Onegai, Megami-Sama!
Part 3-1: Doomed On Arrival
When the strange white aura faded and they all arrived at the temple, the first thing Matagu heard was an explosion.
He, Kei, and Mizuho jumped in surprise, turning around to see smoke coming up from the back of the building. Peorth didn't even look worried.
"Skuld must be at it again," she said, leaning back and stretching. "I do hope that wasn't anything important." Peorth nudged Matagu gently, and whispered, "Like the room with our futon." She winked.
Matagu managed a grin, and put a hand to the back of his head in embarrassment. "That's just Skuld, I guess," he said.
Mizuho's eyes opened wide, and she glanced over at Marie. "Marie, please go back to the ship," Mizuho said quietly. "Don't come unless I call you. That's priority one."
"Noh!" Marie said, and faded away. Matagu swore that it looked relieved.
The temple's front door opened, and Belldandy walked out, smiling brightly. "Good morning!" she said. "I'm glad that you're here so soon, Keiichi-san's been busy all week getting ready for a race with the Motor Club, and he didn't think he'd be able to see you until he got the motorcycle done."
"He races motorcycles?" Matagu asked, then looked at Kei and Peorth. "I knew he was in the Motor Club, but I didn't know about that."
"We talked about it the last time we were here," Kei said, nodding. "He's really into it, but I think he just wanted something else to talk about."
"Do you think so?" Belldandy asked, giving Kei a concerned look. "It's not like him to want to avoid a problem, but after what happened then. . . ." She trailed off, then smiled again. "Come in, please, everyone. I'll make some tea."
A few minutes later, the four of them were sitting around the table while Belldandy prepared the tea. Mizuho had put a box of pocky on the table, and she and Kei were both nibbling on the candy. Matagu couldn't help but think of what had happened the last time he was here. Kei and Keiichi had been sitting at this table, somehow able to not become completely depressed after what had happened to the women they both loved. He remembered his own problems as well, about whether Peorth actually felt something for him or if he was just another assignment. He also remembered sharing a futon with Peorth for the first time, and couldn't help but start to smile.
"Matagu-kun," Peorth murmured from next to him, putting a hand on his leg under the table. He glanced over at her, and saw that she was smirking. He smiled nervously, wondering how much she knew of what he'd been thinking.
The kitchen door slid open, and Keiichi stumbled in, looking like he'd given up sleep for the past week. He paused, looking around at everyone, then mumbled a 'good morning' and walked into the kitchen.
Matagu casually glanced over his shoulder while Peorth said something to Mizuho, and he caught a glimpse of Keiichi and Belldandy hugging. He had to wonder how things were for them - Belldandy was so different from Peorth, it was hard to imagine her being flirty or suggestive. He didn't think Keiichi would have ever had reason to doubt, well, anything about her. Matagu shrugged. It wasn't that he'd want Peorth to be any other way than she was, but sometimes he just-
"Matagu-kun," Peorth whispered, her lips close to his ear. "It's rude to watch others, unless they want you to."
Matagu felt his face turn bright red. He turned back to the table, and waved off Kei and Mizuho's confused looks. A moment later, Keiichi and Belldandy came back from the kitchen, and Keiichi seemed much more awake.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting," Belldandy said, "but we usually don't have so many people for tea." She set a plate with cups on the table, and passed one to everyone.
"So," Keiichi said after sipping his tea, "you guys wanted to go see Nekomi?"
"Yeah," Matagu said with a nod. "I'm still not really sure what I want to do, but it's a start."
"I was wondering about something," Mizuho said, holding her teacup in both hands and looking oddly nervous. "After everything that happened last month, is anyone at Nekomi going to remember me?" She looked at Belldandy, frowning. "I thought everything would have gone back to normal, but I'm not sure."
"It should be fine," Belldandy said. "Everything should have gone back to how it was when you got your connection to Yggdrasil back," she continued, nodding to Peorth, "so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."
"Besides," Keiichi said with a chuckle, "enough weird things happen around Nekomi, nobody would notice if some new teacher just showed up out of nowhere."
Matagu and Kei looked at each other, and Matagu shrugged. He was pretty sure they'd notice Mizuho, people sure had when she'd showed up back home. Then again, things would be different at a big college.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Keiichi," Peorth said with a smirk. "They certainly noticed when I was around, or have you forgotten?"
