Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Trial By Tenderness ❯ Part 11 - Illumination ( Chapter 11 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Part 11: Illumination



They say that anesthesia is a dreamless state...but I was experiencing vivid dreamforms. A crackling sound surrounded me as I heard a booming voice taunting us. A moment later, a barbwire lasso encircled me and dragged me away from the others. I heard the repeated sound of shredded cloth as I was gasping for breath. The air became thick...I was swimming in a thrashing manner in a watery grove. Every time I attempted to surface for air, I was bounded by a glass plate that seemed to float on the surface of the sulfide liquid. My lungs ballooned out with fiery agony...and then I was surrounded by hellfire. I still felt like I was drowning as I pushed against the solid flames. My whole body was burning...then I choked on a nauseous blanching of my surroundings. Everything was white...a maddening inobjective white. Then a calm descended on my as I felt myself gathered up...
When I awakened, my skull felt like the grinding of tectonic plates. That was the only image I could slipslap together to describe the terrible headache that devoured me into wakefulness. Things didn't really seem different...except that the area around my eyes felt like pins and needles in contrast to the tooth-gnashing pain of my headache. After a moment of regaining orientation, I remembered that Urd and Skuld had 'operated' on my eyes. I sat up, impulsively drawn towards untying the strip of cloth that served as a blindfold/bandage. I heard a light thump on the wooden floor near my head.
"NO! Don't you touch that!" Senrigan yelled at me in a high pitched voice. "It needs to set for a couple of days!"
"Senrigan! How long have you been here?" I asked. Having a visit from any of the three Ninjettes was an uncommon occurrence. The three were remarkably conspicuous...in their absences. They usually banded together and practiced their martial artistry inconspicuously.
"Duh...they're ninjitsu-ko," I chastened myself, realizing that stealth was their primary modus...and Senrigan probably wouldn't answer me.
"Since the end of your surgery, Cevn!" she replied, to my surprise.
"And I suppose that if I attempt to take this wrap off of my face, you'll chop my fingers off one by one!" I joked with her, to cover up my disappointment at not being able to check my vision.
"Yeah, I guess so. But actually, I would just break your knuckles with my wooden katana!" she said matter-of-factly. "Mistress Skuld asked us to keep an eye on you. Kodama and Hikari are here too."
"I suppose Gon is with you too?" I said flippantly, referring to the foot-tall tiny dino terror from another manga.
"Nope. He's in Australia right now!" Hikari snapped back.
"You gotta be kidding!" I thought with private exasperation. In my mind, I supposed Batman to be hanging out in Shinjuku...and Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry were going to be enrolled in next year's N.I.T. freshman class! This whole scene was getting even stranger. I reminded myself that I was talking to three one-foot tall female Ninjas, even if I couldn't see them.
"We understand your desire to discover if your vision has been restored Cevn, but you must not take off your eye covers. Urd put a lot of chemically stuff in there to ensure that you heal all right!" Hikari emphasized.
"And I tied a *secret* knot in the back of your blindfold so that you won't be able to undo it! If you attempt to untie it, it'll only get tighter," said Kodama with an air of pride.
"And if you so much as try to pull it off of your eyes, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to practice mist and breeze cutting techniques on your hands!" added Hikari.
"It's only for your own good Cevn," Kodama reminded me.
"Okay, okay, I get the point! In triplicate!" I said good-humoredly.
"So, do you three feel that Skuld and Urd were successful?" I asked hopefully.
"Yes, as far as we can tell. Everything, and I mean *every thing* went okay, according to Skuld," Senrigan said with obvious pride.
"By the way, Urd and Skuld slept in here last night while we kept watch," Kodama added. I felt a sense of anxiety with this; until she assured me that Urd hadn't done anything 'perverse' with me.
"Don't worry, Cevn. We were briefed on the fact that you go scaredycat around women...so we made sure that nothing happened," all three chimed.
"How did you..?" I stuttered. I was about ready to ask Kodama how exactly they knew about my hypersensitivity to women when the three Ninjettes broke into praise for Skuld and Urd being so vigilant during the surgery.
"Since Urd's powers are limited because of her license suspension, it took almost all of her energy when she split into four of herself. She's sleeping it off right now," Hikari informed me.
"And Skuld...she never broke her concentration once, except when she came to a point where she could take a break. Then she would report to Megumi about how you were doing," Senrigan added.
I considered Urd for a moment. Urd was the perpetual 'black sheep' in the household mix; always arousing suspicion because of her reckless nature and impulsivity. Yet, I had occasionally glimpsed another aspect of Urd--a side of her that was conscientious and self-sacrificing. Which facet of her personality would I gravitate towards when adjudging her? How many dimensions could a personality have before it was simply deemed 'eccentric' or 'deranged' by those who would prefer the monotony of uniform character?
I could only guess at the intricacies of their efforts. I appreciated the superhuman diligence these two had undertaken on my behalf. Superhuman was a misnomer, as these two were *Goddesses*! So I mentally termed it "super-Goddess."
In any case, I felt favored by the fates.
"Cevn, if I possessed a fully developed set of powers, I would have just restored your vision. I know someday...I'll make Goddess First Class!" I heard a new voice state. Skuld had entered my room and sleepily asked how I was feeling.
"Skuld, you're already capable of creating miracles! In fact, the fact that you're here on the Earth is a miracle itself," I consoled her. I felt a hand pat me on the head and I teased her.
"Hey, don't treat me like a kid!" I said in a boyish falsetto, which drew a series of cheerful giggles from Skuld and the Ninjettes. Skuld's giggles were very dainty and girlish; the sound of them ushered an elan which threaded the gateways of my heart. Skuld and I discussed our captivity under Mara, and then talked about Keiichi and Belldandy. She sounded really tired, so I suggested that she go back to bed. She excused herself, but returned a moment later.
"Here's someone who's been wanting to talk to you!" she said, then left. I heard soft footsteps as someone sat down on a tatami mat next to me.
"Cevn, how are you?" I heard the blend of optimism and concern in Megumi's voice. I replied that I was doing fine, just a little drained physically.
"Megumi, you can't believe how impatient I am about wanting to see if this whole operation thing was a success."
"I can imagine!" she assented. "By the way I have something for you." She read get-well card that my Asian History class had sent. She tried to repress laughter at the irony of it all, as they all thought (with the exception of Sora, Tamiya, Ootaki) that I was under the care of an eye specialist in Tokyo. When I heard Ootaki's message, I couldn't help but burst out in laughter. After she finished, she started discussing a more serious matter.
"Cevn, I have something serious to talk to you about. I need a guy's input on this. Especially since he's my adopted older bro."
"Okay. I can't argue with *that*."
"After the solar race, Genji has been totally avoiding me. It's like...he's afraid of me, somehow! I just *don't know* how to read him! So many of the guys at school have been hitting up on me...which made me think that he would, as well. Instead, he's been acting pretty withdrawn. Grr...he even actually *avoids* me!" she finished, her voice quivering with frustration.
