Only Human
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)
Chapter Nine: Crawling In The Dark
Belldandy sunk deep into her own self, recollecting her memory of the past two days. First, she fixated on the concept that she lost count of how many times she and Keiichi had run the test course. Until recently, she had never lost count of anything in her life. Her memory and her knowledge was always crystal clear. Now every image, sound and sensation blended together with every other image, sound and sensation. She felt confused for a good deal of the last two days. Looking back, she found it was no longer easy to search herself and determine the right words to say or the right things to do in response to the world about her.
---
Her heart beat furiously, unable to settle down into a calmer, slower rhythm after those last two turns. Even though she, on four occasions, signaled for Keiichi to decelerate to a speed somewhat below what was required to finish the course with a respectful time, and that she had at least three dozen time trials before this one to memorize the turns and become accustomed to them. As they raced for the finish line on the final straightaway, Belldandy stole a glance at Keiichi. His helmet concealed most of his face, but the look on his eyes was one of both fatigue and frustration. Of course, in between time trials he would never tell her what he was obviously thinking. On this, he was too tentative, too...cowardly to give her an honest--
No. She could never think that. After all, it was her fault. She was hindering their performance, thus letting everyone down. Now on top of everything she had pressure to deal with, and as it crept past midday it was killing her.
The machine slowed to a stop past the finish line, and the stopwatch read four minutes and forty-one seconds. It was a marked improvement over their first try, but Keiichi and Belldandy had been consistently meeting that time for the past couple of hours. Their progress since has been more or less stagnant.
If there was any vocal displeasure among the club members, Belldandy did her best to shut them out. Slowly, it was getting to her, and she wanted so much to be as polite and respectful as possible. She smiled gently as she helped Keiichi roll the machine back to the start line to get it refueled and going again. The incessant buzzing in her ear...
"Stop! Just stop!" she cried out.
Belldandy had vented her unforseen frustration on Sora, who had thought she was being helpful by giving some pointers in between time trials. After a while, her voice meshed in with all the others, because Belldandy just could not stand to hear any of it anymore. As always - and, to her, it was beginning to feel a lot like habit - she caught herself just a moment too late.
Everyone around her stood silent. Even Keiichi was motionless. She put a hand on her mouth, searching for the appropriate words for an apology to right the wrong.
"Yes, ma'am," Sora said before Belldandy could get the opportunity, "Sorry, ma'am."
Before her voice could crack any further, Sora tiptoed away from the two of them as quickly as she could.
"Sora, wait! I--" said Belldandy as her voice trailed off once Sora darted inside the clubhouse.
This was new to her, the looks that she drew from everyone just then. Of course, she was always conscious that just her very presence often shifted focus on her, but this time it was different. She could not make out what was behind the faces. Some of it was shock. Just a tiny bit of it was scorn. The Assistant, behind all of them but in Belldandy's view, stood triumphant and couldn't help from showing just enough to be noticeable.
---
Belldandy sequestered herself to a corner of the clubhouse, away from the rest of the members that night. No doubt they were all dejected, considering their prospects on race day.
She spent an inordinate amount of time after the final trials collecting herself and contemplating what had transpired. Even when her sisters walked in, she remained deep inside herself as Skuld pleaded with her.
"You can't give up now! Think of how hard everyone's worked!"
Belldandy bit her lip for a moment, and finally replied, "I'm not giving up. But it's over."
"How can you say that?" she cried, "I know you can win. Everyone's pulling for you!"
Out came a course map that Belldandy had pulled from her pocket. "Do you see this?" she said forcefully, all the while pointing to a sharp turn in the latter half of the track, "I cannot make that turn without telling Keiichi to slow down. I have had to run this course all day, and still I am petrified of this turn, and I don't know why! Tell me, Skuld, what should I do?"
"I don't know, I don't know!" cried Skuld, right before turning in the other direction and running out of the room.
For a moment, Belldandy and Urd avoided looking at each other. Their silence broke only at Belldandy's insistence, "I shouldn't have done that."
"She's just disappointed," Urd replied.
The younger sister choked on a tear, "She's not the only one."
"Oh, man," Urd said to herself when Belldandy started breaking down. She sat down beside her to try and comfort her as she cried. "There, now," she said, "It's usually me that has to do the apologizing!"
"I-I'm sorry, U-Urd," Belldandy stuttered in between tears, "It's just been so difficult these last few days."
"C'mon, you don't have to prove anything with us," Urd pleaded, "Why do you go on like this? You know what you have to do."
"Please, don't," she said softly, lowering her head on her elder sister's shoulder, "I don't want to argue right now."
"Alright."
So she gently comforted Belldandy to stop her from crying any longer, as if that was what big sisters should do in order to tire out their younger siblings. This was a change for Urd as well; for as long as she could remember, she was never the more mature between the two of them. And perhaps she didn't seem to mind it at all.
"May I come in?"
"Get out," Urd said sharply.
"Come now," the Assistant said, ultimately walking into the room, "Eventually, I am going to have to tell her of my decision."
The elder goddess shot up, demanding, "How can you be so cruel? Don't you notice that she's in pain right now?"
