Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Trial By Tenderness ❯ Part 6 - Sudden Impact ( Chapter 6 )

Part 6: Sudden Impact

 

Skuld felt great! She was almost finished with her translation machine and her labors last night were a success. She congratulated herself on her ingenuity. During her sleep, she had an unusual dream that involved Tomohisa. The most wonderful music was drifting in and out of the background as he took her in his arms and kissed her on each cheek. For some reason, the recollection of dream cast her in an ambrosial mood. She returned to the present moment and looked at her older sister, Belldandy, who was quietly eating a rice cake.

"Elder Sister looks pretty apprehensive," Skuld observed when Urd walked in to the dining room.

"You guys weren't going to leave without ol' Urd, were ya?" She felt a mixture of annoyance and relief as she realized that her oldest sister was going to attend the tour race with them.

"So how does it feel to be a lowly Earth Spirit?" she replied icily. The comment had the desired effect, as Urd quickly turned red in the face and gave Skuld the stink-eye.

"Heheh...and that's all you can do about it too, Big Sister!" Skuld laughingly remarked as she got a rise out of Urd. It wasn't too often that she could get away with teasing Urd like this. She relished every bit of it.

"Now Skuld, that's not the way you should treat your sister...she just had her license suspended!" Belldandy scolded her. She felt worried that Urd would screw things up again, but yet she felt a strong relaxing of concern as well. Her sister seemed to be back to normal.

Belldandy looked at her older sister, who was dressed as usual in her revealing N.I.T. cheerleader outfit that she wore during races. Urd seemed to be herself again, with sexiness and cupidity intact. With a broad grin, Urd asked about how they were planning to go to the Makuhari Messe Exhibition Center. Belldandy replied that she and Keiichi were going to ride on his motorbike, while Megumi was planning to drive with Skuld.

"Well, I guess that means that I'm riding with Megumi and the brat!" Urd stated. Skuld threw a rice cake at her which Urd managed to barely dodge.

"Hey!!!" Urd picked up a strawberry and deftly bounced it off Skuld's forehead, leaving a splotch of red.

"I may not have my powers, but I still have good aim!' she declared cheerfully. Keiichi stepped in between the escalating foodfight between the two sisters, just in time to be the target of a smaller butter pad flung by Skuld.

"Hey...guys! We have a race to compete in today, remember?" he shouted, more of a command than a request.

Belldandy had been deeply concerned about how her older sister was taking the news about her license suspension. It was unlike Urd to lock herself away in her 'Castle' for several days. She didn't even come into the sister's bedroom to sleep at night. Bell was wondering all this time if Urd would emerge from her self-imposed exile in a fit of sullenness or histrionics. Beyond this point of concern, there was the air of unpredictability that always accompanied her older sister. It appeared that Urd was not planning anything drastic. In fact, she really couldn't do anything drastic, as long as they kept her away from Keiichi and the car. As if Urd was anticipating their concerns, she assured them otherwise.

"I'm not going to do anything wrong this time. I can't anyway, since my powers are limited to Earth Spirit Grade," she explained, mollifying her sisters as she looked out the window.  Then she suddenly threw an arm in the air with a burst of animation.

"My, what a beautiful day! Aren't you guys glad that I'm back! Big sister is here! She's in the house!"

"Of course," Keiichi said in a nonplussed voice. A moment later, he was surprised when Skuld suddenly reached over and hugged Urd. Bell-chan hugged her next, and he felt that a rift between the three had somehow been mended. He was grateful, because he always felt a special happiness when the three were together in harmony.

"This must be auspicious," he noted to himself.

Then Megumi entered the room and saw Urd. She smiled broadly; she was also happy to see the three sisters united, especially on this important day!

"I had the most wonderful dream last night, guys!" she announced. She had awakened with a totally entrancing sense of calm, despite the upcoming race. She chatted with Skuld about the course, Genji, Cevn, and the racing club. It was so nice having Urd back!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The ride to the Exhibition Center on Keiichi's bike was too quiet for Belldandy. Keiichi seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders this morning...but yet a part of him seemed to be relaxed and confident. She wanted to reach out of her sidecar and hold him, to lovingly assure him that things would be all right. She could sense the waves of apprehension radiating from him. It didn't help matters that the media had cast such a high profile on the competition, she thought with a slight ire.

The whole N.I.T. Motor Club was being portrayed in the news as a group of misfits who lucked out by making it past the first heats. Belldandy didn't like the inference that 'misfits' seemed to indicate, but as she looked around at the club members...it was the absolute truth.

"How did this diverse group of men and women bond together and win so many races?" she wondered once more. The local media had picked up the theme that the N.I.T. Motor Club was an 'underdog' and was exploiting public sympathy for the college kids as much as possible.

Megumi, Skuld and Urd showed up early, the March air leaving a sunrise dew on the grounds. The 'power up' period wouldn't begin until noon, and the race would start at 4 p.m. The Makuhari Messe Exhibition Grounds were packed with spectators. When Tamiya and Ootaki arrived, they spied Urd. Tamiya ran over and bearhugged her, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around in several circles. Then Ootaki and he gave her a 'sandwich' hug.

"If it was any other day, I would slap both of you, and that would just be the beginning of your troubles, but since we have a race to win today, I'll forgive you this once!" Urd said, smiling at the two sempai.

"With duh one an only sexy Urd with us, we're bound to emerge victorious," announced Tamiya. Urd winked at him, and in a voice imitating Ootaki, said "Fer sure, dude!"

Keiichi and Belldandy arrived minutes later, both wearing very intense expressions. As soon as she hopped out of her sidecar, Belldandy walked behind Keiichi and began to give him a soothing backrub. His shoulders were knotted with stress, she noted as she loosened him up.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Keiichi sighed in pleasure. Then he surveyed the scene around him, and his spirits sank. The staging area was swarming with engineers and mechanics. Looking at the other cars gradually chipped away at the N.I.T. team's confidence in their own car. The European entry looked like nothing any of them had seen before, with bunches of umbilical cords attaching it to offboard computers. The Americans had a series of futuristic solar cars competing. The Tokyo Univ. car was ultra-modern in design.

"I bet not one single member on that team sanded an inch of that chassis," Megumi said in distaste, in reference to the Tokyo University entry. Keiichi stared in disbelief as the European entry was being aligned by lasers! Tamiya and Ootaki were initially fascinated with all the technology, but then it sank in that they were totally outclassed.

The club members surrounded their solar car, the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu. Belldandy looked at the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu. She was assembled with sweat and love poured into her from every member of the club. She also felt that victory was a long shot, but she still held out that the Almighty might witness them a miracle today. Urd was irrepressibly confident and cheerful.

"What's wrong with her?" Belldandy wondered. A herd of news reporters were also moving from team to team, filming, recording and taking notes. Several field reporters headed their way with a camera crew.

Urd saw the TV cameras and started to pose enticingly for the cameramen. They gawked at her with rapt attention as she turned on the charm. They didn't expect to find a model here and Urd's outfit almost made them drool.

"I'm a TV star!" shouted Urd, eating up the male attention she was attracting.

"Urd, stop being such a ham!" yelled Belldandy above the noisy crowd.

"I guess some things are still the same with Urd," she whispered to Keiichi, who just shook his head at Urd. The reporter cornered Keiichi and asked him a few questions while the judges scrutineered the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu. They moved on to interview Tamiya and Ootaki about the technical details of the solar racer while Keiichi weighed in. He was at the same weight as yesterday, no small task considering all the good grinds they had to eat at the Men's Dorm last night. It was tough foregoing the desserts.

After the TV folks had asked their series of questions, Tamiya spied Dr. Kintaro and a delegation of senior N.I.T. faculty walking towards them, probably attracted by the news crew and their cameras.

"Don't yuh two look goofy, the Institute President and his gang is comin' here!" he whispered, elbowing Keiichi and Ootaki. Dr. Kintaro and his staff arrived, smiling for the TV cameras. Dr. Kintaro cleared his throat, indicating that he was going to issue a statement.

"Although N.I.T. is only one of the two remaining Japanese teams, we are proud to be here representing Japan's Technical Institutes. We can only hope that we can finish the race...as well as we can." After the cameras were off, he turned to the team.

"Do what you can," he offered with a doubtful tone to his voice. Shaking each member's hand, he left with his staff.

