Ah! My Goddess: Winds of Change
By: Darkseid
Chapter 1: Faith and Memory
"Darn it…the nuts need to be tightened again…"
Keiichi grumbled to himself as he searched his toolbox for the correct wrench.
It was a pleasant morning at the Tarikihongan temple. In the skies above, puffy cumulus clouds filtered out most of the intense beams of sunlight, allowing just the right amount of illumination through. The last traces of dewdrops were disappearing from the flora scattered all over the temple grounds. Chirping could be heard in the distance, bringing along with it a semblance of tranquility.
A gust of wind gently blew alongside the shed, scattering the stray cherry blossom leaves lying around the area. Keiichi paused for a moment to admire the way the leaves drifted in the air, a welcome distraction from the maintenance he'd been performing on his bike. He'd decided that it was the right time to get around to fixing the Beemer; it had endured its fair share of scrapes, crashes, and explosions (and forced disassembly courtesy of Skuld's tampering). And so far his disposition was proving to be correct; the motorcycle was barely holding itself together.
"Thank god nothing's happened yet this morning." Keiichi sighed in relief, wiping his forehead with his left hand.
So far, the temple still retained its tranquil ambience, a rare occurrence when taking into account the temple's current inhabitants. Hardly a day goes by without Urd and Skuld causing some form of mayhem, such as holes in the walls, wrecked furniture, or partial destruction of the house. And the responsibility for restoring everything back to order always fell to Belldandy, the only goddess present maintaining a semblance of situational awareness. By sheer luck, Keiichi had managed to avoid serious injury up to this point; however, he was sure that his luck was bound to run out one of these days.
And if something happened, I'm sure Belldandy will be there…
He held onto that thought briefly before banishing it from his mind.
She shouldn't have to be there all the time. Whenever Keiichi ran into some form of trouble, ranging from earthly accidents to supernatural disasters, somehow Belldandy always managed to save him. The fact that she often ended up exhausted immediately afterwards only served to add to his guilt.
She's suffered so much because of me…
As that train of thought ran through his head, Keiichi was reminded of their most recent adventure. According to secondhand accounts, Hild had nearly succeeded in changing present events by inserting herself into his life at an earlier point in time. Even though the goddesses succeeded in thwarting her plans, Keiichi was aware that Belldandy nearly cracked over the course of the whole ordeal. Through Urd's recollections, he learned that Hild went to great lengths to flaunt the 'relationship' between her and his past self; he was sure that Belldandy's heart suffered great pains, pains that she kept hidden from him even now. Whenever he tried to draw an answer from her in regard to the matter, Belldandy would abruptly change the subject of their conversation, forcing him to move on.
"It's decided. Today's the day that I'll finally get her to tell me her side of the story," Keiichi suddenly declared. "No matter what it takes…"
Before he could say anything else, a black metallic sphere smashed into the ground in front of him and detonated with a loud bang. As his vision faded to black, Keiichi managed to get a glimpse of thunderclouds gathering in the sky.
"Not fair, Urd!"
Skuld growled in annoyance, keeping her gaze locked on her elder sister. In her left hand, she held a gray grenade launcher equipped with an auto-tracking scope. A trail of thin gray smoke drifted out of the barrel; she had recently launched a fragmentation sphere, a stronger version of her patented Skuld Bombs.
"Now, now, is that any way to talk to your older sister?" Urd waved her right pointer finger back and forth.
The older goddess was surrounded by a shimmering spherical force shield that she'd conjured up earlier. It had successfully deflected the explosive and sent it flying off to another part of the temple, where it exploded with a loud bang. Lines of electricity travelled between Urd's right fingertips as she cackled madly.
"You're a hundred years too young to beat me today, Skuld! Now it's my turn!"
A large, bright bolt of lightning shot straight down from the thunderclouds above and slammed into the ground around Skuld, causing a massive explosion of light and smoke. A loud boom spread out from the point of impact and washed over Urd and everything else inside the temple grounds. The whole front courtyard of the temple became completely enveloped by a thick layer of fog, making it impossible to see anything beyond a few centimeters.
When the fog finally dissipated, it revealed a perfect circle of blackened earth where Skuld was standing earlier. Skuld herself was covered in soot in several spots, including a sizable patch on her right cheek. Her shirt was ruined, and her face was contorted in anger; during their fights, Urd usually came out on top most of the time. Not today!
She straightened out the grenade launcher and turned a knob counterclockwise.
"Really…you really think that's going to work this time?" To emphasize her point, Urd snapped her fingers and made the shield pulse once.
"Watch me! I'll make you eat those words! This time, it won't go flying off again!"
A deafening bang emerged from the firearm's barrel as Skuld pulled the trigger. Another fragmentation sphere launched itself towards Urd with far greater speed than the previous one. However, instead of bouncing off in another direction, the black sphere exploded the moment it touched the shield. The noise from the explosion, while not as loud as the lightning's impact, could still be heard from all points around the temple.
Urd groaned as she brushed off shrapnel from the grenade from her face; the shaped explosion had directed most of the grenade's power through the shield and onto her. "Now you've done it…," she menacingly spoke in a low voice. "PREPARE TO BE OBLITERATED!"
Skuld winced as Urd raised her right hand and cackled; streams of lightning shot out of her fingertips and into the sky. Deciding that she had nothing left to lose, she turned the power amplification knob on her grenade launcher to the maximum setting and leveled the firearm for another shot. The skies above rumbled as electrical energy coursed through the air.
"Stop it, both of you!" a firm voice implored.
Urd and Skuld stopped what they were doing and turned towards the source of the voice. The sight that met them was more than enough to convince both goddesses to stop what they were doing.
Belldandy was standing at the low bamboo gate that separated the main temple from the caretaker's residence, carrying a basketful of laundry underneath her right arm. She was wearing her usual blue-and-white dress along with a pair of lavender slippers. Despite the fact that she was usually serene even under the most strenuous circumstances, right now, Belldandy was visibly irritated; her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were drawn inwards.
"Let's just try to keep calm today, alright?" Her voice returned to its normal melodic pitch. "After all, it's not very often that we get to relax on such a beautiful day as this."
Urd and Skuld couldn't help but agree with her, despite their intentions; Belldandy's presence had managed to convince even stone-hearted misers to donate their fortunes to charity. Reluctantly, they both stood down, and the weather abruptly returned back to normal.
"Big sister, we didn't mean too…but Urd…she…," Skuld began, watering her eyes.
"Fishing for sympathy again, aren't we?" said Urd with a devilish smile. "I'd thought you'd gotten past that already."
"Well, weren't you the one that ruined my Auto-Sorter 300 last night?"
"Oh!? That monstrosity of a contraption that was fumbling around my potions cabinet?" Urd sighed and drew a long breath. "It got what it deserved."
"WHAT!?" Skuld's face was plastered into an expression of absolute shock.
Skuld was so engrossed with their new argument that she didn't register Belldandy's absence; her older sister had wandered off towards the shed. Neither side was willing to back down and admit defeat; right now, the goddesses were too sour to swallow their pride. Skuld, in particular, wanted to come out on top for once, even though she knew that Urd would eventually find some way to rile her up. She was so determined to get her point across that the sound of the laundry basket dropping to the ground escaped her notice.
