After several months of a busy schedule and writer's block, I've managed to write another chapter to my story set. I hope you guys like it.
Note: "(words like this)" – thoughts to self.
Episode/Chapter 7 – Awkward Moments
It's been about a week since the racing accident. For the most part, Keiichi is well rested and recovered now. Today, he's been taking some time to look at the schematics for when Skuld built Banpei. After all, he did promise to help her fix him. Deep in concentration and scribbling down calculation notes, he is interrupted by Megumi.
"Hey bro! Whatcha workin' on?"
"Oh this? I'm trying to help Skuld fix Banpei."
"Banpei?.. Oh her robot. What's wrong with it?"
"It looks like the virus wiped out his entire system, so now we're stuck reconfiguring everything from scratch. This is gonna take awhile to do"
"What about the pictures?"
"Pictures?…Oh, I completely forgot. The camera!"
"I have it with me" Megumi opens a small black bag with an SLR camera, several lenses, and lots of film.
"Thanks Meg." Keiichi attaches a lens to the camera and begins pointing it around.
"No problem, Kei. Just hang on to it for a while. I don't have any use for it right now anyway…By the way, do you remember little Sentarou?"
"Sentarou? Yeah! We haven't seen him in awhile. How's he doing?"
"I just talked to his mom this morning. It looks like he'll be starting school at Nekomi Tech this fall."
"Huh? Isn't he a little young to start college?"
"Well, he's 17 now, and he graduated a year early with top honors in his class, so they're letting him start here early. I told him about the Motor Club and he already wants to join."
"Wow! That's great for him. I just hope he'll be alright."
"Well, he's still a little bit shy, but I'm sure Belldandy, the girls, and I can take care of that."
"Actually, I was referring to Tamiya and Ootaki. You remember what happened last semester."
"I'm sure Chihiro will take care of those two. He'll be on campus this week for the orientation, and I already told him about the Motor Club meeting for incoming freshman"
"Great! It'll be good to see him there."
Megumi glances at her watch. "Oh, I've gotta get going. I'm going back home for a few days to pick up some stuff. You need anything?"
"Uh yeah. There are a few small boxes in my room with some equipment that I need."
Megumi gives a sarcastic smile. "Anything else?"
"Well, you asked. But that should be it though." Keiichi responded.
"Alright. I'll see you next week then." Megumi waves as she exits.
Keiichi momentarily stood up and stretched before returning to his work, only to take breaks for dinner and for tea that evening, while taking in the cool air of a perfect summer night.
"It must be nice that your friend is starting school with us this fall." Belldandy says as she pours the tea.
"So what's his name?" Urd asks.
"Sentarou. He's really shy, but very smart." Keiichi takes a sip of his tea.
"Oh, I'm sure I can fix that. Especially since we know someone who used to be like that." Urd slyly looks at Keiichi.
"Ah hah hah…Anyways, he's already wanting to join the Motor Club this fall."
"Oh, that's wonderful! Is he wanting to race like you?"
"He's more of the construction and design type. Also, he's very good with computer programming."
"Hmm. Maybe Skuld could learn something from him." Urd comments.
Skuld's eyes are rolled upwards. "Don't mess with me Urd."
"Hey, don't need to be so sensitive."
"Oh yeah, why don't you try fixing Banpei?"
"Why would I want to? He doesn't really do anything."
"Hey, take that back!"
"Girls, easy. We've still a lot of work to do." Keiichi takes the last sip of his tea. "Thanks Bell."
Belldandy smiles. Keiichi and Skuld get up and head back to their rooms to continue their project. Urd looks at Keiichi as he heads back to his room as Belldandy begins to clean up.
"Always devoted to everyone and everything. Well, he looks like he's fully recovered from the race." Urd turns and looks at Belldandy. "You know sis, you don't have to be afraid to express your love for him more closely."
"Oh I know. I guess I just want to be sure that he feels the same way I do."
"Bell, Keiichi loves you…I'm just saying that you two know how you feel about each other, and you need to do something… soon." Urd turns away and bows her head in sadness. "Because you never know what could happen and you may never have to chance to tell each other." Urd exits and goes to her room.(**)
As Keiichi continued to work non-stop at his desk through the night, he eventually could no longer keep his eyes open and fell asleep at his desk. 2:00 a.m. Suddenly, a figure of a woman crouched next to Keiichi who was still sound asleep at his desk. She had soft hazel eyes, shoulder length dark brown hair, and wore a white dress with white gloves, tan leather boots and broad shoulder and waist halter belts.(*) The most distinguishing feature of her was the diamond shaped marks on her forehead and cheeks. As her face moved closer to him, her eyes filled with infatuation and wonder took note of Keiichi's face as he lay there peacefully. She slowly closed her eyes and puckered her lips to blow a soft caressing kiss onto Keiichi. As she opened her eyes, she was interrupted by footsteps coming from down the hallway and quickly hid behind one of the bookshelves in Keiichi's room.
