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

Letting a yawn as he stretched his back, the possessed cat was the first tenant of this cramped apartment to greet the morning sun, as soon as it appeared over the horizon. He was still here, as it would've been bad to leave his daughter and her friend alone; especially after they were facing such a crisis. In less than a week, they needed to find a place for themselves, and a pretty affordable one. Although far from impossible, Tyr knew that it was a bit too much for them, going from one emergency to the next and he wished to give them a hand.

'Hm...we need something cheap, spacious enough and without any bans against pets. The worst part is how to tell them, though. It's not like I can just say it out loud, given that I'm supposedly a cat and all that.'

Wandering towards their room, Tyr was happy that everything was fine, until he got a nice glimpse of his daughter's sleeping form. Apparently at some point during the night, Urd must've pulled her covers a bit too much, leaving her entire back exposed and given that, Keiichi was facing in her direction, it was only a matter of time before the mortal boy got a perfect view of her.

Of course, there was no issue with the upper half of her body; it was the lower bit that could incite some really improper thoughts to the young man. Urd's panties left absolutely nothing to the imagination, especially back there, as they were just three flimsy strings in a Y-shaped arrangement.

'Is she doing this on purpose? Hild sure did, but… Urd? Maybe it's all a coincidence and…'

Before he could even finish that thought, the sound of Keiichi's alarm clock meant that the boy was seconds away from waking up and trying to avoid wasting any more time, the possessed cat sprinted across the room and gave a mighty leap, claws extended to grab his daughter's covers. Pulling them back down in the nick of time, the feline smacked on the floor with a thud as he wasn't particularly concerned about his landing.

"Oh, good morning, Whiskers! I guess you're already up, huh?" said Keiichi, completely unaware of the cat's actions or the missed opportunity to see one of Urd's impressive features.

"Meow…" Trying to avoid letting out a pained groan instead, Tyr decided to sit there and pretend that he was lying like any other kitty would, enjoying the warmth of Urd's body next to him.

"Um… Urd? Should you take a bath first?" asked Keiichi, turning around to give the goddess some privacy as she got out of the bed. "I'll make some breakfast in the meantime."

"Thanks, I won't keep you waiting for too long." Grabbing a change of clothes and a towel, Urd headed towards the cramped bath, making a mental note to try and get an apartment with a much bigger one as a priority. She could live with a tiny bedroom, but, without a proper tub where she could soak, it almost felt that something was missing from her life. "Of course, you can always join me… We could save time by scrubbing each other's back, you know…"

"Only if we could both fit in there at the same time…I'm a grease monkey, not a sardine, Urd." Chuckling at his own joke, the dark haired mortal wanted to be the one who would tease her for once, instead of the other way; which was the norm by now.

However, as much as she wanted to giggle at his attempt of doing something other than blushing and stammering, Urd couldn't help but wish to outsmart him, being the last one to laugh here. It was a subconscious urge, almost as if she enjoyed teasing and getting teased by others. Although, she couldn't remember getting in a situation that wasn't a one sided deal for anyone involved, except from herself of course. "I wouldn't be so sure, Keiichi… With some creative positioning I think we could both fit in there and feel really good too."

Not waiting to see the reaction, as she was fairly certain that the boy was more or less looking like a ripe tomato, Urd headed towards the bath, leaving her embarrassed roommate and the possessed cat behind.

Patting the poor boy with one of his front paws, Tyr couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the mortal who became his daughter's favorite target for all kinds of jokes.

'There, there… I know the feeling. Been there, done that… got a kid to prove it… Although, in a way she's even worse that her own mother. At least Hild didn't tease me so much without offering some… release I guess. Urd on the other hand?... I can't say I feel envious for him; nobody would.'

XXX

"She kicked you out because of a poor kitty? Ugh!... unbelievable!"

There were three things that put a smile on Chihiro's face: cute bikes, cats, and children. A rather strange combination of things, although, her employees were happy that money wasn't amongst them. While Chihiro wanted to gain as much of it possible, it wasn't her primary motivational force, rather the means to achieve her dream; to create her very own successful and recognizable bike shop.

Whirlwind was just the beginning and over time she hoped that it would grow into a bigger, more prestigious business and for that to happen, she needed the funds. Which sometimes made her look like she was stingy or even greedy, although, whoever spent enough time around her could tell that this wasn't the case. Chihiro truly cared for her employees who she valued as friends, instead of money making drones and obsess about things like productivity and efficiency. Sure, she loved to be competitive, but, she'd also stop and hear how the others were dealing with their lives, instead of droning about work, schedules and sales.

'Heh… she's quite the opposite of that old manager of mine. It feels more like talking with a friend than my boss.'

