Onegai, Megami-Sama!

Part 1-2: Chaos Ensues

"So let me get this straight. You woke up, and this woman greeted you like she was your lover." Urd quirked a white eyebrow at Keiichi, who blushed slightly.

"That's right," Keiichi said, and sipped tea from the cup he held. It wasn't as good as Belldandy would make, of course, but it always calmed him down.

"And you," Urd continued, looking at the magenta-haired woman who was sitting across from Keiichi, "have no idea why Keiichi says he's never seen you before."

Mizuho nodded, and wiped at her eyes. She'd been doing a lot of crying, and it had taken a small spell from Urd to calm her emotions and get her rational enough to talk about what was happening.

Urd sighed heavily. "It's too early in the morning to be dealing with this," she muttered. "Mizuho, right? I don't know how to tell you this, but I've never seen you before either, and I've been living here for years."

"Months," Mizuho said, "it's only been a few months." She looked over at Urd, who was now giving her a curiously raised eyebrow. "Keiichi-kun said that you'd been kicked out of your dormitory for having a boy over, and we had extra rooms for you and your little sister, so we agreed that you could stay here for a while."

Urd and Keiichi exchanged a significant look as Mizuho sipped her tea. Whatever had happened to bring this woman here, Keiichi thought, it'd done a thorough job. He hoped Urd and Skuld would be able to figure it out sometime soon, as he could tell it was only going to get more difficult. That, and he already missed Belldandy.

Mizuho glanced around the table, frowned, then stood and walked into the kitchen, where she started looking through the cabinets. "Keiichi-kun?" she asked.

"Umm, yes?"

"Where's the pocky?"

Keiichi sweatdropped.

Somewhere else in Japan, Kei was having his own early morning problems.

"How - how could you not know who I am, Kei-san?"

The young woman in front of him was starting to cry, and Kei was starting to panic. He'd already begun backing toward the bedroom, then suddenly realized that was a bad idea when she ran toward him and fell at his feet.

"If you don't want me to be here anymore, then . . . then I'll leave, but you know that we're supposed to be together always, it's what you wished for." She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. She still had the dishtowel in her hands.

"Together? You and me?" Kei stammered, "But - but I can't be together with you, I'm married!" And quite happily, he didn't add.

She looked at him oddly for a moment, blinked twice, then started to smile. "I see, Kei-san. That's not a very nice way for you to joke with me, but I forgive you." She stood, kissed him on the cheek before he had a chance to move away, and returned to the kitchen, humming cheerfully.

Kei sighed and shook his head. This was going to be difficult. "Umm--"

"And besides, dear," she said before he could even get started, "I know that you're married, just as I am. Something that precious, you really shouldn't joke about it."

"You're married?" Kei asked before thinking. She turned and smiled brightly at him, and he immediately wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Of course, Kei-san," she said, holding up her left hand. A ring with a small diamond was on her ring finger. "Do you think I'd forget? The small ceremony, just for the two of us, and we being the only married couple at our school?"

He stared at her, his mouth hanging open. "You mean. . . ."

"Are you feeling all right, Kei-san?" she asked, then walked over and put a hand to his forehead. "You don't feel warm. Did you get enough sleep?"

Please, Kei thought, let me still be dreaming. He closed his eyes, pinched his own arm, and opened them to see the girl with the strange facial markings still looking at him, very concerned.

"I'm fine," he said uneasily. "I just . . . had a strange dream, the kind that seems real when you wake up."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking like she meant it. "I'll make you some tea, that'll calm you down."

Kei watched her walk back to the kitchen, feeling rather helpless. She opened up a cabinet, then let out a gasp as several dozen boxes of pocky fell out. Despite the situation, Kei managed to smile. He wasn't crazy, he thought, but what had happened to Mizuho? How was he going to figure it out? And what else could possibly happen to make this any stranger?

There was a knock at the door, and Kei winced, wishing he hadn't asked. How was he going to explain this?

Matagu's morning was considerably more pleasant. He'd let Peorth use his futon the night before, thankful that his parents and little sister were out of town for the weekend so he didn't have to try to hide her and explain why he was using the guest futon in the living room. It occurred to him later that he would have had an even harder time explaining how Peorth had come to be there in the morning, half under his blanket, with her arms wrapped around him as she blew gently in his ear to awaken him.

And as nice as that was, Matagu still managed to panic.

