[FIC] Cupid in Training

[miyamiaki]

Title: Cupid in Training.
Pairing: Akame, mentions of KokixTatsuya
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kamenashi Kazuya is an apprentice cupid sent to Earth to learn about the human world with the help of the one chosen to be a mentor.
Author's Note: Thank you, annami_oi for betaing when you're so busy! (〃^∇^)♥ Originally written for White Day but better late than never, right? I've never been good with deadlines anyways... Caution: Extremely long (five posts long) and overly descriptive. I was description happy at the time. (^-^;;;

Cupid in Training

At a mystical and harmonious valley, whispered as a myth amongst the humans, is a paradise known as the Garden of Eden in the West and Shangri La in the East. A heavenly strip of Earth that remained hidden from the humans among the many sparse mountains, and was located high enough to be the closest place to the Heavens. Shangri La was filled with luscious greenery and emerald blue waterfalls, which fell from the side of the cliffs to form an untainted river at the bottom of the valley. Birds chirped joyfully in a soothing melody, singing to the Heavens in appreciation of the crisp air weighing freely on their wings.

Amidst the Nature’s finest vegetations were a couple of antiquated, yet richly built buildings. In one of the bigger archaic buildings, which was built with only the finest marble, was a spectacular courtyard fit for the eyes of a God. Positioned precisely in the center of the grand courtyard was a breathtaking fountain with a crystal centerpiece in the shape of a chiseled heart, flowing with the purest water available on Earth.

Past the courtyard to the left-hand side was a fairly big chamber, a portrait of a handsome Greek god etched in detail on the heavy door. Upon entering the chamber were three overly-long tables and a couple of wooden seats, spaced out evenly and pushed in neatly. A quarter-sawn oak podium, shaped like an uneven hourglass, stood proudly at the front of the chamber, ornately carved with roses and subtle, small hearts. The wall which stood the furthest from the entrance was a gigantic bookcase, filled with ancient books that looked like it could fall apart any minute, but was bound strongly together. Most of the books had red or navy blue hard leather covers, and the titles and a representative symbol or picture printed in gold.

What used to be the old studying chamber for the intellectual gods and goddesses was now used as a lecture hall. The lecture hall for the cupids just starting out, and are taking classes to earn a degree as a Certified Cupid. Usually the lecture hall was filled with young cupids, who talked about the latest bows and arrows available for barter, but now the lecture hall remained deserted. Currently all of the cupids were in the middle of their lunch, with exception of two cupids-in-training.

“Cupids may not fall in love with a human, cupids may not encourage love between a human and any other species, cupids may not shoot at other cupids,” Kamenashi Kazuya chanted the words straight out of his Principles of Love 231 book. Luckily the class was not as hard as Chemistry of Love 241, and only covered the basic principles. Kazuya briefly wondered why the absolute rules of a Cupid were covered in a higher level class instead of the basic, Art of Love 101 classes. Maybe it was because sophomore year was the first year cupids-in-training were allowed to carry a magical bow and arrow if they so wished. Not that it made much of a difference, cupids were generally restricted from actually using their bows and arrows until successfully graduating from the university and becoming a Certified Cupid.

“Hmm…?” Kazuya squinted hard to read the really small fine print directly under the second rule. Holding the heavy textbook to his face, Kazuya vaguely made out the fine print to read, “Unless the human deserves it, in which case, shoot at the closest animal you can find.” Kazuya blinked in confusion, and rubbed on his tired eyes wondering if he had been over-studying again. Perhaps it wasn’t healthy to read three books in one day, and ends up straining your eyes from overuse.

No, the words were still there.

“Tat-chan, are we allowed to have a man fall in love with his puppy if he’s a bad person?” Kazuya asked his sempai cupid, who was yawning sleepily beside him. Ueda Tatsuya was a Certified Cupid, who graduated two Cupid years prior to him entering the school, but was being forced to take refresher courses for accidentally shooting the wrong target during one of his recent missions. At least, that was what is being said. Amongst other rumors, Kazuya had even heard that Tatsuya had murdered another cupid before. It was merely one of the many rumors that existed amongst the cupids about Ueda Tatsuya, who remained an enigma even to him.

“No, Kazuya… Do the puppy a favor and pick a gorilla from the zoo instead,” Tatsuya replied with another long yawn. Classes were so boring that the sleepiness hadn’t phased out even during lunchtime, but his instructor knowing that he knew the material let him sleep throughout class. Tatsuya did graduate at the top of his class after all, even if he was a delinquent that all the teachers were weary of.

Kazuya tilted his head in confusion, “What is a gorilla?” He had never been on Earth before and had never heard of such species in their world. All Kazuya knew was that a zoo was a horrid place where the humans confined poor, innocent animals, taking them away from their natural habitats for their own selfish pleasure.

“A gorilla is a primitive species of the-” Tatsuya started to explain when he was abruptly cut off by their one of their instructors, Nakamaru Yuichi. Yuichi was the homeroom teacher for their class, and coincidentally, the same instructor Tatsuya had during his senior year. Yuichi had been a newbie then, and often stumbled over his words or confused where his lesson had left off from the last class. His clumsiness was probably the reason Yuichi had been treated like one of the students by his students. Therefore by the time graduation had rolled around, Yuichi had become friends with most of his former students including Tatsuya, whom he considered one of his closest friends.

“Kazuya, you’ve been approved for your work-study on Earth!” Yuichi announced happily, so happily that his smile almost seemed fake. Or at least, Yuichi thought it did.