"Well, it's not something we can change now," said Keiichi after a while, getting up from floor as he placed the container and allowed the bike's oil to drain, before he removed the old filter. "We both need to find a place to stay and we decided to find a single one instead of two."

"Oh my!... You should've told me that there good news too!" said Chihiro with a grin as she took one of the tea cups, Urd offered for her while they had a short break.

As a matter of fact, it took Keiichi several seconds to process what the brunette was implying and while Urd was grinning as well, the young mechanic simply appeared to be lost. "Huh? What good news? You mean about the cat? Sure that's nice and… Uh… wait a second…"

The goddess could hardly contain her mirth as her friend turned completely red, struggling to keep a straight face after their boss got the wrong idea. "Oh, don't be so shy Keiichi… You're so much bolder when we're alone… I could feel you touch me a bit while I was still asleep, earlier in the morning…"

"That was Whiskers! I didn't touch anything!"

Giggling, both Urd and Chihiro enjoyed the panicked look on his face, as he waived his arms in front of him. It was fairly obvious based on the goddess' tone that she was just joking, yet Keiichi tended to overreact whenever she implied anything too naughty. "Is that so? What a bad kitty…"

"Speaking of that, if it really becomes a problem, I can take care of the poor cat," offered the brunette businesswoman. "My apartment has no ban for pets and I do actually have a cat of my own!"

"Thanks, Chihiro! I'll have to use that as a last resort, though. It somehow sounds irresponsible for me if I immediately got rid of him without even trying," said Urd, finding it strange that she actually used the word irresponsible like that for a reason; even if she couldn't understand why.

Smiling at her, Chihiro checked the shop's clock and decided to give them a bit of a head start for today's hunt for their apartment. "How about we wrap things up here, so that you can leave earlier? We're mostly done anyway, and I can finish the rest on my own."

"Are you sure? It's a bit too early actually…" said Keiichi as he stared at the clock as well.

"Morisato-kun… Try to spend more time with your girlfriend than acting like a workaholic," said Chihiro with a playful wink, making Urd giggle and the dark haired mechanic blush, but remain silent as he got the feeling that any reply would've ended up with more teasing.

'And we're not even a couple… I don't even want to imagine how it's going to get if that actually happens. Yeah… keep dreaming Morisato…'

XXX

"That was a pity… We could totally afford it, but, no pets were allowed."

Letting a sigh, Keiichi tried to see the positive side of the situation; they were actually finding apartments, unlike before. It was only a matter of time to get the one that was ideal for them and then all their problems could've been sorted out.

"It's much better now, though. At least, we're getting some results," said Urd, almost mirroring his thoughts while the two of them walked along a sidewalk in downtown Nekomi.

"Excuse me, but you seem troubled…"

Blinking, Keiichi and Urd turned to the unexpected source of the interruption, finding a cloaked woman sitting behind a fortune teller's stall. Despite all the oddities one could encounter in Nekomi, a person behind a crystal ball was a bit too much for them and neither seemed to be particularly interested to approach her. It was more than an obvious scam to make money out of tourists and the local students by telling them their fortune, which was most likely some obscure and cryptic answer that could be interpreted in too many ways.

"Yes, I'm talking to you and your lovely roommate. You've got troubles clouding your future… Please… come closer."

The duo gave each other a curious look, wondering just how this fortune teller assumed that they were living together. Of course, there was always the possibility that out of sheer luck she made a successful guess and got it with the first try.

"What do you think?" whispered Keiichi to Urd.

"If she doesn't charge us too much?... Why not?" was the goddess' reply with a casual shrug.

Approaching the stall, they could only get a glimpse of the numerous bracelets decorating her wrists, as well as the rather impressive necklace she was wearing. Still, her blue robes cast a shadow which concealed most of her face, leaving nothing more than her mouth to be visible to her two clients.

"You've spent days searching for a safe harbor, a roof above your head."

"I must admit that you're pretty good," said Keiichi with a raised eyebrow. "I don't suppose you know how to solve that problem, do you?"

"Actually… I do. Far along the freedom's path, a place lies hidden behind forgotten walls that weep for one to remember them. Seek that place and your troubles will be over."

Staring the woman in front them with a blank expression, the duo glanced briefly at each other, wondering whether she was serious or just joking.

"Uh… t-thank you for the advice," said Keiichi, leaving several coins on her table, before he and a baffled Urd started to walk away, unsure what to make of this cryptic message.

"Wait, I didn't ask for…" started the hooded woman, but it was too late for them to stop and turn to listen to her. Instead they kept walking and talked to each other, probably about what she told them earlier and for a moment, the fortune teller let out a sigh before her lips curled up in a smile.

'Take care Urd. May fortune smile on you.'