"Keiichi!" Belldandy wailed in panic. Her cry drowned out every other sound in the vicinity.
The sight of Keiichi covered in metallic flakes, soot, and bruises in several spots sent Belldandy into a state of mortified distress. It took the better part of an hour for her to get Keiichi back inside the house, treat his (minor) injuries, and put him inside his futon, all the while breaking into hysterics in between the tasks. After that was taken care of, she retreated back to the tea room and poured herself a cup of Darjeeling tea. She was so engrossed with watching the brown liquid's slow swirling that she didn't notice the door opening.
"Bell, how are you feeling?"
"Huh?" Belldandy relaxed her grip on her teacup, revealing faint cracks as her fingers moved away. "Oh, sis…"
She continued to stare into the depths of her cup, taking a sip of the tea. Belldandy let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes.
"I gave him a painkiller," Urd began, taking a seat next to her sister at the table. "By the time he wakes up, he'll back to normal."
Belldandy didn't reply, taking another long sip of her tea instead. She continued to stare vacantly at the picture frames hung at the center of the opposite wall. They'd been recently put up; most of them contained photos that she and Keiichi took with Megumi's old camera.
Her eyes fell on one particular photograph – the one taken by Urd that depicted her and Keiichi holding hands while fast asleep. She wistfully recalled her memories of the event – what started out as a simple opening party at Whirlwind ended up with her causing mayhem all over town in a drunken stupor and Keiichi having to take her back home. Belldandy smiled as the words he said to her at that bridge came back to the forefront of her thoughts.
"…If I ever have to let go of this hand…that'd be the greatest unhappiness I could imagine."
"…Hey, you there?" Urd waved her right hand back and forth across Belldandy's face.
Urd sighed, moved her hand away and got up to leave.
"Sis…, am I bad person?"
Urd stopped in her tracks and leaned against the door. She took a moment to close her eyes and breathe in deeply before turning around to face her younger sister.
"Of course not," she answered, keeping her voice impassive. "Why would you say such a thing?"
"It's just that…" Belldandy paused, twiddling her thumbs back and forth. "Keiichi suffers so much because of my presence."
"Bell…not again…"
"It's true!" the blonde went on, her voice tinged with guilt. "Remember when he caught a fever while trying to help me through my license mix-up?"
"Yeah." Marller, with Hild's assistance, had somehow temporarily changed Belldandy's goddess license into a demon operator's license instead. That fiasco had caused a great deal of trouble for the couple; Belldandy carried out many "shameful" acts for Keiichi's sake before he managed to talk her out of it. Even though the incident was resolved in the end, it left several important issues in its wake, including the one on the table right now.
"Goes to show how much strength that boy has, doesn't it?" Urd smiled wistfully, taking a swig out of her bottle. "He would have gladly suffered whatever misfortune came his way to see you come out intact."
"But he shouldn't have to," Belldandy protested. "I'm supposed to make him happy, and I've failed to do so more than enough times already -"
SLAP!
Belldandy abruptly stopped talking, wincing in pain as she rubbed her left cheek. She felt the sting from her sister's hand; her skin burned at the places her fingers made contact. "Sis…," she whispered in shock.
"Enough already!" Urd straightened herself, to the point of towering over her younger sister. "Bell, you know that I love you with all my heart, but I have to say that for a first-class goddess, you can be awfully naïve at times. Don't you realize that Keiichi's already more than happy enough because you're here?"
Belldandy blinked a couple of times, unsure of what to say.
"Granted," she continued, "there're still several issues that the both of you need to work out on your own. But even so, he's more than willing to pull his weight in the relationship, and I think it's about time you let him."
"I've been doing that!"
"No, you're not!" the elder goddess shot back. "You've been doing your best to take on all of the responsibilities. And it's depriving the both of you of something truly wonderful."
Both goddesses fell silent; Belldandy was deep in her thoughts, searching for an appropriate response, while Urd took another long drink from her bottle. The cuckoo clock continued to tick in the background as the quiet in the room continued on.
"Do you trust Keiichi?" inquired Urd out of the blue.
"Huh?" Belldandy came out of her stupor. It took a few seconds for the words to register. "What kind of question is that?"
"Do you trust him? Because from the way you're acting now, I doubt that you do."
"That's not true at all!" she sharply protested. "I trust Keiichi – with my heart and soul! There's no one else that makes me feel as… safe… as he does. You know this!"
"Then why haven't you talked to him about 'that'?"
Belldandy opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't force her excuse out. Eventually, deciding that she had nothing to lose, she settled for the simplest answer. "I… I… don't want him to know… what I nearly did."
"Bell…" Urd reached out to put an arm around her, but was gently rebuffed.
"I'm so ashamed." She cried softly, tears glistening in her eyes. "I honestly don't know what I would have done if it had dragged on for longer than it did. Hild… what she said… it hurts so much, sis, and I don't want him to know that. It would only make him sad, and I can't bear to see that more than anything."
Belldandy broke off and continued sobbing into her hands, letting out anguished, muted cries at intervals. Her tears seeped through her fingers, splashing softly as they crashed into the table's surface. At her side, Urd looked on in sympathy as her sister bled her heart out bit by bit.
"Bell… has it occurred to you that maybe Keiichi wants to know how you honestly feel?"
"Snff…you think so?" Her tears slightly abated as she brought her face into view.
"Are you afraid that he'll think less of you if you poured your heart out to him? That he'll no longer want you around?"
Despite her best attempts, Belldandy could not give voice to the answer she wanted to give. Letting out a soft, muted sigh, she finally let the truth out. "Yes…"
"Why, in the Almighty's name, would you think that?" asked the elder goddess, moving her gaze towards her sister's cobalt-blue irises.
"I don't know!" Belldandy cried, letting out another mournful wail. "I just know that he will."
Urd let another long-drawn sigh out. "Do you?" Ignoring Belldandy's confused expression, she continued on. "For all you know, he might actually be glad that you… trust him enough to tell him what's actually on your mind."
Neither of them spoke for a while, each party unsure of what to say. The last vestiges of steam floated out of the teacup and disappeared into thin air. The ceiling light flickered for a few seconds before returning to normal.
Finally, Urd spoke up once again. "Look, it's your decision to make. I'm just telling you to think carefully about it." She rose up, straightened stray locks of her hair, and made her way over to the door. "For what it's worth," she added as she slid the door open, "I believe that you'll do the right thing when the time comes."
Alone at last, Belldandy allowed the silence in the room to envelope her for a minute before crying once again. Heaven help me, I just wish I knew what to do.
Darkness permeated into every possible nook and cranny inside Keiichi's room. In one corner, textbooks of all sizes and subjects were haphazardly piled on top one another, having been hurriedly moved there earlier. A couple of spare parts laid strewn all over the tatami mats, along with a hastily-made futon, where Keiichi was currently sleeping. Part of it was left open, revealing the spots where Belldandy had performed healing magic on him.
Slowly, Keiichi began to stir from his rest; he fumbled around in the dark with his hands, attempting to get his bearings. His eyelids fluttered a couple of times before finally staying open, allowing him to see once again. He pushed himself off the floor and looked around the room, allowing his eyes to become accustomed to the low-light conditions.
