I do not own the Ah! Megami sama / Oh! My Goddess series

"You need a place to stay? That's going to be rough…"

Looking at Urd while he installed a new front disc brake for one of their clients' bikes, Keiichi didn't feel envious of her. Finding a place to live with such a restricted budget was more than tricky; it was downright brutal.

"Well, it's not like I can do much about it," said Urd, making sure that Chihiro was still talking to a customer over the phone. "Right now, I don't think that I can afford my rent, so… I thought you might know where I can find a nice apartment."

"Actually, it took me a while to solve that problem too," said Keiichi as he leaned closer to whisper to the platinum haired goddess. "With our salary, most apartments are far too expensive, so, I had to keep searching for a few weeks while I was still a student. I knew that it was going to problem and I started early while I stayed at the dorm. And it was only after a long while that I got that apartment I'm living at a reasonable enough deal. Sure, the landlady is kind of… difficult, but, I couldn't possibly get a better rent."

"Oh great… I only have a few days, not weeks," said Urd with a frustrated sigh. "What am I going to do now? I was expecting for some good news, but…"

"Well, I suppose I could help you, if you want. You can stay in my apartment until you find another place to live." Given how spontaneous the offer actually was, Keiichi didn't think about the implications of what he just said. It was only after he noticed the sly grin on the goddess' face that his brain connected the dots and realized that asking a woman to share an apartment with him could be taken in a very different way than he intended; and Urd was perfectly aware of it.

"Mm… I like the sound of that… Keiichi…" leaning even closer to the young mechanic, the Norn of the past smiled as she watched him fidget around nervously, unable to contain his embarrassment. Even though she knew him for a just few days, she was certain that he meant well and had nothing… dirty in mind; which was exactly why she wished to tease him about it. "It can solve my problem and we can get to know each other better. Much… better."

Nearly choking as she began to unzip her top, exploiting the fact that she had her back turned to their boss, Keiichi found himself in a very difficult spot. Part of his mind wished to immediately tell her to stop, yet, another part advised against it, as it would most certainly draw Chihiro's attention to them; that's what his excuse was, anyway. "W-What are you… d-doing?"

"Who, me? Nothing much, it's just that it kind of feels a bit hot in here," said the goddess as she kept going until she stopped shy from the point of no return; the very limit of how much she could go without causing a wardrobe malfunction. And with her chest dangerously close of getting out of its bounds, Urd smiled as she noticed the terribly embarrassed and yet quite intrigued mechanic, whose brain had come to a halt.

"It's still a bit… hot in... here," agreed Keiichi with a slow nod, his eyes totally focused on a part of her anatomy that he honestly didn't want to stare; although his body refused to listen. In all seriousness, he wished he could hide somewhere as the next thing he was expecting was either a resounding slap or being called a pervert and getting laughed at. Since neither of that happened, the awkward silence that followed was too much for the mortal man to stand and he shyly gazed upwards from his seated position in front of the bike to look at Urd's face once again; and much to his surprise, she didn't seem to be upset. 'Well… come to think of it, she did it on her own, right? Although… What if she wanted to see if I was a pervert? She probably thinks that, now. I mean, I did ask her to stay in my house just like that and the first chance I had, I end up checking her bust. I'm really an idiot…'

"Urd!"

Chihiro's cheerful voice snapped both her employees out of this staring match and with a rushed yet fluid motion, the goddess zipped her top to avoid getting caught for fooling around. "Yes?"

"We've got a client with a bike that won't start and I was wondering if you can bring it here to the shop," said Chihiro as she approached her and Keiichi. "Most likely a faulty spark plug, but, I don't want to jump into conclusions and I'd rather take a look on it. Can you go and get it with our mini van?"

"Uh… Actually, I don't have a driver's license," admitted the goddess with some hesitation, fearing that this could make her sound bad. It was something that her boss never asked her when she first applied for the position and now Urd was worried that it was going to be a huge problem. Certainly, she was not going to be very helpful when it came to such kind of tasks.

"Hm… Oh, yeah, I kind of forgot to ask," said Chihiro with a chuckle. "In that case, why don't you give her a hand, Keiichi-kun?"

"Huh? Me?" It sounded a bit dumb to say it like that, given that not only he was the only one with that name around, but also the only other employee as well. Still, the young mechanic was somewhat reluctant to be together with Urd after her little display moments ago. In all fairness, Keiichi didn't dislike her, far from it. However, the platinum haired beauty was an enigma that he could quite understand in any way, and every time he thought he was a step closer to achieve that goal, she proved him wrong.

"Of course! I need to do some work of my own with our suppliers list and that leaves you and Urd to do that," said Chihiro with a wink.

"Okay… We'll be back in a short while, then." Turning towards the exit, Keiichi was rather unsure what to expect from Urd. After all, she seemed to be comfortable enough to tease him while Chihiro was around and once they were alone, who knew what she was truly capable of. As a matter of fact, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of that either. Most guys in his place would've seen that either as an invitation or just an attempt to make fun of them. On the other hand, after the whole conversation they had the other day he didn't consider either as a possibility, since she wasn't as easy as she liked to seem and neither she was mean to him.

As the two of them entered the minivan, Chihiro couldn't help but smile from ear to ear, as she stole a glance at the departing vehicle.

'Oh, this is going to be so great!'

XXX

"Megumi?!"