"You forget yourself, Goddess SECOND Class Urd. For your sake, please leave us now."
She looked at the Assistant with contempt, but there was nothing Urd could do but follow her command. On her way out, she looked at Belldandy, as if to pity her. Belldandy considered the expression on her sister's face, and then lowered her head.
"What do you want?" she asked, not with defiance, but a sense of helplessness in her voice.
The Assistant had her hands on her hips, almost feeling victorious. "I've decided," she said, "That I really can't force you to undergo the reversal."
Belldandy gasped. It seemed too good to be true.
"You're absolutely right, Belldandy. It doesn't get in the way of your current duty to Keiichi. Since you are fulfilling the current contract, there's nothing left to discuss on the matter."
The Assistant was most gracious, Belldandy thought. "Thank you," she said, "Your judgement is quite accomodating."
"However," she stipulated, "I've come to a conclusion about Urd and Skuld."
Belldandy froze, "What?"
"I fear that they may be influenced by what you are telling them about your condition."
"'Influenced'?" she said, nearly horrified, "My condition!?"
"Now, don't deny it, Belldandy, humanity is dangerous for any goddess to handle," the Assistant said in a calming but superficial voice, "I am surprised and relieved that you have been able to make good on this terrible ordeal."
"Assistant, I don't believe you understand--"
"No, Belldandy, I understand it completely. That is why I have decided to recall Goddesses Urd and Skuld so that they may fulfill other duties. We cannot risk further incidents like this one, for fear that it could lead to events more dangerous or more harmful."
Belldandy stood up and walked around, thinking about what was just said. When it was all processed, she once again boiled over in anger, shouting, "How dare you! How dare you to think you can take my sisters away from me!"
By then, they stood toe to toe, trying to stare down each other. The Assistant, needless to say, stood her ground, "You're doing it all by yourself, Goddess First Class Belldandy. You are making your stubborness a terrible example to all the other goddesses. You can end this now, of course, but if you don't, the order will go into effect in ninety-six hours."
Out of frustration, she flung her arms into the air and walked about the room, but when she calmed down she conceded with a hurried voice, "Alright, I understand where you're coming from, but you can't recall my sisters! It's just been a difficult week, that's all, dealing with the trauma, adjusting to this new experience, the race tomorrow--"
"You will fail in tomorrow's race," the Assistant said coldly.
Belldandy held her breath. "What?"
"Your status as a goddess gave you great power. In time, you could have done all that was yours to achieve," she said, now turning compliment to insult, "Now, you can't even help yourself."
Perhaps those words did it for Belldandy. She was fed up. Here, right in front of her, was this arbitrary force whose sole purpose was to come down to Earth and make her miserable so as to convince her to become what she was again. Against such an underhanded tactic, Belldandy was powerless. But she stood her ground.
"You won't sound so proud when I win that race tomorrow afternoon."
"Not a chance."
"Do you think so? I'll show you, I won't need any powers to cross that line first," she said resolutely.
"We're just going to have to--where are you going?"
Belldandy had stormed off before the Assistant could finish her sentence. She walked hurriedly among and past, largely unnoticed, those drinking the night away inside the clubhouse. Once outside, she hid in the nighttime shadow of the building, where she could let down the expression of courage on her face and give way to panicked helplessness.
"What am I going to do now?" she asked herself.
---
"You seem to be taking it well," Chihiro said to Keiichi.
Sitting down at the table as the last of his fellow members began to leave one by one that night, Keiichi shrugged in reply, "I've lost before."
"Sure you have," she said, rolling her eyes, "No, it's because this race isn't on your mind. What's going on?"
He shook his head innocently, saying, "Nothing, really, it's just been a rough week, and--"
Chihiro hit him lightly on the head. "I wasn't asking you seriously! You're the leader of this club, I expect you to set an example!"
"You're right. I'm sorry," Keiichi replied.
"Now, I know you're doing your best. But it's Belldandy I'm worried about. She's scared stiff, and I don't know why. But I figure you do."
"Heh. What gave it away?"
"It's my antennae. Female intuition," she said, as she grabbed her keys, "Get her straightened out, alright? I still want to win tomorrow."
"Will do. Thanks, Chihiro. Where is she, by the way?"
"Don't you know? She was in the storage room all this time," Chihiro said on her way out, "See you tomorrow!"
"Hmm."
Keiichi finally got up from the table and walked into the storage room. He had seen both Skuld and Urd leave by themselves, with the Assistant following them home shortly after that, but he had not talked to them or Belldandy after the trial runs. All that he understood is that she wanted to be alone. But when he had a good look around the room, no one was inside. She couldn't have gone with them, and she couldn't have walked home by herself. When it dawned on him that her disappearance - again - may have been deliberate, Keiichi darted out of the clubhouse for a look around the immediate campus grounds.
---
"Belldandy!" he called out, "I'm getting ready to leave!"
No one responded in return. The street lamps on campus stretched into the outer vicinity from the view of the clubhouse, but not one thing moved, and not one person was in sight.