Regardless of the jumble of emotions running through his chest, Yuichi pretended to be in high spirits because he knew more than anyone how hard Kazuya had worked to have his internship approved. Kazuya had come to him on the very first day of class, and asked him what he needed to do to go to Earth. In order to fulfill his obligations as a teacher, Yuichi had worked closely with his student for the past year and a half to help him achieve his goal. He had been surprised that Kazuya had been approved so early. Normally, an internship on Earth was only approved for juniors.

“What!” Tatsuya shouted in outrage, suddenly feeling wide awake. “Kazuya’s way too young!” he argued heatedly. Kazuya might already be a sophomore in terms of the classes he was taking, but that was only because he had entered school early due to his exceptional intellect and physical skills. Kazuya was still a young cupid by age! He was not ready to go to Earth yet.

“Tat-chan, but I’ve been waiting all my life to go study on Earth!” Kazuya whined, slightly disappointed that his close friend was disapproving of his lifelong dream. Kazuya had wanted to go to Earth ever since his father had read the storybook about the creation of Earth and mankind when he was a little cherub. Since then Kazuya had held a fascination for the Earth and the human world, which was so different from their own. Kazuya felt like the little mermaid from the Grimm Fairy Tales, trapped under water unable to surface. In the same way Sirenetta had been forced to wait until her fifteenth birthday, Kazuya had waited all these years for his internship to take place.

“Kazuya, you don’t understand-” Tatsuya desperately tried to explain, but immediately stopped upon seeing Yuichi shake his head sternly. His hands clenched hard into a fist, but Tatsuya bitterly bit back his words knowing it was a taboo to speak of the internship. Without noticing the awkwardness between the others in the room, Kazuya cheerfully left the classroom to find his childhood friend, Taguchi Junnosuke, to inform him of the great news.

The moment the heavy door of the lecture hall had come to a close Yuichi spoke, “Tatsuya, the council approved his study. You know we can’t overturn their decision.” His expression was grave, the complete opposite from his faked smile just moments ago.

“You know the real purpose of studying on Earth!” Tatsuya shouted angrily at the instructor, whom he now saw as a heartless cupid. “To have a cupid experience love that can’t be granted, so he knows how hard unrequited love is and won’t make careless mistakes!” Yuichi grimaced at the pained look on Tatsuya’s face, understanding that Tatsuya had faced his share of heartache on Earth.

“Who came up with such a cruel teaching method?” Tatsuya mumbled, hanging his head low to hide the warm tears building in his eyes.

***

Summoned to the Symposium Hall, Kazuya rushed over to the secluded building filled with both excitement and apprehension. His heart was beating extremely fast in his chest, so fast that he thought it would stop. Only the highest of council members resided in the pentagonal building with a unique bulb-like crown, resembling the shape of a Muslim mosque. The magnificent building stood separate from their university, but was connected to the school by a long and arched bridge. There, Kazuya was given a thick envelope with approximately two-hundred and fourteen pieces of papers, which explained in detail the internship that was to take place. The head council member, Kimura Takuya, had benevolently released him from the obligations of school and instructed the young cupid to depart for the Earth once he had finished reading over the paperwork.

Luckily, Kazuya was a speed reader and had read over the guidelines in less than two hours. Sparing an extra minute or two on the pages that needed proper attention, Kazuya skimmed through the information in practiced ease. Immediately descending on Earth in search of his future mentor, Kazuya spread out an enormous map in both of his tiny hands. The faded map must have been extremely old because all of the city names were written in ancient scripture that Kazuya could not read. Accidentally taking a few detours, one to a city known as Taipei, Kazuya wasted practically the whole day trying to find Tokyo. Apparently, he had been holding the map wrong the whole time. By the time of his arrival in Tokyo, the skies were starting to darken and his mentor had been fast asleep in his apartment.

Staring at the beautiful human slumbering quietly with his arms curled up against his blanket, Kazuya studied the small picture in his hand thoroughly. After confirming that the human in the picture and the one sleeping were indeed the same person, Kazuya sighed softly in relief. Finally, he had found his mentor. “Akanishi Jin…” Kazuya articulated the name written on the official paperwork, and carefully laid the envelope full of the important details of his work-study on one of the multiple layers of glass. Glass of a sleek and contemporary coffee table positioned in the middle of the room, which was formed with black and clear glass sophisticatedly held together by black stainless steel. On the surface of the coffee table, plenty of papers with random sketches and art magazines overflowed.

Releasing a long yawn out of pure exhaustion, Kazuya lifted the covers of the vacant spot on the right and quietly slid into bed. He had had a very tiring day. Snuggling comfortably against the smooth silk comforter, Kazuya steadily drifted off into a deep sleep. He slept calmly and peacefully, conjuring dreams about a mystical fish girl with big beady eyes and a mop of brown hair. Pale red in color, the tiny fish girl had a white round stomach and was the most adorable creature Kazuya had ever seen in his life. His thin lips naturally curled up into a childlike smile, hugging the cute fish girl tightly and intending never to let go. Kazuya murmured incoherently in his sleep when he was rudely awakened by a very high-pitched screaming.

Smacking his mouth open and closed to form inaudible sounds, Kazuya slowly fluttered his heavy eyelids open. He sat up on the luxuriously soft and fluffy bed, which reminded him of sleeping on one of the clouds Kazuya loved to play on back in Shangri La. Rubbing tiredly at his eyes which were still adjusting, Kazuya released a long cat-like yawn. His blurry vision progressively cleared up, and Kazuya blinked a couple of times trying to figure out where he was. Bit by bit, Kazuya regained his conscious and with it - his memory.

Pouting his lips together in displeasure, Kazuya glared accusingly at his mentor for waking him up from his pleasant dream. For the record, the full-sized bed they slept in had plenty of space left, seeing as the bed was decently sized and Jin was fairly thin. Kazuya couldn’t understand why his mentor was acting so weirdly.