Belldandy found Keiichi completely out at his desk. With the help of her magic , she gently lifted him up and moved him to his bed to tuck him in.
As she pulled the blanket over him, she softly said, "Good night Keiichi. Sweet dreams." She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. Belldandy turned the light off at Keiichi's desk and closed the door behind her. With only the moonlight peering through the window, the mysterious woman glanced at Keiichi and said to herself:
"There's just something about you that's so intriguing." She sighs. "I really want to meet you…and I will…tomorrow. Good night from me too Keiichi. From Peorth. I'll see you tomorrow." With those words Peorth disappeared again into the night.
*****
As the morning sun's rays shined into his room, Keiichi was slowly awakened with an enveloping warmness. His mind felt completely blank as his late night work had completely drained his energy. Slowly climbing out of his futon, he began to collect himself to prepare for another busy day. Only today, it would be the Motor Club meeting at the University, and catching up with Sentarou. As Keiichi opened the door into the hallway, he could hear the hum of a familiar tune. Keiichi walked down the hall to Belldandy's room, where her door was left slightly open. As he peered into her doorway, he was surprised at what he saw. Belldandy was still in her night outfit, but with a dangerous amount of her body showing. Keiichi soon felt his face turning warm and flush from embarrassment for even staring at her like this, yet could not stop thinking to himself how beautiful and graceful she looked at this moment.
"Uh, Bell…" Keiichi shyly said.
"Hmm? Oh!" She quickly covered herself back up partially, but not without blushing and letting out an innocent giggle. "Good morning Keiichi!" she says as she smiles at him. Keiichi is somewhat looking away, trying to respectfully not stare at her.
"Sorry, Bell…"
"Enjoying the view, Keiichi?" a voice said from behind him.
In an instantaneous reaction, he turned around, not knowing that he was still right next to the door and ended up hitting the side of his head on the door. Falling to the ground, he held his head and opened his eyes briefly to see Urd standing over him, arms crossed and displaying a smile of amusement over Keiichi's clumsiness.
"Oh, Keiichi are you alright?!" Belldandy says as she rushes over to Keiichi as her nightgown begins to fall off. Still holding the side of his head, Keiichi managed to prop himself back up until Belldandy was at his side, cradling him in her arms.
"Oww…" Keiichi opened his eyes and found himself staring at Belldandy's breasts, but then slowly looking upward directly into her deep blue eyes. Belldandy reached with her free hand over to where Keiichi had hit his head. Keiichi was suddenly frozen with tension. He had never seen Belldandy like this before, and didn't know what to do, especially with Urd standing right there as well, enjoying his little mishap. Keiichi quickly picked himself up, still flush red.
"Uh, I'm okay. I'll see you in a little bit." he makes out the door this time.
"Well, sis, showing a different side of us this morning to Keiichi?" she pauses and laughs to herself for a moment. "He's never seen you naked before, has he?"
"Well, no…" Belldandy shyly replied. The situation was a little embarrassing to her as well, but in a way, she didn't seem to mind that Keiichi saw her like this.
"You don't need to be so shy with him Bell. After all, you two have lived together for 3 years now."
Skuld walks by hearing this conversation. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Little Kei boy had an accident with the door." Urd says.
Skuld looked at Urd, then Belldandy, noticing that she was practically naked.
"Ahh! He was peeping in on you, wasn't he?!" Skuld immediately stormed towards Keiichi's room. "Come here you pervert!"
"Ahh, Skuld wait! I can explain! Aiieeee!"
Urd sighs as she shakes her head. "That kid will never understand."
After recovering from Skuld's pummeling, Keiichi managed to get washed up and dressed to help start repairing Banpei with Skuld this morning, before going to today's Motor Club meeting for the orientation. Wrenches, screwdrivers, blueprints, wires, and circuit boards were strewn right outside of the temple with Banpei at this point a statue like figure standing over all of his parts.
"Keiichi, could you hand me the circuit board next to you…" Skuld said as she reached her hand around Banpei towards Keiichi.
"Let's see, here you go." Keiichi then looks at his calculations as he begins to go off into a daydream.
******
He imaged Belldandy in the same outfit that he had seen her in this morning.
"Oh Keiichi..." Belldandy wraps her arms around him.
"Belldandy..." Keiichi nervously leans forward to kiss her. She squeezes him tighter to her, being taken in by this feeling.Images of their arms around each other kissing passionately.
Keiichi begins to maneuver his hands to undo her nightgown. She could feel his hands trembling as he touched her, until she guided his hands to slowly unbutton her top. He begins to slowly slip off her night gown...
******
"Hey, Keiichi!" Skuld exclaims.
"Huh?! Yes Bell...uh, I mean Skuld?
"Stop goofing around. We're never gonna get done if you keep doing that." Skuld yells at him.
