"Ai Shiteru"
An Ah! My Goddess/Ah! Megami-sama Fan FicBy: icezer230, a.k.a Shu.
E-mail: icezer230@yahoo.com (C&C welcome)
Webpage: http://icezer.itgo.com/fanfic.html
A BUNCH OF COPYRIGHT STUFF
This story right belongs to me (icezer230, a.k.a Shu). The characters true to AMG are copyrighted by Kosuke Fujishima and his associates. Brett, Chia-Yao, Syliana, and the other immortals (unless mentioned otherwise) from the 'Oh! My God!' fanfiction are copyrighted by Darkwind (a.k.a Brett Handy) and have been used with permission. The character of Kenji from the 'No Mere Mortal' fanfiction is a creation of Ed Sharpe. This is my first attempt at fanfiction, so give me all the gory details on spelling, grammar, and other errors. If you haven't read chapter 1, please do so.
*****
Skuld woke up in the middle of the night and found that she could not get to sleep again. Sighing, she rose from her bed and wandered off to the bathroom so she could perhaps relieve herself. She looked at her watch and it read 3:05 AM. She then trudged back to her bed and tried to go to sleep. Rhiana seemed to be having dreams, as her eyelids were fluttering and she seemed to be saying something.
Suddenly interested in what Rhi was dreaming, Skuld edged closer to Rhi and leaned in on the sometimes-incoherent whispers in her dreams. She hoped she would figure out who that girl Rhi had a crush on was so she'd know when she saw her. What she heard sent chills up to her spine.
"Skuld, I love you!" Rhi's voice murmured in a barely audible voice. After a few more moments, Rhi stopped moaning and the room became eerily silent.
"There's always more where that came from."
--Kender motto (Mary Kirchoff)CHAPTER IV: LOVE HURTS Hearing those four words, Skuld swallowed the spit that had somehow accumulated in her mouth and walked out of the hotel room they stayed in after changing into a jeans and T-shirt. She needed to think…alone. It was too much to bear on her. *Rhi? In love with me? I thought I had the largest love problems anyone could have before. Now _this_ comes up! How am I going to face myself?*
She never had a girl liking her before. Sure, as friends but…never _that_ kind of love. It both puzzled and amazed her that she could somehow be _that_ attractive. She had attracted 2 guys and a girl to herself, hadn't she? Sighing, she walked heavily downstairs to the 24-hour bar where she might get something to clear her mind. It would have to be something strong. Things had gotten far too complicated for her own liking.
*****
Chia-Yao sighed as he poured himself another cup of sake. It was his 29th bottle and he still wasn't happy. He sure wasn't going to give up now. *Why is life so miserable and complicated?* he thought to no one but himself. His vision had doubled but his feelings were sad. Perhaps the alcohol had even magnified that feeling tenfold.
"Chia-Yao?" Syliana, his sister called out. Chia-Yao spoke out the command that allowed her to access his pocket-dimension. He was in no mood to receive guests but if Syliana had came, it was definitely something important. He knew how busy the Goddess of Mystery was. After all, nothing was truly what it seemed in this world. He found that out himself easily enough. *Ain't that the truth…* he thought sarcastically.
"Over here, Syl. Over here," he slurred out at his sister. *Maybe the alcohol's finally getting to me* he thought and looked at the bottles he had finished. *Definitely* he added as an afterthought. Sylvia entered the room he was in (a living room) and was astonished at the number of sake bottles he had downed already.
"Wow I knew you were depressed but I didn't know _how_ depressed! Gee, I guess I was right about you and Skuld after all…" Syl commented dryly as she surveyed the rest of the damage.
"What do you mean, you were right about us?" Chia-Yao said suspiciously.
"I had a hunch about you two. After all, you two _did_ work better together…" Syl said.
"Did you know about Kenji too? You certainly kept that secret well from me!" he said angrily. He knew he was just firing at her for no apparent reason but couldn't do anything about it since he was drunk. Very drunk, in fact.
"Being the Goddess of Mystery doesn't give me the privilege to ruin the love life of my brother, okay? Calm down and let's talk about it…" she argued back, calming down afterwards.