There was something fishy when Chihiro offered him to go along with Urd and this was probably the reason. Their customer was none other than his own sister, Megumi Morisato, although that fact baffled him even more than he was expecting. "How did you get your KSR broken?"

"Technically, it's not broken, Kei-chan," answered his mischievous sibling as she looked between him and Urd. "I simply have a flat tire. See?"

"Then why did you ask us to pick it up? You're more than capable of changing it," said Keiichi as he stared at the deflated tire in question. "Actually, you could've told us to bring a new one to replace it."

"Oh, come on, Kei-chan! Even Chihiro agreed that it would've been a great opportunity!" said Megumi as she leaned closer to her brother.

"An opportunity to do what?" groaned the tired mechanic who had no idea what his sister was trying to pull this time.

"Meet your girlfriend, what else?"

Keiichi's face lost all color as his brain struggled to connect the dots, even though it was fairly obvious what his troublesome sibling implied. "Wait! I… I don't have a…"

"Nice to meet you! I'm Urd!" Returning the younger woman's smile with one of her own, the goddess extended her hand and was pleased to see that the brunette took it without hesitation.

"I'm this bloke's sister, Megumi Morisato!"

"I know! He actually told me about you," said Urd, offering her a wink. "Although, I wasn't expecting to meet you like that."

"Well, considering that he said nothing about you, I had to ask Chihiro for a favor when she told me the news. If I had to wait for him… I'll probably be an old lady by then…"

'Great… Chihiro thinks that we're a couple as well?' Rubbing his temples, the frustrated mechanic couldn't believe how much more complicated everything became. Not only his boss, but his sister thought that he was in a relationship with the enigmatic foreigner, and Urd didn't even try to deny it.

"No way! You're already going to live under the same roof together? Boy, you're fast!"

Keiichi's thoughts were interrupted when he realized that not only had Urd allowed his sister to think that they were a couple, but, she even revealed that she was going to stay with him too. Of course, that was supposed to be a temporary measure until she found a place of her own, however, the bronze skinned beauty failed to mention that little fact as well. Which obviously led his sister's grin grow even larger as her initial impression of their relationship became even more distorted.

"Way to go Ke-chan! You've already managed to get this far already! And I thought you were too shy!"

"Alright! That's enough, Megumi!" said the tired mechanic, before his sister went ahead and invited their parents to meet his supposedly future wife or anything of that sort. His family was known for exaggerating things and his sister was particularly notorious for doing just that. So, it was better if he stopped her right now and avoid dealing with a really painful situation later; something that Urd probably didn't know that was coming towards them. "We're only friends and she's just teasing you. Apparently she likes that stuff and… the only reason she's going to stay with me is because she's getting the 'Chihiro salary', which as you already know… isn't all that much. It's nothing permanent though, and I'd like to avoid spreading any stupid rumors. The last thing I need are people teasing me for getting dumped once Urd finds an apartment for herself."

'Ouch… I haven't thought about that…' While the whole situation was funny enough, Urd had forgotten that the implications behind her actions could've caused Keiichi some problems after she found a place for herself. His friends or those who probably thought that they were a couple would indeed see this as being rejected and based on what he told her before, the mechanic had a history with that. As much as she wanted to have fun, the goddess' intention wasn't to unwillingly bring back those memories and alienate the only real friend she made so far. "Actually, he's right. Sorry about that, Megumi, but, it is true that we only know each other for a few days… That's not really enough for that kind of relationship to occur. Still, I'm in a desperate need for a house, or I might end up in the streets…"

"Sorry to hear that, Urd. I knew it was a bit too good to be true, but… a sister can hope, right?" said Megumi with an apologetic smile on her face. Of course, she wasn't all that disappointed, since it was far from over and sometimes situations like this could lead into an actual relationship down the road. "I honestly wish I could help you, but, the dorm only allows students of NIT to stay here. I would get into serious trouble if I tried to let you share my room here."

"That's perfectly fine. Your brother was kind enough to offer me to stay with him until I can find a place I can afford with my new salary," said Urd, shaking her head dismissively. "No need to worry about that, it's not going to be a problem."

"Well, I'm still happy I got to meet you! I guess you're going to hand around Whirlwind, right?" said Megumi with a wink.

"You bet! After all, that's where I work now!" replied the half goddess as she noticed that, Keiichi had already loaded the KSR on the minivan.

"Okay, Megumi. We'll take it to the shop and change the tire for you. You can drop by and pick it up later." Letting a sigh, Keiichi made a mental note to remind himself to ask more about their client's identity, although, he doubted that running into his sister in such a fashion was going to become something too common. Besides, she seemed to accept their explanation and hopefully, she wouldn't cause any problems; or at least, that what he hoped.

XXX

'Seriously… where did I get all those clothes from? It's the fifth freaking suitcase and I'm still not even done!'

Gathering her earthly possessions, Urd was somewhat surprised and baffled at how much she actually owned. Not only she had a few dozen outfits, but, they looked really expensive too. Without any idea as to where they came from or how she even afforded to buy them in the first, place, the Norn of the past did her best to collect everything in order to vacate her apartment as soon as possible.

It was a pain to move all that on her own and as such, Keiichi had volunteered to give her a hand with Chihiro agreeing to let them use Whirlwind's mini van to get everything to his apartment until she could sort her situation out. Thankfully, she owned no appliances or furniture that would've been too hard for the young mechanic to move, but, her clothes alone were a problem that even Urd herself hadn't expected.