Gathering her things as she closed the stall, she briefly remembered the coins and feeling that taking them back with her would've been a waste, a much better option was to donate them. Unfortunately with nobody around her who was in need of them, she turned to another possibility; an automated vending machine not too far from where her stall was.

Walking towards it, she briefly checked what kind drinks she could buy with them and which one of them was better. Some sounded really familiar and she had to admit that the canned tea seemed like an appealing choice, although, a lot of the pedestrians who walked by her previously were drinking something she was unfamiliar with and for a moment, trying it sounded like a good idea to her.

Seconds after the coins were inserted in the machine, the mysterious figure retrieved her can of Cola.

XXX

"You don't seriously believed that, do you?"

"Hm…" Scratching her chin, Urd had an instinctive impulse to disagree with Keiichi, although common logic couldn't explain any of the fortune teller's words. While she did find what their problem was, the solution was far too cryptic for her to decipher. "I don't know, Keiichi… She didn't sound like she was messing around with us, but… I've got no idea what she meant, either."

"Well, I must admit that she did got a few things right. However, I'm equally lost about her answer. It sounds like one of those treasure hunt games where you're given some riddles that act like clues." Failing to come up with anything that could've given them some further insight as to what all that meant, he tried to focus on their task at hand. "Besides, shouldn't we visit the next agency?"

"One moment…" Refusing to give up, Urd tried to break that answer into parts and wondered if there was anything which made any sense. "Is there by any chance anything called freedom's path around here? You know, a street… a road… maybe a shop even."

"Uh… none I'm aware of. At least as far as streets are concerned, I've never heard of anything by that name or description before. Now, shops are another matter altogether, but, there are too many of them to start looking for something like that," said Keiichi as he shook his head. "It could take far too much time and… I mean, we can't afford to go on a wild goose chase right now."

"No argument there, Keiichi," said Urd with a sigh. "Still, if you were to describe a path like that, what would you pick?"

"Now, that's a strange question…" Pausing for a moment as he racked his brains to come up with an answer to that bizarre request. He was unsure why his roommate insisted to pay attention to that silly advice, but in the end he decided to humor her. "Well, for me that's the mountain path, also known as the Nekomi circuit amongst the local bikers. It's a place I used to go on a ride whenever I wanted to feel free and forget about my homework and the deadlines. That was quite some time ago, though."

"Huh? Why?"

"The usual problem actually," said Keiichi with a sad sigh. "Too much work, too little time for anything else. I may have no longer to deal with homework, but, as soon as I started working for Chihiro, all my free time was more or less gone. I do hope I could get back there one of these days and ride along the mountain path like I used to."

"How about now?" suggested the goddess with a smile.

"What? B-But... Urd, we have to…"

"Oh, come on! We can find a bloody house later. It's not like we're going to depart on a journey across the ocean," said the Norn of the past with a wink. "Actually, it could help us both clear our minds and forget about our problems, right?"

"You mean, it's not because of that fortune teller?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"I'm not…"

"Yes you are and I won't take no for an answer!" The change in the goddess' voice was subtle, yet for the young man next to her, it was akin to a ruler announcing a decree to her loyal subjects. Not harsh, although leaving little room for negotiations and even less for anyone to deny her.

"Yes! Let's go!" Turning around, he headed towards his parked bike, trying to avoid shaking his head.

'Oh boy… she's really making me do whatever she wishes already. Sorry, Megumi, your brother is a total sucker…'

XXX

Driving up the mountain path, Keiichi had to admit that the fresh air and the serene environment did actually make him forget about all the stress and frustrations of the last couple of days. It was one of the reasons why he enjoyed driving here in the first place; the other being the road itself, which offered a decent challenge and there was hardly any traffic at all, making it ideal for racing.

More interestingly, though, was the somewhat serene expression on Urd's face as he glanced over at the sidecar. Unlike her typically mischievous look, the bronze skinned goddess was genuinely relaxed and enjoying the ride, occasionally checking at the landscape around them.

"It's nice how peaceful it is here. The city is far too busy to notice the scenery that surrounds it."

"Yeah… That's partially why I came here in the first place," said Keiichi with a warm smile, turning back to the road. "After several hours of hard work with the rest of the Motor Club members, I'd normally come here to relax."

"Actually… is there any place for us to stop for a while and take a look around?" asked Urd as she glanced ahead of them for any signs of a clearing. The narrow road was framed by the steep rock face on one side and a vast chasm on the other, making it extremely unsafe to pull over.

"Hm.. if I remember correctly, the path widens up ahead and there's even an old temple we could visit," said Keiichi, trying to recall more details about this part of Nekomi. "Never really been there, since I rarely stopped while driving here, but… I think that's the best opportunity for us to get a nice view of our surroundings."