"What happened?" he mumbled to himself. "One minute I was still at the shed, and now… I'm here."
Keiichi paused for a moment as the morning's events came back to him. Images of an explosion and thunderclouds replayed themselves in his mind.
Urd and Skuld…, he concluded. One of these days… they'll be the end of me.
He let out a sigh as he searched his drawers for a change of clothes. For three years, he'd dealt with Urd and Skuld's antics; just when he thought they couldn't top their feats of mischief, they always came up with something to prove him wrong. And each time, Keiichi handled the damage that they caused with far more tolerance than he thought possible of himself. Of course, Belldandy's presence helped to smooth things over more often than not; she was able to restore the affected person(s) and objects back to normal without notice. Even so, there were several close calls, and those had caused him enough stress to last for a lifetime and beyond.
"Ah, you're awake," a soothing voice called from the door. "Feeling better?"
Keiichi's head swiveled towards the door. "Yeah…," he answered, abruptly stopping as the doorway's occupant came into recognition. "Urd… "
"Why the long face?" Urd pouted at him. "I just came to see how you were doing."
"… I was expecting someone else…" He dropped his gaze towards the floor.
He turned around and made his way over to his desk, intent on organizing the papers strewn all over the top. Unbeknownst to him, his housemate had sneaked behind him as he placed the paper stack on the desk's right side. Before he realized it, Urd suddenly pinched his left ear and began whispering in the other one.
"Y'know, I bet Bell will do this for you if you just ask her."
"W-w-what do you mean?' he stammered, backing himself up towards the closet door.
"Oh, y'know, be 'closer' to you? Isn't that what you wanted? I mean, after all, you didn't complain so much when Peorth did it."
"You're not up to something, are you?" His composure returned in full force.
"Maybe… maybe not… Why? Do you want my help?"
"Urd… please don't." Keiichi finished his cleaning and was about to head out of his room. "Remember the last time you tried to 'help'?"
Keiichi shuddered as he recalled that particular incident. The spell-booster that Urd had 'given' him made it practically impossible for him to say the world 'love' or make any sound that closely resembled the word; at one point, everyone in the house was incapacitated by the overload of feelings produced by his use of the word. The fact that the Gate caused so many problems for them because of the booster only served to make him resent Urd all the more for it.
"It worked, didn't it? You can't blame me for that."
"It was a dangerous potion after all…" Keiichi's eyes narrowed, scanning Urd's face down to the last detail. "Do you realize how much trouble it caused? I had to wait until we went on that retreat before it was safe to say 'love' again."
Urd took no notice of the mechanic's last words. "Details, details. Now, I know exactly what you need this time." She produced a syringe filled to capacity with an emerald-green fluid. "Urd's Patented Inhibition Nullifier."
Keiichi winced at the sight of the needle. "Please don't…"
"Don't be like that. It's just going to remove all of those inhibitions in your head. And when they're gone, you'll feel so much better." She pushed the syringe's handle inwards slightly, letting a jet of the potion escape out of the needle's tip. "Now come here and let Urd give you your medication."
Keiichi dashed out of his room before Urd could make good on her promise, kicking up dust clouds as he did so. "I gotta go! Bike still needs fixing!"
He ran through the house, searching for somewhere he can hide at until Urd lost interest in him. Unfortunately, the list of places he could go to was rather short. Skuld's room was definitely out of question; the kid goddess would more than likely pelt him with enough of her bombs to render him senseless until morning. The bathroom would likely be the first place she'd search for him. The tea room and the kitchen had no real hiding spots; he'd be pinned down on the ground with a needle sticking out of his back the moment he set foot inside either of those places. Only one choice remained – Belldandy's room.
As Keiichi rounded the corner, the door to Belldandy's room slid open. Without thinking, he quickly rushed through the gap, only to bump into a person-sized obstacle. A loud CRASH accompanied their rapid descent towards the floor.
"Eep!" Belldandy squeaked.
"Err…"
They were both stuck together on the tatami mats in Belldandy's room; the door had slid back to its closed position. Keiichi could feel Belldandy's breath caress his left cheek; their proximity to one another silenced all but the sounds coming from each of them. Her rapid heartbeat, ringing loudly in his ears, quickened his pulse and caused him to begin sweating profusely.
"Ano…," she murmured softly. Blushes appeared all over her cheeks as her eyes caught Keiichi's gaze.
Ba-dum… Ba-dum…
Keiichi could feel his heart race faster and faster as his breathing became more and more ragged. Rarely did he and Belldandy have moments like this; more often than not, they were always among some form of company that made such close contact impossible. But now, with nothing in the way, his nerves were beginning to get the better of him.
"Bell…" He gazed affectionately at her cobalt-blue irises.
"Keiichi…"
Slowly but surely, he leaned closer towards her. Keiichi ran his fingers gently through her flowing brown hair as she mimicked his actions. Their breathing became louder and more pronounced with each second; the rest of the world no longer registered with them. A hair's breadth of space separated their lips, slowly disappearing bit by bit as their noses rubbed against each other.
"MORISATO!"
Jolted, the couple parted from each other at once. Now that there was enough distance between the two of them, Belldandy's blushes began to fade away, leaving behind no traces of their presence. Keiichi's breathing eased up until he no longer had to close his eyes to calm himself down. Both of them tried their best to not look each other in the eye, instead focusing on an aspect of their clothing; Keiichi straightened out the rumples in his shirt, while Belldandy rearranged her dress back into its 'proper' position.
"I should get the door…" He felt a twinge of regret as the words left his mouth.
"Yeah…," Belldandy replied, keeping her eyes downcast.
He let himself out of her bedroom, letting out a breath of relief the moment the door closed behind him. The hallway was completely deserted; the eerie calm throughout the house was a welcome respite for Keiichi.
Damnit… so close. Oh, why does this always have to happen!?
As he passed by Skuld's 'laboratory,' he could hear whirrs and clicks coming from inside at regular intervals; Skuld was probably busy with her next invention or whatnot. He shuddered at the thought of what she would come up with if she saw her sister and him together just now; the mere act of hand-holding had inspired her to create a kid-sized chainsaw she had 'aptly' dubbed Murder-kun (the Texas Massacre Chainsaw). Said contraption, fortunately, posed no current threat thanks to Urd's timely intervention.
The doorbell rang twice in rapid succession.
"Coming, coming," Keiichi called out, briskly stepping towards the front door.
Through the papered sections of the front sliding doors, he could make out several shadows on the other side. Keiichi heard several hushed conversations being carried out among the people outside. Without further delay, he opened the door.
"SURPRISE!"
Keiichi blinked a couple of times, shocked at the sight before him. At least a dozen people were gathered out in the yard, each carrying a party favor of some sort. He recognized most of them, including Tamiya, Otaki, and Sora, as the Motor Club's current members. To top it off, he also saw Chihiro walk up in the distance; his boss could always be counted on to show up wherever a party's present.
"Kei-chan!" someone called out from the middle of the crowd.
He knew at once who the voice belonged to; only one person addressed him as such. "Megumi."
The crowd parted, allowing his sister to make her way to the front. Despite the cold weather, Megumi was wearing nothing more than a light jumper and khakis. With her left arm, she carried a massive, fully-laden cooler.