Actually, aside from numerous, some of those said outfits were fairly exotic and in several cases even made her blush, given how indecent they were. Still, it was the fact that spending money on something she'd never be able to wear outside of her house, implied that at some point in the past she must've been far wealthier than she currently is. Or at the very least, she had the means to acquire such things that must've cost a fortune and yet they were unusable in most occasions.

'Interesting… If I turn out to be some rich heiress, that's going to be so ironic! I'm practically broke now, although I had no problems buying some of those clothes… or underwear... '

"Urd? Do you have anything else, I need to carry?" asked Keiichi from the apartment's entrance, trying to avoid getting a glimpse of her wardrobe; especially her lingerie. He accidentally saw a bit earlier and that was more that enough embarrassment for a day.

"Yes! I've got a suitcase ready outside my room if you want!" replied Urd as she kept packing her things. "I'm almost done! I've got maybe… one or two suitcases more and we'll be ready to go!"

Humming a cheerful tone as she continued the laborious process of gathering all her possessions, Urd was actually looking forward to have a roommate; especially one as shy as Keiichi.

'This is going to be so much fun! Although… I need to remember not to go too far and scare the poor guy. Maybe just enough to see if he really likes what he sees...'

XXX

"Well, here we are, Urd. I know it's not that much, but, try to make yourself comfortable!"

Staring around her while the dark haired mechanic helped her move her things inside, the half goddess was rather shocked at just how small this place was. Her apartment was by no means huge, but, this one was roughly half of that; which was already not much for a single person to fit in. Aside from the rather small bathroom, there were only two rooms, one being Keiichi's bedroom, while the other was a kitchen and living room combo. All in all, she had trouble trying to figure out just how they'd both live together under these circumstances.

"Uh… Are you really sure I'm not causing a problem? My suitcases alone will take a lot of space, and…" started the goddess before she was interrupted by her new roommate.

"I know that it's far from ideal, but, I can deal with it. After all, back when I was still living in the dorm, I had even less space available, so, you can say that this is an improvement," said Keiichi with a smile.

"Yes, but… that's while you're living on your own. I don't think it's fair for me to cause you all this trouble," said Urd, looking around. "Besides… where am I even going to sleep?"

"Oh, you can use the bedroom while I'll place my futon here in the living room," replied Keiichi, as he pointed to the low table that was in the middle of the room. "I can move that to the side and use the space for my futon, so, no worries."

"What do you mean no worries? I'm the guest here! You shouldn't be the one who gets inconvenienced by all this!" objected the half goddess as she worried that he was a bit too nice for his own good.

"Look… I was the one who made this offer, so, stop thinking too much about it, Urd," said Keiichi as he shook his head. "It's not such a huge problem if I sleep here or in my room. And not to mention that it's much better if you get the bedroom, since you have all those suitcases. There's no closet here, making it much more of a pain to find a decent solution to that problem."

"Hm…" Instead of answering right away, Urd walked into his room and looked around. "Say… it's not big enough, but, I think we can both fit in here."

"Both?!" That single word nearly caused Keiichi's brain to nearly melt down into mush. Trying to remain quiet as he knew that he wasn't in a state to utter anything other than incomprehensible babble, he still had a hard time to accept what his new roommate had suggested. "But!..."

"Oh, give me a break! The kitchen or… living room if you will, is just next to this room. There's no big difference whether you sleep here or there!" countered Urd, crossing her arms. "Unless you're planning to touch me in my sleep. You know… here and there…"

"No! I don't do such things!" objected Keiichi his face turning bright red, as he watched the goddess trace a line with her fingers from her buxom chest to her shapely hips.

"Then stop complaining and act like a mature adult, instead of a hormone induced teenager!" said Urd with a wink, as she began the laborious process of moving her suitcases to his room, much to Keiichi's chagrin.

"Very well then… Let me help you with those things…" said the dark haired mechanic, lowering his head in defeat. There was absolutely no point to keep arguing with her anymore, and the only thing that he hoped was that his new roommate would behave and avoid teasing him any further.

'Well… A man can dream, right?...'

XXX

A couple of hours later, after they've managed to arrange everything for both of them to live in the same apartment and even had a simple dinner consisting of instant noodles; the moment Keiichi feared so much had finally arrived. It was about time for them to go to sleep and no matter how much he tried to remain calm, the young man couldn't help but feel his heartbeat increase as he approached his bedroom.

The last time he found himself in a similar situation was several years ago when some relatives came for a visit to his parent's home and he had to share a room with Megumi in order for them to have a place to sleep as well. Of course, that was the only similarity between this and that incident, as Urd wasn't his sister and they were far from children.

His mind couldn't get past the fact that he was sharing the same sleeping quarters with a grown woman, and a pretty attractive one at that. Additionally, given how revealing her clothes tended to be, he was absolutely terrified to find out what her nightwear looked like; providing that she even bothered to wear any in the first place.

Trying to save himself from a most embarrassing situation, Keiichi placed his futon as close to the nearby wall as possible and decided to stare towards the featureless white space, instead of the other direction and risk seeing things that he wasn't mentally prepared for. Namely, Urd's sleeping form in all of her potentially undressed state, something that could probably be too much for him right now.

And to make matters even worse, she had taken a bath right before she went to to sleep and the sweet scent of her shampoo was beckoning him to turn around. Even the rustling sound of her covers made him wonder if what he was hearing happened to be her bare skin rubbing against the futon's covers.

