Flying.

The only sensation I knew to be anything worthwhile. The wind roaring in my ears, making it almost impossible for me to hear anything else. The air pushing against me, making my black hair fly back and feathers ruffle. The exhilarating feeling I get, the way I feel I can do anything.

I flapped my wings harder, taking myself higher and higher. The clouds were surrounding me in a bubble of white. I didn't feel the drop of temperature, nor the water from the clouds. That was the other benefit of being already dead.

Yes, I have passed. But to be honest, it does not bother me much. I can't remember my past at all, no cupid can from my understanding. So I don't remember what had happened or who I left behind.

Besides, if I weren't dead, I wouldn't be able to do this.

This is definitely the greatest benefit of being a cupid. The ability to fly. My strong gold wings pulled me through the air currents, and I rode on happily. I did turns and flips and dives, smiling widely after every exhilarating move.

I loved flying more than matchmaking, which is really saying something. I mean I'm a natural matchmaker. I can pair two soul mates easily, but after a while, it gets really boring.

I sighed; I was definitely different from the others. But, the other cupids just don't understand. They're all too in love with matching couples up. And it's all because they want to fall in love, which is impossible for us! Cupids aren't to fall in love. We lost that privilege when we passed away. So, technically, they're lovesick. I stick out my tongue at the thought. But maybe that's because I've never been interested in that kind of love…

"Haru-chan!"

I sighed at hearing my nickname from my only friend, well, only friend that I knew of. I'm sure that I had others when I was alive.

"What is it Nagisa?" I asked flapping down to land on the ground beside him.

The blond gave me a worried look. "Have you met your quota yet? Goro's been asking me lately and I can't come up with anymore excuses!" he exclaimed.

My eyes widened slightly at the thought. My quota! I haven't matched anyone with his or her soul mate! Flying has been keeping me busy because that's all I've wanted to do since I had my wings.

My wings ruffled slightly, what was I going to do?

Nagisa caught my worried expression, his own white wings ruffling because of my predicament. "It's okay!" he said hurriedly, "Maybe we can get you to match three people before Goro-"

"HARU!"

We flinched and looked to the sky. Flapping his brown wings above us, frowning, was our boss, Goro.

He landed beside us and gave Nagisa a pointed look. Nagisa took that as his cue to leave. He launched himself into the sky and disappeared behind the clouds.

I gulped slightly and looked at Goro. He didn't seem mad, but he didn't look happy either. "Goro-" I started.

He held up his hand and I fell silent. Goro looked at me and then at his clipboard that he always carried around. After flipping a few pages, he paused and stared at the page. He handed me that clipboard, showing me what was on the page. It was my name and a picture of me, followed by a lot of other information like my day of death, that day I joined the cupids, wingspan, etc. But what caught my attention was the red zero followed by four black lines at the bottom of the page.

I looked up at Goro, "What's this?"

He sighed and looked at me, "That, Haru, is your quota for the last couple of terms. You haven't met four and this is going to be your fifth miss. You know what that means."

My eyes widened and I could feel myself turning pale. "No. You can't take my wings! This is all I have now!" My heart began racing and my wings twitched in my fright.

"Haru, I can't help it. This is Eros' rule not mine. If you aren't going to do your job we have to fill up the position with cupids who will." He looked up at me and then at the ground, "I like you kid, you know a good match when you see it and you're a hell of a flyer, but this can't be helped. I'm sorry."

I could feel my heart beating faster. What was I going to do? I couldn't go to the underworld and do nothing for the rest of eternity! I had to keep my wings. Flying was the only thing that mattered anymore. I can't just let this happen!

I looked around. No one was around. We were standing on a hill, somewhere near an ocean. Or maybe we were near a cliff. The sky was a pale blue filed with white puffy clouds that passed over us lazily.

Would this be my last look at the sky?

No. I was going to keep my wings. "Goro," I spoke.

He looked up at me, sadness in eyes. Despite his muscular stature, he was a very nice man and he knew about love. He wasn't a supervisor for nothing.

"Give me a chance to make this right. I can meet the quota. You know I can," I stated calmly. I tried to slow down my breathing and calm my racing heart. This was my only chance. If Goro didn't help I would be done.

Goro scratched the back of his head, "You know I can't do that Haru. Eros will have my wings for it."

