Main pairing will be ShakaMu with mention of AioliaMarin and MiloAphrodite

Don't let those eyelashes fool you

'Okay, well done everyone, let's call it a day!' Shouted Saga.

Upon hearing his words, the little Gold Saints immediately ran from their spots towards the exit of the training field. After a hard afternoon training, all the boys were so hungry for food, they excitedly ran to the dining room, in hope they could get the delicious dessert dishes before the others got them. Better hurried up because everyone knew Aldebaran and Aiolia ate like horses after training. The once crowded field quickly became deserted, only two little silhouettes still slowly walked up the stairs, hand in hand.

When Shaka and Mu entered the dining room, most of the other boys had already finished their main dishes and now having dessert. Aiolia and Milo were fighting over the last piece of shortcake and Aldebaran looked up at them over a huge pile of empty bowls and plates with a look of pity.

'You guys are so slow, Milo has eaten all the good stuff.'

'Hey not me alone! Look at you and Aiolia!' Little Milo shouted in protest and threw an angry look at the Taurus, while Aiolia seized the opportunity to steal the cake in his hand.

'It's okay, friends.'

Mu smiled at them then headed to the table at the corner along with Shaka. It was not so much of a problem to them, since both were vegetarians while the other boys mostly liked meat or fish. The two boys chatted joyfully while enjoying their food and quickly, Camus also joined them as he decided he had had enough of Milo.

A few months ago, this scene was still somewhat strange to everyone. As Mu and Shaka were the only Asian kids in the Golden Order, they had some difficulties in getting used to the new environment, especially Shaka since he followed a totally different religion. But now they got along well with the other Saints. The only problem left was Shaka's habit of keeping his eyes closed, it intrigued the other boys. No matter how many times Shaka said that he was not blind and he could still 'see' things through cosmo, those answers could not satisfy the others' curiosity. And that surely pissed Shaka off.

Looking over his table, Milo saw that Shaka had now left to give his and Mu's plates to the kitchen lady. The other boys had already gone back to their temples, only Mu was sitting there, waiting for Shaka to come back together. The little Scorpio timidly approached Mu and asked.

'Hey, Mu.'

'Yes, Milo?'

'You know, Shaka said he could still feel things through his cosmo, but...' he hesitated '...if that's true then why does he still need you help? You're holding his hand all the time.'

'Ah, that's because Shaka can feel cosmos of living beings, but he has some troubles with objects like building or stairs, though.' Mu explained calmly. Out of the other boys, Milo was the one who often annoyed Shaka the most with his questions. No surprise he asked him this time instead of Shaka, the Virgo might just ignore him.

'I see, but why not open his eyes? It'd be much easier.'

'Well, he told me that if he did then there would be a huge amount of cosmo released. That's why he rarely opens his eyes.' Mu answered as he recalled Shaka's words. He had seen Shaka's opened eyes a few times before, but maybe the other Gold Saints had not.

'That ... that is so cool!' Milo nearly exploded at what he just heard. 'So Shaka can destroy things with deadly laser beam from his eyes, that is super cool, man!'

'That's not it, Milo ...' Mu was about to explain but Milo quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him to the door.

'You'll go with Shaka to his temple then go back, right? It's gonna take a long time. Just let me do it for you, my temple is closer to his.' The Scorpio boy grinned widely and pushed the Aries toward the exit.

'But ... is this alright?' Mu looked at Milo with suspicion.

'Yes yes, leave it to me. Bye, Mu!' Milo waved at Mu then headed back to find Shaka. He was so eager to see Shaka's super cool eyes. It was quite a long way from here to the Virgo temple, he was sure he could convince the Indian boy.

Meanwhile, Shaka came back to his table but could not find Mu, he was wondering where the Aries boy could go when he felt Milo's cosmo approaching.

'Yo, Shaka!' Milo greeted cheerfully.

'Milo, have you seen Mu?'

'Oh, he already went back to his temple.'

'Already?' Shaka frowned slightly. It was unlike Mu to leave first without saying anything to him. But then he suddenly felt Milo push him forward.

'Don't worry dude. I'll take you home today. There's a lot of cool stuff we can discuss on the way back.' Milo quickly dragged Shaka outside but the blond snapped his hand away when he felt Mu's cosmo near the door. Mu was still here as he somewhat worried about Shaka. The Indian boy immediately understood the Scorpio's intention. He then took a few steps closer to the blue-haired boy and slowly opened his eyes.

Milo instantly stepped back as he felt the sudden danger getting closer. Shaka's immense cosmo energy made him unable to say a word.

'First, do not ever touch me again.' Shaka growled.

'Second, do not ever sabotage me and Mu again.' Shaka did not move an inch but his voice was dangerous and intimidating enough. 'Is that clear?'