"Well, aren't you glad to see us?" she asked with a smile.
"Err…, what are you guys doing here?" Keiichi glanced at everyone present before meeting Megumi's eyes again. "And what's with all of the stuff you brought?"
"Well…," Megumi answered, her sheepish grin growing wider with each word, "there was a bit of a mix-up at Tanaka's. The room that we reserved for our party was taken by someone else, and… yeah. So, we thought that we'd bring the party to you, seeing as you're not doing anything tonight."
He let out a despondent sigh. "Couldn't you have at least called in advance? For all you know, I might have other plans."
She boisterously laughed upon hearing his words. "Oh, Kei-chan, I know you too well. You haven't had the inclination to go out in ages – that's why we're here. We're bringing the party to you!"
"Yeah, well…" Before Keiichi could say anything else, he felt a familiar pair of hands press down on his shoulders. Out of the corner of his right eye, he spotted grey strands of hair waving gently in the light evening breeze.
"Oh! Are those bottles of Fallen Angel!?" Urd giddily exclaimed, eyeing the crate next to Tamiya. "Well, bring them in! I'll go start the music."
Taking her statement as tacit approval, everyone hurriedly made their way inside. By the time Keiichi realized what was happening, he and Megumi were the only people left outside. His sister promptly excused herself and slipped inside the house, humming to herself as she did so.
"Please make yourselves at home, I'll go make some tea," he heard Belldandy announce from the tea room. Deciding that he might as well make the best of the situation at hand, Keiichi went back inside and closed the front door behind him, wincing slightly as he heard his stereo fizz.
Two hours later, Keiichi had to admit that his earlier objections to a party were completely unfounded; if anything, a party at the house was what everyone here needed. All of the troubles from earlier in the day were forgotten as copious amounts of food and drink made its way around all the guests present. In the background, Keiichi's stereo continued to play the mix tape someone brought along with them; aside from occasional static hisses, it performed its function rather well considering its condition.
"Sing! Sing!" a couple of girls from Megumi's Softball Club cheered, waving their drinks in the air.
Right on cue, Tamiya produced a pair of microphones, one of which he handed over to Otaki. The two graduate students grinned in anticipation as the karaoke machine at the far side of the room began starting up.
"And now, a song!" they both announced in unison. "We'll be singing 'A Man on Stage'!"
Everyone in the room past the 'tipsy' point cheered as the music started pouring out of the twin speakers at the tea room's far wall. "I'm laughing and so happy I could die…" Tamiya began, his grating voice reaching all corners of the room.
Having managed to extricate himself out of the crowd, Keiichi let out a sigh, taking a sip of his cola. Even though the music and singing was still audible at his current spot, it was no longer loud enough to drown out all other sounds. At least this isn't as bad as that time at the last Motor Club recruitment drive, he thought to himself.
Despite what he told most people, Keiichi missed being actively involved in the Motor Club. It had, after all, been one of the good parts of his college experience; before Belldandy entered his life, the club provided him with a sense of purpose and camaraderie in the form of its eclectic members, Tamiya and Otaki included. Not only that, the motor club also helped show him what he could accomplish with enough perseverance and creativity on his part; his victory at the Hill Climb race two years ago was a testament to the power of both qualities. Now, he occasionally lent assistance to the club in times of need, although that was becoming sporadic as Sora became more comfortable with her position.
Occupied with his recollections, Keiichi barely registered the presence slowly making its way over to him. It took him a full ten seconds to notice the prodding on his right shoulder, at which point he turned to face the person responsible. Expecting anyone but her, Keiichi backed away in surprise as Sora tried to grab his arm with both her hands.
"Senpai…," she slurred. Her hair was rumpled in several places and her cheeks were completely flushed.
"Sora, are you drunk again?" He quickly scanned the room, but couldn't find Belldandy anywhere among the guests.
"Senpai…I'm not a junior high student, y'know…hic…," she rambled on, closing the distance between her and the mechanic. "But everyone elsesh says so…it's because I'm short and tiny…"
"C'mon, no one says that." He kept one eye on the kitchen door. So far though, it remained closed and lit on the other side.
"They do!" Sora blurted out in frustration. "They think I don't know, but I do!"
Keiichi sighed, bracing himself for the spectacle to come. A part of him was glad that Belldandy was nowhere to be found; the last thing this party needed was glass shards flying all over the place. Even though it hasn't happened in a long time, his girlfriend's 'jealousy storms' manifested themselves at the most inopportune moments, often for very innocuous reasons. If she sees me like this… He shuddered as his mind conjured up an image of every light bulb and bottle in the room bursting into pieces.
"It's because of my…hic…boobsh, isn't it?! Everyone says that I don't have any…but I do! Here!" She tossed her jacket aside, fully exposing her fuchsia pink turtleneck sweater.
Any composure Keiichi had left went out the window all at once. He tried to make a break for it, but Sora was too fast; she latched onto him without delay, dragging him back to the wall. He could feel two very distinctive soft lumps press against his upper right arm as Sora pressed herself in. Heat began rising through his neck as he struggled to break free from her alcohol-fueled death grip.
"I got it…," said Sora in her best matter-of-fact tone. Keiichi saw a devilish glint form up in her eyes, showing nothing but reflected light. Before he could react, Sora grabbed her sweater and tried to pull it off herself, revealing the slightest hints of her push-up bra before it got stuck on her glasses.
"Aaayeh!" Keiichi immediately grabbed both of her hands. All progress on the sweater's removal came to a halt; however, it still exposed enough skin to make Keiichi turn beet red.
"Sora, control yourself!" he pleaded, desperately pulling the sweater back down.
The struggle between the two continued on for several minutes; each time Keiichi managed to get the sweater back to its original position, Sora would always find some way to start removing it again. Fortunately, everyone in the room, including Urd and Skuld, was either too inebriated or, in Skuld's case, preoccupied with the party condiments. At several points, the both of them nearly tripped over stray bottles of sake and beer cans scattered all over the floor.
Eventually, Keiichi managed to calm Sora down enough for her to fall into a lull; she settled in a corner of the room and snoozed off moments after hitting the floor. "Phew. Glad that's over with. I'd hate to think what might have happened if she saw this."
Deciding that he needed a breath of fresh air, he opened the porch doors and stepped outside. As soon as he slid the door back into place, a cool breeze swept through the porch and washed over Keiichi, taking with it any lingering alcohol fumes and sweat from his earlier altercation. He paused for a moment to take in his surroundings, and then moved out towards the porch's edge, setting himself down next to a column.
Above, a few stars bright enough to pierce the urban haze twinkled in the night sky alongside the full moon. Moonlight illuminated the whole courtyard in front of the house, giving the pond and the plum blossom tree next to it a silvery, serene glow. Another light breeze blew through the temple, scattering the fallen blossoms all around the air.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Keiichi looked up, and was relieved to find Chihiro standing behind him, taking in the spectacle with a measure of awe. He caught sight of her eyes for a brief second; they were surprisingly lucid despite the amount of alcohol she'd consumed earlier. His boss stayed where she was for another minute or so before finally settling down next to him, albeit keeping a comfortable distance between them.