A few hours later, they take a break to sit down for lunch. Belldandy and Keiichi cannot look at each other without blushing. Skuld sees this and starts to get annoyed.
"Alright you two. What's going on here? You both have been acting strange today." she says as she props herself over the table looking at both of them.
"Nothing." Keiichi and Belldandy say at the same time.
Keiichi freezes momentarily to think of a way to change the subject quickly.
"Well, we've finished Banpei for the most part. We just have to rewrite some modules of his main program."
"Oh, Kei! I just got a message from Tamiya. He said that the meeting with the new members this afternoon will be in the Engineering Building where you guys have Kakuta's class." Belldandy tells him.
"Oh thanks Bell. I guess we'll get ready to go when we're finished."
"Hey! What about Banpei?!" Skuld interrupted.
"Um, I can help you out more this evening when we get back."
"Hmm…Actually, I'm coming with you guys. I need a break anyways."
"Right, Skuld whatever. You're just going to keep on eye on Bell and Kei." Urd implied.
"Hey, I've been working just as hard as Kei on this."
"It's okay Urd. Actually, you want to come with us too? "
"I'll pass. Besides my soap opera's on in about an hour anyways."
"Oh yeah, you'll get to meet Sentarou. He's really shy, but a nice kid. Actually, he's around your age Skuld…"
"Not interested." Skuld quickly responds.
"Oh no, I wasn't implying anything Skuld."
"Besides, you're a little young for a boyfriend squirt." Urd says.
"What do you know?!" Skuld scowls at Urd.
"Um Kei, didn't you say he was good with computer programming?" Belldandy asked.
"That's right. Maybe if he doesn't mind, he can help us out with Banpei, and he'll get a chance to meet everyone."
"Hello?" a voice from outside said. Belldandy apparently recognizing the voice stood up and ran to the front door..
Belldandy shrieked in surprise. "Peorth! "
"Hi Bell! It's been awhile." Peorth stepped up to Belldandy
"How're you? So what brings you here?"
"I stopped by to say hello to all of you."
"Oh, we have company." Keiichi walks out to them while Urd and Skuld remain in the doorway.
Peorth's attention immediately turned to Keiichi. "And you must be the Keiichi I've heard so much about."
"Hello. And you are…"
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Allow me to make a formal introduction Mr. Morisato." Peorth takes a bow. In a graceful motion, she steps back and twirls, producing a red rose in her hand, bringing it into a presentation across her face. "I am Peorth of the Roses, First Class goddess, and administrator of Yggdrasil…for you." Peorth hands the rose to Keiichi, who reluctantly takes it.
"Uh, thank you. It's very nice to meet you Peorth. Uh, so you're a goddess too."
"Yes, that's right." Peorth says as she brushes the hair back on the side of her head.
"She's certainly full of herself." Skuld whispers to Urd.
"Sometimes that's an understatement. You haven't been around her long enough." Urd leans over to quietly respond to Skuld.
Peorth notices Skuld and Urd at the doorway watching her. "Oh hi Urd! Skuld!"
"Long time, Peorth. So how's everything with Yggdrasil?"
"Oh, we have everything back up and running now. We really appreciated all the help you gave us."
"Hey, there's no job that Urd can't handle." Urd replies. However, Peorth's attention shifted back to Keiichi.
"So, tell me a little about yourself Keiichi. You know you're quite the hero for what you did a few months back…"
Urd is closely observing Peorth as this conversation between Keiichi, Belldandy, and Peorth continues. "Hmmm…"
"What is it?" Skuld asks.
"Peorth. She's up to something. Maybe I'd better go along. I'll just have the VCR record it."
"It must be serious if you're willing to miss your show."
"We were just on our way to the school. You're more than welcome to join us." Belldandy said to Peorth.
"A university. It would be a pleasure to see where Keiichi attends classes. Well then, shall we?"
*******
Keiichi and Belldandy arrive at campus first by motorcycle, with Urd, Skuld, and Peorth each using their own modes of transportation to get there. Keiichi and Belldandy decide to head towards the fountain in the center square of campus to wait for the others.
"Peorth seems very confident and energetic." Keiichi as they sat down on the edge of the fountain.
"She helped me out a lot when I was in training."
"So, you two go back a long ways."
"Mmm hmm."
Belldandy paused and reflected on what Urd had said earlier. Turning to Keiichi with a look of concern, she knows that she just had to ask.
"Keiichi, there's something that I have to ask you…so many things have happened since we've been together. I'm scared that all I'll do is hurt you. After all of this, is this still what you want? Even if more things could come between us?"
"Of course it is. It's because of everything that's happened is why my life is so wonderful, and I wouldn't have it any other way. No matter what comes between us, I know this…the way I feel about you will never change. There is one thing though…"
Belldandy suddenly froze, expecting to hear the worst.
"Stop apologizing for everything." Keiichi says as he smiles. "You're not responsible for other people's actions. Okay?"
"I'm sorry" Belldandy responded. Immediately they started laughing after what Keiichi had just said.