"What do you want to know?" Chia-Yao asked in a slurred voice. He then lifted another cup of sake to his lips and sipped it. Syl frowned at this but said nothing.
"I know everything but I know nothing. Tell me about her, Chia-Yao. Tell me how you became infatuated with her. What made you love her? It'll make you feel better," Syl's voice echoed in Chia-Yao's ears, almost like a command. At this, Chia-Yao seemed to smile sadly and he poured himself some more sake.
"As you know, Skuld and I were good friends since we were small. When we grew up, we still stuck together. After all, we were geniuses. I remember there was another genius that hung around us as well, but she was more Skuld's friend than mine… Rhiana was her name, I think.
The three of us would play together and we grew up together. We experienced things together that created a link between the three of us. The bond that I shared with Skuld slowly grew into love, I guess… I always wanted to confide to her about my feelings but I guess I chose the wrong time to do it," he said, looking off into a large painting of Syliana, Tlesta, and him when they were still together. That was also the time where he, Skuld, and Rhiana were together.
"Well that proves my point, you casanova. So who's this Rhiana person? What's she like? I never heard of your friends since I was so busy with my job…" she said.
"Well she was pretty…actually, she was beautiful when you think about it. I don't know where she is right now but I could go check the records and find out. We lost track of her when she moved out of Skuld's division into another section. I guess we were all too busy doing our jobs right we didn't think it'd really matter much if we didn't see each other for a couple of centuries at least," Chia-yao shrugged indifferentially.
Syl hid a small smile. She nodded to her brother and walked off to find her own pocket dimension. *I hope Chia-Yao doesn't kill me for messing up his love life. I'll just have to bluff my way through not having such an assignment. Kami-sama, why do you give me the craziest assignments? Though I must admit, they certainly _are_ interesting…* Chia-Yao just sighed and continued his drinking.
*****
Rhiana woke up to find Skuld gone. She wasn't on her bed sleeping like she was supposed to. She wasn't in the bathroom, she checked that already. Confused, Rhiana changed into her usual attire and went downstairs to see if she could find Skuld. *Why in the world is Skuld gone?*
Once she went down, she noticed her friend sitting at the 24-hour bar drinking some beer in an unusual T-shirt and jeans and talking with the bartender while she laughed her head off. Skuld's face was beet red, but that was only natural with how many mugs of beer she had drank (Rhiana had counted 12 so far--they were on the counter). Frowning, she took a seat next to her. Skuld noticed her but said nothing.
As the two were barely above the legal age limit they could drink what they wanted. Rhiana picked out some out-of-the-way wine but Skuld was surprised that the bartender actually had it in stock. They looked at each other in the eye but said nothing. After a moment of silence, Rhiana decided to break it.
"So why are you down here drinking beer like water without telling me?" she asked quietly, staring at her own drink the bartender had brought her. The bartender had to attend to other customers, mostly foreigners as well, so they had a little privacy. A jazzy tune was playing from the distant juke box at the other side of the room.
Skuld said nothing, merely taking another big gulp at her beer. *At the rate she's been drinking beer, she should be unconscious by now!* Rhi thought to herself. Skuld smiled sadly at her and closed her eyes.
"I couldn't sleep. I figured that since I look like an adult now I should be acting like one," Skuld said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. *I really hate lying to her like this but it's for both of us*
"So you think drowning your sorrows with beer is acting like an adult? Skuld…" Rhi said, looking concernedly at her, touching her shoulder. *Should I tell her my feelings towards her… No, I can't bear her turning me down…*
Skuld flinched at her touch but she did nothing to stop Rhi. She knew if she did she would have hurt her friend's feelings. She didn't know what to do. Rhi noticed this and said nothing. She took her hand away and finished her wine in silence while listening to the acid jazz tunes played by the juke box.
*****
"Bell, do you think we should start looking for Skuld now?" Urd asked out of nowhere. Urd had been staring at the TV screen for half an hour. Belldandy was making some tea. As usual, Keiichi was at the motorclub. Brett had some afternoon classes so he was at the Nekomi Tech campus.
