Chapter 1
Ninety-eight couples. That's how many people I have helped find happiness. I can only wonder who my ninety-ninth or my one-hundredth couple will be. I won't feel complete until I find those two other lovebirds, once I do, I can finally go home and get out of the hellish place they call earth.
And why did they have to send me to this place called "Highschool". I've been alive a lot longer than any of these numbskulls, of course, by looking at me you couldn't tell. I'm youthful, handsome, and charming, my charisma helps me do the work I am destined to do, it shouldn't be too much longer until I'm out of here though.
Miroku Keseki was an average 17 year old, with good looks, charm, and charisma, but underneath his boyish exterior, was a man that you wouldn't expect. A man with many years of experience under his belt and an immortal soul who's only duty was to bring young lovers together.
He stood outside the school doorway just after the last bell rang for the day. He leaned against the wall, his blue eyes scanning the crowds of students for just one who might need a hand in finding true love. Sighing, he leaned his head against the brick wall and looked up at the blue sky with scattered white clouds and jet streams making their mark on the virgin blue.
A male voice caught his attention. It held a slight sense of urgency and Miroku clued into their conversation.
The red-haired girl who was clutching onto her backpack strap was trying her best to get away from the dark-skinned boy with dark spiked hair and slanted eyes. Miroku found the couple quite interesting as they made their way down the steps towards the sea of cars parked in the parking lot.
"Misty, come on. Tell me what's wrong with you today." The boy said, who seemed a bit older than this "Misty" girl. His hand touched her shoulder and she jerked away from his slightly, advancing towards the parking lot even more.
"I don't want to talk about it, Brock." She hissed, clearly aggravated with her friends prying.
"Is it Ash again?" Brock asked, affectively blocking the redhead from getting into her car.
Misty's face grew grim and she pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, exposing pearly white teeth as she chewed on it intensely. "I'll talk about it later." She said, shutting the car door and also shutting him out. Within a few seconds her blue eclipse had roared to life and sped out of the parking lot, leaving Brock standing and watching after her.
It wasn't until he heard a voice from behind him that he came out of his trance. Miroku approached him, pulled his sunglasses over his wintry blue eyes and pulled out a card. "You look like you could use some help?"
Brock quirked an eyebrow and took Miroku's card almost hesitantly. "Hey, aren't you the guy in my chemistry class?"
Miroku stuffed his hands in his pockets and nodded. "Give me a call if you need someone to talk to her for you. I'm pretty good with women."
Brock laughed and stuffed the card into his back pocket. "She's not my girlfriend."
"I could tell." Miroku said, raising the sunglasses on top of his head, exposing the clear, indigo eyes that were hidden. "How long have you known here?"
"Since forever. Elementary school, actually." Brock answered, looking down at his shoes. "She's in love with this guy who doesn't exactly treat her right you know? I mean, I care about her and I hate to see her hurt. She's a wonderful girl and she deserves better."
"Better?" Miroku asked, following Brock as he proceeded to get away from Miroku. OK, so maybe he was prying a little too much, but he liked to find out as much as he could about his subjects before he decided to try and play matchmaker. "By better do you mean…you?"
Brock stopped as he reached his car and let out a laugh as he tugged on the handle. "Hey, I never said I was in love with her. I said I cared." He said, looking back at Miroku. "There's a difference."
"Of course." Miroku said, as Brock got into his car. "Well, remember, if you ever want any help just let me know."
"Will do." Brock said, waving him a goodbye as he left the parking lot. Miroku stuffed his hands in his pockets, and then headed for his own car.
Miroku sat cross-legged on his bed, tapping his pencil on his math textbook. He never did get math and he never would, not in a million years. He stared at the jumbled numbers until they all mixed together on the page.
"Damn you, Hideko! Why did you have to send me to such a stupid time?"
Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder.
Miroku whirled around, his heart leapt in his throat only for a moment, until he laid eyes on the beautiful blond-haired woman before him. She gave him a sweet smile. "Because, Miroku," she began. "you have business to take care of."
Miroku leaned back on his bed. "Jeez, do you have to sneak up on me like that? And couldn't I have taken care of business somewhere else? Like why couldn't I be 35 and work in an office or something. An office is the perfect place to hookup, Hideko."
