Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction ❯ Trial By Tenderness ❯ Part 34 - Threadlines ( Chapter 34 )

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

Part 34 Threadlines



5:30am

Keiichi felt a flush of excitement as soon as he opened his eyes. He wasn't going to school today; he was going to put into motion a carefully arranged set of plans and circumstances. Last week, he had informed Megumi of his intentions, so that her car would be available today. His sister was all grins as he told her of his scheme, and offered several suggestions of her own. If *she* thought it would be cool, then maybe...

6:00am

Megumi knocked on the door and tossed him a set of car keys with a smile. Keiichi got up, put on his bathrobe and walked to the kitchen. He searched the refrigerator for several items: frozen ahi, a box of eggs, milk, breakfast roll mixes, the boysenberries and fresh apples...and began to cook.

6:30am

"Keiichi?" Belldandy asked in a morning-soft voice, sleepy-eyed as he walked in with a dinner tray full of breakfast. The tray was crowded with an entire menu of items. But what caught her eye was the ahi omelet in the middle tray, partially covered with a light gravy.
"Hi, honey. Breakfast in bed for the Goddess of the house, courtesy of Keiichi kitchens!" he said cheerily as he set the tray down by her futon. Without another word, he turned around and walked out.
"What is wrong with *him*?" Urd said to her sister.
"Yeah...and why didn't we get any too? After all, we're also Goddesses!" Skuld complained.
"This isn't fair. Something's going on here, and I'm going to find out from the source," Urd promised as she climbed out of her futon and threw on a houserobe.
Belldandy regarded at the trayful of food. The omelet was haphazard and slightly overdone, the apple and berry muffins were underdone, the breakfast rolls had too much frosting...she smiled to herself in appreciation of his effort. But she also was wondering why he had cooked breakfast. She was by far the best cook in the house, and four years of living on the Earthrealm had only furthered her mastery of culinary skills.
"Keiichi may not be a good cook, but he's the best boyfriend," she affirmed as she started in on the ahi omelet after offering two of the breakfast rolls to Skuld, who had been eyeing them since Keiichi had brought the tray in.

6:32am

"Urd, it's a surprise! You know...the four-year kind of surprise. With all the stuff going on with the slot car race and the omiai, I...kinda...got distracted and forgot about it afterwards. Bell-chan remembered, of course, but I wanted to do something too. You know me. Mr. Usually-in-First-Place. This time I'll have give the checkered flag to Bell, and do something extra special since I'm running late, " he explained. Urd put a hand over her mouth as she realized what he was referring to. She smiled slyly at him.
"Keiichi...you better treat my sister to the best...or else. Something even better than what she gave you for you guy's fourth anniversary," she noted. The bloom of red on Keiichi's cheeks more than made up for his not bringing her and Skuld breakfast. Also, for not telling them about his surprise.
"And you better not take her to one of those love hotels!" she warned, playing on the ecchi thoughts she knew were floating around in his head. She relished the flush of shyness that came over Keiichi's face, which looked all the more amusing when she considered the dishes that he would have to do.
"Be right back," she said with a wink. A moment later, she returned with an orange capsule.
"Put this in her after-breakfast tea...and it will prevent her from figuring out your surprise right away. It's Urd's WavyGravy SnapToIt Inhibitor," she announced.
Keiichi looked at her suspiciously.
"Keiichi, you wound me! I'm Urd, the Goddess of Love! This is your precious anniversary gift to my sister...and you think I'm going to screw it up for you? I'm just being the big sister, y'know!" she said, winking at him.
"That's what scares me. Every time you get in 'Big Sister mode' and give me a pill or an elixir, I usually end up embarrassed or in trouble. I guess it'll be okay this time, at least you're telling me about it instead of being sneaky. So I'll trust you on this one, or live to regret it. But so help me, if it screws up this special anniversary I have planned, I'll make sure to tell Bell-chan...and *you'll* be the one to regret it," Keiichi said as he reluctantly reached out and took the pill, reminded again that Bell's older sister will probably never change; she can't leave anything alone.
"Fair enough! Go get 'er, tiger! And don't worry, I'll cover and tell Skuld for you. Ciao!" Urd said as she walked back to the sister's bedroom.


6:34am

Urd returned to the sister's bedroom and leaned down to whisper something to Skuld. Skuld nodded with a smile, then glanced at Belldandy and giggled with mischief. Urd whispered again in her ear and Skuld nodded her head.
"What's so funny with you two? You're keeping something away from me...I can tell. Why won't you tell me?" Belldandy asked, a bit miffed at their secretive behavior.
"Uh...I gotta check on Cevn," Urd said transparently. After a moment, she elbowed Skuld.
"Oh...yeah, I forgot. I have to go to my lab and work on my micro-Banpei project!" Skuld said transparently. She and Urd excused themselves and left the bedroom.
"*Micro* Banpei? I've never heard of that one before," Belldandy said doubtfully after her sisters left.

6:50am

Keiichi finished with his last call while the dishes soaked. Things had to be sequenced exactly in order for this to come off. In view of this, he made a series of calls while Bell-chan was (hopefully) enjoying her breakfast. He knew his cooking skills weren't all that good, but he also knew his planning skills were excellent. If he had learned anything from the N.I.T. Motor Club, he had learned the value of planning meticulously for races. The florist was on their way already, which meant that he wouldn't need Urd's little 'gift' after all.

7:00am

Belldandy finished her breakfast, savoring its taste. She looked at the two empty futons next to her and once more speculated about everyone's strange behavior this morning. A possible explanation dawned in her mind as she gathered the tray and dishes and went to the kitchen.
"Keiichi...*what* are you doing?" she asked, seeing her mortal boyfriend elbow-deep in dishwater.

***Knock knock***

Her question remained unanswered as Keiichi ran off to the door. He came back with an *armful* of roses; the sweetness of their aroma perfuming the room with a fragrant tincture.
"This is for you, from me," he said, handing her the bouquet. Belldandy felt her heart melting with sheer joy as she passed her nose over the floral lives nestled in her arms. She read the attached card:

"Belldandy,

These 48 roses cannot even begin to signify the infinitude of love I have for you. You have awakened my whole being
to the joys of love. If love is crushing, I would gladly be smothered by your affections. Whenever life was a desert and I
thirsted for caring, you've been my oasis.
I'd write more, but I'm running out of room on this card. These flowers can only meagerly represent the four years of bliss
that you have brought to my life. I hope you forgive my clumsy attempt at a surprise...and enjoy this day I'm going to share
with you.

Happy Anniversary, My One True Love,

Keiichi"

Belldandy trembled when she finished reading his note...she was so overwrought with his expression of love. Twelve roses for each year they had been together. He remembered! Wordlessly, she came to him with a hug, and they kissed passionately. She wanted to remain in his arms until the solar lights flared silent in her heart.
"Please...wait, Bell. We'll have plenty of time for that...later," Keiichi said with a wink after a few minutes. With sudden insight, Belldandy recognized that Keiichi had shed so much of his inhibitions over the past two years. The look in his eyes bespoke of pleasures to come. So she helped him wash the rest of the dishes, and wasn't at all surprised to find herself playfully splashing him with dishwater from time to time.

8:00am

After they both had taken their morning bathroom runs, he and Bell-chan were waiting at the JR station in Chiba. The weather was a brisk and cool late autumn day, but Keiichi didn't mind. One hand in Belldandy's gloved hand, he felt around in his longcoat with his other hand to make sure that all the tickets were present and accounted for.

8:40am

Keiichi and Belldandy debarked the crowded train at Akibahara and transferred to the Shibuya-bound train. Because of the crowded conditions, they were tightly pressed together...a situation that didn't bother them in the least as they kissed passionately, oblivious to the mixture of knowing smiles and condemning frowns from the other passengers.

8:50am

"We're here!" Keiichi said with relief as they walked out of the multi-level Shibuya Station. The steady drone of the train was replaced by the staccato murmursounds of the morning crowds.
"He's on the lookout for something," Belldandy noticed; as soon as they had arrived, Keiichi had guided her by slight pull on the hand towards a corner of the station. There was a small crowd of thirty or forty tourists milling around something.
"Keiichi, why would so many people be sightseeing in a train station?" she asked as the flash of lightbulbs whitened the air briefly. As they approached the crowd, she could see a large statue of a dog mounted on a concrete pedestal. She looked at Keiichi with a look that bepicted her mental acquisitiveness...they had come all this way to look at a statue of a *dog*?
"Bell-chan, say hi to Hachiko!" he said as a means of introduction. Belldandy looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.
"Hachiko belonged to a university professor, who used to catch the train to work every day. Unfortunately, he suffered an early death. All alone, abandoned by his master, Hachiko came here to this very spot and waited for him to get off the train. For *11* years!" Keiichi explained.
Belldandy tentatively reached out and put a hand on the statue, feeling the profound spiritual essences of the location as Keiichi went on with his explanation. She could sense an unrelenting optimism in the face of disappointment; closing her eyes, she saw the station as it had been in 1925. A lonely dog waiting for his master. She shuddered at the sensation and felt a hand on her shoulder. 11 years was a lifetime in canine time-sense.
"If you left me, I would wait the rest of my life for your return, Bell. This statue is considered to represent loyalty...I just wanted you to know how loyal I feel towards you...towards our love," he said, then kissed her on the cheek and hugged her.
The early morning workaday crowds were thinning out as they strolled across the broad expanse of Meiji St. towards Goto Planetarium.

