Angel Fishing

By Yai-tzu Hin

Warning: No part of this story or cast of characters may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author, Yai-tzu Hin. If you do, dogs will wake you at 3:00 am in the morning, your hair will go gray at an early age, all you pens will run out of ink at the most inconvenient time, and your computer will always freeze up in the middle of the best part of a fic.

The water was clear and warm. Above, the afternoon sun shown down through the large skylights. A crowd of young women milled about the pool's edge. Most were talking, but a few were daring to enter the water. Yatsurugi ignored them. He swam the length of the pool using long swift strokes. Doing the backstroke, he stared at the clouds as the lazily drifted by. Sensing the edge of the pool he rolled onto his stomach and dove under the water. Turning and pushing off the wall he reemerged, took a deep breath and began the crawl stroke. Someone let out a whistle. Reaching the opposite end, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Yatsurugi." Keien called. He stopped and grabbed a hold of the pool's edge waiting for his roommate to approach. Keien walked over dripping wet. His hair was slicked back, which made him look a bit like a sleazy car dealer.

"Listen, I'm going over to the diving pool for a bit."

"Okay." Yatsurugi replied. "I may join you later, but I want to finish my laps first."

"Not a problem. Oh, and beware of those girls over there. I've noticed them watching us." Yatsurugi rolled his eyes and sank down in the water. "My feelings exactly. I'll see you in a bit, remember that open time only lasts for another twenty minutes."

"Right." Yatsurugi pushed off and started his laps again. Keien wandered over to the diving pool where there were five people ahead of him to use the boards. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to fluff it up. Glancing over his shoulder at the crowd of young ladies wearing the same swimsuit, he wondered what the university women's swim team was doing at the pool a whole half an hour before they were scheduled to be there. Open hours for swimming were from 3pm until 6pm in the afternoons and again from 8pm until the pool closed at eleven. They must have come to warm up or check out all the cute guys who frequented the pool. The later was more likely, Keien decided watching them titter over a particularly handsome man in his late twenties. He walked past them on his way to the dressing rooms and they giggled and tried to hide smiles. I bet they're rating him, Keien thought. I'd give him an eight. Only Yatsurugi is a perfect ten in my book.

Only two more laps and Yatsurugi would have finished fifty laps. His arms were tired and he was slowing his pace. Having human form meant he had to get used to tiring quicker. In pure angelic form, he would have swum two hundred and fifty before beginning to tire. Life was certainly different than what he'd known, but that was fine with him. Keien was wonderful. All the time he was sick, Keien had been so kind, offering him chicken soup, tea, and a back massage. Yatsurugi wished he could remember more about those two days, but he was apparently hypersensitive to aspirin. This meant that most everything was just one long blur in his mind. Apparently Keien was thrilled with this, but Yatsurugi didn't know why. He wondered if something had happened while he was drugged that Keien was embarrassed about. I probably did something very stupid, he thought rolling over and starting the backstroke. Or maybe said something that he wasn't ready for. I don't think he's over Suiichiro yet. He needs time to recover. Yatsurugi was content being someone Keien could lean on for support, but part of him wanted more.

Was obtaining human form something he'd done for Keien or himself? He wasn't sure, but he wanted to believe it was for Keien's sake. He'd hate to think he'd think he'd done this for himself. Although other angels did this for themselves, but they didn't always have humans to guard. Troubled by his own thoughts, he nearly collided with the wall. Coming to his senses seconds before, he rolled over and glided to it. Deciding that if he was going to have a moral dilemma, he better have it on dry land, he climbed out of the pool.

"Hey, you're pretty good." An unfamiliar voice said. Suddenly Yatsurugi found himself staring into the face of a smiling young woman. Bright brown eyes stared into his blue. "I've been watching you for some time. You've got an excellent backstroke and butterfly. Have you ever considered being part of the university's men's swim team?"

"Um..no." he stammered taken aback by her forwardness.

"I even clocked your last ten laps. You were fast. You should really consider it. They always need good swimmers." She continued not missing a beat. He noticed that she was wearing the women's swim team suit. Oh, no she's recruiting people.

"Well, I…I'm not really interested. I only swim for recreation." He replied rubbing his hand through dripping lavender hair. She clicked her tongue.