Hideko didn't speak as she made her way across the room and rummaged through Miroku's underwear drawer. "Well, that answers that questions. Boxers or briefs…" She said, holding up a pair of Miroku's boxers.
"Are you even paying attention to me?" He asked, only receiving a smile from his friend.
"Oh, Miroku, don't worry about it. You'll see why I sent you here and you'll thank me later." She said, shutting his underwear drawer. "Oh, and I almost forgot, you better show up to English class tomorrow."
"What? Why?" Miroku asked. "I was planning on skipping that horrible class."
"If you do you'll miss your chance as your one-hundredth couple meeting. Cupid is supposed to be more responsible." Hideko said, narrowing her eyes.
"Hey, I never asked to be Cupid." He groused miserably.
"Why are you so bitter all the time, Miroku. You're the god of love, I'm the one who should be bitter, I'm in charge of you after all." Hideko said, with a sigh.
Miroku rolled his eyes. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure." She said.
"Has my ninety-ninth couple already met? If my final couple is supposed to meet tomorrow, then that means by ninety-ninth have already met each other, correct?" Miroku asked raising his eyebrow curiously.
"Oh, now, you know I can't tell you that kind of information. That would make your job far too easy." She said with a smile, glancing over at his bedside clock. "It's getting late, Miroku, you better head-off to bed. You want to be there bright and early tomorrow for your English class."
Miroku looked over at the glowing green letters that read 11:30 PM. He leaned back on his bed and rubbed his head. "Jeez, you even tell me when to go to bed. You're not my mother."
"No, you're right. I may not be Venus, but I do know what's best for you, and you want to be looking and feeling your best tomorrow, believe me." Hideko said, and with a puff of smoke the pretty blond fox-demon vanished.
Miroku coughed on the smoke and rolled his eyes. "She always shows up uninvited." He complained, closing his math book and pulling down the sheets. "I hope I pass the stupid math test. I can't afford to fail it again." He said to himself as he set his alarm. He yawned tiredly and turned on his side, enjoying the feeling of relaxing, which is something he never got to do back home much.
His mind drifted back to earlier that day, where he saw Brock Harrison, the 17 year old boy who seemed to be in some kind of distress with the pretty red-headed girl. It was only a guess, but perhaps they were his ninety-ninth couple.
Why couldn't his job be any easier? He would have had this assignment done a long time ago if it was just simpler. Not only did he have to bring two people together and have them fall in love, but it also had to be true love, one that will last until death do them part.
That was rare to find, especially in high school, and he wondered if Hideko and the rest of his immortal friends were watching and laughing at him. He was probably the butt of their jokes about how horrible of a cupid he was. After all, his father had finished the assignment in three months, but Miroku was entering the spring semester of his year at school and the rate things were going he would be there for a whole year.
He pushed the thoughts out his mind and tried his best to grasp sleep. With his mind swimming with thoughts, he found that hard to do however.
Miroku trudged into school the next morning, barely making it into his seat before the bell rang that would have made him late. He hadn't been there in at least three week and he knew he probably had a ton of work to make up, and the teacher approached him.
Kris McCoy was a youthful, laid-back teacher who hardly made anyone do any work at all and he wondered why he hated the class so much. Kris wasn't half as bad as some of his other teachers, maybe he hated the class because it was so ridiculously early, or the English language was just too hard to grasp.
"Keseki…" Kris spoke up and Miroku couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated. Some of the other students were looking at him, wondering where he had disappeared to in the last three weeks.
Miroku stood up and followed Kris to his desk, a little nervous about what he was going to be told. Not only would he have to do his job, but also have a load of homework piled on top of that. "Yes, Mr. M?"
"Why haven't you been here in three weeks?" Kris asked concerned. "You are one of my favourite students and I'd really hate to have to fail you. I know moving to a new school can be hard, but it's almost April now and I've seen you around, Keseki, you don't exactly have a hard time fitting in."
"I know, I've just had…a lot going on in my life, that's all." Miroku said, trying his best to act casual.
"I understand." Kris said. "But if your having a hard time, you need to talk to me about it, not skip my class. I'm going to be nice and not give you detentions, but I am going to sign you up with someone who can help you catch up on the work you've missed."
