When Skuld asked to talk to Keiichi and her two sisters, they weren't expecting anything like this particular conversation.

I would like to attend a human high school." She said confidently, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She sat patiently and waited for their response. The room was unnaturally quiet as all three processed that rather blunt statement. Skuld's impatience finally got the better of her. "Well? What do you guys think?"

"Are you frickin' nuts?" Urd asked bluntly. "What possible use is there for you to attend a human high school? Were 200 years of primary school in heaven just not enough for you? Even if you aren't aware of some of the specifics of local history, for pretty much everything else in the multi-verse you've probably covered it already. Why did this even cross your mind?"

Skuld shot Urd an angry glance, and Belldandy began to try to pacify the both of them. "Now, Urd, I am sure Skuld has a good reason she wishes to attend a human high school. And I am sure that if she wants to, she will tell us. But isn't it a small thing to grant her wish for the time being?" Even as she said this, she shot Skuld a short, but worried, look.

Keiichi sipped his tea and then set it down. "Money isn't a problem at the moment," he said thinking simultaneously for once… "And, I don't see any real problem with this. I think Skuld will tell us her reason for this when she feels comfortable. Personally, I don't mind, as it gets her out of the house for most of the day. That means that only Urd can get in trouble while we are at work with Chihiro-san, Belldandy."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" Urd yelled, while Skuld smirked. Keiichi sighed and said, "Well since there isn't really a good reason for Skuld to not attend high school, I say we just let her do it."

"Alright. But what did you mean about the reference to money, Keiichi-san?" Belldandy asked innocently, cocking her head slightly to the right.

"Yeah, isn't school free down here on earth?" Urd followed up Belldandy's query with another question.

"I also am a bit confused about that." Skuld added, her forehead furrowed in confusion.

Keiichi sighed. "On earth even if you attend a public school, which is paid for by taxes, you often need to spend money on other things needed for school. Stuff like school swimsuits, textbooks, notebooks, pencils and pens, and other things of that nature. Private schools charge for tuition and uniforms, as well as all the stuff I mentioned before."

Keiichi remembered something and asked Skuld, "Which school were you thinking of attending?" The reply was immediate and without hesitation,

"Shichijou Gakuen."

Skuld ignored the raised eyebrows that Urd and Keiichi were giving her, and smiled happily. Keiichi broke in before she got too carried away. "But if we are going to do this, I would like you to follow certain rules." Skuld's smile deflated a little, but didn't go away.

"Okay. What kind of rules are we talking about?" she asked. Keiichi cleared his throat and said, "Rule one. Don't use your goddess powers in front of classmates or teachers. Or anyone else, to tell the truth. Rule two. No machines or similar inventions in school."

"WHAT? Why?" Skuld whined. Keiichi frowned.

"You have to blend in. If you show up everyday on a robot-motorcycle that you built yourself, people might start asking why you even need to attend high school. Most 16-year-old teenagers can't do that. Your other inventions are just as big of a tip-off. To protect you from people who might want your powers and abilities for themselves, I would like you to follow this rule."

Skuld pouted. "Okay." Keiichi looked at her steadily and then continued.

"Rule Three. You have to get good grades. This should be relatively easy for you, considering your background, so I figured it would be fair to ask you to have a grade above a B in every subject. Just to make sure you are paying at least a little attention." Skuld flipped her hair over her shoulder again.

"Okay. No problem." she said flippantly.

Keiichi's frown deepened a bit, and his tone was a bit short as he continued. "Fine. Rule four. If you intend to attend high school, it will be for the whole period of high school. You will be attending all three years, and you will graduate. This is non-negotiable."

Urd exclaimed "What!" almost simultaneously as Skuld agreed. Urd sputtered a bit, "But Skuld is a goddess. It would be a waste of her time to have to attend all three years of schooling that she doesn't need."