He rolled out of the futon in a frenzy of flailing limbs, then quickly turned to see Peorth sitting there, still under the blanket, wearing an old shirt of his. He swallowed hard. She'd explained how, being cut off from Yggdrasil, she didn't have the energy to make her own clothes, and he figured she'd be borrowing from him anyway, so why not start early?

He hadn't expected her to wake him up still not wearing very much, though, and even though his heart was pounding like he'd just run a few dozen miles, he had no problem admitting he liked it. On the inside. On the outside, he still wasn't quite capable of forming words.

"I . . . gah. . . ."

"Good morning, ma chere," Peorth said.

"Good morning!" he said all at once.

"Your bed was quite comfortable." She giggled at that, and crawled a few steps toward him. "I trust you slept well, dreaming of me?"

"I - I don't know," Matagu said, trying to focus on breathing normally. "I don't remember my dreams very much." He reached for a robe, thankful he'd left it near the bed, and turned away from Peorth as he pulled it on. The last thing he needed was to embarrass himself any more than he already was, he thought.

"Such a pity. Ah, well." She stood and walked around to face him, and looked him in the eye. "Will we be bathing first, or shall I prepare your breakfast?"

"I usually shower before--" He paused, then blinked at her as exactly what she'd said registered in his brain. "We?"

"Of course," Peorth said with a smile that was half smirk. "Even without my connection to Yggdrasil, I am still a Goddess First Class, and you haven't been given your wish yet. Therefore, you're still being given the basic service package."

Matagu felt himself blushing again, and took a deep breath as he forced his mind to function. If this was the basic service package, then what was part of the. . . . "Um, I'm not sure how much food we have here right now. My parents are out of town a lot, and they usually don't get more until they get back."

Peorth nodded once, then headed for the kitchen, nearly mooning him in the process as the back of her shirt flipped up. Matagu gulped, then dashed for the bathroom once she was distracted.

After the fastest shower he'd ever taken, Matagu stepped out of the bathroom to find Peorth waiting for him, clad only in a towel. He yelped, and jumped back only to hit his head on the door he'd closed behind him.

"You're not being very nice," she said, sounding rather put out. "How am I supposed to wash your back when you're done?"

"I - I'll make it up to you next time," he said as quickly as he could. "You can shower now, I'll see what I can make for breakfast!" She looked as though she was going to pout, but headed into the bathroom nonetheless. Matagu sighed as soon as she was gone.

He headed for the kitchen, and by the time he heard Peorth's shower turn off, he'd put together what he figured was a pretty respectable breakfast. He'd been right about there not being a great deal of food in the house; then again, he hadn't planned on having guests. Once the table was set, he called for Peorth. "It's ready!"

Peorth walked out of his room wearing a pair of shorts that he hadn't been able to fit in since he was ten and a white t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. She smiled at him fetchingly, and he felt his knees go weak. He tried not to stare and failed miserably.

"Your clothes look good on me, dear boy," she said as she stepped past him and sat down, "but it's no surprise, as I'm sure I look good in anything. Now, sit."

Matagu sat. After eating in silence for a few minutes, she asked him, "This teacher of yours, Mizuho, how far away from here is she?"

He tapped his chopsticks on his bowl of rice as he thought. "I'm not sure, but it's a pretty short walk. Maybe half a mile or so." He paused. "What are we going to tell my friends if we run into them?"

"You think we will?" she asked. "Had I my powers, I could of course just whisk us over there. Of course, had I my powers, I would have granted your wish last night."

For a moment, Matagu found himself very, very thankful that she'd lost her powers. Of course, he wanted to help her get them back, but he couldn't help enjoying this.

"Well, it's a pretty small town," he said, trying to cover up the dreamy look he was sure he'd been wearing for a second or two. "I seem to run into someone whenever I'm out."

"I see," Peorth said. "We'll just tell them I'm your lover."

Matagu nearly choked.

"Or would saying that I spent the night at your house be enough?"

He coughed again, and wondered for a moment if he'd even survive long enough to get over to Mizuho's house, let alone deal with trying to explain anything.

To Matagu's surprise, he and Peorth managed to get to Mizuho's apartment building fully intact and without running into anyone he knew. He tried not to think about it too much, guessing that being with a goddess - even one without her powers - was reason enough for minor miracles to happen. When they reached the door, he was about to knock when Peorth stopped him by taking his hand.

"Matagu," she whispered in a way that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Y-yes?"