"I don't think I could forget that," Keiichi said. "I don't think Tamiya has either."
Matagu looked over at Peorth and started to ask, "What happened when you were--"
The kitchen door slammed open, and Urd stomped in. Her hair and face seemed to be covered with what might have been soot, but it was bright pink, and her low-cut shirt was glowing red. Matagu stared, as did Kei and Mizuho, but Keiichi and Belldandy didn't even blink.
"Good morning, Urd," Belldandy said. "Are you still having trouble with that potion?"
"I swear," Urd muttered, wringing her hands, "I'm never ordering from that place again. I should have learned after what happened with the anki egg."
Matagu gave Keiichi a questioning look. Keiichi just smiled nervously and said, "Don't ask, you really don't want to know. . . ."
"So," Belldandy said, "should we be going soon? We'll be able to see more of the campus if we leave early."
Matagu glanced over at Urd, whose shirt was still glowing. He looked at Peorth, then over at Kei and Mizuho. They all nodded.
His ship landed above the lake without a sound, hardly disturbing the water below it. His teleportation to the nearby shore was flawless. Like everything he did, Agent #42's arrival on this simple planet was perfect.
He stood at the lake's shore, clad in what his research had shown to be the standard Earth garb for someone of his apparent age - black slacks and jacket, a white shirt with the top button left open, and a tie left hanging just slightly loose. He'd also had his appearance adjusted before arrival, based on the standards of human attractiveness, even going so far as to consult cultural notes on Japan and prepare his appearance based upon several of the people identified as 'movie stars.' His black hair was now down past his shoulders, tied back in a loose tail that left his bangs hanging down in his face. His eyes were a deep blue the color of this planet's oceans. He'd even gone so far as to have a mole artfully placed, for the proper effect.
From what he'd learned about this Kazami, she was an attractive woman, so much that she'd been able to convince an Earthling to marry her. A woman that desperate, Agent #42 presumed, would surely be desperate for someone more capable. Therein lay the heart of his plan. Bringing the woman in by force could be time-consuming and unpleasant. It would be much easier to have her come along willingly.
Also, there was the matter of the strange energy readings that the Federation had detected. Engineering had been able to analyze them and develop a way to counter them, so Agent #42 had brought along a small weapon that was designed to neutralize the source. Naturally, whatever the source turned out to be, he would have to bring it along as well. But with the Federation's technology, his success was assured.
Agent #42 chuckled to himself. This would almost be too easy.
"Mata!" he said, his voice appropriately strong yet soft. The air next to him shimmered, and when the familiar white haze faded, his ship's navigation system was floating there. The green-clad Mata system was top-of-the-line, of course, more than capable of handing any task put to it. It was of the same design as the Marie and Miruru systems, though several generations newer. Agent #42 had requested a ship with it specifically.
"Mata, get my transportation," he said. "It's a priority one."
"MYAH," the navigation system said, its voice deep and heavy. A moment later, the white shining of teleportation came from in front of Agent #42, and a vehicle was there when it faded.
But no, Agent #42 thought, this was no ordinary vehicle. While it might have the outward appearance of an Earth motorcycle, it was equipped with some of the Galaxy Federation's most powerful technology, making it capable of speed and accurate handling beyond anything this planet would develop for at least another three of its centuries.
Agent #42 straddled the vehicle, pulled on the helmet - naturally, it would do him no good if one of this planet's simple denizens plowed into him and damaged him - and prepared to begin his hunt. The vehicle's navigation system pointed the direction to the educational institute known as Nekomi, and Agent #42 began his journey.
After nearly three hours of travel, Agent #42 was less than pleased.
Exactly why his navigation system had failed to show him all the streets and roadways of this place, he couldn't fathom, but wherever he was, Nekomi was still a good distance away. Perhaps he'd underestimated the complexity of this society, or at least their means of getting from place to place. No matter! His map did show a different educational institute nearby, he would simply go there and ask for directions.
Upon his arrival at the place of education, Agent #42 noticed several things that were different from what he'd expected. First, this was listed as a 'high school,' not a college. Second, most of the students emerging from the institution were young females. Third, a great many of them were looking at him, and several had begun to point in his direction.
