InuYasha Fan Fiction / Blue Seed Fan Fiction / El Hazard Fan Fiction / Ah My Goddess Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction / Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction / Fruits Basket Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ A Long Way From Home ❯ Chapter Two: The New Arrival ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: We covered this in Chapter One. If you really, really like reading disclaimers go read that one again. Nothing has changed.


Chapter Two: The New Arrival
Keiichi


Keiichi Morisato missed Belldandy. Badly. He even missed Skuld and Urd. He missed their warm home. He missed the occasional hijacks. He missed all of it. Had he really not known what a good thing he had had? Apparently not.

He did not, however, miss his sister. She came to visit him. Occasionally nag him. WHY would he think that a mere mortal such as himself was engaged to a Goddess? Or that he was living in a Shrine with said Goddess and her siblings? Where had this crazy notion come from? Was he doing drugs? Was school too stressful? Why did he think he was living with Nordic goddesses rather than proper Japanese ones? Keiichi didn’t have answers for any of these questions. At least answers he could have given his sister that wouldn’t have put the last nail in the Keiichi-is-crazy coffin.

Waking up back at the dorms had been a shocker. He’d picked up on a weird smell that he hadn’t noticed when he’d lived there. A combination of burnt rice, unwashed socks and aftershave. He’d opened his eyes to see a ceiling remembered, but no longer belonged to him. The same with the room. There came a rap on his door- and it had opened to reveal a buff suitemate in nothing except a very small yellow towel. This was not an image a dazed Keiichi needed to see at current moment as he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. What was that guy doing here? Where was Bell? Superimposing an image of Belldandy in said towel did not improve the situation. He’d paniced for a good hour in which he called as many people as he knew to try and locate his Goddesses. Then he ran out to find his Shrine- dilapidated and abandoned. He then sat down and had a good think on the steps. He came up with three thoughts.

1. If Bell had had to return to the Goddess Central, and remove herself from his life, she would have taken his memories of her as well.

2. Since he had his memories, and Bell hadn’t said a thing to him the night before, this clearly wasn’t planned, and had to be some sort of cosmic accident.

3. If it was an accident, somewhere Bell, Urd and Skuld were working on fixing it.

He’d felt enormously better. Until he found out that the fruits of his panic had produced a nice room at Sohma Clinic. A nice room which he was going to have to start to share; A new resident was coming today. Keiichi didn’t mind all that much, as long as he wasn’t card carrying loopy, like Jinnai.

Roommate or not, hope never went out of Keiichi Morisato’s life. He knew, deep down that Belldandy was looking for him. It would just take time. Espeacilly if the operating theory of the group was correct. If they had all been switched from one dimension to another than it might take time locating them, more so if there really was an infinate number of alternate dimensions to search in. Whatever happened he hoped the Keiichi that belonged in this reality did not get too attached to HIS Belldandy. He could jolly well get his own. Keiichi was not sharing, even with a version of himself. Though they were almost completely identical. The only difference was one Keiichi got a bowl of take out ramen and the other got a Goddess. Clearly he’d gotten the better end of the deal.

Despite the fact that Keiichi had assumed Belldandy-less Keiichi B’s life, things were not ghastly. There were good things to be pointed out, and Keiichi always tried to find the good in life. He rather liked most of his fellow inmates, and hoped he might continue a friendship with him once this puzzle had been solved. He had total faith it would be solved, of course. Even after a year, his dedication to that faith was unfaltering. It just took time.

Back to Belldandy. He missed her. He missed her warm presence filling the place, her soft voice... He missed every single thing there was to miss about her. Not a day went by when she wasn’t his first waking thought, or his last before falling to sleep. Was she alright? No one had hurt her, had they? She was looking for him? Did she know how much he loved her, that he was now convinced he was going to marry her the moment he saw her because living apart had been too terrible? There was a great big hole inside him were his Bell used to be. The result was he’d grow very fond of mirrors, and talking to them. As if Belldandy could hear him or possibly might pop through one if he was fortunate enough. He eyed the TV in the same way, and took very wary baths. At any moment a Goddess would appear and rescue him, no matter what he was doing.

Keiichi had been one of the first to arrive. For a time it had only been he, Kyo Sohma, Momiji Fujimia and Usagi Tsukino. Usagi was gone now, and she stood testament to what could happen to them all if they stayed too long. As near as Keiichi could discern when Kyo woke up in a new world Usagi had already been there for nearly six months. She’d been hospitalized five times and been to more Doctors than you could shake a stick at. She was already off kilter when she arrived at Sohma clinic, and it was a horrible thing to watch her spiral down to the bottom.

