Urd yawned and stretched languidly under the covers of her futon, sitting up, eyes still closed she floated upright and hovered in the general direction of the bathroom.
She bobbed drunkenly as she floated the short distance, mouth cracking with round after round of yawns.
Inside she let her feet touch down and examined her appearance in the room's small mirror. No doubt about it, even half asleep and dishevelled, the platinum haired Goddess was a knock out. She briefly rearranged her wavy hair with on hair while searching for her toothbrush with the other, eventually succeeding with both tasks after some false starts.
"Gah", Urd exclaimed, splashing a little cold water over her face to drag the rest of her mind back from the realm of dreams.
Finishing her morning ministrations, she waved a hand over herself, transforming her attire from her bed clothes to pair of black jeans and rather tight red t-shirt with the word "Ouch" printed in white block capitals on the front.
She stepped out, as she always did, just as Keiichi made his bleary-eyed appearance, mumbling something that might have been a greeting or a curse on the very soul of whoever had written out his timetable at Nekomi Tech, she was never sure.
Hands held behind her head casually, the elder Norn wandered into the kitchen, not needing the various sounds of busy preparation to know Bell was in there and hard at work. Her younger sister was always up before everyone else.
"Morning Bell", she said, leaning against the doorframe, "Mr Sunshine is up and about".
Belldandy looked over her shoulder at her Urd and smiled, she knew it was true her Keiichi wasn't much of a morning person.
"Good morning Urd, breakfast will be done momentarily", she turned back to her preparations, laying out the bowls she would need to carry into the living area.
Urd watched the whole thing bemused. No matter how many times she saw it, the idea of a first class Goddess doing mortal housework was always worth a private chuckle, it was just too precious.
That was her little sister though, Keiichi had wished for a girlfriend and Bell was going to make sure he got his wish and then some, although it had long since been established that Belldandy wasn't doing this solely to fulfil a wish contract.
Something about the tray caught Urd's attention, though she couldn't place her finger on just what it was until she counted the bowls.
Five.
Now that was strange. The way Urd figured it, either they had two guests or…
"Skuld's up already?", she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm? Oh yes, Sentaro promised to take her bike riding again today, so she has been up for a while preparing", Bell said, oblivious in her good nature to the fodder she was supplying her elder sister with.
"I see", Urd said with a thoughtful smile, "And the other dish?"
"It seems Sentaro was just as eager as our younger sister", Bell replied with a smile that spoke volumes of just how pleased she was for Skuld.
Urd's grin was there in full force now, "You don't say".
Bell frowned over her shoulder at the older woman, "Please Urd, don't tease them to much".
Urd favoured her sister with one of her repertoire of innocent looks, one she was always a little surprised seemed to work on Belldandy. This time was no exception; the younger woman smiled gratefully and went back to her task, humming contentedly.
Urd wasn't around for the tune however. There was a brat to tease.
Skuld sat alone with Sentaro in the living room feeling a little awkward. She had spent a lot of time recently alone with this boy while he was on a break from school, but this was the first time there had been nothing to do and it felt strange.
Neither of them seemed to be able to come up with a conversation and it probably had something to do with the previous day.
After Sentaro's unintended gymnastic display, he had taken her to her favourite ice-cream parlour as he had promised. Whimpering only slightly as the raven haired girl once again displayed her prodigious appetite for ice-cream, ringing up what, to a fifth-teen year old boy at least, was an impressive bill for him to pay.
Still, he had seemed to like the ice-cream he managed to eat and she caught him smiling fondly at her every now and again as she tackled her pile, thinking she wouldn't notice no doubt.
All the attention had made her blush and eat a little more than even she could safely manage at once. The resulting brain freeze had been something for the record books.
She had actually yelped a little as it struck, dropping her spoon in the process and furiously massaging her aching skull.
Concerned, Sentaro had massaged her temples for her until the pain went away. When it faded, Skuld had realised that Sentaro was still had her face cupped in his hands. The resulting blush could have been seen from space, and Sentaro's face took on a similar hue when her realised what he was doing. Still, he didn't go right away.
"You erm, you ok now?", he had asked nervously and she had only been able to nod dumbly in response. Her heart was racing a mile a minute seeming to blot out any other thoughts; she had felt very warm all of a sudden.
The youngest Goddess honestly didn't know what might have happened had various other patrons of the store not chosen that moment to voice their opinions.
"Awwww, isn't that just darling", an elderly woman had said to a younger, presumably her daughter who had looked up from where she was trying to control her own children.
