by Shade
Disclaimer: AMG isn't mine.
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Chapter 1: Opening the Blinds
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'Why do I keep ending up in those kinds of situations,' Keiichi Morisato wondered to himself
as he tiredly trudged towards home from a 'favor' that Aoyama and Tamiya had 'asked' him to do
without really giving him any choice in the matter at all. His boss Chihiro had naturally been
unsympathetic to his situation, pointing out that it was his fault for having such a wishy-washy
personality that he couldn't stop his former sempai from taking advantage of him even after they'd
all graduated from college.
Of course the 'favor' had turned out to be much more difficult then initially described by the two men
and as a result all he had wanted was to go home and enjoy a quiet evening with Belldandy. But today just
didn't seem to be his day as his motorcycle's engine had conked out barely two miles from the temple
where he and the goddesses resided. He'd phoned to let them know he was going to be late, but politely
declined their assorted offers to provide assistance in alternative transportion. He hadn't wanted
to inconvenience Belldandy over what seemed like such a trifling little matter and in the case of
the other two, hard learned experience had taught him that it might be slower but definitely safer
to use the two feet he'd been born with instead.
And so here he was, slowly pushing along his BMW RS and wondering what else was going to go wrong today.
"Keiichi Morisato?"
The young man blinked and turned his head.
"Did someone call my name?"
There was a figure standing there on the sidewalk as the last fading light of the day began
dwindling into the beginning of the evening. He looked normal enough, so ordinary in fact
that Keiichi knew that if he were ever asked to describe him, he wouldn't be able to beyond
the facts that his hair was straight and black and his eyes an earthy brown. For some reason
his mind's eye just couldn't focus on any particular trait that distinguished itself into any
sort of individuality whatsoever. It was rather eerie now that he thought about it.
"Good. I had to be sure."
A small red flare gleamed to life on the center of the stranger's forehead for a long moment before
fading away as if it had never been there. More then long enough for Morisato to see it, recognize
the mark for what it was and realize just how bad a day this was really turning out to be.
"You and I have some matters of no small importance to discuss between us, Mr. Morisato. Or would you prefer Keiichi?"
Despite the pleasantness of the stranger's tone, Keiichi almost broke and fled then and there.
He knew that no good could come of this because every time a demon crossed his path it always
led to trouble.
"Who are you," the young man asked the demon in deceptively calm voice,
desperately trying to buy himself some time to think of a way out of this mess.
"An excellent question. Right to the point."
To Keiichi's surprise, the stranger laughed without malice as though the demon was truly impressed with his nerve.
"Believe me, if only I knew that, all of this wouldn't be necessary."
He gestured as if to encompass both himself, Keiichi and their surroundings. Keiichi flinched at first,
expecting some kind of magic or effect to occur, but quickly realized that it had been done only for emphasis.
"I suppose you will still need some means to address me though. You may call me Temp."
"Temp?"
"I can think of nothing more suitable to represent all that I am at the moment, Mr. Morisato."
There was a flicker of hard bitterness in his eyes for a moment, but when Keiichi looked closer
it vanished before the young man was sure he had seen anything at all. There was something odd about
the other's eyes in general though now that he had a chance to study him closer. He couldn't quite
put his finger on it but something about the gaze was off somehow. As if he wasn't really looking
at Keiichi at all.
"But come now, this is no place for a proper parley. And this I can swear to you, Keiichi Morisato,
this conversation will not be one you wish to forgo..."
Actually, Morisato intended to do just that, thank you very much-
"...unless you wish to cede your claim to Belldandy and allow me to strike at her directly."
The young man's back stiffened at those last words and the refusal on his lips died as every
protective fiber in his body rushed to the fore. For a moment, demon or not, outclassed or not
Keiichi would have thrown himself at the owner of that knowing grin.
"I trust I have your full attention now."
Tight lipped, Morisato nodded stiffly in response.
"Well then, let us go to a place better suited for these matters at hand."
Temp led and Keiichi followed. What other choice did he really have now?
