I'm late by two years, but I hope you still enjoy this promised oneshot.
Fudou climbed up from the couch in a bad mood and stumbled to the bathroom. That idiot Genda had taken him to a bar again last night, and hangovers were things that Fudou would gladly live without. Normally Fudou didn't crash hard, but Genda and his privileged wallet just had to shoot them up with the strong, expensive liquor. Having grown up under the roof of his alcoholic father where beer was easily accessible, Fudou body had become inevitably accustomed to alcohol by the influence of the hood from an inappropriate age, but was far from used to the contents of such a classy drink. He didn't even remember the reason why Genda had needed the night out, or why he had even agreed. All that floated in his fuzzy mind were pieces of the memory, something about Genda crying over the fact he was the only one from Teikoku who was still single even though Fudou clearly remembered Genda with girls ready on whim at all times.
That son of a bitch… His life was already pretty much perfect to the extent Fudou was concerned. He didn't need to make Fudou's drop to the negatives in comparison.
It wasn't like Fudou didn't have problems with his own love life. Heck, that wasn't even the worst of it. Fudou's life was already too much to handle, though he would never think of suicide like that crazy Afuro Terumi had done a few months ago. The funeral had been pathetic, with the weird Korean boy that had slits for eyes and his sadomasochist friends crying their eyes out while some other auburn haired guy with a giant scar on his forehead gave a passionate speech. Fudou would never associate himself with weak people like this Afuro Terumi. Even Sakuma who had nearly killed himself for his "Kidou-san" was better than Afuro in Fudou's eyes, and the cyan haired boy was already considered shaky on Fudou's radar. He knew his old teammates would be enraged if they heard he thought this way of an apparent friend of theirs, so he kept his opinions to himself and left halfway.
It would be too much of a burden to the people around him if he were to kill himself anyway, not that there were a lot, and even less he cared about. It was just that he couldn't hang on to a full time job for more than two months, and only low paying jobs were willing to hire him since he didn't have a college degree. His mother depended on him. He had to provide for her now that she could no longer work as a cleaner due to chronic problems. He owed her that much at least.
Genda wouldn't stand a second if he was in my situation, Fudou thought to himself with a snort. Those rich Teikoku brats didn't know a single thing about real problems. They would wail when they got imperfect marks, while Fudou would be lucky if he could even earn that score. It wasn't that he didn't work hard; on the contrary, he probably worked as hard as all of them combined. It was just that life hated him, and no matter how he tried, he just couldn't fit in with the students of Teikoku Gakuen. They had class, status, and money, while he only had talent and reputation. He learned the hard way from a young age that those traits could only get you so far, and that so far wasn't very far in a world where everyone valued the former traits, especially when a lack of them became liabilities to success.
Ever since he hurt his leg in a fire to save his mother during his junior year of high school, all the colleges that had promised him scholarships back in freshman year suddenly went silent. It wasn't that Fudou was incapable, he barely walked with a limp, but no matter how frustrated he was, he still knew in his heart that such injuries were an instant faux pas for professional athletes. It wasn't like he had wanted to get hurt, but none of that mattered. The authorities only accepted perfect children. Children such as his classmates from Teikoku.
Once a hood, always a hood, Fudou laughed bitterly, then quickly stopped and winced. Even this small movement worsened his headache. Curse that Genda. Next time he went looking for Fudou because some dark haired beauty with oh-so-dreamy eyes turned him down, Fudou was going to tell him to get over it and slam the door in his face. Even if he offered epicurean liquor that Fudou normally couldn't afford.
But dang did that vodka taste good. Even if he was paying for it right now.
Fudou splashed his face with ice cold water sprinkled with a few colorful curses, then nearly fell over backwards as he looked up into the mirror. His face dropped from its usual scornful scowl into something similar to that of a gaping harp seal. Why in the world was his surroundings pink? Fudou quickly turned his head to look at the walls. They were still in the same shade of alpine white that they had been for the last ten years or so instead of the bubblegum pink color the mirror had reflected. Fudou let out a sign of relief. His tricky eyes must be a result of the hangover. Thank goodness nobody saw him, or he knew they would never let him hear the end of it.
But it's always in these moments that you end up realizing you've just jinxed yourself. A figure draped in pink with fluffy blonde hair materialized behind him, making Fudou jump in an even more exaggerated reaction. Even worse was that the little devil was giggling.
His shock quickly melted into bubbling anger. The one thing which Fudou absolutely, absolutely despised was being laughed at. And he was sure this cherub was definitely laughing at him, not with him, for Fudou most definitely did not feel that this scene was hilarious at all.
In one swift move, Fudou whirled around and slammed the creature into the wall. Tiny pieces of plaster cracked and fell down on his scraggly mane, but he paid no attention to it. The cherub had finally stopped laughing, and stared at Fudou with fearful teal eyes.
Fudou analyzed the strange sprite quickly. It was really only about half a meter tall, and looked somewhat like a barefoot toddler with a tilted halo. However, the face of the being was quite familiar…
"Gabrini?"