Milo nodded, still too shocked to say anything.

'Good.' Shaka smiled and closed his eyes, his voice was back to the normal calm tone. The Virgo quickly turned around to catch up with his Aries friend, he grabbed the Tibetan boy's hand and happily headed back to his temple, totally ignored little Milo who was now dumbfounded.

Day 1, Holding hands: Challenge Accomplished.

-xx-

Bijinkei(*)

Shaka took a sip of his favorite jasmine tea, but felt almost no taste lingered on his tongue as he was too focused on the person at the other side of the table. The Virgo gentleman could not take his eyes off his opponent as the lavender-haired beauty took a white stone between his long, delicate fingers and placed it on the board in an elegant movement.

It was a deadly move, aimed for the land on his lower left, but at the same time, a high risk. The blond raised an eyebrow slightly, realized the balance and slow pace from the start had finally been broken by Mu's last move. Quickly took a black stone and placed it in a defensive position, Shaka then looked up at Mu, could not hide his surprise.

'I did not think that you would make such a risky move. The land in the center is now left uncared.'

Mu just smiled sweetly while taking another stone and continued to attack Shaka's lower left part. 'And I did not think you would just defend, instead of seizing the chance to attack the center.'

'Seems like we all made wrong assumptions.' Shaka chuckled then placed a stone near the center part. It was a teasing move, not an attack but certainly not a defence either. It looked almost like a wasted move. Almost.

The Tibetan hesitated a little at his opponent's strange move. Shaka often used extraordinary tactics but to this point he could not see how the Virgo would expand from this move. After some moments, Mu decided that he would just continue to follow his plan. He put down the white stone decisively but when he was about to take his hand back, he felt Shaka's fingers touching his gently.

'Are you sure with that move, Aries Mu?' The blond leaned forward and asked in a husky voice.

'Very, Virgo Shaka.' Mu replied charmingly. He even played with Shaka's fingers a bit before completely taking his hand back. The Aries smiled in triumph seeing the Virgo gentleman startled at his touch.

It was so unusual of Mu to be that bold, but Shaka found no reason to dislike it, no, he absolutely liked it. The blond went back to defend his lower left. He decided to be particularly careful, as this angelic lamb seemed to be a lot more dangerous today.

The two continued with the fight in the lower left part for a while, long enough for Shaka to realize that Mu was wearing a low-cut tunic today. The sunlight that shone through the thin curtains enhanced the fairness of his skin, the silky lavender hair was held in a loose braid, fell down gracefully over his left shoulder. The Indian man was lost in thought when a dulcet voice knocked him back to reality.

'Shaka, it's your turn.'

'Oh, right.'

Shaka felt a bit embarrassed. He quickly grabbed a black stone but when he looked back at the board, he realized he was in a dangerous situation. Not paying enough attention during the last two moves, he did not see that Mu had cleverly blocked all the way around the stone in the center, which he intended to place there for a later attack. The Aries had seen through his plan, now he could no longer touch the center part. After considering carefully, Shaka decided to expand to the lower right part, if everything went well, he could use this to attack the upper right land later.

Mu chuckled when seeing Shaka put the stone down. Taking another white stone, he knew exactly where to place it but not moving immediately. Mu played with it between his long fingers, knowing Shaka's eyes were following every of his movements.

'You will lose if you don't pay enough attention.' Said the Aries, then leaned forward to place the stone down.

Shaka felt Mu's sweet jasmine scent as the Tibetan leaned closer. His collar was a little lower due to his movement, showing off a bit more of his bare chest.

'It's dangerous.'

The Virgo told himself. He was looking at the board, trying to analyze Mu's last move but his brain somehow did not co-operate. The image of Mu's chest still lingered in his mind.

As a result, Shaka did not see Mu's attack coming, when he came back to defend his upper left, it was already too late. He still took control of the lower right part but the situation was getting more and more complicated, if Mu could connect his stones then it would be the end.

'Are you going to move, Shaka?' Mu asked. Emerald eyes stared directly at the bright blue ones. It was Shaka's turn and the man had stayed still for several minutes.

'It's not necessary.' Shaka replied, he could already see how this would end. 'You win.'

Day 3, Gaming: Challenge Accomplished

-xx-

Unexpected lesson

'You are the brightest star in the Milky Way, the most beautiful rose in the immense garden. Even the Goddess of love might have been envious of your beauty. Oh my love, my angel, I do not think I could live without you...'

'Bullshit!'

Aphrodite hissed as he crumpled the letter he was yet to finish reading and tossed it to the nearest trash can. The Pisces saint was only fourteen but his alluring beauty had soon bloomed. Even though he was a boy, his beauty was far beyond any woman's and anyone would be charmed upon seeing him once. The rumour of a ravishingly beautiful Saint had spread across the Sanctuary. Thus, the bluenette received tons of love letters and proposals everyday, which made him extremely annoyed.