At first Usagi had seemed like a cheerful, charming blond, jabbering excitedly about her boyfriend. A very lovely girl when her animated face wasn’t stretched into an exaggerated expression. She ate a lot, conversed freely, displaying herself to be friendly, if a little ditzy. At therapy things did not go over so well. She insisted that she was a crusader for justice, the Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon. And said she could prove it.
Seeing a grown woman throw her hand in the air, yell something about beautiful magic power and then dance around like a lunatic remained one of the weirdest things Keiichi had ever seen.

And totally ineffective. Afterwards she was dismayed to discover she was still in her clothes- hysteria took over. She cried out about a crystal being broken and attempted almost daily to transform. She became an Ophelia-esque crazy girl-harmless, but undoubtedly disturbed. Instead of insisting that she had experienced these things she began to relive them. It was not uncommon to hear her talking to ‘Luna’, or any number of friends she had.

Which was why they all knew that escape took top priority. Usagi, now safely tucked away in an home, was a constant reminder that if they weren’t careful they too could loose hold of their respective sanities. Active plotting hadn’t occurred until Hitomi Kanzaki had arrived. While technically Jinnai was a trans-dimensional traveler, he had not been concious for it. Hitomi, on the other hand, was awake the entire time the transferrence was active. He often regarded her as their best bet for return.

Keiichi did not have to take High School classes with the others. Instead textbooks were provided for him to study from. He could work at his own speed, which suited him fine. He wasn’t entirely sure why he continued to work, considering the fact that whatever work he did here would not count back in his home dimension. Then again the Keiichi that belonged here might appriciate it. If he wasn’t thrown away for good- Keiichi B sure was getting the bad end of the deal. Loosing Belldandy and receiving a record as being hospitalized.

Despite his dedication to expanding his horizons, Keiichi just didn’t feel like Ecology today. He leaned back in the chair at his desk and gave the book a push backwards. A glance at the clock told him his friends were still trapped in a history lecture. There was a solitary classroom at Sohma Clinic where the kids sat all day while three teachers cycled in an out; Ritsuko Akagi taught sciences and math, Ryoji Kagi taught English, and Government while the favorite, Misato Katsuragi, had everything else including history. The three were friends out of their jobs, and apparently their antics were something to behold. Misato was in and out of a relationship with Kaji, which made Ritsuko grumpy. It was like a daily running soap opera.

Keiichi tried to get back into his work, pulling the book forward and squinting at the abstract paragraph about interacting populations. He didn’t have too long before there was a knock on his door and Momiji Fujimia popped in.

“Hiya Keiichi! It’s lunch. I thought I’d come get you so you could eat with the rest of us. We’re having hamburgers.”

Arms clasped behind her back Momiji approached him and glanced over his shoulder at the textbook. The blue-green eyes skimmed over the text, largely concerned with the ever expanding human populations.

“Hey! It’s my life!” She joked.

Keiichi smiled. “I guess so. Hamburgers you say?” He placed his pencil in the crease of the book and stood.

“Mmhm!”

“How was class?”

“Alright. I think Misato and Kaji are back together- she was in a really good mood and they were flirting a lot!”

Keiichi stuffed his feet into his slippers while Momiji told him about the tiny subtle motions Kaji and Misato had made that proved beyond any doubt that the two were riding each other like cowboys. She was sitting on the vacant bed, swinging her feet. At eighteen Momiji had developed into a lovely young woman, a little plusher than Belldandy, but quite nice. She had an honest, open face and big blue-green eyes. Her brown hair was pulled into a loose pony tail and was growing back from what Momiji called ‘ the wrong hair-cut’. He did have to agree, long hair suited her much better than the short coif she’d arrived with.

Despite the fact that Usagi and Momiji had a few things in common, the blonds pending insanity and Kyos outright refusal to be friendly meant Keiichi had spent a lot of time with Momiji. They had formed a bond over the last year and a half. Not a bond of romantic love, but of fondness. She loved to hear about his world with the Goddesses and he in turn was an avid listener for her stories that explained so much of the mass evacuations three years earlier. Granted, once more girls started arrival Momiji naturally gravitated to her own sex, but she still trusted him more than the others. It was because she did that he knew something they didn’t.

Momiji was afraid, deep down, that she really was crazy. A true, horrible phobia. Not a worry or a nagging concern, but a dark, hungry fear. In her world all of Japan had undergone a crisis, a crisis that was gone, un-heard of here. She was plagued with the thought that her world really was a delusion, and no encouraging to the contrary convinced her. The image of Usagi danced before her. “But plant monsters, Keiichi” She’d whispered once “Big plant monsters...and…and twin sisters and…and human sacrifices...how can those things be true..?”