"Gee, thanks for the support, Mr. N.I.T. President Dude! What a slap in the face that was!" Ootaki commented with a flippant tone and a sneer after they left. In his mind, despite the charged confident air the team had, Ootaki knew that winning the race was a long shot, a miracle. Tamiya sensed his friend's conflicting thoughts and slapped a hand on his shoulder.

"No matter what, I know that we've done our best, good friend!"

There were 26 cars in this, the touring finale of the competition. This was the real test of the solar cars. Midway through this first decade of the new millennium, it was a given that solar power was going to be the future of automotives. The International Federation for Solar Energy Research was a multinational conglomeration of corporations, environmental groups and scientists that formed in 2003 to accelerate the development of clean sources of fuel and technologies that relies solely on solar power. By sponsoring this competition, they were casting a high profile on the possibilities of solar-powered vehicles. In the past three years, public sentiment had begun to shift towards increased use of environmentally clean solar power. Especially since fuel prices had doubled since Operation Desert Eagle in 2004-5.

The Nekomi Tech. Motor Club members all knew that they were competing out of their league. They felt intimidated by having the honor of participating in the tour race. The attention was a bit too much for many of them. Megumi felt like she was in the World Series, playing for a kiddie-league baseball team while facing the Yomiuri Giants back when Sadaharu Oh was in his prime. The president of N.I.T. was just being realistic, yet his words had dampened the club's spirits.

"Let's huddle," Tamiya commanded. He pulled a small grease-smeared paper out of his fatigues and read a speech.

"Ah jus want yuh all to know that this is the greatest honor of muh life, to be here with yuh. We may not take da day...snmph...but we have shown everyone that N.I.T. Motor Club is fer real." He started crying and continued, "Ah want ta thank each of yuh fer yer hard work on behalf of da club! Let's show dem that da club can race with dignity, even tho' it's a million-ta-one chance that we'll win." He looked up to see tears on many members' eyes.

"Great speech, man!" Ootaki praised him, and then slapped Tamiya on the back.

The PA system announced that the various teams needed to position themselves at the starting line. N.I.T. was in second-to-last row, based on their finishing time. As they wheeled their car in its starting position, the reality of their situation descended on the club, almost snuffing out the optimistic air from several hours earlier. 20 cars had finished with faster times! Belldandy sensed the atmosphere of gloom and tried to cheer them up.

"We're here in this race, therefore we do have a chance to win, or at least finish with a good time, or at least finish...." Even she was vulnerable to the melancholy air hanging over the team.

"Nice try, Bell-chan!" Keiichi replied with sympathy for his girlfriend's fading enthusiasm. She was trying so hard to keep her teammate's spirits up, let alone her own flagging spirits. Keiichi almost wanted to cry watching her valiant efforts to inspire them.

Urd walked up behind Keiichi and squeezed him tightly from behind, her ample bust pushing into his back pleasantly.

"Keep your eyes on the road by keeping your chin up, kiddo!" she advised. Then Belldandy came over and kissed him on the lips. Feeling brave, Keiichi French-kissed her, and pulled her close to him, feeling the heat of her body against his racing suit.

"Skuld must be letting me get by with this," he noticed, "otherwise she would be having a nuclear hissy fit right now." Their long kiss was concluded with a round of good-hearted applause and catcalls from his teammates.

Belldandy looked at him with those off-blue eyes of hers, and told him something gently.

"I just want you to come back safe, knowing that you gave your best, Keiichi-san. Remember, it's not only the car...but also the driver." She kissed him on the cheek for good luck, and Keiichi gave her his sweetest smile. He hopped into the cabin/cockpit of the racer, and Megumi reached him and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before he pulled the cover down and she sealed it.

Keiichi steeled himself for the first crucial minutes of the race, where all the cars would be jockeying for position before hitting the two-lane highway. He pulled the cassette Cevn gave him and inserted it into the tiny cassette player that Ootaki had slapped in last night. Now there was nothing to do but wait for the starting gun. Keiichi looked over at the other two cars in his lane.

***Blammm!!!***

The humming solar-powered electrical engines sounded like a swarm of bees, barely discernible under the loud roar of the crowd acknowledging the start of the race. Keiichi quickly ducked into the inner lane, and cut off the whole row in front of him.

"Wow! Lookit him go! Tamiya shouted with pride. Despite his expert start, he had only succeeded in passing four cars, which left 15 cars ahead of him. The road narrowed as it left Makuhari and Chiba city proper for the countryside. Flat fields passed on either side of him, as he saw a line of solar racers stretched out for about a half a mile in front of him, led by the European car. Keiichi felt his heart sink at the sight of the frontrunners' already unreachable lead.

Watching TV from home, Cevn felt his heart sink. The N.I.T. entry was being given the 'Cinderella' treatment by the media. He remembered the NCAA Sweet Sixteen back in the US; how so many teams had survived to reach the tournament on a lark, then got labeled as 'Cinderella hopefuls' by the press and finally ended up getting slaughtered on the court by the favored college teams. Even the Tokyo Univ. team was being treated this way by the news...and they were considered several levels above N.I.T. in academic prestige.

"Another media stage," Keiichi noted as he began the crossing through the plains of the Boso Peninsula that comprised the Chiba Prefecture. It seemed like every 10 kilometers or so, a cluster of news vehicles were filming the race, while teams of sponsors were phoning in the place of each solar vehicle back to the finishing stage. He managed to pass another car by a hairsbreadth on a tight turn, but dismally noted that the field was beginning to spread out even further ahead. He watched his odometer closely in comparison to his battery charge. The drive thru Chiba-Ken was the calm before the storm, he told himself.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Almost immediately after the start of the race, the N.I.T. Motor Club members boarded one of the shuttle buses to travel to the finishing point at Nojimazaki Lighthouse. It would be almost three hours before the finishers reached the lighthouse, 424 kilometers away. The bus would get there with at least two hours to spare. The team crowded into one of the dozens of mini-buses and left for the 50-kilometer drive. The winding roads only served to remind Belldandy about the treacherous route alongside the ocean and in the mountains. She was so worried that she couldn't find it in herself to appreciate the scenery.

"You know, I had the weirdest thing happen to me last night," Urd interjected. Belldandy looked at her with eyes that seemed to say, "Great, I'm worried to death about Keiichi and the race, and you want to make small talk!" Urd went on, looking out the window at the scenery.

"I dreamed last night that I was a little girl again, and I heard the God's Music, just like long ago. It's been so long since I heard the God's Music. I haven't even dreamed of it since I came to Earth three years ago. It was incredible! I thought I had forgotten what it sounded like, but...there it was in my dream." This topic Urd was bringing up was half heard by Belldandy, as she had more important things on her mind.

"Huh? What? Go on, Urd," she reluctantly acquiesced. "Once Urd gets into one of her stories, there was nothing that could shut her up," she thought with annoyance.

"The really crazy thing was that I remember that I woke up, and it was still going on. I mean, I heard the God's Music when I was awake, I think! I know that sounds crazy. But...what really seemed strange was that when I woke up this morning, I was filled with calm feelings. I had been so spaced out about my license revocation. And then suddenly, it didn't really matter all that much anymore...that I couldn't use my powers. But that music..."

"Ehhh! You heard the God's Music last night! Really? I thought I had heard it in my dreams last night, but I dismissed it."

Urd looked at her sister animatedly.

"You too, sis? Did you wake up and hear it too?" Bell looked at her oddly...why would she ask that? Urd repeated the part of her story about hearing the God's Music while possibly being awake.

"WHAT! The God's Music while you were awake, Urd? Here, on Earth? Impossible! That music is of another world, another place." Belldandy frowned in reflection.

"That is so strange, that you and I would have the same dream, Elder Sister!" Belldandy added.

"You dreamed it too, Belldandy?"

"Yes. Keiichi and I were on the beach, looking out at a wonderful full moon, shining low on the ocean waves like white serpents. The clouds were misty pink, just like in Yggdrasil at our vacation loft. I heard the God's Music coming from the ocean, or maybe the moon. But it was there. Did you dream that too?" Urd sat up excitedly, facing her younger sister.

"Sorry kiddo, we didn't have the same dream...Keiichi certainly wasn't in my dream!" Belldandy couldn't resist teasing her older sister.

"Well Urd, who was?" Urd ignored her.

"Matter of fact, I know I was awake now, because I could hear Skuld talking in her sleep about Tomohisa!"

"What!" Belldandy said slyly. "Tomohisa?"