On a hunch, I asked Megumi about how things were going with Sayoko; she said that Sayoko had been missing a lot of school.
"How is she when she's at school?" I asked.
"Why are you so interested in Sayoko? It's Genji who is the problem here!" Megumi answered.
"Just favor me for a moment, Megumi."
"Anyway, Sayoko acts like she isn't even there! At lunch, she's either totally quiet or rowdy. The other day, she fell asleep right in the middle of lunch. And Friday, she pitched an orange juice at Tamiya...when all he did was ask her why she was so moody."
"That's pretty intense," I commented. I felt my suspicions becoming aroused at this strange behavior on the part of Sayoko. Strange...yet familiar.
"Actually, I think that she's suffering from something much worse than PMS, Megumi. Tell me more..."
"What does this have to do with me and Genji!" she repeated.
"A lot...possibly," I answered enigmatically. Megumi told me how she was dressing sloppier than usual. Two years ago, Sayoko had been impeccable in her attire and accessories; now she appeared completely unconcerned about her hair and clothes. Megumi listed a whole series of minutiae that had changed in Sayoko this term: frequently tired in appearance; disinterested in school and the N.I.T. social scene; out late; secretive; unwilling to go shopping with Megumi and her friends; not interested in guys; often sullen in mood; disruptive at inappropriate times. She had even dropped out of her art club unexpectedly. In Megumi's esteem, Sayoko was short-tempered and sometimes disoriented to what was going on around her.
"That's so very familiar!" I mentally reflected. These patterns of personality pointed towards Sayoko possibly having a drug problem. In the manga, she was portrayed as having a propensity to get heartily intoxicated. Drunkenness in Japan is socially tolerated to a greater degree than in the US, because inebriates in Japan usually didn't act out as much. They acted out, but in an accommodating way for the most part. But Sayoko seemed to have crossed the line where a benevolent attitude could be employed towards her behavior. She was actually increasing in violence and belligerence, per what Megumi was relating to me.
"Megumi, I have a hunch that Genji is in some way shielding his sister," I explained.
"How?" she asked with astonishment at my 'random' comment. "That doesn't make sense."
"Well, this is only a series of assumptions on my part, but I'll try and cast it in a logical sequence. First, let's assume that Sayoko isn't just getting drunk...that somehow she is on drugs as well."
"What! Her? No way!" Megumi retorted in disbelief.
"Stay with me, Megumi. Remember that I used to be an active drug addict, so I know some of the patterns which indicate addiction. Let's just flow with this guesswork and see where it leads us, okay? Imagine for a moment that Keiichi was somehow in deep trouble...and you knew it. What would you do? Would you want him to get caught or would you cover up for him?"
"I would cover up for him, of course!" she answered with ready conviction. As a matter of fact, I was fully aware that she *had been* covering up for him in at least one matter...the fact that he was living under the same roof as his girlfriend. If their parents found out...
"Okay. If we assume that Genji knows that his sister's up to some kind of trouble with drugs, don't you think he would do the *same* thing? That he would want to cover up for her to protect her from the consequences?" I asked. She nodded her head in agreement.
"Now, in order for him to do this, it would be vital that he avoid drawing unwanted attention to himself or her."
"Why?"
"Because it saves Sayoko from getting in trouble...and it keeps him from being embarrassed. By exposing his friends to her, Genji risks the possibility of being embarrassed by his older sister! Who would want to hang out with her if she's loaded on drugs? Or him? Especially since she's been acting like a powder keg--waiting to explode!"
"Ahhhh. I think I understand. Could this be why Genji is so standoffish at school?" Megumi said with dawning insight in her voice.
"Precisely, if my guess is right! What's more, he must *really* like you, because it seems like he's going to *extra* lengths to push you away. He knows that if you get close to him, you'll find out about Sayoko...and she'll wind up in deep sushi. Or even that you might get hurt by her if she is out of control...which would hurt *him* as well."
"He must really be hurting," Megumi said in a quiet sad voice.
"That isn't the half of it. Imagine having your family life totally disrupted by a drug addict. Families are systems which require a delicate balancing act of the emotions. Genji would have to take up the slack because she's irresponsible; have to deal with her moodiness at home; have to worry about her growing disinterest in everything around her. That *alone* would really suck!
"Add to this a sense of personal frustration at being powerless to do anything to help her. Further, if she's involved with drugs, she's more than likely involved with thugs. Maybe even yakuza. Cap it off with the unenviable position of having to push away the girl that you're attracted to...because you want to protect her, yourself and your sister! My suspicion is that this is pretty much an inside peek into what's going on with Genji--assuming that I'm right about Sayoko."
"That's...that's *horrible*!" Megumi exclaimed, her voice fraught with deep frustration and sadness.
"What can we do?" she asked desperately.
"Well, for now, we stay with our plan to go view a Noh play with Genji. I'll subtly seek to find out *exactly* what he knows about Sayoko. I can probably do this without even alerting him to the fact that I suspect his sister's abusing drugs. In the meantime, you need to keep a close eye on her at school, so that you can keep me aware of any further developments."
"Then what?"
"Then I'm going to talk to her and do something called an intervention. I'm going to lay it all out on the line, and threaten to inform the Dean of Students and get her expelled. While I do that, I'll do some therapy on her to see what caused her to sink into her problems so deeply. In other words, I'll look to learn why she's screwing up *now*, instead of last year or next term," I explained. "What you could do to help is to wait until after the Noh event, then hang around Genji and get him ready. I would like it if you and he both sit in when I pound Sayoko's nail," I added.
"Are you sure that it would be a good idea for me to be there?"
"Yep. Definitely, Megumi! You're stronger emotionally than Genji...and Sayoko would see you as an near-equal. Genji is her brother; so you'd be in a position to support what he says. As her teacher, I would be in the authority role, which she'll probably react to with defiance. So, if we end up doing an intervention, it's really important that you're there...as her peer. As a friend. Don't worry, I'll meet with both of you beforehand to prepare you for it," I assured her.
"I...I think I can do all that. As a matter of fact, I was a good debater in high school, so I would be able to counterargue Sayoko's excuses. We were pretty good friends until Belldandy came and started going out with Keiichi three years ago. Back in high school, I didn't know that Sayoko was *so wrapped up* in my brother...she sure has taken it hard," she explained, giving me some history at the same time.
"And you can become good friends again, I hope. She'll probably be royally hissy pissed at you initially. But if she realizes that she needs to get her act together and clean up, then she'll really appreciate your help later on."
I felt her hair brush against my cheek as she hugged me gingerly. I smiled at her and she thanked me for my help.
"You're something else, Cevn! Here you are the day after your surgery, and you already want to help me! Thank you so much!"
I heard the door slide open and shut. I was grateful that Megumi had come to share her problems with me. I desperately needed to focus away from my own share of woes; it was a stroke of luck that she had come in to talk to me. Not to mention that I was appreciative of her concern towards me.

