((Inspired by the CGI animated short film "In a Heartbeat". I made this soulmate au where everyone has a mini, chibi avatar that hovers around them to try to find their soulmate, like the image below as a reference for Grian and Mumbo. Think of it as Yugioh VRAINS with the ignis's(?)- or think of it as a tiny doppleganger that just floats around your body? This might get a little confusing, just want to make sure everyone can understand. Enjoy!))

---

Grian darts around frantically upon the arrival of Mumbo walking on school grounds. The boy looks around, panic swirling around his crystal colored eyes as he tries to find a suitable hiding spot behind the open gates.

Luckily for Grian, he jumps behind a vibrant bush like a cartoon character before pressing his back against the leaves. His little soulmate companion whines out which forces Grian to cover the mouth of his little avatar.

His heart is mercifully pounding inside of his ribcage as he looks over his shoulder to see Mumbo passing by his hiding bush. The ignorant Mumbo didn't seem to notice Grian since his eyes are settled downwards while his entire awareness is lounging on the book in his hand.

Grian waits until he takes a few more steps along the pathway before shuffling over to the tree right next to his bush. His skinny arm manages to hoist himself upwards on a tree branch, suddenly getting a clear view of Mumbo's strolling frame.

The honey haired boy felt his senses turn giddy due to the sight before him, Mumbo walking down the cobbled pathway towards the school entrance. The formal teen has an open book in his left hold, tossing an apple with his right as Mumbo's mini avatar lays on his raven hair to glance at the book as well.

As Grian senses his feelings grow stronger, a dorky, wavering smile carves upon his lips. He lifts his head abruptly, which makes the top of his head slam into the branch right above him. Mumbo turns his head towards the source of the noise as Grian darts behind the tree.

Grian's heart is hammering ruthlessly, his anxiety skyrocketing as his tiny doppleganger companion begins to whine in protest. Mumbo stares at the tree, not able to see Grian due to the fact that Grian is fully hidden behind the trunk.

With a simple shrug of Mumbo's and his mini avatar's shoulders, they glimpse back down towards their book while continuing their journey towards the school. Grian's avatar cries out, hovering close to Grian's head before making an effort to chase after Mumbo.

Grian goes into full panic, clasping his hands around his mini avatar twin, sweat now dribbling the side of his forehead in sheer fright. The avatar cries out, deeply yearning for Mumbo's presence and Mumbo's formal, yet adorable, mini soul avatar.

The little Grian manages to slip past Grian's sweaty fingers and begins to tug on Grian's blue school uniform. Grian pulls back as rough as he can, but his mini character continues to pull, making it seem like a giant game of tug-of-war.

Their opposite directions caused Grian to lose his sudden grip from his soulmate avatar. This forced the little Grian to fly towards Mumbo's direction and knock the apple from the air. Mumbo didn't seem to notice that his apple, that he was playing with, is now replaced by Grian's soul character.

Mumbo's little character seemed to notice, his baby chocolate colored eyes lighting up at the sight of Grian's mini avatar in Mumbo's hold. Grian scrambles off of the tree to run towards Mumbo in hope to grab his mini soul persona and save himself from any humiliation.

Mumbo's still didn't seem to be aware that his apple is replaced by a living, tiny character since he keeps his focus downwards. The mini Grian giggles, forcing little Mumbo to laugh as he remains laying on Mumbo's raven colored hair.

Grian falls face first into the soil before hastily sprinting towards their direction. Mumbo pulls his "apple" forward to take a bite, enabling Grian to latch onto Mumbo's hand, bringing the teen into pure shock at Grian's ruptured presence. Mumbo didn't seem to be catching on with the situation, not realizing that Grian's tiny soulmate character is between Grian's and his locked hands.

Grian awkwardly chuckles and releases Mumbo, only to discover that his baby Grian is missing. Mumbo raises an eyebrow in confusion as Grian wipes his sweaty palms along his coal-colored uniform pants.

Just as Mumbo was about to turn away, still evidently confused, Grian notices his little avatar popping into view on Mumbo's book. Grian lurches forward to maintain a hold, failing horribly before he runs around Mumbo.

As soon as his hands managed to grab his little persona, his eyes went wide at the embarrassing position he made himself stuck with. Grian's leg is hovering in the air as he leans forward, his nose touching with Mumbo's, his outstretched arms wrapped around Mumbo's lanky figure since he finally got a full grip of his tiny character behind Mumbo's back.

Mumbo is leaning back, his eyes also wide with surprise and pure confusion. He can feel Grian's warm breath along his lips, basically forcing his face to shade into a rose color. Grian raises a degrading smile before looking over his shoulder and literally plummeting into a nearby trash can.

Mumbo blinks his eyes a few times, waving at Iskall who is passing by. His eyes billow concern and puzzlement as he looks back at the trashcan that Grian dove into. The teen reaches out reluctantly while making an unsure expression.

The loud school bell rings obnoxiously, causing Mumbo to flinch harshly from the sudden noise in his eardrums. Mumbo's miniature character whines as Mumbo grips onto his book before walking back in the school's direction.

Mumbo dives his attention back into his book as little Mumbo crosses his little arms in exasperation. Grian pops his head out from the trash, the metal lid on his head like a makeshift hat. Grian's miniature jumps up next to Grian's head before darting out of the metal garbage can.