"Yeah, Bell. I mean...there's no way I could make that up. Such a romantic mind in that little girl! I was awake just a moment, then I went back asleep, despite my curiosity about her dream about Tomohisa!"

"Why, that little...." Belldandy tried to think of a term that would describe her younger sister. A sister who would rage indignant on a weekly basis about her being in love with Keiichi...and yet would dream affectionately of his cousin, albeit unwittingly.  She was happy that Skuld was dreaming of love, however.

"But this is impossible! There is no way that the God's Music could be heard on the Earth. Not even the God's CD could be played on any musical equipment the mortals have at their disposal, let alone the God's Music!"

Skuld overheard her older sisters talking and ventured forth a question.

"Is the God's Music the sound of crystal beauty in the air, like flowing waves of kindness and love converging in a matrix?"

Urd felt her body grow cold for an instant. Skuld had used the exact words she had used once when describing the God's Music. Even Troubadour's music couldn't come close to approaching the delicate beauty of the God's Music.

"Skuld! Where did you hear that description! And none of your stories either!" Urd asked, an impugn flavor in her voice.

"I didn't hear it anywhere. I had this dream..." Belldandy and Urd looked at each other. Skuld had heard it too!

"...and the music was...like nothing I had ever heard before." Skuld dreamily admitted. Skuld continued to describe her dream, omitting only the part about her and Tomohisa. Urd looked at her youngest sister, knowing for certain that she was describing the God's Music.

"Hmm, was.... Tomohisa in your dream too?" Urd just couldn't resist taunting Skuld...and the blush that flashed over the youngest Goddess's face was well worth it. Urd giggled, then she sat back in her chair quietly, thinking what all this could mean. She heard the others talking and eavesdropped for some juicy bits of gossip.

The mortals had heard it too! She whispered to Belldandy and Skuld.

"Listen to them. They're all talking about hearing some strange music in their dreams." As if on cue, Megumi and Sora, who were seated in the row ahead of them, were animatedly discussing their musical romantic dreams. By the time the bus rolled into the parking lot at the lighthouse, the whole club had discovered that each member had heard some magical music in the dreams the previous night!

The finish stage area was a hodgepodge of camera crews, scaffolding and stages. It had a festive concert-like party atmosphere. The N.I.T. Motor Club bus stopped and its passengers poured out into the middle of the fray. Skuld was in technological heaven as she saw all the electronic cabling and equipment. Urd felt enlivened by the festive atmosphere, while Belldandy and Megumi felt a looming anxiety punctuated with glimmers of hopeful optimism.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Keiichi was driving straight along the road by the Kasumiga Lagoon. The damp conditions alongside the Kasumigaura Lake road had already claimed two cars: one sliding off the road and tipping while the other became mired in the mud. The dirt road was slick, with water pooling on the shoulder. After another ten minutes, he reached the general highway to the two small mountains on the way to Mito and accelerated. He struggled to coast and accelerate alternately, in order to preserve the battery charge.

The cars all reached Mito, capital city of Hitachi Prefecture. Keiichi looked at the hoards of spectators lining the streets, waving to the racers.

"This is a lot bigger than I ever could have imagined." he told himself, feeling intimidated by the number of spectators. As he reached downtown Mito, he saw many hand-held Japanese flags among the crowd. Inspired by this show of national pride, he decided to try a risky maneuver to cut off the American car in front of him. As the cars approached the point where they would jump on to the west highway, he turned steep to the inside, almost hitting the curb, but cutting off a solar car in the process. The crowd roared in approval.

The gradual uphill highway drive crossed many little towns and villages. As he neared Nikko, the road began to wind alongside the river. Tall trees in bunches blocked out the sunlight along portions of the highway, Route 119. Nikko was a pleasant small city with a huge tourist draw, but Keiichi knew that the real trial was soon to follow, as he looked beyond the city to see the two towering mountains, Nantai and Shirane, hunkering over the city like sumo wrestlers at a match.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Once inside the park, the road changed to a narrow delicate winding blacktop. Keiichi hugged the hairpin turns as tight as he could. The steering was performing perfectly as the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu responded instantly to his driving. He looked ahead and saw Mt. Nantai looming to his left with its volcanic shape. They would drive right up the far side of the mountain on the narrow access road, hugging the precipices.

Before traveling up the twin mountains, the course took a side turn to Iroha-zaka. Iroha was a smaller mountain, located just before Lake Chuzenji. The choice of detour was obvious...the racers would have to negotiate the renowned No. 1 and No. 2 highways.

Highway No. 2 ascended the Mt. Irohazaka about 1200 meters in a crazy zigzag fashion. Known throughout Japan, the highway consisted of 20 hairpin turns as it climbed the hill. Its counterpart was Highway No. 1, which descended the hill with 28 turns. As the total number of turns equaled 48 (the same number of hiragana syllables in the classical reckoning), the road would be an anxiety-provoking diversion before the hill-climbing trial of the two mountain roads.

Keiichi recalled traveling the Irohazaka highways as a child, almost getting motion sickness as the family car wove through the coil-like curves of the road. Now, he was racing upwards, exercising extreme caution lest he crash against one of the many trees that seemed to be planted right next to the highway...where the road's shoulder should be. No chance to pass any racers here; the object was simply to navigate the turns without a crash.

As he drove up Mt. Nantai, Keiichi felt the yamakaze buffeting his solar racer. He remembered as a kid when he and his parents visited Nikko National Park and ascended Mt. Nantai only part way. The winds were so strong that they almost blew him over.

"They say that Mt. Nantai was a training ground for priests...now I know why!" he thought. He could feel the mountain winds resisting the upward climb of his car. A few minutes later, his car was rattling as it was being blasted by the winds. He looked out of his cockpit and saw that he was several thousand feet up the side of the mount.

Suddenly a car in front of him started to tip to one side and then began to spin out of control in the road!

"Shit!" Keiichi thought as survival-driving reflexes instantly took over. He swerved and weaved, going partly off the road to avoid the crashed racer. Then he felt sheer panic as he was abruptly no longer in control of his car. The wind roared threateningly and for a few eternal seconds, Keiichi thought he might wipe out. The steering was unresponsive.

"One or both of the front wheels must be off the ground!" he thought with certainty. Suddenly the steering wheel jarred in his hands, and Keiichi fought the wind to get the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu back on the road.

"Whew!" he thought, realizing how narrowly he had escaped utter disaster. After driving 3/4 of the way up the mountain, the road trekked past Lake Chuzenji on the leeward side of the mount, towards Mt. Shirane. Rounding the mountain, he saw a line of cars backed up and slowed down to a halt. Ahead of the racers, a police vehicle was stalled on the park road. Keiichi felt grateful for this development, as it effectively narrowed the lead: the cars would basically have a second start once the offending vehicle was pushed out of the way. 

"Here goes!" Keiichi steeled himself for the restart, readying himself for a second chance to make a gain on the other racers. He decided that he would go all out on the downhill drive, despite the risk.

Back at the finishing stage, the N.I.T. Motor Club members let out a whoop of joy when the announcer informed the crowd that there had been a slight delay in the race, requiring a restart!

Keiichi descended Mt. Shirane, and the winds that had been resisting him earlier were now pushing him. This was as dangerous, because the speed of the car might exceed its ability to steer, and he could be pushed off a cliff or into another racer. Keiichi drew upon some inner strength and focused his total attention on weaving around the cars ahead of him. Instead of reducing speed on the downhill run, he accelerated. He passed two cars, deftly defying common sense and his own fears. The view from the mountains was spectacular, as he could see Mts. Kokai, Koshin and Kosamaru. But Keiichi could only dally briefly in the scenery, then return his concentration to the race. He was very pleased with progress he had made.

He pushed himself and the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu to the utmost, passing another contestant, then a second car. This was a suicide run, but Keiichi thought about all the hard work his clubmates had put into this car. He stressed it out beyond its limits; instead of coasting downhill, he forced every bit of acceleration he could out of Taiyo-no-Kinetsu.

The finish area had an electronic scoreboard that listed Keiichi in 11th place. Tamiya was reluctant to look at it, but it was torture to keep his eyes away from it. The digital clocked ticked off the seconds, but they seemed to take forever.

"C'mon buddy!" he silently prayed. He looked up again, to see that Keiichi had jumped up to 8th place, and screamed "YES!" in unison with his club mates. Sora reached up high and put a hand on her sempai's shoulder. Tamiya turned to see the short freshman and noticed tears on her face.