* * * * * * * *

Keiichi stirred towards wakefulness at the crack of dawn; he smiled as he heard the chorus of birdcalls. He looked next to him and noticed that Belldandy was already awake and outside the tent, immersing herself in the natural vista. He stretched and yawned, then sat up and let himself relax. The sleep had been one of the most restful ones he had in a long time. Getting dressed, he was invigorated by the fresh air and emerged from the tent with a stretching of his arms. The woods smelled so verdant and clean!
As he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, he reflected on how nice it was to simply be *away*. He was still being hounded from time to time by reporters interested in his perspective of the Solar Car victory. His fame had dispossessed his privacy to a degree; he was often cast in the role of celebrity, even if he simply wanted to just be himself. Fortunately, here in the park, he hadn't been accosted by some fan seeking an interview or an autograph...
Belldandy was sitting on a tree stump, dressed in her flannel shirt and jeans, watching the sunrise. Grinning at the clouds, she revisited her ploy last night with Keiichi. The look in his eyes was priceless when she took off her shirt. Being a Goddess, she was used to being an object of desire; after all, almost all the wishes she granted were cast by mortals desperate for succor or miracles. Yet, the way Keiichi wanted her last night...was entirely different. His desire enflamed *her* heart, much to her surprise.
"This sexual thing that he has...must really be important!" she said to herself with a giggle...then flinched as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She hoped her dear Keiichi hadn't overheard what she just said. Evidently not, as he kissed her on the top of her head, then gently rocked her from side to side as the sun peeked over the alpestrine horizon. She smelled the delicate fragrance of his hair as he held her, feeling his hands holding her arms close to her heart.
They remained like this until the sky had brightened to a light blue. Then Keiichi unpacked the little stove and made tea for Belldandy while they ate the granola bars and fruit that she had brought.
"Thank you for last night, Bell-chan! I..I never thought you would understand me...and instead, you swept right into my kokoro with your love!" he said as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Keiichi, I will *always* try to believe you, because you *are* honest. What's more, I choose to let myself love you because you're *you*! This means...that I think you are the most special man I have ever met, mortal or God.
"Try to remember this, my love: it's *you* that I am in love with! Even if you don't think I can understand you, please tell me anyway, because I truly *want* to understand. This way, we can create a bridge of intimacy between our two Souls. There's nothing wrong with you wanting to wait...before we share something together...that you feel apprehensive about. I'll be there, waiting with you, *being* with you...until the time is right!" she said, smiling brightly at him, her eyes praising him for his deep love for her.
Keiichi's heartfelt expression inked her character with a blossoming of the rapt gratitude that could only be shared within the deepest of companionships.

* * * * * * * *

After breakfast, Keiichi went and filled the canteen with water, then strapped on a backpack. Taking Belldandy by the hand, they set off into the woods with a trail. One of the highlights of the Oko-Nikko area was a statue of Kannon-bosatsu in the Chuzenji Temple. They were going to hike there first, then trek around the end of the lake to the Chuzenji Shrine. After visiting the shrine, they had planned to take the four-hour hiking climb up the side of Nantai.
They walked by some lakeside resort cabins, and were glad they had decided to roughcamp it. The resort area was very crowded with families; couples busily boarding rental boats and children playing near the water. Animal-shaped paddleboats abounded. They eventually reached the shrine and Keiichi took a number of photos of it.
After walking around the red-painted hondo, they entered the main hall and beheld the carved Kannon, said to be created by Shodo Shonin himself. Belldandy marveled at the thousand-year old carved wood statue. It had eleven heads and a multitude of arms; an artistic endeavor which was supposed to represent the thousand arms of Kannon the Goddess of Mercy.
Her mischievous streak seemed to be ornamented by Fate...as she felt an impulse to surprise Keiichi...
"Keiichi! Over here!" she shouted musically, inviting his attention. Keiichi turned towards her voice and almost dropped his camera. Belldandy had *assumed the form* of Kannon, and was waving a thousand arms at him. A halo of holy light surrounded her, and she wore a crown of gold. Holy Bell was hovering behind her; her angelic wings providing a backdrop for another thousand arms.
At least she didn't try to pull eleven faces; that would have been *too* much! Then he remembered the crowd of tourists...
"EHHHHPPPP!" was all he could manage, as he furtively looked around with a cliffside panic.
"Well, take a picture, silly!" Belldandy urged him, then stuck her tongue out at him teasingly. He shakily took a quick picture of her, then looked at the other tourists. None of them seemed to be surprised in the slightest. It dawned on him that Belldandy had appeared *only to him* in her altered form. The rest of the tourists just saw a guy taking snapshots of his beautiful girlfriend.
He looked up at the statue of Kannon, and noticed that the central face seemed to wink at him. Shaking his head in confusion, he escorted her out of the temple. As they walked onward, he asked Belldandy why she was acting so glib.
"Well, one good Goddess deserves another, wouldn't you say, Keiichi?!" she replied with a twinkle in her eye. Belldandy wasn't usually very rowdy, yet she couldn't resist playing the occasional prank on her boyfriend.
"He's going to be surprised when he develops the film, and sees an extra photo with his shocked face on it," she thought, then giggled at herself.
Keiichi stopped by the temple bell and pointed it out to her.
"Bell-chan, the legend says that if you make a wish and ring the bell three times, it will come true! Let's each make a wish together and I'll ring the bell!" he said, fully recovered from the Kannon incident. The two closed their eyes for a moment, then Keiichi pulled on the rope, sending the wooden tree trunk into the side of the bell three times.
"Oh Keiichi, I wished that..."
"Bell!!!" he shouted in mock panic.
"What'd I do, Keiichi?" Belldandy answered, an alarmed look on her face.
"Gotcha!" he shouted, then giggled as one of the foreign tourists looked at him oddly...a young Japanese man addressing the temple bell by name? Belldandy saw his expression and put her hand over her mouth, giggling.
"Bell-chan...you're not supposed to tell anyone the wish until it comes true!" he blurted out before breaking into a fit of laughter. "I guess that makes us even!" he said, his eyes atwinkle with mellifluidity.
They rounded the lake, and visited the Chugushijinja Shrine next. Nearby was the Homotsukan museum with its assortment of ancient martial artifacts, which uncomfortably reminded the couple of the attack on them yesterday by the Mara-possessed spearmen. After a brief visit, they returned to the main shrine. Casually strolling around the various shrine buildings and grounds, they passed the Tohai-mon and embarked on the single trail to the summit of Nantai, 2,484 meters above them.
After a couple of hours on the trail, they took a breather when they noticed a trial marker indicating that they had reached the halfway point of the ascent.
Keiichi could feel the coolness of the air...the brisk gusts made him want to put on a jacket. He realized that the air had cooled due to the environmental lapse effect. He excitedly pointed out the highway to Belldandy; the same highway he had raced on during the Solar Car Competition. Belldandy looked at him and smiled as he retraced the loops in the road with animated gestures. The woods were thinning out as they looked up to the summit; but there was still an abundance of trees and foliage visible.
Belldandy sat down and motioned for the canteen. She drank several gulps of water, then passed it to Keiichi, who drank thirstily.
They resumed their ascent. Belldandy found herself looking at Keiichi, curiously wondering what he would look like if he were unclothed. She felt a warm cloud-like sensation spreading in her chest and in her belly as she imagined her boyfriend, lying in the grass...naked in the sun. She shook her head as if to try to clear her senses, then tried to look at the scenery. Her vision was going fuzzy, but in a pleasant, milk-like way. She felt a hot flush spreading all through her body...and when she looked again at Keiichi, she noticed that he was staring at her with a unreadable expression on his face.
Keiichi kept flashing back to the image lodged irrevocably in his mind from last night...seeing Belldandy gloriously prodigious in her partly undressed state in the tent. His eyes fashioned anew an appreciation of the slender gentle curves of her body. He imagined what it feel like caressing her soft skin. He felt his heart pounding rapidly in his chest and noticed that his body was becoming aroused. He stopped in midstep; noticing the flush on her face and what looked like lust in her eyes. Setting down the backpack, he walked towards her...her beautiful figure silhouetted by the mid-afternoon sun.
"I can't wait anymore! *NOW'S* the time, Belldandy!" he near-yelled with desire.
Belldandy looked at Keiichi, desiring him with all of her being, and rushed into his arms. Before she even knew it, she found herself kissing him hotly on the lips, her tongue probing in his mouth and her hands roaming up over his chest.
"I want you...soooo bad...Ke..i...chi!" she said in a sultry voice.
Keiichi felt her pressed up against him and he reached down to pull her even closer. He reached under her shirt and traced his fingers up the skin of her back, then stroked her hair, then ran his hands all over her hips with libidinous abandon.
"What is wrong with me? I'm acting like some sex-starved *maniac*! And she's acting like a cat in heat..." he momentarily wondered as his disorientation increased.
"Keiichi, take me...now! I'm all yours...*all* of me," Belldandy whispered in his ear, pressing up against him as tight as she could. She felt ecstatic in the arms of her one true love!
Atop of the discarded backpack, a mini-Urd was beaming with pride and delight.
"At last! The two romantic fools didn't even think to check the canteen that I exchanged! They didn't notice that it was coated on the inside with powder from a super-Urd Heart Firecracker Potion pill that I cooked up a few months ago! Look at them go! They'll be hot and naked in a few moments! I sure am a stinker, aren't I? Hehehee! Wheeehaaaaa! Yaaahooooooo!" Urd thought. She watched with glee as the two lovers became even more passionate with their kisses and their hands. Then suddenly, the backpack she was in was tipped over by a huge furry object and she tumbled into a small grove of tall grass.
"What!!?" she shouted in a tiny voice, trying to regain her balance.
Keiichi was kissing Belldandy with a prurient revel. He thought he heard a faint elfin voice, then he saw something brown and massive out of the corner of his eye. He reluctantly came up for air from a long passionate kiss and looked over her shoulder. He felt all the hot lust in his blood abruptly bankrupt into a chilly blue whirlwind.

"Awwwwwwwrrrrroooooaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhh!"

"Be..Be..Belldandy...th..there's a *b..bear*. A b...big one!" he said with abject terror. It seemed to hear him, and roared even louder, opening its huge foamy mouth to display a wicked set of yellowed fangs. It was lumbering towards them aright on two legs, towering so tall that it blocked the morning sun.
Instinctively, Keiichi gallantly pulled Belldandy behind him and faced the ursine menace.
Belldandy saw the huge bear and yelled in fright. She had never seen such a large animal before. It looked like a big mastiff dog, but it appeared to be *really* angry. She was stupefied with passion for Keiichi...
She stood rooted to the spot with fear, wrapping her unbuttoned shirt over her chest protectively. Hastily picking up the nearest object she could find, Belldandy threw it at the bear in desperation, trying to drive it away.
"Keiichi, *what* are you doing!?" she screamed with desperate concern as he advanced towards the bear while waving his arms agitatedly. She frantically grabbed the next nearest object, which happened to be the canteen, and took aim at the bear.
"Get out! Go away! Leave us alone!" Keiichi screamed at the bear at the top of his lungs. He continued to try and startle the bear, but without success. Then he saw something fly over his shoulder and hit the bear squarely in chest.
The bear paused as it felt the canteen bounce off of its breast. Instinctively, it dropped to all fours and attacked the canteen, gripping it jawtight and shaking it with predatory vigor. Then it noticed that there was something wet and cool inside of the canteen. Pinning the canteen down with massive paws, the bear bit off the cap and snaked its long tongue inside, lapping up the cool water. Finishing the water, it kicked the canteen aside and stood up on its hind legs again, an embodiment of nature's rage.
Keiichi warily backed away from the bear. His attempts to startle it had failed miserably. As he retreated, he stumbled over something. He reached down and felt his grip close over one of the straps to his backpack. Picking up his backpack, he swung it to and fro with frenzied abandon in front of the bear. The bear effortlessly batted the backpack out of his hands.
Belldandy was too overwrought with lust and fear to realize that she could simply summon a lightning bolt to dispatch the creature. In seconds, she had went from being possessed by the most energetic sexual drive she had ever experienced in her existence...to being frightened out of her wits by towering 4-meter tall bear.
Mini-Urd was too petrified with surprise to do anything either.
The bear advanced on Keiichi with murderous intent gleaming in its Woden eyes.
"Oh shit! T..this is it!" Keiichi thought. With a desperate heave, he pushed Belldandy away and told her to run towards safety. Only several feet away, the bear towered over him, double his height. He could smell the rancid heat of its snorting exhalations. It pushed him roughly to the ground.
"Lie still," he thought, remembering from the far recesses of his mind that if he remained immobile, the bear may think he was dead. "This is my last chance!" he thought as he closed his eyes and stiffened up, pretending to be dead. With a chance thought, he sensed that he was already dead; possessed only by a fright...
"Belldandy, I'll always love you..." he commended to himself silently...and surrendered to the inevitable.
Belldandy had fallen into a heap off to the side when Keiichi pushed her away a full fifteen feet. She turned to see the bear attack Keiichi and push him down. She screamed shrilly and the bear looked up at her for a moment, then back down to Keiichi. Keiichi was pinned underneath two huge furry paws, and he wasn't moving.
"Oh...Keiichi! No *NO* NO!" she yelled hysterically. Her boyfriend was being mauled right in front of her! She saw the bear biting him in the face and nearly fainted from shock. She was so upset that she couldn't stand to look at the horrible sight. She backed up and collapsed under a tree, covered her eyes with her sleeve and cried. Her boyfriend was dead! Guilt flowed through her heart when she realized that he had sacrificed his life for hers.
Keiichi held himself as still as winter's midnight...then felt a warm sloppy wet sensation over his nose and face. It tickled. Then he felt it again and again and again. He couldn't help but start to laugh and kick his legs as the sensation became unbearably titillative. He opened his eyes to see the huge face of the bear, its eyes gentle, its mouth curled up in what appeared to be a grin. It was licking him! He heard a deep moaning sound...and realized that the bear was kissing him!
Belldandy heard Keiichi giggling, and looked up with surprise. The bear was licking him on the face with a puppyish joy! She stopped crying, and watched in amazement as the bear contentedly nuzzled her Keiichi.
"Oh my Lord...thank You! He's alive!" she said gratefully, her rent heart suddenly mended by the sight.
The bear got off Keiichi and slowly approached Belldandy on all fours with its head lowered respectfully. Belldandy tentatively reached out and stroked its face, which was level with her chest. The bear lumbered forward and butted her with its head, pitching her on her back. Before she could react, she too was being licked on the face with abandon by the bear.
"Keiichi...you're...tee..hee...alive!" she managed to say with sincere joy as the bear kept licking her on the face. Its wet tongue was so ticklish! Soon, she was giggling with abandon at the bear's 'kisses'.
Mini-Urd was hangcrested with private humiliation. At first, she was so frightened by the bear's attack on Keiichi that the most she could do was peek from between her fingers while she covered her eyes in horror. Then, the bear turned into lovestruck docility...
Now it was playing with her sister. She was so upset that she was stamping her foot on the ground in anger.
"Of all the..! Ooohhh, this is *unbelievable*! Why do I always have such bad luck! They're almost ready to make some heavy duty whoopie and a freakin' bear comes out of the woods and *ruins everything*! No! No way...it can't be! The goddamned Ultimate Force must be doing this to me!" she exclaimed in frustration. Then she heard *someone else* screaming "No!"
She turned and bugged out some more when she saw a Mini-Mara jumping up and down on the ground in a fit.
