Chapter 1: A Bright-Eyed Newbie

“Soulmates; two people who were meant to be together forever during their lifetime. Ever since the beginning, when new souls are born, the goddess of love would pair two souls together, thus creating soulmates. The souls, bound together by the red string of fate, are destined to come together during their lifetime and every other lifetime they get reborn into; and when they do, the string becomes tighter creating a stronger bond between the two. But, if the two souls do not come together in a lifetime, the string loosens which signals a weakening bond. If they both remain not in contact with each other for many lifetimes, their bond will break and they will lose all the love they had inside, with deep hatred taking over them. That’s why it’s important for you young cupids to keep watch over your assigned soulmates when you become certified cupids.”

Teacher Cupid stood in front of her classroom, explaining to her young students why their job is important to the people of Earth. The young cupids listened to the story with awe; their big doe eyes expressing utmost interest in the story they were hearing.

“Teacher, teacher!” A young cupid girl raised her hand.

“Yes, cupid 5,938?”

“What if the two souls aren’t born in the same lifetime?”

“That will never happen. The goddess of love will always make sure that both souls will meet each other. After all, she wants to spread love, not hate,” Teacher Cupid answered with a gentle smile.

“Teacher, teacher!” A young cupid boy aggressively shook his arm in the air to get Teacher Cupid’s attention.

“Yes, cupid 5,897?”

“Can love ever happen again between two souls with weak bonds?”

“If their bond is broken, sadly, it’s not possible. But even if they’re at their weakest point, meeting again just once can greatly heal their bond.”

“Awww,” the class expressed after hearing her answer.

In the back of the classroom, a young cupid girl was smiling at the thought of helping people to meet their soulmates. She was daydreaming about all the good work she could do to bring love to everyone. “Healing a bond, I want to do that,” she thought to herself. She imagined a crowd of people surrounding her, showing gratitude to the work she’s done for them.

“Thank you Cupid for helping me love again!”

“Thank you so much for helping me get with my soulmate!”

“We thank you cupid for spreading love to everyone.”

(That was all in her head.)

“Cupid 5,931! Cupid 5.931!”

The girl snapped back to reality. “Yes, Teacher Cupid?”

“Daydreaming again, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Teacher Cupid! I just want to become a good cupid and help people find their love. I don’t want anyone to end up full of hate,” Cupid 5,931 exclaimed with determination.

Teacher Cupid chuckled, “That’s good to hear. But if you want to become a great cupid, you will have to pay better attention in class. That being said, I will teach everyone here to become the best cupid they can be, so that we can bring love everywhere!”

The students cheered in response to Teacher Cupid’s promise! Cupid 5,931 was ready to give it all she’s got to become the best cupid that Heaven has ever seen.

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10 years later

Cupid 5,931 stood in front of the Cupid Love Office building. The one story building showed similarity to a run-down shack with an old sign reading “Cupid Love Office.” The building’s exterior didn’t scare away Cupid 5,931; instead, it fueled her as this was her dream: to become a cupid that spreads love to others. She walked up the front door and grabbed the handle; after taking a deep breath, she opened it and was amazed at the world the door opened to. Inside the building, there were multiple floors all with cupids working hard to watch over their assigned soulmates. The floors were connected by a series of staircases spread around the building. The white interior gave the office a clean cut look. Just like any building in heaven, it was also spotless. As for the work environment, it was very hectic. There were cupids running around to help each other out, others reporting back to their boss, some even taking phone calls with other heavenly departments.

“This…is…GREAT!” Cupid 5,931 was happy to see that she will be part of this effort to bring love to the people of Earth. “Excuse me,” she called out to a Cupid walking past her. The man stopped in his tracks. “Can you tell me where Boss Cupid’s office is?”

“Ahh, newbie aren’t you?” The man expressed a genuine smile. “Just take the elevator to the 8th floor and it’s the 8th door on the right.”

“I see!” Cupid 5.931 looked all the way up to the 8th floor and was starting to feel uneasy about the amount of stairs she would have to climb.

“Say, you’re just a recent graduate aren’t you?”

“Yes sir, top of my class!”

“I see, well, hopefully the boss doesn’t stress you out much by giving you a difficult couple. If you have any trouble, don’t be afraid to ask the seniors in the office.”

The man’s kind words made Cupid 5,931 feel like she was already part of the team. “Yes sir, thank you very much!”