9:10am

"Keiichi, I've never been in one of these...planetariums before!" Belldandy said excitedly as the lights dimmed. She marveled at the dome overhead, at least 20m in diameter.
Suddenly, a host of star lights appeared above her head, representing the stellar canopy as viewed from the Earthrealm. Belldandy could recognize constellations and familiar stars. Keiichi explained to her that his elementary school had a small planetarium; sometime back in the 1960s the Ministry of Education had decided to equip all elementary schools in Japan with a Goto three or five-meter planetarium. He started to explain about the latest Fulldome technology when the planetarium went dark as digitally-controlled lasers created a starfield and nebulae as soft electronic music lilted in the background.

9:50am

Belldandy was impressed with the planetarium show...she didn't think she could see something like this in the Earthrealm! She remembered the first time during Prime Inculcation when she and her classmates went to the Cosmosium: one would step inside of the sphere and be instantly transported visually to any point in Yggdrasil or the known Multiverse, with the exception of Vanagdrasil and its realms.
But she knew that the mortals had looked starwards ever since they reached the level of intelligence. The planetarium show had concluded with an imaginary transit through the solar system...pretty accurate, she thought, in the face of the fact that the Earthrealm mortals had only sent out a few tiny robotic probes to explore their neighboring planets.
"When Mankind reaches the next level and sheds all concerns about commerce, cultural boundaries, religions and self-amusement...then trips like this will become easy for all of you," she silently thought as she surveyed the crowd exiting the planetarium.

10:20am

Keiichi and Belldandy walked across the wide avenue nicknamed "Fire Street" towards a large building on the triangular corner with a huge red "109" on top of its cylindrical facade. Once more, Belldandy looked at Keiichi with mystification. The building was very hi-tech in design, with its harmony of geometries and mirrored glass windows. She looked at the building again...it didn't look like a shopping center. The streets were filled with businessmen, OLs with cellphones, and an abundance of teens and twents, many with lots of makeup and suntans. Suntans in December! She giggled, imagining the street filled with hundreds of Urds, all suntanned and platinum-haired. If that ever happened, the Earthrealm could kiss the Next Level goodbye.
"Next stop on our itinerary...Shopping Part One. Boutique shopping!" Keiichi announced cheerfully as they walked down the street towards the Parco complex. He realized that it would be a mistake to take Bell-chan into 109; even his sister wouldn't be caught dead wearing the kinds of fashions in those stores. Shibuya 109 was for girls and women who *had* to be fashionable. Besides, he couldn't picture Bell in a red mini-skirt with an orange denim shirt with designer-sewn sparklies. Megumi had suggested Parco because it had a wider range of stores, not just focusing on trendy fashions. Parco was more along the lines of a bazaar type shopping experience, plus it had some good lunch restaurants.
Belldandy was used to going into Chiba for most of her shopping. She liked this mortal sport of shopping; it was something Megumi had introduced to her early on. Megumi was a very competent shopper... and Belldandy had learned from a master of the art.
But Keiichi, on the other hand, was a rank amateur in the sport. They walked in the front entrance, and Belldandy realized that this...was pure shopping paradise! She was even more excited when Keiichi told her there were five buildings with at least ten floors of stores. It would be too much to take in, even if she had an entire day. Extending her Goddess senses, she scanned every one of the hundreds of stores and found several to her liking. *Very* much to her liking.
"Keiichi...over here!" she said excitedly as she guided him for the first time since she woke up this morning, pulling him towards a very fashionable store with spring outfits.

12:15pm

Belldandy had bought three armloads of outfits and accessories. Keiichi was amazed at how quickly she could pick out clothes. Unlike most mortal women, she didn't go into the dressing room, change, and then come out and admire herself (or critique herself) in front of a three-way mirror. She would simply grab an outfit, put it up to her cheek, check the size on it, and then put it in the cart. The salesclerks were all amazed by her shopping methods. Not knowing where to get a snack, they asked the salesclerk at the last store, who gave them a suggestion. So they invited her to join them for her lunch break. The salesclerk from rewarded them with a description of her home in Surugadai in Chiyoda Ward while he and Bell sipped iced coffees.
She also asked Bell-chan numerous questions about how they shopped in her 'home country', much to Keiichi's amusement. When Bell-chan forgot where she was and answered, "We just take what we want," the girl almost face-faulted. He knew that there was no need for money in Yggdrasil, so he quickly covered and made up some story about how people bartered in his girlfriend's homeland. Secretly he was pleased; Bell-chan wouldn't have made that sort of goof-up unless she was really excited.
What was more amazing, but unseen by the others, was how Belldandy simply moved her hands and the boxes of clothes were transported home. This was only Part One of the shopping; he'd run out of arms if he had to carry it all for the whole day.
"Thank you, Kami-sama, for this beautiful Goddess," Keiichi said as he stole a second's flash of gratitude from the busy mall. Bell's smile of joy captivated him. He felt added gratitude when he considered that she had her power back; it would have been impossible to lug all of Bell's purchases around for the rest of the day's activities he had planned.

12:30pm

Keiichi was pleased with the way things had unfolded so far. Bell's look of total satisfaction was deeply rewarding to him, a freedom whispering in his heart...especially in the light of the whole omiai incident.
"Tyyr would never be this considerate of Bell-chan," he thought, the recent memories halting his enjoyment momentarily. Smiling to himself, he pointed out the Red Lobster restaurant down the street.
"That's where we're going to lunch, Bell. They have a great lunch buffet. But don't eat too much," he cautioned.
"Red Lobster!" she exclaimed with girlish satisfaction as they entered the restaurant. Belldandy looked at Keiichi with appreciation...he was really going all out today.
"I could fall in love with you all over again, Keiichi," she said impulsively and kissed him again.

1:30pm

After a casual lunch, Keiichi and Belldandy walked back to Parco, and took the escalator down to the second basement level...the level with all the cinemas. This was the only self-indulgence he was allowing himself today, other than the joy of being around Belldandy. After all, the new Speed Racer sequel had been released in America last May, and it was just now coming to the Japanese theatres for the Christmas season. Only fitting, because he had lived through a real 'Speed Racer' experience just recently...a couple of them if he included Mara's 'Demon Rally'. He felt Bell-chan's hand rest on his as the music started up.

4:00pm

Belldandy enjoyed the movie, mostly for its exciting drama. She knew that Keiichi was enjoying all the special effects much more than she. To her, the special effects were nice, but blasé. After all, the visual effects didn't come close to *being there*. Despite the best efforts of the film's creators, Yggdrasil was *so* much more beautiful. Places in Yggdrasil were like wildlife preserves, for it was a function of the Conservation Guild to protect all the animal species in the Multiverse. It would take 300 years in mortal terms to tour them all...a tour that Belldandy had taken when she was young. In contrast, other sections in Yggdrasil were unbelievably high-tech...like the Ygg Mainframe computer complex where Urd worked. To mortal eyes, such scenes would seem like pure incomprehensible magic.
Looking over at Keiichi's excited face during the movie, she couldn't help but be moved by his fascination with the technology and engineering aspects of the race cars in the movie. Like any mortal, he wanted to see more of the universe. Belldandy vowed to herself that, somehow, someday...she would take him to Yggdrasil.
"Where are we going next, dear?" she asked.
"Just wait here for a few minutes, Bell-chan. I've arranged a ride for us."
The limousine arrived three minutes late.

4:30pm

"To us!" Keiichi said as he toasted Belldandy with a glass of champagne, an old '87 vintage from a genuine winery in Champagne, France.
Belldandy clicked her glass with his, and then he hooked his arm around hers and put his glass up to his lips. Catching the idea, she did the same. Then he held up his glass to her lips, tipping it slightly so she could sip from his. She did the same for him, spilling a little on his shirt as she giggled. Soon, he was tickling her in the ribs, and she was pulling his ear playfully. Normally, alcohol didn't affect her strongly...but this bubbly stuff tasted warm and silky going down her throat, so she turned off her intoxication inhibitor and let herself feel a warming intoxication. After all, this was a special occasion...and she wasn't planning to get drunk like Elder Sister Urd would at some party.
The limousine seemed to be a house on wheels, Belldandy noticed with admiration. It was furnished with a small refrigerator, a microwave with freshly prepared snacks, a television, and a stereo. In addition, the richly appointed interior had smoothly leathered seats. Belldandy felt herself sink deeply into the softly cushioned couch/seat that she and Keiichi were sitting on.
"Where are we going?" she asked as they passed through Shinjuku and its mass of skyscrapers.
"We're just going to cruise around Tokyo for a couple of hours...you'll see," he explained matter-of-factly. Keiichi had booked the limo for the evening, but he didn't tell Belldandy its terminus point or any of the planned stops.

