Disclaimer: Don't own anything, I just like playing in the sandbox

Chapter 1: Tears and Fears

Keiichi Morisato was weeping.

Tears ran down his face as he sat curled up against the wall between a bucket of soapy water and a sodden mop that laid forgotten on the floor.

Had someone been there to ask him why, he wouldn't have been able to articulate the reason with words. For once everything in his life was going great. Even having the dorm chores shoved off on him tonight had been a blessing.

School was everything he'd hoped it would be—he'd made some crazy friends, gotten straight A's in all his classes, and puked his guts up after drinking too much on several occasions.

And as abruptly as it started, that terrible feeling inside him was gone. Keiichi's throat and lungs still throbbed, his back felt raw and sweaty against the wall, the t-shirt sticking uncomfortably to it, and his butt was sore, but it was gone.

Keiichi smirked lightly.

"Not very manly, huh," a voice croaked out, and it took him a moment to recognize it as his own.

First came a snort, and then a snicker, a small chuckle and then an avalanche of laughter. Keiichi Morisato struggled to his feet, only to fall down once again when his right leg failed to support his weight.

A few more giggles escaped him, the last few escaping in a rather confused manner as he lay on the floor.

As he lay there he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time- peace. He closed his eyes and felt the chill of the hardwood floor pressing against his bony frame, smelled the acrid mixture of cleaning chemicals drifting through the air like miasma, and listened to the creaks and groans of the building.

RIIINGG!

Keiichi shot up off the ground like a bottle rocket, his heart racing and head pounding from the sudden shift in position. Taking a moment to collect himself first, he ran toward the phone and picked it up.

Good grief. Why his dorm mates couldn't just get an answering machine was beyond him.

"Hello,"

"I'm afraid he's not in right now, let me take a message for him."

"All right, I'll leave the note on his bunk. Good night."

Keiichi stripped off his sweat-soaked t-shirt and flopped onto his bed with a sigh. A few moments later his brief repose was interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach, and he groaned. There was no way he was going to bother with fixing a proper meal after whatever brief emotional insanity had come over him, so delivery it was.

Keiichi dialed the number for the local okonomiyaki place without really paying too much attention. Instead of the nasally voice of the woman who owned the establishment, a eager child's voice answered.

"You have reached the Goddess relief office. I will come over in person to grant your wish!"

With that pronouncement, the line gave a heavy click, and an even heavier sense of dread at that statement settled in Keiichi's stomach. A low growl sounded next to him. Keichi looked down at the source of the noise—a huge spectral white hound snarling in the direction of the kitchen.

The Kami are coming.

In an instant, the dread was gone, along with the snarling specter.

A large clattering arose from the kitchen, and then a cute little girl with strange blue markings on her face entered the living room from there. This was rather unusual, as the kitchen had no doors or windows.

"Hello Mr. Keiichi Morisato, I'm Skuld Goddess 3rd class trainee, and I'm here to grant your wish."

"Must really be going insane today," Keiichi murmured to himself. "Wonder when I passed through Sheogorath's gates?"

"What's your wish Mr. Keiichi? How 'bout never ending ice cream? Or a robot? Or a robot that makes ice cream?" She blurted out the last question with stars in her eyes.

The little girl, Skuld he supposed, was bouncing up and down like a rabbit on crack.

Skuld was ecstatic; this would be her first ever wish granting! Belldandy would be so proud, especially since she had managed the whole thing without having to ask anyone else for help.

Keiichi smiled at the antics of his hallucination. He may as well play along.

"All right then, a wish huh? Ice cream is always good I suppose, but not the sort of thing I would wish for," Keiichi paused here contemplating his life and the sense of yawning absence that clawed through his very soul, and suddenly it all seemed crystal clear in the midst of this strange fever dream.

"But really, really all I want is something simple. I've always wanted a family, but I'm not really much of a lady's man."

Skuld looked at him impatiently, and was obviously biting back a request for him to hurry up.

"I just wish that I could raise a girl like you."

Keiichi smiled. Maybe he would adopt a young child—after he finished his degree.

Skuld froze in place, a look of shock and not a small amount of fear on her young face.

"Skuld-chan? Are you okay?" Keiichi asked, noticing the expression of the young illusion in his dormitory.

"G-granted," the young Goddess choked out.

A beam of light shot up from the young goddess and into the night sky, tearing a hole through the dorm roof.

Keiichi froze in place as well. Screams echoed in his head, and he attempted to join them in chorus but his throat was too tight couldn't breathe growling couldn't breathe howling gotta breathe-

The Kami are coming.