* * *
The usual credits and disclaimers....
Aa! Megamisama! by Kosuke
Fujishima, without whom the fic could never have been possible. I claim no
credit to the creation of any of the characters already in Aa! Megamisama!, nor
the series itself.
No part of this fanfiction or any of the new characters
within may be reproduced, copied, or otherwise distributed for any reason
without the author's permission.
Comments? Questions? contact me @
theamgfan@hotmail.com or ranmafan@hotmail.com
Note : I will be using some
religious references such as the Bible in this story. If you are offended by
such religious materials, please discontinue reading this fanfiction. Thank you.
* * *
Author's introduction : Well, this is my first AMG! fanfic, so I may not have
the feel of the characters as yet. But I hope you all enjoy this fic, I've been
toying around with the idea of a new Goddess to introduce, and the implications
of a Miss Keiichi around the house, since the original manga never covered all
the fun things that could've happened. ^^U
(In case you don't read the Dark
Horse version, Miss Keiichi was the name of the series of chapters which
featured Belldandy's illness and the arrival of Troubador soon after. Keiichi
swallowed some of Urd's pills in an attempt to find the right one for Belldandy,
but... well, you get the idea.)
This story was supposed to take place after
the Velsper issue (book 17) was resolved, although I'll leave its time slot open
because anything could happen between this fic and book 19. *laugh*
Oh,
there will be a few bits of info here and there I added that aren't actually in
the series. I made them up to help the story progress. Don't get angry.
And
the Almighty refers to Kami-sama, or God.
And I strongly recommend you save
the entire story on your harddisk and read it from there.
* * *
{Chapter 1 : Sky Summer and Green Spring}
"Go directly home and speak
nothing of unnatural causes."
-Reverend Samuel Parris, The Crucible by
Arthur Miller.
Hot, very hot. Heat. Waves of it. Crickets chirping, in
concert with the thousands of chicadas. Everyone felt the heat, it felt like
moving through molasses, except molasses weren't hot, nor humid. But the heat
was as sticky, it made people's clothes cling to their bodies, their hair
plastered to their heads. The whitish sun beat down on the nation beneath it,
Japan. It was a hot mid-summer in Japan, and in a certain part of Tokyo, very
boring to boot.
Which meant bad news. Urd was never happy
bored. Sure, watching her favorite shows on TV (and those were plenty) helped
pass the time away, even for a Goddess, but still, she liked "interesting
happenings".
Of course, Urd always knew that "interesting
happenings" were always that little bit more interesting if she was the one who
caused it. She would never know the results, of course, but that was the Future,
and Skuld dealt with that. Urd dealt with the Past, and the results were the
past. Or at least, always ended up as such. Belldandy could always change the
results in the Present. She always did, some way or another. Not that Urd
minded, it always gratified her to see something good developing between
Belldandy and Keiichi whenever she intervened. (And for that, she always
congratulated herself for her "brilliance".)
"Aaaaaaaaarrrgh! This is soooooooooooo dull!" Urd moaned as she wandered around
the house, looking for something to do. As always, she kept her feet a small
distance off the hot, burning ground as she searched for something to do,
someone to disturb, or at least, a chance for her to do something. (She always
defended her use of levitation by saying the heat and roughness was not good for
her normally bare feet. Skuld normally wore those shoes, and Belldandy,
slippers. Keiichi had asked her once what about himself, but Urd had rebuked
him, saying he was a guy and it didn't matter. She loved winning
arguments.) It was around this time that Urd thought of something.
"I wonder though..... what does Keiichi have up his
sleeve this time?" Urd mused thoughtfully, grinning. She'd always loved the
summer holidays. Keiichi had such interesting things to do in his spare time
since Chihiro had left the Whirlwind closed for this summer holiday, and with
his Sempais gone on a "summer vacation" (they had, ostensibly, gone for the
month to the beachside to enjoy something they called "parasailing", and were
staying in the exact same resort Chihiro had gone to.), Urd knew there was
little that could disturb him and Belldandy.
Of course,
Urd never discounted herself from the action. Going over to the Tea Room, Urd
peeked in through the crack in the sliding door and saw Belldandy, dressed in a
sleeveless green summer dress with a small sunflower tucked in a breast pocket,
sitting at the table and pondering. That look, Urd thought, was
unnerving, even to those in the Heavens. Hands clasped together, elbows resting
on the table and chin resting on those clasped hands, Urd never knew what was
going through Belldandy's mind as Belldandy pondered with an almost
expressionless face. She decided to leave Belldandy alone and go check on Skuld.