“But I remember, Momiji. We all evacuated to a shelter for the night. Skuld tried to improve the wiring in the building.” Keiichi had soothed her.

“What if you’re crazy too? And you’re only supporting my version of events because I told you about them..?” No amount of coaxing could convince Momiji otherwise.

You wouldn’t be able to tell from the beaming smile she was wearing that she was worried. She didn’t want to inconvience anyone, and, as Momiji herself had said, what could be done anyway?

Seeing that he was ready she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room and down the hall. They found the lunch room alight with the activity of burger building. Kyo was piling everything and anything in excess atop his and according to the protests from Akane and Jinnai he was hogging the ketchup. Kyo held up the bottle like a proud warrior willing to defend his turf to the end.

“C’mon Kyo! If you put anything else on that thing you won’t be able to get your mouth around it!” Kagome held out her hand to receive the bottle.

“Even with a mouth your size!” Jinnai agreed. He must have been on his best behavoir.

“Hey! I would never take it from that damn rat and I ain’t taken it from a psycho like you!” While Kyo was busy trying to pick a fight Hitomi easily lifted the bottle from his grasp and tossed it to Kagome, never breaking stride or ceasing to chew on her burger.

Kyo cursed colorfully, but surrendered and let Jinnai begin ranting at the girls for his turn with the ketchup. Hitomi dropped into her chair and laughed, bracing a toned runners leg on the chair beside her.

“It’s like a McDonalds commercial in here!” Momiji exclaimed loudly and was met with cheers muffled by filled mouths.

“Someones gotta like, break dance on the table or something.” Kagome said as she sat down, a plate of fries in her hand.

“Those commercials are so weird...” Kyo muttered, then leaned over to steal a few of Kagomes fries. He ran them along the edge of his burger, catching the ketchup and mustard that was oozing out before popping them into his mouth.

“I saw a neat Ayumi Hamasaki one the other day, for a new digital camera.” that was Akane. There was a television in the rec room which the residents availed themselves of occasionally.

“Thank goodness Ayumi didn’t go any where!” Momiji chirruped. She and Keiichi had moved over to the table and were building their burgers. Keiichi without tomatoes and Momiji’s with plenty of pickles. “ I don’t know what I would do if there was no Ayumi!”

“Forget about Ayumi- new kid!” Kyo reminded them.

There was a collective shrug. “So?” Kagome had a sip of her soda “It’s not as if we know anything besides he’s coming, and bunking with Keiichi.”

“Coming in...”Hitomi squinted at the clock “Three hours and counting!”

“I can’t wait to find out what’s wrong with him! OUCH! Keiichhiiiii!” Momiji fussed and rubbed her head and pouted at Keiichi. He’d lightly rapped his knuckles on her forehead.

“This isn’t exactly the most desirable place to be, you know. And there‘s nothing ‘wrong‘ with him. It‘s what happened to him before he got here.” He chastised with a smile. It was important that they stopped thinking in terms of wrong and right. Rather what was and what is. Keiichi was hoping that the new guy would have some notion of how he got here. It was a small hope, well tempered with the truth that, in all likelihood, he had undergone the same transference that the rest of them had. He wasn’t likely to know anything more than they did.

Momiji popped a slice of pickle in her mouth. “I know all that…but I’d never met anyone with a life stranger than mine before. It’s so much fun to hear the stories of what was going on underneath my very nose!”

Keiichi had to admit, this was an excellent point. On the one hand he had been thinking he was so unique living with a host of Goddesses, and that was nice. Being special. Yet, knowing that there had been other kids who had traveled to distant worlds or that the government had been covering up an ancestral evil for made him feel less alone. He couldn’t wander into any old Therapists office and expect counciling for the women who popped out of mirrors, but if things got bad he could go have a beer with Kyo. If Kyo was at a drinking age…or…even if Keiichi drank beer, which he didn’t…Hell it was the thought that counted.

Whatever else he did in his life he was going to take a real good look at the High School kids he passed on the street. One never knew if at home they had pixies bunking with them and assisting in staving off world domination by a giant mushroom or something.

He sat at the table and watched Kyo snake fries from Kagome and Akane. It was like a dangerous game of ‘bash the ground hog’ only instead of hammers there were fists and the ground hog was Kyos hand snatching French fry booty.

“Let’s try and make him feel welcome at least.” Hitomi said.