“Who… are you?” Jin stuttered nervously, pointing his finger at the young man sitting on his bed as if it were the most natural thing on Earth.

Exhausted from working a graveyard shift and an afternoon shift consecutively, Jin dove straight into bed to take a short nap before cooking dinner or else he would have burnt down the whole apartment complex out of fatigue. Jin had been dreaming happily about Sugimoto Aya dancing Tango in a seductive red dress with her shoulders exposed, beckoning for him to come dance with her. Right when Jin had started dancing with her, she had touched his collarbone and cruelly roused him from his sleep. Groaning disappointedly at waking up when the dream was getting good, Jin noticed that there was a hot breath on his weak spot and a warm figure snuggling comfortably against him, hugging his waist securely. Jin screamed in surprise, and jumped out of bed.

“Me? I’m a cupid!” Kazuya announced with a toothy grin, “My name is Kamenashi Kazuya.” Kazuya was now sitting with his legs tucked neatly under his body, his hands on either side of him supporting his body weight. Slightly leaned forward in his position, Kazuya looked up at him somewhat like a confused kitten.

“You’re a cupid…” Jin repeated in shock, dumbfounded. Thanks to his vivid imagination, an image of an actual cupid fluttered around over his head in small circles. Jin studied the young man sitting before him carefully, and compared the two ‘cupids’ mentally. “You don’t look like a cupid,” he added in with a small frown.

Kazuya glared at him accusingly with teary eyes. “But I am a cupid!” he yelled in frustration at the human, who refused to believe him. Pouting his lips together, Kazuya fluttered his white wings in front of Jin’s face to see.

Blinking twice, Jin arched his eyebrow in skepticism. He reached for a piece of paper and a pen from the messy table, and sketched a picture of a real cupid. Grinning proudly at his handiwork, Jin held up his drawing in front of Kazuya, who blinked blankly at the piece of paper. On the paper was a picture of a little baby on all fours with wings, and a bow and arrow with hearts tips. Jin had modeled the cupid off of the Kewpie mayonnaise infant, but that was what he imagined when a cupid was mentioned. A toddler with a lethal weapon, not a gorgeous young boy in wraps like a Greek god. Actually, Kazuya’s flowing robe looked more like one of the dresses goddesses wore.

“No, no! You have it all wrong!” Kazuya wailed in horror, taking out a small pastel colored polka dot notebook. He flipped frantically through the pages before stopping on a particular page. “This is the original cupid, Eros… Our great, great, great, great, great, great, great ancestor! I don’t know where the Romans got those babies from. Eros was not short or stubby,” he complained with his brows furrowed seriously.

Jin silently studied the picture of the handsome young man with beautiful white wings, nothing like the cupids that were conventionally depicted in old paintings. Eros looked more like an angel, than a cupid. “There wouldn’t happen to be any female cupids, would there?” Jin wondered mindlessly.

Kazuya pouted his lips into a small frown, “No… Why?”

“Uh-” Jin stammered, when a sudden thought crossed his mind. “Huh? Wait, how do cupids… um, reproduce?” Or were cupids a unisex species? Kazuya did have a feminine grace to him, Jin added in afterthought. Perhaps cupids were bestowed a sort of feminine charm to compensate for the lack of gender differences.

“I… don’t know. I’m not a senior cupid,” Kazuya replied, slightly disappointed that he could not answer his mentor’s question. Reproduction of cupids was kept a secret to the cupids of a lower level, and he was still a cupid-in-training.

“You don’t… have a mother?” Jin asked reluctantly, immediately regretting his question the moment their eyes met.

“I do, but… I’m different. I’m not a pure cupid. My mother was a goddess,” Kazuya mumbled feebly. His mother, whom Kazuya had never met, was the Goddess of Purity for one of the smaller sectors of the Earth. Having committed an unforgivable sin out of her chaste love for his father, his mother had been sent into exile from the Heavens, which was all Kazuya knew about her. Second hand information from the gossip that Kazuya had heard, whispered amongst the older cupids when he was still little.

“You’re a half-god?” Jin said in awe.

“I am, but…” Kazuya averted his eyes to the floor sadly, unable to continue. Due to the difficult circumstances of his birth, Kazuya had grown up being looked down upon by the cupid society. His only saving grace had been studying. While other young cupids were outside flying with the bird and exploring the nearby terrains, Kazuya had confined himself at home to study with the books he had borrowed out of the school library. Since Kazuya was always judged by his parent’s actions, he couldn’t think of any other way to be accepted by the elders than to become a great cupid they could be proud of.

An awkward silence reigned upon the small apartment. Jin observed the saddened cupid quietly, before finally opening his mouth to break the unbearable silence. “What does a cupid want with me?” he asked. In all of his excitement, Jin had overlooked the fact that having a cupid sneaking in to your bed wasn’t an everyday occurrence.

Reaching for the packet lying on the coffee table, Kazuya flipped through the many sheets of paper stuffed inside. Taking out a single leaflet, he handed the piece of paper to the young human to read. “Cupid Internship Agreement Form,” Jin read the title of the document out loud before glancing at the cupid. “What’s this?”

“The Cupid Internship Agreement Form is a contract between a cupid and the human chosen to be a mentor. The chosen human needs to sign the waiver, agreeing to mentor the cupid in exchange for the cupid-in-training’s help in their love lives,” Kazuya explained at pinpoint.

“I understand that a cupid that is currently undergoing training does not yet have the ability to use love spells, therefore am not able to guarantee success in love,” Jin squinted to read the fine print on the bottom of the paper, having been taught to read the fine print in a document first.