5:15pm

After driving leisurely through various avenues and back streets, the limo pulled up in front of the Tobu department store.
"This is our first stop, Bell-chan!" Keiichi announced excitedly, imitating the voice of a bus driver. Belldandy giggled as he took her hand when she stepped out of the limousine.
"What about him?" she asked, gesturing backwards at the limousine.
"He's getting paid...I'll bet you that he'll be cranking up the radio a couple of minutes after we're gone. Don't worry, he'll wait for us, so take your time," he assured her.
"Shopping, Part Two," he announced, sending a thrill down Bell's spine. Belldandy looked up at the huge department store, one of the largest she had ever seen. It adjoined the Ikebukuro rail station; she looked across the street and saw another multi-story department store standing tall, the Seibu department store.
The Tobu store complex was divided into three buildings: an entryway plaza with an art museum, the main building and the central building. They boarded the main escalators and ascended three floors. Belldandy was entranced by this store as Keiichi informed her that it was one of the largest in Tokyo. Everything was all decorated for the Christmas season, which gave it even more of a cheer. All around her she could hear excited words…and thoughts…of the mortals. Keiichi had brought her to a place that seemed to gather joy and amusement. "This is an amusement park for shoppers," she thought.
Keiichi steered Belldandy by the elbow towards the formal dress section. He felt her lean even closer against his shoulder as they stopped to admire all the pretty dresses. He looked at the dresses on the mannequins as they strolled through the section. Then his eyes settled on one dress that he thought Belldandy would look wonderful in.
"It's *her*," he thought as he relished the sight of the dress, prominently displayed at the end of an aisle. He wanted to tell her which one, but decided that it would be 'pushy' on his part to influence her choice.
"This is a chance to see if our minds *really* think alike...if she picks for herself the dress that I like, then I'll know that we're really compatible!" he thought. Keiichi knew that he and Bell-chan were compatible in so many ways, but this 'test' seemed to hold his attention raptly; he felt that after four years, their tastes should have merged in a lot of areas.
Belldandy looked up and down the row of dresses, and then checked out the formal dresses on several mannequins. One dress grabbed her eye in particular. It *shone* with an eye-catching color that reminded her of iced berries. In one direction, it looked like a blend of several blues; when she walked to the other side, it looked ruby red. A store attendant walked up and bowed to her, noticing that she was closely examining the dress.
"Can you tell me more about this dress?" she asked the store attendant. In the background, Keiichi couldn't help but grin.
"Well, unfortunately it's one of our most expensive styles for next spring. We call this one AppleSpice, it hails from a very exclusive collection by Sanangelo Croisselle. We only have this one in stock. It has a halter bias cut with a mock drape in the back, and a beaudeux style hemmed skirt. It also comes with a matching evening scarf. Each piece is made with an exquisite new material that's soft as silk to the touch and shows different color spectrums under the light. The evening purse is mock leather from Spain, with a pearl clasp. The shoes, which aren't on this mannequin, are a clear weave with blue accents."
Belldandy looked at the price tag and shook her head sadly...this dress was way out of Keiichi's price range.
"We'll take it!"
She jerked her head around to see Keiichi with a hand in the air, just like an elementary school student responding to a question from the sensei. The credit card in his hand reflected sparks against the ceiling lights.
"But Keiichi..." she said haltingly, looking at him with an "are you insane?" expression.
"Can you guys do the fitting *now*? Please? I'm in earnest!" he inquired excitedly. Belldandy shook her head in disbelief as the store clerk went to her cash register and got on the phone...and a moment later, two female tailors came and escorted a reluctant Belldandy to the fitting room. The store attendant motioned him closer and whispered in his ear.
"You must really love her...what's the special occasion?" she asked. Keiichi nodded and said it was their fourth anniversary.
"She's going to look absolutely *stunning* when we finish fitting her with that dress!" the attendant promised.
"Not that dress...*the* dress!" Keiichi thought happily. Belldandy had gravitated to the very dress that he had thought would look best on her, making her choice with an almost instinctive delight. Pleased that his own choice had agreed with her tastes, he went down to the limousine driver and tipped him for waiting.
He came back up and waited for almost 40 anxious minutes while they fitted and altered Bell's new dress. Keiichi tapped his heel nervously on the floor as he sat...he couldn't wait until she returned. Finally, they walked her back.
The store attendant giggled as she heard Keiichi gasp. She saw that he was totally hypnotized into open-mouthed awe at the sight of his girlfriend in her new dress.
Belldandy had an embarrassed look on her face...evidently she had never been the subject of a formal dress fitting before. Keiichi tipped all three department store workers.
"H..how do I look, Keiichi?" Belldandy said in a timid voice. Rarely did she stutter, but the fact that this outfit cost a fortune had fired her into a nervous state.
"Belldandy, you should see yourself! You look absolutely divine...as if you weren't divine enough already! Absolutely incredible! Absolutely...lovely! I..I can't even begin to describe it," he said, breathless at the transformation.
"Of course, it's you...not the dress," he added, to which Belldandy beamed a bright smile at him.
"That'll be 148,010 yen," the attendant said as she rang up the dress and the service charges.
"*Keiichi*!" Belldandy said, turning to him with a mixture of shock and stern reproach. The dress was expensive enough, but the rushed fitting had added 20,000 yen.
"Why? I could just materialize this dress without you having to spend so much money. What do you plan to do...steal it?" she whispered to him in a hushed private voice filled with anxiety. She was embarrassed that he was thinking of spending so much on her...this dress was worth almost four times as much as the ring he had given her that Christmas several years ago.
"Where did he get that kind of money?" she wondered as he calmly pulled out his credit card. Miraculously, he was able to charge it to his card without a hitch.
She didn't know whether to kiss him or kill him.

6:30pm

"I'll explain everything, Bell-chan. Remember when we won the International Federation for Solar Energy Research race last spring? How they said they were going to pay for our schooling?" Belldandy nodded her head, reliving the triumph of Keiichi's finest racing victory...with the exception of a very recent slotcar race.
"Well, I had assumed that once my regular aid and scholarships came in, the school would just send them back. Instead, they decided to turn the money over to me. So basically, I got *all* of my school monies...with my tuition already paid for by the Solar Energy folks! After almost losing you to Tyyr...I decided to take you out on an anniversary date that you'll never forget."
Belldandy looked at him with tears in her eyes. In one day, he had showered her with so many different expressions of love. His brown eyes glimmered with excitement and love as she leaned forward and sealed her lips to his lingeringly.

7:00pm

Keiichi had instructed the driver to travel along the harbor expressways, both No. 1 and 9, and then loop around back to Shinjuku. The ocean was beautiful; its placid surface reflecting the host of city lights with a breathtaking burst of colors.
Belldandy was snuggled against him as they silently shared in the scenic drive's panorama of cityscape.

7:45pm

The limousine pulled over unexpectedly at Chuo St. in the heart of the Ginza district. Keiichi hadn't breathed a single word to Belldandy about *this* stop. She had expected them to simply cruise the streets and expressways of Tokyo until they reached their final destination.
"Could this be it?" she wondered, looking up and down the street at the plethora of illuminated street signs.
Keiichi surprised her one more time as he excused himself with a passionate kiss and walked across the street into a shop. Belldandy watched as he disappeared into the active street scene nightlife of the bustling entertainment district.
"This *can't* be it!" she concluded as she saw the streetknife tough hoods and hookers hanging out in front of the many hostess bars mixed in with the various shops and mompop grocery stores.

8:00pm

Keiichi emerged, dressed in a smart black tuxedo. Belldandy tittered as he walked up to the limousine...he looked so *silly* in a tuxedo. Belldandy looked comfortable in just about anything she wore; dressing up was a natural for her. But unlike her, Keiichi was at home in a t-shirt and jeans, or racing coveralls. Looking down at the shining fabric of her formal dress, Belldandy realized how much she belonged in this dress...how much elation Keiichi had felt when he bought it for her with his own money. She assumed a more serious affect after giggling one last time at Keiichi. His bowtie was crooked.
Keiichi opened the door and climbing in, watching Belldandy keenly for a reaction. Just like a stereotypical mortal woman, she straightened his collar and bowtie.
"Where'd she learn *that*?" he wondered.
"Well?"
"It's not you, Keiichi. But if I were to look at all the men in the world in a tuxedo...you would stand out first among then. You look handsome, my prince!" she complimented him, punctuating her remark with a kiss.
Keiichi knew that she was right about the tux, but he saw her eyes get *that* misty look when she was filled with appreciation and love for him.

8:30pm

Belldandy recognized Shinjuku in the distance as they drove up Yasukuni St. after circling the Imperial Palace. The gleaming skyscrapers seemed to pull down the starry sky; their spires like mechanical trees piercing the horizon.
The limo pulled up under the Japan Tower.

9:00pm

Belldandy was already dizzy from the whirlwind of events today. But this...was like a cherry on a cake.
Keiichi and she had taken the open-windowed elevator to the Cloudline Restaurant...one of the most in-demand and pricey dining experiences in Tokyo. With good reason, she thought as she looked out the curved window next to their candlelit table.
After they ordered their dinner, Keiichi explained to her the history of the Japan Tower. It had been topped off just last year as the tallest self-supporting structure in the world, rising exactly 900 meters from its base to the light at the top of its spire. After the rash of competing "world's tallest" structures in the first few years of the new millennium, Japan had decided to follow suite and build a landmark structure in Tokyo. As the most cosmopolitan city in Asia, and probably in the world, Tokyo needed a signature structure that would not only define its skyline, but would symbolize the world-class status of the city.
Belldandy knew that the construction of this tower had excited the engineering student in Keiichi; he had remarked about the progress of its construction numerous times during their casual talks. Looking past the candelabra on their table, he explained that it was almost twice as tall as the CNN Tower in Toronto. In his mind, it was the Eiffel Tower of the 21st century.
From her window-side seat at the 750m level, she could see the orange undersides of the low moundy winter clouds hovering just overhead. Being this close to the clouds was nothing new to her; she routinely flew in them millions of times in thousands of manners. She had lived on the top of clouds the size of Japan, racing horses with Urd. Looking down, she could see the 25 million inhabitants of the Tokyo-Yokohama conurbation; all of them living and heartbreathing their lives under her watchful eye as the restaurant slowly rotated.
The real miracle was that, on their own, the mortals had designed and built this structure whose lightcarpeted view she was enjoying.
And yet...the *real* miracle was the mortal man sitting across from her, his handsome face flushed with love for her. Never in her wildest imaginings did Belldandy envision herself being so totally loved by another being. Yet, here he was, like a dream come true, a dream especially created for her, sitting in front of her in his awkward tuxedo. Animated with life, with truth and with love.
Total love for her.
She reached across the table and held his hands in hers, satisfied with the most wonderful sight in the Multiverse.