"Nights like this are becoming all the more rare nowadays," Chihiro went on, staring wistfully into the distance. "More often than not, we're too busy with our lives to notice what's going on around us. And moments like these just pass us by, never to return."
She then turned towards Keiichi, giving him a warm smile. "Speaking of which, how's Bell-chan these days?" she asked. "She's been rather quiet and subdued at work lately – I miss the old her."
"Same as ever, I guess…," Keiichi replied, keeping his gaze directed down towards the garden's path stones.
Her expression darkened slightly. "Same as ever, huh? I expected more from you. Surely you should know better than that?"
"Well, I…," he fumbled, searching for the right words. "I don't know. We hardly talk about things like that. But I know she's alright…At least, I think she is…I don't know."
"Okay, spill it."
"There's nothing wrong with the both of us," Keiichi argued. "Bell and I just don't talk about these things. We've been together long enough to know how the other's doing…" He broke off and turned his face back towards the garden. "But lately…"
"Morisato…," Chihiro interrupted, "you may think that you know what's going through Bell-chan's mind, but do you really?" Disregarding his confused expression, she continued on. "We girls are very, very fickle creatures – one minute, we'd be happy with the world, and by the next, we'd be kicking and screaming. It's just the way we are."
"But Bell's not like that at all. You've known her long enough – mood swings just don't happen to her."
"That's not all." She scooted closer to him and dropped her voice down an octave. "We're also very possessive of our secrets."
"Hmm?" Keiichi arched his eyebrows upwards.
"Secrets. More often than not, they're trivial matters, but we bury them deep within ourselves regardless. And nothing can make us give them up easily – the biggest fights between couples are over a girl's secrets. I've had my fair share of them, and believe me, they can get very ugly."
"Look, I know Bell has her fair share of secrets, but what does this have to do with anything?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She coyly smiled, motioning towards the tea room's door. "Bell-chan's hiding a very big secret, and it's the reason why she hasn't been acting like her usual self. And I'm willing to bet that it has something to do with you two."
Keiichi spoke up a while later, keeping his voice calm. "It is." Chihiro remained impassive; only her eyes betrayed any signs of recognition. "Something…happened between us recently, and she doesn't want to talk about it." He let out a long-drawn sigh. "It's killing me…not knowing what it is and why it's so important. And it hurts…"
"Morisato…" Her expression softened at once; she placed a hand on his left arm. "Do you trust her?"
He closed his eyes and thought about the question for a minute before answering. "Without a doubt."
"Then believe in yourself for a change. She thinks the world of you – I can see it in her eyes every single moment she looks at you at work. And, more importantly, trust her. She'll tell you what's on her mind in time – I'm sure of it."
Chihiro stood up, walked around for a few steps without wobbling, and then made her way to the front door. "Oh, one more thing," she added. "Both of you take the day off tomorrow. Looks like I'm going to be out of the shop anyway." And with that, she disappeared around the corner; Keiichi heard the door slide back and forth once along with her off-beat footsteps.
Convinced that his boss was gone for the night, Keiichi decided to check on the remaining guests. Opening the tea room's porch door, he saw that everyone present was incapacitated in one way or another. The majority of the room was piled up in one corner, snoozing away without a care whatsoever, while the rest were just about past the point of consciousness; Keiichi could hear one of the girls hunched over the table incoherently mumble something about softballs. Not only that, in the time he was gone, the amount of discarded bottles and cans went up considerably; there were very few spots on the floor that weren't covered by one or the other.
Just then, the kitchen door opened, allowing him to see Belldandy slowly step inside the room. She had a cup of tea with her, and aside from her slightly-closed eyes, she appeared to be alert for the most part.
"Oh, is it over already?" She smiled as she caught sight of Skuld taking a nap near an empty carton of Baskin Robbins's mint ice cream. "And everyone was having so much fun too."
"Where were you?" asked Keiichi, blushing slightly as he caught sight of her. "I hardly saw you at all during the party – they weren't asking too much of you, were they?"
"Not at all. It wasn't a hassle for me to keep the refreshments and snacks coming – although it was difficult to keep up towards the end…" Belldandy let out a sheepish smile. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"
"It's okay," he reassured her. "If you didn't do that, you wouldn't be you, Bell. That's one of the things I like about you."
A second later, Keiichi broke eye contact with Belldandy, the color in his cheeks rising up slightly. He broke out into a fit of embarrassed laughter for a while before regaining his composure. "Well, now what? It looks like everyone here's going to be crashing for the night."
He noticed that Belldandy had looked away as well; her cheeks were very pink at this point. She mumbled a couple of incoherent phrases before finally settling on something concrete. "In that case, I should begin cleaning up. Someone might have an accident with all of these bottles and cans lying around."
"I'll help," he offered at once.
"No, it's okay. You should probably get some rest. It's late already, after all." She conjured up a trash bag and began levitating the closest sake bottles and cans into it.
"You sure?" He looked around the room and saw refuse rising up from every corner.
"Yes," Belldandy reaffirmed. "I'll be alright. Go to sleep, Keiichi. I'll see you in the morning."
"Alright, in that case," he turned to her as he stepped out into the hallway, "goodnight, Bell."
"Goodnight, Keiichi," she replied with a whisper.
All was quiet inside Belldandy's room save for the steady ticking of the clock hanging on the wall. The whole room was shrouded in shadow; the shades were drawn up completely, blocking off all natural illumination. As the morning commenced, sunlight began streaming in through minute gaps in the window shades, drawing bright lines on the tatami mats. They slowly crept up towards Belldandy's futon, eventually finding their way right on top of her eyelids.
At first, Belldandy didn't notice the intrusion on her sleep; she simply rolled over on her side and continued snoozing on. A small sliver of sunlight, however, still managed to reach the corner of her right eye. It twitched in response, seeking a way to avoid further contact with the source of its irritation. Finally, both of Belldandy's eyes snapped open, no longer wishing to deal with the constant stimuli. She gracefully rose up from her futon, stretched both her arms upwards, and let out a yawn before throwing the shades wide open.
At once, all of the shadows in the room suddenly vanished; the morning sunlight poured inside in full force. Outside, Belldandy could see more plum blossom leaves floating gently through the air. She smiled at the sight for around a minute or so before resuming her morning routine. A flick of her fingers sent her hair rearranging itself back into a neat, organized state. Moments later, she quickly changed into an icterine blouse and a sandy brown midi skirt, donning a light blue hair clip as well. Finally, Belldandy folded up her futon and packed it inside its compartment in her closet along with her pillows.
Humming to herself, she made her way over to the kitchen, taking care not to disturb the house's other occupants, Keiichi in particular. As she passed by her boyfriend's room, Belldandy snuck a peek at his sleeping form through a crack in the door. She lingered for a while, unable to stop admiring the sight of him resting peacefully.
"Urd, queen of the hill, demands aspirin!"
Her sister's rant knocked Belldandy out of her trance; she blinked a couple of times before realizing where she was. Picking herself up, she snuck away from Keiichi's room and entered the tea room. Once she was past the door, she turned beet red upon registering the state of affairs inside. Somehow, after she'd gone off to bed, Urd had managed to get herself into a revealing state of undress; her upper chest was completely exposed along with a sizable portion of her midriff. Empty bottles of Fallen Angel sake were piled up on the table; Belldandy noticed a stream of the potent drink dribbling from the left corner of Urd's lips.
