Chapter Text
Being a Cupid got boring sometimes.
It was an interesting job at first, Kanna couldn't deny that. But do the same job for years on end, and it starts to get repetitive. It was hard work, too! Get a target, find the perfect partner for your target, make them fall in love, get another target... Sometimes she’d get to fight another Cupid for the reward, but shootouts like that were more trouble than they were worth. To be honest, Kanna was starting to get a bit tired of the whole thing. But alas, she was stuck with it until she earned enough karma to reincarnate.
Kanna took another sip from her WcDonald's soda, something she bought herself as a celebration for her latest successful job. Sure, she could get a much nicer reward for herself than a WcDonald's soda, but there was just something about the drink that made it taste more refreshing to her.
Her request for another target should be coming through any second now. There wasn’t much to do as a Cupid other than complete contracts, so there was no point taking downtime between them.
As if on cue, a manila folder appeared, hovering above the table. Kanna plucked the file out of the air and started to flip through it. Koharu Sakurada, 15 years old, enrolled in highschool. Pretty standard stuff. No previous love interests, which made things a bit more difficult. There was one person in love with her though, Kanna noted. Didn't have many friends until high school, when she started giving out love advice...
She shut the file, poofing it back into nothing. This job seemed easy enough. Kanna wasn't convinced about this “love advice” stuff, though. This Koharu had never even liked anyone before, let alone been in a relationship.
Kanna’s soda gurgled as she sucked up the last drops. Kanna frowned at it; had she finished it already? So much for a celebration. She rose from her seat and made a mental note of the time; the school day would be ending soon. It was time to get to work.
After a short trip, Kanna strode through the gate of Koharu's high school. The irony of having to walk when she had a perfectly good set of wings was not lost on her. The benefit of walking, however, was that she had time to formulate a plan of attack.
Step 1 was to shadow Koharu for a little bit, and get to know some of the people she hung around. Then she'd move on to getting to know Koharu herself. Put on some of the Cupid charm, and say something about being transferred from another school. Finally, go through the list of potential suitors for her lucky bachelorette, and celebrate another job well done. A simple plan, but this was a simple job.
Or at least Kanna thought it would be, until she realized she couldn’t find a single trace of Koharu anywhere. She had checked every club at the school that she could think of, all of the sports ones, the art club, the literature club… It didn’t seem like she was anywhere outside either.
"Jeez!" Kanna grumbled, "what is with this girl?!”
Maybe she should just give up and find her tomorrow morning. At this time of day, she’s probably gone home, or gone out somewhere…
“Oh, come on! You know he doesn’t like me that way…”
Two girls barrelled down the corridor, almost knocking into Kanna. One of them was practically dragging the other one by the arm as she ran. They were being awfully loud as well, didn’t they know not to run in the school hallways?
“You’ll never know until you try! Sakurada-san is like, the love master!”, the girl shouted, “She can totally make him fall for you, you just watch!”
Sakurada-san… Wait, Koharu was still at school?
Kanna chased after the two girls, and was eventually led to a classroom, which was surprisingly full considering it was the end of the school day. Most of the chairs and tables had been stacked away, save for one table near the window.
Koharu Sakurada herself was sat there, deep in conversation with another girl, presumably about love troubles of some kind. She looked like she was hanging onto Koharu’s every word, as if she was a priestess giving a sermon. A short line of girls was formed behind the two, patiently waiting and listening. Clearly Koharu’s romantic knowledge was highly sought after.
Pretty impressive, Kanna thought. This girl probably really knew her stuff when it came to love, despite her lack of experience. It was a shame that her advice was basically useless without a Cupid around.
Wait a second.
Wasn't this girl acting like a Cupid? She was helping people fall in love, after all. In fact, she probably had it easier! She didn't have to deal with any of the actual matchmaking Cupids did. She didn't have to worry about sneaking around, investigating potential partners for a target, she could just ask them! And she didn't have to fight other Cupids over a reward, since she wasn't one!
When Kanna thought about it, wouldn't it be really easy for Kanna to use Koharu for her own targets? Watch her give out her relationship advice, claim the contract, and then earn the karma basically for free. Honestly, Kanna would probably be doing Koharu a favor. If she guaranteed Koharu’s relationship advice always worked, her popularity would skyrocket! That's how it worked, right?
Kanna was snapped out of her scheming by a sudden declaration from the table. “Alright! I’m going to go ask him out now!” The girl who had been receiving advice from Koharu quickly stood up, and rushed for the door. Kanna stepped out of the way in order to not get trampled. What was it with girls at this school and always running? “Good luck!” Koharu called after her.
It was probably worth investigating this girl’s confession attempt, right? Just to confirm whether or not the love advice she was given was actually legitimate. Koharu looked busy anyway, Kanna observed, as the next girl slid into the seat opposite her.
She decided Koharu could wait, at least until after this, and went to pursue the girl. It’s not like Koharu would be going anywhere any time soon.