Fourth, many of those looking and pointing were beginning to scream.
"Oh my god!"
"Is that him?"
"Isn't he in that movie?"
"No, he's on that TV show. . . ."
The young females began to advance on his position with great speed, waving their arms and crying out as though in a hysterical state.
For the first time in his life, Agent #42 knew fear.
When they arrived at the Nekomi campus, Kei started to wonder if he was going to spend the rest of the day looking up.
The place was huge. Most of the buildings were at least three stories tall, and he wondered how anyone found anything without a map. He guessed that the campus could hold most of his hometown without too much of a problem, and there were probably more people here than anywhere he'd been since he'd moved in with his uncle. Also, everyone here looked so much older . . . sure, he was really as old as some of them, probably older than the freshmen, but he'd never felt more like a child in his life. He leaned closer to Mizuho, and said, "It feels weird to be here."
Mizuho looked down at him, seeming distracted for a moment, then smiled. "It's not that odd," she said. "I went to a place sort of like this when I was learning how to be a planetary representative." She looked around again. "There weren't as many people, though."
"Yeah, Nekomi's a pretty big college for the area," Keiichi said, glancing over his shoulder. "The whole campus isn't even in one place."
"What?" Matagu asked, looking at Keiichi like he was crazy. "Where's the rest of it?"
"There's a satellite campus north of here, about four miles," Keiichi said. "Some of the smaller classes are there, but you really have to race to get there."
Kei glanced over at Matagu, whose eyes looked like they wanted to bug out of his head. Kei wondered if Matagu would find something he liked about this place, something he wanted to study; Kei himself was already having his doubts. Everything seemed so large, he'd grown so used to being in a much smaller place. He sighed.
Next to him, Kei felt Mizuho take his hand. He looked up at her and smiled. Then again, he thought, pretty much any place away from their hometown would do, so they could be as they were supposed to be, not teacher and student. As long as they were together, they'd be all right.
"Kusanagi-san?"
Kei blinked in surprise, wondering for an instant how Mizuho had said that without moving her lips and why she was calling him by his last name, before realizing that Belldandy was the one who'd spoken. He and Mizuho both looked over to see that their group of friends were about ten steps away. Belldandy looked somewhat concerned, but Keiichi and Matagu were smiling, and Peorth looked like she was trying not to laugh.
"We're going to tour the campus now," Belldandy said, smiling. "Do you two want to come with us? Or would you like to just see it for yourselves?"
"Oh, no, we'll come," Kei said awkwardly. Holding Mizuho's hand, he hurried to join the rest of the group.
Peorth leaned toward the two of them. "If you feel such a need for time alone," she said with a wink, "there are many places on this campus that are good for hiding." She laughed, then clung to Matagu's arm again.
Kei sighed, but couldn't help smiling.
They spent several hours walking around Nekomi campus, with Keiichi and Belldandy pointing out landmarks and buildings. The two of them talked about how classes were at the university, going on about the ways that professors taught and the kinds of work that they had to do. Kei couldn't help being amazed at the size of the place, even after he'd been there for a while. It seemed like it'd be easy to get lost, but Keiichi told him that it wasn't hard to find the way around after being here for a little while.
All the same, Kei wasn't sure if he'd want to go to a place like this. He didn't even know what he wanted to study. Matagu, however, was a completely different story.
"So there's actually an Astronomy department here?" he asked, looking very interested.
Keiichi nodded. "I don't really know much about it, it's not very big compared to the other stuff around here. But I've heard that it's good, and the astronomy club really gets into their work."
"They're the ones who tried to build a scale model of the moon last year, aren't they?" Belldandy asked.
"Yeah, that didn't turn out too well," Keiichi said with a grin. "The clubs here try all kinds of things, though. The Motor Club--"
Suddenly, a voice boomed out from behind the group, and everyone winced.
"Morisato!"
Kei turned to look, and felt himself go pale. As if the huge campus wasn't big enough, there was now a huge man standing there, looking down at the group as though he wanted to eat them for lunch. He was taller and more muscled than anyone Kei had ever known, and the flattop and thin mustache made him look pretty scary. He was dressed in a muscle shirt, heavy-duty pants, and some boots that looked like they were made for kicking things.