She looked up at him, and he could see sincerity in her eyes instead of the smirk he'd gotten used to. For one of the few times since she'd arrived, she wasn't teasing or being flirtatious. "I've been around enough mortals to know that not all would do what you're doing now. Whatever comes of this, I want you to know you have my thanks." She smiled warmly.

He felt his entire body growing warmer, and only managed to ask "What do you mean?"

"Not everyone who gets a wish is so nice about it as you," Peorth said. "We try to only give wishes to the worthy ones, but some become so rude upon hearing that they can have their heart's desire. Many, upon finding a goddess without her powers, wouldn't be so kind about it."

"Oh." He tried to think of something profound and reassuring to say and came up blank. "Don't worry about it, Peorth. I mean, I wouldn't want you to be stuck down here any more than you would. We'll figure this out."

She didn't say anything more, just leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Just remember," she whispered in his ear as he turned bright red, "you still haven't gotten your wish." She nipped at his earlobe, then stepped back and motioned at the door. Now she was smirking.

Matagu swallowed hard and knocked on the door. "Mizuho-sensei?" he called.

From the other side of the door, he heard approaching footsteps, then someone crying out. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. There was the sound of a struggle, and then the door opened, revealing the last person Matagu had expected to see.

"Kei?"

"Ma - Matagu!" Kei smiled and rubbed at the back of his head. "What brings you here?"

"I needed to ask Mizuho-sensei for a favor," he said. "But why're you here?"

"Umm . . . oh, Sensei had an appointment for a checkup with my uncle today," Kei said, "but he had to answer an emergency call, so I came over to tell her that she'll have to reschedule."

"Kei-san, who's at the door?"

Another woman walked up behind Kei, and Matagu stared. Whoever she was, she was nearly as beautiful as Peorth, though in more of a classic way. She also had similar facial markings, and he was about to ask Peorth about that when the new woman's eyes opened wide and she smiled brightly.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Peorth! It's been so long, how are you doing?"

Matagu looked at Peorth, who looked surprised. This couldn't be good, he thought. "Belldandy?" she asked. "What're you doing here?"

"I live here, of course," she said. "Has it really been that long? Come in, come in, we need to catch up!"

"You know her?" Matagu asked.

"I'm glad somebody does," Kei said quietly.

"She's who I was supposed to be seeing in the first place," Peorth said, peering at Belldandy. "Why are you here, Belldandy? And where's Keiichi, shouldn't you two be together like you're supposed to be?"

Belldandy looked confused, and blinked at Peorth. "Who's Keiichi?"

Peorth narrowed her eyes, and leaned in close to the other woman. "You don't - remember - Keiichi?" she asked, speaking slowly and clearly.

Belldandy shook her head. "I know it's been a long time since we talked, but I'm married now," she said, wrapping her hand around Kei's arm. "How did you two meet?" she asked, looking at Matagu. "I'm so glad you've found someone, Shido-san."

"I'm sorry, but have we met?" he asked Belldandy, then looked at Kei. "Is Mizuho-sensei around? I need to see if she can drive us somewhere."

"She's not here," Kei said, glancing around nervously.

"Then how'd you get in?" Matagu asked.

Peorth nudged him. "That's not important, dear boy. I still know where we need to go, so if we can borrow the car, we must away." She looked at Belldandy and Kei. "You two are coming with us, of course, so we can get this mess worked out."

"What mess?" Belldandy looked back and forth between the three others. "Please, Kei-san, what's wrong?"

"I think we'll have to figure it out on the way," Kei said, then sighed. "I'll get the keys, I know where Sensei's car is."

"Right," Matagu said with a nod, then paused. "Hey, how do you know that?"

"Don't ask!" Kei said over his shoulder as he walked back into the apartment.

Belldandy just smiled. "It's been a very strange morning."

Matagu took a deep breath, and let it out as he looked at the two women. "Yeah, definitely."

It had been a while since Matagu had driven, but he managed to follow Peorth's directions and get Mizuho-sensei's yellow convertible to their destination without anything bad happening. He was almost surprised that some kind of giant monster hadn't hopped out of the ocean and started wrecking cities on their way; with everything that had happened since last night, he wouldn't have even been surprised.

It took most of the day to get there, and the sun was well on its way toward setting when Peorth finally pointed him down the road that led where she wanted to go. He didn't expect the road to lead to a temple, though he had to admit that it was somehow appropriate. "You're sure that the other goddesses are here?" he asked Peorth.