During this conversation, Peorth was sitting on the other side of the fountain observing this moment between the two lovebirds, constantly focused on Keiichi.
"Hey Peorth! How did you get here so fast?!" Urd yelled from a distance. She had seen Peorth standing close by Keiichi and Belldandy. The two turned around to find Peorth sitting on the opposite side.
"Well, uh… I have my own ways."
All of them had arrived on campus and met up around the fountain in the central quad.
"Everyone, I need to go to the Engineering School Office to pick up some stuff for the meeting. I'll meet you at the room in a little bit." Keiichi says. As he turns to begin walking to the office, he felt someone grab his arm.
"Wait, Keiichi! Can I come with you? This is my first visit to your university. Maybe you can show me around a little bit?"
"Um, alright. We've got about 15 minutes before the meeting starts. I can give you a brief tour."
"Great! Let's go!" Peorth starts running dragging Keiichi along with her.
"Hey wait Peorth! Wrong way!! Aaaah!" Keiichi yells out as they disappear in the distance.
"Well then, we'd better get over there. Belldandy?" Urd says. Belldandy had seemed distracted for some reason.
"Belldandy?"
"Hmm? Oh yes, we should go."
As the three of them started walking, there was a panicked voice yelling from a distance. A boy was frantically dodging everyone and jumping over every possible obstacle as he sped through on his bicycle. He looked to be about an older teen, slender with medium length black, somewhat spiky styled hair.
"Whoa, look out! 'scuse me!! Oh man! I'm gonna be late!!" the boy said to himself as he sped towards the girls' direction. As he passed by them in what seemed almost like a blur, he caught a glimpse of the youngest of the goddesses, Skuld. His concentration suddenly shifted as he kept staring, as he couldn't help but look at her. At the same time, Skuld found herself locked in this curious stare as well. Skuld's eyes widened as she saw the boy not looking ahead and about to crash into one of the benches.
"Look out!" Skuld screamed out.
"Huh?!" the boy turned around looking forward to find himself only a few feet from one of the benches. In a quick reaction, he manages to jump onto the bench with his bike, but ends up losing his balance and falling off since he had landed and slipped off the front edge of the bench. He had landed on his side and lied there without any movement for a few seconds. Skuld immediately rushed over to check on him.
"Hey, are you okay?" Skuld kneeled down to take a closer look at him.
"(Groans)…ow." He looks up to see Skuld only about a foot away from him. He suddenly began to blush with embarrassment, and quickly gathers himself together to escape.
"Uh yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. Heh, heh, I've gotta go!!" he nervously replied as he runs over to pick up his bike and takes off again. Skuld stood up and watched him as he sped off.
"Well, I never thought you would cause some heads to turn." Urd comments.
Skuld snapped out of it responding: "Huh? What are you talking about?!"
"And it looks like you seemed to enjoy it too."
"Hey, I was just worried that he might be hurt!"
"I see. Does that explain why your face is so red right now?" slyly responded with a big grin.
"What? It is not! Shut up!"
*******
Meanwhile:
"Over there is the electrical engineering building. And if we go down this way, we'll run into the Auto Club at the corner." Keiichi was showing Peorth around some areas of the NIT campus as they headed for the Physics building where the meeting was supposed to be held at. Yet, Keiichi felt a little nervous, since Peorth was hanging onto his remaining arm as they walked, since he was carrying papers and a bound notebook, all of which was for the meeting.
"This is very nice Keiichi…"
To herself: "(Such a gentleman, and very cute too…)"
"Hmm?"
"Oh nothing."
"So Peorth, what's it like working up in Yggdrasil? It's gotta be a lot of hard work from what the girls tell me."
"Running the mainframe takes up so much time. I know how important it is, but…" she pauses and sighs "I just wish I had the chance like Urd, Skuld, and Belldandy to do the things they've been able to do. Living down here with you…"
"Well, tell you what. When you do have a vacation, you're more than welcome to come visit and stay with us anytime. I'm sure the girls would love it, especially Belldandy."
"Well thank you Keiichi."
"No problem. So…you and Belldandy go back a ways right?"
Peorth for a moment didn't answer, since she was hoping that he would ask a little more about her specifically.
"Yes, we do. When we first received our licenses, we were both assigned to the Goddess Technical Help line."
"So you had the same job as Belldandy?"
"That's right. We worked together for a long time. Granting wishes to people in need. At one point we were both offered the chance to become the system administrator, it just depended on who wanted it more…Belldandy says she turned it down because she enjoyed what she was already doing. In a way, I don't blame her. She's always been the type who always wants people she cares about to be happy, and will do anything she can to make it happen."
"Oh, here we go. The Physics building. Room 206 is where we're going."
*******
Everyone was gathered in the lecture hall and talking among themselves waiting for the meeting to start. As Keiichi and Peorth entered the room, Peorth was still hanging onto his arm. Keiichi stopped before approaching the front of the room.
