Chapter 4: Side Problem Solved!

“Okay, that’s all for class today.”

“Thank you teacher,” the class said in unison. The bell rang signaling the start of a break before the next period starts. Cupid was in her seat, itching to get an understanding of what she heard before class started. She tried to get Yukito and Kokoa’s attention multiple times in class but it only ended up with her being called out by the teacher to stop bothering them. She was squirming in her seat as she tried to get her thoughts in order.

“3…,” Yukito started.

“2…,” Kokoa added.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN DATE? ARE YOU GUYS ACTUALLY DATING? DID THAT MEAN IT WORKED??” Cupid couldn’t contain herself. Her loud voice disrupted the whole class as they stared at her in confusion. “Wait, do arrows have a delayed effect? Maybe mine weren’t defective at all. Maybe it just took a bit of time for them to start loving each other. My plan wasn’t a miss at all!” She was talking to herself to make sense of the situation.

“It’s not like anything you’re thinking of,” Yukito interrupted her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Have you never heard of a platonic date?” Yukito gave her a menacing glare.

Cupid let out a painful groan as if she’d been stabbed in the back by that statement.

“It seems your mind is just too caught up with love,” Kokoa added, which only hurt Cupid even more.

“So…you’re just having lunch as friends then? If that’s the case…why don’t I join you two too?” Cupid’s expression changed to a smile.

“Never,” Yukito quickly replied.

Cupid’s hope was crushed as she was stabbed in the back and in the heart now.

“Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but we’re going to the student council room to go over some work,” Kokoa clarified.

“Student council? You’re both in it?”

“Mm. I’m the vice president and Yukito is the treasurer.”

“I see, then isn’t the student council supposed to help students with their problems?”

“We do that sometimes, I guess. But our main priority is the student body as a whole, not really individual problems.”

“HELP ME CATCH MY STALKER!!”

“Eh?”

“That’s a problem you need to take up with the police,” Yukito coolly replied.

“But if I tell them who it is, I’m sure they won’t believe me. Since you guys already know I’m a cupid, I think you’ll understand my situation a bit more.”

“We don’t even believe you are one,” Yukito and Kokoa thought together.

“Fine, who’s stalking you, then? Is it some demon or something,” Yukito asked sarcastically.

“Worse…It’s an angel! Those rotten life department workers are always trying to make cupids’ jobs harder than it already is. Maybe they sent one of their kind to come and meddle with my work. So can you guys help me catch them?”

“No way,” Yukito and Kokoa quickly replied.

“What???”

“Listen, if it’s some being from ‘your world’ or something, it’s better if you take care of it. Plus, didn’t you say that your people aren’t even supposed to be found out by Earthlings? Why would you want human help?” Kokoa tried to add some sense to Cupid’s problems.

“Angels are not my people! But, if the angel gets found out by humans, then maybe they’ll get banished from heaven hehehe. And then they’ll have to live their life in this sad place humans call home,” Cupid had an evil grin on her face and steepled her fingers like a cartoon villain.

“You have bad intentions which only adds more reasons for us not to help you,” Yukito stated.

“But–”

“It’s final. The student council will not get involved in your little affair.”

Just then, the classroom door slid open and Haruhi stood there in an alert posture. “My cupid! I couldn’t help but overhear about your little problem.” He ran up to Cupid’s desk and took her hands into his. “My love senses were tingling in class so I had to come here to make sure you weren’t in any trouble,” he added dramatically.

“Uhhhh…”

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“Okay, stalkers, let’s see if the Earth Handbook has anything on that.” Cupid was skimming through a large, brick-like textbook while sitting on a bench outside behind the school. It was lunchtime and since Kokoa and Yukito were gone, she decided there was no point in staying in her classroom. Instead, she came outside to investigate her problem a little more. “Let’s see…here it is, dangerous situations to watch out for on Earth. ‘What to do if a thief breaks in,’ nope, ‘what to do when you get kidnapped’, still not it, ‘what to do if a dog poos on your shoes?’ I’m gonna need to talk to Heaven about that. Ahh, here it is!” After flipping through thousands of pages, she finally landed on the chapter she needed. “Okay, ‘what to do when you are being stalked.” As she read through the book, she nodded her head at the information she was gaining. “I can’t tell the police since they won’t believe an angel is stalking me. I don’t have any family or friends to move in with.” She read more, “If all else fails, come back to Heaven! No way, I can’t do that now! Not until I get those two to fall in love!”