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Cupid 5,931 was gasping for air as she reached the top of the stairs to get to the 8th floor. “Gonna have to get used to that. Hopefully I’ll get my promotion and gain wings soon.” She stumbled down the hallway until she reached the 8th door on the right side of the hall. On the door itself, a small metallic door plaque read “Boss Cupid”. She composed herself and knocked on the door.

“Come in, come in,” a voice called out from the inside. Cupid 5,931 opened the door and was greeted with a smiling face. A man who looks to be about in his 60s Earth-age was sitting at his desk, behind a computer. The man wore glasses, had thinning hair, and showed signs of stress, but tried his best to hide that behind his smile.

“Hello, did I come at a bad time?”

“Not at all, not at all.” His phone rang and he picked it up. “Hello? Just try to find another top cupid for this job, we cannot let the bond break between these two.” He scratched his head which made some strands fall out.

“I did come at a bad time,” Cupid 5,931 thought to herself. Seeing the man losing his hair in real time made her curious about who the couple was.

Boss Cupid hung up the phone and reverted his attention back to Cupid 5,931. “Well, sorry about that. You are Cupid 5,931 right? Welcome to Cupid Love Office-Japan branch. I am Boss Cupid 103. You can call me Boss Cupid.”

“Hello, I am Cupid 5,931, a recent graduate of Cupid School and I am ready to help people find their true love and stay with them forever!” She still had the same determination she had when she was a child.

Boss Cupid lightly chuckled. “It’s always good to meet bright-eyed newbies. The work is hard but it’s all worth it to help spread love.”

“I agree. I want to do the best I can to help people end up with the right person for them.”

“Well, I see you graduated at the top of your class. Your grades were really good in school. Seeing this, I could start you off with a more difficult couple but you are a newbie so i don’t want to stress you out much. Let’s see here,” he bent down and opened a drawer with a few folders in them. He took all of them out and put them on his desk. “Let me see,” he started skimming through each of them. “ Ooh, definitely not this one,” he put that one folder back in his drawer. “Ah, this one,” he handed the correct folder to Cupid 5,931. She took it from him and started going through it herself.

“Two adults in Kyoto who work together and secretly like each other, but they don’t have the courage to confess to one another in fear it will come between their careers. Boss, isn’t this too easy?”

“Eh? Easy?”

“Mm, plus their bond is already pretty strong considering that they’ve been together for almost all of their lifetimes. Can’t you give me a harder couple?”

“Didn’t you want to spread love to all people of the Earth?” Boss Cupid was dumbfounded by Cupid 5,931’s reaction to her assigned couple.

“Yes, but what about that one couple that was making your hair fall out!?”

“YOU SAW THAT?? Well, I'd rather have a seasoned cupid to take up that work. It’s much too difficult for a rookie to take over.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, it was worth trying. Maybe if I become better, I’ll get harder assignments later on!” Despite not getting what she wanted, Cupid 5,931 was happy enough to at least help someone on Earth.

As Cupid 5,931 got up and walked to the door. As she grabbed the door handle, Boss Cupid’s phone rang again. “Hello? What do you mean no one will take the job? Is everyone just going to risk this bond to break? I’ve already assigned 10 cupids to this couple and no one seemed to get the job done. Fine, I’ll find someone.”

Cupid 5,931 was listening in to the conversation and was secretly smiling to herself.

The Boss let out a huge sigh. “Excuse me, miss. If you want-”

“I’LL DO IT!!!!” Cupid 5,931 was fired up.

“EHHHHHH?”

“Come on Boss! You need someone right? No one else is going to take the job. If I wasn’t here, you’d just be losing more hair trying to look for someone!”

“You didn’t need to bring that up again…” The boss gave a loud sigh and scratched his head as reaching a decision was giving him stress. “Ah, fine. I’ll let you take the job,” he said reluctantly. “But you can’t back down! You have to get this couple together no matter what!” He took out the folder that he put away back onto his desk.

“No matter what?!”

“Well, within the Laws of Heaven, of course.”

“Leave it up to me! I will make the Love Office proud!” Cupid 5,931 exclaimed proudly. She walked up to the Boss’s desk and grabbed the folder on his desk. “You can count on me Boss,” she started walking away and opened the folder to observe the documents inside. “Nothing’s impossible for a cupid who graduated at the top-15 LIFETIMES!!” Cupid 5,931 paused as she reached the door and was too stunned to finish her thought.