Keiichi joked about it to himself, that he might have to get used to this. But before Keiichi was able to contemplate what was quickly becoming habit, a familiar noise sounded in the distance.
"AIIIIIEEEEE" accompanied the roar of what Keiichi quickly recognized was the engine of his motorcycle.
It wasn't running terribly fast, just enough to keep itself from tipping over with both of Belldandy's feet off of the ground. The vehicle and its driver spun around in circles in front of Keiichi. It turned all angles as she took control of the motorcycle and lost control and gained it back and lost it again. As it was slow moving, Belldandy was hardly a danger to Keiichi. But when she drifted too close to him, he backtracked out of safety, only to trip on an unforseen object in the dark shadow of the clubhouse. After getting back on his feet, he found the sidecar that Belldandy had detached, with the help of a few tools that she had hurriedly taken from the clubhouse.
Not a crash, but a loud thud shook the ground and had Keiichi running to where Belldandy had suddenly stopped. The motorcycle on its side was largely undamaged, but its rider was on her hands and knees, obviously disoriented from the experience.
"Belldandy!" he cried, "Are you alright?"
She lazily lifted her helmet, saying in between breaths, "H-Hi, Keiichi."
---
Back inside where the first aid kit was stored, Keiichi tended to Belldandy and the scrapes she had suffered from tumbling to the ground. Eventually, they got around to recounting all the incidents in the past week in which she needed aid.
"I've noticed," she said, "That we're so fragile."
"Who's that?" replied Keiichi, applying medicine onto a rather nasty cut.
"Humans," she said, "It's amazing how delicate we are.
He looked up at her for a moment, mentally double-checking her choice of words. Keiichi focused again on his handiwork when carelessness caused Belldandy to flinch in pain.
"I'm sorry," he said, "But what were you doing out there anyways?"
"I was trying to--" said Belldandy weakly, trailing off.
"What was that?"
"--scare myself. I was trying to scare myself."
Keiichi shook his head, "I don't understand. Why?"
Belldandy stood up prematurely, walked around for a while, and explained, " I thought that I should frighten myself with something I needed to do. The roller coaster, Keiichi! If I could just conquer that fear, then I could do anything."
"Bell, if it's about the race--"
"It's more than just the race, Keiichi!" she cried, "Lately, I've come to realize, all my life, I've never been truly tested."
"You don't really believe that, do you?"
"I don't know what to believe, Keiichi. But everything I've ever accomplished has come so easy to me. And now comes a challenge that I couldn't handle from the start. I didn't know what to do at first, but I believe the only way was to overwhelm myself and sort it all out in my head."
"Well, I don't know if I would--"
"Keiichi," said a firm Belldandy, "If I can make that turn by myself, I can make that turn in tomorrow's race."
The determination was there, he thought. For the first time, though, she truly didn't know what she was doing.
"I don't think taking apart my bike will solve your problem," Keiichi said half-jokingly.
Belldandy, on the other hand, remained as serious as before, saying, "I'm sorry about the motorcycle, Keiichi. It was a foolish idea."
"Bell, these machines are very complex. Before you do anything on a motorcycle, you have to learn how to ride it!"
She listened to Keiichi and nodded her head, all the while looking away, embarrassed and dejected.
"And we have, let's see," he said, checking on his watch, "Twelve hours to get it right. We'd better get started."
Belldandy lit up. It was a familiar sight to see her smile, but Keiichi hadn't seen the bright expression that was on her face in quite a while. She drew closer and wrapped her arms around her tightly.
"Oh, Keiichi!" she said, "Thank you!"
"Yeah," he replied as her grip on him was quite firm and secure, "So, let's get started. Belldandy? Belldandy?"
---
Having Keiichi agree to it was the easy part. For six hours late into the night, an intense crash course took place in which Belldandy had to learn the basics of the motorcycle. Early on, the determination in Belldandy faded at times, as the vehicle tipped over on its side repeatedly while she processed all of the advice given to her by Keiichi.
"I can't do it," she said one time.
"Don't say that!" he snapped, only trying to motivate her into action, "Just keep at it, you'll get the hang of it sooner or later!"
Belldandy nodded, and got back on the motorcycle. "Thank you," she said before lowering the visor on her helmet.
"No problem," a smiling Keiichi replied, "Uh, I mean, do it again!"
They used the clubhouse around which Belldandy took laps. It took her a dozen trials before she could finish one circle without falling off. Once she did so, Keiichi told her to go in the other direction. And then back again. And then through the test track. And then all of it, only faster.
Along the way Belldandy suffered even more scrapes and bruises, but she wouldn't tolerate any delay, and quickly bandaged herself with makeshift dressings, refusing any timely help from Keiichi and only insisting on more practice.
Closer to sunrise, Belldandy had one go at the test track, but as she finished the run, she became careless on the brakes and didn't stop when she wanted to. The bike slowed gradually and then to a halt, but turned against Belldandy as she flipped over onto the ground while the vehicle spun itself into a spiral and died tipping sideways.
"What happened?" Keiichi cried, hurrying over to fallen Belldandy, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied though she was clearly otherwise. Her rapid breathing was erratic and she twitched while leaning on her hand. "Let's do it again."