9:15pm

Keiichi marveled at the aroma that was broadsweeping his nostrils so enticingly. A whole lobster graced the center of the table, with side dishes galore. They had ordered fugo, the winter pufferfish that contained a deadly poison when uncooked...only licensed fugo cooks could prepare the delicacy using methods handed down secretly through the generations.
Belldandy tasted the unagi. Keiichi had informed her that it had aphrodisiac qualities, to which she responded that the entire day had been one long aphrodisiac. The unagi was skewered and had been roasted over charcoal, giving the eel dish a delicious aroma. It was all the more rare because it was a summer dish, not normally available in the winter months.
"The waiters really know their stuff," Keiichi thought as they brought two cups of sharkfin soup. The meal was timed perfectly...each dish brought out with a culinary fanfare, yet not hurried to the table. He had enjoyed giving this day to Belldandy...he knew without a doubt that she would never forget his clumsy yet heartfelt expressions of love for her.

11:30pm

"Silence shared between lovers can speak with grave profundity," Keiichi thought, his arm draped around Bell's shoulders. They had communed in silence as the limousine took the expressway out of Tokyo...they were already in countryside. The sparseness of lights cast a serene mood on the couple as they cuddled together in the seat of the limo. There was one more place to go...their last stop tonight. Turning off the main highway, their limousine rolled slowly into the ryokan's driveway.
Keiichi had initially wanted to book an expensive suite at one of Tokyo's leading hotels, so that he and Bell could end their evening in a brilliant spectacle of luxury. But he thought better of it, and decided to find an out-of-the-way inn instead. After all, with all the malls, the Japan Tower, the railway and limousines, he had reckoned that they would be overstimulated. His desire was to present a day's worth of *variety* to his girlfriend for their anniversary.
"The richness of life is in its variety," Bell had often told him. What better way than to end this wonderful day in a quiet one-story, one-room ryokan?

12:05am

Belldandy had slipped out of her evening dress into the flowery yukata that was neatly folded atop her futon; it smelled wonderfully of rustic woods and incense. Keiichi was dressed in a dark blue yukata with the circular mon on each sleeve.
"Keiichi...I just wanted to thank you for this wonderful day! This has been one of the...best days of my existence. I feel like I had a year's worth of love given to me from you in just this single day," she said, her heart genuinely touched by his efforts. Now that it was all said and done, Belldandy was acutely aware of how Keiichi had carefully orchestrated every aspect of the day with the precision of a physicist and the insight of a philosopher.
"Bell-chan, there's one more thing before..." he started to say when he heard the gentle rapping on the shoji door. After a moment, the door slid open to reveal two blind persons.
"A father and daughter, by how close their faces resemble each other," Keiichi guessed. "How tragic for the two of them!"
He felt a brief glimpse of guilt for calling the masseuses after seeing their pitiful condition...but he was glad to employ them, for they would have money in their pockets and warm place to stay.
Belldandy looked at the two visitors with compassion in her heart, and then looked at Keiichi with a questioning expression.
"Oh, Belldandy, they're masseurs. You know...like how we give each other massages? Anyway, they're *way* better at it than I could ever be," he explained. Belldandy felt a moment's fear...some of the massages Keiichi had given her recently were sensual efforts that she didn't want anyone else to attempt.
"Don't worry about us, we're blind...and we don't do *those* kinds of massages," the young woman told her as she instructed Bell to undo her robe.

12:50am

Keiichi had asked the masseurs to massage them until they fell asleep. The father informed Keiichi that he was the brother-in-law of the owner of the ryokan; he had lost his wife when she gave birth to his one daughter. So now he and his daughter lived part-time with his brother-in-law, eking out a living by massaging the clients and people in the nearby villages, plus helping out with various chores around the ryokan.
His head resting to one side, he saw Belldandy's face resting on her futon pillow, sound asleep with a serene smile on her face.

* * * * * * * *

8:00am the Following Day

The owner brought them a simple but tasty breakfast in the traditional style; consisting of tsuekmono, miso soup, a boiled egg, tea, rice and dried fish slices, and peach juice. Belldandy and Keiichi ate their meal in meditative silence, soaking in the serenity of the ryokan and the early morning woods around it, the trees frosted with snow. A calming carefree serenity, which they both richly deserved after all the craziness of the past year in their lives.

12:05pm

After checking out, Keiichi motioned for Belldandy to come to the taxi that the ryokan owners had called for them.
"Just a minute, Keiichi...I'll be right there," she shouted with a cupped hand.
"Excuse me, where is the father and daughter that massaged us last night? I want to thank them," she asked the owner.
"Oh...they're probably still asleep in our spare bedroom. After they finished with you and your boyfriend, they had two more appointments. Can I give them a message?"
"No, that won't do. I want to thank them personally," Belldandy said in a half-pleading, half-demanding voice. The owner looked at her suspiciously, but then relented in deference to her kind demeanor. He pointed towards a set of shoji doors. Belldandy slid the paneled door and saw the father and daughter sleeping in separate futons in the middle of a crowded room.

12:10pm

"I'm done!" Belldandy said happily as she bounded into the cab, almost jumping onto Keiichi's lap.
"What were you doing back there, honey?" Keiichi asked, curious about what was so important that it delayed their departure.
"I just had to say my thank-you's," she answered with a smile.

12:25pm

"F..Father! O..oh my God! I can *see*! I..I can *see*!!!"
"Junko! This *can't* be! I..is that really you? I..I can see your *face*!"

* * * * * * * *

"It's all too much," Urd reflected as she considered the lull in her love life. The past several weeks had been frustrating to no end. So frustrating...especially frustrating when she saw all the happy couples in the house. Instead of feeling happy for Belldandy and Keiichi, Megumi and Genji, she felt irritated whenever they were aglow with romantic ardor. The last few weeks were as wrinkled as the crescent-shaped islands of Japan.
With a surge of nikhedonia, she had checked up on Cevn minutes after Belldandy Mindwiped him. He was *still* hiding under his blanket. Much to her disappointment, Bell's efforts proved to no avail. It *should* have worked...but it didn't.
A week later, Cevn was able to emerge out from under the security of his futon blankets and talk with her for brief spells...but it just wasn't the same. He seemed to be in some kind of emotional fugue. Present but not accounted for. His lively nature had deserted him, leaving only a hebetudinous shell of a man.
She consulted with her sisters, then Keiichi and Megumi. Belldandy was confused at first...her best estimation was that the Mindwipe had only partially deleted his memories. Eventually, because Cevn retained his memories, the memories returned to each household member like a lost puppy in the rain.
So Urd took to heart what Belldandy had said about love. She spent her time in a delicate dance of emotions with Cevn, gently prodding him to get back into the routine of life. She had expected things to be back to normal within a week.
But after three weeks, Cevn had recovered only enough to be able to come out of his room and silently eat dinner with everyone. One mealtime turned tentative as Urd felt herself ready to blow up...Belldandy had wisely noticed the little signs of an oncoming Urd-fit and escorted her back to the sister's bedroom before any damage could be done. A couple of days later, Urd became deeply worried that his non-responsiveness was the result of some kind of neurological trauma, like a stroke.
So once again, she tried talking to him, having to repeat her words in almost every other sentence she spoke. He just wasn't *hearing* her. The intermittence of his attention span added to Urd's befrazzlement. Sometimes, he was himself...but most of the times, he seemed to be a dullard. Lost in the clouds.
She looked at his sleeping form, gently breathing under the winter blankets.

* * * * * * * *

The weekend before Christmas brought an unseasonable chill to the city of Makuhari. With the beating that the town had taken in the wake of the fury of Supertyphoon Akira, a host of problems emerged with the winter weather. Infrastructures that were damaged during the October storm were now experiencing breakdowns on a routine basis.
An example of this was the recent rash of tardy snow removal. Every time Megumi drove to N.I.T. this week, she had to take a number of detours because of the incomplete snowplowing. Each moment of sleep retains a precious nature during finals week...and Megumi and Keiichi had to get up an *hour* earlier than usual, just to make it to N.I.T. The snowplow shed and all the plows had been devastated by Akira, so snowplows had to be brought up from distant Yokohama. The Prefectural government said that they were operating with only 1/4th of the normal complement of working snow removal equipment...not to mention that the Prefectural budget had been strained well past its prudent reserve with disaster relief expenditures.
She looked at her passenger, and could tell by the rings under his eyes that Keiichi was dragging. School had been arduous this past week for both of them. The substitute instructor for Cevn's classes was a dry lecturer who didn't know a thing about the subject matter. Actually, the lecturer did know a bit of the material...but he was struggling. So they both had to endure a turgid lecture every other day. On top of that, Keiichi's informed her that his senior exams for the fall semester were brutal, especially in his Advanced Engineering Physics and Methods course.
"I feel like my mind is being murdered...it's always go home and do homework until I fall asleep at my desk," he said, surveying the snowpiles.
"Tell me about it! This getting up early because of the snow...*really* sucks!" Megumi affirmed. Her courseload was stacked this semester with six classes; with the result that she and Genji were almost strangers.
Fortunately, Sayoko had been coming over occasionally as part of a study partnership. Megumi was suspicious that Genji's older sister was just using her visits as an excuse to keep tabs on she and Genji...but Sayoko *was* very helpful; especially since she had already taken two of the six courses last year. It was a blessing in disguise in another way as well, because Sayoko was experiencing firsthand how Megumi was pouring herself into her schoolwork...even if she didn't say it aloud, Megumi sensed that Sayoko was obviously impressed with her academic diligence. Or her academic struggles, if she didn't do well on this final round of exams before the holiday break.
Keiichi's mind was already at home, projecting a pleasantly relaxing soak in the furoba for as long as his skin could stand it. As they pulled up into the vehicle garage, he saw Belldandy emerge, wrapped tight in her winter jacket. She greeted him at the door when he came home, looking beautiful in her fake-fur parka and scarf. It was much too cold to ride his bike, the temperature a brisk blood-bricking minus 18 degrees C. But there were several circular impressions in the snow where he had taken his bike out on the driveway for brief but exhilarating donut spins.
Bell's expression was replete with worry as he crunched through the packed snow to the doorway.
"Keiichi...we have *no* water!" she said dismally.
"What? No water!" he said in anguish after having her repeat her announcement. It was...unbelievable! Keiichi's vision of a hot bath evaporated with solar flare intensity. Frustration mounted his face as he felt his eyebrows plummet into a serious expression, mirroring that of Bell-chan's.
"Yes...and I have the flu," she sniffled with a mock-whining voice. Keiichi hugged her, and then put his head to her forehead.
"Wow! Bell-chan, you are running way hot with fever!" he said worriedly. "Why aren't you in bed, my love?"
"And miss seeing you home from school, dear?" she said, her warm blue eyes twinkling.
"So...since you're sick, that means..."
"Yes, unfortunately. It means that I can't use my Goddess powers to make it possible for us to have water. If it was only our house, then I might be able to pull it off. But, I think the water main is broken or frozen, because all the houses around us have no water. I can hear them complaining. I'm just...too weak right now to fix *that*," she said guiltily...wearily.
"And you don't have to, Bell! We'll order some food for pickup, and we can all go to the public baths," he assured her. Holding her close, Keiichi could feel Bell-chan's heart beating rapidly.
Escorting her to the dinner table, Keiichi arranged a blanket over Belldandy's shoulders, then tucked her legs under the heated carpet under the table and fetched her a can of Darjeeling tea, her favorite. She smiled at him gratefully as he thumbed through the phonebook.
"Hmm...maybe I should try these guys?" he said aloud as he punched the numbers on the remote phone.
"Uh, you said that this is the Goddess Relief Office?" he asked in a surprised voice, then turned to Belldandy to see her reaction. She looked at him with her mouth agape.
"Yes...I want you to send me the most lovable, beautiful Goddess you have up there. Her name is Belldandy..." Keiichi watched as Belldandy's face filled with romantic whimsy. She looked up with grateful eyes and blew him a kiss.
"Keiichi...I think you have the wrong number. She's already assigned to Earth. In fact, I think she's already found the most wonderful man in all of the Earthrealm. His name is Morisato Keiichi," she said, then smiled.
"Ohhhh. Well in that case, do you guys have some good udon and beefbowl to go..."
"Yeah...but what the hell were you talking about earlier?" the voice on the other line groused.