"Keiichi's really great, isn't he!" she told him in a wavering voice.

Keiichi returned to Mito, guessing that he was in 10th or 11th place. He tried unsuccessfully to repeat his effort from before, but this time he got cut off by an observant competitor. He could almost feel the disappointment of the crowd as he headed south for Sawara and a little further, the ocean. He spent the next stage of the race not fighting with himself. After all, he had gained three places overall.

"At last!" Keiichi exclaimed as he saw the ocean. The wind was strong coming off the ocean, and Keiichi silently thanked Megumi and Skuld for their solar panel design that protected the solar cells from being rendered useless by a film of sand and saltwater. He concentrated on the winding highway. It sometimes climbed up on a shelf overlooking the ocean while at other times it was fully exposed to the ocean spray. The line of cars headed towards Cape Inubo.

The scenery at Cape Inubo brought back a dear memory. Keiichi revisited in his mind the night he drove Belldandy up to the cape:

 "I just wanted to show you this," he had told her, after waking her up in the middle of the night.

"What?" She had looked at him, innocent and trusting. He sighed as he recalled how he had shyly put his arm around her and pointed at the horizon, hoping that his timing was right. Slowly, a full moon rose up over the water.

"That!" For the next two hours, they had watched the moon wax indigo orange, then yellow and finally white. This was early in their relationship, and Keiichi still remembered the warm joy he felt when Bell-chan actually leaned against him. It was the first time she had ever snuggled against him outside of their temple home. Even now, the image brought a tear to his eye.

His brief reverie over, Keiichi returned to reality. He took advantage of his knowledge of the road to pass another solar car.

He was trying as hard as he could to gainside his opponents. But the European car was at least a kilo ahead of him, he observed with disappointment. Any chance of winning this race rested on the most gossamer of possibilities.

Minutes later, he passed through Mobara and turned for Katsuura, where the course would switchback and head through the inland mountains again. He was soaked with sweat inside of his racing uniform; his eyes occasionally blurred from the intensity of his focus. After Katsuura, they turned west towards the Nokogiriyama mountain range. Although much smaller than the range at Nikko, Keiichi knew that this was another opportunity to make a gain, perhaps the last one until the road passed through Tomiyama. At this late stage in the race, many of the other racers would drive conservatively, at least until they were clear of the hilly terrain. Keiichi ascended the road that skirted Mt. Kanozan. It was starting to get dark, he noticed as the sky was slowly losing its brilliance and the undersides of the clouds began to shadow.

Straining to outmaneuver his opponents, Keiichi managed to pass one at the hairpin turn at the highest reach of the mountain road. Downhill, he took advantage of a brief opening and passed another car. Fatigue was taking a toll on the other drivers, he observed.

"That last guy was driving sloppy, to let me pass him so easily," he observed. In the distance, Keiichi saw the ocean with twilighting orange sparkles flowing atop the waves...and the two coastal cities of Tomiyama and Tateyama.

Ootaki gave a whoop when the sign said that Keiichi was in 7th place. But he also heard that the European team's solar racer was comfortably ahead almost a full kilometer. Tamiya was out of his head, pacing back and forth.

"Come on, Keiichi!" Megumi silently hoped...but said aloud.

At the basin of the mountain route, there was a hairpin curve that shuttled towards the ocean. Keiichi planned to cut off another car here. The road snapped and quicker than he could notice, he had slipped ahead of the Ford Motors entry. As the tour entered Tomiyama, the road with lined with spectators. The route looped in Tomiyama, in order to test the reflexes of the drivers and cars by slower speeds and urban corners. As Keiichi shifted into urban driving mode, a car just ahead of him suddenly slowed down to a standstill. The two cars immediately behind it slammed on their brakes. One car collided with the first car, which had lost one of its wheels, while the second car bounced off of it and into a storefront window. Keiichi slammed on his brakes and fought for control of his car, gritting his teeth tightly.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Belldandy paled as the PA announced that there had been a three-car pileup in Tomiyama. Skuld looked at her with a helpless expression. Megumi was riveted with worry, shaking her head "no" as if to deny that any harm could befall her brother. Belldandy looked at Megumi, whose hands were clasped in front of her heart in a prayer-like clutch.

"Keiichi, please be safe," Belldandy thought. Urd came over and put an arm over her sister's shoulders and they both silently watched the scoreboard. Megumi came over and Urd put her free arm around her and pulled her tight. After what seemed like an eternity, the scoreboard shut off the numbers of three cars. A relieved Belldandy thanked the Lord that Keiichi was not one of them.

Megumi was frantic with relief...but then she looked at the place indicators on the electronic display. She couldn't believe what her eyes saw. Keiichi was in 4th place! The cars still had to drive through Tateyama, then south along the ocean to the lighthouse, tracing along the switchback at Cape Sunosaki.

There was a chance...

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Keiichi's senses were vivified with determination. He knew that he was in 4th place. The Taiyo-no-Kinetsu had performed beyond his wildest dreams.

"This little solar-powered racer is tough!" he said as he patted its console. He felt a surge of ambition as he realized that he might actually win this race. He could finish in 4th place and earn the respect of a nation and his competitors. But deep inside, he wanted it all. The gossamer thread had now become a roadway to possible victory.

The road between Tomiyama and Tateyama hugged the oceanside, and was coiled as tightly as a serpent. He had lost all perspective of his ranking in the race. Sweat matted his bangs to his forehead like pasted paper streamers. He concentrated only on the three cars ahead of him. One was way down the road, with another about midway, and the third right ahead of him. Keiichi patiently gained on the car nearest him, using a display of risky driving and courage that was inspiring, even to himself. He picked a turn ahead where he would try to pass the solar racer right in front of him. He made his move.

Keiichi pulled outside then tried to pass the other car. He freaked as his car bounced off of the car he was trying to pass.

"NO!" he screamed. Suddenly the cassette deck banged partway out of the console, and music started pouring from the speakers. 

"What!!!" he yelled again. The music seemed to calm him. All in a space of a few seconds...the two cars kept lightly banging into each other.

Keiichi spied the end of the turn ahead; he was on the inside lane...but if he didn't get past this car, he would go flying into the ocean. An odd sensation surged through his body as he felt the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu accelerate, as if it had a hidden reserve of energy. It struck him quite oddly...it seemed as if the solar racer was being fueled by the music in some way.

"It can't possibly go any faster, I have it floored and we're going uphill!" he thought. He glanced over to the car next to him. It was gone. He quickly pulled in front of it and noticed that somehow, he had distanced himself a number of car lengths ahead of the third place car. He looked at the battery charge meter; it was getting visibly borderline on charge amps. He glanced at the speedometer and noticed that the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu was still speeding up. He approached the second place car as they pulled into Tateyama.

"Oh my God!" Tamiya shouted as he saw that Keiichi was in third place on the scoreboard.

"You mean Oh My Goddess!" Urd said with a mysterious smile. Tamiya looked briefly at her with a question mark on his face, then resumed his pacing. The N.I.T. Motor Club was suddenly alive again with hope...more so than any other time in the race. Yells of "C'mon Keiichi!!!" punctuated the evening air.

The cars had to slow down to urban driving conditions in Tateyama. The route was packed with crowds. Once out of Tateyama, the last stage was two-laned highway known for its potholes...the road to the lighthouse wasn't a high priority for maintenance, despite the heavy traffic congestion each summer. For his part, Keiichi was relaxed, as the music seemed to create harmony and confidence. He briefly wondered where Cevn had found the music on the tape...he was certainly going to ask him when he got back home.

But it was totally incredible to him that his solar racer felt more powerful.

"How did I pass that last car on a steep uphill turn?" he wondered as he approached Cape Sunosaki.

The final long uphill climb was yet to come. Astonished, Keiichi felt the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu seem to draw on some unknown energy and climb faster. He was catching up with the car ahead of him! Looking over the ocean, he saw a noticeable darkening of the blue sky; the clouds were underlit by pinkish purple.

"The sun is setting," he noted fearfully. He glanced at the battery charge meter, which told him that he was driving on reserves. 

"To have come this far and have to yield because of a low battery," Keiichi solemnly thought. A flash of inspiration came to him; after all, the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu was acting like a whole other car!

"To hell with it, I'm going for broke!" he decided resolutely.

