' Supposedly everyone possesses a single red string bound to their ankles'

Throughout life, the string forever remains bound until the day it leads to one's soulmate, who lies at the other end.

However the string may twist and knot, it never breaks-''

The school teacher paused mid word. Her lips pursed and eyes narrowed.

"Lovino." She barked. The usual fiddling kindergartener was turned around in his spot on the floor, growling at the boy behind him who'd only laughed in response. Naturally the young Italian ignored the educator, too focused on cussing out (oh yes, his guardians would definitely receive a phone call that day.) the figure behind him, Antonio, one of the taller boys (who could even pass for a second grader at times) had taken the liberty of flicking Lovi's counter and of all things fucking breaking it about a week prior. This had left the Italian an ugly mess of growls and curses, the much smaller boy currently swatting Antonio's arm angrily before finally shoving him back and jumping on top of him.

"B-BASTARDO! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?"

"Get off me!" Antonio squirmed under him, the two struggling.

Two things to know: Lovino's grandfather was notorious for teaching him the more...slang elements of the Italian language; and this event wasn't an uncommon spectacle. The Spanish boy had just moved to the school of recent. The two didn't get along from the start, the same argument of Antonio supposedly breaking Lovino's counter exploding into the air within minutes of being in the same room.

"LOVINO."

The teacher's now stern voice cut through the air easily, the small Italian freezing. However fiery, the kindergartener knew when he was beat, offering Antonio a final snarl before scooting back into place and cursing under his breath.

"I don't get your problem." The Spaniard hissed. "I've been nothing but nice, I didn't break your stupid counter. Maybe YOU broke mine." He flashed the underside of his wrist which read '00' 00' 00' at the other dark haired boy before both turned away, the Italian scowling.

Meanwhile the teacher cleared her throat, looking back down at her notes and then at the children on the floor.

"Now, the red string never breaks no matter how much it bends. This is what they used to teach children like you guys a very long time ago." She smiled. "Now...you all have your counters, right?" She held up her own (which had depleted to zero upon meeting her now fiancé) and the students did so in response.

"The red string story eventually evolved into the soul mate theory, which is what society now uses as a basis. It's a form of order." She slowly got up, writing the name in big letters on the chalkboard behind her.

"You'll learn more about this when you're in the big kid grades, but everything in the universe is made of matter, which can't be created or destroyed. Supposedly, at the beginning of time, certain elements of matter that make up our DNA happened to be close to each other. Through the soul mate theory it's thought that these elements want nothing more than to find each other again, which is why you have these." She pointed to her own small metal device.

"This is called a counter as most of your parents have probably already told you. Counters are inserted at birth and grow at the same rate you do. The numbers on it are counting down to when you'll meet your soul mate. It monitors exactly how much time you have until you'll meet them."

The small Italian boy was fidgeting again, growling slightly.

"Like the red string in the story, no matter how long it may take, your counter will never break. It'll always lead you."

"...yeah right." Lovino muttered with a glare at Antonio.

"Mine's broken too, you know. I didn't ask for this." The boy whispered back, shrinking slightly at the teacher's warning glare before she continued speaking again.

"No. You broke mine. And I hate you." He whipped his head around and barked at the Spaniard, their teacher only looking between the two with a soft exhale before pinching the bridge of her nose. It was often rare for partners to meet so young in life- and hold such an animosity.

But that way was more interesting, right?