* * * * * * * *

Despite the cold, Cevn was still half-asleep as he looked out the frosted car window at the other car pulling out of the driveway. Strangely enough, Urd had woke him up to tell him that they were having food brought in, if he was hungry. She added that there was no water coming into the house, and that Keiichi was on the phone trying to make some arrangements for a trip to the public baths.
They eventually decided to drive into Chiba and splurge on a nice public bath. Megumi, Belldandy, Skuld and Urd had piled into one car; Keiichi, Genji, Tomohisa and Cevn in the other. Cevn noticed that Urd seemed very worried that he wouldn't go because of his renewed sensitivity to his body...but she was able to talk him into it when she promised that the baths had separate men's and women's sections. Urd told him that she, too, was beginning to feel under the weather...her throat was starting to feel raw.
The bathhouse building was a recreation of a 1920's art-deco palace. Everyone marveled at its refined opulence. Neon lights in the entrance gave it a clean appearance. All the slush tracked in by the many patrons had been mopped off the fake marble floortiles.
"Wow! This place is totally rad!" Tomohisa marveled, verbalizing everyone's sentiments. The guys and the gals parted company for their respective bath areas.

* * * * * * * *

I felt some uncomfortability as we pulled up to the sento. I had read a lot of travel books extolling the virtues of Japanese public baths, but I had never experienced one firsthand. I expected a homey-looking wooden structure, with noren curtains and handwashed woodwork. Instead, this bathhouse was like...a love hotel. At least my assumed mental image of a love hotel, for I had never been in one of *those*, of course.
It possessed a distinctive architectural theme, which it followed precisely. Great attention had been paid to rendering the sento into an exacting replica of a 1920s European 'grand hotele'. I half expected sheiks and flappers to be walking around in the lobby. The sheer luxury of the place was unsettling...it was like I had stepped a century back in time. Gold gilded porpoises spouted water out of their bills in recessed alcoves in the locker room as I undressed. For some reason, I sensed that Peorth might be hovering nearby, so I undressed quickly and wrapped the towel around my waist.
In the rinsing area, I felt a constricting sense of being smothered by the bright lights. Everything was well lit...which made me feel vulnerable. Any time I was in a stage of undress around any other people, I was very edgy. But after the Peorth incident, I had to really fight my instinctive urges to run away.
Sitting on a wooden stool, I rinsed with alternating buckets of cool and hot water. There were several doors at the end of the rinsing area, each leading to a small hotbath room. Keiichi pointed out one on the end, indicating that was our private bathtub. After washing myself, I settled into the hot bath. Soon, Keiichi and the others joined me. The tub was cozy, not too hot. Large enough for the four of us without crowding, I noticed with frank relief.
I had skipped eating the dinner that Urd brought, because I was feeling misanthropic for some reason. When Urd knocked on my bedroom door again a little later, waking me out of a nap to invite me along with the excursion to the bathhouse...she seemed very insistent. I almost refused, but I sensed that some earnestness on my part would make this a safe trip. Especially after Urd promised that there would nothing weird would happen...
The private bath was nicely appointed. I had assumed that the 'Roaring Twenties' motif would extend to the bath itself, but it didn't. Each wall had a wraparound mosaic of tiles depicting a Mediterranean beach scene; the door had even been painted to blend in with the depicted scenario. Part of one wall had what appeared to be sliding panels, perhaps for bathtub maintenance. The water was soft and nicely scented. I settled in, spellbound by all the changes in milieu.
The guys talked a bit about school stuff, then about their plans were for the upcoming Christmas and New Year's. I just wasn't in a very conversant mood. Keiichi waxed enthusiastically about how he had a Christmas surprise for Belldandy. Genji followed, by telling us about his plan to surprise Megumi with a skiing trip after New Years. Tomohisa said that he was planning to buy presents for all of us.
I sensed a downward turn in my mood as I realized that I hadn't gotten anyone anything. I had plenty of yen in the bank, thanks to the money that came in the Enigma Book...but I had been reclusively nursing my wounds. I had to give myself a pat on the back for being at least willing to come *here*, however. I had been taking baths at home in the middle of the night; completely terrified that someone would invade my privacy. After a couple weeks of this, I noticed that an anonymous someone would leave me a new bathrobe and fresh potpourri in the bathroom each night. It must have been Urd.
I realized that I couldn't stare down my conscience, which was guilt-ridden because I had been treating Urd badly. Not that I harbored any ill feelings towards her...I just felt involuntarily like a space case whenever she would come to my room.
I felt distasteful towards myself, because I just couldn't connect with her in a romantic sense. Every time she tried to get cozy with me, I would detach and float off in my mind. It was almost like I had an out-of-body experience...I would feel my senses 'fade out'. And I didn't want them to. It was almost an automatic reaction; akin to how my sympathetic nervous system would send me into shock if I dropped a heavy object on my foot.
Then when I came to, I would see the look of naked frustration on her face. I felt really saddened, perhaps empathizing with her futility; she was really trying. It occurred to me that *this* effort of patience on her part was incredible; an absolute contrast to her usual "whatever I want, I want *now*" attitude. Could she be trying to tell me something?
No matter what I did...I felt fear and shame. So I would crawl underneath the winter blankets of my futon to seek shelter. It *was* nothing short of a miracle that I had given in to her prompting and came here, to a Japanese public bath.
"Hey, what's wrong, Cevn?" Keiichi said. I smiled at him, until I noticed that my face must have revealed my inner conflicts.
"I...I've just haven't been myself lately," I answered.
"We *know* that...but what is all this sadness about?" Genji asked.
"I feel like I have nothing to live for anymore," I said truthfully. Keiichi's face revealed alarm at the casualness of my answer.
"What do you mean? Nothing to live for? You have all of us...you even have a girlfriend. Don't you remember? When you first came here, you told me that you would never be in love again. What happened? Now that you're in love, you don't want to feel it? But it's not just with Urd...you've been acting detached from all of us!"
"It's not that simple, Keiichi. I want to feel like I'm a part of something. But what makes me feel so screwed up is the fact that feeling so much...has become unnatural. Something happened when Peorth came. Now I feel mostly numb."
"You need to let it go, dude! It's almost Christmas...it's been a month since that happened!" Genji said.
"I know...Lord help me, I know. I'm afraid...that it's just not going to go away on its own," I tried to explain.
"Cevn, when Sayoko was all bound up with her drug addiction like a sumotori's mawashi...I felt the *same* way. Not just about her...but about me. I didn't feel like I had any hope. Megumi tried to talk to me, and I totally ignored her. It took some convincing by a certain faculty member at N.I.T. to focus me on the fact that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Fair's fair...anyway, I think it's time we did an intervention on *you*." I looked at Genji; my expression must have been one of surprise.
"Yes, I agree with Genji-san," I heard a feminine voice affirm. I looked up at as one of the 'maintenance' panels in the wall slid open. Three Goddesses and Megumi were resting their heads on their arms, peering over a tiled ledge at our men's bath, their hair wrapped in towels except for Megumi.
My first instinct was to scramble for...cover...anywhere away from them. I felt exposed; but my tension slackened as I noticed that all I could see was their faces...which meant that all they could see was my face.
"Y..you guys planned this?"
"No...I did," I heard a fifth voice. I looked to see that Sayoko had joined on the women's side.
"Sorry I'm late, guys," she said as she waded in next to Skuld. The door was blocked from view, so I didn't have to see her enter the bath.
I felt a wash of panic overcome me. I knew that I was cornered. I wanted to submerge my head in the hot bathtub.
"I come here all the time, so I decided to rent the adjoining men's and women's baths...after Urd phoned me. We've been planning this for a while...but circumstances didn't allow all of us to gather in one place. Y'know...finals and minor things like that. Don't worry, no one's going to see any flashing as long as everyone keeps to their side of the bath," she added with a smile.
"That means *you*, Tomohisa," Skuld said sharply. Tomohisa blushed deeply at Skuld's remark, then splashed her with a swipe of his hand on the surface of the water.
"Hey...no waterfights!" Megumi exclaimed.
"Yeah...especially since the men are outnumbered five to four," Keiichi added. I smiled at him...he was trying to lighten the mood.
"OK. So here we are...tell me what you want to tell me," I said with a reluctance churning in my guts. The wheels and gears of fear were readying their rotation inside of me.
"Urd?" Sayoko asked.
Urd spent the next ten minutes telling me about how frustrated she had become towards me. I became aware that her frustration had led to anger, which Belldandy and Skuld had to defuse at bedtime during many nights. *That* made me feel even more caddish. She talked about how helpless she felt that I was not only rejecting her...but I had become spacey. I wasn't myself. Then she started in on a heartrending emotional appeal, her tears each becoming a wrenching rip in my heart. Belldandy had to soothe her...she was so upset. Skuld looked at me with a face filled with anger for making her sister hurt.
Then Keiichi started in about how much I was missed at by the students at N.I.T. It seems that I had developed a certain rep there as a teacher who taught interesting classes with an admixture of challenging studies and fun exercises. Then he explained his own frustration at the fact that I seemed to be throwing my potential away. He added that I was almost child-like in my nascent attitude, which irritated him to no end.
Megumi was next. I was already in tears by the time Urd had finished, but after Keiichi's turn and Megumi's additions, I was swamped beyond tears with the sadness in my heart. They were tearing me down, not because I was doing something wrong...but because I was doing something wrong by *not doing anything*. By omitting myself from the routines of my life, I realized that I was causing much more harm than good. Megumi pointed out that others are simply mirrors of me: by not facing them, it meant that I wasn't facing myself. I turned red with anger at this.
"Haven't I had enough? Enough therapy, enough counseling, workbooks, psych units," I argued...until Sayoko cut me off.
"No more self-pity from you," she sharply confronted me with all the bluntness of a katana sword. "And don't you even think about getting caught up in blaming life for your own reluctance to deal with it." To me, it seemed that she was taking a certain joy in the fact that the student had switched roles with the teacher...as I had been her sempai in recovery. Now she was pulling me up short on my own defects of character.
Belldandy explained that she thought that it was best for me to do nothing. That I needed to soak in the despair until it became crystal-clear to me that I needed to be pulled out. In her opinion, it wasn't something that I could fight against...so why fight? She finished by saying that she and the others would fight for me. They would help me resist what I couldn't resist on my own.
Sayoko went next, and blasted me with a whole bunch of recovery principles. After ten minutes of picking me apart so I can see that I was full of shit, she shifted into a more supportive stance. She affirmed that she thought that I could recover from this...relapse...into fear and insecurity. She reminded me that I needed to surrender; but that my withdrawal from my life wasn't surrender, it was just another effort at controlling outcomes. Then she poignantly recalled how much of a difference I had made in her life...describing the intervention and all the support everyone had offered to her afterward, right up to the point where Peorth came. Finally, she told me that since others had recovered from sexual trauma...then it *was* possible. Even for me.
Skuld told me that I was being selfish...and Tomohisa echoed her sentiment. Genji repeated his description of feeling helpless because of Sayoko's drug addiction.
Finally, Sayoko asked me one simple question:
"What are you going to *do*? Are you just going to let life pass you by, or are you going to forgive yourself and let go of your shame? *We've* all forgiven you. We all love you and care about you in our own ways. So...what are you going to do?"
"But...but it's not my fault! This isn't about something that I've done wrong! This stuff was done to me. I didn't have a choice. I think I'm developmentally disabled in the area of sexuality. I don't have a clue what to do anymore! And now you're all accusing me for reacting to it the only way I know how..."
"Bullshit!" Urd interrupted me. The vehemence of her outburst caused everyone to flinch.
"You are *not* innocent by any means of the imagination! There are no mistakes...only lessons to be learned. You just don't want to learn the lesson...that you *are* in control of your body. Of your heart. Of your sexuality. It's all up to you, Cevn. You can hide from it for the rest of your life...or you can face it. I know you can, because you did that day in Beijing...remember? On the park bench?" Urd said, leaning far over the divider to get in my face.
"You *have* to change...or else we're *through*! I can't handle your being so out-of-touch with my reality, my life. I just can't handle it anymore," Urd said in, her tears accompanying a determined voice. I was reeling from Urd's confrontation and ultimatum. I knew she was on-target...but then again...it just seemed impossible what she was asking.
"It's...impossible," I said in a small voice, knowing that I had just doomed the only chance I would ever have to be loved by a woman. Looking over the divider, I saw Urd and the others shake their heads sadly. I turned to the guys, who were all hanging their heads with disappointment. I could hear the women talking in whispered conversations. Finally Sayoko spoke up.
""Well, it looks like we're going to have to provide some shock treatment, huh girls and guys?" she said aloud. I had a crazy mental picture of Urusei Yatsura with Lum administering electric shocks. I looked to see all the women nod their heads in agreement. I turned away from them just in time to see Keiichi with a bathstool in both hands. Suddenly he raised it over his head and hit me in the head so hard, everything flashed into fuzziness.