Keiichi pinned her with an irritated glare. "This is so she thinks about this seriously." He sipped some tea, "If this is just some whim, Skuld has to understand that for most people, decisions like this have consequences." He paused and then continued, "Like getting the paperwork here for her to be able to do this. Setting this up will not be as easy as allowing you two to attend Nekomi Tech. High schools pay attention to things like passports, school records, and places of permanent residence. If she wants to attend, we have to get all of this paperwork together, and make it believable that she wants to attend a Japanese high school, especially since you all don't look native-born. Skuld is going to have to attend all three years of high school, and that is just part of the deal. The school is going to know that she lives here, and who her guardians are, which means that a one-year exchange student gig isn't going to work as well."

Urd blinked and then said, "Well that was a lot of talk I only half-understood. How did you manage to think of all this in such a short time?"

Keiichi smiled softly. "I had a feeling that this might eventually come up." He turned to Skuld. "I know that this might seem obvious, but if anyone figures out that you are a goddess, it could mean trouble. So please do your best to keep it to yourself. It isn't a rule, but I am counting on your common sense to guide you in this direction."

"Okay." Skuld said with a sigh. "Is that it?" she asked.

Keiichi looked at her cautiously. "Yes. That is it."

Skuld smiled brightly again."Oh good. So, Keiichi, if I am right, that means I have to go shopping to buy everything for school, right?" she asked perkily.

"Right."

Skuld turned to Belldandy, "Sister, would you like to go shopping with me?"

A smile broke out on her face as Belldandy nodded her quiet yes, and Skuld skipped out of the room.

Skuld sat in her room and looked at the pile of new things that the school had required her to buy for the upcoming school year, glowing happily. She had been able to spend time with Belldandy, just the two of them, and that in and of itself had been worth the trouble to go to human school. Even though Keiichi had secretly tailed them to make sure they bought all the right stuff.

"But I cannot forget the real reason I want to go to high school." She muttered to herself, "Focus, Skuld. Let's start putting this all together." She looked down at the checklist Keiichi had given her, to help her figure out what to do with all the things she had bought. Textbooks, notebooks, pens and pencils, gym uniform, and student handbook in her school bag, check. Her new school swimsuit, summer uniform, a coat and scarf, and an umbrella in her closet, check. Read the school rules and other pertinent information in the school handbook, check. She'd already inspected her new bike that she would be using to get to school from now on. Skuld sat back after she finished the checklist, "That should be it."

"Skuld-sama. Why are you doing this? Don't you want to stay here with me and Banpei-kun?" Sigel asked desperately, "Is it not fun to be here with us anymore?"

"It isn't anything like that at all, Sigel-chan." Skuld replied, "It's just that…" she fidgeted a bit, a blush coming to her face. "Sentaro-kun is going to high school."

Sigel looked taken aback for a second, and then recovered. "That kid who comes to visit all the time? I knew I didn't like him." Sigel growled, "Skuld-sama, what do you see in him?"

Skuld shot Sigel an angry glare. "None of your business." Sigel saw her mistake, and quickly moved to a different angle of attack.

"Speaking of which, recently we stopped seeing so much of him. If he really likes…" Sigel forgot to finish her sentence when she saw the worried look on Skuld's face. "Skuld-sama?"

Skuld looked away. "He…he talked a lot about his middle school and it sounded fun." She said softly, "That's all." She finished organizing all her new things silently.

Just when she had finished, Sigel said to her softly, "If that is what Skuld-sama thinks will make her happy, I have no objections. I will miss you though." Sigel stopped with a curious look on her face. "I guess Banpei will miss you too."

Skuld turned to her and smirked. "'Banpei'? SOOOO, how are things going for you two, anyway? I was a little worried, but since you two seem to have become so close…" Sigel blushed furiously and babbled a few nonsensical sentences and stomped out of the room. Skuld sighed. She appreciated the concern, of course, but in the past three years since she had met Sentaro, she'd really grown up. Skuld just wished the others would stop treating her like a kid. (As usual).

Especially now that she'd put on some more height. You'd think that now that she was closing in on the height of everyone else (She had just recently surpassed Keiichi, now officially the shortest person in the house) that they would start to treat her differently. Whatever. The main reason she was attending school was to see more of Sentaro. He seemed to have gotten a little cold recently, claiming he had to do things for 'work' all the time.

Skuld hummed happily as she contemplated being able to see Sentaro every day. The opening ceremony for school would begin tomorrow. She was really looking forward to it.