"But wouldn't Eros be more happy and accepting because there are three more people out there that are matched with their soul mate?" I argued. "Besides, the term isn't completely over yet, and you are allowed to give extensions."

Goro laughed, "That determined, are you?" I gave him a steady stare, my blue eyes boring into his brown. He sighed, the smile fading from his face, "Yes, you are. Well, you are right about the extension, but we're going to have to go through some special terms for you."

I nodded, "Fine, I can do it."

Goro stared at me. He began circling me, looking at me from all angles. I stood still, allowing him.

Goro stood in front of me again and clapped his hands together. "Alright, I'll make you a deal."

I nodded. This is it. He's giving me a chance!

"You know, as well as every other cupid, that we all lost our memories of our past lives when we passed. Although you did lose your memory, you haven't been deceased long meaning that someone could possibly recognize you."

He stopped talking for a moment so I took this moment to speak. "Why are you talking about all this? A cupid is supposed to be invisible anyways. No one will be able to see me."

Goro sighed again, "Haru, I'm going to have to strip you of your wings and send you to the mortal world. Now before you say something," he started, because I was showing all signs of interrupting, "it's only temporary. I will gladly give you your wings back and all of your power as a cupid once you complete this assignment."

I nodded. I didn't say anything though. I was going to be without my wings…

Goro continued speaking, "It is now the beginning of April, I will give you until August to match three people to their soul mate. August fifteenth at noon to be exact."

I nodded, "Where?"

Goro shrugged his shoulders, "Doesn't matter."

"Who?"

Goro shrugged again, "Doesn't matter either. You can choose the who and the where. You just have to make it happen by the deadline."

I nodded, but felt the panic building inside of me. A little under five month to get six people to fall in love…this was beginning to look impossible.

But I can't just go to the underworld.

"I accept the terms. When will I begin?"

"Right now." And everything went black.

I woke up to a black sky and the sound of the ocean. Someone was shaking me awake.

"Are you alright?" and then I heard a small gasp of surprise.

I looked around and saw the face of a young man, no much older than me. He had light brown hair and a soft, albeit shocked, expression on his face. He was wearing a green, white-spotted tie with a white button shirt.

But his eyes are what held me.

They were so incredibly green and familiar.

My head began to throb painfully and I groaned putting a hand to my head.

"It's alright, I got you," the young man said while helping me into a sitting position.

I closed my eyes and thought for a second. I had no idea where I was. Nor how I got here. I couldn't feel my wings, so Goro must have taken them.

I stiffened, my eyes flying open in realization. I'm in the mortal world!

I jumped to my feet and immediately felt dizzy. The man steadied me, catching my shoulders before I could fall. "Where am I?" I asked him.

"You're at the beach of Iwatobi, Japan," the man answered.

My head throbbed harder now. "I thought you said I could choose," I grumbled.

"What?"

"Er…nothing. Can you-" but my voice caught as my knees buckled. The man caught me again, his arms wrapped around my torso bringing me closer to his chest.

That warmth…

He blushed and steadied me like before. "Do you need help getting home?" he asked.

I couldn't think clearly with the pounding in my head. My eyes were straining to stay open so I could communicate and not blackout again. My breathing was becoming labored and I tried to steady it. "Uh…I don't have anywhere to go," I admitted, slowly.

The man gave me a smile and I could feel my heart beating faster. Damn Goro for knocking me out. I couldn't even think straight. "Well, my family can help you. I'm Makoto by the way. Makoto Tachibana."

My eyes got heavier as my head throbbed painfully. My eyes began to water at the pain. "I-I'm going to blackout again."

And, unfortunately, I did.

I am going to kill Goro.

When I awoke the second time, I was laying in an unknown bed, in an unknown room. I looked around and saw a lot of pictures and posters on the walls. Posters of swimmers hung everywhere. And there were several pictures of groups or couples everywhere. I couldn't tell who was in them, but there were several. There were what appeared to be swimming trunks on a dresser and towels next to it.

I turned my head to look out the window and almost screamed in surprise.

"Hey, kid, how are you feeling?" Goro asked.

I narrowed my eyes, "Why the hell did you knock me out?"

Goro rolled his eyes, "Because, kid, you would have cheated. You would have wanted to go to France or America where it's easy to pair people up. Instead, I knocked you out and had your subconscious choose the place for you."