Almost as if on cue, the old temple in question appeared on their left and Keiichi eased off the throttle, bringing the bike to a stop in front of the weathered staircase which lead up to the main entrance. As the duo ascended the steps, they couldn't help but notice several cracks in the stonework, exposing some of the concrete underneath it. And the sign above them was barely readable, the characters almost faded as the paint had long started to fade away.

'Tariki Hongan temple.'

"Uh… is this an abandoned temple?" asked Urd as she and Keiichi looked at the sad state of the temple grounds. If the exterior was bad, the area inside the perimeter was actually far worse, with wild grass covering every bit of the ground; even growing through the gaps in the stone path that lead to the actual temple, as well as the priest's house adjacent to it.

"That's funny… I didn't think it was," admitted Keiichi who was under the impression that this was still inhabited. "Maybe something happened and the priest left, or something?"

"Don't ask me… This is the first time I'm here and I haven't been in Nekomi for too long either." Looking around her, Urd wondered if they were right, given that despite its poor state the damage was not too severe and could've been fixed with some hard work. "Still, this was either abandoned recently, or it's actually inhabited but not properly maintained."

Walking up the wooden steps of the temple's main building, Urd briefly wondered if there was anything left inside at all, but decided to check nevertheless. After all, they've come all the way here and taking a look wouldn't hurt anyone, although she had no idea how wrong she was. Stopping right in front of the door, the goddess turned around to take a better view of the temple grounds and barely managed to notice the sound of wood giving away under Keiichi's weight, who was mere steps away from her.

While not heavy per se, the young mechanic was the last person that particular board supported and after many long years of serving as part of the temple's stairs it broke, sending the unsuspecting man tumbling forward. Flailing his arms around as there was nothing to stop his fall, he inevitably bumped on the equally surprised Urd who was in front of him, getting them both on the patio's floor in front of the temple.

"Ow!..."

It took them a few moments to realize just what happened, but, after the initial shock had passed, Keiichi found himself literally on the goddess' lap, his face mere inches from her ample chest and in a very compromising position. Despite all the teasing and jokes directed at him, this was the first time he got more than a simple view of the exotic woman and could literally feel her against his body, even if it was due to a mere accident. "I… I…"

Before the goddess could properly respond, the door behind them swung open and a wooden stick landed right on top of the mortal's head, smiting him in the process.

"Don't desecrate this temple with your impure deeds!"

"Keiichi!"

XXX

"I'm terribly sorry about that misunderstanding..."

Looking apologetic, the monk watched his two visitors as they sat across the low table, after he invited them to his house which was located right next to the temple's main building. It was a most embarrassing moment for him to mistake an accident for something impure and ended up hitting a most innocent pilgrim in the process.

"So, you're in charge here?" asked Urd as she held a bag of ice on top of Keiichi's head.

"Actually, I'm the only one living here, at the moment, but… yes. And I must admit that I, Koshian had failed to prove myself worthy of this temple, causing one misunderstanding after the other," admitted the monk with shame evident in his pained expression.

"This happens often?" asked the curious half goddess, making a mental note to avoid this place from now on; for the sake of her friend's well being.

"Not like that, but… Quite a while ago, I had almost reprimanded a visitor who tried to donate money, thinking that he was attempting to steal the offerings. It was that kind of incidents that led me to think that I lack the enlightenment necessary to perform my duties and as a result, I spent more and more time meditating and contemplating about the great mysteries of life," said the monk with a slow nod.

"Is this why the temple is in such a state of disrepair?" Either due to the whack on the head, or him being brutally honest, Keiichi decided to ask the most obvious question anyone else would've hesitated to voice; the temple's current condition.

"Alas, it is. With me spending too many hours a day in meditation and nobody else to assist me, I must admit that I hadn't done a great job at maintaining my poor temple." Letting a sad sigh, the monk knew that excuses wouldn't do him any favors, so, he decided to be really open about this, instead of going around the subject. "I had hoped that soon enough, another monk would join me and ease off this burden, but… that never happened. Hiring others to do this kind of menial work could certainly solve the problem, although, I do not possess the necessary funds for such a thing, either."

"Wait a moment… What if we give you a hand? Would that work?" asked Urd with a small smile, while Keiichi stared at the goddess with a baffled expression, unsure what she was getting at.

"Huh? You would like to do that? But… I cannot pay you," said the monk, looking equally lost as the young mechanic next to the bronze skinned woman.

"Actually, we've got a problem of our own. You see… we have a few days to find a place to live and that's going to be really hard to pull in such a short period of time. If you allow us to stay here for exchange of getting two helpers of sorts, we would be really grateful." Smiling at the monk, Urd tried to buy some more time for her and Keiichi to find a new apartment for themselves.

"Wait a second, Urd! What are you doing?" whispered the concerned man, who feared that he would end up working from sunrise to sunset, to fulfil both his role as a mechanic and a repairman at the same time.