"Tsk, tsk. You really should consider. A fine swimmer like you would be an asset to the team."

"Listen, I need to go catch up with a friend." Yatsurugi said weakly praying that this woman would go away so he could join Keien at the diving pool. She continued to smile brightly and attempt to hold a conversation with him. He desperately wanted to leave, but was worried about hurting her feelings.

"Miss. I need to go. Open time is almost over and I REALLY need to go find my friend." He said putting emphasis on "really". She got the hint and he escaped. Keien was on the board, when Yatsurugi slipped into line. He watched as Keien took several quick steps, bounced up once, and then sprang off. Arching beautifully in the air, he turned downwards, and slipped gracefully into the water. The people standing in line applauded. Yatsurugi clapped loudly and grinned as his friend swam over. Standing at the edge, Yatsurugi helped Keien out of the water.

"That was superb!" he complimented. Keien smiled.

"I don't know. It's been a long time since I've been on a diving board."

"But you haven't lost your touch. You were pretty good when you were in high school." Yatsurugi beamed. Keien felt embarrassed by the praise, but enjoyed it none the less.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Yatsurugi answered. Suddenly the P.A. system crackled to life.

"Open time is over in ten minutes. Open time is over in ten minutes." The men looked at each other.

"Maybe we should consider hitting the showers." Keien suggested.

"Sounds good. Let's go." They walked off. Yatsurugi stayed close to Keien and prayed that the girl wouldn't try to come over and talk to him again. She didn't. She stayed with the rest of her friends and watched them pass with eager eyes. Noticing the leering glances that both he and Yatsurugi were receiving from them, he hastened his pace. The last thing we need is a bunch of girls with stars in their eyes following us around. I had enough of that in junior high, Keien thought.

"Me too." Whispered Yatsurugi.

"What?"

"We REALLY don't need them following us." Keien chuckled.

"Left my mind open again didn't I?"

"Yep." Yatsurugi said with a smile.

Meiko frowned. Turning the book upside down, she read it again. It didn't make anymore sense than it had when it was right side up.

"That isn't going to help us." Meiko glanced up.

"It might have." She told the girl sitting across from her at the table.

"I doubt it." Meiko sighed and played with her pencil. This was harder than she thought. She and her lab partner had been studying in the library for two hours and hadn't gotten anywhere. The cute librarian that worked there on Tuesdays and Saturdays had passed by four times already. Meiko felt like drop-kicking her textbook off the roof of her dormitory. Or maybe setting fire too it, either way it got rid of the hideous thing.

"Nakabori."

"What Kagamida?" Meiko replied sitting up straighter.

"I think we should go and talk to the professor, he will be able to help us." Kagamida Imizu said closing her book.

"That's highly unlikely."

"Why?"

"Because," Meiko said holding up her index finger. "One, his office hours are at times neither of us can make."

"We could make an appointment." Imizu suggested.

"Two, he never keeps appointments. I know because I've tried. Three, he won't help us even if we asked. He would just tell us to read the book and figure it out ourselves."

"Really?" Imizu raised a blond eyebrow. "And how would you know that?"

"Because I've talked with a bunch of people who took the class last semester. They all say the same thing and these were the ones who were lucky enough to pass." Imizu drummed her fingers on the table.

"So what you're telling me is that we are doomed."

"Unless we find someone to tutor us."

"My vote is to find a tutor." Imizu said beginning to shove notepads and books into a bag. "We're not getting anywhere, why don't we stop for tonight."

"Sure sounds good. I'll call you." Meiko packed up her notepad too. "Ja ne."

"Ja ne, see you Nakabori." They left the library and headed for their separate dorms. This was a total waste of a night. I could have been doing other things, Meiko grumbled mentally. She sighed deeply, hefted her bag higher on her shoulder and continued on.

Keien shook his head as Meiko told him of her problems. Her Astronomy class was giving her fits. She and her lab partner had spent all of last night after class was over trying to work on star charts.

"And then we had to calculate the rate of change in the moon. Errr..Kagamida and I just couldn't get it. I mean what is the point?"