“My cupid! I am here!” Haruhi ran up to Cupid with a yakisoba bread in his hands. Cupid had asked him to meet her here; since Kokoa and Yukito won’t help, she'll get her devoted lover in on her plan. “So, what’s this about a stalker I hear?”

“Last night, at home, I felt that someone was watching me. I saw the silhouette of a person from my balcony door. I tried to scare them off by yelling at them but when I ran out to confront them, they weren’t there anymore.”

Haruhi was trembling, “Was it…A GHOST??!!”

“Relax, I know it was someone, of course not a human though.”

“SO IT WAS A GHOST???!!”

“I SAID NO,” Cupid retorted. She took a big sigh to calm herself down. “I have a feeling it was a Heavenly being though. It was probably one of those angels,” Cupid furrowed her eyebrows and squeezed the textbook that was on her lap.

“An angel, huh? Sounds interesting. I want to help you, but how do you catch an angel?” Haruhi took a bite out of his yakisoba bread.

“Any Heavenly being that comes to Earth will be no different than any other human. Generally speaking, we can’t really tell unless they somehow use their magic to make themselves known.”

“If they’re the same as any human beings, then how do you know it was an angel and not another human?”

“Because they left feathers laying around on my balcony which I could tell were from their wings and they left a scent…wait…SMELL!!!” Cupid just had an epiphany.

“Smell? Oh, did you want to sniff me again? I’m not comfortable doing it in public like this, but if you’re into that–”

“That’s not what I meant, idiot! Angels tend to have a strong vanilla scent to them. Such basic beings they are. They’re not like us cupids who give off the delicious aroma of chocolates.”

“So, we just have to find someone who smells like vanilla and that will tell us who the angel is?”

“We could go off on that, but if any of the normal students here also wear vanilla perfume, then we could get in trouble for unwarranted assault. God, I hate angels!” Cupid yelled to the sky.

“Even when you’re mad you’re cute!” Haruhi looked at Cupid with loving eyes. “But if that happened only once, how are you sure it’s stalking?”

“Well, I have a feeling they’re at school too, which is why I wanted to get help now.” Cupid was recounting the uneasy feelings she had today at the school because of the feeling that someone was watching her.

When she was walking to class this morning, she caught a strong whiff of vanilla in the hallway. She sensed that someone was watching her from behind and turned around, although she saw no one and heard no footsteps running away.

In another instance, when she was in the bathroom using a stall, she heard the door open but heard no footsteps. She tensed up as soon as she smelled vanilla and heard a faint sound of fluttering wings. In annoyance, she decided to call out her stalker, “Come in here and face me like a true enemy,” she called out from inside the stall while sitting on the toilet.

“Eeeeeh!” A voice let out a tiny squeak and fell flat on the ground.

“How do they even know where you always are?”

“I don’t know, but they’re tracking my every movement somehow.”

“Hey, you said you always tell if it’s them because of their scent right? Maybe she’s following your scent.”

Cupid gasped, “Haruhi…YOU’RE A GENIUS!!” Haruhi blushed at her compliment. “That’s it! I have a plan to catch this evil angel. Would you be willing to help me?” Cupid had a determined look on her face.

“Anything for my cupid,” he said with hearts in his eyes.

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The bell rang as the final period came to an end.

“Ahh, finally I can go home!”

“Let’s go to karaoke!”

“I have club duties today.”

Many students were chatting as they were leaving the room.

“Yukito, will I see you in the student council room in a few minutes,” Kokoa asked.

“Mm.” Yukito replied back.

“Uh, you’re both going to student council after school?”