But one thing was certain, the only way this demon was getting to Belldandy was
over his dead body. Then the mortal wilted a little as he realized that it might
just come to that.
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The cafe was one of those that Keiichi had passed many times before but had never really noticed until now.
The waitress that greeted them was young and cheerful, her outfit colorful in a way that suggested spring.
She gestured them towards the back without being asked. Keiichi barely noticed her as he passed,
all of the young man's attention was on the figure walking in front of him.
A Demon. Not like Mara or Hild, this one was different. He had a presence about him that seemed to bend
the light around his figure in such a way that it took all of Keiichi's concentration to keep his eyes
from sliding off of that deceptively ordinary appearance. Part of his brain kept trying to tell that there
was nothing to pay attention to there, that his eyes shouldn't see what they were seeing. It was starting
to give him a headache.
An exclamation from the booth ahead broke through Morisato's focus.
"Why is he here?!"
An all too familiar face was pointing a blood red nail at him.
"Mara!"
His own outstretched finger jabbed back at the Demoness First Class like a spear trying to hold off a tiger.
Temp ignored both of them in favor of slipping onto the dark cushioned bench by the wall with a small sigh.
"Humans have learned a few things since I was gone."
He turned back towards the mortal.
"Sit down. We have much to discuss."
Seeing no other options available, Keiichi gingerly took a seat on the other side of the table.
"Tea? Or do you prefer coffee?"
"No thank you."
Mara rose out of her seat.
"What do you think you're doing?! This wasn't part of the plan at all!!"
"Enough."
Temp spoke softly, but that single word seemed echo like a thunderclap.
The pale faced demoness fell back into her seat and began to do a very good impression of a statue.
"I do apologize for her lack of manners. So many of the traditional formalities
seem to have been forgotten until now."
The young man looked at him but remained silent.
'Clever boy.'
The waitress came with a pair of steaming hot mugs on a platter which she placed on the table
before the two men before running off to serve another customer's table.
Temp felt for his mug and cradled the cup in his hands, savoring the heat emanating from it.
He took a brief sip. The green tea was hot and strong, its clean flavor uncluttered by any milk or sugar.
Finally Morisato blurted out, "You're blind, aren't you?"
Temp smiled. He almost wished that he could see the look on the mortal's face at that moment.
"Yes...and no."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I may be unable to see the present, but the Past and Future are another matter entirely."
Again there was a brief silence.
"So Mr. Morisato, what do you want?"
Keiichi stared at the man calmly sipping his tea.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Temp seemed to consider this.
"Perhaps."
The young man rallied his scattered thoughts back into a single focus.
"Leave Belldandy alone."
"Ah, is that what you wish for?"
Keiichi opened his mouth and then shut it quickly again.
He pointed a finger at the softly smiling demon in human guise.
"You are not going to catch me with a word game like that!"
Temp put his cup down and spread his hands out theatrically.
"Touche. So you dream of happily ever after with her then?"
Morisato's charged silence spoke volumes in response.
"Of course, you wouldn't be the first. There are many who have wanted her over time."
There was trace of cold mockery in that voice. It burrowed under Keiichi's skin and
made his blood boil with a sudden fury that shocked the young man. For the first time
in his life, he understood why they called this emotion a murderous rage.
"I won't let you hurt her."
Temp laughed out loud. It was the laugh of a man who had just heard the greatest joke in the universe
and he was the only one who got the punchline. Even Mara was staring at him in complete bewilderment.
"My dear boy, I don't have to do a thing. Because the one she has to fear the most..."
Temp leaned forward and gave a smile that was all teeth.
"...is you."
Keiichi felt his chair pressing hard against his back as he tried to move away
from that gaze which seemed to pierce through him as though he wasn't even there.
"You're lying! I would never-"
The smile grew even colder if that was still possible.
A spark of something that might have been anger or triumph flashed inside
of those deceptively plain eyes that looked outside of the here and now.
"A challenge against my word, is it? Very well then, let me *show* you."