"Go for it little dude!", a boy, about Keiichi's age, had laughed from where he sat with his girlfriend who gave Skuld an apologetic smile.
The two young teens had broken apart rather abruptly under the varying gazes of the other customers, still both blushing intensely.
The ride home had been rather subdued after that, but they had agreed to continue their outings today, and so here they were.
Unable to open a conversation, or even look at each other to long. How could it get any worse.
"Good morning children", came an overly happy voice from behind her. Skuld didn't need to turn around to know it was Urd, or to see the mirthful grin she probably had plastered over her face.
"Hello Miss Urd", Sentaro said nervously, and he had reason. Urd, he knew, liked nothing more that teasing Skuld, and when he was around that always meant rather long and embarrassing hugs from the older woman. It wasn't so bad in itself, but Skuld's bursts of temper afterward gave him nightmares.
Luckily it seemed, he was to be spared that morning, as Urd crouched down next to her sister and wrapped her arms around her, "What, no good morning from my baby sister?".
Skuld tensed noticeably at that term and ground out a passable greeting through clenched teeth.
"Well that was certainly lacking gusto", Urd said with feigned disappointment, turning her piercing green-eyed gaze on Sentaro, "I hope you aren't wearing my little sister out to much Sentaro honey".
The spiky haired boy felt himself start to sweat at that comment; surely Urd's big sister couldn't be implying something like that, but it was rather hard to tell with her. The wink didn't help much either.
Skuld trembled slightly.
"My, my, have I struck a nerve little sister? Things not going so well with my favourite little couple?"
"We are not a couple!", she shouted, standing up and glaring at Urd.
"So defensive", Urd chuckled.
"Idiot", Skuld growled at her, wishing Sentaro weren't there for a moment so she could have used a Skuld Bomb to wipe away Urd's smile.
"Brat", Urd countered, "You best be careful with that temper or you might scare away your boyfriend here".
"He is not my…!", Skuld began, the ice-cream parlour incident flashing through her mind again, causing her to finish in a much quieter voice, "boyfriend…".
She was saved from further prodding when Belldandy walked in carrying the tray she ha been getting ready earlier.
She took in the mood of the room with one glance, looking quizzically at Urd who just shrugged in return and settled down next to the table.
Skuld silently thanked her sister's good timing.
When everyone was gathered at the table, including a now significantly more bright eyed Keiichi, conversation was light. Skuld purposely avoiding talking to Urd and was still unable to quite meet Sentaro's gaze.
She made up for this by paying more attention to Bell and Keiichi than she had in a long time, somewhat souring the young man's mood although he'd never show it and even bringing Bell as close to displeased as she ever really got. They had both thought this sort of interference was in the past now that Skuld had other things to direct her attentions toward.
Sentaro watched the whole thing with a crooked smile. Skuld was certainly a terror at times, but it was fun to watch. Who ever heard of a chaperone younger than the couple.
That word brought back the unpleasant feeling he had felt during her argument with Urd. Sure it was true and all, but it had stung a little, he really liked Skuld, for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. He looked at her as she tried to weasel her way in between her elder sister and her boyfriend. She could be very childish at times for a girl who had recently turned fourteen, and had one hell of a temper and a long competitive streak…but she sure was cute, and fun.
Sentaro toyed with his rice cake absently, not really having been up long enough to feel hungry.
As he played with the food, watching the strange scene continue to play out in front of him, he thought back to the previous day. He pondered over the ice-cream parlour, blushing a little, glancing around nervously in case someone spotted him and wondered what he was doing. No one seemed to be paying him any attention. As he continued to dwell upon that day, another memory surfaced.
A young boy in tattered clothes, flat green-eyes wary of the kindness of the stranger who had knocked him down.
Sentaro's face scrunched up a little and he looked down at the rice cake in his hand. He wondered what that boy had eaten for breakfast, or if he had eaten at all.
"You ok there kiddo", a voice intruded on his thoughts. He looked around to find Urd leaning on one arm next to him, looking up at him questioningly.
He gulped a little and rested the urge to move away, which of course only amused her.
"Planning your next move on my little sister?"
"N-no ma'am", he got out, it was true, he hadn't spent that long thinking about what he'd wanted to do holding Skuld's face like that in the ice-cream parlour, "I was just thinking".
"About what?"
He looked down at the rice cake again, feeling his expression droop again for a split second.
An idea struck him.