"To see how long it takes the moon to change from full to new." Keien replied leaning on the café table. They were eating lunch in their favorite off campus café again. Yatsurugi was supposed to meet them, but he was probably hung up in class again. His professor liked to continue lecturing even though class was over.

"Yes, I know that." Meiko spat. "You don't have to be a smart ass here oniichan."

"Fine. So you're having problems and the Prof. isn't helping you. Maybe you should find a tutor."

"That's what we're planning to do."

"Planning to do what?" Yatsurugi asked coming up behind Meiko.

"Aisaku. Hello. I'm planning on getting a tutor."

"Oh, for what class?" he asked taking the chair next to Keien. He and Keien exchanged smiles and greetings.

"Astronomy." Meiko answered. "And I am THIS close to throwing my textbook out with the trash!"

"Listen, I'm pretty good with astronomy."

"You mean you know how to calculate rate of change in the moon and can actually find constellations?" Yatsurugi nodded his head.

"Finding constellations is easy…" Meiko suddenly grabbed his hands.

"Could you be our tutor? PLEASE! Kagamida Imizu and I really need help." Her eyes seemed to sparkle with desperate hope.

"You need help all right."

"Shut up oniichan!" Yatsurugi sighed. He shouldn't have opened his mouth, but it was too late now. Oh, well she did need the help.

"I'll help you study. But I don't know how much good I'll be."

"Oh thank you. The project is due next week. So whatever time is good for you is fine with me."

"Um, okay. How about Friday night?"

"Great, I'll call Kagamida. Thank you so much, you don't know what this means."

"Lots of headaches." Keien muttered. He wasn't sure he wanted Meiko coming over. It'll interrupt all the male bonding that Yatsurugi and I could be doing, he thought sadly. Yatsurugi glanced over at him oddly. Keien wondered if he'd heard the thought, but the angel made no mention of it.

There was a knock on the door at four. Keien answered it only to find a young lady with short strawberry blond hair holding a stack of books.

"Hi, I'm Kagamida Imizu, Nakabori Meiko's lab partner. I was told to be here at four. This is right address?"

"Yeah. I'm Nakabori Keien, her elder brother."

"Nice to meet you." She said shifting the books so she could bow.

"Come in, Meiko called and will be here soon. She's running a bit late." Keien said shutting the door behind her. Imizu put the books on the ground so she could take off her shoes.

"I didn't know astronomy called for so many books." He commented waiting patiently for her to follow him.

"It doesn't. These are books I'm borrowing from the library for a project in another class. It's a twenty page research paper." Keien cringed at the thought of a research paper. He hated them.

"Okay." She said taking off her backpack. "You don't mind if I just leave those there." He shook his head, then left. Drumming his knuckles on Yatsurugi's door, he waited for an answer.

"What?" a half-asleep Yatsurugi asked when he answered.

"Your pupil is here. Were you asleep?"

"I was taking a nap. I stayed up late trying to finish that assigned reading for literature class." Yatsurugi replied stretching. "Okay, I'm ready."

Imizu sat attempting to find a pencil when Yatsurugi walked into the room. She looked up and nearly dropped her bag.

"Hi, I'm Aisaku Yatsurugi."

"I…I'm Kagamida Imizu." She stammered. "I know you. You swim at the university's pool."

"I don't think I've…" suddenly he stopped. Oh, no.

"I normally wear a cap to keep my hair out of my face. I'm not surprised you don't recognize me." She continued. "I'm part of the women's swim team. I still think you should consider joining the men's team."

Oh, no. It is. Yatsurugi managed to keep himself from collapsing immediately.

"No, I don't think so." He grabbed the arm of a chair and set himself gently down. "Where is Meiko?"

"She is running late." Keien informed him. "She called and said she'd be here as soon as she could."

"Well, maybe we should wait for her. This way you don't have explain things twice." Imizu offered.

"Ah, I'd rather take a look at the work you've been doing currently. This way I'll get a feeling on what you need help with."

"Everything." Imizu replied pulling out a stack of papers. "These are our readings of the moon thus far. These are the star charts." She continued to drop more papers onto the coffee table. Keien knew this was going to be a long night for everyone. He snuck to the kitchen to make some tea.