"No no no no nonononono!" Mini-Mara yelled as she leapt up and down with each exclamation. "Why?!!! Why me?" Mara screamed as she jumped up and down on the ground some more, then started kicking a nearby tree.
"It was so *perfect*! That mother bear was out for blood and suddenly she drinks from that canteen and turns into a love-hungry pussycat! This is un*bear*able... Blessit, I can't believe I just said that! This is...er...this is so fucked! It *totally* sucks!" With that, Mara snapped her fingers and disappeared.
It dawned on Urd that the bear had somehow drank her Heart Firecracker Potion when Belldandy had thrown the canteen at it. That explained its sudden shift in mood from murderous rage to docile mellowness. She looked again; the bear had rolled over on its back and Belldandy was rubbing its belly.
"I can't believe this!" she uttered with disappointment, then disappeared.
Keiichi came over and watched Belldandy rubbing the bear on the tummy. She seemed to be talking to it, and the bear seemed to answer her with a series of grunts and growls and yoans.
"Belldandy...what just happened?" he asked. "Where's my shirt?"
She looked at him, and shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, Keiichi! I drank out of that canteen, then I felt really funny. I felt like...hot all over. The next thing I remember, I couldn't keep my hands off of you. Your shirt's over there, dear," she pointed. She giggled at the thought.
"I seem to remember that *you* couldn't keep your hands off of *me* either, Keiichi!" she shouted after him as she buttoned up her flannel shirt.
Keiichi blushed crimson.
But it was true. If the bear hadn't have come when it did, he would have ripped the clothes right off of Bell-chan.
"You mean to say that you drank out of the canteen, then you felt...aroused? Hmmm... The same thing happened to me! A couple moments after I drank out of it, I felt...really horny! Sorry, Bell...but I really did," he tried to explain despite his embarrassment.
He walked over and picked up the canteen. A few feet away, two rabbits were rutting at full speed.
"Ehhh?" he said aloud as he looked inside of the canteen. He walked over to Belldandy and poked a finger inside the canteen, then pulled it out. It was covered with an off-white wet grainy powder-like substance.
"Urd!" they both said simultaneously.
Belldandy had a stern look on her face.
"She's *really* going to get it when I get home! I can't believe that she would do this...after all her other failed attempts with those silly love potions she's always making!" she said angrily.
Keiichi laughed.
"If Urd is anything, she's..haha..persistent!"
"That's not funny, Keiichi!" Belldandy protested. "You yourself said you wanted to wait until the moment is right before we...make love. Now, Urd almost spoiled it."
"But don't you see, Bell-chan? She failed again! *That's* what's so funny!" He started to laugh uncontrollably until a huge paw swatted him gently onto his backside.
"What's wrong with that bear?" he said, laughing robustly.
Belldandy thought about what had just happened. She recalled that she threw the canteen at the bear, then it ripped off the cap and drank some of...
"Keiichi! I know what happened!" she announced. "Right before the bear got to you, I hit it with the canteen. Then it started drinking the water in the canteen. I think it got dosed with Urd's love potion!"
Turning to the bear, she asked it why it had attacked them, while Keiichi rubbed his head quizzically at his crazy girlfriend and her attempts to talk to the bear. Abruptly, Belldandy jerked her head up and looked at him with pleading eyes.
"Oh no! Keiichi, she told me that someone *took her cub*! Then they made her think that we had killed her daughter!" She listened to the bear some more. Keiichi was surprised to hear the bear mewling with an almost word-like earnest articulation.
"Ahhhh, it *was* Mara! No one else could have done something so rotten...so nefarious..."
"That means we gotta help her find her cub!" Keiichi concluded.
Belldandy put a hand on each side of her temple and closed her eyes. A faint image of a bear cub floated in her mind. She concentrated even harder. She heard the cub whining and crying for her mother. Searching inwardly at the mental vision, she glimpsed an outcropping of rocks nearby.
"She's further up Mt. Nantai! I know where she is! Come on, Mama Bear. We're going to find your daughter!" she announced. Mrs. Bear grunted happily and the three set off on the trail leading to the top of Nantai, Belldandy resting a guiding hand on the bear's shoulder.
Several passersby gave them a wide berth as they ascended the mountain. Keiichi could hear faint echoes of their conversations:
"Canya believe that! A college student, his girlfriend and a *tame bear*?" "Must be some kinda promotional gimmick one of the resorts is putting on!" "Hey...isn't that the guy who drove in the Solar Car race?"
A couple of groups of hikers stopped to take snapshots of the trio for posterity. One couple encouraged their children to pet the bear, who seemed to love being scratched behind the ears, much to everyone's delight.
Almost at the summit of Mt. Nantai, they heard a whinnying moaning. They clambered up to a group of volcanic rocks and saw the bear cub. It was tied by the ankle to a rock, crying out broken-heartedly. The mother bear looked at Keiichi questioningly and he pulled a red Swiss army knife out and cut through the ropes binding her cub. Once freed, the cub dashed to her mother, who sat down and wrapped her paws around her daughter and started grooming her fur. After mother bear and cub were rolypoly reunited, the she-bear stood up on all fours and rubbed herself between Keiichi and Belldandy with thanks. She grunted an appreciative farewell and the two bears walked off to descend the mountain trail.
Keiichi was tired, but he wanted to complete the climb, so he forced himself to finish the last fifteen minutes of the hike to the top. Once there, he pulled the blanket out of the backpack and set it down on a smooth lava outcropping. Belldandy sat next to him, rubbing his shoulders as the clouds and mountains glowed rouge in the light of the setting sun. They leaned their heads together and watched the sun set over the mountains, incredulous in the beauty of the sunset and the joy of their shared love.