“That I would agree with, Miss Kanzaki. One never knows what ally the wind might bring us in our glorious cause against our evil Jail Keepers. We may be dealt the hand that will lead us to victory and I will at last rule El Hazard.” Jinnai sat and began attacking his food.

At that Kyo rolled his eyes and got flicked in the forehead with a Fry plastered in mustard, courtesy of Kagome. She and Akane giggled, though Kyo simply peeled it off and popped it in his mouth.

“So…Jinnai. What are you going to do once you rule El Hazard?” Kagome asked between giggles. Kyo still had a smear between his eyebrows.

“And what does that mean?”

“Well ruling is work, Jinnai.” Keiichi said daringly.

Hitomi gave a nod. “Getting a throne is easy compared to keeping it. You have to be willing to accept responsibility for thousands of lives. If El Hazard isn’t yet industrialized there’s a hell of a lot of work to be done in the future. It’s not all glory. It’s…economic policies and…poloticing…keeping everyone happy while retaining your ….Nevermind.” Hitomi took a big bite and blushed.

“Retaining my what, Woman?”

“Naofin.” The Seeress said around her burger, which Keiichi translated as being ‘nothing’. He was not surprised that Hitomi was a little swifter on what it took, and how emotionally demanding the role of being King could be.

Jinnai thrust himself to his feet and slapped his hands on the table. “I demand to know!”

Cornered, and not wishing to be yelled at Hitomi swallowed. “…Principals.” She grudgingly mumbled, then crammed more food in her mouth.

“Are you suggesting that I have no Principals, Woman? I have Principals!”

“Evil ones!” Kagome chirruped.

“I never said they were noble.” Jinnai crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. “ I merely said I had Principals. And I do. They merely do not follow the agenda you might expect any old monarch to have.” He sat and began eating with a smug look, as if he’d managing to get some point across to a rather dim crowd.

“You know what I think Jinnai?” Kagome tapped a French fry against her chin. “I think you, Murakumo, and Shessho-maru should be locked in a small room together. You all seem to want to rule something. If we let you fight it out maybe you’d get it out of your systems…”

“A skinny guy against a full dog demon and plant man?” Akane tilted her head. “Jinnai would be toast.”

“No, No.” Hitomi grinned a wicked grin. “ Make them compete. Like a Beauty Pageant.”

“Monarch Pageant!” Momiji cheered.

“You’d loose marks for hair, Jinnai, Shessh-maru has the most white beautiful hair.” Kagome slurped her soda again.

“Mm, Mm…And Murakumo had this gorgeous purply black hair…really long. It was a shame he was such a creep.” Momiji sighed.

“Sounds like the men have better hair than the girls.” Kyo cracked with a smirk and was pelted with another fry.

“What else are you going to have? A Swim suit competition?” Keiichi asked the panel of judges.

Akane blanched “Ehhh…I veto that ladies.” She was agreed with by rapid nodding.

Didn’t women like ogling? Well some women. Keiichi couldn’t imagine Belldandy at a male strip club and enjoying it. That visual did not extend to Urd, however, who he could clearly picture quite drunk, whooping and stuffing bills into anything male she could reach.

“Why?” Keiichi’s gaze flicked between the four.

“Just...contemplate that mental image.” Hitomi said. Keiichi did. Well from what he heard of Sessho-maru there would have been drooling. Had Urd been there…Whoa what a couple those two would make. Unless of course the Dog Demon killed her for one too many illicit gropes of his person, as Kagomes description said he was wont to do. Murakumo? Well...it wouldn’t hurt…Jinnai…

“”AUUGH!” Keiichi dropped his burger and grabbed his head. That DID hurt!

“We rest our case.” A sage nod from Akane.

“Why did you make me!?” Keiichi massaged his temples, attempting to chase off the vision that haunted behind his eyeballs.

Jinnai was glaring at them, well aware of what was not being said. Momiji caught sight of him and Keiichi could see the flash of concern over her features. She was too soft hearted.

“We don’t mean it Jinnai- We’re just teasing. Sure we’ll have a Swimsuit Competition.”

Those girls certianly got on the bandwagon quickly! It was like telepathy only between those born with a womb. They were all nodding now that they thought they had really offended him.

“Yes, of course- And a talent competition!” That was Kagome.

“Mm.. You could rant and rave, Jinnai.” Kyo was under no such compulsion to be nice and judging from the way he winced someone-probably Akane-kicked him under the table.

“Sessho-maru could dress up like a girl in a Chinese dress and sing ’Oops I did it again’ .” Apparently the kick had not jumpstarted Kyo into being polite.