This torture continued for nearly two whole hours and as his alarm clock displayed '2:14 am' on its red LCD display, Keiichi was still fully awake. He couldn't really blame Urd, though, since she hadn't attempted teasing him or made any kind of scene at all. It was totally his fault and all those years of being alone that made him wish to get a fleeting glimpse of her sleeping form and no matter how much he hated to admit it, a part of his mind wished that her covers weren't concealing too much.

'What am I thinking?! I mean, she looks nice, but, I was the one complaining about her teasing! Now… I'm just like a perverted old man!...'

Shaking his head Keiichi forced his eyes shut and hoped that soon enough he would finally go to sleep and avoid becoming a letch and trying to exploit this situation for the sake of satisfying his less… noble impulses. Yet no matter how much he wanted to silence that voice at the back of his head, it kept whispering to him like a siren, beckoning him to take a glance; just for a second.

While struggling to fight off his personal demons, Keiichi opened his eyes once more and much to his surprise there was an eerie glow coming for behind him. Not bright enough to consider it as something akin to a nightlight and yet impossible to be the moonlight, as the window was at the other end of the room. As a matter of fact, it almost seemed like it was coming from Urd's general direction and the curious mortal decided that this was an honorable reason to look over his shoulder and see what was going on; unlike his previous wishes of peeping on her.

What he saw was something far beyond his expectations or even, his imagination. A winged woman, for the lack of a better description, was floating above the sleeping form of Urd in tranquil silence, emitting an otherworldly glow. And while she was nearly naked with a simple piece of fabric wrapped around her body in a gravity defying manner, Keiichi was far from excited to see her. He was absolutely terrified as a matter of fact and couldn't even scream as the otherwise angelic creature had some menacing features that made her a terribly scary sight. Not only her alabaster skin had intrigued tattoos around her, but, one of her wings as well as half her hair were dark while the rest was white and the same could be said about her eyes, once she turned to look at him. A blue and a red orb stared deep into the mortal's sour as she silently watched his panicked form.

Backing away from the mysterious entity, Keiichi struggled to make sense of what was going on here and no matter how much he tried, waking up was nearly impossible. This wasn't a dream by the looks of it, but, reality; no matter how bizarre it appeared to be. Pressed hard against the wall, Keiichi tried to take a look at Urd who was blissfully unaware of the floating apparition above her that continued to stare at him without making any sound or noise at all.

Apparently the bronze skinned woman was a heavy sleeper and didn't notice anything at all, although the lack of any sound could've also attributed to that. However, as he glimpsed at her, the angel floating above the platinum haired woman, grinned and started to move towards him in an eerily silent way, that almost made her appear as if she was merely part of his imagination.

Still, the tiny shadows she cast as her glowing form moved were more than enough proof that there was more to this than that and the angelic woman wasn't just a hallucination. Part of him wanted to wake Urd up and see if she could also see her, but, he was far too scared at the moment to manage anything other than a simple gasp, as he felt a pair of hands lift his chin up in order for the angel to look straight at his face.

To say that he wasn't scared witless would've been a lie, yet, he couldn't help but admit that there was something soothing in the angel's unnerving gaze as her heterochromatic eyes stared deep into his soul. More interesting though was the warm sensation of her touch, which eliminated the possibility that she was a mere illusion or a hallucination. She was definitely real and that by itself posed all kinds of questions, but before Keiichi had the chance to break his silence and try to talk to this angelic being, his eyelids felt so heavy that is all but impossible to keep them open. Almost as if hypnotized the dark haired mortal found it almost impossible to resist falling asleep, no matter how much he wanted to learn more about their nightly visitor.

Setting his head carefully down on his pillow, the angel smiled and turned around to her mistress, content that the man who shared the same room with her, met her standards as she quickly checked him. Without wanting to disturb Urd, World of Elegance retreated back into her host's body, feeling content that her mistress was in good hands.

'Hm… I really hope we'll meet again one day, Morisato Keiichi. In the meantime, I'll entrust you this troublesome girl. Not that… I'm one to speak, though…'

XXX

Suppressing a yawn, Keiichi took another sip from the canned coffee he bought from a vending machine. He was way too sleepy and had the gnawing feeling that he had the weirdest dream of his life, even if he couldn't recall anything about it. After several failed attempts he eventually gave up and decided to focus on his current task; helping Urd find an apartment.

In a rare act of generosity Chihiro had allowed them to work three hours less a day in order to allow Urd to deal with the near impossible task of finding a place she could afford. And given that she had no bike or car of her own, Keiichi was also allowed to accompany her in an effort to move around the city much faster than having to rely on public transport.

Waiting in a nearby park for her to return from the real estate agency, he really hoped that this time she was going to have some better luck. So far their search has proved almost hopeless and after a few agents thought they were a couple and deliberately tried to show them some more expensive houses, they decided to avoid having to provide the same explanation every time and Urd went on this agency alone.

On the up side, this also allowed Keiichi to spend some time thinking about the whole situation and he had to admit that sharing an apartment was actually a much easier solution. By pooling resources and splitting the rent and all the rest of the bills, it was possible to find a new place for both of them; one with two bedrooms of course. And even if such an apartment would cost more than what they were looking for, it was entirely possible for them to end up paying less, since they'd pay half of their current living expenses.