"It's only for a few days, Keiichi. Just enough to search for a house without feeling all that pressure," whispered Urd back, although that didn't seem to make him feel any better.

"Yeah, but… We're going to have to work, search for a house and help with the repairs, Urd!" countered the concerned mechanic. "Just how long do you think we can stand such an exhaustive schedule?"

"Oh, come on… I don't think that the monk's going to work us to death…"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this…"

After several more seconds of considering the pros and cons of such an unusual offer, Koshian decided that it was too great of an opportunity to let it pass just like that. Even dealing with the wild plants outside could be a great improvement to the temple and besides… the roof was leaking and he desperately needed someone to fix it. "Very well, I'll have to agree with your terms. You can move in as soon as you can and I can allow you to have a room to yourselves."

"It's a deal!" Not bothering to explain that they weren't a couple, Urd accepted right away without worrying about the downsides of such an arrangement. This house wasn't tiny, but then again, it was no mansion and asking for two separate rooms for free could sound a bit much.

Meanwhile, Keiichi was far from enthusiastic, but, had to accept the offer as well. Urd did have a point here and this deal could actually buy them some time to find an apartment without feeling the pressure of an impending deadline. On the other hand, he had no delusions that with him being a man, most the hard tasks would've been assigned to him; and there a lot of work to be done.

'Oh boy… I can feel the pain already…'

XXX

'That seems nice. Apparently they did solve the problem on their own. Well… for the most part.'

Sitting on top of the bell tower, Vali was using his binoculars to spy on the pair who had apparently found themselves in a rather unusual part of Nekomi. Munching on a single rice cracker which seemed gigantic compared to his miniature form that he had to assume in order to minimize chances of others spotting him, the blue haired god was pleased that they had chosen such a remote location. With few humans around to interfere or even cause problems to them, his job as a guardian was now a lot simpler.

Of course, as it was typical in such cases the moment someone thought that everything was going to be fine, life could always decide to prove them wrong and Vali was no exception to that rule; god or not. As his communicator demanded his attention, he had little idea what was wrong, although he suspected that his boss was behind that; a sentiment that was absolutely correct.

"Yes? This is war god candidate Vali of..."

"It is I… and I don't have the time for the full into, Vali!" said Tyr in a somewhat rushed manner. "Look, I have a big problem… My daughter got drunk!"

"Uh… she looks perfectly sober to me, my lord," said the confused god as he stared at Urd through his binoculars.

"Oh right… It's not Urd I'm talking about, but… Belldandy," said Tyr with a groan, clearly not comfortable with the whole situation. "I've asked her to give them a hand, and she ended up getting wasted after consuming some local beverage. Now, she's all over the place granting any kind of random things and this has to stop before any real damage is done."

"Is it really that bad? Surely, random wishes do not have the status of a true contracts and…" started the god, only to stop as a distant, low grumble could be heard from Nekomi's general direction; more specifically towards the city's bay.

"Random or not, she somehow managed to get a few of them through the system and while we'll have to fix this mess over here, I need you to deal with a tiny bit of a problem," said Tyr, both pain and sarcasm evident in the frustrated Daitenkaicho's voice. "Someone wished for Godzilla."

"Oh!…"

"Yes. And try to get my daughter out of there before she brings anything else from popular fiction too!"

"Yes, sir!" Despite the rather ludicrous situation, a task that involved combat brought a smile to the cadet's face. All this surveillance thing while important was not what he had been meticulously training for. "I'll annihilate that overgrown iguana!"

"It's a kaiju; I think… Whatever humans call them. Just deal with it, before it escalates into something far too troublesome."

"No worries, my lord! Cleaning up a mess like this, is something I really enjoy!"

XXX

"The police are still investigating the mysterious incident that took place in Nekomi's harbor, causing damage on an unprecedented scale. Thankfully no one was injured as a direct result of it, according to the rescue crews that hurried to the afflicted area. Despite that, there are no eyewitness accounts of what took place, making this one of the strangest incidents in the nation's recent history…"

Shaking his head, as he watched the news on their TV, Keiichi had no idea how to feel. On one hand, he wasn't the only person to have a strange day, but on the other… something like that was really worrisome. Several warehouses were flattened and nobody even had any idea as to how that came to be. "Hey, Urd… come listen to this crazy stuff."

"In a moment! I'm worried that Whiskers may not be feeling very well," said Urd from the other side of the room, as she placed the cup of hot noodles in front of the otherwise catatonic cat.

"What's the problem?" asked Keiichi as he munched his own dinner. It was late evening when both of them returned home and began the preparations to pack their things. Thankfully Urd's clothes were still in their bags, making it a far less painful ordeal, although the rest were still an issue.