“Please, I promise that I’ll do my very best to fulfill your love,” Kazuya begged, bowing his head down so that his forehead was touching the soft leather, “Please allow me to stay!” A mentor was chosen based on the compatibility between a cupid and a human. If an internship was declined by the human, the cupid had to return to Shangri La and wait for the next compatible human to appear. The process for choosing a new mentor could take years, depending on the cupid. Doumoto Koichi, one of the high council members, had stressed that one of the reasons his internship is taking place so early was because Kazuya was a cupid, who was extremely hard to match. If Jin refused to be his mentor, Kazuya may never have a second chance to explore Earth.

Narrowing his gaze on the young cupid, Jin nervously bit on his lower lip. Kazuya refused to look back up at him, bowing deeply with all of his might. Sighing in defeat, Jin walked over to the kitchen table to read the contract before making a final decision. Obviously, the internship meant a lot to Kazuya and he wasn’t heartless.

“I,” Jin filled his name in the blank space provided, “Akanishi Jin, agree to mentor Kamenashi Kazuya as a Cupid Intern. By signing this form, I agree to provide a learning experience for the mentee to familiarize the Earth for the duration of thirty-one Human days…” Jin continued to skim through the document, which was surprisingly informative for something fitting on one sheet.

Carefully reading through all of the rules and responsibilities of a cupid mentor, Jin stared at the blank line next to the word signature long and hard. Jin looked up at the young cupid, who was sitting on the sofa bed with a worried expression on his face and his lips pouted sternly. Pressing his lips together broodingly, Jin gripped the pen harder. Tapping the tip of the pen on the table a couple of times, Jin decisively scribbled his signature on the agreement. Standing up from his seat, Jin handed the signed paper along with a pen to Kazuya so he could sign his own name.

Sincerely smiling from the bottom of his heart at the human, Kazuya couldn’t begin to describe how relieved he was that Jin had accepted his internship. “Thank you, Jin…” he whispered gratefully. Kazuya carefully held up the signed paper with both hands, which started illuminating with a gentle pink light. Soon the whole paper was enveloped in the mysterious light, and slowly faded away into thin air.

Yawning a little at having used his limited powers, Kazuya glanced sleepily down at the bed. “Are you tired?” Jin asked worriedly. The young cupid looked like he was on the verge of nodding off, his eyes closing halfway, only to try and open them again.

“My body isn’t used to the human world,” Kazuya complained, putting away his wings to conserve his draining energy. Apparently, more energy was consumed from him to be on Earth than in Shangri La. Kazuya had the vague feeling that the fatigue had to do with all of the pollution on Earth. The Earth’s environment was nowhere as pure as their world, and Kazuya had been shocked at the difference when he had first descended on Earth to breathe the dirty air. Perhaps the pollution was the odd way the Earth maintained balance, because magic did not belong in this dimension. At the rate that his powers were consumed on Earth, Kazuya guessed that only the high council had the power to freely exercise their magic here.

“I only have one bed,” Jin informed, pointing at the living room sofa slash bed, which Kazuya was currently sitting on. As a poor university student, Jin lived in a studio apartment that was limited to only six mat-units. A simple kitchen, a barely existing dining area, a decent-sized living room, and a tiny bathroom were all that was equipped in the apartment complex. Seeing as there was no bedroom, Jin settled for using the living room as his place of sleep. For that reason, what little furniture Jin had in his apartment was a medium-sized plasma television, the leather couch bed which conveniently converted into a full-sized bed, and the glass coffee table. All of which Jin had spent a considerable amount of time picking out, not wanting to clutter his apartment with bulky furniture, and had worked an extra part-time job at a construction site to buy. Everything else in his room was mostly art supplies, ranging from painted and unpainted canvases, an easel, selection of brushes, and oil paint.

“I don’t mind…” Kazuya mumbled sleepily, falling back on the comforts of the soft leather bed. Snuggling against the puffy pillow, Kazuya gradually let a state of unconscious overcome him. Jin opened his mouth to argue, but closed it immediately. If Kazuya didn’t feel uncomfortable sleeping with him, then why should he? They were both males, after all. Sighing inwardly, Jin sluggishly walked over to his bathroom. No longer feeling hungry after all of the commotion, Jin wanted nothing more than to take a warm, soothing shower and drift off into dreamland himself.

***

Frying the crushed red peppers and slices of garlic on low heat, Jin glanced curiously over at the figure curled up on his bed. On Earth, a whole day had passed by while Kazuya remained fast sleep and the sun was just starting to set. Jin had contemplated waking the young cupid up several times, but was reluctant in actually doing so. He was afraid that cupids needed more time to sleep than humans, or that there was a big time difference between Heaven, or whichever equivalent Kazuya came from, and Tokyo.

Simmering the ingredients in the olive oil, Jin turned off the stove after around twenty minutes of patience transferring the piquant flavors of the spices to the oil. Jin was just mixing the al dente pasta and spinach with the garlic-pepper oil he had created, when he heard a soft whine of his name. Turning his gaze to the living room couch, Jin saw that Kazuya had finally woken up.

“What are you doing?” Kazuya mumbled wearily, seeing Jin mixing something in the kitchen through his blurred vision. A distinctive scent that Kazuya had never smelt before wafted through the apartment, and oddly stirred his hunger. Kazuya rubbed gently on his churning stomach, wondering if there were any turnip leaves, dandelion greens, or strawberries on Earth. He was starting to have a weird craving for his favorite fruit and vegetables.

“Um, I was just cooking dinner… Did you, want to join me?” Jin solicited. In actuality, Jin had cooked enough Peperonchino to feed two, just in case Kazuya was hungry when he woke up. Not eating an ounce of food all day couldn’t be healthy, human or not. The thought never occurred to Jin that cupids may not eat the same type of food as humans, if they even ate at all.