"Belldandy, you've been practicing for four hours, it's time to take a break."
"Just help me off the ground, please!" she insisted, "I can handle it, we can't stop now!"
"Belldandy!"
"Just help me, or leave me alone!"
Keiichi didn't have much choice against Belldandy. He gave her a hand up and watched her limp to his motorcycle, quickly setting it upright again and taking off for another practice run.
By then, Keiichi had good reason to be concerned, but he put a smile on his face over the fact that Belldandy, at this point, could take care of herself. She was a very quick study on the bike, and nothing was going to stop her from doing what she wanted with it. It was now up to her to fight her own battles.
---
Spots of dawn in the sky appeared over the horizon. Neither Keiichi nor Belldandy cared one bit for it, as one, then the other, yawned out of fatigue.
"We should at least take a break before we do this," Keiichi said.
"No," Belldandy insisted, "Just this one time. I know I can do it."
"Alright."
The engine on the two-passenger machine turned over. They put on their helmets and gave each other a look of confidence. Keiichi set his own watch and they took off from the start line of the test course. It was for the first time that he noticed that the speed of the vehicle was impressive, much faster than he calculated for the initial design. From the first turn, Belldandy kept eyes straight ahead, not for one moment signaling to slow down, and the machine performed wonderfully on the sharp curves. More familiar with the course now, he was all the more wiser this time around, speeding up when prudent and keeping off the accelerator when avoiding the spinout, but Belldandy handled the steering with the concentration she had needed to exercise for the race. There was little hesitance from her, save the tension she was enduring and showing from beneath the helmet's visor.
Keiichi's hand hovered over the controls for the brake. Up ahead, where the straightaway turned a sharp right, a series of street lamps surrounding the turn had burned out and gone dark. With not nearly enough light to see where the turn took place, he was reluctant to go full speed ahead. But as he touched the controls, Belldandy promptly shook her head, insisting that he stay where he was. Now he was more nervous than she was. But the tires screeched against the pavement as Belldandy cut hard to make the turn and stay within bounds. Keiichi let out a sigh of relief, not believing that she had memorized the course so well. He would have no doubt in his mind afterwards.
But then came the final turn. She had the most difficulty with this sharp left curve that took place on an intimidating decline. Keiichi looked at her briefly, and this was where she showed the least confidence. But that she showed in her eyes any at all was good enough for him. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped and she made one final move to secure the machine against the turn.
---
The vehicle slowed gradually after crossing the finish line, but Keiichi, so tired after not having had a night's worth of sleep, yanked on the brakes. Rotating and stopping to a halt, the machine threw its two passengers sideways, landing Belldandy on top of Keiichi after they went for a tumble.
"Ouch!" Keiichi said, "I'm sorry!"
"Forget about that! How did we do?" Belldandy replied, looking down on him.
"Oh, right!" he said, reaching for his watch. He looked at the time, and smiled faintly. "We're ready."
Belldandy gasped. Her eyes filled with delight. "Keiichi!" she cried, "I knew we could do it!"
Without a moment's notice, after grinning from ear to ear, she lowered her head and kissed him, making sure he knew how thankful she was.
They both sat up, letting go of each other for just a moment. Belldandy was so happy. Happier still when, to her surprise, Keiichi returned the favor and kissed her again. They stayed like this for a longer time, and when they finally broke away, she placed her fingers on her lips, delightfully amused.
"You've been the perfect gentleman for too long," she said.
"I've learned that it's good to take chances," he replied.
"I wonder who from," she said, almost playfully.
But the moment had passed when, after locking their gaze at each other for a long time, Keiichi yawned again, and Belldandy had laughed nervously.
"I am tired."
"Me too. Come on. Change of clothes in the clubhouse."
They helped each other up and, after pushing the machine back to the front of the clubhouse, returned inside to start a new day.
---
A change of outerwear and some washing up preceded a bit of breakfast with tea shortly after the sun was fully in the morning sky. In reality, breakfast had turned into a full meal, one that required a great deal of items from the refrigerator.
"I'm so hungry!" Belldandy exclaimed, after a night of expending all of her energy on the test course. She reached for two plates at one time and politely but hurriedly ate as much as she could.
"Slow down, you're going to upset your stomach!"
"What?" she said, only after gulping down, "What does that feel like?"
Keiichi laughed, "Keep that up, and you're going to find out."
The door swung open, and the two of them turned their heads to find Chihiro enter the clubhouse. "Good morning!" she said to them.
"Morning," they replied.
"My, you two got here really early," she noted when she put her things down, "Must be really excited, despite the odds."
"Well," Belldandy said, looking at Keiichi, "I wouldn't worry too much about today."
"Oh, really?" she asked curiously.
"I think so."
Chihiro finally looked up, and when she did, she noticed something odd. The expressions on their faces looked very different from yesterday. Something in the way of confidence, but she wasn't quite sure.
"Something happen between today and yesterday?" she said innocently.
"Don't worry about it," Keiichi said, letting out a laugh, "I think we're going to do just fine."
TO BE CONTINUED...