"She will come back when she has made her decision," Belldandy replied to her older sister. She looked up from her work and noticed Urd staring at her straight in the eyes.
"What if there was a huge virus in the system? We have to find her, or at least know where she is!" Urd complained. Urd had found that during the last week she had actually missed the little brat she had for a sister. She missed the little bouts they had, because that was how she knew she could say to her she cared for her.
"You miss her, don't you?" Belldandy said, right on.
"Yeah. Strange, isn't it?" Urd said, blushing.
"It is not a crime to miss those who you love," Belldandy said, straightening out her dress before she sat down at the table. Urd switched off the TV and sat down with her. She took a bite off a cookie and sighed.
"But don't tell her I did, ok? She would laugh at me until the end of time," Urd said, smiling sadly at that thought. Belldandy smiled as well.
"I won't. What do you think she's doing right now?" Belldandy asked, changing the subject.
"Well, I found out that she's with Rhiana somewhere in the mortal world. God knows what those two geniuses are doing. They're probably working on some sort of machine that will widen a pocket dimension or something like that," Urd said, not knowing that her guesses had already been accomplished. She continued, "But I think she's on some island trying to fix her love life. That's what _I_ would do
"Do you think Kenji has a chance to win her heart?" Belldandy asked quietly.
"Belldandy, I honestly know he does. But…a mortal like him? He does not fit the qualifications your Keiichi does. He is…how can I say this, different. He knows not our position," Urd said, reverting to the old language. She always did when she was frustrated or confused.
"I hear and understand. Our positions will be in jeopardy if he chooses to reveal it to someone else," Belldandy said, suddenly reverting to the old language as well. She didn't want anyone to overhear their private conversation like this. Especially a mortal.
"Does Keiichi know everything about our position?" Urd asked.
"No. If he does, he will know too much," Belldandy replied hastily. She really did not want to kill him—it would make him go crazy if he knew that the three had caused so much suffering as much as pleasure in this realm.
"It is just as well," Urd replied quietly, and they left it at that. They started talking about less important matters and soon the Japanese temple was filled with laughter as they remembered the time Keiichi had been granted another wish and a certain female goddess had stayed at the temple and practically wrecked it while she was there.
*****
Kenji sneezed suddenly in the middle of his nap. He sat up and looked around to see what had caused him to wake up but he couldn't find any. *Some one must be talking about me…* he grumbled. He tried going back to sleep but found he couldn't.
Kenji had been hit by nearly every single blackboard eraser in the school. He had been daydreaming about Skuld and he found it really hard to concentrate even at home. His parents pitied him but scolded him about having such an early relationship with a girl. He hadn't even graduated from high school yet! In fact, it was his last year. If his report card was bad at the end of the semester, it was nearly certain that the good universities in Japan would not have accepted him.
"Skuld, wherever you are in this world, I hope you are safe. I hope you're happy. Whatever your decision is when you come back, I know I'm going to accept it. If you choose me, I swear I'm going to make your life the happiest woman in the world!" Kenji vowed. He even got to the point of jumping off his bed and standing at the last word. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the low ceiling and his head was soon flooded by a series of pains.
He clutched his head and swore obscenities before going out of his room and searching for a bag of ice to lessen his pain. His mother had heard his yell and the string of obscenities and just shook her head. She sympathized her son for being such a love fool. *Just like his father* she thought, though not unfondly.
*****
Rhi had to help carry Skuld back to the room. After that bout of silence, Skuld had challenged Rhi to a beer-drinking contest. A few other mortals had joined them but Rhi could take her liquor well--better than Skuld, apparently. Since Skuld had an earlier start than she had, she had lost. She was happy and tipsy afterwards, of course, and soon began her slumber with a loud snore.
Rhi sighed after she put Skuld back on the bed. She tucked her in and pulled out her laptop, just in case there was an urgent message for her from kami-sama or her brother. After all, she wasn't about to leave her job just like that. It was too risky. The world depended on her and her brother as much as the world depended on the Norns to keep things stable.