“What are… you cooking?” Kazuya questioned curiously, “I can only eat fruits and vegetables…” Cupids were close to angels in species, and could only eat pure foods such as water and vegetation. No animals were allowed to be consumed because eating the flesh of another living creature was considered a horrible sin.

“Oh, uh, I… made pasta,” Jin replied, checking to make sure that all of the ingredients used in the pasta didn’t contain meat in any shape or form. He remembered his best friend, Yamashita Tomohisa, who was a strict vegetarian, complaining that you could never be too sure. Apparently, meat extract was used heavily in seasoning and the hidden ingredient in many of the packaged foods. Tomohisa always cooked his own meals for that reason, and Jin made a mental note to borrow a vegetarian cookbook from him the next time he saw him.

“What is pasta?” Kazuya tilted his head, wondering if pasta was a type of plant that existed only on Earth. Whatever the plant, the name didn’t sound too appetizing.

“Pasta is a processed food made of grains… I made Peperonchino, which only contains garlic, red peppers, olive oil, salt, and spinach,” Jin explained, not realizing the lost expression on the cupid’s face upon the mention of every ingredient asides from spinach. Given that his best friend was a strict vegetarian, the pasta in his apartment was purely egg-free for the days Tomohisa stayed over for dinner. Luckily out of all the types if pasta Jin could cook, which wasn’t much, he chose to cook his favorite tonight. Peperonchino was one of the only meals he did eat without any use of meat. Sometimes Jin added anchovies to the pasta for extra flavoring, but coincidentally Jin left the anchovies out since many people seemed to dislike the strong taste.

Kazuya smiled kindheartedly in a way that reminded Jin of an angel, “Would you like me to help?”

“No, I’m almost done,” Jin refused, setting the warm frying pan to the side. Walking over to his coffee table, Jin retrieved the remote control to turn on the television for Kazuya to watch while he waited for dinner to be served. The television, Jin was sure, would be a good way for Kazuya to learn about Earth. After all, the television was an important part of their culture and Jin was certain that he could not live without one.

The young cupid stared at the colorful box in awe, “Jin… Why are there people in the box?” Kazuya hesitantly touched the television screen, pulling his hand away as if he was scared the magical box would swallow him whole. Upon further observation, Kazuya realized that the box was tinier than he was and wondered if the magical box contained fairies of some sort.

“Huh?” Jin arched an eyebrow, “You mean in the television?”

“Television…?” Kazuya furrowed his brows, trying to figure out where he had heard the word before. His face lit up when he remembered Tatsuya complaining about not being able to watch television in their world. Tatsuya taught him that the television was a magical box that showed other people around the world like the oracle did. Jin glimpsed over his shoulder to see Kazuya engrossed in some kind of late night drama. Relieved that Kazuya did not ask him how the television works, Jin continued mounting the plates.

Soon, Jin was met with a loud squeal coming from the living room. He nearly dropped the plate in surprise. “Kazuya…?” Jin called the cupid’s name in worry. Kazuya was currently sitting on the couch with his knees tucked into his chest, holding a pillow tightly in his arms. Half of his face was hidden behind the pillow as the young cupid watched the television screen intently.

“Jin, they’re kissing!” Kazuya exclaimed with an embarrassed smile on his face, “I’ve never seen a real kiss before… only in textbooks!” In his Art of Love class, Kazuya had learned that kissing was an expression of love in the Human world. According to the textbooks, there were different levels of kissing. For example, the couple in the television was only kissing on the first level. The simple touching of the lips, what was described as an innocent kiss in class. Kazuya continued to stare in fascination at the kissing couple, feeling much like a zoologist studying the curious behavior of an animal.

Smiling in amusement at the childlike way the cupid blushed at the television screen, Jin returned to the kitchen to retrieve their food. The sharp smell of garlic wafted through the small apartment as Jin set the dinner plates on the small dining table, along with glasses of water and a small bowl of Caesar’s salad made with Blue Cheese Dressing. Upon reading the label on a Caesar dressing, Jin had found that the dressing contained Worchester sauce, which he had never known before. Furrowing his brows, Jin checked the Worchester sauce label to find out that it contained anchovies. Now Jin understood what Tomohisa meant never being too sure.

“Dinner’s ready… Wash your hands!” Jin called out to the living room, in a manner similar to a mother calling her children. Kazuya merely blinked in confusion, looking up from his pillow. Noticing the cupid’s bewilderment, Jin pointed his finger at the bathroom door, “There’s a sink in the bathroom.” Nodding his head in understanding, Kazuya reluctantly left the television to make his way to the bathroom and wash his hands as he had been told. Kazuya sighed softly in relief to see that the water faucet on Earth was no different from the one in their world. He didn’t want to feel helpless, and bother Jin over something so trivial.

Moments later, Jin joined him in front of the small bathroom sink. “Are you using soap?” Jin asked, noticing that Kazuya was rinsing his hands under clear water. Jin wasn’t sure if bacteria existed where Kazuya lived, but since there were plenty of germs on Earth, Kazuya needed to use soap before eating. Jin wasn’t particularly keen on being cursed to remain single for the rest of his life for getting the young cupid sick with a foreign disease.

Kazuya tilted his head, “What is soap?”

Instead of answering the question, Jin picked up the small soap dispenser with one hand. “Open your hands,” he instructed, squirting a pump of soap on Kazuya’s small hands. Pumping a squirt of soap for himself, Jin gently enwrapped Kazuya’s wavering hands. He meticulously rubbed his sudsy hands against the younger man’s before rinsing their hands off under the water. “All clean,” Jin said, handing the young man a towel to dry his hands off with.

