Heaven's Will

Chapter 5

Sakata clapped his hands together and looked over at the two gods standing across from him. "Alright, let's get this lesson started."

      "How exactly do you plan on teaching me how to be romantic?" Soraru asked.

  He wasn't very excited about this whole thing, but he didn't have much of a choice. Urata and Sakata had already made up their minds that something had to be done.

      "Through demonstration, of course," Sakata answered. He veered his gaze to the god of nature. "Uratan, would you mind helping me out with this?"

      "Sure," Urata said, moving to stand beside Sakata.

      "Okay, so first of all, in order to establish any sort of relationship you have to make yourself approachable. Smile, act friendly. People love talking to someone who's friendly," Sakata said.

  He turned to Urata with warm smile on his face. The sight of it was enough to make Urata unconsciously smile back.

  Sakata glanced back at Soraru. "And if the person you want to talk to doesn't approach you first, strike up a conversation with them."

      "What if I don't have anything to say?" Soraru asked.

      "Then just ask them how they're doing. Like this," Sakata replied. He looked at Urata again. "Hey, Uratan. How has your day been?"

      "Pretty good. I've been busy preparing for spring, so that's kind of tiring," Urata responded.

      "Spring always is tough on you, huh?" Sakata said.

      "Yeah, but it's alright. I've done this so many times I can't even count," Urata said with a laugh.

      "That's true, but don't rush yourself. You end up being completely exhausted every time you do that," Sakata said. "Also, if you ever feel like having some down time, I'm always available."

  Urata smiled slightly. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

  Sakata then turned to face Soraru again. "And this leads to my next bit of advice. Remember to be caring and considerate whenever the other person is struggling or having a bad day. It's rude if you just dismiss their problems."

  Soraru nodded to show he was following along.

      "Another good thing to do is offer your time to the other person. Humans love when someone else sacrifices their own time for them. Probably because they only have so much of it," Sakata stated. He paused and looked over his shoulder at the god of nature. "I meant everything I said, by the way. Come to me any time you're stressed, okay?"

  Urata could only nod and smile bashfully to himself. Soraru rolled his eyes at the two of them.

      "Now, why don't you give it a try, Soraru-kun? Show us your best smile," Sakata said.

  The corners of Soraru's mouth lifted up into an awkward smile. It looked nothing like the warm and inviting grin Sakata had shown. In fact, it was almost off putting.

      "Okay, we'll have to work on that," Sakata said slowly. He waved a hand at Soraru to get him to stop smiling. "Anyway, let's move on to actually showing interest in someone. The best way to do this is through gifts."

  He snapped his fingers, and a bouquet of red roses appeared in his hand. Sakata then held the bouquet out to Urata with a wink. The god of nature accepted the gift, grinning as he brought the roses up to his nose to smell them.

      "Your gifts don't have to be anything grand. Just get something small yet thoughtful. Making it personal to the one you like is also a good idea," Sakata said.