"Where's that aspirin!" Urd groggily yelled out. "The whole room's shaking, and someone won't shut off that stereo! I need aspirin, stat!"
"Sis…" Belldandy brought out her handkerchief and wiped away the sake. "It's not even noon yet, and you're already sloshed. How many bottles did you have since last night?"
"Eh?" Urd raised her right eyebrow up. "I don't know – about four, maybe five. It got too boring after you left, and I thought I might as well let myself go. After all, we don't get to celebrate like this very often." She attempted to bring her vision back into focus. "So, where's the aspirin?"
Belldandy sighed, producing a container from behind her. "Even if you're a goddess, sis, one of these days…," she gently admonished as she poured out three pills. "Here you go. This should get you back on your feet, I think. But take it easy for the rest of today, alright? Keiichi and I have to go to work soon."
"M'kay…" Urd counted the pills, swallowed them in one go, and gulped down the glass of water Belldandy handed to her. "Phew, that's better. At least the noise stopped. Now, if only the whole room would stop shaking."
"I'm going to make breakfast." She took the empty glass back. "Try not to wake everyone else up, alright?"
She took a look at the tea room's other occupants. Skuld was still snoozing away next to the ice cream containers. All of the other guests save for Megumi had already left; Keiichi's sister continued to sleep away in the space in front of the closet.
Satisfied that everyone was fine for the most part, Belldandy disappeared into the kitchen and closed the door. Opening the refrigerator, she brought out a carton of eggs and a bottle of milk, along with a bowl of cut carrots and onions. "I wonder if Keiichi would like an omelet today?" she thought, searching for the whisk and bowl among the other kitchen implements.
Having found what she was looking for, Belldandy began preparations at once. She gently cracked open three eggs, pouring the contents into the wooden bowl, taking care to not drop in a single shell fragment. "Cooking, cooking, cooking, is so fun…," she gently hummed to herself as she mixed in the vegetables. Holding the whisk with a firm grip, she stirred the eggs until they turned a consistent shade of light yellow.
Steam sizzled from the frying pan as Belldandy added a pat of butter. Steadily, the butter melted under the heat, spreading itself all over the pan's surface. She then poured the contents of the bowl into the frying pan, moving the pan back and forth to ensure that the eggs settled evenly. A delicious aroma wafted from the cooking omelet, eliciting a smile from the goddess.
"Mmm, that smells delicious," a familiar voice commented behind the goddess.
Shocked, Belldandy nearly dropped the pan onto the stove. "Keiichi…," she gasped, turning her head over her shoulder.
She blushed profusely the moment she saw him; even though Keiichi was only in his regular white t-shirt and jeans, Belldandy couldn't help but think how handsome he looked. Her knees threatened to give away, and it took all of her willpower to remain upright without leaning on some form of support.
"Breakfast will be ready soon," she suddenly blurted out, turning back to the stove. "Please wait a little while longer."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Keiichi droop his shoulders in resignation as he headed back into the tea room. Once she was sure he was out of hearing range, Belldandy let out a sigh of relief. Her composure had threatened to evaporate then and there, and would have if he'd stayed any longer.
"Nice going…," her conscience berated her. "You couldn't have been any more obvious than that. Now's he probably sitting out there, wondering what to do when you finally enter."
"Stop it!" she argued, flipping the omelet over with the skillet. "I didn't mean to do that. It's just – he's been on my mind lately, that's all."
"Now, now, there's no use denying it. First-class goddesses shouldn't lie, after all." Belldandy closed her eyes and let out a long-drawn breath. "Admit it, you want him…badly."
So much heat flowed into Belldandy's face that she literally turned beet red. "I do not!" she chastised herself. "Well, maybe…," she conceded after a while. "But would he...?"
"You really love selling yourself short, don't you? Haven't you noticed the way he looks at you? If anything, make it easier for him – start suggesting it every now and then."
"I suppose…" Belldandy tossed the omelet into the air and expertly caught it with a plate.
"Stop holding yourself back – after all, hasn't he made it clear that he loves you more than enough times? Trust him – trust that he'll do the right thing when the time comes, and you'll see that you've been worrying over nothing."
She brought her attention back to the present, setting the omelet's plate onto a tray along with a jug of orange juice. Banishing all traces of her earlier discomfort, Belldandy put on her best smile and stepped out into the tea room, carrying the breakfast tray with poise and grace.
"Here you go!" She gently set the tray down on the table. "I hope you like it."
"It looks wonderful," Keiichi told her. "It wasn't too difficult to make, was it?"
"Not at all." Belldandy sat down next to him. "Besides, what matters most is your happiness." She turned towards him and calmly smiled. "So, how is it?"
Using the fork, Keiichi sliced the omelet, took a piece, and quickly ate it. He savored it for a few seconds before swallowing; his eyes lit up considerably afterwards. "It's heavenly…," he answered. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Bell."
"Thanks." She blushed slightly in her cheeks. "I'm glad you enjoy it."
Just then, Skuld drove herself between the pair. "Keiichi…," she growled, "get away from my sister. I want to sit next to her!"
"Oh, jeez, Skuld, not this again. Why do you have to be so cranky in the morning?"
"Stop delaying already! You're hogging my big sis all to yourself again. It's not fair!" Her hair was frazzled to a considerable degree; it obscured part of her forehead and stuck out at several places.
"My," Belldandy tittered. Despite her best efforts, Skuld refused to budge an inch from her seat. Letting herself go for a moment, she gripped her teacup with such ferocity that it shattered into several pieces. Darjeeling tea spilled all over the table, some of it ending up on Belldandy's right hand.
"Oh my! I'll clean this up. Excuse me." She got up at once and disappeared into the kitchen before anyone could say a word.
Once the door was tightly closed behind her, Belldandy allowed the sobs she'd been holding back to escape. Tears welled up in her eyes; she braced herself against the counter with both hands, turning the faucet on in the process. The flowing water effectively masked every other sound in the room; her face visibly relaxed.
Get a grip on yourself, Belldandy, she mentally chided herself. What if somebody had been hurt? What if Keiichi…
Images of Keiichi bleeding profusely from glass cuts raced through her thoughts; Belldandy shuddered as she digested each and every one of them. Although she'd managed to mostly rein in her jealousy, it still found ways to manifest itself, and lately, each bout of her 'jealousy storms' became intense enough for her to register. Thankfully, all of the latest incidents escaped Keiichi's notice, including her near-total breakdown during their foray into the past.
"Bell, are you alright?" she heard her boyfriend ask through the door.
"I'm fine, Keiichi. I'll be right out." She grabbed the washcloth off the sink's rim and shut off the faucet, making her way to the door.
Keiichi and Skuld looked at her with concern the moment she set foot back inside the tea room. "Big sister, what's wrong?" Skuld asked as Belldandy wiped away the spilt tea.
"Nothing's wrong, Skuld. I'm perfectly fine. Couldn't be better."
"But…" Skuld clammed up all of a sudden. She twiddled her fingers and went back to staring at them.
Belldandy paused to glance over at her sister, leaving the washcloth on the table. Seeing that Skuld was trying her best to avoid eye contact, she dropped the matter and went back to wiping up the tea. A couple of scrubs later, the table was once again clean.