The biggest downside of such an approach was the whole social situation with a man and a woman sharing a common roof. It wasn't unheard of, but, in most cases roommates tended to be of the same gender and living together with Urd would've given everyone the idea that they were having an affair. Actually, even suggesting it to her was a bit too embarrassing for the young mechanic who worried that she could take as a proposition of sorts.

Far worse, it could also be taken as a form of payment for being such a nice guy. There were those kind of people who often tried to seem helpful, but their motivations were far from selfless, trying to earn something for their trouble and Keiichi had no wish to be mistaken as one of them. Exploiting someone in need to get lucky was downright wrong in his eyes and those who attempted to hide that by using all sorts of excuses on top of it were hypocrites and liars as well.

And no matter how frustrating, it was that kind of guys who got a chance to score with the ladies, instead of those who had good intentions and actually tried to be honest. As a student he had seen that happen all around him way too many times and in some cases, it wasn't even a case of genuine deception. Some girls actually fell for it on purpose, especially when it came to money, allowing some of the worst scumbags to have a whole harem for themselves as long as they fanned them with money bills.

One particularly notorious example was Toshiyuki Aoshima, a rich wannabe playboy with a long record of sleeping with girls who were under the impression that they'd get some of his money if they managed to make him marry them. Not that it worked, and yet, they kept trying as if something would change.

'Life is so unfair… I was never given a real chance no matter how hard I tried. Hell… if I did half of what guy did… they'd be after me with pitchforks and torches…Oh well, I can't change the past. Hm… Urd's kind of late…'

Meanwhile, as the dark haired mechanic checked his watch, a tiny figure was carefully observing him from his hiding position, sitting on a tree branch. Having reduced himself in a pocket size version of his actual body, the blue haired god continued to stare at the mortal who was apparently living with Urd. As boring as that task was, it was really important to get an idea of what he was dealing with and the best way to do that was by keeping an eye on him.

'Well… he doesn't seem like an opportunist, that's a bonus point for sure. At least, he's not an unpredictable one, given that he's not deviating too much from his profile. Good, that's one less thing to worry abo-...'

Feeling a soft pat on his head, the tiny god turned around to find a tabby cat trying to figure out what he was. Like every other member of his feline family, curiosity was a true motivational force for this intrepid explorer of the world and failing to realize that he was dealing with powers beyond its furry brain, the kitten kept pressing on. "Meow?"

"Hey! Cut it out, you silly thing! I'm on a mission given from Daitenkaicho himself and… Stop poking me I said!"

"Purr?"

"Want a piece of me?" shot the god at the defiant feline, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Much to his surprise though, the cat not just stared him back with no intent of backing off and more strangely, there was a sudden change in the animal's attitude, as its gaze became far more focused.

"No, I want a status report."

Falling back on the branch as the god blinked at the response he wasn't really expecting, it quickly became apparent that some higher entity had temporarily overridden the creature's will; essentially possessing it. And judging by the sound of that voice, there was only one potential candidate who was responsible for it. "T-Tyr-sama! My sincere apologies! I haven't realized it was you!"

"Actually, I've just took over this cat, so, it's not your fault for failing to recognize me. Now, what's the situation with my daughter?" asked the Daitenkaicho as he gazed towards Keiichi. "I guess that's the mortal who's providing her some assistance? So, what's your evaluation, Vali?"

"Affirmative, my lord. I've read his profile and based on my observations, I cannot say that there's any disparity between the file and his actual behavior. So far I must admit that he seems to display a genuine concern over Urd's well being without expecting anything in return," answered the blue haired god, following his leader's gaze.

"That's some good news for a change. With the whole mess concerning her lost memories, the last thing I wanted was to have Urd fall victim of every opportunist who would try to gain something from her. If that happens, you're authorized to use any means necessary to neutralize them," said Tyr in a grave tone. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, Tyr-sama." Pausing for a few moments, Vali was uncertain if it was a wise decision to bring that incident up, but eventually thought it was better to ask, just in case it repeated itself. "My lord… Yesterday we had a… near disaster when Urd's angel manifested herself and made contact with the mortal. While she suppressed his memories of the event, what should I do if he becomes aware of her nature as a goddess?"

"Hm… Actually that's a tough question," admitted Tyr as he stroked his whiskers. "Humans are often unprepared to accept our existence, or rather, realize that their expectations and reality are two entirely separate things. Predicting his reaction if he became aware of her true nature is very hard, but, should that came to occur, then we can make a decision depending on the said reaction. If it's a positive one, I cannot see any problem with letting him know that she's a goddess; otherwise, delete his memories."

"Understood!" Offering his ruler a bow, the god tried to avoid any reaction at the otherwise hilarious sight of watching his superior groom himself or rather, act like a cat. Whether he was doing it on purpose or simply too lost in thought to notice that he was stroking his whiskers, Vali decided that bringing this up was not just unnecessary, but downright stupid. "Uh… on the other hand, should we provide them some assistance? They're seem to have some serious trouble finding a place for Urd to live."

"Normally I'd leave them on their own, but… given how rough life was for my daughter lately, I guess it's fair for me to provide some divine intervention," said Tyr with the smile that was far too hilarious due to his current body. "Stay here, I'll handle this."

Watching his boss leap to the ground and silently approach the mortal, Vali was happy that he wasn't going to be the one who had to deal with that. 'At least, whatever happens, it's not my fault…'

XXX

"Hey, Keiichi."