"Uh, Peorth. Could you let go of my arm please?"
"Hmm? Oh of course. He he."
"Hmm…I'd better keep an eye on her." Urd said.
Belldandy turned around towards Urd. "Oh there he is!"
"Looks like I'm right on schedule." Keiichi says as he looks around. "I don't see Sentarou though…" Suddenly, they're interrupted by someone running into the room out of breath.
"(Huff, huff) Sorry…I'm late Keiichi." The boy says.
"Actually, you're just in time, Sentarou. It's good to see you."
"(Huh?! He's Sentarou?!)" Skuld says in shock.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"I got a little bit lost and sort of had an accident…" Sentarou noticed Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld behind them.
"Oh, uh hi…"
"It's very nice to meet you Sentarou. I'm Belldandy" Belldandy extended a warm greeting to him.
"Uh hi, Miss Belldandy."
"I'm Urd."
"Hello."
"Peorth." She looked over Sentarou, making him more nervous than he already was. She smiled as she commented, "My, such a cute face."
"Uh, thanks."
Skuld walked up from behind Urd to Sentarou. "I'm Skuld."
"Uh, hi Skuld." Sentarou could feel himself blushing again as she smiled at him. He was speechless as he wasn't quite sure of what to say.
The meeting began shortly after with Keiichi telling the new incoming students about the Motor Club and what they could look forward to. During the next 15 minutes, everyone had a eye on someone. Peorth could not take her eyes off Keiichi, Urd was watching Peorth closely, Skuld would occasionally glance over at Sentarou, while he was a bit nervous as he saw Skuld looking at him, and Belldandy sat peacefully nearby as she watched Keiichi give his presentation.
"Well, that actually went well. I was a little bit nervous about doing this since Chihiro usually does this."
"You did wonderful, Keiichi. I have a good feeling that many of these new students will want to become part of this experience." Belldandy assured him.
"I thought that speech was wonderful Keiichi" Peorth added.
"I must say Kei, you're getting pretty good at this." Urd said as she sat up on the professor's table.
"Thanks everyone. Well, I guess we can all head home then. Where's Sentarou?"
"Heh heh. I think the little squirt's scaring him." Urd replied as she looked towards Skuld and Sentarou's direction.
"Hey, Sentarou. You're not busy for the rest of the day are you?"
Sentarou quickly turned to Keiichi's direction, feeling a bit relieved. "Well, not that I can think of. Why?"
"We were wondering if you wanted to come over to our place for today."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Come on, Sentarou! It'll be lots of fun!" Skuld excitedly begged him.
"Uh, sure. Okay."
"Well, let's go everyone." Keiichi says.
*******
Back at the temple, Keiichi was showing Sentarou around while Belldandy was already starting to prepare dinner. Eventually they came to Skuld's room where Banpei was moved after this morning's progress.
"Hey, what's this?" Sentarou immediately ran over to Banpei and examined him. "Hey, this looks cool."
"Oh yeah, I was wondering if you could help us out with something…Skuld and I are having problems with him."
"What's wrong with it?"
"The stupid virus erased all the program modules, and we had to start all over. Neither Kei or I can figure out what we're doing wrong." Skuld had entered right behind Keiichi and kneeled down next to Sentarou and Banpei.
"This certainly was a lot easier when I first built him." Skuld sighed.
"You built this robot? Wow, I'm very impressed. Hmmm? Do you have a printout of the program modules you tried to write?"
"Yeah, right here." Skuld picks up a small stack of papers from behind Banpei and hands it to Sentarou. He quickly scans over the computer code and flips through several pages in a matter of seconds.
"Here's part of the problem. These lines would have him repeatedly doing this command until his system crashes."(**)
"Wow, that's great. How did you figure it out so fast?" Keiichi asked as he looked over.
"This looks similar to a project I started working on."
"Sentarou, I was wondering if you could help me with fixing him?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm very interested to see how you built him too." Sentarou replied. He noticed that he was gradually becoming more relaxed around Skuld. With a big smile, he turns to Skuld. "Let's get started then."
"O-kay." Skuld happily responded.
As Skuld and Sentarou immediately started working away at Banpei, Keiichi decided to take a walk down the hall. Coming to his room, he remembered that there was a notebook that he forgot to give to Skuld. As he entered, something immediately caught him by surprise. Peorth was in there.
"Oh, hi Peorth."
"Hi, Keiichi. You need help with something?" Peorth suggestively says as she gives him a flirtatious look."
"Uhhh. Yeah, I needed Skuld's notebook." He felt his heart racing as she handed him the notebook, still giving him that look.
"Tell me, Keiichi. Do you think I'm beautiful?" Peorth lifted her arms, apparently striking a sexy pose with her hands in her hair.
"Uh, yes. Very beautiful. (Gulp)"
"I'm glad to hear that." She started to walk closer to him, while he was getting backed up closer to the door.