She was surprised to find a message left by Kami-sama which summoned to his office as soon as possible. She looked at Skuld sleeping soundly on her left and sighed. Then she left to see her Father after writing a note to her friend explaining her disappearance.
After arriving in Heaven, she hurried to His office and doors opened for her. She kneeled on one knee and bowed her head low in respect to her Father and leader. Moments later, she was out of His office with the most important assignment of her career, and a smile on her face.
She went back to the hotel and left another note, carefully crumpling up the old one. It had taken every single ounce of willpower to write the new one. She looked at Skuld and longed to be with her, but she couldn't. She had duties now, and she would have to finish them first. Then with a flash of bright red light, she was gone, leaving the peaceful Skuld to sleep like there was no tomorrow.
*****
"Skuld! Look what I found!" a smaller, younger version of Rhi had said when Chia-yao, Skuld, and Rhi had gone to the beach as children. Rhi held a large conch in her right hand and she was waving it like a flag. Her face was lit up and she was grinning.
"What is it?" a smaller, younger version of Chia-Yao asked as well to Rhi. He had never seen something like that in his entire educational career, but he wasn't about to give up on learning. He still had a long way to go.
"I know what it is!" Skuld saw a smaller, child-like version of herself leaping and running towards them.
"What is it?" Rhi asked, curiously, echoing Chia-yao's question.
"It's a conch! You can blow into it and it'll make a sound, or you can put your ear right next to it and you'll hear the ocean!" Skuld said. She knew this from her elder sister, Urd. Urd had been experimenting with getting the perfect tan and she had gone to the beach for that reason.
"You're right! I _can_ hear the ocean!" Chia-Yao said as he took the conch from Rhi's hands and lifted it to his ear.
"You stupid! You can hear the ocean here because we're at the beach! If you take it back, you can always hear the ocean!" Skuld said as a matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Oopsie," Chia-yao said, blushing.
"Let me try blowing it," Rhi said, taking the conch from Chia-Yao. She fiddled it for a moment and soon found the blow hole. She took a big breath, her chest rising with the amount of air in her young lungs, and blew as hard as she could. Unfortunately, she blew it right at Chia-Yao.
He was a little deaf after that, but he quickly snatched it away from Rhi and started blowing into it himself. It echoed from the cliffs they stood on and they could hear it coming back from the faraway waves, amid the cries of seagulls. They watched the sun go down hand in hand, sitting at the edge of the cliff, until darkness consumed them.
Skuld opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She remembered everything in the dream, which was unusual since she usually couldn't remember what happened. She started remembering the events that occurred last night, and realized that she should be having a hangover, but she didn't.
She looked to the right, where Rhi's bed was but found it empty. She blinked a few times and looked towards the direction of the bathroom. There was no noise coming from it. She looked back to the other bed and found that there was a note on the little table right next to her. She picked up and gazed at it, wondering what that little note would mean after she read it.
***** END OF CHAPTER 4 *****
'Till next time, au revoir!FOOTNOTES
Final comments!: Hey, how's Rhi's confession for a start? I figured that the dream was the cleanest way to show that Rhi was trying to make Skuld her friend but not scare her into thinking that she wants some commitment. Skuld and Chia-Yao get drunk, even though in Skuld's situation it takes a little bit more for her to do so. Why? They think alike. Yes, so there _is_ a similarity between Skuld and Urd. Poor ol' Kenji's still alone and he's falling deeper and getting even more lost into that abyss of love. Well, I'm sorry if it sounds like he's being neglected once again but he still has other friends to turn to. I just couldn't be bothered to put them in here since it didn't really contribute to the plot. The very last part is actually Skuld revisiting her past with Chia-Yao and Rhi. I figured that it was a nice addition to the series since I was very vague on their past. You can either read the side story or chapter 5 next. Chapter 5 skips Skuld's travels, which is basically what the side story/interlude is about.
Click here to go the previous chapter.
Click here to go to the side story, which picks off where chapter 4 leaves off. Chapter 5 can be read without reading the side story, but it would be advisable if you read it to understand further plot development.
Click here to go to the next chapter.
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