Turning to see Urd heading towards him, the dark haired mechanic could already figure out that this agency was no good either. "No luck, huh…"

"Nope! Big surprise, right?" said the bronze skinned goddess as she plopped on the bench next to him, a beer can in one hand. "I did manage to find one, but, the rent was nearly my entire salary. There's no way I could afford it, so… we need to look elsewhere. Actually, you don't have to come along, you know… I'm a big girl, I can deal with this on my own."

"It's not a problem, really. I want to help, although I'm not being that useful right now," said Keiichi with a sigh. "I wish there something more I could do instead of sitting here, drinking coffee."

"Don't worry too much about it. Just having someone to talk to is more that enough to calm my nerves. I mean… isn't there any place here that's not costing an arm and a leg?" Letting a frustrated huff, Urd suddenly noticed a tabby cat sitting next to her on the bench. "Oh! Where did you come from, kitty?"

"Meow!" Rubbing his head against her, the possessed cat purred happily as she reached down and stroked his back.

"Aw!... How adorable! Can we keep him, Keiichi?" asked Urd with a very uncharacteristically cute if not childish expression on her face. It rather amusing how she would go from acting like a sexy woman into cheerful little girl in a moment's notice, holding the cat in front of her for Keiichi to see.

"No way, Urd. Look, it's not allowed to keep pets in my apartment and it's going far more difficult if you want to find a place that allows them as well," said the dark haired mechanic with an apologetic look. As a matter of fact, he was so focused on how to appease the goddess that he missed the positively dirty look he was receiving from the possessed feline.

"Oh… what a pity, you poor kitty…" said Urd as she held the cat closer to her. "I really feel sorry for him not having a place to stay. Well, I guess there's no choice… Bye bye kitty…"

"So, where are we going next?" Letting the cat on the ground in front of her, Urd gave the little mammal a waive and turned to Keiichi who was somewhat troubled. "Huh? What's wrong, Keiichi?"

"Well… it's not allowed, but, we could try to sneak him in our apartment if you really like this fuzzball…" said Keiichi, scratching his head nervously.

"But… won't that cause all sorts of problems? I know that you're trying to be nice, and I really appreciate it, yet… I don't want to make a huge mess because someone will overreact for such a reason and possibly kick you out of your apartment…" Letting a sigh, the bronze skinned goddess was pleased that he was doing his best to make her happy, even to the point of risking to get into some serious trouble. In many ways this was far better than receiving an impersonal little piece of shiny metal, especially from those who could easily afford such gifts and attempted to bribe her in order to date them. "I'm already staying in your place, so, I don't want to push it too far with the favors…"

"No, it's fine! I'm the one who suggested it as a matter of fact, so, it's not something I'd personally call a favor!" said Keiichi as he eyed the cat who returned his gaze. "Actually there are a lot of people who secretly sneak pets into their apartments to avoid those ridiculous restrictions they have to deal with in the first place. I'm pretty sure that we won't have any issues."

"But…"

"It's fine, Urd! Let's go and buy a nice litter box and we can keep him around!" said Keiichi with a much more enthusiastic tone, to make her feel more confident about this; despite the cat's own disgusted expression about the whole box thing.

"Alright… I'm kind of sceptical, but, I suppose we could try this." Picking up the cat, Urd smiled a bit at Keiichi who couldn't help but grin like an idiot. It was rare to see her genuinely happy without trying to tease him in any way, and for a moment, even that cat was sharing his sentiments; although, not for long. "You heard him kitty! Now we're going to the vet and make sure that you're healthy and have all the required shots!"

"Mreowr?!"

"No!... Don't try to run away now, kitty! This is for your own good!" Struggling with the protesting feline who was desperately attempting to escape from her grasp. "Hey! Bad kitty!"

Watching the surreal scene unfold before his eyes, Vali couldn't help but shake his head. It was indeed a good thing that it wasn't him the one who had to deal with the amnesiac Urd; especially after she suddenly decided that she wanted a pet cat.

'This is rather strange… According to her profile I'd say this this is an atypical kind of behavior by her standards. Hm.. perhaps her personality is affected to certain degree, too? Or maybe the lack of her memories allows other kind of reactions? At any rate, I'm happy that I'm not in Tyr-sama's position right now. There's an evil gleam in her eyes despite her cheerful expression…'

XXX

"There you go kitty! It wasn't that bad now, was it?"

It took Tyr all his willpower to restrain himself from saying something back to his eldest daughter, who was so happy with herself. Of course, it wasn't her who had to prodded, poked and even suffer the experience of getting two shots in the past half hour. Whatever made her wish for a pet, it probably had to do with her demonic side, as her amusement was far too great for someone who witnessed the suffering of a poor soul. 'Seriously, there's something wrong with those mortals. They call this… this tortuous procedure as an attempt to care for someone?'

Petting the feline, Urd attached a nice purple collar around his neck and placed him on a lovely basket she bought earlier. And despite his annoyance, the possessed cat had to admit that he wasn't certain what to make of his daughter's behavior. 'Hm… that's pretty strange, I never thought she had it in her. This would've made perfect sense for Belldandy, or even Skuld to a certain point; but… Urd? Actually, I never saw her being interesting in this kind of stuff, even while she was a child. At least… as far as I can remember. Perhaps her lost memories are starting to cause her attitude to change over time? As a matter of fact, she might be turning more like her other sisters, instead of resembling her mother so much.'