"That's good. Uh, thanks Peorth." Keiichi managed to slip out the door.
To himself: "(Whew. That was scary. I need to do something about her.)"
It wasn't any easier for Keiichi at dinner, as Peorth had conveniently sat herself next to Keiichi, with Belldandy next to him as well. Skuld and Sentarou were certainly getting along well, while Keiichi attempted to keep his composure.
"Keiichi. You know what? I haven't seen Megumi yet. Is she coming by at all this evening?" Sentarou asked.
"Actually, she went home for a few days. But she'll be back this weekend…so how's everything going with Banpei?"
"Almost finished."
"Yeah, Sentarou's been a big help."
"We really appreciate you helping us. And I'm glad that we've had a chance to catch up."
"You're more than welcome to come visit us anytime, Sentarou." Belldandy added.
"One thing's for sure. It never gets boring around here." Urd said.
"It's always nice when we have company stop by…Yikes!" Keiichi yelled out.
"What's the matter?" Sentarou asked with a puzzled look.
"Uh nothing. I'm fine." Urd immediately looked over at Peorth, who apparently had reached over and "grabbed" Keiichi.
After finishing with dinner, Keiichi decided to go ahead and take his bath. Being taken in by the relaxing sensation, he lied back against the edge and closed his eyes. He thought to himself about what he should do about Peorth. Then his thoughts shifted to what happened this morning. From what he saw of Belldandy, she looked so graceful, especially with the smile that complimented her natural beauty. Yet, he was still trying to refrain from any inappropriate thoughts. As he let out a sigh, he felt two hands begin to massage his shoulders, which felt so relaxing. He could feel the tension being released…until realizing that Belldandy does not do anything like this. He opened his eyes and turned around to immediately find Peorth only inches away from his face.
"Aaaah! Wh-wh-what are you doing?" Keiichi gasped as he clammered to the other side of the bathtub.
"I just wanted to give you a massage."
"That's not uh, really necessary." Keiichi was trying not to stare at her since she was completely naked. Peorth slowly approached closer to him, trapping him in the corner.
"Come on. You're tense. You'll feel so much better." She said as she started to climb over into the tub.
"Really, it's okay. I…"
"What's going on in here?" Urd opened the door to see Peorth standing over Keiichi.
"Urd! Help me!"
"Come on, Peorth. Leave him alone. He's had a long day."
"Okay. I'll leave." Peorth wrapped herself in a towel and exited, but not without brushing shoulders with Urd, relaying her disgust with her for interfering.
"Well now Keiichi. It's just you and me…" Urd began to move towards him.
Keiichi's eyes immediately bug out. "Wah! Not you too Urd!"
Urd stopped as she was only inches away from Keiichi, almost at the same position that Peorth was at. "Ha ha ha! Gotcha!…Now come on, hurry up so I can take my bath."
After surviving that little incident, Keiichi at least had a chance to spend the evening with Belldandy, since he had been so busy with helping Skuld.
"I didn't realize that Peorth was causing you so much trouble Kei." Belldandy said as she was undoing her hair, allowing it to fall down her shoulders and back.
"I'm sorry that I didn't mention it earlier. It's just that I didn't think anything of her actions until this evening."
"I guess maybe I should've warned you about her…" Belldandy responds with a giggle.
Keiichi let off a laugh to somewhat relieve himself as well. "Um, Belldandy, you don't mind if I stay in here with you for awhile, do you?"
"No, of course not." Belldandy was getting ready to change into her nightgown.
"Oh sorry. I can leave for a little bit." Keiichi stood up and began to approach the door.
"No, it's okay."
"Are you sure?"
"I don't mind, Kei. Please stay."
"Uh, okay. Well, let me turn around at least." Keiichi sat back down facing towards the wall. Soon he started thinking about what happened this morning, and fell into a daze while he waited patiently. Belldandy was starting to slip into her nightgown when she paused and looked over at Keiichi. She slowly got up and approached Keiichi. As she began to kneel down right behind him, she wrapped her arms around him with her head resting on his shoulder.
"Keiichi?"
"Huh? Bell?" Keiichi slowly turned around, and found himself gazing deep into Belldandy's eyes. That's all it took for him to be entranced by her. Those crystal blues. She reached for his hand, and proceeded to place it upon her chest. As she guided his hand downwards, their hearts began to race as their lips moved closer to each other.
"Kei…" she whispered as she closed her eyes.
"Bell. I, I…"
"Whoa!! (Crash!!)…Ouch!" Peorth stumbled into the doorway. "I think I tripped on one of Skuld's toys…Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt you two."
"Are you okay?" Keiichi asked.
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Kei. Hee hee."
"Hey, Keiichi!" Sentarou called out. He started to pass the doorway when he spotted him. "Oh, there you are. Hey listen, I need to get home so my mom doesn't worry."
"Oh, that's no problem. You're more than welcome to come by tomorrow if you like."