"What better place for a goddess?" she asked, then winked at him. He supposed she was right.

The four of them walked up to the front door, and Peorth knocked. A moment later, the door slid open, revealing a woman with silver-white hair, dark skin, and triangle-shaped markings on her face. A short young man with black hair stood just behind her.

"Peorth?" Urd gave the group a confused look.

"Keiichi!" Peorth exclaimed, looking behind the other goddess.

"Belldandy!" Keiichi yelled, pushing past Urd and diving for her.

"Kei-san?" Belldandy asked, confused, as Keiichi hugged her tightly.

"Keiichi-kun!" Mizuho called from the hallway beyond Urd, looking very upset.

"Mizuho!" Kei cried, trying to push into the temple and finding himself stopped by Urd's hand on his chest.

"Urd," Matagu managed, thankful Peorth had told him who they'd be meeting before the madness started. "I think we need your help."

A short while later, the seven of them were gathered around the kitchen table. Belldandy had happily prepared tea for the group, though she did have to be told where everything was, which Mizuho did with ease. Peorth gave Urd a weary look as she explained what had happened so far.

"So I thought to seek you out when my connection to Yggdrasil suddenly disappeared," she said. "Matagu-kun said he knew someone who had a car, and when we arrived there, we found Belldandy and Kei."

"Sounds like my morning," Urd said, looking down at her teacup as though she wished there was something stronger in it. "Now, let's get this straight." She looked at Keiichi and Mizuho, as the older woman had insisted on sitting next to him. "Mizuho, you're saying that you and Keiichi met in your class at Nekomi Tech and became lovers, and have been hiding your affair from everyone for two years."

Mizuho blushed. "It's not like that . . . all right, it's a lot like that, but that's not all of it. I love Keiichi-kun, you know that."

"Right," Urd said flatly. "And Belldandy, you say that you and Kei here got married shortly after he called the Goddess Technical Helpline and wished for you to be with him always."

"Of course, oneesan," Belldandy said. "You were at the wedding, don't you remember?"

Urd swirled her tea and sighed. "Right. Keiichi," she said, looking at him, "we know your story - wrong number, right wish. Kei, what happened to you?"

"Umm. . . ." Kei rubbed the back of his head, and glanced at Matagu. "It's kind of hard to explain."

"Out with it," Urd said, glaring at him. "If you want to get any of this fixed, we have to know everything."

Kei looked down at the table. "I found out that Mizuho's half-extraterrestrial, and when we were talking at school, we got caught by the principal. We got married to cover it up, and we - we fell in love along the way."

"Kei-san, what are you talking about?" Belldandy gave him a pleading look. "This isn't your dream, whatever it was that you were still thinking about this morning. You're married to me, don't you remember?"

"You're married to Mizuho?" Matagu asked, shock clear on his face.

"No, he's not!" Mizuho exclaimed. "And I'm not half-extraterrestrial, no matter what he says!"

"Really?" Kei asked. He pulled out a box of pocky, and watched her face light up. "Do you know why you like this so much?"

Mizuho paused as she reached for the box. "I . . . I don't know. Something about . . . about my father?" She put her hands to her temples. "I don't remember my father, that doesn't make sense!"

"Should it?" Urd asked Kei.

Kei nodded enthusiastically. "I don't know what's going on, but I think she remembers something."

"Ah, good, good," Peorth said. "Now we can get this mess worked out, so I can get my connection with Yggdrasil back!"

"It's not going to be that easy," Urd said, shaking her head. Everyone at the table looked at her. "I'm going to make some calls, see what I can track down," she said as she stood up. "Maybe I can fix this all with a potion, that'd be nice. But," she continued, looking down at Peorth, "fixing this comes first. You're not going to skip out on all of us until this is done, right?"

"Of - of course not, my dear Urd!" Peorth said, trying to look innocent.

"Don't worry about that," Matagu said, leaning forward. "This is all really strange, but we're all mixed up in it. We'll figure it out, all of us."

Keiichi nodded and smiled. "I should have guessed something like this would happen someday, but I'm glad you're here so we can work this out," he said. "Life's usually pretty weird living with three goddesses."

Mizuho frowned at him, looking hurt. "Keiichi-kun!"

"About as bad as trying to hide being married to your teacher," Kei said.

"Kei-san!"

Matagu just shook his head.