"Do you think Belldandy-sama would let me and Skuld take a few of these out with us?", he asked.
"No girl likes a cheap date honey", she replied jokingly, enjoying his mildly panicked look as he glanced over at Skuld. He was almost as fun to tease as the brat at times.
"I'm sure she won't mind", she offered. Enough teasing for one day, besides, the first of her shows would start soon.
Sentaro nodded thankfully as she sat up, forced to advert his gaze again when she stretched cat like and stood up.
"Well, it's been fun", she announced, "But duty calls".
"You mean the couch right", Skuld shouted from between Belldandy and Keiichi as Urd left the room.
They all heard the platinum haired woman mumble, "Brat", under her breath as she vanished around the corner.
Sentaro made his request about the rice cakes after things settled down again. Belldandy seemed to take it as a compliment and readily agreed.
"Are you planning to take Skuld on a little picnic?", she asked, eyes sparkling.
"Er, yeah", he lied. It would have been to weird to explain what he really wanted the them for, besides Skuld still thought he'd hit his head and imagined Ken.
"That's a wonderful idea Sentaro-kun", the brown haired woman said, clasping her hands together in front of her, "A quiet picnic in the sun".
Next to her Keiichi looked at the younger boy thoughtfully, as if he'd just been inspired by an idea of his own, and Skuld smiled almost shyly.
Sentaro swallowed hard. He felt a little bad for lying now, but if he could find Ken again then he was sure Skuld would understand. Underneath the tomboyish exterior she was all heart, just like her sisters.
As with most adolescents, Sentaro's thought process was momentarily derailed as his mind wondered in what other ways Skuld would be like her sisters when they both grew up.
Shaking off several mental replies that question generated he thanked Belldandy and went outside with Skuld to get their bikes ready while she wrapped both the requested rice cakes and the lunch she had made for Keiichi.
This won't be so bad he reflected. If he could find Ken he would feel better knowing that he had helped out a boy who clearly didn't belong where he was, and if he really had imagined it all…well then he could by some drinks, he still had enough money for that at least, and get to take Skuld out on a simple picnic.
Win, win, he reassured himself, nothing to worry about.
Urd lay sprawled on the couch in the TV room, she would have reclined on air like she normally did, it was more comfortable, but she couldn't be sure Sentaro and the brat were gone yet.
She felt almost lethargic today, usually she had to 'fight' Skuld for control of the TV and without that she felt almost uninspired to watch. Almost.
She was currently watching an early morning soap. Pretty tame by soap opera standards, few character deaths, little infidelity and hardly any fights. The only real appeal of the show was that it focused on a single mother and her child, a rather unique and sensitive subject in Japan, but the scripting was excellent.
In the current episode the mother was preparing a surprise birthday party for her son, with assorted montages of various trying times throughout the series, and flashbacks of the woman's now dead husband.
Urd felt a pang of sympathy as the woman looked at the one and only photograph she had over her deceased partner and son together.
Urd had never really known her own mother, her real mother at least, and their father was distant at best most of the time. Belldandy and Skuld's mother had always been there for her girls, Urd included and Urd could mentally overlay her face onto that of the actress on the screen.
Sighing at how much this show was killing her usual jovial mood, Urd flicked to another channel. Perhaps there would be something more entertaining on another station.
Skuld rode behind Sentaro closely. She was curious as to where he would take her for this picnic. She smiled at his back, this was the first time he had done something like this, something that came so close to a… date?
The young Goddess shock her head violently, almost costing herself her balance. No, wrong word, bad word, she thought. This wasn't a date; this was just… well it wasn't a date!
He better not try anything weird, she thought resolutely, the memory of the ice-cream parlour flashing through her mind and almost costing her her balance a second time.
She focused herself on riding, the sensation of the wind whipping her hair behind her and the mild burning in her legs, running some idle calculations from her current project in the background to keep out unwanted thoughts.
Thinking so hard about how not excited she was by all this, she failed to notice she was still smiling.
Ken lay with his back to the dumpster he had scrounged food from previously. He knew that there was nothing in there now but he was too drained to move right now.
His nightmares always left him slightly tired, but now he felt completely exhausted for the first time in a long while.
He had awoken from the horrific visions sometime in the early hours of the morning, while it was still dark and had refused to let himself go back to sleep.
He was still trembling from the barely remembered night terrors. That was the only thing that made them bearable; they never stayed with him long when he woke.
He wheezed through dry and cracked lips, licking them occasionally to moisten them. He would need to move soon, to find food and water, but he was just so tired.