“A student council’s work is never done, even when school is out,” Yukito’s tone made it seem as if the student council was the most important thing ever.

“I see…” Cupid evilly grinned.

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Haruhi was hanging out in the shoe locker station near the entrance of the school. “I wonder why she changed the plan to lead the stalker near the student council room.” Just then, she caught the strongest scent of vanilla he’s ever smelled. The problem was that the room was full of students and he couldn’t pick out who it was. “It could be any one of these,” Haruhi thought. He went around, trying to subtly sniff some students which gained him a dirty look from most of them.

“Oh my! That’s quite a nice scent you have.” A girl grabbed Haruhi’s shoulders. He turned around and came face to face with an innocent looking girl who seemed like the embodiment of purity. Her silver-toned hair and pale skin made her look like a character from a fantasy novel. Her smile only added to her cuteness.

“Uhhh, thank you?”

“I love the smell of chocolate. But this particular scent is kind of…intriguing. Are you maybe…a cupid perhaps?” Her smile turned into a scummy smirk. Haruhi couldn’t believe what he just heard. He wanted to lash out at the girl for making Cupid scared but instead took a deep breath to compose himself.

“So…it’s you then. You’re the one stalking my cupid aren’t you?” He grabbed into his bag and took out Cupid’s school uniform that she lent him to try and lure the angel into their trap. “I’ve finally caught you…stalker.”

The angel suddenly trembled as she made a mistake. Her eyes were shaking as she saw the intense atmosphere Haruhi was giving off. “I’m gonna make you pay… for hurting my Cupid!” The girl slowly backed away and then dashed off upstairs back into the school. “Hey! Come back!”

The girl was screaming as Haruhi was chasing her in the school hallway. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry,” she pleaded as she was being pursued.

Haruhi took out his phone and contacted Cupid who picked up within seconds, “Cupid, the angel is on her way.”

“Heh, make sure she gets here soon, I’ll be waiting.” Cupid hung up.

“Hey come back here, you stalker!” Haruhi yelled out as some girls were giving him a dirty look.

“How is he going to call a person he’s chasing the stalker?” A girl commented.

“The nerve this guy has…” Another girl said.

“I won’t let you hurt my Cupid anymore!” Haruhi was able to chase the angel upstairs onto the second floor but he needed to get her to the third floor, which was where Cupid was waiting.

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Yukito and Kokoa were in the Student Council room by themselves after the rest of the team left. Since Kokoa is more responsible, the president leaves most of the important stuff to her, so it was more like she’s the actual president when it came to council duties. Yukito was busy getting the school’s finances in order which takes a lot of time since he has to budget for multiple clubs and events. The room was silent and you could only hear the sounds of pens dragging through the paper as they were writing.

“Say, Yukito,” Kokoa broke the ice.

“Mm?”

“How do you really feel about love?” Kokoa blushed but tried to hide it. Luckily, Yukito didn’t spend a second looking up from his work.

“It’s a total waste of time. Students shouldn’t make use of this time to do something as unimportant as finding love; with the time we have now, we should be using it to chase success and study with all that we can.”

“I see…,” Kokoa wasn’t too surprised with his answer considering that’s how he’s been ever since she met him in school.

“What, did that so-called cupid manipulate her way into your head that you’re suddenly thinking and hoping you could find love?”

“Hmph,” Kokoa scoffed, “there’s no way a person with inferior intelligence could manipulate me like that.”

Yukito lightly snickered, “Don’t let her distract you from your real goals. I look forward to seeing how well you’ll do this term.”

“Hmm,” Kokoa had a tiny smile.

Just then, the student council door broke apart and Cupid came flying in while tackling the angel Haruhi was chasing. Yukito and Kokoa were both wide eyed and left their mouths hanging open as they witnessed the scene unfolding in front of them.

“I finally caught you, stalker!” Cupid declared as she pinned the angel on the ground. Cupid was dressed in Haruhi’s gym clothes hoping the smell of boy sweat would throw the angel off and she would follow the scent of the uniform Haruhi had with him.