Keiichi noted that the car ahead was the American General Motors entry. He was approaching it rapidly and the driver ahead remained square in the middle of the road, trying to prevent Keiichi from passing him. Keiichi clung to his tail.

"There!" Keiichi said to himself as he saw the slight widening about a quarter kilometer down the road, a roadside rest stop/scenic view from the Cape.

"Come on, Taiyo-no-Kinetsu! C'mon girl!!!" he shouted, gripping his steering wheel tightly. It would require split-second timing, as the small parking area along the road was on the ocean side. Any mistake and he would go flying over a cliff into the direction of the Sagami Sea. Urging his solar car along, he pulled wide and gripped his breath as he passed the American car, whipping his car back into the two-lane road with a deft jerk of the steering wheel...just in the nick of time.

He could only see one car ahead of him. The European solar racer. Dazed, he marveled at the trend of impossibilities.

"I'm in second place!"

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The tension was so thick among the N.I.T. Motor Club members that it could be figuratively cut with a saw. The only one who wasn't fixed with anxiety was Urd. She was walking in and out of the crowd of club members.

"You guys, why are you so worried? There's no way we can lose!" she kept repeating.

Skuld and Belldandy had closely eyed the position board until the last stage report flashed on. Keiichi was in third place, incredibly enough. Despite three year's worth of steady animosity towards Keiichi, Skuld found herself not only wanting him to win this race, but she also felt proud of him.

"Me...proud of Keiichi?" she said to herself quizzically.

This kind of finish exceeded Belldandy's common-sense expectations by a long shot! She clutched her hands in front of her breast and spoke quietly.

"Please Lord, we've tried so hard. Just this once, let a miracle happen!" she urged. There were miracles, such as her magical restorations to the temple compound after she and Keiichi first arrived at it, and then there were miracles, such as her unexpected feelings of love for Keiichi. She knew that no divine intervention would occur; it was strictly up to the driving skill of her beloved Keiichi, the performance of the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu, and the fates.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Racing downhill, Keiichi saw the Nojimazaki Lighthouse in glimpses far off in the distance as the road wound around ocean coves. There was a gray carpet of spectators surrounding it. He dejectedly noted that he hadn't gained at all on the European car. The music that was playing through his car was softly ambient, but he heard a rapid scattering of triumphant interweaving melodies gradually growing louder out of gentle symphonic mix. Almost in unison with the faster and louder pace of the music, the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu surged with energy. Keiichi leaned forward, as if this posture would add just a little extra to the unexpected acceleration of his car.

"I'm catching him!" Keiichi yelled. The distance narrowed between the two.

"Come on girl, come on, come on, come on!" Keiichi urged his solar racing car. The European driver was so confident in his lead that he had failed to look behind him, assuming that the race was his for the taking. Keiichi crunched on the accelerator pedal and whizzed towards the frontrunner, catching a glimpse of astonished disbelief in the other driver's rearview mirror as he approached.

"This can't be happening," Keiichi said to himself.

"Please, just hold together these last few kilos, our Taiyo-no-Kinetsu!" he respectfully asked the solar car. In response the solar vehicle sped up even faster. He looked at the battery charge indicator; it was bottomed out. Outside, the eastward ocean was nightghosting with waves below a dark velvet horizon.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

All eyes were glued to the road and the orange purpling horizon. The downhill slope of the road that was visible to the crowd began two kilometers after the last oceanside curve in the road, near Ainohama. The descent of night had made the road almost invisible. Tamiya was on his knees, about ready to have a nervous breakdown. Then he stood up, a sudden intuition filling him from head to toe.

"Oh...my God!!!!" he shouted.

Skuld tittered to herself when she heard the delicious irony of his exclamation. Then she strained her eyes to the point where the road turned into sight at the end of the last curve. A single car was pulling speedily around the corner of Highway 410, heading for the finish line. Bands of light flashed off its solar panels as it passed under the road lights. Cameras were trained on it.

It was too far away!

"Whose is it?" Megumi and Sora shouted apprehensively.

Belldandy pulled on Skuld's sleeve and pointed towards the giant videoscreen. There, in front of 80,000 spectators, a camera zoomed on the incoming frontrunner. It was a sleek-looking solar racer, which suddenly was illuminated by flashes of overhead road lights.

On the projection screen, in plain view, was a Japanese flag crossed with a checkered flag. Large kanji painted on the aerodynamic front hood proclaimed the words "Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club" with the stylishly written "Taiyo-no-Kinetsu" painted underneath. There were dents and rips in the chassis of the racer. Their solar racer, the crowd noted with gathering jubilation. 

All sense of reserve being thrown to the winds, an indescribable roar of approval welled up from the Japanese crowd, now filled with awe and pride.

 And in the cockpit, grinning...

"KEIICHI!!!!" Belldandy screamed at the top of her lungs. Everybody in a ten-meter radius of her responsively covered their ears, her loud shout of joy piercing air and bone alike, even louder than the deafening roar of the throng. After a five-second pause for their hearing to come back, the N.I.T. Motor Club members started whooping it up.

"Ah can't believe it!" Tamiya screamed, squatting down and falling on his back, utterly stunned. Belldandy looked at her younger sister Skuld, whose sweet face was streaming with tears, her hand in front of her mouth in cryptic shock. She looked at her older sister Urd who was crying with a beaming smile on her face.

"I told you he would win!!! I told you!" Urd managed to get out before another bout of sobs shook her frame.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

A moment earlier, Megumi had been straining her eyes watching that corner. She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when she saw the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu speed around the corner.

"It can't be," she thought. A few seconds later, she was instantly rooted to the spot as it was unmistakably Keiichi. An electric wave of shock tingled her from head to toe.

"WE WON! Wewonwewonwewonwewon!" she shouted, right before Belldandy's ear-shattering scream. As her hearing cleared, Megumi thought, "I bet he heard that!" She looked over to see Ootaki swinging his leather jacket above his head, jumping up and down with triumph.

"I'm soooo proud of you, onii-chan," Megumi thought, her eyes rimmed with tears.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

In the N.I.T. boardroom, Dr. Kintaro and a host of elderly faculty and deans had been glued to the TV set, craning their necks. It was utterly inconceivable that a bunch of kids at their college had built and raced a car that was in position to possibly win this prestigious event. The elderly N.I.T. President felt a moment of regret at his lackluster send-off speech to the kids. Even if they didn't win the race, they would finish in one of the top two positions.

As the camera showed Keiichi coming down the stretch, the room suddenly hushed with profound shock at what was unfolding on the TV screen. Dr. Kintaro watched as their car flashed past the finish line.

"That's our car!" he said to himself with overwhelming pride.

The N.I.T. President smiled broadly amidst the bursting of animated conversations. Then he yelled and pounded the table with a fist with gleeful abandon.

"They did it!!!! The kids really did it!!! Pass the sake!!!" he shouted. They all joined together in euphoric shouts of "Kampai!!!"...the winning kind of kampai.

"Tomorrow's definitely a school holiday...drink up my friends!" he announced. Tears rimmed his wrinkled eyes as the other faculty members gaped at him in astonishment; the normally reserved and astute President was acting like a college student! It was contagious. He looked at the other members in the room, old men and women who for this brief moment were transformed into reckless youth, tasting the fruits of victory. Staid dignity was set aside just this once as cheering and flying cups filled the room.

In a childish display, Dr. Kintaro shook a second sake bottle vigorously, then uncapped it and sprayed his colleagues. The Dean of Engineering uncorked a bottle and inverted it, dumping its contents over Dr. Kintaro's head while everyone in the room applauded.

"To our Motor Club!" they toasted over and over again.

"This will really put N.I.T. on the map!" Dr. Kintaro exclaimed. "Wait 'til I phone Regent Akira at Tokyo University about that little wager we made!" he told the others; they all burst out in giddy, sarcastic, boisterous laughter. The daunting Tokyo University, one of the most prestigious educational institutes in Japan...their entry didn't even finish the race! And N.I.T.'s had finished FIRST!!!!

"If those kids ever start a auto factory, I'll be the first in line to buy one of their cars!" his niece joked.

"We're really going to have fun with that first place prize!" Dr. Kintaro added, eliciting another round of cheers and sake.

Visions of a new solar energy research facility danced in his head.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Keiichi felt the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu still accelerating as he glimpsed the finish line banner. The music was shifting into a dignified finale: a few seconds later, he sped past the finish line, suddenly dizzy with release as thousands of flashes lit up the dark twilight.