* * * * * * * *

Everything seemed soft-lighted, like I was looking through a cloud. Sayoko was smiling mischievously at me as she waded off to the side. She returned with a wooden footstool, and then said something about going first. She set the stool down in the water, out of sight, and then reached back down into the water.
The last thing I remember seeing is something like an underwater door opening and Sayoko starting to wade *through* the partition that divided the women's and the men's baths.

* * * * * * * *

"It would be risky...but it seemed necessary," Urd thought as Sayoko waded over to the men's bath. Then Urd stepped up on the stool and then floated over to the ledge. She settled into the corner nearest Cevn, noticing that his eyes were tightly closed as he shook like a lotus leave floating down a rapids. Belldandy came over next and quickly took her place besides Keiichi, and then Megumi came over. Megumi darted quickly under the water and pulled the sliding underwater door shut.
Sayoko had positioned herself on the opposite corner from Urd, so that she and Urd were flanking Cevn...but at a distance. She looked up to see Skuld peering over the now-closed partition.
Now that everybody was cozy, she addressed Cevn. He was crouched low in the water, his eyes closed, his arms covering himself protectively.
"You can open your eyes now," Sayoko suggested gently. She watched as he shivered, sending little circles across the bath's surface. Belldandy smiled at her, nodding her head approvingly.
"You don't have to be afraid. No one is going to touch you without your permission. No one is going to attack you. We're all just sitting here in the bathtub with you. Nothing sexual is going on...we're all here as friends," she continued.
In his mind, Cevn saw a nightmarish parade of monsters ready to rip him apart in the bath, just to turn the water red with his lifeforce. He thought Sayoko's voice sounded like a radio in a distant part of the house, half-tuned into a station; faint and nondescript shadow-words seemed to pierce his tortoiseshell fears.
"Cevn...it's really okay. We didn't want to go to this extreme, but you wouldn't believe what we told you earlier...so we had to prove to you that we *are* your friends. You may not understand this, but do you think that, as a Goddess, that I am really all that self-conscious of you seeing my body? A lot of the time, we travel skyclad in Yggdrasil. Clothes and accessories are nice, but they are optional. We Goddesses are not caught up in the kinds of ego attachments that you mortals have with your physical spheres," Belldandy explained in a comforting voice.
"Tomohisa! Eyes front and center, boy! If you so much as look at anyone but me...I'll Skuld-bomb you," Skuld shouted in complete dissonance to the calming atmosphere. She lifted up a handheld bomb with "Skuld Waterproof Explosion Device" painted on the side. She had noticed that Tomohisa's eyes were greedily roaming over every female body in the pool; his indulgence in this adolescent fantasy come true was not only potently sexual in nature...for some reason, it *really* irked her. She remembered Big Sister Urd reminding her while she was rinsing off before going to the bath...
"If things get to the point where we have to wade over to the men's pool, it has to be as free of sexual vibrations as possible. I'll leave it to you to take care of Tomohisa," Urd had cautioned her.
"...TOMOHISA! Y..you better not be looking anywhere else but at me! Come over here, right now!" Skuld commanded, hoisting her Skuld-bomb and shaking it for emphasis. Tomohisa sighed with absolute reluctance and waded over to where Skuld was, face to face, his back to the rest. Skuld pulled out a watergun and sprayed him in the face.
"That's for looking at my sisters the way you did. Don't think I didn't see you gawking at them!" she said in an angry voice.
"Ahem...well *some* of us Goddesses aren't caught up matters of the body," Urd said sarcastically. She had noticed that Skuld was a little *too* emphatic about Tomohisa. It amused her to think that her youngest sister was actually responding out of *jealousy*. Naturally, she didn't even know it.
"Well, now that we have that taken care of, I guess we need to explain to you the facts of life," Megumi chimed in.
"Just because none of us are wearing any clothes...it doesn't mean that there's going to be an orgy or something. We all know about what happened when Peorth visited. So I had this crazy idea. Since you're feeling so embarrassed because some of us saw you naked that day...well, I thought that if we evened the score and let you see us naked...then you would less apt to drown in embarrassment," Urd explained.
"You have to remember...this is Japan, not America. WWe still have coed onsens and public baths. Not because they're a cover for love hotel-like sexual flings, in most cases, but because nudity is not such a big deal here. It's not like we're nudists or something...but the human body isn't always associated with sex. I mean, I used to take baths with my father on a regular basis, as a kid. With Keiichi too. Right now, Keiichi isn't looking at me with total lust in his eyes. He's not acting like he's all turned on, even with Belldandy sitting next to him. This isn't the time or place for that. He's just kicked back in the bath with the rest of us," Megumi offered.
"You must realize, if we really wanted you to open your eyes, we could very easily. Just think how it would feel for eight of us to gang up on you with a splash-out water fight. So why don't you try and trust us," Urd said gently. "Besides, it kinda looks silly with you squinting tightly while the rest of us are so relaxed."