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Keiichi sat peacefully on the porch of the shrine, sipping a hot drink
and watching the sun paint the sky in beautiful red and orange as it set.
And there was Belldandy by his side. Sweet, patient and understanding.
He was content.
Time rippled forward and the world outside changed, but Belldandy was his constant, always
there cooking and cleaning and simply being there which was all that he asked for from her.
He was content.
The others were mere flickers in the eternal now of being with Bell, gradually becoming less
and less noticeable until it was only him and Belldandy and her sisters together. And then even
those two faded and vanished. But it was okay, because the two of them were still together.
He was content.
And then he was old, white and wrinkled. His bones ached and his flesh was failing him.
Where had the time gone? He looked at his wrinkled hands with their liver spots and dark
ruined skin from a lifetime of working with grease and oil.
And there was Belldandy, looking as young and beautiful as the day they had met. Pure and untouched,
because it had never seemed the right time to try and take things further. It had always been
pushed off until another day, but now there were no more days left for him. How could he touch
her looking like this? There had been no other women in his life, because Belldandy had been the only
one he'd ever needed, the center of his universe. But somehow, with her there, he had no regrets
about being chaste all his life. Because they had spent that time together.
And so he died peacefully in his sleep.
His ashes were buried in a lonely plot, with only the goddesses to mourn him. Odd that.
Where had all the others gone? It was only Belldandy, her sisters, Peorth and....Lind?
Why was she crying at his grave?
Then they went back to Heaven.
But they did not forget.
And there was a new distance between them, a small wedge in the closeness
that they'd once shared which seemed to expand slowly but steadily.
Until one day, the three sisters were only one.
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Keiichi jerked back to awareness with a shout.
"NO!!"
A worried female face looked down at him.
"Sir, is something the matter?"
The young man looked at her in confusion and then looked around quickly.
He was alone in the cafe.
"N-nothing, just dozed off for a second."
The waitress nodded in sympthetic understanding and left to help another table.
This gave Morisato a chance to check his surroundings
more closely and see what he'd missed the first time.
A receipt for two green teas, paid in full.
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The walk back to the temple left him with far too much time to think.
It had to be some kind of trick. But that vision had felt so real.
Demons could lie, but that didn't mean they couldn't tell the truth
if they wanted to. But himself, a danger to Belldandy? Preposterous!
What was this Temp character really after? The only thing that Morisato knew beyond
the shadow of a doubt was genuine was the raw hate he'd heard in the Demon's voice
when he'd spoken Belldandy's name. Just remembering it gave him goose bumps.
Not even Mara, the Goddess's sworn opponent, had ever held that kind of emotion against her.
He'd been so accustomed over the years to everyone always liking her that the idea of someone
hating her with that level of passion was almost unthinkable.
Whatever this Temp was, he didn't seem to have actually done anything yet. But that didn't
mean anything. He'd have tell the Goddesses of course, there was nothing he could do against
a Demon. He knew this, but why did it make him feel so useless this time when he'd never
really had an issue with being so outclassed before?
His head was starting to ache. So much for a nice quiet weekend.
Morisato kept on walking, lost in thought.
What if Temp wasn't lying?
"Welcome home, Keiichi...what's wrong?"
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Two figures walked along the brightly lit streets as the evening finally set in.
"What the hell was that all about? Just curse him and be done with it!"
"Mara, you simply have no grasp of the formalities. It is a matter of style."
Pedestrians visibly noticed the excited white-blonde girl, obviously a punk rocker of some kind.
But had any of them been asked later to describe her companion they would have been
hard pressed to be more specific then "just some guy" if they'd been able to remember
his presence at all.
"Style my ass! You didn't do a thing!"
"That is merely a matter of perspective. I don't have to do anything. He will."
Mara wasn't sure what she hated more, Temp's undisturbable self-assurance
or the way he ever so subtly turned the most polite tone and words into the
kind of finely honed insult that had started more then one war in history.
"And how can you be so sure of that?"
"Because he's a mortal and he's in love. And that, Mara dear, makes all the difference in the world."
-End Chapter 1