Well, the cherub didn't look exactly like the tiny midfielder that Fudou had once played against. For one, Fudou was certain that the Angelo Gabrini he knew was taller. Sure, he had been a little on the short side, but not stunted to this degree. He had been formidable on the field. Secondly, the Angelo-clone's face was exactly like how Fudou had last seen him. That was beyond weird, because Fudou was aware of the basic science called "aging". And last but not least, Fudou most definitely did not remember the two cotton candy pink wings that sprouted on the tiny boy's back.
"Yes it's me, you dumbass! I always took you for a rough guy, but tackling others in the morning in your bathroom is just plain rude!"
Guess angelic Italian soccer players could uss too. And in Japanese too...wait what?
Fudou's arm slackened upon hearing the goodness of his native language coming out of the mouth of the European boy. "You speak Japanese?" Fudou knew he sounded like an idiot, but honestly speaking, his day could only get worse at this point, so it wasn't like it mattered. Plus this was a guy in a toddler's body wearing a revealing pink blanket, so Fudou considered it a pretty fair exchange.
Angelo Gabrini seized the moment and pushed himself out of Fudou's hold, then stuck out his tongue. He was surprisingly strong for a person of his size, if he even was a person, that is. It took Fudou by surprise. The brunette had to remind himself that this was a member of the legendary Orpheus he had actually been pinning, not some flailing baby, even if his eyes cared to disagree.
The petite blonde huffed and rolled his eyes. Fudou seriously started to consider dunking him in the toilet for his attitude. "Of course I can speak Japanese." He continued quickly as Fudou was about to speak, "This is my true form. The Angelo Gabrini that you know is just my human alias, though I don't mind if you continue to address me with that name. I'm a divine being, so even if I speak Italian, you'll hear it as Japanese if I will it to be."
"You sound like Aphrodi," Fudou scoffed. His brain couldn't wrap itself around the madness of his morning, so Fudou followed his natural instinct to be a cynical blunt.
Angelo slapped Fudou's face. Hands on hips, Angelo hovered closer to Fudou's face, making the brunette step back subconsciously until he was cornered at the sink. It was only then did Fudou realize that this...creature may actually carry ill intent. "W-what do you want," Fudou stuttered, realizing too late that it didn't come out as the threatening growl he intended at first thing he learned in a neighborhood of delinquents is that dogs can smell, and most humans are basically female dogs in their true forms.
Tinkling laughter spilled from the cherub's mouth again. Fudou was sure that Angelo was laughing at him once again, but this time he stayed where he was. When Angelo was done, he made a saccharine smile that unnerved Fudou. "I was supposed to shoot you with one of my love arrows since a deserving girl sent chocolates to your mailbox, but I've got a better idea. I want you to help me get a certain couple together."
Fudou did a double take at the request. The love arrow comment sort of freaked him out. "You mean play Cupid?" he asked.
"Yup!"
"But I-," Fudou was cut off. "Good luck! All the information you'll need is in this envelope. If you don't want me to turn you into a lovesick gumdrop at the end of the day, I suggest following the instructions. I gotta run now, ciao- Ahhh!"
Takanashi Shinobu slammed Angelo into the wall in an identical manner beside the previous indentation that Fudou had made. It took just one look at her face and Fudou had never felt so equally reassured yet terrified. She stood domineeringly in front of the open bathroom door, dressed up already for the day.
"What the hell are you doing in my bathroom?" she barked.
Angelo looked like he probably couldn't speak even if he wasn't gagged. Fudou subtly shifted behind her. He hadn't consciously noticed earlier that he had woken up in Takanashi's house because he often let himself in once Takanashi had given him a key. It was futile to depend on his fragmented memories after the fifth shot, but he must have mistakenly entered her house by instinct in his drunken state. However that was not the important matter at hand.
Angelo had managed to squirm his chin free. "Let me go!" he demanded as he kicked and punched at the air. Finally, he managed to pry off the girl's iron grip enough to slip out and disappeared in the split second he was free in a poof of pink glitter and chocolate aroma.
The couple stared wordlessly for a few moments at where the strange sighting had occured. "That didn't happen," they agreed shakily in union. They didn't know what to do for a couple more seconds until Takanashi finally threw back her hair and laughed. "I'm famished. Let's go out to eat."
He reached out by some desire to tuck the loose hair behind her ear, but she batted his hand away. Fudou found himself grinning. "Only if you treat." It all seemed silly to him now. He wouldn't believe that Angelo could get him to fall for any other girl. And perhaps his life did have a silver lining, which he wouldn't trade for Genda's any day.
"You wish," she countered.
They were a pair of realistic lovers who needed no fluff, and they would make things work out whether the world was in favor or not.
Pfft, it's been three years, and I still love FuTaka. Don't ask how Takanashi didn't see Fudou on the couch on her way out to deliver chocolates to his house. Angelo probably had a good laugh at the irony after getting over the fact that Takanashi was not the type of girl he expected.