* * * * * * * *

I heard Urd insist that I open my eyes. It was no big deal, they were saying. Perhaps it wasn't...for *them*! But I felt so vulnerable. So *naked*. As soon as Sayoko started to come over, I felt my mind lockdown with bladed doors of panic. I closed my eyes and retreated back...deep back. I felt the familiar black hole engulf me and dissolve my feelings of panic into a thousand bubbles that seemed to dance on the inside of my tightly squeezed eyelids. I expected hands all over me, touching me with no regard to privacy. I expected crude comments about my body and manhood. I expected violence. I expected a lot of things too horrible to dwell on for more than a split second, not things in the remote sense, but memories that were part of my reality.
But the past cannot be revisited..except by choice. My sexual past was triggered irrevocably by this. Yet they were saying that they were my friends, and that they had done this by choice. Not to hurt me, but to level the playing field so that I wouldn't have the excuse of embarrassment to cling onto.
"Oh well...what the hell?" I mentally resigned myself to fate. I opened my eyes and turned to my right. I saw Urd, her slender shoulders just peaking over the water. She was smiling gently at me...her emerald eyes inviting. There wasn't a trace of shame on her face. What's more, she lacked any embarrassment at the fact that I could see her...all of her. Shoulders up, any way. The water was distorting everything else, for which I was extremely grateful. If I couldn't see her clearly, she couldn't see me.
I felt my blood rushing to my face in shame and embarrassment, because I wanted to see her nakedness. I felt a flash of disappointment as I realized that the water was splashing around so much from the jetfeeds that I couldn't catch a glimpse of her figure underwater.
Then I heard clapping. Keiichi shouted "way to go!" and Megumi whistled in approval. It took a moment to register that they were applauding me.
"He did it!" Sayoko said happily. I looked at her...and noticed how she had transformed into a radiant beauty. Then I realized that I wasn't trying to size up each woman's body. I was looking them in the face, in the eyes, rather than getting caught up with voyeuristic urges to see a water-distorted thigh or a breast or pubic hair.
"Welcome back, honey!" Urd said proudly.
"Cevn, how are you feeling?" Belldandy asked, her face still exhibiting concern.
"I..I'm in shock. If I was 15 years younger...this would have been a dream come true. You're all beautiful women...but I don't feel threatened by that. I don't feel threatened by you guys, either. I don't think you're going to try anything to hurt me," I said, surprised at my little joke about adolescent fantasy. Sayoko splashed me with water, and then pointed up at the wall.
"Do you see any signs?"
"Signs of what? What does that have to do about anything?" I asked, wondering what she was trying to get at. She grinned and splashed me again.
"I mean, the signs that say 'No women allowed in the men's bath'!" she explained. It dawned on me that the 'maintenance passages' above and below the water were there so that people could move about between adjoining pools. Sorta like sliding dividers in restaurant booths.
"Silly! There's no sign up on the wall because it's *okay*! You're okay. We're all adults here. I'm not sitting here thinking 'I'm going to molest Cevn'. I'm not staring at your body. But really, nudity doesn't equal sexuality. We're just eight adults sharing a bath. You really need to let go of those American hang-ups you have. I think they have been part of the reason why you've felt so victimized over the years," Sayoko pointed out.
"That thing with Peorth was a mistake on her part...and I know it injured you. Made you feel unloved and unprotected. But you know what? You're in Japan. Your whole life is different now. Like it or not, you are not going to be victimized any more. So stop victimizing your own feelings. Let go of it. That's why we're all here with you...to help you see that you *can* let go of it. Even if Peorth were here, she wouldn't want you to feel so horrible about yourself. She really wouldn't," Belldandy urged.
I started laughing. They were dead-on right...and had gone to an insane extreme to prove it.
"This may sound dreadfully cliched...but if you beat them, then join them," I said. Feeling light-headed from the blow to the head, I started blacking out...

* * * * * * * *

Urd looked at Peorth, then back at Cevn's sleeping form.
"Thanks, Peorth. I think your DreamWeaving spell took hold in all the right places. That's the first time he's smiled since you were here before," Urd said.
Peorth was floating over the sleeping form of the young male mortal. She had wrecked so much havoc in his life during her temporary assignment to Keiichi. Belldandy's words had left a definite imprint on the clay of her soul.
"I had to make it up to him. I had no idea..." she said, unable to explain all the sewage in his river of dreams. While sifting through his mind to come up with components for her DreamWeaving, Peorth had tapped into each of his encounters with the spectral figure of sexual abuse. She also tapped into his hopes, and drew upon the strength of hope he felt from each of his friends here.
"Peorth was always so good at dreamweaving," Urd thought with admiration. She looked at the web-like weave of Peorth's dream, hovering barely a foot over Cevn's head. It looked like a global spiderweb, brilliantly fibrous with different colored lattices.
"If anyone could push him out of whatever is holding him, it's you," she reflected with irony.
"We each have our talents," Peorth said to her with a smile. "Urd...I need to apologize to you too. First, I didn't know that you and he..." Urd waved her off with an embarrassed smile.
"It's okay. Once I get my license back...you'll get yours," she teased the younger Goddess with just enough of a smile to avoid looking *too* sincere about her threat.
"Urd...I'll be ready any time you are for a rematch at Stellar Karaoke," she replied, smiling back sassily. Her face turned serious as she continued.
"But...I know that my first encounter with him made your life harder as well. I hope that you'll forgive me. I want to make it up to you. Really." Urd cycled through all sorts of images; all sorts of amends she could force out of Peorth. Grinning inwardly, she relished the slideshow of potentials.
"Peorth...there's something about the Ultimate Force that won't let me touch him. I can't kiss him, hug him, or even hold hands with him. Could you look into it for me?" Urd asked.
"Yeah...sure! Anything to help you guys. After all, I'm still a Senior Agent of the Goddess Relief Office," Peorth replied cheerily.
"By the way, how's Tyyr?"
"Last I heard, he was in a rehabilitation platoon because of repeated insubordination," she replied. Both Goddesses giggled at this.
"Hey, I bet you have wishes to fulfill, places to go. Thanks for coming in your spare time, Peorth!" Urd said appreciatively. Peorth dissolved the DreamWeave sphere with a wave of her hands. Urd was piqued with curiosity...
"Peorth, what exactly did you make him dream? I *gotta* know!" Urd insisted. Urd insisted. Peorth leaned over and whispered into Urd's ear. Urd turned red, then giggled, and then turned serious. Peorth had gone way beyond what she had suggested. She had suggested to Peorth that she use an intervention as a theme, similar to what Cevn had organized for Sayoko, thinking that it would work for him as well. Leave it to Peorth to come up with something crazy like using a public bathing facility as a DreamWeave setting for the intervention.
"Don't you *ever* tell Belldandy and Skuld that I used them in the DreamWeave! He won't, of course. He won't remember a thing when he wakes up tomorrow. He made a sort of …breakthrough. You guys should really be thankful you've earned his trust, or this would have been a disaster. Now I need to trust that you'll keep this a secret between us girls," Peorth warned.
"By Vanagdrasil, no way. They would do everything but *kill* you if they found out!" Urd assured her.
"They'd be after you too. After all, doing a DreamWeave to try and rearrange his subconscious was your idea. Now I just have to MindWipe everyone again before I go, and then we’re hopefully back to normal here. Urd, I must warn you, though. There is something totally out of whack with him. You better keep an eye on him, he's got readings that I've *never* encountered before. Scary stuff," Peorth cautioned. Urd nodded at this; Peorth wasn't telling her anything novel about her mortal charge.
"Hopefully he'll be my love again," Urd thought, looking at the flowers in the corner of the room. A few minutes later, Peorth returned and with a floral burst, disappeared into the vase of roses that Urd had bought especially for today. Urd smiled to herself as rose petals floated down all over the futon and tatami mats in Cevn's bedroom.
"I can't wait to have you back, dear," she said as she departed his room.

* * * * * * * *

"What are we going to do? It's been a couple days and we have no water. I had to drive all the way into Chiba just to get us some bottled water. And I need a bath!" Megumi anguished.
Keiichi was grateful that this didn't happen three weekends ago, when he and Bell-chan 'officially' celebrated their anniversary. He smiled inwardly at the memories of *that* evening...the Fates had smiled upon them, showering the couple with the gift of no intrusions for the entire day. No Urd. No Mara. No Skuld. No Megumi. Just he and his wonderful Goddess.
"What are you smiling about, Big Brother? There's no freakin' water for a bath...and you're *smiling*!" Megumi said. Keiichi's daydream decompressed instantly.
Urd walked into the dining room and nodded at Belldandy and Skuld approvingly, since Keiichi and Megumi seemed to be locked in eyedarts.
"Did it work?" Keiichi asked.
"Yeah, I think it did. He's sleeping like a baby, with a big grin on his face," Urd reported. Everyone at the dinner table seemed to sigh and relax into a more relaxed posture at the good news.
"I'm so happy for you, Urd!" Belldandy exclaimed.
"Me too," Megumi said, breaking her staredown with Keiichi. Urd almost collapsed with exhaustion.
"You're really sick too," Belldandy asked her older sister. She could almost feel the heat radiating from Urd, whose bronzed skin was pallid with fever.
"I got it! We should book ourselves some time at the public bath!" Keiichi said with his finger pointed at an imaginary midair lightbulb that had just popped on with an idea. Oddly enough, Urd unexpectedly blushed as he made his suggestion.
"That'll help you both start to get rid of the fevers you have. I'll call Sayoko and get her to make a recommendation," he said as he picked up the phone.
"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around...if you have a fever, you don't go too long in a hot bath. Especially when the weather outside is way sub-zeroish," Megumi said as she munched on a sushi roll with delight. It *had* been awhile since she went to a bath with the gals, however.
"This will be totally fun...except for the driving in these arctic weather conditions," she thought.