Skuld was troubleshooting something that she kept on
calling "Kewl-Aid kun", despite the fact that it was neither working nor plugged
in. Urd chuckled. Skuld hated the summer, always complaining that it was waaaay
too hot down here and that there was never an effective way to cool down, unlike
the Heavens. Skuld had said she'd remedy that soon, and had been trying to for
the year or two she'd been on Earth. Urd decided to let Skuld figure out why her
"Kewl-Aid kun" wouldn't work despite the "wholeness of its being" and the
"purity of form". She floated over to Keiichi's room.
She
was grinning like a cheshire cat. She looked like one too. She LOVED seeing what
Keiichi was up to, and she'd never miss a chance to prod him in the ribs,
figuratively speaking. Not that Keiichi didn't give her enough chances to. And
it certainly wasn't the case now. Urd decided to make herself mini so that she
could check up on Keiichi, up close and personal. On her way towards Keiichi's
room, she saw Mr. Rat sunbathing through a crack in the wall, wearing
ridiculously oversized sunglasses. Urd decided to drop in on him. (Seems his
name was Ganchan in the Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses, so I'll call him
that.)
She snuck up from behind him. She had some devious
prank in mind.
"Hmm? Enjoying yourself, Ganchan?" Urd
mewed, catlike. She enjoyed this part too. Ever since the feline Velsper had
come, Ganchan had watched his steps very carefully, worried he would end up as
Velsper's next meal. (He didn't know Velsper wasn't interested in him.) Anything
that sounded like a cat, well, scared him silly.
"GAAAAAAAAH!" Ganchan leaped. Urd quickly grabbed his tail and held it down so
Keiichi wouldn't see the silhouette of the leaping rat through the window, if he
was looking at all. When Ganchan came down, Urd could feel his heartbeat more
than hear the racket it was making, beating at twice its usual speed with
that familiar thudthumpthudthump. Ganchan glared at Urd. "Whaddaya trying to do,
Urd-san!? Rat's gotta live to sunbathe sometime too, ya know! We don't keep our
fur this healthy shade of grey without a suntan once in a while!" Ganchan was
panting, glaring, and suddenly realized mini-Urd was doubled over, laughing. He
looked indignantly at her.
"Hooo ho ho ho! First time
I've ever heard a rat suntanning to keep his fur a healthy shade! This is rich!
Hoo hoo hoo!" Urd was wiping the tears from her eyes. Ganchan muttered something
about getting Urd to try it sometime, if she ever became a rat. Urd glared.
Ganchan shut up.
"Anyway, I just popped in to see what
you were doing, Ganchan." Urd said. "I'm going to see what Keiichi's up to." She
winked conspiratorially at him.
That perked Ganchan's
mood and face up. He looked at the window above him. The crack led out to the
front lawn porch just in front of Keiichi's window. He looked like as if he was
expecting Keiichi to open the window and find out what the racket was about.
Then he leaned over to an interested Urd and whispered.
"I saw Keiichi walking in just now with a bunch of magazines in hand. He looked
rather nervous, kinda like... kinda like..." Ganchan was wondering what to use
to describe it.
"Like when you were caught by me and
Skuld while stealing the Chocolate Truffles Belldandy had made for Keiichi for
your own midnight snack?" Urd hinted, smiling innocently.
Ganchan's face lighted up, he clapped once and exclaimed "That's it!" before he
realized that he was suckered into that joke which everyone but he ever found
funny. Ganchan never knew the expression on his face when Skuld walked into the
kitchen for a glass of warm milk and caught him carrying a truffle on his back.
Unfortunately for him, Skuld did, as did Urd when she came in for a midnight
drink right behind Skuld. Urd laughed once, waved goodbye, and floated back into
the crack as Ganchan waved his fist at her and promised a lot of unpleasant
things in her bathtub if she ever made fun of him like that again. But as she
did so, something else went through her mind.
"Magazines?
And a guilty Keiichi? This is going to be good." Urd rubbed her
hands evilly and got that look on her face. That look.
* * *
"Naaah... no! Aaahh, this isn't working!" Keiichi
complained. He'd been staring at the magazine in his hands for about an hour
now, and still nothing came to him. Wondering if he was doing something wrong,
Keiichi went back to the first magazine in the pile of two inch thick magazines
he'd been browsing through and looked at its contents again.
"Why can't I ever think of something good for once?"