Upon returning to the dining table, Kazuya looked from plate to plate in marvel at the pretty colors of human food. All of their food was single colors, spinach was eaten as spinach, not mixed food with other colors. Sitting down, Kazuya copied Jin and clapped his hands together before picking up the oddly shaped piece of metal called a fork.

“Is it good?”Jin questioned worriedly. He wasn’t sure if his cooking matched the taste buds of a cupid, whom he had a feeling had never ate food that was cooked or seasoned. At least, that’s how it seemed when Kazuya held up his fork with furrowed brows. Jin bit on his lower lips nervously, awaiting Kazuya response.

Chewing on the tender strings, Kazuya slowly swallowed the bite. The pasta as Jin called it tasted so flavorful, his face immediately lit up in pleasure. “Pasta is delicious!” Kazuya replied, immediately taking another bite of the food before trying some of the salad. The salad had a light creamy dressing and Kazuya, who had always eaten his salads raw without any flavoring, was pleased with the presence of actual taste. Now he knew why Tatsuya complained about gaining weight on Earth.

“Kazuya, do you bathe?” Jin wondered, finishing the last bite of his pasta. Since the young cupid had not known the existence of soap, Jin wasn’t sure if cupids had any cleaning rituals in their world. Perhaps bathing wasn’t necessary in such a pure world?

“Of course, I bathe!” Kazuya crinkled his nose in distaste. Bathing was his favorite ritual, and Kazuya could not imagine a life without bathing. Bathing was so relaxing! He would never give up the sweet scent of roses wafting through his nostrils or the feeling of the warm water soothing his aching muscles.

“Good,” Jin replied, “I already filled the water in the bathtub…” Kazuya nodded his head in understanding. He walked back into the bathroom and quietly disrobed to bathe. Taking the white towel on the sink counter, Kazuya wrapped the towel around his waist in the place of a bathing clothe. His hand was on the sliding door to enter the bathing area when Kazuya noticed his reflection on the glass above the sink. Frowning slightly at how scrawny his body was, Kazuya pat down at his chest unhappily. He quickly concluded that he would need to join Tatsuya at the boxing gym once returning to Shangri La, before entering the steamed bathing area.

Taking the plates Kazuya left on the dining table into the kitchen, Jin set them down in the sink. Turning on the faucet, he grabbed the sponge and started washing the dirty plates one by one. Rinsing the soap suds off of the second plate, Jin carefully placed the cleaned dish on the metal dish rack.

“Jin!” Kazuya wailed loudly from the bathroom.

“What’s wrong?” Jin asked, bursting into the bathing area of the bathroom. He paused upon seeing the younger man half-naked, a small towel wrapped around his waist like a short skirt. Kazuya had a creamy complexion, soft-looking skin, and slender curves which Jin had not seen even on a female. Gulping unconsciously, Jin gawked at the young cupid.

“Jin? Why are there no flowers?” Kazuya pouted at his mentor, pointing his finger at the bathtub. The bathtub was filled with clear water, not a single red petal floating on the surface. Kazuya had sniffed the water, but the water had no aroma and surely did not contain any oils in its place.

“Flowers?” Jin repeated in confusion, “You usually bathe with flowers?”

“Red roses…” Kazuya specified. The only exceptions Kazuya made was for the sweet scent of jasmine or a lily, since lilies were his favorite flowers next to roses. Red roses were definitely his favorite flower of all time. The flower had a rich scent, was a beautiful shade of red, and was the embodiment of love. What was there not to love about a rose?

“Figures…” Jin muttered under his breath. “Hold on,” he said, shuffling through the drawers of his sink. His ex-girlfriend used to leave packets of bath powder for the days she spent the night, refusing to join him in bed unless she bathed first. Jin vaguely remembered seeing one somewhere in the mess of things when he was cleaning last week. Sighing in relief upon finding a shiny pink packet, Jin frantically read the packet for the description of the scent. The label on the package said fruity rose. Jin wasn’t sure what a fruity rose was, but concluded that a rose was a rose.

Pouring the fine powder into the water, Jin mixed the bathtub with his hand to spread the powder out evenly. “Jin, the water is pink!” Kazuya squealed in delight, “And smells sweeter than roses.” Jumping in to the bathtub in excitement, Kazuya poured the mysterious pink water on his body and savored the soft scent. Clear pink dew dripped down his neck onto his shoulder, and his lips naturally formed a bright smile at the sensual experience. Upon seeing the delighted smile on Kazuya’s lips, Jin concluded that he would need to buy plenty of bath powder for the young cupid. Certainly, if a little bit of bath powder could make the cupid smile as happily as that, the purchase would be worth every cent that was spent.

***

Squeezing his sensitive eyes shut to protect them from the blinding light, Kazuya slowly roused from his sleep. Glancing over to his side, Kazuya found that Jin was still deep in his sleep. Sliding off of the warm bed, Kazuya walked into the kitchen to pour a cup of water to cure his dry throat. Jin had showed him last night which cup was his so that he could get his own water when he was thirsty. Gulping down the glass of water, which tasted funny compared to the water he was used to drinking from Shangri La, Kazuya observed the apartment for the very first time.

Kazuya inquisitively made his way to the far end of the living room, where a fine easel made of golden oak was situated in one corner with several different of canvases leaning against the wall behind it. Some of the canvases were still blank with not even a smudge of paint on it, while other canvases were painted in many vibrant colors. Kneeling down, Kazuya studied the canvas on the very right. A fairly large painting of a darkened forest with light shining through the leaves of the many trees, reflecting on the beautiful streams of water flowing. Kazuya simply stared at the canvas in awe. His heart clenched nostalgically upon seeing the painting, which reminded him of the forests in Shangri La, and was emotionally moved. Jin was an amazing artist. He carefully moved the painting a little more on the right so that the canvas sat right in front of the bed, coincidentally the side of the bed he slept on. This way, Kazuya could gaze at the painting if he ever felt homesick.