Miroku's eyes grew wide. "Uh, Mr. M, I really don't need--"
"Miroku, you have a ton of work, and with your other classes, this isn't going to be easy." He said, grinning. "Besides, I think once you see her you won't be complaining."
Miroku's eyebrows shot up. "Is she hot?"
"You can be the judge of that." He said, handing him a piece of paper. "Her name is Sango Noriko, she's one of my best students. She had straight A's. I already told her about you and I want you to go and meet up with her today in second lunch."
Sighing, he took the paper from him. "Will do, Mr. M."
"Great." He said. "I have to get class started, so tell me how it goes, alright?"
"Alright." Miroku said, sitting back down in his seat. Damn, living in earth was really like being in hell wasn't it?
Ash Ketchum was popular and handsome. He was captain of the basketball team and almost every member of the football cheerleading squad was in love with him, besides Sango Noriko and the two boys who were also on the squad.
Misty was also on the squad, but she wasn't exactly popular since she was lucky enough to date the wonderful Ash Ketchum, she was the envy of most girls and sometimes it seemed the only friends she had in the world were Brock and Sango.
Speaking of which, she hadn't seen Brock all morning. She had felt guilty about treating him the way she had the day before, but sometimes he could be so nosy, but she knew it was only because he cared about her. That was more than she could say for Ash.
It was fast approaching noon, which meant second lunch was just around the corner. Sango planned to spend the lunch period studying for her chemistry test, but would probably end up talking to Misty about how much of a jerk Ash was.
Sometimes Sango felt like just telling to forget about Ash and move on, but that was easier said than done, she knew that.
As for Sango herself, she never really had an interest in boys or having a boyfriend. Her grades were more important than love, but Misty was a completely different person, a hopeless romantic is what Sango had dubbed her best friend as.
When Ash finally pulled himself away from the flock of girls from all grades, he approached their table with an envelope and plopped it in front of Sango. "You coming?"
Sango eyed the envelope on the table, then her gaze fell upon Ash once again as she picked up the package. "To what?"
"My party next Saturday night. My 'rents are going out of town on a cruise for their anniversary and I'm throwing a big bash." Ash said, leaning on the table with one hand. "Hey Mist, have you seen Brocko around here today?"
"I saw him before school started out in the parking lot, but not much of him since then, why?" She asked, already knowing everything about Ash's party.
"I want to give him his invitation." Ash said. "He can steal drinks from his dad's liquor cabinet." He finished with a laugh, and after a quick pat on Misty's backside, he was gone again, off to hand out invitations for his party of the year.
Sighing, Misty slumped in her seat. "All he thinks about is drinking and partying. He doesn't even realize next Saturday is out six month anniversary."
Sango looked up from her chemistry notes. "You two have been together for six months? I didn't know it was that long."
"Since October." Misty confirmed. "Remember we made it official at homecoming?"
"Oh yeah." Sango said, remembering how happy her friend was when she told her the news. However, she couldn't help but notice the sad look on Brock's face. She looked around the lunch room. "I'm supposed to meet some guy from Mr. McCoy's English class today. I have to tutor him, I just hope he's not a pain in the butt."
Misty laughed as she took her first bite of a French fry. "Yea, like the last guy Kris paired you up with. The big, smelly football player."
"Ugh." Sango shook her head remembering how bad he smelled and how he'd come over to her house and eat all her food. Not only was he rude, but he was extremely undisciplined. "Don't remind me." She said.
The two sat in silence for a good five minutes while Sango continued to study, until they heard someone else approach their table. Both girls assumed it was Ash, and Sango was the first to look up only to have her jaw drop.
"Excuse me, are you Sango Noriko?" Miroku asked, his blue eyes shimmered with the question and it took Sango a few seconds to find her voice. Misty also looked up at the sound of her voice only to blush and drop her potato chips in the floor.
"Y-yes." Sango said, standing up and extending her hand. "You must be Miroku Keseki."
"Yes I am." He said, taking a seat next to her, not that she minded. He smelled great and there was no denying he was good-looking. "Wow, I must say you are more beautiful then Kris made you out to be." He said with a smile.