In a way that could've been a good thing, as her mischievous side would eventually subside, meaning that she'd stop from getting into trouble all the time. On the other hand, Tyr had to admit that while beneficial he wasn't actually looking forward for such a change, as his daughter's distinctive personality would've been lost; especially her connection to her, leaving only a superficial physical resemblance behind.

Following her around the apartment as she went along with her daily routine, Tyr was interested to see how different she was from normal, only to realize that wasn't exactly certain what counted as normal for her. Being the Daitenkaicho was a full time job and unfortunately one that consumed way too much of what should've been his personal time as well. The result was he never really got to watch them grow up as young goddesses, being constantly busy with only short breaks between paperwork.

It was a horrid realization, but, not an unexpected one; Tyr knew very little about his daughters. In all irony, his wife was more familiar with Urd, even though she wasn't related to her. While he always considered it as a necessary evil, given all the responsibilities he had to shoulder as the ruler of Asgard, it was still sad that he couldn't raise his own kids the way he actually wanted.

"Hey Keiichi! What do you want for dinner?"

The simple, yet shocking question was enough to make the possessed cat's fur stand up from the sheer horror of it all. Anyone willing or… stupid enough to try Urd's cooking was going to become a test subject for her latest potion. Of course without her memories or access to her powers, that was an unlikely possibility right now, although, for anyone familiar with the Norn of the past the mere idea of her, offering to cook was as alien as having Belldandy walk around in her underwear.

"Oh, I'd like the pork flavored one, tonight!" came the reply from his bedroom as the man was preparing for his shower, after Urd had already finished with the bath.

"Okay! I'll get it ready for you!" Filling the electric kettle with water, Urd got two cups of instant noodles, humming a tone while she waited; until she remembered something important. "Oh, no! What about, kitty? We forgot to get some food for him!"

In a way, Tyr felt a wave of relief as he realized that his daughter was talking about instant food. That was something one could prepare without any skills or even effort, especially in the case of instant noodles. On the other hand, having them rely on such a cheap kind of food didn't sit well with him, but, at the moment he was just a cat. 'And speaking of that, I might get some of those noodles before she tries to feed me cat food!'

Rushing to grab a cup of noodles for himself, he proudly presented them for Urd to see, before she got any funny ideas. "Meow!"

"Huh? You want... this?" Scratching her head in confusion, the goddess could've sworn that the little feline actually understood her; something that she found less impossible than she initially thought of, but decided to ignore it. "Very well, then! It's noodles for you too, kitty. Heh… You know, given your color and the fact that this is pasta… I might call you Garfield! Although, you're still not fat enough for that. Hm… now that I think of it, you actually need a name."

'Why do I have a feeling this is going to be something like, Penicillin?'

"I know! I'll call you Whiskers!" said Urd with a big grin on her face.

'For real? Even Skuld wouldn't have gone for that… Give me a break!'

"Hey, Keiichi! I came up with a name for kitty!" said Urd as soon as the dark haired man stepped into the kitchen. "Say hello to Mr. Whiskers!"

"Oh, that's a very nice name!" said Keiichi, returning the goddess' smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Whiskers!"

'Morisato Keiichi… you're the biggest, cheesiest… sucker I've ever had the opportunity to meet. She's not even your girlfriend yet and she's already got you agree to everything she says...' Shaking his head, Tyr had to admit that perhaps the boy was wiser and simply avoided an argument he'd never win anyway. 'I really hope I didn't look like that while I was with Hild. If I did, then I'm certainly glad I can't recall it…'

XXX

The rest of the evening had been rather smooth, with only a minimal chat while they enjoyed their dinner. Despite that, Tyr had to admit that it felt very natural for two individuals who only spent a few few days together. Normally it would take a lot more time for a couple to bond, although, they weren't at that stage yet.

Right now, it felt more like they were good friends, despite Urd's occasional teasing. All in all, it was nice that the boy seemed to enjoy the goddess' company, instead of her body. Sure, there were moments that he caught Keiichi staring at her bust, but then again, his daughter was far from innocent as she practically put it on display. Comfortable or not, her sleeveless t-shirt was far too big for her, and had the tendency to stoop too low whenever she bent over; reducing the mortal's mind into mush as he got more than a glimpse of pure perfection.

Which was the primary reason why Keiichi has remained rather quiet during dinner, while the possessed cat kept repeating his own mantra. 'I didn't look like that, back then… I didn't look like that, back then… I didn't…'

As a matter of fact, Tyr often toyed with the idea of giving him a nice scratch, but, acting like the stereotypical father-in-law was unfair, since his systems were responsible for his daughter's amnesia to begin with. Showing up all of sudden and trying to push her around even further wasn't just cruel, but, totally uncalled for. Especially after she did show some restrain, given how easily she could get him into her bed if she desired to do so.

'Hold on a second… She may not have her memories, but, her body is still that of a goddess not a human. Can a mortal even survive mating with her?' Normally she would've to restrain herself from letting either her strength or her magic from going out of control, but, as she didn't even remember who or what she was, such a thing was simply impossible. 'Uh oh…'

His thoughts were interrupted as the doorbell rang and for a moment both Urd and Keiichi seemed equally confused as to who wanted to visit them at such a late hour. 'Now what?'

Decided to go and see what this was all about, Keiichi was mildly surprised to see his landlady, and judging by the look on her face, he wasn't going to like it. "Good evening, Mrs. Amagasaki."