Behind that picture was another painting, on a square canvas this time. The canvas was covered by three magnificent sunflowers facing different directions, the center of the sunflower a brilliant shade of brown, and the subdued green stalks accented the big flower without taking away from intensity of the sunflower, and the background of the painting was a faded yellow to complement. Sunflowers were actually Tatsuya’s favorite flowers, but were a type of flower that could not be found in their world. Tatsuya must have seen the magnificent flower on Earth. He mentioned that sunflowers reminded him of his first love. Smiling tenderly at the painting, Kazuya was sure that Tatsuya’s first love was a marvelous person, if Tatsuya could describe his love to be as bright as a sunflower. Looking outside of the balcony window, Kazuya glanced up at the tremendous sun which was where the flowers derived their name.

Turning back to look at another painting, Kazuya noticed that there was a painting hiding behind the large cloth on the easel. Reluctantly, Kazuya pulled the velvety sheet off of the easel. His mouth hung open in admiration of the painting. The painting was of a young woman in a red bikini top covered with white daisy-like flowers, her reddish-brown locks flowing down her face to her chest in messy waves. She was an attractive young woman, smiling brightly while covering part of her face with her hand mischievously. Fingers spread out widely so she could peek through, and her perfect pink fingertips accenting her hand. The heartwarming painting held such a vivid love that Kazuya was sure that this girl was the girl of Jin’s affections. Kazuya stood there speechless, marveling at the simple beauty of the girl.

“I covered the painting for a reason,” Jin mumbled behind him, causing Kazuya to flinch at the rough voice. Feeling as though he had been caught reading Jin’s diary, Kazuya guiltily turned his gaze to the floor wondering if Jin was upset.

Moving off of the bed, Jin tiredly walked up behind Kazuya. Picking up the cloth that had fallen to the ground, he proceeded to cover the canvas back up.

“Is she-” Kazuya started to ask, but fell silent. “She smiles so beautifully,” he complimented instead, sensing that Jin seemed uncomfortable with his prying. Her smiles were as radiant as the sun on the summer beach, maybe she was the girl who Jin was imagining when painting the sunflowers. The image of summer and summer floral suited her.

“She does… and she has a great personality to match. She’s always cheerful, and worries about others more than herself. Even if she’s sad, she pretends to act bright not to worry others and bring their mood down. She works harder than anyone else I’ve known… and laughs sweetly over the lamest jokes,” Jin described fondly. The girl he had painted, Hasegawa Jun, was his junior by two years, and Jin had had a crush on her since he had first met her at an art event sponsored by their university. Jin usually felt uncomfortable talking to girls, but Jun was so easygoing that it was almost relaxing to talk to her.

Smiling tenderly at the covered painting, Kazuya genuinely wanted to help Jin in his love. At first, it was only because he had made the promise to Jin, but now, Kazuya had another reason. He liked the soft expression that played on Jin’s face when he talked about the girl he admired. He must really love her, Kazuya thought happily.

“I really love your paintings,” Kazuya breathed, studying the canvas on the left of the easel. The painting was of a small Pomeranian, and if Kazuya didn’t know better he would say the Pomeranian was almost smiling, looking up at his master with its beady eyes. The painting must be in Jin’s point of view, his hands petting the Pomeranian on the head fondly while his knee covered with ripped jeans was framing the bottom of the canvas. He could feel the puppy’s love for his master, and Jin’s love for the puppy. His soul was heartened by the poignant painting. “Are you an artist?” he wondered in admiration.

“No, I’m studying art,” Jin corrected, “I’m still a student.” His lifelong dream was to become an artist. Not necessarily a famous one, but enough to make a living somehow off of what he loved doing the most. Yet with the harsh criticism he had been getting recently from his painting teacher, Jin was beginning to wonder if he really had enough talent. For that very same reason, it made him genuinely happy to hear that Kazuya loved his paintings. The sincerity in his voice encouraged him to keep on trying.

“Oh, you’ll become such a wonderful artist!” Kazuya gushed.

“Thank you,” Jin mumbled in slight embarrassment.

Stretching his arms out into the air and extending them down to the side to soothe his stiff muscles, Jin stepped into the conjoined kitchen to make their well-needed breakfast. Opening the refrigerator door to retrieve eggs, Jin froze. His outstretched hand fell weakly to his side. Jin remembered that when he had argued with Tomohisa about eggs in pasta, Tomohisa had explained to him that eggs were technically meat to a vegetarian because it was an unformed baby chicken. Groaning out loud in realization, Jin named what he usually made for breakfast on his fingers. His normal breakfast consisted of toast, eggs, bacon, and a salad. The only foods Kazuya can eat were the toast and salad. Imagining a breakfast with only toast and a salad, Jin sighed inwardly.

“Jin, what is a gorilla?” Kazuya asked abruptly, the moment Jin returned to the living room. Jin shuffled around the messy coffee table in a hunt for his cellular phone, and grinned widely in accomplishment upon finding it under the weekly TV Guide. However, upon seeing the chaos in his living room area, a deep frown formed on his lips. Some of the papers scattered were from Kazuya’s contracts and guidebook, but his art magazines and homework was also littered all over the table on the table and now on the ground.

“Huh?” Jin narrowed his eyes in confusion, the question finally registering in his distracted mind, “Gorilla?”