So very tired.
Sentaro had begun to pull ahead of her.
Skuld glared at him as his lead increased. This was definitely not how he should be behaving if he was taking her on a picnic. He was supposed ride slowly with her and talk.
Instead he had his head down as if he had forgotten she was there, or was trying to lose her for some reason.
I rankled Skuld more than she would admit. Why bother asking her to come out with him if he planned to take off as soon as he got chance?
She applied as much extra speed as she could get out of her shorter legs, feeling her tan shorts whip faster as she managed to increase her velocity to match Sentaro's.
He didn't even look back.
Skuld's glare deepened, that boy would have a lot to answer for when she caught up with him.
Sentaro, unaware of the irritation of his companion, had just spotted what he was sure was the alley he had found Ken in.
He sped up a little, holding the rather irrational belief that there was some sort of a time limit on him getting there.
Sentaro braked gently as he approached the alley, not wanting a repeat of the first time he had found Ken.
As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he spotted the dark haired boy resting against the dumpster he had been hiding behind when Sentaro first ran into him, no pun intended.
His head was lolled back slightly and he was staring up at the sky passively.
He sure does a lot of that, Sentaro thought to himself nervously, suddenly wondering if his feeling of being under a time limit was really that stupid after all.
He rode over to where the boy sat, dismounting and leaning his bike against a handy wall.
He heard Skuld enter the alley panting again as he crouched down.
"You…better….have a…good…", she wheezed, her face flushed prettily even if she looked annoyed. Her eyes tracked down to where he squatted and took in the boy in front of him.
"Who's that?", she asked, peering at Ken closer, "Is he ok?".
"This is Ken, the kid I told you I knocked down yesterday", Sentaro said, shaking the younger boy's shoulder. No reaction.
"How hard did you hit him?", Skuld asked, dropping down next to him and inspecting the green-eyed boy's almost comatose condition.
"Not that hard, he was fine when I checked on him, and he managed that little disappearing act on me…", he trailed off; letting Skuld fit that into her knowledge of the previous day. She didn't say she was sorry for doubting him, but she did smile apologetically.
"Ken, Ken it's Sentaro, do you remember me from yesterday?"
The boy blinked sleepily and looked at them, staring blankly for a few minutes before starting a little in shock.
It was Sentaro and the pretty girl from the previous day, he hadn't noticed them approach.
"Whoa, easy there", Sentaro said comfortingly, "No need to panic, we're not going to hurt you".
Ken seemed unsure of that statement, so Sentaro rummaged around in the front pocket of his hooded shirt, producing one of the wrapped rice cakes prepared by Belldandy that morning for his and Skuld's 'picnic'.
Skuld almost frowned behind his back. So that was why he had asked about those things, he hadn't planned on taking her on a picnic at all!
However when she looked at the little boy Sentaro was offering his kindness to, she couldn't help but feel proud of him. He could make it up to her another time, this was more important.
Skuld nodded and smiled encouragingly to the boy, missing his shy blush.
Ken slowly reached out and took the rice cake from Sentaro, his emerald gaze flickering back and forth between them as he took a careful bite.
It was moist and delicious, and his empty stomach readily urged him to consume the rest and find more, which he did.
Sentaro and Skuld smiled at his enthusiasm and offered him the rest of the treats, which he gratefully consumed.
When he was finished, Ken looked up at them gratefully.
"Thank you", he said in a small voice, as if afraid of being reprimanded for talking to them directly.
"It's no problem", Skuld said, reading the limited scope of his being as well as she could with her developing powers, "I bet you haven't eaten anything like that in a long time".
Ken blinked at her again and shook his head.
Skuld was curious as to why he was out here all alone, but the sadness in his eyes stayed her tongue.
"I should go now", he said, "People don't like it when I hang around to much".
He got to his feet and squeezed past the two young teens, shuffling slowly deeper into the alleyway.
Skuld looked at Sentaro imploringly, and he nodded, the same thought having crossed his mind.
"Hey! Ken!", Sentaro shouted after him standing up.
The young boy turned, and cringed slightly making the older boy wince slightly as he jogged over to him.
"How would you like to spend the day with us?", he asked.
Ken glanced around as if looking for a way to escape, "The day? With both of you?".
"Yeah", said Skuld catching up to them, "It'll be fun, I promise".
Ken looked at his feet, unable to meet that smile.
"…Ok"
"That's great", Sentaro said, resting a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, "This'll be fun, I swear".