Keiichi lamented. He was staring intently at the photo in the magazine, knew it
had something to do with what he had half-formed in his mind a night ago, but
couldn't build up the rest of it. An entire month of summer holiday to go, no
projects left to finish, and Keiichi was stuck in his temple home wondering what
he had wanted to do, knowing the answer lay in those magazines he had brought
in. He had "smuggled" them into the house, hoping Belldandy wouldn't catch a
glimpse of them. He hated it when she noticed him acting strange, she was always
that perceptive (Urd and Skuld had told him it wasn't a consciencious effort on
her part, just like solving a problem just like that, or coming up with ideas in
an instant, or knowing things when she did, or.....) and it would always ruin
the perfect surprises he had planned for her. But this time, he was sure nobody
had seen him. He had smuggled in a whole cache of holiday magazines he had
stashed elsewhere on temple grounds, filled with holiday spots for holidays of
any season, out from several different publishers working under different
holiday resort companies. He knew he had an idea like that in his mind, but he
could not fathom what it was that had been nagging at him the whole day.
Someone else would be nagging at him too, soon, if he
didn't do anything. Keiichi knew enough of Urd's intentions that she would want
Belldandy and him to go on some private holiday, and then suddenly follow just
to make something happen, and if she was discovered, say it was a last minute
decision to follow. Somehow, this had occured to him too, as he was trying to
recall something else related to it.
"Ah well, start
again. I'm sure it's somewhere in here." Keiichi muttered as he started flipping
through the holiday catalogues. But still, there was that picture of a girl in a
swimsuit on the cover of one magazine with whom he always superimposed a mental
picture of Belldandy over, which he couldn't get out of his mind. That swimsuit
was a striped red and white one piece suit.
* * *
Urd looked up with interest, at that pile of magazines. Most of them had pictures of sandy beaches, graced with handsome hunks and gorgeous gals. Urd knew what Keiichi was up to. She was glad, too. "Finally taking some initiative, Keiichi? Hmm hmmmm, this is interesting all right. I think I'll take a look at one myself." Urd smiled as she used a spell to bring an edition to her. Under the desk, besides Keiichi's feet and dustbin (and a lot of unusual items which Keiichi never let see the sunlight again because he had forgotten about them), Urd starting flipping pages.
* * *
Somewhere in one of Tokyo beachside marina resorts, Tamiya
was making a call back to Keiichi just to make sure that the little guy was home
so he could... "impose" a request upon him. Unfortunately for him, his step
wasn't all that steady and his dark face was even darker with one too many
bottles of sake. He picked up the reciever, burped once into it, and dialed,
rather unsteadily, some number he thought was Keiichi's.
*breeeet* *breeeet*
Strange, Tamiya thought.
Since when did the ringing tone change? Must've been that sake.
*click*
"This is the Earth
Otasuke Center. Currently, all our Goddesses-on-duty are out on call, but if
you'll leave your name after the tone, we'll get to you as soon as possible.
Thank you for choosing Earth Otasuke Center for making your wish come true!"
Tamiya didn't hear all that properly. In fact, he was
getting sleepy. The alcohol was finally taking effect. (The fact that it had
effect on Tamiya was impressive enough as it is. That sake was the strongest
stuff around.) As his grip and arm became unsteady, Tamiya was thinking of a
name.
"Keiiiiichiiiii.....Mooorisatooo...
Keiichiiiiiieee....." Tamiya slurred, thinking he was talking to Belldandy who
normally answered the phone first. The voice certainly sounded like it.
*click*
And then, the Big
Guy was asleep, on the floor, snoring and drooling, the handpiece miraculously
back on its hook, with Tamiya's gloved hand still holding onto it.
* * *
*acheee!* Keiichi sneezed. That was sudden, Keiichi
thought. But he didn't care. It was probably dusty around here. Keiichi was
supposed to clean his own room, he had told Belldandy that firmly enough. He
didn't want to bother Belldandy with his room, she had enough to do as it was.
Belldandy had insisted, but so had Keiichi.
"Maybe I
shouldn't have, but I said so..." Keiichi muttered. He was getting sleepy, and
hot. The heat wasn't doing much good for him, and looking through hundreds of
pages of resort ads didn't help his eyes at all. He was feeling drowsy, and he
knew it. Wearing a singlet and shorts with a fan working overtime didn't help in
the height of the summer heat. He couldn't afford air-conditioning too, and
Skuld never delivered on that remedy to the heat either. (Skuld reasoned that
air-conditioning was too primitive. Really, Keiichi had said, it works fine. But
Skuld had thrown a tantrum, so he dismissed that argument.)