"There, all done." Belldandy snapped her fingers, sending the washcloth flying off into the kitchen.
Before she realized it, breakfast was already over. Skuld had gone back to her room, intent on finishing up her work before the afternoon began. In the corner, Megumi slowly woke up, wiping vestiges of her slumber away from her eyes. As for Keiichi, he was picking up the dishes one by one, piling them up into a perfect stack.
"Here, let me help you." She reached out to take a plate.
"It's alright, Bell." He rose up, carrying all of the plates with him. "I've got this – why don't you take it easy this morning? After all, you do most of the work around here anyway – you deserve a break."
In spite of herself, Belldandy nodded, and Keiichi promptly disappeared into the kitchen. With nothing left to do, she scooted over to Keiichi's place at the table and turned on the television. She flipped through several channels before finally settling on a cooking program; it featured a special session on making soufflés.
"…keeping the soufflé from deflating is the trickiest part. The key is to control the heat within the oven…"
The program's host continued narrating on the screen; Belldandy paid rapt attention to her every single word. So engrossed was she with the details that she failed to notice Megumi wake up, yawn, and leave the room. In the background, the clock continued to tick away; the goddess took no heed of the time and continued to watch the soufflé cook.
Seven minutes later, the program finally ended with a list of tips to make a better soufflé. At this point, Belldandy finally turned her attention to the clock, letting out a short gasp as the time registered with her. "Keiichi! We're going to be late!"
The kitchen door opened, and her boyfriend popped his head into the tea room. "We don't have to go to work today, Bell. Chihiro gave us the day off."
"Really?" Her expression softened immediately. "That's a relief. For a moment, I was worried that Chihiro would be disappointed if we were late…"
"Well…regardless…," Keiichi continued, a sheepish smile breaking across his face, "we should do something today. I mean, after all…why waste a perfectly good day staying here at the house."
"That sounds great." She smiled back at him. "So, what shall we do then? Stop by the university for a visit?"
"Eh…I was thinking we go somewhere else a bit more…romantic." A visible red flush spread across his face. "That is, if you want to. We haven't had much time to ourselves lately, so I thought…"
"I'd love to!" she answered at once. Her eyes visibly lit up at the same time.
"Great." Keiichi let out a short breath. "Just let me finish cleaning up in here and get my jacket, and we'll leave."
The kitchen door closed, and Belldandy found herself alone in the tea room once again. Without delay, she got up at once and hurried out into the hallway. As soon as she got to the front door, however, she caught sight of her reflection in the hallway mirror out of the corner of her eye.
Oh no! I look like a complete mess! I have to fix this quickly before he notices.
Instead of using magic, Belldandy began straightening out the kinks in her hair on her own, using the mirror as a guide. Not one stray lock of hair escaped her diligent ministrations; each one fell back into place as her fingers ran through them. In no time at all, she managed to make herself look even more impressive; for a moment, Belldandy felt a surge of pride pass through her and gave herself a slight congratulatory smile.
"Almost ready," Keiichi called out from down the hallway.
She could hear his footsteps coming closer by the second; Belldandy anxiously paced back and forth, stealing glances at the mirror with every pass. Before she realized it, her boyfriend was standing next to her, sporting his signature black leather jacket.
"Eep!" she squeaked, turning away from Keiichi in a rush.
"You alright, Bell?"
Belldandy took a deep, inaudible breath, collected her composure, and turned back to face him with a radiant smile. "Yes, dear. I'm just not feeling rather myself today."
"Well, shall we go?" He offered her his hand.
She reciprocated his gesture, squeezing his hand affectionately. "Of course! I can hardly wait."
They both walked out the front door, keeping their hands together.
A combination of balanced sunlight and cool, soothing winds made Nekomi's bayside park the place to be for the day. The walkway on the shoreline bustled with people from all around town, mostly couples looking to take advantage of the weather. A fragrant aroma wafted all around the area, further enhancing the overall ambience. With each passing moment, Keiichi became more firmly convinced that nothing could go wrong at all today; everything seemed to fall into place without prompt.
Turning towards the shoreline, he saw his girlfriend leaning on the railing, staring off into the horizon. Her hair waved gently in the breeze, alluringly caressing her shoulders in the process. As he approached her, he could hear her mirthfully laughing into the distance.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself, Bell," Keiichi casually mentioned once he was within earshot.
"It's very pleasant here," she replied, keeping her gaze on the undulating seawater. "I can feel it – the positive emotions of all the people here, the melding of the ocean's and mountains' winds – I'm reveling in the energies they're giving off."
"I'm glad you like it here. For a moment, I was worried that you'd want to be somewhere else."
Belldandy slowly turned to face him with a reassuring smile. "As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter where I am. After all, Keiichi, you're the reason for my happiness."
"I…I am?" he stuttered; drops of sweat trickled down his forehead.
"Absolutely."
Her last remark stunned Keiichi into silence. He was at a loss for words, unable to come up with a proper response. His mouth remained agape while the remainder of his face remained frozen in shock.
Belldandy looked at him with puzzlement for a few minutes before she finally spoke up. "Keiichi, are you alright?"
The inquiry brought Keiichi out of his stupor. He blinked a couple of times, regaining his bearings. "Eh, I'm fine," he hurriedly babbled. "Why don't we take a walk for a while?"
She eagerly nodded, taking his hand into hers and pulling away from her perch. The couple made their way down the bayside path, weaving their way through the joggers, cyclists, and other pedestrians. At one point, Belldandy leaned closer towards him, resting her head on his right shoulder. It took Keiichi the better part of a minute to calm himself down and draw her closer in response, all the while fighting the urge to just simply break down on the spot.
It wasn't until they passed a group of kids playing with a Frisbee that conversation between the two resumed. "I'm sorry!" Belldandy blurted out.
"For what?" Keiichi was taken aback by the sudden revelation.
"Did I say something?" She twiddled her fingers. "You must be hearing things, Keiichi – oh, look, an ice cream stand! I'll get us vanilla cones."
Before he could say anything else, Belldandy rushed off towards the concession stand at the junction, leaving him behind. A dozen questions immediately burst to the forefront of his thoughts. What was that all about!? Come to think of it, she's been acting weird all morning, especially during that time in the kitchen…
Any further progress along that particular train of thought came to a halt as the goddess returned with two vanilla ice cream cones, complete with rainbow sprinkles. "Here you go," she beamed, offering him one.
"Thanks, Bell." Keiichi stared at the cone for a while before finally taking a bite. "Did you add something else?" he asked, digesting the explosion of flavors in his mouth. "I don't remember the cones here being particularly…delicious."
"Are they?" She stole a small bite from his cone, causing Keiichi's cheeks to become suffused with bright patches of red.
"Y..yeah…" His mind was barely able to process the events happening before him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out where Belldandy's…flirty…streak was coming from. It isn't that bad, actually – if only my nerves could take the shock in stride.
Keiichi inwardly sighed as the relevant memory shoved its way to the forefront of his thoughts. As a result of ingesting one of Urd's pills, Belldandy temporary lost all of her inhibitions. For the duration of that day, she'd engaged in relentless flirting with Keiichi, to the point where she almost slept with him on impulse. And despite the circumstances, he still managed to retain his composure long enough for her to return back to normal.