* * * * * * * *

It was almost 2 am when Keiichi and Belldandy wearily arrived back at the temple compound. They were tired from their incredible weekend vacation and each headed to his or her bedroom, after piling the camping gear in the sunroom. Everybody was asleep. Belldandy caught Keiichi before he went into his bedroom and kissed him passionately on the lips.
"Thank you so much for this weekend, Keiichi! It was so much more than I had hoped for. I had such a *wonderful* time with you!" she imparted sweetly.
Keiichi began to wonder if Belldandy was feeling some residual effects of Urd's potion. She sure was kissing him with flair! She looked at him with her incomparable eyes.
"I love you so much.... I do want to spend all my life with you, even more now than ever before!" She kissed him once more on the cheek and spryly bounded off to her room, humming to herself.
Keiichi slid open his door, seeing all his textbooks piled in a corner of his bedroom.
"Vacation's over," he said softly with a twinge of disappointment. Tomorrow would begin another week of school; it was getting towards the end of the term and schedules would reach a fevered pitch right before finals. But he was glad that he had spent this very special weekend with Belldandy. He sleepily thought about how lucky he was to be loved by a Goddess.
Belldandy entered her room. Both Skuld and Urd were asleep. Skuld looked like she was dreaming of Yggdrasil and bugs, as she was tossing and turning with nocturnal hyperness. Urd had a big smile on her sleeping face. Belldandy looked at her older sister with a mixture of wrath and bemusement.
"Wait until tomorrow, Urd! You won't be smiling so broadly then!" she whispered privately. Then she remembered that Urd's love potion had saved Keiichi's life.
"I'm still going to have words with you about this weekend...but I'll go *a little* easy on you, Elder Sister. Only because your love potion saved my Keiichi!"
Belldandy wanted to pinch Urd to wake her up, but decided that she wouldn't stoop to Urd's level of trickery. She was glad to be home and she drifted to Elysian Fields with thoughts of Keiichi on her mind.

* * * * * * * *

"Cevn, how are you feeling?" I heard Kodama ask me.
I informed her that I was feeling more energetic; that I wanted to try and walk around the house later in the day.
"Both Skuld and Urd are exhausted from Saturday's surgery on your eyes. They're still asleep," she informed me.
"Still? How did Keiichi and Belldandy's weekend go?"
Senrigan told me that she watched the couple arrive really late last night and to her eyes they appeared to have had a very full weekend.
"They're even more in love than they were before," she added.
I heard three Ninjettes giggle at that. Then they started arguing, politely at first, then fervently.
"How would you know *that*, Senrigan!" "I saw them!" "I suppose you are a voyeur as well as a ninja!" "How *dare* you accuse me of that, Hikari!" "Hikari...that was *mean*, confusing her surveillance with voyeurism!" "Well, just because *you're* in love with that Toshiro Mifune guy in the Yojimbo movies..." "So what if I am!" "Kodama's in love...Kodama's in love!" "How can *she* be in love with a movie star, Hikari? She's just a mouse-turned-ninja girl!" "Shut up, Senrigan! Who asked *you*?"
They went on like this for at least half an hour. At least I wasn't bored...they were as skilled at repartee as they seemed to be at ninjitsu. After a few moments of silence, I had to ask the question that was forming so obviously in my head.
"Girls? Er...ladies?" I heard them growl at me when I said "girls". I ventured a delicate question.
"Are there any guys...let's say about your height...that you would be interested in?"
"N..no. When Mara restored us, she used the essence of the Ninja spirits to incarnate us from our previous animal states," Kodama answered with a sad tone to her voice.
"There are no mates for us; all we have is each other," Hikari added with melancholy.
"You mean, you haven't considered asking Urd or Belldandy to try and use some kind of divine magic to make you each a male ninja partner?" I was astonished that they hadn't asked for this boon.
"We wouldn't dare impose on our mistresses for something so selfish!" they answered as one.
"What! You must be joking! Belldandy is one of the kindest creatures on this planet! Surely she wouldn't feel that you were imposing on her!" I argued.
"But it would be inconvenient because..." I felt a small bit of anger in my throat and I let it out.
"You three are supposed to be Ninjas...master warriors. Both the Hagakure and the Go Rin No Sho instruct you to *never* become discouraged in the face of adversity. Further, both texts inform you to penetrate to the depths, rather than ignoring yourself like ascetes. How could you call yourself Ninjas and yet be incapable of the necessary humility to ask for what you have secretly desired in your hearts? The very fact that you three argued amongst yourselves so trenchantly about the subject of love only *proves* to me that you deeply desire it!" I snapped accusingly.
I was surprised at the vehemence of my dressing-down of the three. After all, they had been attached to me as guardians for the past day or so...I should be grateful. I *was* grateful. But in this case, my gratitude manifested in tough love. I felt empathy for the fact that the three were alone in the world, but at least they could *do* something about it! In contrast, I was still attitudinally trapped in the emotional hell of hundreds of past episodes of abuse. There was nothing I could do...I couldn't just choose one day to forgive, forget and ignore, then suddenly find myself comfortable around women and romance.
"Some day, that freedom might come for me," I told myself optimistically. "But they could have a chance for romance right now...so what's keeping them?"
"Look, I'm sorry I got so riled up...I just don't want to see you three go through life alone! I just wish I could..."
Kodama interrupted me.
"So you have studied the budo teachings too, Cevn! I could cut you down right now...with no effort at all. Any one of us could! Yet you have the courage to challenge us despite your apparently weakened position. You speak from the 'attitude-no-attitude' perspective...with fortitude and honor. I, for one, will strike at the heart of the matter by considering the merit of your words."
"Thank you for instructing us on the meaning of the teachings. We bow to your strength of spirit, even though you cannot see us," Hikari added.
With a great effort, I responded by pushing myself into a seated position. Not knowing precisely where the three Ninjettes were, I bowed in the general direction of their voices. The pain was tremendous and I gritted my teeth as my left arm and my head both felt like they were ready to explode. The physical discomfort was so intense that I felt dizzy. I eased myself back down into a supine position and passed out.