“You fool, what’s going on here?” Yukito yelled at Cupid.

“It’s the stalker! I finally caught her!”

Haruhi reached the student council room, “My love, are you okay?” He ran inside.

The angel under Cupid was struggling to be freed but Cupid’s strength allowed her to keep the angel pinned down. “Let me go! Let me go! I will call your boss and tell him that one of his workers recklessly attacked an angel and you’ll be fired,” the angel threatened.

“Not if I call your boss first and say that one of his angels is infringing upon a cupid’s duty and get you fired,” Cupid retorted back. “So tell me, why were you stalking me?”

The angel didn’t want to give up against Cupid but her strength wasn’t comparable to Cupid’s.

“Hey, you better give up fighting now. This airhead here won’t give up until she gets what she wants,” Kokoa couldn't bear seeing the futile attempt of the angel fighting back.

The angel finally gave up struggling and looked at Angel with eyes that were close to crying. “HOW DARE YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT ME FOR NO REASON AND GET ME IN TROUBLE WITH MY BOSS????” The angel threw a tantrum like a child. “DON’T YOU KNOW HOW HARD US ANGELS WORK??”

“Complain about you? When did I–” Cupid suddenly remembered the phone call she made with the life department before coming to Earth. “Ah! You! You’re the one who made my job harder by making these two live to hate each other,” she referred to Kokoa and Yukito. “And now, you’re here to try to get me to give up, aren't you? What’s your game, angel? Were you planning to get in the way of these two lovebirds?”

“We’re not in love!” Yukito and Kokoa blushed as they retorted Cupid’s statement.

“I would never come between two humans. My main target was you! How dare you look down upon the duties of angels! You useless Cupids have such a high opinion of yourselves when all you do is care about love while us angels are the ones making sure souls live a good life. Well, from what I see here, it looks like I didn’t need to do anything here since you already broke a rule of Heaven. Now, I’ll make sure you’ll be barred from entering Earth ever again. Prepare for your punishment,” Angel smirked.

“He he he,” Cupid evilly chuckled. Angel’s smirk turned into fear. “From what it looks like, you’ve been found out here too, and you just admitted that you were here to obstruct a Cupid’s duty, in front of all of these witnesses! If anything, you just committed a bigger crime than me, so I’m sure your punishment will be way worse than mine. So, what’ll it be? I’m not scared of you, Angel.” Cupid gave off the vibe of a demon rather than a heavenly being.

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Cupid stretched out her arms in the air and gave a small groan, “I’m glad that Angel decided to just let us go.” It was the morning after their little altercation. Cupid was sitting in her seat as Yukito and Kokoa were busy studying.

“Is the punishment for being found out that severe?” Kokoa expressed interest.

“Mmm,” Cupid was thinking. For cupids, if I get found out, I won’t be allowed back on Earth anymore and can’t fulfill any more love duties. But, since she also committed a crime by trying to meddle in my work, her punishment could’ve been way worse than if she was just found out. Heavenly beings are supposed to work together, so the rules never allow us to try and hurt each other in any way.”

“I see.”

“Well, even if humans are in the know, it only matters if upper management finds out about it, so I’m glad both of us just agreed to pretend nothing happened.”

Yukito scoffed, “Even if we both know, we still don’t believe it.”

Cupid let out a sigh knowing that there’s no way she can persuade these two, “What matters is that now I can just focus on making you guys fall in love. He he he.” Cupid had a stupid look on her face as Kokoa and Yukito tensed up their expressions.

The bell rang and the teacher came in along with a student following him from behind. “Class, we have a transfer student joining us today.”

Cupid couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw who the new student was. The silver-toned hair, the innocent smile, the aura that exuded purity. Her stalker stood in front of the class with a huge smile on her face as the class stared in awe.

“Hello, everyone, I’m Angelus Fairlife, The Angel of Hope and Purity, here to serve you in this wonderful classroom.” The Angel struck a cool-pose reminiscent of a protagonist in an action anime.

“What…,” Cupid couldn’t believe what she just heard.