"He looks… I don't know… Unhappy?" said the half goddess as she inspected the possessed cat, who immediately went to eat his dinner with a happy purr, worrying that this could end up in a trip to the vet.

"Hm… he's more lively now, though. Perhaps he missed us?" suggested Keiichi as he turned around to take a look at the cat, while the debate on the TV kept on.

"This is a classic example of a meteorite breaking up in the atmosphere which results in an airburst."

"Nonsense! This was an example of UFO activity! The government wants to cover it all up!"

"There's no shred of evidence pointing in that direction!"

"Nobody remembers anything! It's brainwashing done by the aliens!"

'Nope, I did that.' Eating his noodles, Tyr eyed over at his daughter who seemed rather happy that he was doing well and he couldn't help but share the sentiment. Urd wasn't a cold and indifferent goddess, but, seeing her show this much concern for a cat was something he'd expect from Belldandy. 'Ugh… I need to keep her away from that fizzy poison. Who would've thought that she was going to get wasted like that after a few sips? Or that she was more dangerous than that overgrown lizard. Hm… maybe I should decorate Vali for exceptional service. That could make the poor boy feel a bit better after getting curb stomped by a drunken goddess.'

"I still find this to be ridiculous… Why would anyone travel across countless worlds just to level some warehouses here? It makes no sense!"

'For the giggles; why else? You still haven't met Hild, human. Maybe it's for your own good too…'

"But, that's what aliens do!"

'No, that's just the demons trolling you. Staging all those pranks to piss us off. Especially as they try to monetize the whole craze and make a profit out of it!'

"Ugh… enough with this nonsense!" Turning the TV off, Keiichi decided that they had enough of a break and still had work to do. "I think we need to pack the last few boxes and get ready for moving our stuff."

"Yeah… It's kind of funny how we're going to live in a temple for a while," said Urd with a giggle, missing the cat roll his eyes.

'I wouldn't be so sure, Urd. With you being a goddess... it makes sense to me.'

"Just hope that the priest won't go all out on us with those repairs," said Keiichi with a nervous chuckle. "That place looked like a mess and even the most basic of repairs will take so much time…"

"Hey, I can help too," said Urd with a wink. "Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean that I'll excuse myself while you work hard to fulfill our end of the deal."

"Really?" said Keiichi with a tiny smile, while Tyr couldn't help but feel his chest swell with pride as the most troublesome of his daughters decided to display some level of responsibility. Unfortunately for both males the moment was ruined by none other than Urd herself as she went on.

"Of course, Keiichi. Not only I'm stronger than you, but, I can reach higher too," said with a bright smile that only made matters even worse.

While the young mechanic remained silent, after that severe blow to his pride, Tyr couldn't help but palm himself, or at least tried to.

'Why can't you stop before you ruin it, Urd? Way to go… reminding him all those things…'

Completely missing their expressions, the half goddess went on and headed in their room to finish with their preparations.

"Want some help with them, Urd?" offered the mortal as he followed her.

"Sure thing, Keiichi!"

'Well… at least he's not one to hold a grudge for something like that. Hm… now that I think of it, I wonder what's Vali doing with his current nurse?'

XXX

"Are you feeling better, now?"

Looking to his side with some apprehension, the bandaged god offered a nod to the brunette who volunteered to help him get back to his feet; once he could start to feel them again that is. Worse, the seemingly gentle and kind goddess was the very reason in such a rough shape, not the giant lizard he had managed to deal mostly on his own.

During the climax of his duel with the fictional monster, the gargantuan being was about to stomp the still inebriated goddess and to prevent that, Vali decided to get her to safety. Grabbing her as the monster crushed the very spot she was standing, the war god cadet had to carry her away even in a somewhat unrefined manner, hefting her over his shoulder.

However as the creature swung its mighty tail at them, Vali had to move out of the way once again and to avoid dropping her down, he reached with his hand to secure her in position. An absolutely terrible mistake on his part, as the battle was keeping his attention away from his surroundings. By the time he he realized that his hand rested much higher than he was expecting, it was already too late. And judging from the brunette's startled gasp, she most certainly didn't appreciate the gesture at all; accident or not.

From that point on, he had little recollection as to what transpired. Other than soaring through the sky and right into a few warehouses that eventually stopped his supersonic flight, he had no idea how he ended up in his room.

The place was almost bare, save for a few pieces of furniture and a sleeping bag that acted as the god's bed. Just like Urd's initial apartment, it was provided to him by Heavens as a temporary base of operations while he was stationed in Nekomi for the this mission. As soon as they became aware of the half goddess' amnesia, the Fighting Wings received the Daitenkaicho's request for someone to monitor her and that god happened to be him.