* * * * * * * *

Megumi and Sora were eating lunch in the N.I.T. Cafeteria 2: the Messe Gardens. Around them, the buzz of conversation blended into a murmurous anonymity. Both had encountered trying episodes in their morning classes: Sora had to give a speech in her Engineering Business Language course and Megumi had spent all weekend preparing for a test in her second-year Engineering Physics class.
They were relieved to find each other, and started talking animatedly.
"How's Aoshima?" Megumi asked, always urging her friend. Sora looked sullen for a moment.
"He's trying to date some graduate student!" she said despondently, slapping her textbook on the table with a crackling thud.
"Idiot!" Megumi exclaimed.
"*Why*, Megumi? Why do I have to look like some junior high school student? He won't even look at me twice because I'm so... underdeveloped! Not to mention that my speech this morning was a nerve-wracking disaster! And I entered N.I.T. straight out of high school, so I'm *two* years younger than everyone else!" Sora despaired, looking at her bento lunch with a downcast face. Megumi felt a sense of empathy for her friend.
"Look at it this way, at least you don't look older than your age. What's more, you're still a major-league cutie, Sora. Just think of what it would be like if you were ugly *and* looked too young! And when you're 30...you'll look like you're 21, babes! Just look at Cevn-sensei; he's almost thirty and he looks like a student," she encouraged. After a moment, Sora brightened and smiled shyly.
"Thanks Megumi! I needed a little boost after this morning. Actually, a *big* boost. How was your physics test?"
"Yeesh!! I had a headache going into it and now I don't," she said with a smug smile. "Actually, it was pretty rough!"
"Has Genji even said 'hi' to you lately?"
"I cornered him this morning to tell him that I still wanted him to go to the Noh plays with Cevn-sensei and me, once Cevn gets better."
"And?"
"He talked to me a little bit. He said that his parents had gone on another six-month business trip and that Sayoko was keeping him up all night with some kind of 'black lizard' party she threw. But he still doesn't seem to be interested in me...not at all like he was at the party we had before the solar car race," Megumi frowned.
"We ought to start a new student club...the Unnoticed and Underappreciated Beautiful Single Girls Club!" Sora joked. They both chuckled heartily at her idea.
"Yeah, there would be exactly four of us, since there are only 27 women in N.I.T.'s Engineering School. The paralegal and computer geek girls don't count!"
"Hey, watch it about the computer geek-girl stuff, chick!" Sora said mock-guardedly. Megumi smiled at her friend, who was known as one of the best computer math-simulation CAD mechanics at N.I.T.
"We could even have Tamiya come to the meetings in his cheerleader outfit and give us inspirational talks!" Sora added.
"Ha ha hahahahhhheee!" they both giggled.

*** "What'r yuh laughin' 'bout?!" ***

They both looked up in shock to see Tamiya standing behind them.
"Well, sir, we were..uh..just laughing at the expression, er...you know Keiichi gets such an intense look on his face..." Sora attempted to fabricate an excuse.
"Ahhh, and it had nuthin' ta do with muh cheerleader outfit, ehh?" Tamiya said with a smile, his eyes glimmering as if to say "you're both busted!" Both underclass coeds looked terrified momentarily.
"Hey, it's okay. Ah bet a lotta people thinks it's funny! Ah do it to lighten da mood, y'know! Besides, da look of shock on yuhr mugs jus' now was well worth it!" Megumi and Sora smiled at each other, realizing that the beefy Tamiya had left them off the hook.
"By da way, did ya's see da news last night? Dey had some guy on from some classical music station in...uh...oh yeah, in Osaka. Duh guy says dat he found some music pod thingy, den he plays it in his car, and likes he suddenly felt so balanced and calm. So he takes it tuh his boss and da boss lets him plays it on da air. Next thing they know, da station is getting swamped with phone calls; people ravin' about the music dey jus' played. Da funny thing is deys don't know anything about da tape, cuz da music files are all untitled. Dey sayz the pod had 'K' or something etched on it, but it was all scratched and stuff so dey couldn't make out da name. Freaky, huh?" Tamiya said. The more rapidly their sempai spoke, the more anguished his Japanese was. He was obviously a country boy...
Sora looked at Megumi through her round rimmed glasses as if to say "you know something about this?" She had guessed a while back that the improbability factors that surrounded Megumi and her household were inordinately suspect. She ventured to opine that it had something to do with Keiichi's girlfriend and her two sisters.
Megumi looked at the two and shrugged her shoulders. This was news to her. She had been wrapped up in studying for her test, and was also worried about Cevn, so she didn't take time out to watch any TV last weekend.
"Hey, this is Japan! Anything can happen!" she commented, smiling innocently.
Tamiya asked them about Genji. He told them that, as club president, he had noticed that Genji was starting to slack off on his duties, such as the inventory of the clubhouse items that was assigned to him. Tamiya admitted that it was Sophomore "make work", but it was still important to the functioning of the club. He added that he had called the US to talk to Chihiro; she suggested that Genji's attitude needed shoring up.
Megumi informed him that Genji had been avoiding her and acting withdrawn. Sora chimed in and expressed concern that Genji was avoiding everybody.
"Ah'm gonna have ta have a talk with da boy!" Tamiya decided out loud.
"Go easy on him, sempai...he's having trouble with his sister," Megumi cautioned.
"Of course he has! Dat wimmen's a walking problem vacuum! Anyone who hangs out wit' dat stinkfish-octopus Aoshima has gotta be up to some kind of trouble!" he remarked, then left their table.
Megumi remembered what Cevn had told her...and considered the possibility that Genji was messed up emotionally to a degree that Tamiya couldn't even begin to suspect. She quickly excused herself and went off to find Genji and warn him. She found him at the Campus Center in the video game room, playing some kind of shooting arcade game.
"Genji!" she yelled to get his attention. Genji ignored her and she patiently waited until his game was over, and then she rubbed his shoulder to get his attention.
"Genjiiii!" He turned to see her, a look of irritation on his face.
"Leave me *alone*, Megumi! Can't you see that I'm trying to have some fun? I never have fun anymore! Just this once, I find some some time to myself...and then you come and interrupt me!"
Megumi tried to appear diminutive and gentle...but inside she was fuming at his rudeness.
"Genji, I just wanted to warn you that Tamiya-sempai is upset with you, and he wants to talk to you ASAP!"
"So what! Who gives a whirl anyway? My life is going down the tubes because of my damn sister. I can't even sleep at night without having to hear her crazy bullcrap! Why do *you* care? Oh...I get it! You're just here because of the Club. Well, Tamiya can boot me out of the Club. He can kick my ass to China and back, for all I care! Why can't everybody just leave me alone? Why do my parents have go on those trips and leave me with my older sister--the freakin' basket case of basketcases!" he said in a surly tone of voice.
Megumi tried to talk to him some more, but he only half-heartedly paid attention to her. After a few minutes, she shrugged her shoulders and reluctantly left him to his video games. As she walked out into the campus square, she noted with concern that Genji was much worse off than she had expected.
"It's almost like he's ready to *explode*!" her feminine intuition told her. Looking across the courtyard, she saw Keiichi coming out of his last class of the day. Greatly relieved, she walked up to meet him. They sat down nearby under a tree and she shared her concerns about Genji. Keiichi looked at her with a worried face as she described his lackadaisical attitude. He said he had wanted to talk with Genji too; now he felt worried that Tamiya might go ballistic on the sophomore Motor Club member.
"I'll talk to Tamiya about Genji," he offered. Megumi thanked him and went to her last class.