"I wish it was a good one, Mr Morisato," started the elderly woman, with disdain evident on her sour expression. "I happened to notice that you've taken quite some liberties lately, not only bringing another tenant into this apartment, but… you even got a pet as well."

"Please, let me explain! My friend had no place to stay and I've offered her a room to stay for the time being," said Keiichi with an apologetic tone of his voice. "And the cat is hers… Please, this is only for a few days and…"

"I think I've heard enough excuses already, young man. This is a direct violation of the agreement we made when you first came here. I did gave you a rather generous discount for staying here, because you had financial issues, and I've also made it clear that under no circumstances you were allowed to keep pets." Pausing for a moment, the elderly woman readjusted her glasses as she gave a sideways glance to Urd and with a disapproving look she turned back to Keiichi. "I'm fairly certain that your… friend could've afforded to pay something extra to cover your expenses, and yet you said nothing at all, enjoying your discount. And who the cat belongs to is absolutely irrelevant, either. Now, I wish to save both our time and to avoid any more arguments, I'd like to inform you that need to vacate this apartment by the end of this week."

"Wait!... What?" He could hardly believe his ears, as he never expected for things to get this bad. Sure, he knew that bringing the cat in was risky, but, to get kicked out because of it was a bit too much for him. "Surely…"

"I think I was clear enough, Mr. Morisato. There's nothing else to discuss here. The only reason I agreed for you to stay was that I got tired of all those college kids who kept breaking my rules and did whatever they wanted. For once, I was under the impression that I was dealing with a person who knew how to follow some simple instructions," said the irate woman as she was about to turn around and leave. "Apparently, I was mistaken, but, that's about to be rectified. Good night Mr. Morisato."

Closing the door, Keiichi turned around with a troubled expression evident on his face; only to found both Urd and even her cat looking rather annoyed. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong?" said Urd with a frown. "How can someone treat another person like that?"

"Heh… I'm just a source of income for her, you know. If people actually cared, this world would've been a better place, Urd. But, it's not and everything we might say is pretty pointless right now," said Keiichi with a shrug. "The bottom line is that I need a house, too. Funny isn't it?"

"Not really. Look… I'm sorry that I caused this whole mess, but…" started Urd, only to be interrupted by the young mechanic.

"Forget it, Urd. It was my suggestion in the first place, and besides, I don't like being treated like that. Sure, I may have to find a new place to stay, but, I'd rather do that instead of begging for forgiveness," said Keiichi as he crossed his arms. "If that old hag thinks she's some royalty who make laws that cannot be broken, then I'm not going to stroke her overinflated ego any more. There's got to be a place here on this freaking city that we can afford!"

"Actually… How about that we part?"

"Huh? I'm not following you…"

"It's simple, really. We both know that finding a place for each of us can be hard, so, why not search for a single apartment and share the expenses?" offered Urd with a raised eyebrow, making Keiichi blink.

It was actually something he had also considered not too long ago, even though he was far too embarrassed to suggest it.. "I don't know… it's just…"

"Just what? We're practically living together already, Keiichi. We might actually find a place that's better suited for two people; and a cat," said Urd with a shrug. "If you're worried so much about it, we can even find a place with two bedrooms."

"Of course it's going to have two bedrooms!" said Keiichi, his eyes widening considerably.

"Oh? I thought you'd be sad if we were on two different rooms," offered the grinning Urd, failing to notice the cat who was palming himself; or trying to at least. "After all, you can't check whether I'm wearing panties under my nightie, right?"

"No! I wasn't trying to do that!" protested Keiichi, shaking his hands in front of him.

"Don't be so shy… I can let you get a glimpse, you know…"

As the exchange between them went on and on until they finally settled down and decided to watch a show on the TV, Tyr couldn't help but feel a deja vu while he witnessed the whole scene. Despite that the situation was vastly different, there was a familiar sensation as he watched his daughter's antics and the way she teased her friend.

'I didn't look like that, back then… I didn't look like that, back then… I didn't… Dammit, Hild! She's as bad as you were! And she doesn't even have her memories! Oh, well… that can wait. I saw more than I need, now I must help them find a place to live…'

AN: I would like to thank everyone that has offered their feedback and support both here and on the Goddess Relief site.

I would also like to thank for ObeliskX for the initial suggestion for a reverse harem setting that led to this story.

There are a few things that I'd like to note for this chapter.

This story is clearly taking place after the manga's timeline (without anything supernatural happening of course; since this is an AU of the story), and as a result, Megumi is still a student. Considering that, though, she never got to live in that apartment she got in the actual series (the one with the Earth Spirit) and instead she had to settle down with living in a dorm instead.

The introduction of World of Elegance may seemed a bit odd, as she was prohibited from showing up, but, currently Urd has no memories and by an extension, it invalidated her mistress' orders. Of course, she won't show up too much, while Urd is uncertain as to who and what she is, but, this will be far from the last time she appears in this story.

Speaking of appearances, Vali is the same god who was following Urd around from the previous chapter and his job is to make sure she's doing okay in her current amnesiac state. In Norse legends, there were two different gods by that name, one being Loki's son and the other being Odin's. Technically, this is a different one who only bears that name but no connection to any of them.

Tyr's appearance here isn't something that will last forever throughout the entire story. While he will pop up from time to time, he won't be one of the main characters. Still, I wanted him to show up and check how Urd was coping with her situation, instead of leaving that to some other member of his family. As a result, Mr. Whiskers won't possessed throughout the whole story, and will have his position as an honorary member of the cast.