Misty silently smiled, picking up on the obvious flirting and the small blush that came across Sango's cheeks. Sango closed her chemistry book and smiled shyly. "Thank you." She said, accepting the compliment gracefully. Miroku watched her, admiring how beautiful she looked with pink-tinted cheeks and made a mental note to thank Hideko later.
Maybe Hideko did know what she was doing after all…
"Oh and you must be Sango's beautiful friend?" He asked, extending his hand towards Misty. The redhead blushed before wiping her hand on her jeans and accepting his handshake with a blush.
"I'm Misty Waterflower." She said with a smile.
"Misty Waterflower." He said, testing the name. "Beautiful names for beautiful girls."
This caused Misty to giggle girlishly and Sango to cross her legs and look down at her lap.
"Hey Miroku!" They heard a familiar voice approach them and the three of them looked up to see that Brock had decided to actually show his face. Misty's eyes grew wide.
"Where have you been all morning, Brock?" She asked.
"I had to leave, mom went into labor this morning." He said, sitting down next to Misty.
"Another one?" Sango asked.
"Yep. Another one." He replied grinning. "What did I miss?"
Sango held up her envelope and rolled her eyes. "Well, Ash was handing out invitations to his party…" She said, passing it over to him.
Brock opened it and his eyes scanned the page. "Hey, isn't this the same day as your anniversary, Misty?"
"Yes, but there is no use in telling him that." She said, looking embarrassed that Brock had remembered but Ash hadn't. She felt like such a failure for having such a scatterbrained boyfriend who was so self-absorbed.
Brock handed the paper back to Sango. "Ah, well, if that's all I missed it doesn't matter. I'm not going anyway?"
"Why not?" Misty asked, looking rather sad. "I was kind of hoping you'd come…" She said.
He gave her a crooked smile and lazily took a zip of his soda. "Why's that?"
"Because…" She said, wiggling around in her seat uncomfortably. "Well, Ash ignores me when he has these parties and when your there it gives me someone to talk to…someone to dance with…" She gave him a smile and he couldn't help but smile back.
Brock sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, but I can't stay long. 11 o'clock at latest."
Misty wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thanks, Brock. You're the best."
The bell rang and the entire cafeteria was empty within a matter of minutes, and the halls were congested with students trying to hurry to their next class. Miroku didn't want to lose Sango in all of the chaos, so he reached out and grabbed her hand.
She spun around, shocked by his actions.
"Wait, let me walk you to your next class." Miroku said, his voice smooth and kind, his grasp on her hand was firm yet gentle. Sango forced herself back to reality and replied to him as other students rushed past them.
"Alright. I have chemistry next, what about you?"
"Algebra." He replied, rolling his eyes. "So," He said as the entered a less polluted area of the hallway. "when should we meet up so you can help me with my studies." He silently offered his hand to carry her chemistry book for her, and she let him hesitantly.
"Well," Sango said, opening up her notebook. "I have an art show to attend tomorrow night, but perhaps Friday will be a good day. My little brother will be at his friends house so he won't bother us, so it's perfect."
"Sounds great." Miroku replied with a smile. "Of course, I don't want you to feel weird being all alone or anything with me."
"Oh, I don't feel weird." She said with a smile. "I tutor all the time, it's not a big deal."
"You must be extremely smart."
"Oh, now, I wouldn't say that." Sango said, blushing.
"And so modest."
Sango quirked her mouth into a smile as she stopped in front of her classroom. "Compliments aren't going to get me to do your work for you. You'll never learn that way."
Miroku laughed and leaned against the wall, handing her chemistry book to her as he did. "It was worth a try. Don't I at least get some brownie points?"
Sango shook her head. "I'll think about it. Now, hurry up and go to class, you don't want to be late. Kris told me your notorious for being late to class."
Miroku looked up at the clock just before the first bell rang. "Ah, you're right. Alright. I guess I'll see you around then?"
With a simple nod, she smiled and made her way into the classroom. Miroku walked down the hall, his mind preoccupied with brunette beauty. In fact, he was so preoccupied with her that he almost missed his classroom. He shook his head and tried to push her out of his mind. If anything was distraction from the studying he actually did, it would be her and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing in his opinion.
He knew he had to pass this test or his math teacher would find him a tutor, and somehow he doubted that this teacher had such excellent taste as Kris McCoy.
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