Walking down the stair from the Pisces temple, the Swedish tended to find his best friend, Cancer DeathMask. He had had enough of those stupid letters and he really needed someone to pour out his anger on. But when he reached the Scorpio temple, a certain Milo was already waiting there.

'Oh not again.' Murmured he. It was too late to turn back now, Milo had seen him.

'Hey Aphrodite, how are you doing?' The Scorpio greeted in a certainly flirty voice. He was only twelve but already became a handsome boy with traits of a lady-killer, which could help him to charm any lady. Any lady, that meant not including Aphrodite.

'Move, Scorpio. I don't have time to play with you.' The Pisces said coldly and hurriedly walked to the door. Of course he was stopped by Milo right before he could reach it.

'Even though you're still beautiful with your angry face, I'd say you're much more charming when you smile. Care to tell me the reason why?'

'It's because of your-freaking-presence.' Aphrodite scowled, he didn't hesitate to push Milo aside and stomped out of the Scorpio temple.

However, the Greek boy had not given up yet, he ran after Aphrodite and blocked his way again. Milo was younger but his height was around the same as Aphrodite's. He held one of the bluenette's wrists firmly, prevented him from running away.

'No need to be shy around me. Say, beautiful, what can I do for you?' Milo looked right into Aphrodite's eyes and said shamelessly. He totally knew the Pisces would just give him a slap right away but he did not care. After all, he was used to it anyways.

'How about you go and kill yourself right now?' Aphrodite clenched his fist. He was fed up with all those suitors and the last thing he needed now was a twelve-year-old Scorpio boy trying to court him.

'Oh darling I'd love to fulfill your request but how can I leave you alone, suffering from a lonesome life of a widow?'

Aphrodite must admit, for a twelve-year-old boy, Milo surely got a lot of courage. And patience. He could not remember how many times he had shooed Milo away with insults and even violence. Yet the boy still appeared in front of him whenever he could, with his unchangeable shameless smile and queasy pick-up lines.

Knowing Milo's stubbornness could take him whole day, the Pisces reluctantly toned down. 'Okay, what do you want? I need to leave now, hurry up and let me go.'

'Oh does that mean I can do anything I want?' Milo leaned closer to the bluenette, their faces were just inches apart.

'Do not distort my words, Scorpio, hey, you...' Aphrodite suddenly felt Milo's breath on his cheek, the boy's face was dangerously close. 'Don't you dare, Milo-'

'Just a kiss, darling, no big deal.' Milo cut out Aphrodite's words, he slowly closed the distance between them and place a kiss on the bluenette's ...cheek.

'Huh?' was all Aphrodite could say after the so-called-kiss. He was closing his eyes, waiting in fear for something much scarier but instead he just felt a light touch on his cheek.

'That's all?' asked Aphrodite.

'Uhm... yeah?' Milo replied confusedly. He was now clearly blushing.

'Oh my Goddess, Milo ...' The Pisces burst out laughing, maybe he had overestimated the Scorpio. He was still a little boy after all.

When Milo was still puzzled, the Swedish saint grabbed his collar and pulled him closer. 'Watch and learn, Scorpio.' He said then kissed the younger boy passionately, this time of course, on the lips.

After some moments, Aphrodite broke the kiss and pushed Milo away. 'That's what you do when you want to charm someone.' He said with a devilish smirk then turned around and left, knowing perfectly that Milo was madly blushing.

The Scorpio was stunned for several minutes. When he finally gained some strength to stand up and go back to his temple, he blushed again as he realized it was actually his first kiss.

'I wonder if it was Aphrodite's first kiss, too.' Milo whispered to himself, secretly hoped it was true.

Not so far from this, behind a large tree near the Scorpio temple, a blond Indian boy had witnessed everything. Virgo Shaka was on his way from the Pope temple back to his own when he sensed Milo and Aphrodite's cosmos collided.

'So that's how it should be done to charm someone.' The blond thought. It was a universal truth revealed to him. He left the tree and hurriedly ran back. 'I must find Mu.'

Day 5, Kissing: Challenge Accomplished

(*)Bijinkei: bijinkei in Japanese or honeypot is one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a Chinese series of stratagems used in politics and war. It uses beautiful women to cause chaos and distraction within the enemy's side. If you are confused then in this story, Shaka and Mu were playing Go, a strategic board game originated in China.

This is the ficlet series I'm working on with the themes come from the "30 Days OTP Challenge" list and uncompleted because I won't do all 30 themes, I just pick up some of them which I think I can do best.

Thank you for reading.