"Yeah, that'd be great." Sentarou then turned to look at Peorth. "Oh hi again."
"Hello." Peorth said to him.
"Hey, I heard a crash out here. Are you okay?"
"I think she said that Skuld left something out there."
"Huh?" Sentarou stepped back into the hallway and looked around. "I don't see anything."
"Oh, heh heh, I took care of it already." Peorth frantically responded.
"Hmm…Anyways, thank you again for inviting me over. Bye everyone!" Sentarou headed back to Skuld's room to pick up his stuff to head out.
"This was a lot of fun Skuld, but I've gotta get home, or my mom will kill me."
"Well, can I at least walk outside with you?"
As Sentarou and Skuld stepped outside, they began to head for the side of the temple where he had left his bike.
"Do you mind if I ask…but, what is that mallet for that you always carry?"
"Oh this? This is my bug-squasher!" she excitedly said as she pulls her mallet from her back.
"Something that big?"
"Well, you need it for the types of bugs that I see."
"I guess they must be big ones." Sentarou says as he starts to get on his bicycle.
"Yeah, and they're ugly too. Yuck!"
"Ha ha…Well, I guess I'd better get going." Sentarou begins to places one foot down on a pedal.
"Wait!! Are you coming over tomorrow?"
"Well, I don't know."
"You have to. I have more stuff I want to show you. Plus, we haven't tested out Banpei yet."
"Hey, that's right. Well, okay. Yeah, I'll definitely come over tomorrow then. It's a date then." Sentarou jokingly said until he froze for a second, realizing what he just said. He hoped that she wouldn't take that comment the wrong way.
"Great! Just be sure you don't crash into any park benches before then."
"Oh! Ha ha! I'll be sure to remember that." Sentarou smiles back at her. As he starts to ride off, Skuld waves at him until he disappears out of the gate. Before walking back inside, she decided to stay outside to take in the cool summer night's air.
"(That was a lot of fun. He really knows what he's doing)." Skuld lied back onto the porch, staring upwards into the sky. She took a deep breath as she felt her mind clear of all the tension that had built up the past few days. It seemed a lot easier to do this time.
"Aaaah…(but why do I feel strange around him though?)" she thought to herself until she suddenly jumped up. "No way. I can't like him. Nope. Not possible… Is it?" She sighs. "I can't let anyone find out about this. Maybe I can ask Belldandy at least. She'll know what to do. That's it. And it can be our little secret, too."
Back inside:
"Belldandy, I need to get back tomorrow morning, since one of the assistants is covering me. I wish I could stay longer. And believe me, I really do."
"Listen, I'll let you two talk for a little while. I should get some sleep since I've been up the past few nights."
"Okay. Good night, Kei."
"Good night, Bell." Keiichi stood at the doorway and sweetly smiled at her as he closed the door behind him.
"(Why am I so nervous? I've never seen Bell like this before. This is what I want though, isn't it? But is she doing it because this is what she wants too? One thing's for sure. I haven't been fair to her. I wanna tell her, yet it seems like something always stops me from doing it.)"
"Peorth, I'm really glad that you like Keiichi, but some of your behavior is making him uncomfortable."
"I apologize Bell. I didn't realize that I causing him so much distress. I guess I got so caught up in wanting to find out more about him. From what I've seen, it's no wonder you're so taken with Keiichi. He's sweet, smart, and a gentleman too."
"That's why he has such a good heart."
2:00 a.m. Everyone was sound asleep in their rooms. Keiichi was completely out from the exhaustion from the result of the late nights he had put in. Soon he began to dream about Belldandy again.
******
Her long flowing hair and crystal blue eyes were fixed on him with desire and passion as she forced herself onto him, embracing him into a deep passionate kiss that flowed through his entire body, allowing this feeling to overcome him and give in to her. As they released from each other's lips, Keiichi opened his eyes to see Peorth looking at him.
"Keiichi…my love…"******
In a quick shock reaction, Keiichi immediately woke up and felt someone lying on top of him. He found himself looking upward directly at Peorth.
"Huh? Peorth?! What are you doing here?" Keiichi was trying to move but was pinned underneath his blanket by her.
"Keiichi…I'm sorry. I just can't help it." She whispered. "I really like you. Ever since Belldandy has told me so much about you, I've really wanted to meet you. Especially when I saw you at the race."
"The race? What?! The race in Tokyo? You were there?"
"…Yes. When I was wanting to pay Belldandy a visit, I found out that all of you were in Tokyo since you were participating in a motorcycle race. You would've met me earlier, but because of what happened to you, I didn't think that was a good time to visit. And I felt terrible that I didn't help you enough."
"Belldandy said the exact same thing." Keiichi said.
"It turns out that we both used a barrier spell at the same time when you dismounted. If we wouldn't have both used it, you probably wouldn't have made it."
"You both saved my life. I had no idea." Peorth began to gaze deeply into his eyes.