"Aah... just a nap. I'll look again later..." Keiichi
whispered to no-one in particular, stumbling over to the door and sliding it
close before collapsing on his futon, throwing up a small cloud of dust.
* * *
Belldandy blinked once, twice, then lifted her chin off
her hands. She had suddenly thought of something, something wonderful. A
holiday. That's what they needed. Keiichi had deserved it for slogging through
some of the toughest times in college, in life, and everything.
"My, I wonder what Keiichi-san would say to that.... I
hope it suits him." Belldandy mused. She smiled a little, allowing herself to
build a small sandcastle in the sky.
"Keiichi-san! I just thought of something!" Belldandy
was smiling brilliantly in her dress, holding the door to Keiichi's door open.
Keiichi was caught by surprise though, and was trying to hide something behind
him as he turned to face Belldandy.
"Erm.... yes,
Belldandy?" Keiichi was flushing furiously. Belldandy didn't notice. She was too
excited.
"I just thought about something! Maybe..
maybe we could go on a holiday!" Belldandy almost squealed in excitement. She
loved holidays with Keiichi, even more with her sisters along. Keiichi laughed
once, twice, nervously. This time though, Belldandy caught it.
"Is something the matter, Keiichi-san?" Belldandy
asked, genuinely concerned. She walked over to Keiichi, who was furiously trying
to hide whatever it was behind him, but not very well.
"Erm, ah, it's nothing! Really!" Keiichi was
definitely panicky now. Belldandy decided to respect his wishes, although she
felt disturbed.
"As you say, Keiichi-san. But
you're sure you're alright?" Belldandy asked, her tone softer. Keiichi nodded.
But he finally took out whatever it was behind him.
"Well, actually, Belldandy...." Keiichi started.
Belldandy looked at him hopefully. Keiichi took out a magazine, and let
Belldandy see it.
It was a resort near the beach,
up on a small hill. Couples only, it said. Belldandy was delighted.
"Oh, Keiichi-san!"
And then she woke up, happy. Belldandy realized she had fallen asleep in the middle of her daydreaming with that dream in mind. No wonder it was so vivid, thought Belldandy. It was a real dream. Belldandy knew that dreams she had of Keiichi or herself would come true soon. Very soon. They always had. Belldandy stood and headed out towards Keiichi's room.
* * *
Keiichi hadn't barely touched the futon when he heard
that sweet voice outside the doorway.
"Keiichi-san? Are you there?" The voice was unmistakable. Belldandy. Keiichi
rolled off his futon in a panic.
"Yeah, yeah!? Is that
you, Belldandy?" Keiichi hoped his voice didn't betray his nervousness, which he
very well knew it did.
"May I come in? I've got something
to ask of you." That was unusual. Belldandy normally never "asked" for
something, she just made it known. Keiichi wondered. But he didn't care, if it
was for Belldandy, it was for anything.
"Sure, just hold
on!" Keiichi said, calmer now. He began packing away the magazines under his
table (never seeing those unusual items) and was going to open the door.
"Coming!" Keiichi said. Wonder what she wants?,
Keiichi thought.
* * *
Urd was enjoying herself. Hiding in a corner, she had used Belldandy's voice and projected it "outside" Keiichi's room, fooling him. Urd had seen a wonderful ad in one of the magazines and thought she had thought of the 'perfect' way to bring it to Keiichi. Quickly changing outfits, she positioned herself as Keiichi answered the door.
* * *
Keiichi opened the door and looked around. Nobody. He
looked left, right, up and down. No one. Keiichi muttered under his breath with
all the venom he could summon.
"Urd. Again." He hated it
when this happened, all too often. But he shrugged it off. Knowing Urd, she was
just relieving boredom. He turned around and decided to resume his search, since
he wasn't sleepy anymore. Hearing Belldandy's voice had been enough to give him
an adrenaline boost.
And he nearly bumped into a pair of
fleshy globes. Keiichi knew what that meant.
"Hello
there, big boy!" Urd grinned at Keiichi, using her deep, throaty, irresistably
sexy voice. She was certainly wearing that swimsuit she had seen on the cover of
one of the magazines. Somehow, she suddenly knew Keiichi resented her using the
swimsuit of the girl in that picture, but for what reason, she didn't know. And
as the world experienced its third Ice Age in a second-
(Prof. Belldandy of the Mini-series appears : "The first ice age was one of
Man's theory of how the dinosaurs got wiped out. The second ice age was during
the Aa! Megamisama! OVA episode 2, when Urd covered Keiichi-san's eyes and used
my voice. Ok, let's continue!)