Back at the temple compound, Cevn was crying with joy.

"You did it, Keiichi!" he yelled in the empty house. He was ecstatic with joy, yet he felt saddened by the fact that he wasn't there with his new friends.

"I'll get to experience the full brunt of their joy when they get back here!"

Keiichi flew past the finish line in a blur and slammed on the brakes. There was one more thing to do...

"I can do this!" he said as he became one with his car, expertly pirouetting the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu into a semi-circular sliding stop at the end of the finishing area. He looked ahead and saw the finish banner that he had just passed...then started drumming on the steering wheel with his fingers.

"Cool!!! He did it! A perfect 540!" Megumi thought with astonishment. She remembered hundreds of failed attempts trying to master that maneuver by her older brother, from early childhood days with remote-controlled battery-powered cars to more recent attempts in parking lots and abandoned airstrips.

"You're a slick one, Big Brother!" she thought with pride.

The display of driving prowess drew another deafening roar of appreciation from the crowd. Not only had a Japanese team taken the checkered flag, the driver concluded his race with an unexpected feat of showmanship! All over Japan, millions watching the NHK broadcast reacted with smiles to this display of youthful cheekiness.

Moments later, the N.I.T. Motor Club members were being ushered towards the Winner's Circle by the international sponsors of the race. For their part, the sponsors were flabbergasted at the turn of events. The human-interest angle of a bunch of Japanese college kids proving victorious over a field that included the strongest motoring corporations in the world wasn't lost on them. Some of the sponsors secretly felt that it served the big companies right, especially after the weeks of arrogant posturing by the more prominent corporations.

No amount of corporate money can overcome the spirit of the human heart.

Keiichi pulled the faithful Taiyo-no-Kinetsu up to middle of the Winner's Circle. He was overwhelmed by the spectacle of the crowd, the hundreds of cameras and microphones and men in suits. It dawned on him with the sudden impact of a mudslide...that he'd raced to victory!

"This must be what it's like winning the Indianapolis 500!" he thought. He remembered that this was one of the wishes that had flashed in his mind before he made his fateful decision that day when Bell-chan came into his life. He was almost reluctant to get out of the car; so closely bonded did he feel to the racing machine. Quietly, the music finished on a fading note...

Keiichi pulled the latch and unsealed the cockpit lid. Opening it up, sound and sight assaulted his senses.

"Where is she?" he thought. Disoriented for a moment, he searched the crowd until he found her face. In the middle of the N.I.T. Motor Club group, Belldandy was looking at him with an expression of profound pride and love. They all were. Bell came over and hugged him before he could get out of the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu, crying into his shoulder with relief and joy. He stood up on his seat and pulled her close to him, so close that he thought they would melt together. Tears came to Keiichi's eye as the love of his life hugged him warmly. He saw the looked on each of their faces. Megumi. Skuld. Urd. Tamiya and Ootaki. Sora. Tomohisa. He knew that somewhere out in the crowd, his father and mother were bragging about him right at this moment.

"This is for all of you," he silently dedicated.

He climbed dizzily out of the solar racer and noticed the sponsors waving to the N.I.T. team, ushering them over to the side. A press of humanity pushed him towards them. A famous reporter from NHK began to interview him as a victory wreath was placed around his neck.

Keiichi nervously started rattling off some answers to the onslaught of questions.

"How was the race? When did you think you had a chance to win? What was the most dangerous part of the race?" The press was so hyper, their questions seemed to blend into verbal mush.

Keiichi started crying again and the sponsors urged him back to the group. He saw Tamiya and Ootaki getting the same treatment, being the senior members of the club. They weren't faring any better than he did; the large-hearted emotions were too overwhelming for everyone.

After posing for what seemed like an eternity while photographers flashed away, the winners were escorted up onto a dais. With spotlights on them all, each was given a victory wreath. Then several men approached them with a huge trophy.

Every N.I.T.M.C.C. member gasped at their initial vision of the trophy. It was a beautiful work of art, much more than a trophy. The base was an oblongated disk of rich dark koa wood. Soaring out of the base was a transparent plexiglass semi-arc at least two meters tall. It looked like an art noveau interpretation of a crescent moon. The middle section of the arc was mounted with a horizontal series of golden streaks of lightning, partly embedded in the arc. At the top of the transparent arc rested a brilliant platinum sun with spires of gold representing sunrays.

They all crowded around it and every member of the team held it above them. The crowd responded with another loud roar.

The Solar Federation president ascended to the rostrum and began his speech:

"On behalf of the International Federation for Solar Energy Research, we present the Championship Trophy to the N.I.T. Motor Club, from Japan! It is most significant that the victors hail from the host country of this year's race. The challenge of building efficient solar powered vehicles is more than an ecological necessity. Despite the fact that this new technology appears to be at odds with the established easier and softer means of transportation, the impossible is becoming possible through the efforts of participants such as those who raced today.

"The team which finished in first place exemplifies the infatiguable spirit of the human heart. Their entry wasn't powered by excessive budgetary allowance...it was fueled by the ingenuity and the grittiness of sheer emotion. The fact that a team of college students were able to emerge victorious in this race bodes well for those who would place optimistic expectations upon the shoulders of the next generation of engineers and designers.

The International Federation for Solar Energy Research is honored to present this year's sponsorship award to Nekomi Technical Institute, representing the donations of hundreds of organizations who believe in the viability of solar power."

This brought on a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd, who had remained for the awards ceremony.

A moment later group of jacketed sponsors relieved them of the trophy, setting it down in front of the group.

"Do we get tuh keep it?" Tamiya asked, bringing a round of nervous laughter.

The President of the sponsors continued with his speech as a group of sponsors brought a symbolic oversized check. He extolled the numbers of sponsors invested in solar energy despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, blah blah blah. Then two attendants ascended the dais with a large outsized check, clearly for display to the live audience.

Megumi gasped as she saw all the zeros on the check.

"On the behalf of our multinational consortium of partners, we present a grant for solar energy research to Nekomi Institute of Technology for the sum of six billion yen! And to further show our gratitude, we have decided in the midst of these unusual circumstances to underwrite the full academic costs for each Motor Club member who wishes to continue their education at N.I.T!"

Keiichi looked around at his fellow Motor Club members, stunned by the amount that the president had announced. The sponsors of the race had kept mum about the cash award. He and his friends had all severely underestimated the amount of prize money for winning this race. These guys were serious about solar energy research!

Keiichi glanced at Megumi as the crowd roared in approval. In a space of a few seconds, every Motor Club member had scanned the faces of the other members to register their reactions. They all were stunned again...then the realization sank in, resulting in a series of grins and cheering.

Scholarships for all!!!

Megumi teased Keiichi about being one year behind him in school as a sophomore. Keiichi didn't care, this was another awesome twist of fate! Sora was happiest of all, because she was only a freshman; the only other frosh being Genji.

"S..six b..billion y..yen!" Ootaki said in frank shock. "Dr. Kintaro and all those old geeks are going to have multiple heart attacks!"

"Yah...we betta get A's in all of our courses for dis!" Tamiya shouted, stepping in front of the camera to send his message clearly.

The group was escorted to a makeshift press studio for question and answers. The interviews were grueling, as questions ranged from the utterly inane to the technically specific. The club members, seated as a panel at a long table, were already exhausted. Around 12:30 a.m., they climbed back into the mini-bus to travel back to Makuhari. On the bus ride home, Keiichi described the unusual finish to the race.

"It was absolutely incredible! I had to fight to gain every inch on the others. Then, I tried to pass the third place guy, we collided side-to-side a few times. The cassette player fell loose from the dash, and this incredible music started playing. All of a sudden, I was flying ahead of the other car, going uphill! I could swear the car was responding to the music. On the last drive downhill, the music got louder and faster, and the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu kept going faster. Faster than she should have gone. At least, we didn't plan for her to go so fast. Next thing I knew, we were screaming by the European car...the guy looked like he was going to choke on his udon, we passed him so fast!" Belldandy reacted to his description of the anomalous events with a heightened wariness.

"Urd, did you cheat?" she said, looking her sister in the eyes. It made sense for her to ask. Urd had been holed up in her room for days, and then all throughout the race, she was the picture of confidence...while everyone else was in a resigned mood. This was extremely suspicious.

"What? Moi? No! I really mean it! No!!!! I didn't do anything! I have no idea how that could have happened," Urd replied defensively. "You can check my memory, or check the car! I swear on my word that I didn't do anything!" This was good enough for Belldandy. But she wondered about the tape.