The meager avatar of Grian's clutches onto Grian's hand to drag him out from the trash can. Much to Grian's surprise, his little persona is strong with a love struck gaze, heading directly towards Mumbo yet again.

As the character pulls Grian along, heels desperately digging into the grass and pavement to stop from moving, Grian turns his minature companion in a different direction before he gets anywhere remotely close to Mumbo. It was like driving an unsteady Mario kart, Grian keeping his scraping heels on the ground as best as he could as little Grian tried to go back to Mumbo.

Grian closes his eyes and awaits for impact, but instead he somehow tripped over a golf ball, launching both himself and his little persona into the air, right above Mumbo's head as he remains oblivious.

When Grian came tumbling down, his body crashed onto the cement pavement of the school's pathway. He noticed instantly all of the dirt that has clung onto his clothes and all the leaves sticking out from his golden locks.

Mini Grian hops up since he remained healthy without a single scratch. He begins to sprint after Mumbo once more. Grian lifts himself, wincing silently at his new sore physique. His attention snapped back to his mini avatar, so Grian makes a brisky, brief attempt to chase after.

Mumbo opens the doors to enter into the school. Just as the doors were about to shut, Grian's little character achieves in slipping past the school doors before they close.

Grian bounds up the stair platform, while occasionally stumbling, with a painted expression that screams absolute fright. His eyes began to glisten from incoming tears as his heart remained pounding within his heavy chest.

The boy opens the front doors of the school, the sight before him making his heart drop. Mumbo was on the ground, laughing nervously from the overly affectionate mini Grian, who is clinging onto his raven hair. Mumbo's little avatar makes an expression that reflects the surprised pikachu face as he floats above Mumbo to watch the scene.

Horror struck, Grian begins to swat at his mini version, missing a few times before aggressively obtaining his tiny companion's arm. Much to his dismay, mini Grian grabs onto Mumbo's finger.

Grian pulls gently at first while noticing the concerned look on Mumbo. The raven teenager looks at Grian, the look sending Grian's heart to beat rapidly as a bold red color blooms across Grian's cheeks.

Looking away, Grian suddenly notices the amount of students that have begun circling around. Little avatars of students hover next to their larger person, both students and mini soul characters staring down at Grian and Mumbo.

As Grian continues to sweat nervously, he begins to tug more and more. Each lurch would accidentally pull Mumbo further, but Mumbo didn't make an attempt to move. The little Mumbo was in utter shock, he didn't know what to do about this whole situation either.

The intense, judgemental eyeballs that landed on Grian was enough for the boy to pull violently. His little character loses his grip on Mumbo's finger. Grian has his full clutch on his little persona before he bursted out of the school entrance, leaving Mumbo to stare out with a concern expression that is hard to read.

Grian rushes outside and runs behind a tree to make sure he is fully out of sight. His knees land on the grass below him as he holds his injured character. The mini Grian has shining eyes because of new tears.

After a few minutes of silence, Grian slowly fell into the depths of sadness and began to sob. He holds his mini Grian tightly to his chest as his mini character clings onto his school uniform in emotional pain.

His mini avatar cannot speak, everyone's cannot as well since they can only make whines and little noises. Grian can tell that his mini self wants to apologize, but due to the fact that he cannot speak, he couldn't do so.

Large tears cascade down Grian's flushed cheeks, his sobbing turning louder. He just wants to scream into the sky and curse at himself for having such an enormous crush on one of the most popular teens in school.

The boy adjusts his position so he can lean his back against the trunk of the tree. More fresh, burning tears roll down his now swollen cheeks as his parted lips pant heavily from the intense crying. He doesn't even try to wipe his tears dry since more would only replace those that are wiped.

Grian leans his head so the back of his head hits the trunk. A movement to his left averts his entire attention. When realizing Mumbo is standing a few meters away, Grian flinches and looks away, his mini avatar doing the same reaction. He decides to quickly wipe all of his tears with the edge of his school uniform sleeve.

Mumbo steps up next to Grian before sitting down, his back pressed against the tree's wooden trunk. Grian keeps looking away, covering his stained, ruby face. Mumbo's tiny, cute avatar hops from Mumbo's lap and runs over to Grian's tiny persona.

Grian watches as the two little characters silently communicate together, mini Grian wiping his tears away. Normal Mumbo smiles gently and tilts Grian's head upwards so he can see Grian's face.

Grian's eyes are bloodshot, cheeks puffy with little wet trails running along them. Mumbo presses the pad of his thumb against Grian's cheek to quietly wipe his tears away. He casts an assuring, warm smile at Grian.

Mumbo then looks down to pick up Grian's little doppelganger. He cautiously pats his mini head with the same smile, being genuine about his actions.

The two teenagers look at each other. Mumbo sets Grian's tiny soul partner on the grass so he can play with Mumbo's tiny avatar. Regular Mumbo grabs Grian's hand gently to cradle Grian's smaller hand in his larger one.

They stare at each other, small smiles printed along their lips as they realize that they have finally met their other half, their other part of their spirit. At that special moment, they realized that they have officially discovered their precious soulmate.

"It's always the unpredictable, unexpected blossom of love that flourishes the most."