However, in reality he was merely a cadet, not a fully fledged war god, since such a simple task didn't require the combat experience of a senior warrior; or at least, that's what he was being told. In reality, things had proven to be a lot more challenging than he was originally anticipating, since the mortal realm was a place far too strange for him to fully understand.

Magic was almost unknown to the locals, aside from simple tricks performed by entertainers here, making it a hassle to move around as he had to walk whenever he was around mortals. Of course, that wasn't a problem as long as he was out of sight, although certain tasks necessitated some interaction with the locals and those were always problematic for the young god. Humans had a lot more limitations than he had originally expected and this being his first time on Earth, it was a true case of trial by fire; learning things while he was doing his job.

And speaking of that, he wasn't even certain why monitoring her was even necessary. Vali had assumed that once the problem was diagnosed, Heavens would immediately recall her suspension and take her back in order to provide Urd with the best treatment for her amnesia. Instead, they left her here, doing almost nothing aside from assigning him with the task to keep an eye on her. The only information he had was that there were others looking into the actual problem, although he wasn't told anything more than that.

Initially he wasn't particularly fond of this job, expecting a task that would've proven his skills as an aspiring warrior like any other cadet would and instead, he was given a mission that required no fighting at all. For any member of the celestial combat division, that could've been taken as an insult, a sign that his superiors found him only worthy for such a simple task. Worse, with his mother having a nice reputation in the Fighting Wings, he was worried that this might've been a mercy assignment, something simple enough that nobody could really mess up, just so that he had a success to ensure his progression in the combat division. For Vali, riding his mother's coattails was out of question, not even as a last resort option. He'd rather work as a debugger or a low level sysop than being treated like a useless warrior.

Normally, only the best had a real chance of joining the ranks of the Fighting Wings, but with the Double System in place, the job wasn't so dangerous as it used to be in the past and as such, the standards had been somewhat relaxed. Furthermore, there was currently a lack of willing cadets, since most of them were considered to be violent deities, a classification that most celestials wished to avoid at all costs. Due to the above, it was now easier to apply to the Fighting Wings that it used to be in the past and Vali worried that he wasn't as much of a great cadet anymore.

As if his assignment was bad enough, the fact that a gentle, kind and renowned wish granter had more or less defeated him in such a spectacular manner was far too embarrassing for the god's wounded pride to take. He could already imagine his peers sniggering behind his back, once he'd be recalled back to Valhalla after this fiasco. In his eyes, he had already failed to carry out the Daitenakaicho's direct orders, and quite miserably too. Not many of them were directly assigned by their supreme ruler to deal with a situation and end up touching his middle daughter's posterior and then lose consciousness after she sent him flying across the sky. Sure, it was an accident and he had been doing a great job up to that point, but, technically speaking… he had failed his leader.

In his mind this was probably a sign of mercy, being allowed to get some rest until he was feeling better and then, Tyr-sama would simply dismiss him and give this assignment to someone who actually knew what they were doing. Even Belldandy's presence here was part of that setting, in order for him to feel better after he'd have to deal with the consequences of his failure and be someone to talk with while he packed the few things he possessed during his short stay in the mortal realm, prior to his departure.

"Are you absolutely certain you're okay? You seem awfully troubled to me."

It wasn't a big surprise for Vali that the brunette goddess had easily noticed his crestfallen expression on his face. Despite his second class license, the blue haired cadet was a rather straightforward individual who preferred to be honest about something, instead of resorting to lying, and mincing his words. "I should be, by all means. The mission I had received from Tyr-sama himself ended up with me in... this kind of state. And I'd rather not wish to mention why that came to be the case either."

"I'm terribly sorry about that," said Belldandy with an apologetic smile. "I was really careless and pushed my luck too far by drinking that beverage without knowing its full effects on my body. I've caused so many problems by getting drunk and granting all those random wishes..."

"It's perfectly fine. After all, it was a genuine and unintentional error on your part, which resulted in that incident," said Vali with a small smile, as a way to reassure the guilt ridden goddess. Naturally, a blunder of that magnitude was something worth of Asgard's attention, although considering her exceptional record and the fact that it was indeed an accident, it was likely that she wasn't going to get reprimanded for that.

"And you touching my behind, wasn't?" said Belldandy, tilting her head in such an innocent manner that made the bandaged cadet worry that he was probably so injured that he was hearing things.

"W-What?..."

"Forgive my crude words, but, I think that you're being too hard on yourself," said Belldandy, despite the small blush on her face, suppressing certain memories to avoid any further embarrassment to both herself and the blue haired god who stared at her in shock.

"I am? How's that even possible?" asked the baffled Vali. Normally, he'd simply dismiss such talk as a way to make him feel better. However, as a first class goddess, Belldandy wasn't supposed to lie and that only left one possibility; that she was absolutely honest with him.