It was, it was probably one of the best days Ken had experienced in recent memory. Sentaro and Skuld showed him the basics of bike riding, Sentaro letting him sit on his seat while he stood on the pedals and powered the bike.
Ken had cried out in panic the first time Sentaro showed him what he though of as a cool cruising speed, and had spent the next few minutes being chewed out by Skuld.
Ken thought it funny how the older boy just stood there, scratching the back of his head while the smaller girl stuck her finger in his face and berated him.
At first Ken had been a little scared by the fighting, but it had ended quickly enough and Skuld was soon all smiles again which confused Ken slightly, and, he later confessed, Sentaro as well.
He had watched while Skuld and Sentaro competed in tricks on their bikes, a competition Sentaro won with ease, something that Skuld sulked about a little, although her mood seemed to change rapidly when Sentaro complimented her on her improvement on certain tricks.
This mystified Ken, but this time Sentaro didn't seem to have noticed anything was amiss.
They took him around the city, showing him some of the nicer spots, and apologised when they couldn't get the door attendant to allow them to take Ken into the aquarium.
The green-eyed boy didn't mind. He was having a great time.
But all great things must come to an end, and this day was no exception.
It began to grow dark and Skuld and Sentaro reluctantly told him they needed to leave. They returned him to the alley at his request, though not happily by any means and promised to visit him again the next day.
Ken slept well that night. The dreams still came, but at least he now had something to look forward to when he awoke.
The next three days passed in this fashion. It seemed someone had decided to grant Ken a ray of hope in his bleak existence. Indeed there was far more to come. But everything has it's price, and Ken's first instalment was due.
Awaking with a scream on the fourth day, Ken huddled in a darkened corner of the alley, paralysed with fear. It wasn't just his imagination he knew, eyes filling with tears. The nightmares were getting worse, just like they had once before, and that could only mean one thing.
The dark dreams hovered at the edge of his mind; he could feel them there like malignant sirens, even though he was now awake. The called to him, trying to lull him back so they could take hold once more, and torture him with those most horrible scenes from his life, and those seemingly spawned from the darkest recesses of his mind.
He heard footsteps.
His head shot up, maybe it was Skuld and Sentaro, they could save him.
Ken's eyes, adjusted as they were to the gloom could make out the approaching figures, but they most certainly weren't his friends.
The gang of street youths walked, perhaps swaggered would have been a more apt term, down the alley, talking in harsh, clipped voices and kicking over trashcans.
Ken huddled closer into himself, hoping they wouldn't see him and just go on, he knew how people like that treated people like him.
A particularly violent image surged to the forefront of his mind; one of the ones that terrified him the most because he knew it was real and he let out an involuntary whimper.
The leader of the youths, a skinny boy of sixteen or so with a shaven head swung towards the noise.
"Hey! You, come out where I can see you"
Ken remained as quiet as he could.
"I said come out!", the boy yelled, stomping over to where Ken hid and grabbing him roughly by the collar of his battered shirt.
"Well, look here boys, I found a rat", he said, the others mimicking his barked laughter, "You shouldn't be here kid, all this belongs to us, you here me?".
Ken nodded slowly; he was afraid, and not just of the gang. His nightmares were parading across his eyes in a macabre dance, as if drawing strength from the cruelty so clear in these young men.
"I can't hear you runt", the leader said, shaking him to see if that would loosen his disrespectful tongue any.
"I'm sorry", Ken whispered his gaze seeming to be on something else. His flat, glassy stare was unnerving the self-proclaimed tough-guy and that angered him.
"Disrespectful little street trash", he spat, hurling Ken to the ground hard.
The young boy winced as the air was knocked from him, but didn't show any other reaction. He was locked in a cycle of horrors only he could see. A black vortex that drew strength from the dark intentions of those surrounding his prone figure.
The bald boy was the first one to land a kick.
"Worm", he said, rearing back for another. How dare this little runt just ignore him.
Soon the others joined in. There was no question about doing it, not a flicker of conscience, just bare brutality.
Ken was to far gone to care.
He closed his eyes as his fears washed over his consciousness, in acid waves, slowly drowning him.
Locked in a prison of his own design he heard the screams.
----Authors Notes---
Done.
As you may have already noticed this will not be a Bell/Kei fic, there are plenty of those out there already, this will largely focus around Skuld, Sentaro, Ken and Urd.
"Chapter 3: A roof over your head", may be delayed due to my work load.
Till next time, Betweenheavenandhell