Kagome cackled with laughter in response to Kyos idea, beating her fist on the table and almost choking.

“Do Murakumo! Do Murakumo!” Momiji giggled.

“Tap Dancing.”

Which sent a new stream of giggling forth.

“Ohh Ohh it hurts!” Akane grabbed her side.

“AH! It will hurt! We have to get back to class- Ritsuko will kill us!!” Hitomi pointed at the clock. In a matter of moments the room was empty, as all those who had group class bolted.

Keiichi returned to his room and switched to his math book. This was better than ecology, as he could go through numbers very quickly. He finished off the chapter before long and spun to look at the room. Maybe he should neaten up a little? Wouldn’t want his new roommate to think he was a messy guy. He wasn’t, as there was very little that was out of place, but a few moments it was all in place.
An orderly came in and dropped off some luggage an hour later. Fairly sparse belongings were laid on the freshly made bed. It looked like they were all ready.



Group therepy was held in the big recreation room. It was a large room with a bank of windows to one side which made it exceptionally sunny. As if you’d want to see the linolium floor and the too cheerful paint job. An abundance of couches and chairs were arranged in conspiratorial shapes, and were pulled into a big circle for group therepy. There were other forms of entertainment; the televisions, an air hockey table, a cabinent of board games and a big, outdated Pac man arcade game.

They were arranged in the usual circle, waiting. Keiichi stared as Akane drummed her fingers on the arm of the green chair she was ensconced in. He’d heard the girls talking and laughing the previous night in Momiji and Hitomis room. In many ways he envied their connection, their ability to talk to one and other. Sure he had a connection to Momiji, but she really wasn’t a male. As sexist as it sounded, he really wanted to talk to a guy sometimes. Kyo got awkward whenever tender subject matter was brought up, and most often resorted to hostile monosyllabism. It wasn’t his fault, Keiichi supposed. He got the impression Kyo had been a very closed person until Tohru came into his life. To suddenly loose that emotional outlet before he was ready to communicate with strangers must have been hard.
And Jinnai…Keiichi had no desire to go any nearer to Jinnai than group Therepy forced him to-speaking of the psycho...Keiichi snuck a look at him. That image of Jinnai in a bathing suit was still burning at the back of his eyeballs.

Katsuhiko Jinnai sat in his chair like an regal emperor ( Which, according to him, he was. Over a race of bugs in a magical land called ‘El Hazard’. As had been discussed at lunch.) and eyed them all suspiciously, as if they were plotting against him. If he was an emperor they all WOULD have been plotting...to dethrone him, possibly arranging an assassination. If anything, the discussion at lunch had proved that the kid was nutty as a fruitcake, and making no attempt to hide the fact that he wished to rule for the power, prestige and glory. Keiichi couldn’t imagine a kingdom with stupid enough natives to let this whack-job run their government (Admittedly he ruled with some woman named Diva. She sounded more like an insect concubine. None to swift either, as according to Jinnai she praised him incessantly and called him ‘brilliant’. )
His elbows were braced on the arms, sleek fingers of both hands intertwined. He was a pale, pale boy with a tendency to smile in an alarming way. There was also the crazed laughter that sent shivers down the spine. Katsuhiko Jinnai was one creepy package. Oddly enough his sister was quite pretty and lively. She’d only visited once, under extreme pressure from their parents. The two had engaged in a shouting match. Nanami Jinnai was more than able to keep her brother in verbal check. The end of the encounter left Jinnai so angry steam should have been coming out of his ears.
And the kid must have had some sort of radar- his eyes snapped to Keiichi who shrunk back on the couch next to Hitomi. It was too late, however.

Group Therepy began as it usually did. Keiichi just did not understand Jinnai. He could be civil at lunch and loose his crackers the next. The kid was so off kilter.

“I Say, Morisato! What do you think you’re looking at? Are you Plotting against me? To do away with me? Just like Mizuhara!”

“Jinnai, I wasn’t-”

“Lies! Lies! You are the one responsible for this mess! ADMIT IT!”

“I didn’t do anything.” Keiichi responded meekly.

Hitomi had her head in her hands “Jinnai, sit down.”

“No! Not until he explains why he was setting such an evil gaze upon me!!”

The argument continued about the nature of Keiichis glance at Jinnai, growing to encompass not only Hitomi, Jinnai and Keiichi, but Kyo and Kagome as well. It ended abruptly with the clearing of Nurse Nanokos throat. In the silence that followed every persons gaze went to the boy standing beside her.

“Everyone...this is Tenchi Masaki.”