"Keiichi, I care about you a lot. I know you don't know me that well, but I really like you." She placed one hand on his face, caressing his cheek.
"Please…let me steal just one sweet kiss from you." she softly whispered. Peorth closed her eyes as she moved closer to him. Keiichi closed his eyes squinting to brace himself for what he was about to say. Being in the position he was in did not make this any easier, knowing that he had to be true to his heart and that this would hurt Peorth.
"Peorth…I'm very flattered. But I'm sorry. I love Belldandy with all of my heart. Even though she first came here because of a wish I made, she means more to me than anything I could ever imagine. My heart belongs to her." Peorth pulled away and looked downwards hiding her face. Some feelings of rejection but guilt as well began to build up within her.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, but that's the truth. I hope you can understand…Peorth?" Keiichi sat up and reached over to her. She sniffled but quickly shook it off and looked up at him, trying to smile.
"What am I doing? I can't do this to her or to you." she sniffled as she wiped her tears away. "Belldandy is a wonderful goddess and my friend, you're a wonderful guy and you both love each other."
"I would do anything for her, even if I would have to search for my entire lifetime to find her. Even if more difficult times await us, I'll fight them to be with her. Because I know that she's the only one I want, the one I want to fall in love with forever."
"And your heart proves that…"
"Peorth, what I said before when you asked if I thought you were beautiful, I meant it."
"Keiichi, you're nice. Really, you don't have to cheer me up."
"It's true. I didn't tell you this yet, but I noticed that when we were walking around the university today, you caught a lot of guys' attention. Peorth, from everything I've already found out about you, I can say this: the guy that finds you will be a very lucky one. You're beautiful, smart, and very nice."
"(sniffles) Thank you Keiichi." she pauses to recollect herself. "…You know, there aren't very many people in the world like you. I guess I got caught up in wanting the same thing that Belldandy has that has made her so happy. I hope that if I have a chance, I can find someone with as good a heart as you…at least let me give you this." Peorth leaned over and kissed Keiichi on the forehead. "Thank you."
During this entire time, neither of them realized that Urd was still awake and watching this from Keiichi's doorway. As Peorth exited Keiichi's room, Urd quickly sneaked away so that they wouldn't see her. "Keiichi, you never cease to amaze me." She said to herself as she closed the door to her room.
The next morning, Keiichi awakened to find a note and a rose on his desk. He sat down at his desk as he opened it.
"Keiichi, thank you for what you said last night. It's true that people like you are far and few in this world. I can see why Belldandy is so taken by you. If I ever meet someone, I hope he is as true and kind-hearted as you are. Please take care of Belldandy and her sisters. Hopefully, I'll see you again someday. Take care… Peorth."
Keiichi walked down the hallway and stopped in front of Belldandy's door. He smiled as he said good morning to her. Peorth last night had helped him realize that love is something that can come easy if you say directly what comes straight from the heart.
"Hey sis!" Skuld ran into Belldandy's room right behind Keiichi.
Back in Yggdrasil, Peorth sat in her chair overlooking the system operators' different stations. She sat there expressionless thinking to herself.
"If it had only been me…" Peorth said. She closed her eyes with her head bowed down in sadness. Yet, she managed to lift her head up and feel happy, knowing with great optimism that there are great people in the world like Keiichi, and there is that one special guy out there just for her. Just maybe, she'll find him someday soon.
End of Chapter 7
Writer's notes:
All characters of Oh My Goddess! (c) Kosuke Fujishima and used without permission.
- Due to the fact that medical school has probably zapped my creativity brain cells, I don't think this chapter was written as well as my other ones. Hopefully, the next two will be easier for me to write. I tried to keep with Peorth's personality from the manga, but at the same time attempted to avoid recycling the Fourth Goddess storyline arc. Unfortunately, little hints of it managed to show up in my writing. I hoped you enjoyed it at least.
* - A little difficult to put in writing the description of Peorth's outfit. If you've seen the movie or have read the manga, you'll get the picture
** - Wondering about that? This will come up again in a later chapter. Ever wonder about if Urd had a past love? Could the Demon Goddess Mara have something to do with her past love? You'll find out more in Chapter 9.
- I will try to get either one of these chapters written as soon as possible, although med school limits the amount of free time I have to do this. With the story structures I already have in mind, these should not take as long to write as this one.
- Remember that this is based on the OAV and movie anime storyline, with these chapters being my depiction of continuing events after the movie.
Next Chapter(s): Chapter 8 – A Young Goddess's Crush
Chapter 9 – Urd's Past Tension of Love
Episode/Chapter list.
6 The Great Race (posted)
7 Awkward Moments (new)
8 A Young Goddess's Crush
9 Urd's Past Tension of Love
10 The Anniversary
11 Girls Night Out
12 The Dance in the Stars (posted)
13 Past, Present, and Future
14 A Birthday Wish
15 The Match Made in Heaven (The Wedding)