Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke is not mine.
Summary: Kuroko, the Cupid. Akashi, his Target. Let's begin.
Author's Note: A silly little quickfic for Valentine's Day.
The Cupid and His Target
Kuroko landed gently on Teikou Middle's roof, soft blue wings fluttering before settling on his back. There were still forty minutes before school officially started, but his target had decided to come to school early for student council business. Kuroko peered over the edge as the redhead approached the entrance of the school.
A clear shot.
Kuroko drew back his bow and released.
Akashi caught the incoming arrow inches from his heart.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Akashi studied Kuroko intently, a faint smile growing on his face. A light breeze ruffled their clothing—Akashi's blue and white uniform, Kuroko's simple white toga—as they stood facing each other on the school's rooftop.
"How can you see me?" Kuroko asked. It was impossible for humans to see Cupids.
"You tell me. Those wings, that bow, today's date, could it be that you are Cupid?" Akashi mused.
"I am a Cupid," Kuroko informed him.
"I thought Cupid was supposed to be a chubby baby in diapers."
"You thought wrong."
"That's a first." Kuroko sighed. He wanted to finish his mission already. He had planned to go get a real, human-made vanilla milkshake after this. That was why he started so early (as soon as the clock hit midnight), so he could catch most of his targets while they were asleep and avoid the hassle of searching for them all over Tokyo.
"Please hold still, Akashi-kun. I must make you fall in love." Kuroko readied another arrow—only for Akashi to hold his hand and pluck the arrow from the string.
"I do not have time for such frivolities as falling in love."
"But I must complete my mission."
"Then it seems we are at an impasse, Cupid-san."
"I will do whatever it takes to finish my mission," Kuroko told Akashi, stalking the redhead invisibly through the halls of Teikou Middle. He tried to stab him with another arrow, only for Akashi to gently catch his arm and pull the arrow from his hold.
"I'm afraid I will have to be your first failed mission, Cupid-san."
"Kuroko," he finally said, taking his arm and his arrow back from the redhead. "My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, Cupid #15, Tokyo Division."
"Yes, you said something about being a Cupid," Akashi recalled. "There is more than one Cupid?"
"There are thousands of us."
"Fascinating." Akashi entered a classroom and sat in the front. Kuroko hovered behind him.
"Tell me more about Cupids," Akashi requested. Class hadn't started yet, and the rest of his classmates were too busy talking to each other to notice Akashi talking to an invisible entity.
"We only come out during Valentine's Day," Kuroko explained. "Each Cupid receives a list of people that must fall in love during that year. Most of the time, people will fall in love with the right people without our help, but sometimes a person needs a push, or they fall for the wrong person, and that is where we come in."
"And what happens if a person fails to fall in love with the right person?"
"Unrequited love, troubled relationships, or intense feelings of sorrow and loneliness." Akashi turned back to the whiteboard as the teacher arrived. Kuroko drew back his bow and shot once again, only for Akashi to, once again, catch the arrow and give it back to Kuroko, all without drawing the attention of the teacher.
"I dislike you greatly," Kuroko said sulkily. Akashi merely smiled.
"Can you not?" Akashi sighed, swatting another arrow from the air. To his friends sitting with him on the lunch table, it looked like he was waving his arms around like a madman for no reason.
"No." Kuroko tried to slap Akashi's face with an arrow, and failed. "Darn, foiled again."
"Akashi?" Midorima questioned, getting increasingly unnerved by the basketball captain's strange behaviour.
"It's nothing, Shintarou," Akashi told him, swiping at nothing again. "Continue your lunch."
Midorima, Aomine, and Murasakibara exchanged glances.
Kuroko pondered the redhead sitting in front of him.
He reached for his quiver, detached it from his back, and overturned the entire thing on Akashi's head.
Quick as a flash, Akashi rolled out of his seat—and gallantly caught a neighbouring girl's falling pencil case.
"Here you go." He gave the pencil case back to the swooning girl and smirked at Kuroko.
The Cupid fumed.
"H-H-Happy Valentine's Day, Akashi-san," the unknown girl stuttered while holding out a large box of chocolates, a wild blush on her cheeks.
"Thank you," Akashi said, plastering on a forced polite smile as he accepted the gift. As soon as the girl left, he raised the heart-shaped box of chocolates to his head, blocking the incoming arrow.
"That's kind of insulting," Kuroko said, lowering his bow, "blocking a love arrow with Valentine's Day chocolates."
Akashi dumped the chocolates beside his desk, right on top of the ever-increasing mountain of sweets and cards various girls (and some boys) had been giving him throughout the day. "Then you shouldn't have shot at me."
"But one of those people might've been your true love," Kuroko pointed out, gesturing at the pile of Valentine products.
"That is highly unlikely."
"Why are you so against falling in love?"
"I told you, I have no time for such nonsense."
"Then make time."
Akashi didn't say anything in response as the teacher called for the class's attention.
"You will make time," Kuroko muttered, stationed on the school roof once again as the bell rang and students flooded out of the building. He waited patiently until his keen eyes picked out a flash of bright red flanked by green and purple from the sea of black.
Akashi's back was to Kuroko. His purple-haired friend dropped a snack.
Kuroko carefully aimed at the redhead and released the string just as Akashi bent down to pick up the snack.
The arrow hit Akashi's back.
Akashi didn't notice.
"Mission accomplished," Kuroko whispered, feeling strangely unsatisfied. An unfamiliar heaviness seemed to settle on his heart. Nevertheless, he lowered his bow, crossed out the last name on his list, and prepared to fly back straight to headquarters, his mood for milkshakes vanishing—only to come face-to-face with Ogiwara Shigehiro, another fellow Cupid.
Ogiwara had his bow drawn.
"Congrats, Kuroko!" Ogiwara winked and shot an arrow at Kuroko.
"What were the odds of us being each other's Valentines?" Akashi mused, running his fingers through Kuroko's soft, fluffy wings. The human and the Cupid were lying in Akashi's bed, Kuroko on his stomach with his head resting on Akashi's lap. The bedside clock read 11:54 PM. "Is it even possible for a Cupid to fall in love with a human?" Kuroko closed his eyes and nodded.
"Yes. Falling in love with a human is the ultimate fate of every Cupid, although it usually takes a few hundred years to happen. I've never heard of a Cupid falling in love after only fourteen years of service."
"Hmm." The two savoured a moment of silence before Akashi asked another question.
"So what now?" Kuroko shrugged.
"My wings will fall off, and I will become human. Then we will live happily ever after. Do you have a problem with that?"
"… No, it sounds good to me."