Kei looked over his shoulder at Keiichi, and asked, "Do you know him?"
"Yeah," Keiichi said, stepping forward, Belldandy at his side. "Hey, Tamiya. What's up?"
"I been lookin' for you!" Tamiya said, looking all the way down at Keiichi as he walked forward. "We got dat big race tomorrow, and you here actin' like--" The larger man paused, his mouth hanging open. For a second, Kei was sure that hearts actually appeared in Tamiya's eyes. "Miss Peorth!"
"Hello, Tamiya," Peorth said, though she sounded more uneasy than Kei had ever heard her. "How are you?"
"I'm great!" he said, lumbering over to her. "What's you doin' here? I thought you was gone."
"Oh, merely a small visit," Peorth said. "My boyfriend wanted to see the campus, and with Keiichi and Belldandy so willing to oblige, we--"
"Boyfriend?" Somehow, Tamiya's voice getting quiet was more scary than him booming. Tamiya leaned down and stared Matagu right in the eye. Matagu cowered back, but only a little. "You's her boyfriend?"
"Y - yes," Matagu said, standing taller. "We've been together for about a month."
Tamiya actually growled, but turned away and glared down at Keiichi. "Enough o' dis! We needs you over at da club. We gotta put dat bike together if we gots a chance o' winnin' da race." Before anyone had a chance to protest, Tamiya grabbed Keiichi by the back of the collar, and started dragging him off.
There was a moment of stunned silence, then Matagu asked, "We should go with him, shouldn't we?"
"We should," Mizuho said. Nobody moved.
Matagu wasn't sure what he'd expected the Motor Club's clubhouse to look like, but this definitely wasn't it. It was a small building, sure enough, but it looked like it was holding enough parts to build just about anything. He wasn't even sure what most of the stuff was. The place smelled like oil, grease, and takeout food. He glanced over at Belldandy, and asked, "This is what Keiichi does?"
"Sometimes, yes," Belldandy said cheerfully. "He's been part of the Motor Club since before I met him, he used to room with them in the dormitory. Tamiya and Ootaki made him the president some time ago, but they're still around so they all run things together."
"It's very strange," Kei said, looking nervous.
"I didn't even know they had places like this at a college," Mizuho said. "Don't they have to study?"
"When you love doing something, you can always find the time for it," Belldandy said, still smiling. "Keiichi-san and I have stayed up late working on things for the club many times." She turned and headed toward the back of the clubhouse, calling out for Keiichi.
"She frightens me sometimes," Peorth said in a low voice.
"Yeah," Matagu said with a nod. He looked at Peorth, starting to frown. "Hey, why was Tamiya looking at you like that? I didn't think you knew anyone here except for Keiichi and the others."
"Oh, that?" Peorth made a dismissive gesture, laughing brightly. "The poor boy came to the temple once with news for Keiichi, and fell head over heels for me. It just happens sometimes, I hardly even thought about it again."
". . . Right," Matagu said, and started toward the door that Belldandy had gone through. Something felt uncomfortable about that, though he wasn't quite sure why. He'd wished for Peorth to be his girlfriend, and she'd said that she wanted to, so why would he be feeling . . . jealous? Was that right? Sure, it didn't look like anything had happened, but Tamiya obviously still felt something for her. Maybe he'd ask . . . or maybe not.
Matagu shook his head, then walked directly into a leather jacket with sparkplugs hanging above it.
"Hey, kid! You must be one of Keiichi's pals. I'm Ootaki."
Matagu looked up, wondering just how many guys with too much muscle and too much height were on this campus. The man standing in front of him was at least as tall as Tamiya, but his spiked-up blonde hair made him look even taller. He wore mirrored sunglasses and had sparkplugs hanging from both ears, and he adjusted his leather jacket as Matagu looked at him. At least he was smiling, Matagu thought.
"Yeah," Matagu managed. He took a step back, and gestured to his friends. "I'm Matagu, this is my girlfriend, Peorth, and these are Kei and Mizuho."