Would it be better if she was like that all the time? A trickle of sweat dripped down the left side of Keiichi's forehead. Up until now, Belldandy had been rather…reserved, in regards to their relationship. Aside from a few instances where she took the initiative – he still savored that kiss she gave him on the cheek after the Lord of Terror incident – she was more than content to let him decide their pace.
"Well, what's holding you back?" a part of him opined.
"I…" For several moments, no matter how hard he tried, Keiichi could not come up with a satisfactory answer. "…I don't know…"
"Well, aren't you going to finish the rest of your cone?" Belldandy asked, clasping the back of his left hand with her right.
"Huh?" He felt a stream of cold, sticky liquid drip down the breadth of his right hand. "Gah! It's melting already!" Panicking, he quickly took a large bite of the soft-serve ice cream.
As he finished off the rest of the cone, Keiichi could hear Bell giggling in the background. "Keiichi, you really didn't have to wolf it down like it was going to go away. I could have just fixed the cone with a snap of my fingers."
"Bell, there're people here, remember?" To emphasize the point, he cocked his head towards another couple strolling down the path. "We'd be the center of attention if anyone notices an ice cream cone suddenly reform itself."
Belldandy blinked twice before taking a look around, suddenly realizing where she was. "You're right. That completely slipped my mind." Chuckling, she dashed forward, keeping her hold on Keiichi's hand. "Come on, let's get moving. We've still got plenty to do today, don't we, dear?"
In spite of the sudden shift in pace, Keiichi couldn't help but laugh along. "Yes, Bell, we do."
"I need to catch my breath. Hold on…" Keiichi panted, leaning on a concrete pillar.
Despite being a goddess herself, Belldandy, at that moment, felt rather exhausted. "Yes, dear…," she weakly replied, taking in a long, deep breath.
In her thoughts, she smiled to herself as she found seating on a bench conveniently placed at the waterfront. It had been a while since they both had time to themselves, free of interference from outside parties. And they had spent every single moment of the afternoon fruitfully; in particular, Bell thoroughly enjoyed the impromptu race they had with each other.
"It's beautiful," Keiichi began, settling down next to her. In the distance, the sun slowly sank beneath the ocean's horizon.
"Yes, it is, and I'm glad you're here with me now, Keiichi." She felt his left arm coming to rest on her left shoulder, and reciprocated by snuggling against the nook of his neck.
For several minutes, Belldandy did nothing except enjoy her present situation. Nothing else besides the two of them mattered; all she needed was to be here, with him. With every passing moment, her breathing slightly quickened, along with her pulse. Eventually, she allowed herself to smile in contentment, snuggling closer into her paramour's chest.
"Tell him," her conscience reminded her. "Delaying further won't help."
Belldandy took a deep breath and composed herself. "Keiichi?" she began, "we've been living together for quite some time now, haven't we?"
"Almost three years now, if I remember correctly. I still can't believe it's been that long since you showed up in my dorm room on that night." He chuckled for a bit. "And every moment since then has been truly wonderful, Bell, because of you."
Upon hearing those words, she couldn't help but blush profusely all over her face, her cheeks in particular. "Keiichi…you always know what to say." She paused, took another deep breath, and continued, "It's one of the reasons I love you so."
"I…well…" He scratched the back of his head. "I'm glad that I'm able to do that for you."
Neither one of them spoke for quite some time. With each passing minute, Belldandy felt more and more nervous, unsure whether or not to move forward. Her hands trembled in anticipation, causing Keiichi to squeeze her right hand in reassurance.
"Go for it!"
She turned towards him, her eyes firmly locking onto his. "Keiichi…we've been through quite a number of trials together, so many that I've lost count. And each and every time, you or I have always made it through together, for better or worse." He opened his mouth to speak; she promptly stopped him with a forefinger on his lips. "Not once have you faltered away from the challenges we've been put up against, and for that, I truly am blessed to have you by my side."
She paused, allowing the words to register with her paramour. When he nodded in acknowledgement, she continued on. "While it's true that I first came here to grant your wish, it is no longer the reason that I'm still here, on this wonderful Earth, with you and everyone else. You…you've shown me how to live for myself, free from outside expectations. And it feels absolutely wonderful to be able to do that." She broke eye contact, turning her gaze towards the darkening water. "But there's also an ugly part of me that wants you to love no one but myself."
Belldandy closed her eyes, letting out a soft whimper. "Could you love me despite that, Keiichi? Love a goddess with anger and jealousy in her heart?"
Keiichi tightened his grip on her shoulder, drawing her closer towards him. "Bell…I love you because of that."
"Keiichi…," she whispered, the shock evident in her tone.
"In all the time we've been together, I've learned this – no one is perfect, goddess or mortal. And it doesn't matter if we do everything right or if everything falls into place for us. What matters is how we deal with our imperfections – our fears, our sorrows, our shortcomings." He gave her a reassuring smile. "For what it's worth, I'm glad that you trust me enough to let me know this, Bell. It means a lot to me."
"Oh Keiichi…" She sniffled; a steady stream of tears flowed from her eyes. "Thank you." Without delay, she squeezed him as tightly as she could.
As she held onto her paramour, Belldandy mulled over all of the doubts she harbored within her up to this point. In an instant, she suddenly realized how groundless all of them were. Her Keiichi – her one and only, her other half – would stand by her no matter what; she simply allowed her insecurities to darken her thoughts up until now. And so, I have nothing to fear. Not now, and not ever again.
Belldandy wiped away the last of her tears and straightened herself up. "I think I might take up on that offer of yours, dear."
"Hmm? What are you talking about, Bell?"
"To depend on you more!" She mirthfully smiled at him. "Sis was right – I've been taking on the entire burden in our relationship up until now. And somewhere along the way, I've forgotten that it takes more than one person to make this work." Belldandy looked deep into his eyes and squeezed his hand in a reassuring fashion.
"Belldandy…"
"So, Keiichi…from now on, please take care of me." Before he could say anything else, she leaned in towards his face, leaving a hair's breadth of space between their lips. Her breathing quickened by such a degree that her heart almost gave out then and there. She could feel his breaths on her lips, each one making her blush harder. Shutting her eyes, she took one last breath, closed the distance, and kissed her beloved as deeply as she could.
As she ran her left hand through his hair, Belldandy savored every single sensation brought about by their kiss – the blood racing through her veins, the sweet, full taste of his lips, among countless others - and held onto them for as long as possible. So strong was her joy that it threatened to overwhelm every last thought in her mind. Every single second of contact seemed to stretch on for an eternity, so much that she soon felt out of breath. Despite that, she refused to part her lips from his, not wanting to be deprived of this…guilty…pleasure. If I have to die here and now for this, then so be it.
Eventually, it was Keiichi who finally broke their kiss, unable to hold on for any longer. "Wow…," he gasped, breathing heavily. "I have no idea what to say."
Belldandy lightly traced her fingers across his lips. "Don't," she softly confessed, opening her eyes. "Let's just enjoy this moment for what it is."
For the rest of the evening, underneath the bright, starry sky, the whole universe and all it encompassed became inconsequential to her. All that matters is right here next to me.