Yatsurugi was forced to move to the couch so he could sift through the piles. Imizu started reading over some of her previous work. He couldn't believe all the information they had and it took him several minutes to organize the mess. It didn't help that when he reached for papers Imizu's hand would mysteriously be on the same paper.

"Oops. Sorry." She said taking her hand off his. "Aisaku, I've been meaning to ask you. Well, you see the girls and I were watching you swim the other day and we were wondering."

"Yes?" he asked exasperatedly.

"We were wondering if you have a girlfriend." Yatsurugi nearly choked. "Are you okay?"

"No."

"And he doesn't have a girlfriend." Meiko said coming up behind them.

"Meiko!" Yatsurugi exclaimed turning to see her standing behind the couch, her hair done up in buns.

"That's me. I let myself in, I hope you don't mind." She replied skirting the edge to come sit down next to Yatsurugi. He shook his head and handed her a piece of paper.

"You're late. Start reading."

"Yes sir!" she saluted and then took the paper. They all read for a while, then Keien brought in the tea. During the tea break, Keien noticed that Yatsurugi kept scooting towards Meiko. It took him a minute figure out why. Imizu was inching her way towards Yatsurugi at the same pace he was inching away.

"So have you girl you're interested in Aisaku?" Imizu asked pouring him more tea.

"No." he stated staring at the cup.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was it a bad break up?"

"What?"

"I asked if it was a bad break up? I assume that you just broke up with someone and that is why you're not interested in women."

"Um, that's not the reason." Keien replied trying not to laugh at his guardian angel's uncomfortable situation. Imizu liked Yatsurugi. It was so obvious, that anyone with half a brain could figure it out.

"Oh. Are you engaged then?" she inquired moving closer so that she was nearly on top of him. Yatsurugi couldn't scoot away any more and Meiko wasn't moving.

"No." he said giving Keien "please help me" looks.

"Well, you should know that there are a lot of women who think you are really cute. Most of them are on the swim team." Imizu said reaching across him to tap Meiko on the leg. "Isn't that right Nakabori?"

"Well, all I know is what my roommate has been gossiping about. She's a member of the swim team too. I hate to say it oniichan, but you and Aisaku are the reason they've been coming to open swim recently. They say you've got cute butts."

"Hey!" Yatsurugi exclaimed as Imizu began to giggle.

"Really?" Keien said. "I hope we scored nicely. Yatsurugi, you're turning red. Haven't you ever heard of the rating system?"

"Yes. Kayumi IS my sister after all. Miss Certified Cupid herself. How could I not know?"

"Certified Cupid?" Meiko asked giving her brother an odd look.

"Kayumi likes to play matchmaker." Yatsurugi told her. "She's been trying to fix me up for years with various people." Meiko mouthed "oh" then took a sip of tea.

"Well, she obviously hasn't found the right person for you." Imizu commented sitting back up. "I mean, I believe that destiny chooses for you. One day you're minding your own business, then you see the right person and BAM! The next day you're walking down the isle with them."

"Interesting concept." Keien said leaning back. "And here I always thought that there was this little kid in diapers flitting around shooting people with love arrows."

"Eros doesn't wear diapers." Yatsurugi muttered.

"What?" everyone said.

"Never mind." Imizu glanced up into Yatsurugi's eyes. She smiled, he felt sick. "I think we should get back to work or you'll never get done." He said hurriedly. The sooner we're done, the sooner she can leave.

It was nearly seven by the time Imizu and Meiko left. By that time Yatsurugi was about fed up with both women cooing over him instead of concentrating on their project. Keien just laughed at the entire affair and watched from a safe distance. He knew that Meiko was only doing this because it was fun and hopefully Imizu would get over her crush on Yatsurugi soon.

"You look frazzled roomie." Keien said.

"I am. I swear that Imizu is hard up for a date."

"I noticed she was having problems staying on task. I'm sure Meiko wasn't helping things by playing the little sister." Keien muttered picking up the dishes. Yatsurugi laid back on the couch and closed his eyes.

"You know, you could have helped instead of watching me squirm."

"Ah, but it was fun."

"For who?" He demanded. Keien laughed. "It's not funny. It was really embarrassing. Not just for me but for her. I mean she was practically throwing herself at me."

"Come on. It wasn't that bad."