"Whoa!" Ootaki sidestepped both Matagu and Kei, and stood before Mizuho, taking her hand in his own. "Hi, I'm Ootaki, you're gorgeous. You want to--"
Mizuho stepped back, waving her hands in front of her face. "I couldn't," she said, seeming very embarrassed. "I'm--"
"She's my wife!" Kei said firmly, stepping in front of her.
"Kei?" Matagu blinked at his friend, surprised at Kei's reaction. Maybe it was that they didn't have to worry about someone finding out, but he'd never seen Kei act so protective of Mizuho before. From the look on her face, Mizuho hadn't either, but she looked like she liked it.
Ootaki didn't move for a second, then stepped back. "Really? Man, you lucky dog!" He shook his head. "Sorry 'bout that, I gotta get back to that engine now." He headed back to the doorway, giving Peorth and Matagu a grin as he walked by. "Hey, Keiichi, your friend out there has the. . . ."
The four friends shared one very long, very curious look, then headed into the next room. Once inside, they had to spread out along the wall to avoid tripping over the piles of motor parts and other things that were scattered across the floor. Keiichi was crouched with Tamiya, Ootaki, and a few other people around a pile of metal that looked like it might, at one point, have been an engine. Matagu glanced over at Peorth and shrugged, and she winked back at him.
"Sorry, guys," Keiichi said, looking up from the pile of parts, "but we need to get this taken care of today, and the frame's going to take all night." He looked over at Belldandy, and asked, "Bell, can you show them around campus some more? I'll be back this evening."
"Of course," Belldandy said with a smile. She gave Keiichi a quick hug and whispered "Do your best," then skipped over the mess and joined the others.
Matagu was the last to leave, and just as he was about to step out, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He jumped, barely, and looked over to see Tamiya standing very close to him and looking him in the eye. "Umm," he managed.
"You better be good ta Miss Peorth," Tamiya said, his voice low and kind of frightening. "You're Keiichi's bud, so I'm lettin' you go, but if I ever hear o' you doin' anythin' to hurt her. . . ." The larger man's hard squeeze on Matagu's shoulder spoke more clearly than anything he could have said.
After managing to pull himself away from Tamiya, Matagu rejoined his friends, trying to get his heart back down to its normal pace. Peorth wound her arms around his as soon as they were back together, and asked, "What's so wrong, cheri?"
"I wish you'd told me about Tamiya before we came here," Matagu said, keeping his voice low. He and Peorth were walking behind Bell, Kei, and Mizuho, and Matagu wanted to keep this as private as he could. "Did anything . . . happen?"
Peorth gave him a surprised look, then laughed so hard rose petals started flying around her. The others looked back, but Matagu just shook his head. "Nothing of the sort, dear boy," she said once she'd calmed down. "I merely made a small error in judgement, nothing came of it."
Part of Matagu was surprised that Peorth would admit she'd made an error in anything. He didn't say anything more, but found it hard to focus on the campus as Belldandy continued the tour. Just the idea of her and Tamiya together, in any way - it seemed oddly foreign, like he couldn't quite wrap his head around the concept. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, wondering if he really should be concerned.
When they got back to the temple, Urd was waiting for them at the door.
"Hey, Mizuho," she said, looking to the magenta-haired woman. "There's a small, annoying child here to see you. Says she's your sister."
"Maho-chan?" Kei and Mizuho said at the same time, looking at each other. "Why would she be here?" Kei continued. Just what he needed, he thought. The last time Maho had showed up unannounced, it had spelled all kinds of trouble . . . even if it had turned out well . . . really well. . . .
Kei shook his head violently to clear it, then saw that Mizuho was also blushing. He smiled, then asked, "Should we see what she wants?"
"We should," Mizuho said with a nod. "She wouldn't just come here without a reason, something must be happening." She looked worried, and Kei frowned.
The group of them hurried into the temple, heading for the kitchen. They found Maho there, drinking tea and eating pocky. It seemed like she'd made herself at home pretty easily, Kei thought, though he was glad that Skuld didn't seem to be around - he didn't want to know what would happen if the younger goddess would do if she got her hands on Maho's Miruru system.
"Oneesan!" Maho exclaimed as soon as she saw Mizuho, leaping up from the table. "Mother found a thing in the Galaxy Federation's computer, they're sending an agent to get you back!"