Kazuya nodded his head. “Tat-chan told me that a human is to fall in love with a gorilla if the human is a bad person,” he explained. Kazuya had suddenly remembered the conversation when he had seen the painting of Jin’s puppy. He never was able to listen to Tatsuya’s answer on what the creature was, and came to Earth in such a hurry that he didn’t check the encyclopedias in the classroom before leaving Shangri La.

“No, Kazuya! Don’t do that!” Jin scolded in horror. “I really need to take you to the zoo. Maybe we can find a better animal,” he muttered under his breath. Automatically hitting the redial button on his phone, Jin pressed the device against his ear while gathering the papers that were scattered on the ground into a neat stack.

The monotone dial tone continued to ring over and over again.

“Jin, this better be important…” Tomohisa mumbled sleepily in response. “School doesn’t start for hours! I need my beauty sleep!”

Jin rolled his eyes at his best friend’s griping, “It is important! Well, to me… I’m cooking breakfast for a vegetarian friend and-” he explained, but was immediately cut off by an overly enthusiastic voice. To his side, Kazuya stared confusedly at the little black block Jin was talking to.

“What’s this? Did JinJin finally find a girl?” Tomohisa probed, fully awake now that his interest was piqued. He had been best friends with Jin since middle school, but Jin preferred to keep things to himself and never told him anything when it came to personal affairs. Seeing as Jin was a complete introvert despite his good looks, Tomohisa had worried that Jin would never find a nice girl but it looked like Jin had a girl hidden under his sleeves all along. Who would have thought that Jin would be such a romantic and cook breakfast for his girlfriend, who was still tired after their nightly activities?

“Shut up, and give me something to work with,” Jin growled in annoyance at his best friend’s amused voice. Right now, he was feeling extremely hungry and hunger definitely did not make his mood any better. If anything, his hunger was making him feel grouchy.

Tomohisa sighed dramatically. “You better introduce me to her,” he pressed before thinking of something Jin could cook easily. Flipping through a cookbook in his head, he decided to see what Jin had in his refrigerator, “Do you have carrots and honey in the fridge?”

“Yeah… I do,” Jin muttered, taking the said ingredients out of the fridge. He had one whole carrot, and a half expended bottle of honey in a bottled shaped like a bear left.

“Lemon juice?” Tomohisa checked, briefly wondering if he had any left in his own refrigerator. Just thinking about carrot jam was making him crave some for breakfast, but Tomohisa had used the last of it last week and hadn’t made any since.

“I have that too,” Jin confirmed, holding the small green bottle of lemon juice. Opening the yellow cap, Jin sniffed the liquid to confirm that the lemon juice was still good. All Jin could make out was the sharp citrus scent, so he concluded that it hadn’t gone bad yet.

“Grate the carrots, and add the sugar, honey, and lemon juice to your preference. Simmer until the carrot solidifies and you have carrot jam to spread on the bread,” Tomohisa explained simply. “You keep packaged salads around the house, don’t you? Just make some salad and soup and you have a full meal to keep your girlfriend happy.”

“Thanks, Pi,” Jin thanked, cutting off the phone before Tomohisa tried to ask for more details about his so-called girlfriend. Grabbing a grater, Jin returned to the kitchen counter to fix some breakfast while Kazuya remained glued to the living room sofa. He warily eyed the black device sitting on the coffee table, poking at the equipment as if it would bite. “Do you talk?” Kazuya asked the device in wonder, but had no response. He frowned deeply at the device.

Maybe the device didn’t talk to people it didn’t know?

“Um, my name is Kamenashi Kazuya… I’m a cupid,” Kazuya introduced friendlily, “What is your name?” he asked politely. No response came from the small back block. Kazuya tilted his head in confusion, and tried again, “Can you hear me? I want to be friends!” A frown formed on his lips as no response came back.

Turning down the heat on the stove to low to allow the carrot jam to simmer, Jin furrowed his brows deeply together. In the background, he could hear Kazuya talking to himself although he couldn’t make out what he was saying. The cupid was talking too softly. Jin turned his head back in confusion. “What are you doing?” he asked incredulously.

“I was trying to talk to it, but it doesn’t like me,” Kazuya informed sadly, pouting his lips discouraged. His index finger pointed at the black cellular device that Jin had placed on the table. Jin would have burst out in a fit of laughter if it weren’t for the miserable face that Kazuya made, almost as if Kazuya had been rejected by the inanimate object.

“Kazuya, this is called a phone,” Jin explained slowly, kneeling in front of the coffee table and picking up the said device. He casually flipped the cellular phone open and searched for a picture of Tomohisa from his media files. “This is my best friend, Pi. I was talking to Pi,” Jin introduced with a grin, showing Kazuya the picture of his best friend.

“Does Pi live in the phone?” Kazuya questioned with utmost interest.

“Huh?” Jin’s handsome features contorted in puzzlement, when he remembered Kazuya’s reaction to the television. “No, Pi lives close to the university about five blocks away. Pi has a phone too and my phone connects to his phone using electronic signals.”

“Like telepathy?” Kazuya compared unsurely.

Quirking his eyebrow skeptically, Jin briefly glanced at the phone in his hand. Did telepathy use electronic signals? “Um, yeah, it’s like telepathy, but our telepathy only works using the phone,” Jin agreed, figuring that it can’t be too far from the truth.

“So… the phone doesn’t talk?” Kazuya pressed, the relief was apparent in his features.

“No, you talk through the phone…” Jin confirmed with a nod of the head, matching the bright smile Kazuya had on his face now that he knew that the phone didn’t hate him. “Breakfast is almost ready, why don’t you go wash your hands?” Jin suggested, and Kazuya bobbed in head in agreement and made his way to the restroom.

Continue to Part 2 ->