An Ah! My Goddess Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)
Chapter Nine: Crawling In The Dark
Belldandy sunk deep into her own self, recollecting her memory of the past two days. First, she fixated on the concept that she lost count of how many times she and Keiichi had run the test course. Until recently, she had never lost count of anything in her life. Her memory and her knowledge was always crystal clear. Now every image, sound and sensation blended together with every other image, sound and sensation. She felt confused for a good deal of the last two days. Looking back, she found it was no longer easy to search herself and determine the right words to say or the right things to do in response to the world about her.
---
Her heart beat furiously, unable to settle down into a calmer, slower rhythm after those last two turns. Even though she, on four occasions, signaled for Keiichi to decelerate to a speed somewhat below what was required to finish the course with a respectful time, and that she had at least three dozen time trials before this one to memorize the turns and become accustomed to them. As they raced for the finish line on the final straightaway, Belldandy stole a glance at Keiichi. His helmet concealed most of his face, but the look on his eyes was one of both fatigue and frustration. Of course, in between time trials he would never tell her what he was obviously thinking. On this, he was too tentative, too...cowardly to give her an honest--
No. She could never think that. After all, it was her fault. She was hindering their performance, thus letting everyone down. Now on top of everything she had pressure to deal with, and as it crept past midday it was killing her.
The machine slowed to a stop past the finish line, and the stopwatch read four minutes and forty-one seconds. It was a marked improvement over their first try, but Keiichi and Belldandy had been consistently meeting that time for the past couple of hours. Their progress since has been more or less stagnant.
If there was any vocal displeasure among the club members, Belldandy did her best to shut them out. Slowly, it was getting to her, and she wanted so much to be as polite and respectful as possible. She smiled gently as she helped Keiichi roll the machine back to the start line to get it refueled and going again. The incessant buzzing in her ear...
"Stop! Just stop!" she cried out.
Belldandy had vented her unforseen frustration on Sora, who had thought she was being helpful by giving some pointers in between time trials. After a while, her voice meshed in with all the others, because Belldandy just could not stand to hear any of it anymore. As always - and, to her, it was beginning to feel a lot like habit - she caught herself just a moment too late.
Everyone around her stood silent. Even Keiichi was motionless. She put a hand on her mouth, searching for the appropriate words for an apology to right the wrong.
"Yes, ma'am," Sora said before Belldandy could get the opportunity, "Sorry, ma'am."
Before her voice could crack any further, Sora tiptoed away from the two of them as quickly as she could.
"Sora, wait! I--" said Belldandy as her voice trailed off once Sora darted inside the clubhouse.
This was new to her, the looks that she drew from everyone just then. Of course, she was always conscious that just her very presence often shifted focus on her, but this time it was different. She could not make out what was behind the faces. Some of it was shock. Just a tiny bit of it was scorn. The Assistant, behind all of them but in Belldandy's view, stood triumphant and couldn't help from showing just enough to be noticeable.
---
Belldandy sequestered herself to a corner of the clubhouse, away from the rest of the members that night. No doubt they were all dejected, considering their prospects on race day.
She spent an inordinate amount of time after the final trials collecting herself and contemplating what had transpired. Even when her sisters walked in, she remained deep inside herself as Skuld pleaded with her.
"You can't give up now! Think of how hard everyone's worked!"
Belldandy bit her lip for a moment, and finally replied, "I'm not giving up. But it's over."
"How can you say that?" she cried, "I know you can win. Everyone's pulling for you!"
Out came a course map that Belldandy had pulled from her pocket. "Do you see this?" she said forcefully, all the while pointing to a sharp turn in the latter half of the track, "I cannot make that turn without telling Keiichi to slow down. I have had to run this course all day, and still I am petrified of this turn, and I don't know why! Tell me, Skuld, what should I do?"
"I don't know, I don't know!" cried Skuld, right before turning in the other direction and running out of the room.
For a moment, Belldandy and Urd avoided looking at each other. Their silence broke only at Belldandy's insistence, "I shouldn't have done that."
"She's just disappointed," Urd replied.
The younger sister choked on a tear, "She's not the only one."
"Oh, man," Urd said to herself when Belldandy started breaking down. She sat down beside her to try and comfort her as she cried. "There, now," she said, "It's usually me that has to do the apologizing!"
"I-I'm sorry, U-Urd," Belldandy stuttered in between tears, "It's just been so difficult these last few days."
"C'mon, you don't have to prove anything with us," Urd pleaded, "Why do you go on like this? You know what you have to do."
"Please, don't," she said softly, lowering her head on her elder sister's shoulder, "I don't want to argue right now."
"Alright."
So she gently comforted Belldandy to stop her from crying any longer, as if that was what big sisters should do in order to tire out their younger siblings. This was a change for Urd as well; for as long as she could remember, she was never the more mature between the two of them. And perhaps she didn't seem to mind it at all.
"May I come in?"
"Get out," Urd said sharply.
"Come now," the Assistant said, ultimately walking into the room, "Eventually, I am going to have to tell her of my decision."
The elder goddess shot up, demanding, "How can you be so cruel? Don't you notice that she's in pain right now?"