I frowned, he saw right through me. "But why did I choose here?"

Goro shrugged, "Hey don't ask me. I'm not you. Anyways, I don't have much time. I came here to explain a few more things I forgot to tell you."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. At least my aching headache was gone. "Oh great, more deadlines," I grumbled.

Goro chuckled, his wings shaking. "No, Haru, no more deadlines. You have a big enough one already. I need to tell you that I had to change your appearance just in case you run into anyone that you knew. They may recognize you. The last thing we need are parents thinking their child came back from the dead.

Not that my parents would care, they weren't even living with me, I thought.

I sat up straight. Where did that come from?

I shook my head and held out my hand for a mirror that Goro handed me. I looked at my reflection. My hair wasn't its usual black and straight but instead curly and dark brown with light streaks of gold that you saw only when looking at it from the right angle. My nose was a little shorter and my lips plumper. I realized that I stretched also in height, maybe two or three inches. The only thing that stayed the same were my eyes. They were still bright blue.

"Thanks for not changing all of me," I said as I handed back the mirror.

Goro nodded and patted my shoulder, "No problem. So you should probably change your name as well. And, if you were alive, you'd be seventeen, so that's a good age to be at."

I nodded, "So am I doing this on my own? I can't contact you at all?"

Goro gave me a smile, "Actually, Nagisa decided he wanted to be apart of your case. He's going to be my informant on how things are going for you. While still performing his cupid duties."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Nagisa. I could always rely on him, no matter how annoying he turned out to be sometimes.

I was about to ask about the throbbing headache when there was a knock at the door. I looked at Goro but he had vanished.

"Come in," I called out.

The man from last night, Makoto, came in. He had a smile on his face when he saw me sitting up, "Ah, feeling better?"

I nodded, "Yes, thank you for your kindness."

Makoto waved it off, "Don't worry about it…"

"Isoya," I said, saying the first name that popped into my head. "My name is Isoya Asuka."

Makoto chuckled a little. I didn't catch the joke. "What?"

"Looks like we have something in common," he said, coming to sit on the bed.

I looked at him.

He sighed and gave me another smile, "We, along with my other friends, have girl names even though we are boys."

I tried to hide my blush that I could feel rising on my cheeks. I turned my head away from him, "Shut up." How could I choose a girl's name? Of all names?

Makoto let out a little noise, and I returned my gaze to him. I saw something flash in his eyes, but couldn't make out what it was.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He blinked and cleared his throat. I could tell he was forcing that small smile that now was on his face. "Tomorrow is Monday, so I guess you'll be going to school with me. How old are you?" he asked me.

"Seventeen," I answered.

Makoto forced another smile, "Looks like we'll be in the same class." He looked around the room and asked, "Do you still not know where you are?"

"No," I responded, slowly. I didn't want to lie to him. Makoto seemed very nice, but I couldn't exactly tell him what I was. Besides, it's also against the rules to expose yourself to a mortal. Eros absolutely forbids with only one exception. But no one knew what that exception was because it hasn't been used in a millennia.

He nodded, as if expecting my answer, "Well, this is my room, so I can bring out an inflatable mattress and you are more than welcome to stay here."

Unconsciously, I gripped the sheets. The idea of staying here until this was done made me feel comfortable, safe even. "What about your parents?" I questioned.

The smile really left his face as he stared at his feet, "They won't mind."

I was about to say something else when my stomach gave an almighty roar.

Makoto laughed as my face began to heat up, "You must be hungry. Here," he said standing up and handing me some clothes. "You look about my size. Put this on and we can go get something to eat."

I nodded wordlessly as he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

I didn't move for a couple of seconds. I was in the mortal world, in a place I don't know about, with a guy who found me passed out on the beach. I gave a bitter sigh.

This is already going fantastically.

Hey y'all! This is my new story on my new obsession (haha seriously do I need another?) Free! This prompt I luckily found on tumblr on this great blog: marukaprompts. It's a great blog so you definitely need to check it out if you're into writing about Mako and Haru! (And other pairings also haha). Anyways, credit for the plot of this story goes to zoe-chan who made up the prompt! (The link will be in my bio if you want to check it out!) So happy reading everyone. I hope you enjoy it!