"Keiichi, do you have that tape?" she asked.

"Nope. I think it got lost in all of the excitement...I don't know what happened to it," he answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Didn't Cevn-san give you that tape?" Skuld asked. Belldandy had forgotten completely about the cassette, as this day had been so intense.

They discussed the day's events excitedly, and then they saw the familiar outline of the Makuhari Exhibition Center and Grounds, brightly lit by grounds lights.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I was sitting in the living room, reading a book. No, not that weird book in my bedroom, just a book by Edogawa Rampo. I thought I heard a motorcade of vehicles pull up.

"That must be them," I said to myself as I dashed down the hallway. As soon as the various motors shut off, a clamor of excited voices started, moving towards the house. Keiichi and Belldandy walked in, or rather bounded in, and I hugged them both.

"You guys did it!!"

Megumi bounced into my arms, while Urd gave me a strange sideways glance. Megumi was abubble with excitement as I ruffled her dandelion hair playfully. She related all of her impressions of the day with a rapid-fire narration. Keiichi and Belldandy and the others swarmed around me, telling me about the victory. Several of them even added about how much they missed me. I felt like the room had gone from zero to 150 kph in a matter of seconds. Megumi walked off and brought back a young guy, whom she introduced to me as Genji. Then they both started playfully wrestling and hugging. I caught her eye and winked at her as they started talking animatedly to each other.

The party began, and Urd announced to us that she was breaking out the prize bottles of aged sake she had been storing for such a special occasion.

"Uh oh," I thought tremorously to myself as I felt a major twinge of fear. I had almost forgotten about my headache and bruised face; Urd's kinetic enthusiasm brought it all right back. Everybody was dancing, and the stereo was blaring. Urd poured sake for the celebrants, and my stomach tightened at the memories. Then she turned to me and shook her finger side-to-side, as if to say "uh-uh, none for you". I glimpsed the label on the bottle...it was dated "year four of the reign of Koho"! 1720! She wasn't kidding about the sake being 'aged'.

With an enigmatic smile, Urd went to the refrigerator and grabbed me a lemonade soda. Keiichi walked over and teased me.

"We're lucky you're not drinking tonight!"

"No way! That is the ultimate bad idea of a joke, Keiichi!" I said as I managed a smile-cum-grimace.

"But I'll let you by just this once, if you tell me that you played that tape I gave you on the way home after you won." Keiichi's face went flat for an instant. He told me about how the tape started up accidentally and how the Taiyo-no-Kinetsu drove faster, as if the tape had somehow caused a burst of energy in her motor.

"Sounds bizarre," I commented. We talked some more, and then I went to each Motor Club member to hear his or her version of the "miracle" as Tamiya termed it.

The party began to taper down around 4 am; many of the club members were just leaving. Most of the guys were going to a little thing Ootaki had set up at the Men's Dorm with some 'geisha'. I jokingly reminded him about the dorm's rule concerning women, with more than a hint of humor.

Belldandy and Keiichi joined me, and then Urd and Skuld came over. We formed a little circle in the corner of the room, as the remaining club members had gone to sleep on the extra futons we had provided. Belldandy suggested in a serious voice that we all go outside to talk.

I felt a little apprehensive at this. Why did we have to leave the house at the end of a victory celebration? We arranged ourselves in a row on the porch facing the garden, Keiichi next to Belldandy, and Urd and Skuld on either side of me. Belldandy looked at me with probing eyes.

"Did you do anything with the race that might be considered...cheating?" she asked tersely.

"What!?" This question totally caught me off guard. Suddenly I felt defensive.

"No! What do you mean, cheating? I didn't even go near the solar racer yesterday!" I sensed my relaxed mood getting spun out, as if caught in an unraveling vortex. I tried to regain my breath as Urd and Skuld started pouring on the questions.

"Hey you guys, I feel like I'm being put on trial. Can you let me calm down before the inquisition continues?" I said irritably.

After a moment, Skuld asked if I had seen Mara lurking about. I told her that I watched the race on TV, then a bit of the press conference. After that, I read a book. During the whole time, there hadn't even been a hint of Mara.

Urd made a comment about how I looked like hell, with my face all bruised and puffed up. Belldandy shushed her and continued.

"Can you tell me more about the tape you made for Keiichi?"

"There's not much to tell," I reflected as I explained to her how I had woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep. I had went to the room they had set aside for as my 'hobby room' and I noticed that the musical instruments were already set up; I couldn't remember finishing the setup the day before.

"It was weird. There was this sign I had never seen before on the door that said 'Cevn's Studio'. Inside, all the gear, and I mean all the gear, had been set up by somebody. So I started playing around with the keyboards. After that, I sensed some music coming into my head and I just played it. It sounded all right, so I recorded it to the computer. What are you guys so worried about?"

"You mean you made that tape? That's your own music on it...not something you dubbed off a CD or MiniD?" Keiichi asked in a voice filled with curiosity.

Belldandy leveled with me. She mentioned the mysterious burst of energy that aided Keiichi to win the race. The fact that everyone in the Motor Club had dreamed about music in some way the past night. How Urd's mood had suddenly improved despite her license suspension. That she herself had listened in her dreams to a kind of music that shouldn't be heard while she was here with Keiichi, on the plane of existence she called the "Earthrealm."

"And you think I have something to do with this, because I played some music and gave Keiichi a tape? Ahhhh, now I see!" I felt relieved, now that I wasn't being accused of any wrongdoing. They still looked worried.

"Is there any chance you can recreate the music. We want to hear the music on the tape again," Skuld asked.

"It's on the computer," I replied, still attempting to grasp what this was all about. With that, we all went to my music room. I looked for the file on the computer. It was gone! I felt shocked and violated. The outpourings of my creativity in the form of music were very personal. And the music I had composed last night...it was by far the best musical work I had ever created. It was as close to perfection as I could ever get.

"It's...not here! I know I saved it onto the hard drive!" I looked up at them with panic in my eyes.

"Take it easy, Cevn. I don't think you did anything weird. Think for a moment. How could it have gotten lost?" Keiichi said, trying to calm me down. I was still very upset with the loss, despite the celebratory air that lingered over me and the others. But then I located some of the backing samples and loaded them.

"Here, I'll play it for you. I can remember it note for note. Make yourselves comfy," I said, trying to feign comfortability. The four sat on the two futons at the back of the room while I started playing.

I felt like a switch had been turned on somewhere in my mind; a circuit that bridged the gap between abyss of creativity and veil of consciousness. The music flowed from my being as I pictured myself being space, limitless, at one with all reality. I saw crystal geysers of sunlit rainbows and clouds of stars carpeting a lush green forest of smiles. I heard Urd exclaim something...

"That's the God's Music!" she repeated as I finished, the flight of imagination halted.

Keiichi was leaning back against the wall, his eyes closed with an expression of relaxed pleasure on his face. Skuld was looking at me strangely, with a gentle smile. Belldandy had her eyes closed, as if she was engaged in a meditation or trance. I looked to Urd, who was looking at me with a soft warm light in her eyes and a calming smile.

All was subdued for a couple of moments. Belldandy opened her eyes and looked at Urd. Something silent and secretive seemed to pass between them. She turned to me and spoke in a quiet voice.

"That music...what you just played...it is the sound of Heaven. We call it the God's Music. Only the Almighty can create it. Only the Gods can hear it." Skuld looked like she was thunderstruck by the implications of what Belldandy had just said.

"But...that's ridiculous! I didn't know that it could be played only by Him! Is He here? How could Cevn know about it?" The questions poured out of Skuld like a crisp spring brook.

Keiichi seemed to waken from his serene state. His brown eyes were warm and calm as he matter-of-factly confirmed everyone's guess.

"That was the music I heard in the race while I was driving," he said softly. Belldandy knitted her eyebrows in thought, then wondered aloud.

"If that was the God's Music, then could the Almighty be here, having a hand in all of this? It is utterly impossible and incomprehensible that a mortal or a God could reproduce this kind of music."

"So why don't you just ask Him?" I suggested with more than a little frippery. My insides were fraying towards emotional obscurity. Physically, I was already weakened from the beating Tamiya had given me when Mara had possessed my body. The very suggestion that the Almighty was involved in some way...felt overwhelming. Suddenly, the thought occurred to me that I was involved in matters way out of my league.