"You forget yourself, Goddess SECOND Class Urd. For your sake, please leave us now."
She looked at the Assistant with contempt, but there was nothing Urd could do but follow her command. On her way out, she looked at Belldandy, as if to pity her. Belldandy considered the expression on her sister's face, and then lowered her head.
"What do you want?" she asked, not with defiance, but a sense of helplessness in her voice.
The Assistant had her hands on her hips, almost feeling victorious. "I've decided," she said, "That I really can't force you to undergo the reversal."
Belldandy gasped. It seemed too good to be true.
"You're absolutely right, Belldandy. It doesn't get in the way of your current duty to Keiichi. Since you are fulfilling the current contract, there's nothing left to discuss on the matter."
The Assistant was most gracious, Belldandy thought. "Thank you," she said, "Your judgement is quite accomodating."
"However," she stipulated, "I've come to a conclusion about Urd and Skuld."
Belldandy froze, "What?"
"I fear that they may be influenced by what you are telling them about your condition."
"'Influenced'?" she said, nearly horrified, "My condition!?"
"Now, don't deny it, Belldandy, humanity is dangerous for any goddess to handle," the Assistant said in a calming but superficial voice, "I am surprised and relieved that you have been able to make good on this terrible ordeal."
"Assistant, I don't believe you understand--"
"No, Belldandy, I understand it completely. That is why I have decided to recall Goddesses Urd and Skuld so that they may fulfill other duties. We cannot risk further incidents like this one, for fear that it could lead to events more dangerous or more harmful."
Belldandy stood up and walked around, thinking about what was just said. When it was all processed, she once again boiled over in anger, shouting, "How dare you! How dare you to think you can take my sisters away from me!"
By then, they stood toe to toe, trying to stare down each other. The Assistant, needless to say, stood her ground, "You're doing it all by yourself, Goddess First Class Belldandy. You are making your stubborness a terrible example to all the other goddesses. You can end this now, of course, but if you don't, the order will go into effect in ninety-six hours."
Out of frustration, she flung her arms into the air and walked about the room, but when she calmed down she conceded with a hurried voice, "Alright, I understand where you're coming from, but you can't recall my sisters! It's just been a difficult week, that's all, dealing with the trauma, adjusting to this new experience, the race tomorrow--"
"You will fail in tomorrow's race," the Assistant said coldly.
Belldandy held her breath. "What?"
"Your status as a goddess gave you great power. In time, you could have done all that was yours to achieve," she said, now turning compliment to insult, "Now, you can't even help yourself."
Perhaps those words did it for Belldandy. She was fed up. Here, right in front of her, was this arbitrary force whose sole purpose was to come down to Earth and make her miserable so as to convince her to become what she was again. Against such an underhanded tactic, Belldandy was powerless. But she stood her ground.
"You won't sound so proud when I win that race tomorrow afternoon."
"Not a chance."
"Do you think so? I'll show you, I won't need any powers to cross that line first," she said resolutely.
"We're just going to have to--where are you going?"
Belldandy had stormed off before the Assistant could finish her sentence. She walked hurriedly among and past, largely unnoticed, those drinking the night away inside the clubhouse. Once outside, she hid in the nighttime shadow of the building, where she could let down the expression of courage on her face and give way to panicked helplessness.
"What am I going to do now?" she asked herself.
---
"You seem to be taking it well," Chihiro said to Keiichi.
Sitting down at the table as the last of his fellow members began to leave one by one that night, Keiichi shrugged in reply, "I've lost before."
"Sure you have," she said, rolling her eyes, "No, it's because this race isn't on your mind. What's going on?"
He shook his head innocently, saying, "Nothing, really, it's just been a rough week, and--"
Chihiro hit him lightly on the head. "I wasn't asking you seriously! You're the leader of this club, I expect you to set an example!"
"You're right. I'm sorry," Keiichi replied.
"Now, I know you're doing your best. But it's Belldandy I'm worried about. She's scared stiff, and I don't know why. But I figure you do."
"Heh. What gave it away?"
"It's my antennae. Female intuition," she said, as she grabbed her keys, "Get her straightened out, alright? I still want to win tomorrow."
"Will do. Thanks, Chihiro. Where is she, by the way?"
"Don't you know? She was in the storage room all this time," Chihiro said on her way out, "See you tomorrow!"
"Hmm."
Keiichi finally got up from the table and walked into the storage room. He had seen both Skuld and Urd leave by themselves, with the Assistant following them home shortly after that, but he had not talked to them or Belldandy after the trial runs. All that he understood is that she wanted to be alone. But when he had a good look around the room, no one was inside. She couldn't have gone with them, and she couldn't have walked home by herself. When it dawned on him that her disappearance - again - may have been deliberate, Keiichi darted out of the clubhouse for a look around the immediate campus grounds.
---
"Belldandy!" he called out, "I'm getting ready to leave!"
No one responded in return. The street lamps on campus stretched into the outer vicinity from the view of the clubhouse, but not one thing moved, and not one person was in sight.