* * * * * * * *

Three days had passed since I had chastised the Ninjettes. They still were watching over me, but they seemed to have acquired an air of deference when I talked with them. I told them to chill out and treat me as an equal. This brought on a philosophical argument from Kodama, but I smoked her with her own premises, challenging her with quotes from several famous traditional texts, including Takuan's "Taiaki". She couldn't remonstrate against *that* renowned text and its perspective on the psychology of self and others.
The next day, we joked around and they played hide-and-seek in the room, each Ninjette giving me a play-by-play narrative as the other two played.
Today, they invited me to play a form of blindman's bluff. The three would try to circle me stealthily and I would throw a wadded up piece of paper in an attempt to 'hit' one of them. After a while, I was able to discern the sounds they made as they moved. I scored one on Senrigan and Hikari but none on Kodama.
"Hai!" I heard as I felt a little Ninja girl pounce on my lap. "You couldn't get me! You're totally lame!" Kodama teased me. I tousled her hair playfully. She was like a little living breathing doll with muscles of steel.
"You must be a genius, Kodama, figuring out that this blindfold makes me 'lame'!" I kidded her; her two companions burst out in laughter.
"Did you ask Belldandy yet?" I questioned her.
"No, but we plan to in the near future. We need to figure out what kind of animals she should reincarnate as a male ninjas. I don't want to get stuck with a sluggish partner!" she said jokingly.
"I think that a snail is more your speed!" Senrigan snapped back.
"And Belldandy should reincarnate a clam for you!" Hikari challenged the tomboy ninja. The three dissolved into animated laughter.
I felt a sudden intuition to try and play the game again, only this time, instead of relying on my hearing, I would try to use that new hidden (sense? faculty?) that I seemed to evidence. Ever since I got to Japan, there were times where my mind would tangentally take its own direction. Like when I first came here and the voice in my head gave me the exact age of this temple...and I *knew* it was the truth, I remembered.
But this attribute was always random.
"What if I could harness it, make it manifest when I needed it?" I wondered as I challenged them again to another round.
If there was anything about these three, they loved to play games. Must be the rodent-spirit in them. They made me count to ten while they hid, then I grabbed three pieces of wadded up typing paper and threw them in seemingly random directions. I heard a scurrying and I scooped up more paper and threw it left and right. After a few minutes, I used the last three pieces of paper near me, and tossed them backwards over my shoulders.
Hikari climbed up my back and sat down on my shoulder.
"You cheated! You hit us *every* time!" she said indignantly.
"What!" I stated with genuine surprise. I explained to them that all I did different this time was to listen to myself, and not to them. I stupidly felt like Luke Skywalker in the first Star Wars movie...relying on 'The Force' when it was impossible to coordinate sensory data. The three ninja girls attacked me playfully and pinned me down on my back.
"Hey, be careful!" I warned.
"Don't you mess with the *Ninjettes*!" Senrigan admonished me playfully. "We'll make you into sashimi faster than you can say iichi, nichi, san!
"Hey! I don't know how to explain what just happened! I only tried to ignore all my senses and just go with an 'inner feeling' that I had concerning where you all were hiding. Besides, I wouldn't dream of trying to sneak one by you. I would rather fight Musashi Miyamoto or Yagyu than you three!" I complemented them.
Kodama related to me about the first time the three had encountered me out in the temple yard. I was taken aback when they said that they attacked me and their weapons went through my body as if I wasn't there. Hikari apologized on behalf of the three for their attack on me the first day.
"It must have been hard for you to attack a non-resisting foe!" I offered. I wasn't too shocked or upset at them...they were just being fastidious with their duty to protect the house. They told me about the several times they had chased Mini-Mara out of the house in the past few months.
This evolved into a storytelling clinic. The subject of martial prowess brought out the storyteller in the three girls. I imagined that I was listening to the hanashika...the professional raconteurs who traveled Japan telling folktales.
Each Ninja girl told me a tale about a famous 'sword-saint' in Japanese history. They were really good at it! One would narrate while the other two provided sound effects, yelling and clattering their weapons. I was trying to visualize scenarios in my head to accompany their tales of martial courage. I was sincerely grateful that they were such good companions; and I profused my appreciation on them.
Later, Skuld came in to check on me, so I asked her if she would consent to taking me on a walk around the house. After the fun and games with Kodama, Hikari and Senrigan, I felt an irrepressible urge to go outdoors.
Skuld grabbed my hand and guided me out of my room. I was feeling much better physically as I slowly walked down the hallway. Once she led me outside, I gasped with delight and gratitude. I could make out a faint glow through the blindfold!
"Please let it be it be my vision coming back," I silently hoped as I waved my hands in the light breeze.
"Ohhhh...wow! Skuld! I can see a bright glow! I can see that the sun is out! I think you guys did it!" I felt her grab my hand in both of hers and excitedly jump up and down.
"Yeeeeaaaaahhooo! That means that you can take the blindfold off. It worked! It worked!" Skuld's voice was over-the-top with excitement.
"Sit down here while I go get the others!" she commanded, sitting me down, then running into the house. A moment later, I heard a rush of footsteps on the wooden porch encircling our house. I put my hand in front of my blindfold, and saw a distinct darkening of the glow. I was shaking with the strong feelings coursing through my heart.
"What's all the excitement, Skuld?" I heard someone say from inside the house.
"What? He can make out bright and dark, you say?" I heard Urd give a loud whoop, then everybody was excitedly talking amongst themselves as they came out to see me. I could faintly make out shadows in my field of vision. Then someone cut the back of my blindfold and pulled two patches off from over my eyes as Urd announced, "And now the unveiling!"
"Yeow....megabright!" I managed to yell before covering my eyes with my arm. In sharp contrast to the blackness that I had become used to, the sudden glare of the outdoors was painful. After a few moments, it became tolerable and I uncovered my eyes.
I could see indistinct shapes...like clouds of dark and light. My vision was very fuzzy. Gradually, things became a little clearer and I could make out forms. My excitement mounted as I began to distinguish colors. Blue sky and green earth. I pointed to a peach colored orb with a frame of black mist and said, "That's Skuld!"
This brought animated cheers from all present, as Keiichi sniggered. I pointed to another peach colored orb with black around it and said, "Keiichi?"
"No, that's Megumi! I'm 'Skuld'...back over here."
"Then you must be Belldandy?" I said, pointing at a taller fuzzyform.
"No, I'm *Urd*! If you're going to mistake me for my little sister, I might as well reverse the operation!" she teased me.
"*Little* sister, Urd? I'll let you know that I'm only a few ten thousand years younger than you!" Belldandy said indignantly. "And...by the way, Urd, we're going have a little talk about your latest chemistry experiment after this is all over."
"Eep!" I heard Urd gulp that one down. I briefly wondered...what did she do now?
"Oh Cevn! It's so wonderful that you can see again!" Belldandy said in a musical voice. I felt a punch on the arm, which must have been Keiichi.
"Hey, buddy, you're something else!" he said happily. "Now you can help me rake the grounds this week when you're better."
My vision was gradually clearing up. Skuld reached down and hugged me tightly.
"I told you that I would keep my promise! I told you!" she said in a wavering voice filled with emotion. Urd explained that it would take a few days for my vision to get back to normal, as my brain was still sorting out all the new visual pathways.
I felt tears flowing down my cheeks. I was never so grateful to have tears, which meant that my eyes were back where they belonged. I choked up with the intensity of the moment.
"I don't know how to thank you..." was all I could manage before I burst into deep sobs.
"I owe you guys...*everything*!" I said with gratitude. Skuld grabbed my hand and motioned to me to get up on my feet. We walked into the dining room and Belldandy served tea for all.
I was beginning to make out fuzzy facial features on the oval faces around the table. My vision was teasing me, only giving me nebulous glimpses of who was seated where, but I felt very satisfied with the gradual clearing of my vision. It felt so good to be able to join my friends!
"A toast to Skuld and Urd!" I offered, and we all raised our teacups in salutation.