"Maybe...I shouldn't play any more music," I said in a worn-out flatbed voice. Urd confronted me sharply.

"That's not any kind of solution, Cevn! Why don't you play something new, something you can just make up right here and now. Spontaneous, y'know. Then that'll prove that you didn't have anything to do with playing the God's Music and then we can investigate this thing further tomorrow." She yawned and added, "Besides, I want to hear how insufferable mortal music is in comparison to the God's Music."

"Thanks a lot for slamming my creative labors, Urd!" I said indignantly. Surprisingly, Urd seemed to flash a moment's guilt in her eyes. Once more, her impulsivity had led to another ill-timed criticism or insult. I felt a brief flame of anger, then it passed and I decided that I would give it a try.

"OK, Urd, if you need any proof, I'll try and give it to you. But please try to have some respect for my soundcraft, why don't ya!" Urd stuck her tongue out at me.

I played "Ode to Joy" and Urd shouted "That's not it!"

"Of course not, you idiot, it's Beethoven!" Keiichi said, barely suppressing a burst of laughter. Then I played "Eine Klein Nachtmusik" and Klaus Schultze's "Timewind".

"That's good, but no way is that the God's Music!" Urd responded.

"No, it's Mozart. I just wanted to offer you a couple of examples of human music for the sake of comparison." Skuld was looking at me impatiently; her arms tightly crossed with an expression of boredom on her face. I started playing what was in my heart. Once more I felt swallowed by time and space. After what seemed like only a few minutes, I finished...still lost in my feelings.

"Oh....my!" Belldandy exclaimed.

"There, you guys. You see, that first one was a fluke. I'm just a pedestrian who can occasionally walk across the street while carrying a tune in my head. Nothing like what you just heard from several of our great composers..." I started, until Urd interrupted me.

"Cevn...I don't think so!" Animatedly, she continued.

"That music you just played, it's even better than what I heard last night! It's definitely the Music of the Heavens!" She looked at her sisters, who seemed spellbound. They both nodded their heads. I looked up to see Belldandy and Skuld staring at me with expressions fixed with a frankling awe.

"This must be someone's idea of a sick joke!" I warily opined. I noticed that Skuld seemed a little nervous at that. Suddenly, I felt nauseous, as my headache drilled into my skull.

"Sorry...but I really have to get to sleep. I feel terrible."

"Oh Cevn, we forgot..." Belldandy looked apologetically at me. 

"Don't stress it, I forgot it too!" I said, referring to the aftermath of several super-Tamiya punches.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Keiichi saw that Cevn and the others looked as exhausted as he felt. He excused himself to go to his room. This day had utterly drained him; he had given his all during the race. He flicked his nightlamp off and slowly climbed under his blanket, glad to be home and in his comfy futon.

"No way am I going to make it to school tomorrow!" he thought as he started to drift off to a well-earned slumber.

A few minutes later, Skuld and Belldandy both left "Cevn's Studio" with tired smiles on their faces. Skuld climbed into her futon bed and fell asleep right away. Belldandy was still awake, looking at the stars through her window. She slipped quietly out of her room.

Keiichi woke up. He reached over to check his alarm and bumped something.

Something soft.

He looked closer and gasped when he saw his beloved Belldandy laying next to him in her nightrobe. He covered his mouth with a muffled "Eeeep!" Belldandy rolled over to face him and put a finger on his lips.

"Shhhh, Keiichi-san. We don't want Skuld or Banpei finding me here, do we?" A huge awkward feeling gripped him all of a sudden. Belldandy was sure being brave! He started shaking nervously; then stopped himself with a grittoothed effort. All this time...and he hadn't ever slept with Belldandy in the same bed! His mind raced dizzily. To make matters worse, she sat up in the futon bed and started to undo her sleeping robe.

"No! W..wait! No!!!" he whispershouted.

"No what, silly? I'm wearing my pajamas, of course! What did you think I had on underneath?" Belldandy teased. Keiichi sighed with visible relief and invisible disappointment as she pulled off her robe, revealing a pair of silk pajamas. He was still shaking with...

"Whatever!" he said to himself, trying to slow his racing thoughts so he could enjoy the moment.

"It's okay, Keiichi-san. I was thinking during the race. About all the time we have been together...about how we really know each other so well. While you were driving, I wondered what I would do if you got hurt..." Her voiced started to shake as she said this.

"Bell-chan, you shouldn't worry about such things," Keiichi tried to comfort her, seeing the conflicting emotions in her eyes. Her blue eyes teared up at his concern. Sensing the delicacy of her mood, Keiichi held his breath as Belldandy continued.

"After the race, I just thought that we should get...a little closer, irregardless of what Skuld thinks," she said, pinning his heartbeat with her eyes. Her voice seemed to gain resolve.

"Keiichi, I love you with all of my heart, and I want to be here, with you, at this moment. I don't want to be anywhere else!" she announced with a husky, sensuous whisper.

Keiichi looked at her with his mouth agape.

Belldandy kissed him gently on the nape of his neck, running her fingers through his hair gently. She looked at his eyes softly and lovingly.

"Such wonderful eyes!" she told herself once again. Keiichi felt himself spiraling upwards into a blissful state as he looked in her eyes; he took her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead.

"Let's get some sleep, Bell-chan." He wrapped his arms snugly around her shoulders as she rolled over. He pulled the blanket tight around her to tuck her in. She scooted up close to him, causing him a brief pulse of panic.

Belldandy crossed her arms over his and pulled them tighter to her bosom as Keiichi's breathing became quiet. Belldandy felt the rhythm of his breath lightly caressing her hair as he slept; with a smile, she joined him in his dreams.

Urd returned to "Cevn's Studio" after Cevn went to his bedroom. She didn't know what to say or do. She so much loved music. She reflected on this enamorment, smiling to herself as she remembered that this was the major reason why she fell in love with Troubadour. But that was in the past.

The Past.

Urd felt the familiar pangs of sadness every time this particular strand of thought crossed her mind.

"The Past, always the damned Past!" she cursed in a low voice. Once more, she was reminded of the fact that there would be no more...

She looked down, sadness hanging over her like tendrils of ivy. Waves of sorrow shook her, and she fought back tears.

"But this," she told herself, "is impossible! Cevn can't be playing the God's Music." But there it was--the music she had heard so sparingly in her life. It reminded her of better, happier days in Yggdrasil. It reminded her of life, love, laughter, and carefree innocence. A romance of her earlier life touched her as she looked over the racks of musical equipment.

Urd silently watched the sun brighten the room, then decided to go to bed. Back in her room, she noticed that her sister was gone.

"At last!" she thought with long-awaited satisfaction. In her mind, she visualized her sister and Keiichi...getting hot and sexy! A devious grin stretched her face. Always the curious one, with a smile of anticipation she tiptoed down the hall and stood outside the door to Keiichi's room, listening for gasps and moans of passion.

Nothing!

Hearing no sounds of loveplay, she shuddered dejectedly.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I missed it! After all this time, I missed it!" she mentally anguished, silently pounding her fists on an imaginary desk with deep frustration. Urd regrouped and considered her options, her frown melting into a mischievous grin.

"I've gotta have a peek. One peek won't hurt..." she whispered to herself as she stealthily slid the shoji open a sliver. Looking in Keiichi's room, Urd saw the two sleeping. Keiichi was in his pajamas...holding Belldandy, who was in her pajamas. At least she was curled tightly next to him as the river hugs a riverbed. There was hope; perhaps the body heat would do its work in the morning, causing the two to shed their clothes.

Urd wanted to stick her tongue out at the sleeping pair...until she saw the betranced smile on her sister's face, faintly visible in the early sun dawn.

"You guys..." she mumbled. She felt happy for her sister, but also sensed the bittersweet feeling that came whenever she thought about...

Urd cautiously slid the door shut. She walked down the hall and opened Cevn's door. He was sound asleep. She sat down next to him, watching his chest rise and fall.

"The essence of life couches itself with quietude," she thought, referring to his near-silent breathing. Species whose somnambulant breathing was loud...simply didn't survive the rigors of evolution.

Then she noticed the bruises on his face again. She closed her eyes and passed her hand over his head several times while reciting a healing spell. When she opened her eyes, his face was healed. She smiled and stroked his long hair gently.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. She lingered a moment longer, then stood up and left him there sleeping. With one final glance, she slid the door shut and went to her room.