Summary: It's that fateful day, February 14th, and Cupid's arrows of love are flying left and right. However, a nasty mix-up on everyone's favorite cherub's part leads to disaster, sending Kagome on an all-important quest: to recover the one she loves. Yes, I *know* I'm a day late.
Disclaimer: I don't own IY, and on top of that, I don't own Valentine's day or Cupid. I do own a very purple room, which is, unfortunately, giving me a headache.
Off Target
Prologue: Tragedy in time for Valentine's...
Even as he watched from his perch on a cloud, the young woman ran towards the well, laughter evident in her step. Any young woman would be happy under her circumstances; she had a Valentine who loved her, though he didn't even realize it himself. All that he had known when he accepted her invitation to "be his" was that he got free candy out of the deal, not as though he could eat the chocolate; it was a no-no for canines.
"You see this woman?" he said to his student.
Eagerly, the boy exclaimed, "Yes, Mr. C!" Of course he was eager; he was in training to be an advocate of true love, and he was being taught by the best. He was being taught by *the* original Cupid. There were hundreds of eager youths hoping to be chosen to be taught by him, yet only this boy had won that honor. The other new Cupids would have to be taught by others.
There were hundreds of Cupids out there; he couldn't do his job all alone. He needed the aid of thousands of others, particularly during the month of February. He wasn't Santa Claus, after all.
"This woman and her Valentine, the hanyou, are an example of a perfect match. You'll learn that these aren't too common," he explained. He was fortunate that there were still a few people out there who believed in true love; it was getting difficult enough as it was to train these new recruits with all the horrible things going on in the world.
"Perfect match?"
"Yup. Basically, that means that if you mess around with their hearts, you'll get in trouble with the Boss," he continued.
"So no arrows?"
"Not necessarily," he sighed. "That's the classic regulation, yes, but sometimes these people need a bit of help to realize their true feelings for one-another. Well, to tell the truth, the women never do, though the men need all the help they can get."
"I get it, Mr. C!"
"Don't go blabbering to everyone about what I just told you, okay, kid? It's a big secret that sometimes we use our arrows on people like these. Only the people with the best aim can do it. Otherwise, we could end up screwing up fate entirely," he warned.
"That would be... bad, right?" his pupil wondered.
"You bet it would be! We would get in horrible trouble, not to mention the fact that everything the world has in store for them would be ruined," he sighed. "Already there has been a mistake on this couple's part..."
"Whaddya mean?" the boy before him said curiously.
"Someone thought it would be funny to 'help' the girl along by hitting a wolf with one of the arrows."
"And?"
"Now we have a wolf obsessed with the girl, and a hanyou that's constantly upset with her for 'cheating' on him when in fact, they have nothing together. If anything, that fool caused more problems than he solved."
"That's bad," the boy sighed.
"You bet!" He gave one last glance to the scene below him. "Your lesson for today is over. You may return home."
"Thanks, Mr. C!"
He watched the couple sitting there in the sun and smiled. If only more people could be like them... he fell asleep, dreaming about a world where true love, instead of lust, reigned supreme.
His pupil, noting that the teacher had gone to sleep, tenatively picked up the feathery bow and trademark heart-tipped arrows of his master. He would be a hero if he could only make that one shot...
He didn't even notice when the woman speaking with the hanyou vanished down a well, or when she was replaced by another, more sinister (though similar) female. All he was concerned about was helping his master. He nocked an arrow, drew back, and fired, hitting the hanyou squarely in his heart. Smiling, he dropped the bow beside his teacher and fell asleep as well. He had done a good thing.
*~*~*
CC: That was short...
Dancing Bagel: Pathetically so.
CC: Where have *you* been?
Dancing Bagel: *holds up stick* I've been prodding people into reviewing one of your *other* stories! You know the one.
CC: *sweatdrop*
Dancing Bagel:...
CC: At least that was a prologue... meaning that it was MEANT to be short...