* * * * * * * *

"Hey Cevn, we're going to a public bath. You wanna tag along?" Urd asked, poking him gently with a round cardboard container, one of the ones he brought back from China.
"Huh...uh...oh Urd? I had the most amazing dream...I can't remember any details of it...but I feel totally new. Like I woke up into a new life or something. I just can't explain it," he offered. Urd looked at him with a beaming smile that broached angelic on her face.
"What's with you? You act like you've just seen a long-lost friend at the airport or whatever they have for mass transit up in Yggdrasil," he half-asked, half-observed.
"Uh...nothing really. It's just good to see you, honey," Urd said as she tossed him a winter jacket from his closet. As expected, he scowled at the H-word. Urd smiled privately, if *that* wasn't a sign that he was back to normal, nothing was.
"We're going in a few minutes, so hurry," she said, blowing him a kiss as she walked out the door.

* * * * * * * *

After waking up from a dream...I felt like I had emerged up from a long dream. Actually a long nightmare. I knew that I had reclused myself in my room for a long time. But the inner demons that were fueling my withdrawal...were gone. I felt a rafting sense of calm; a calm support underfoot in the midst of turbulent waters. But now, the turbulence of my soul seemed quelled.
As I got dressed, I noticed a weakening in my limbs...and a headache. Telltale signs that I was catching the flu.
"Are they going to have towels and soap?" I asked the assembled group in the living room.
"Of course, you idiot!" Skuld teased me. In response, I tossed the towel I was carrying at her head. It unfolded in midair and landed partly on her head like a blanket. I chuckled as she grabbed for a corner, pulled it off, and then wadded it up and threw it back at me.
"Hey...hey! That's enough...children!" Keiichi accosted us with waving hands. Belldandy giggled while I fake-threw the towel at him. Setting the towel down on the nearest couch, I followed the others out the front door.
As soon as I hit the front porch, I was gripped with freezing air. My hands shook hands with Mr. Winter for the first time in many years. The chill seemed to seep up my nostrils with mini-icepicks.
I loved it!
Hawaii was a tropical paradise...but the weather was always the same. Maddeningly so. *This* was different. These were the elements of climate announcing their presence with a shout. The wind rattled through the ice-covered branches of the clusters of trees in our compound, creating a discordant syncopation of soundtones. Someone grabbed me by the arm.
"C'mon, you dope! It's freezing out here, or haven't you noticed!" Keiichi shouted, pulling me towards the car.

* * * * * * * *

Sayoko had come by to pick up the feminine half of our house, so Keiichi was driving Megumi's car. I looked out the window to see that Makuhari had been transformed by a significant snowfall. I wanted to take a ride in the country...to experience the snowy landscape at its pristine best.
The snow was piled up as high as our car in some places alongside the road as we jumped on the oceanfront avenue leading towards Chiba. We passed the Makuhari Messe Exhibition Center, with its exoskeleton of scaffolding. Genji informed me that the repairs had just started getting underway when the early snows came, so they decided to leave the scaffolding up as protection from the winter elements. The Center was draped with hundreds of tarps and plastic sheets.
We turned right, just before entering Chiba and drove up a hilly road. I was lost...lost in my wonderment at the hibernal scenery we were passing. We made another right, traveling up a short driveway to a rustic-looking sento.

* * * * * * * *

"He's growing fast!" Mara commented to herself as she looked at Isilblius. The Ultimate Demon had materialized as an infant, and then grew within a week into a cherub. Now he possessed the physical maturity of a 9 or 10-year-old boy. He still called her "Mother" on occasion, which stirred Mara to heights of bemusement and irritation.
Because of his rapid growth rate, he was eating *a lot* of food. In the four years she had lived on Earthrealm, Mara normally just materialized food for herself out of thin air. But it was too much to materialize his meals on top of her own, now that her powers had been reduced by her license suspension. So she reluctantly took to a mixture of cooking and creating their repasts.
The past few weeks had been a rollercoaster ride for Mara. At first elated because she had successfully summoned the Ultimate Demon, her joy turned to shock when he addressed her as "Mama". Mara was definite about one thing...she did *not* want any Demonic kids cluttering her life. Parenthood was something she avoided like a systems virus. Not to mention the lack of agreeable male consorts in Vanagdrasil. So she had to accept the state of things as they were...and surf with her sudden pseudo-motherhood. Besides, if Isilblius viewed her as his mother, he would be obedient and strongly protective. Already, power surged through him, a power that she had rarely witnessed before.
Within a week, he was getting into *everything*. She nicknamed him the "Dark Cherub" because of his inquisitive nature and his little-boy plumpness. He also was able to manifest a great set of wings...something most Demon children couldn't do until they were fifty millennia or so. She was intrigued by his rapidly expanding intelligence, fired in the furnace of juvenile curiosity. He was also quite sly, having snuck treats out of the various hiding places she used around her earthly lair. *Her* treats.
Now, he was getting even more interesting to behold. Isilblius was beginning to enjoy certain forms of music. He had discovered an old mortal rock group called Black Sabbath or something...despite having no audio equipment. So Mara got him a stereo...and now she was making nighttime trips to the music stores to keep his appetite assuaged. He was listening to a variety of musicks: Metallica, X-Japan, Tokyo Reapings, Pantera, Sarcophagus and Blade. Mara even liked a few of these mortal musicks.
Isilblius went through a bratty phase last week, playing all sorts of powertrip games with Mara. During one mother-and-son test of wills, he even threatened to call the Dark Lord and announce himself! Mara had barely escaped that...it was only due to her appeals to his feelings of loyalty that she thwarted his impulsive ambition.
"Does the Dark One know about this? About him?" Mara wondered as she watched her 'son' munch on seaweed crackers. Strangely enough, she felt a wave of compassion towards Isilblius...she really cared for him in some way.
"Are these the dreaded...maternal feelings that I've been avoiding all my adult life?" she asked herself. She had even slipped and called him "son" a couple of times. But if they were...then they weren't half-bad...they were half-confusing.
Last night, they sat across from each other at the makeshift dinner table that Mara had designed. With a pedestal of human skulls and a semi-transparent yellow-tinted glass resting atop them, it was quite a nice addition to her lair. Isilblius basically was in a playful mood, and started a food fight with Mara. His playfulness seemed to bring out long-dormant playful feelings of her own, especially when she nailed him over the head with a plateful of spaghetti. She was plastered with food, but she didn't mind at all...she enjoyed him immensely.
So tonight, she had decided on a small test of his powers. She had debated whether her request would be taking advantage of him too soon. But her curiosity ruled her judgment.
"Isilblius, my dear little Demon. I want you to do something for me. Would you be willing to try a little test of your Demonic powers?"
"Sure, Mom!" he said excitedly. Mara was pleased with the enthusiastic response he offered.
"You know those terrible Goddesses that I've been telling you about?"
"You mean Belldandy, Urd and Skuld? And all the mortals that live with them. They're gone!" he said with a wave of his hand.
"What would they be doing out of the house in *this* weather," Mara wondered aloud.
"No Mom..."
"You can call me Mara, Isilblius," she interrupted, reminding him for the umpteenth time.
"No Mara...they're *gone*. I took care of them. I put them somewhere where they won't ever bother you again." he said with juvenile pride.
Mara thought he was kidding at first, until she saw the sincere expression on his young face. She felt a sickening chill at the thought.
"Just like that...and they're gone?" she wondered. Mara was just going to ask him to play an old prank on them, something like making their phone ring constantly. Instead, Isilblius had anticipated her *true* desire and had blotted them out of existence.
"He didn't make a ward, or a spell, or a curse. Nothing!" she thought in amazement. "I should be elated that my enemies are gone...but this is *totally* wrong. He just wished it...and they're gone. All of them. Could he be lying to me?"
"Isilblius, you did say that you took care of *all* of them?"
"Yeah, Mom. Belldandy, Urd, Skuld, Keiichi, Megumi, Genji, Tomohisa and Cevn," he said in a voice filled with childish irritation in reaction to her distrust.
"Mom...why do you look so mad?" he asked innocently.
Mara had just realized that he had "put away" Keiichi. That was the whole reason why she was stranded on this misbegotten ball of mud, because of that blessed mortal! And now he was gone...*before* she could torment him! Her Grief Office assignee had just disappeared from existence, which meant that she had failed in her duties. She was even more irate at the lost opportunity to pay him back for all the times he had thwarted her with the help of the three Goddesses. Her disappointment wedged into a flaming wall of anger.
"You...got...rid...of Keiichi too?" she said through teeth gritted with the salt of rage's edge. With a supreme effort, she kept her voice down. She didn't want to scream at Isilblius...after all, this was only the first of many favors she had planned to ask him.
"You can leave the rest of them, but bring Keiichi back. Bring him here to my...er, our Lair," Mara demanded
"No! I don't want to! Nyah...nyah. Haha...and you can't make me, either!"
"Biiiii-ddda!"

* * * * * * * *