“Well, you already promised, so…” the boss got up from his desk, opened the door for Cupid 5,931, and lightly shoved her outside his room. “Remember, go make the Love Office proud,” the boss gave his final words of encouragement and shut the door.

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Cupid 5,931 was sitting at her new desk going over the folder she received from Boss Cupid. “15 lifetimes and their bond status is ‘hanging by a thread’”. She read more of the document to find out that the souls are now reborn as students going to the same school. “This should be easy since they’re somewhat together.” She continued reading and started to feel hopelessness as she finished the document, “So they’re classmates but they’re each other’s greatest rivals in school.” In a way, she regretted acting so impulsively, but at the same time, she could gain the respect of her co-workers if she could fix the relationship of two souls that her seniors couldn’t even fix. “Alright, let’s get started. Their last time they got together was…ONCE???? They’ve never been together except for their first lifetime?” She flipped through several documents until she reached one called “Lifetime histories”. “In their first time, they were a prince and princess who were betrothed to each other, it’s already starting off sweet.” She skimmed through some more, “Their second life…ENEMY WARLORDS??? HOW COULD THEY FALL IN LOVE WITH THAT LIFE?” She continued skimming, “Fourth life: a princess and her maid whom she treated cruelly. 8th life: two princes from different kingdoms who were in love with each other but were executed by their respective kingdoms in suspicion of treason. No wonder these souls never got to love each other again! They were reborn into lives where they could never find love with each other! Someone from Heaven’s Life Department is going to get a scolding!” Cupid 5,931 aggressively dialed her desk phone and waited impatiently for the other line to pick up. “I’m going to give the angel who approved these a piece of my mind.”

“Hello, Heaven’s Life Department,” a kind voice answered the phone.

“Hello, this is Cupid 5,931 from the Cupid Love Office Japan branch. I need to talk with the person in charge of the souls of Hisamatsu Kokoa and Kubota Yukito please.”

“Yes, I will transfer the call to them right now.”

The phone was quickly answered by another kind sounding voice, “Hello, this is Angel 4,701”

“Hi, this is Cupid 5,931 and I have a complaint with you. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU REINCARNATED THESE SOULS?”

“Excuse me?”

“THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO BE SOULMATES BUT YOU SET THEM UP FOR FAILURE WITH THE LIVES YOU GAVE THEM!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“YOU BETTER BE SORRY. NOW I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR HATRED FOR EACH OTHER! GO REPENT AND THINK ABOUT THE TROUBLE YOU HAVE CAUSED THE LOVE OFFICE!!” Cupid 5,931 slammed the phone down. “Okay, I feel better now that I took out my anger on someone I didn’t know. LET’S GET STARTED!” Cupid 5,931 went back over the documents, “Okay, so they have many chances during school to fall in love. The upcoming school festival and school trip are the two most important events that will help them develop their love if they use those times wisely. According to their life story, if they continue on the path they are on now, their bond will risk breaking after this lifetime. Okay, I know what I have to do.”

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Boss Cupid’s door slammed open. “BOSS! I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!”

“You’re not going to turn down the job are you?”

“Hehe, don’t worry. I won’t make you lose any more hair over this. I’m just here to tell you that I’ll be going to Earth to do field work!”

“Oh, okay. That’s what cupids usually do, you didn’t have to come in to tell me that.”

“Direct field work!” Cupids are usually involved in indirect field work which usually means not being actively involved in a couple’s life; this is because they believe love should bloom organically. Usually they would hide themselves on Earth, making sure that couples are doing well. The farthest they would go would be creating situations in which couples could fall more in love with each other. Direct field work means the cupid will take a direct approach to help couples fall in love. Cupids go meet with their respective couples on Earth, acting as a facilitator for the couple to come together. This type of field work is only used in emergencies such as when a couple has the risk of breaking their bond. Cupids have to be careful when doing direct field work as they cannot have their identities be known to humans. Cupids whose identities are known are never allowed on Earth again and have to give up their assigned couple to another cupid thus becoming something known as a “stupid cupid”.

“Ah, well considering the situation that they are in, I will give you permission to engage in direct field work. Just be careful not to let anyone find out what you are.”

“YES! Again Boss, you can count on me!” And so, this begins Cupid 5,931’s journey on Earth.