- Keiichi's face became
dark. Truth was, all his fantasies about seeing Belldandy in that swimsuit were
shattered, along with all that ice that had formed in that second, when Urd
stood in front of him in it. But he pushed that feeling down, he knew she meant
well. He was irritated though.
"What is it, Urd? You
probably know what I'm doing by now, so don't bother me with details, alright?
I'm trying to do this by myself for once." Keiichi grumbled.
Keiichi admonished himself immediately afterwards though,
knowing Urd's advice was, while a little twisted, good-natured. But he really
wanted to do it alone for once. Urd looked hurt. For someone whose eyes were
slitted like a cat's, green like a snake, and looked like a sly and cunning
villian, and half a demoness to boot, Urd managed to look hurt. Keiichi didn't
feel so justified anymore. He swallowed.
"Keiichi! I was
just trying to help..." Urd said. "You're so mean!" Urd pouted. Keiichi knew
then that Urd wasn't really insulted, but still....
"Oh,
all right, Urd. What is it?" Keiichi sighed, throwing his hands up in
resignation to his fate.
Urd perked up. She showed him a
two page photo of a resort. Keiichi read it out loud. Urd was smiling, evilly.
"The Couple's Lodge. Couples only. Beautiful
resort, natural surroundings, white sandy beach within walking distance, clean
and environmental friendly. Hot springs included. Call now to reserve." Keiichi
sounded intruiged. The name was simple enough, the rules even simpler. No Urds
and no Skulds allowed because they didn't have boyfriends to go with them. Then
it hit him, like an Urd bolt through his head.
"THAT'S
IT!" Keiichi nearly yelled, scaring Urd a step or two back. "That was what I was
thinking of that night!" Keiichi looked elated. He turned to Urd, grinning from
ear to ear. He'd totally forgotten about Urd's earlier misdeed.
"Urd, I'm so grateful I could hug you!" And at
that, Urd smiled invitingly. She held her arms out invitingly.
"You're welcome." She grinned mischeviously. Keiichi
suddenly remembered who he was talking to. He nearly lost his grin along with
his good mood. "Erm, on second thoughts, no thanks." It was Urd's turn to lose
her grin, but she didn't care.
"Hug who?" came
that voice from the hallway.
Keiichi looked at
Urd. She shook her head, and immediately decided to beat it. Keiichi swallowed,
and knew it was the real Belldandy this time. The footsteps were coming closer.
He quickly tried to hide the magazine behind him as Belldandy came in. She was
smiling openly. This was good news.
"Keiichi-san?"
Belldandy quipped cheerily, her smile as bright as the sun outside.
"Erm... yes?" Keiichi wondered if the magazine was
sticking out from behind him. He was sweating, and not from the heat.
"I just thought of something." Belldandy was still
smiling, and she had tilted her head slightly, alluringly.
"Yes?" Keiichi swallowed.
"I think
we should have a holiday!" Belldandy happily clapped her hands together and
flashed him a brilliant smile, head still tilted in a charming manner.
Keiichi wiped his forehead as the sweat was running down
it uncomfortably.
He totally forgot he was holding the
magazine. When he saw it in front of his face, he shouted once and quickly stuck
it behind his back again. Belldandy blinked. She didn't see the magazine.
"Is something the matter, Keiichi-san?" Belldandy asked,
genuinely concerned. Keiichi looked at her. Amazing, she hadn't noticed the
magazine!
Belldandy couldn't tell from his expression
what he was thinking, and his aura read blue, yellow and pink. Mostly blue and
pink, but Belldandy always saw pink with Keiichi.
(From the first manga
book, Belldandy can read the colours of people's minds to determine their
emotions. She can't read minds unless she's granting a wish. Yellow - Happiness,
Blue - Troubled, Pink - In love.)
"Well, actually
Belldandy...." Keiichi started. He didn't know how to continue, but he did.
"....I was hoping to surprise you with this." He held up the magazine with its
advertisement. Belldandy looked for a moment, and smiled.
"You just did, Keiichi-san." Belldandy whispered. "You're so sweet."
Keiichi was blushing from head to toe as Belldandy kissed
his forehead.
{End of Chapter 1}
{Chapter
2 : Meet Uruz!}