbled “sorry” to the ones she nearly toppled over. Today was just another day for her; getting out of the house 5 minutes late, running through the crowds as she made her way to work. Ash was a 20 year old, 5 foot tall female. Her toffee colored hair fell over her shoulders, the plain white button up T-shirt with a black apron hugging her body wonderfully. Black skinny jeans fit to form, finishing it off with a pair of pink converse to match her eyes.

‘They know who I am, I’m sure they won’t mind if I’m a few minutes late.’ Ash thought

She reassured herself, smirking now as she made her way to the empty cafe on the corner of the block. 

[Cam’s Cafe]

Oh how she loved that place. Walking into the cozy cafe bought her such joy, always adoring the jazz music playing from the speakers. Outside of work, Ash usually spent her time reading, writing or doing anything really. But when she was at work, the young adult worked at the cash register, or brewed up some drinks. It was a fun job, really. 

Ash wasn't even focusing on her surroundings since she'd been hellbent on getting the coffee that she’d been craving for a while now. The moment she made solid contact with what was in front of her, she toppled backwards with an audible shriek.

“..! Shit! Oh god, I think I broke something, damn that really hurt….”

Ash remembered that she was getting later by the second and as she rapidly tried to rise to her feet, an arm reached out for her left hand. She reflexively yanked hers’ back, and looked up at the stranger. 

Pure white hair, crimson red eyes and… a scar. Ash had seen this person before, they were a regular customer at the cafe. It would be impossible for her to forget the face of someone so…. different. 

It wasn't a bad kind of different, she was simply the inquisitive type, and thus she wanted to find out what made him so different.

The white-haired stranger had a worried look on his face but he didn't stop reaching out. Then, Ash finally spoke,

”Fucking hell, man. Can you watch where you’re going next time?” 

The unnamed person said nothing and still didn't stop reaching out. Ash slapped the other’s hand away, standing up on her own. She was definitely grateful, but people tended to avoid her since she had yet to find her soulmate. This was the first actual encounter she’s had in a long time. With a defeated look, the male sighed to himself, and let his hands rest at his side.

´maybe I shouldn’t have said that…´ Ash thought.

“Huff.. Sorry,¨ she sighed. ¨I should have been paying atten— hey wait a second, don’t you eat at the cafe sometimes?” She asked, looking up at the taller male. He then spoke, his deep voice resonating. 

“Uhhh, yeah. They play the same band’s music during this time of day, I absolutely love them! You should listen to them in your own time! Who knows? Maybe you’ll have a new favourite band.” he replied passionately, towering above the delicate looking girl.

Ash was thrown off guard, she didn’t expect him to be so friendly towards her; especially since she had a fragmented soul..

Despite having fragmented souls, people could get along with each other but for some reason unknown to her, she was cast aside by those with AND without soulmates.

Ash had gone through similar situations like this her entire life so she got pretty good at concealing her true feelings. Well, it didn’t really matter because nobody had bothered to ask her what those feelings were. 

She truly felt alone.

Aside from those thoughts, Ash kept the blank look on her face and quickly looked away due to an unfamiliar emotion that rose up from her chest. 

“Hm, yeah. I hear them play a lot.” she said, expression blank. Ash bent over, sliding the items into a pile and picking them up. “Okay, well… Sorry I gotta stop this conversation, but I’m already late for work”  She quickly said, already walking off. Ash didn’t take the effort to look back at the guy, now quickly running into the building.

There seemed to be a problem, though. As cliche as it sounds, it seemed that Ash dropped something that was quite important to her while toppling over the taller male: her diary. Not just any diary. This one was pretty special to her. It consisted of many different things. Drawings, reminding notes, and most importantly, her personal entries. You see, Ash didn’t feel super comfortable ranting to people. She felt that writing her feelings down would be a lot easier; she didn’t need to go physically show her ugly side to people. No way. Not that she had anyone to show it to, but now, all she hoped was that someone would return it without looking into it /too/ much. 

Alas, the tall male noticed, picking it up and studying it. He would have followed after her if she wasn’t in such a rush. He decided to hold onto it for the time being. In the meantime, he sat himself at a nearby bench, opened it up and began to read. 

…...

[teberial]

meet the characters!

meet everyone that’s a part of ‘a simple gesture’!!!!

disclaimer: this art is NOT mine; this is my friend’s art and i have permission to post. i’m gonna link them at the bottom :)

here they are !! due to some reasons, the blond is the only character who isn’t in the story :,(

BUT i felt the need to keep them in since they hold a special place in our hearts <3

-

(characters’ socials in order of first pic)

Grey (ARTIST OF THESE TWO PICS)- IG: https://instagram.com/grey_sann?igshid=1a8opvtqeqqz

Orange- Tumblr: https://twentyoneoranges.tumblr.com/

Choro- IG: https://instagram.com/chorohh?igshid=8254rtscop88

Ash (me :3 )- IG: https://instagram.com/teberial?igshid=15hzrdw275tp7

Cancer- IG: https://instagram.com/_.txhir._?igshid=1884q1yjbjvsm

[teberial]

a simple gesture.

INTRODUCTION

.

it all started with a simple gesture.

Ash— she seemed to be just another petite and ordinary girl on the surface, but nobody really took the time to get to know her. -needless to say, it was their loss- However, one person did; that person was known as Cancer. You’d think that anybody who named themselves after a disease would be a horrible person, right? As a matter of fact, he was quite the opposite.

Cancer was tall, -much taller than Ash- slim, light skinned, and sported a nice, pure white, messy hairstyle. His eyes were even more intriguing; a mesmerizing bright red, with a scar going down his left side. More features included his nice, plump lips supporting the small studded piercing and.. his right palm stained black.

Now, the stain would be quite odd if people didn’t have one elsewhere on their body. Ash had a mark on her left wrist- Those marks hold a lot of meaning, after all. You see, two matching stains meant that you'd found your soulmate, and a large number of the population had these marks. 

However, it wasn't as easy as it sounded to find your soulmate. It's not as if you could just post a picture online and then mix and match, you had to make direct contact with the mark for anything to happen. You could have been talking online with your soulmate for years and you'd never know; pretty tragic, but also exciting. Literally anybody could be your soulmate. Unfortunately, some people still don't find theirs. In this society, people without soulmates are shunned and treated as an entirely different species. They’re more commonly known as “Fragmented Souls”.

It's different for everyone. Some people found their soulmates at young ages, old ages; that's what's so fascinating. You never know when you walked past your potential lifelong companion. 

Have we mentioned how the characters in this story have soulmates? Well, Grey and Choro have been soulmates since they were teens. Orange really couldn’t be bothered to find a soulmate. Ash.. Still searching. 

Now, to get on with the actual story; the story of how Ash met her soulmate.

——

hope you guys enjoy!! just a side note, i wrote this story with my boyfriend, so i’m giving credit to him too!! ly bb https://malignant-tumour.tumblr.com/

[teberial]

hello :)

hi there! welcome to my blog, ty for stopping by. tumblr is super new to me, so excuse my noob-ness... what you’ll see here are lame peices pf art, mostly of my oc’s, and a story my boyfriend and i have been working on for nearly a year. hope u enjoy!