"You did your best and had to deal with a… drunk first class goddess, while you're a second class war god cadet. To make matters even worse, I do happen to have a Valkyrie license despite the fact that I'm not using it at the moment. It's merely unfair to expect that you could carry out such a mission, especially considering how complicated things became due to my… state of mind," explained Belldandy with a sigh.

"B-But I still should've…" started the embarrassed god, before he was interrupted by the only other celestial contact he had while in Nekomi.

"You should've kept quiet, boy. If the nice goddess tells you it's okay, then you got lucky with it," said the possessed cat as he walked towards them. "Do you have any idea how many would've loved to be in your position?"

"Father! What are you saying to him?!"

"The truth. Although, I'm eternally grateful that this didn't end like most other situations that involve a drunk goddess and physical contact," said Tyr, scratching his whiskers. "The infamous and so much dreaded, daddy I'm pregnant line…"

"I don't do, such things!" protested the scandalized brunette.

Chuckling to himself, the cat's smile was even funnier due to his current form, as he teased his daughter. "Thank goodness for that! I've got my hands full with Urd and even Skuld's antics to worry about you too, Belldandy. Still… I must admit that whenever you misbehave, it's something of epic proportions. Although, I never thought it would even include a movie monster…"

"I'm sorry, father. It was extremely unprofessional of me to grant all those wishes," said Belldandy with a frown, feeling rather ashamed for her actions back there.

"Okay, I think that's enough. I've happened to hear you talking to each other a bit earlier and I guess that you're both too hard on yourselves," said Tyr, shaking his head. "Vali, you actually did a great job, all things considered. As such, I'll decorate you for your valiant effort, although that'll have to wait for a bit. With Urd and her friend moving to their new place tomorrow, we need to keep an eye out for them."

"Yes, my lord. I'll follow them and make sure that everything is fine," said Vali, before his superior shook his head.

"Not tomorrow, I'm afraid. I want you to stay in bed and fully recover from this ordeal. In the meanwhile, I want you, Belldandy to keep an eye on the two of them," said the possessed feline, much to the cadet's chagrin.

"But… my lord!... I can still do my job!" insisted the stricken god with a worried expression on his face. "It's not necessary to assign such a task to…"

"Nonsense! Belldandy is just a capable of doing this kind of…" started the possessed cat, only to be interrupted by Vali, who leaned closer to his leader.

"Is it truly a good idea to let her see just how… Urd interacts with her human friend?" asked the blue haired god, keeping his voice down to avoid Belldandy from listening to them.

"Hm… that is a good point indeed," admitted Tyr, checking over to his daughter who was on the other side of the room, preparing some tea for them. "Although, I doubt that Urd's going to be so crude while they'll live in the same house with that monk. So, it's okay to leave them alone for a single day. Plus, I'm still going to be around and keep an eye out for trouble."

"Tea's ready!" announced Belldandy with a bright smile on her face, pouring a cup for all three of them, although she did found it strange to serve some to a cat; although she couldn't remember why it troubled her.

"Thank you very much," said Vali, using his uninjured hand to accept the cup.

"Oh, it's my pleasure, really." Setting the last remaining cup in front of her father, the Norn of the present was still struggling to recall what was so wrong about the situation.

However, the answer to her question came faster than she was anticipating, when her father nearly choked on his tea.

"BITTER!"

'Of course! Such intense taste may not be suitable for a cat and… oh no!'

While Belldandy panicked to get a glass of water for her father, another figure couldn't help but laugh at that scene, before she turned her screen off.

'Hm… Interesting. So he finally decided to take care of his firstborn. Well... would you look at that! Perhaps I'll wait a bit and see what he can do.'

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.

Belldandy's introduction was kind of strange, although it was partially inspired by the scene where Keiichi meets a fortune teller that gets possessed by Tyr. Here, the fortune teller herself was a goddess and the outcome of her drinking the cola was very similar to what actually happened in the series, too.

Speaking of her, I'm not planning to keep her around Urd for too long, although, she's still going to be a character for this story and the same can be said about Skuld too. There is an explanation to that (story wise), although, it's also to prevent it from becoming too similar to my other stories as well as the canon series.

On the other hand, it was a nice opportunity to get a scene with Vali and reveal some information about him, before he meets Urd and Keiichi. I originally wanted to already introduce him, but, decided against it, to avoid making it too forced.

This means that the story might get a bit longer, but then again, I don't want to make it feel rushed, even though I have no intentions to turn this into another huge one either. However, I won't go as far and waste a nice idea that could've made it into the story.

Technically, there was no official explanation as to why the temple was in such a poor condition, so I had to improvise and come up with something that didn't make the monk look as too negligent of his temple. Still, he's prone to misunderstand things and make poor decisions, but, at the very least, he has some excuse; no matter how flimsy it might be.