Keiichi joked about it to himself, that he might have to get used to this. But before Keiichi was able to contemplate what was quickly becoming habit, a familiar noise sounded in the distance.
"AIIIIIEEEEE" accompanied the roar of what Keiichi quickly recognized was the engine of his motorcycle.
It wasn't running terribly fast, just enough to keep itself from tipping over with both of Belldandy's feet off of the ground. The vehicle and its driver spun around in circles in front of Keiichi. It turned all angles as she took control of the motorcycle and lost control and gained it back and lost it again. As it was slow moving, Belldandy was hardly a danger to Keiichi. But when she drifted too close to him, he backtracked out of safety, only to trip on an unforseen object in the dark shadow of the clubhouse. After getting back on his feet, he found the sidecar that Belldandy had detached, with the help of a few tools that she had hurriedly taken from the clubhouse.
Not a crash, but a loud thud shook the ground and had Keiichi running to where Belldandy had suddenly stopped. The motorcycle on its side was largely undamaged, but its rider was on her hands and knees, obviously disoriented from the experience.
"Belldandy!" he cried, "Are you alright?"
She lazily lifted her helmet, saying in between breaths, "H-Hi, Keiichi."
---
Back inside where the first aid kit was stored, Keiichi tended to Belldandy and the scrapes she had suffered from tumbling to the ground. Eventually, they got around to recounting all the incidents in the past week in which she needed aid.
"I've noticed," she said, "That we're so fragile."
"Who's that?" replied Keiichi, applying medicine onto a rather nasty cut.
"Humans," she said, "It's amazing how delicate we are.
He looked up at her for a moment, mentally double-checking her choice of words. Keiichi focused again on his handiwork when carelessness caused Belldandy to flinch in pain.
"I'm sorry," he said, "But what were you doing out there anyways?"
"I was trying to--" said Belldandy weakly, trailing off.
"What was that?"
"--scare myself. I was trying to scare myself."
Keiichi shook his head, "I don't understand. Why?"
Belldandy stood up prematurely, walked around for a while, and explained, " I thought that I should frighten myself with something I needed to do. The roller coaster, Keiichi! If I could just conquer that fear, then I could do anything."
"Bell, if it's about the race--"
"It's more than just the race, Keiichi!" she cried, "Lately, I've come to realize, all my life, I've never been truly tested."
"You don't really believe that, do you?"
"I don't know what to believe, Keiichi. But everything I've ever accomplished has come so easy to me. And now comes a challenge that I couldn't handle from the start. I didn't know what to do at first, but I believe the only way was to overwhelm myself and sort it all out in my head."
"Well, I don't know if I would--"
"Keiichi," said a firm Belldandy, "If I can make that turn by myself, I can make that turn in tomorrow's race."
The determination was there, he thought. For the first time, though, she truly didn't know what she was doing.
"I don't think taking apart my bike will solve your problem," Keiichi said half-jokingly.
Belldandy, on the other hand, remained as serious as before, saying, "I'm sorry about the motorcycle, Keiichi. It was a foolish idea."
"Bell, these machines are very complex. Before you do anything on a motorcycle, you have to learn how to ride it!"
She listened to Keiichi and nodded her head, all the while looking away, embarrassed and dejected.
"And we have, let's see," he said, checking on his watch, "Twelve hours to get it right. We'd better get started."
Belldandy lit up. It was a familiar sight to see her smile, but Keiichi hadn't seen the bright expression that was on her face in quite a while. She drew closer and wrapped her arms around her tightly.
"Oh, Keiichi!" she said, "Thank you!"
"Yeah," he replied as her grip on him was quite firm and secure, "So, let's get started. Belldandy? Belldandy?"
---
Having Keiichi agree to it was the easy part. For six hours late into the night, an intense crash course took place in which Belldandy had to learn the basics of the motorcycle. Early on, the determination in Belldandy faded at times, as the vehicle tipped over on its side repeatedly while she processed all of the advice given to her by Keiichi.
"I can't do it," she said one time.
"Don't say that!" he snapped, only trying to motivate her into action, "Just keep at it, you'll get the hang of it sooner or later!"
Belldandy nodded, and got back on the motorcycle. "Thank you," she said before lowering the visor on her helmet.
"No problem," a smiling Keiichi replied, "Uh, I mean, do it again!"
They used the clubhouse around which Belldandy took laps. It took her a dozen trials before she could finish one circle without falling off. Once she did so, Keiichi told her to go in the other direction. And then back again. And then through the test track. And then all of it, only faster.
Along the way Belldandy suffered even more scrapes and bruises, but she wouldn't tolerate any delay, and quickly bandaged herself with makeshift dressings, refusing any timely help from Keiichi and only insisting on more practice.
Closer to sunrise, Belldandy had one go at the test track, but as she finished the run, she became careless on the brakes and didn't stop when she wanted to. The bike slowed gradually and then to a halt, but turned against Belldandy as she flipped over onto the ground while the vehicle spun itself into a spiral and died tipping sideways.
"What happened?" Keiichi cried, hurrying over to fallen Belldandy, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied though she was clearly otherwise. Her rapid breathing was erratic and she twitched while leaning on her hand. "Let's do it again."
"Belldandy, you've been practicing for four hours, it's time to take a break."
"Just help me off the ground, please!" she insisted, "I can handle it, we can't stop now!"
"Belldandy!"
"Just help me, or leave me alone!"
Keiichi didn't have much choice against Belldandy. He gave her a hand up and watched her limp to his motorcycle, quickly setting it upright again and taking off for another practice run.
By then, Keiichi had good reason to be concerned, but he put a smile on his face over the fact that Belldandy, at this point, could take care of herself. She was a very quick study on the bike, and nothing was going to stop her from doing what she wanted with it. It was now up to her to fight her own battles.
---
Spots of dawn in the sky appeared over the horizon. Neither Keiichi nor Belldandy cared one bit for it, as one, then the other, yawned out of fatigue.
"We should at least take a break before we do this," Keiichi said.
"No," Belldandy insisted, "Just this one time. I know I can do it."
"Alright."
The engine on the two-passenger machine turned over. They put on their helmets and gave each other a look of confidence. Keiichi set his own watch and they took off from the start line of the test course. It was for the first time that he noticed that the speed of the vehicle was impressive, much faster than he calculated for the initial design. From the first turn, Belldandy kept eyes straight ahead, not for one moment signaling to slow down, and the machine performed wonderfully on the sharp curves. More familiar with the course now, he was all the more wiser this time around, speeding up when prudent and keeping off the accelerator when avoiding the spinout, but Belldandy handled the steering with the concentration she had needed to exercise for the race. There was little hesitance from her, save the tension she was enduring and showing from beneath the helmet's visor.
Keiichi's hand hovered over the controls for the brake. Up ahead, where the straightaway turned a sharp right, a series of street lamps surrounding the turn had burned out and gone dark. With not nearly enough light to see where the turn took place, he was reluctant to go full speed ahead. But as he touched the controls, Belldandy promptly shook her head, insisting that he stay where he was. Now he was more nervous than she was. But the tires screeched against the pavement as Belldandy cut hard to make the turn and stay within bounds. Keiichi let out a sigh of relief, not believing that she had memorized the course so well. He would have no doubt in his mind afterwards.
But then came the final turn. She had the most difficulty with this sharp left curve that took place on an intimidating decline. Keiichi looked at her briefly, and this was where she showed the least confidence. But that she showed in her eyes any at all was good enough for him. Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped and she made one final move to secure the machine against the turn.
---
The vehicle slowed gradually after crossing the finish line, but Keiichi, so tired after not having had a night's worth of sleep, yanked on the brakes. Rotating and stopping to a halt, the machine threw its two passengers sideways, landing Belldandy on top of Keiichi after they went for a tumble.
"Ouch!" Keiichi said, "I'm sorry!"
"Forget about that! How did we do?" Belldandy replied, looking down on him.
"Oh, right!" he said, reaching for his watch. He looked at the time, and smiled faintly. "We're ready."
Belldandy gasped. Her eyes filled with delight. "Keiichi!" she cried, "I knew we could do it!"
Without a moment's notice, after grinning from ear to ear, she lowered her head and kissed him, making sure he knew how thankful she was.
They both sat up, letting go of each other for just a moment. Belldandy was so happy. Happier still when, to her surprise, Keiichi returned the favor and kissed her again. They stayed like this for a longer time, and when they finally broke away, she placed her fingers on her lips, delightfully amused.
"You've been the perfect gentleman for too long," she said.
"I've learned that it's good to take chances," he replied.
"I wonder who from," she said, almost playfully.
But the moment had passed when, after locking their gaze at each other for a long time, Keiichi yawned again, and Belldandy had laughed nervously.
"I am tired."
"Me too. Come on. Change of clothes in the clubhouse."
They helped each other up and, after pushing the machine back to the front of the clubhouse, returned inside to start a new day.
---
A change of outerwear and some washing up preceded a bit of breakfast with tea shortly after the sun was fully in the morning sky. In reality, breakfast had turned into a full meal, one that required a great deal of items from the refrigerator.
"I'm so hungry!" Belldandy exclaimed, after a night of expending all of her energy on the test course. She reached for two plates at one time and politely but hurriedly ate as much as she could.
"Slow down, you're going to upset your stomach!"
"What?" she said, only after gulping down, "What does that feel like?"
Keiichi laughed, "Keep that up, and you're going to find out."
The door swung open, and the two of them turned their heads to find Chihiro enter the clubhouse. "Good morning!" she said to them.
"Morning," they replied.
"My, you two got here really early," she noted when she put her things down, "Must be really excited, despite the odds."
"Well," Belldandy said, looking at Keiichi, "I wouldn't worry too much about today."
"Oh, really?" she asked curiously.
"I think so."
Chihiro finally looked up, and when she did, she noticed something odd. The expressions on their faces looked very different from yesterday. Something in the way of confidence, but she wasn't quite sure.
"Something happen between today and yesterday?" she said innocently.
"Don't worry about it," Keiichi said, letting out a laugh, "I think we're going to do just fine."
TO BE CONTINUED...