ukyoukwnji@aol.com

This story's a little different, and maybe a little dark... I dunno.

Anyway, all the characters belong to Kosuke Fujishima this time, and 
no offense is intended.

By the way, I'm not too thrilled about the title.  Any suggestions 
before I send this to the r.a.a.c.?

***

DAME FORTUNE LAUGHS
an Ah! My Goddess fanfiction
by Ukyou Kuonji

***

Toshiyuki Aoshima inspected his reflection in a storefront mirror. 
Tie straightened, jacket adjusted, every hair in place; yes, he was 
ready.  His suit was dark, in keeping with the circumstances, but 
not so much so that it looked like he was going to another funeral. 
If all worked according to plan, this was to be a date, not a dirge.

Keiichi Morisato had been a worthy rival.  An honest, upstanding chap, 
if a little possessive of his woman -- of course, who was Aoshima to 
talk about such things as possessiveness?  Certainly, he had done 
everything in his power to wrest the glorious Belldandy from his 
rival's clutches, all to no avail.  Indeed, he noted to his 
irritation, some of his plans merely served to drive the girl 
closer to 'her Keiichi.'  Even more annoying to some extent, 
Belldandy's affections toward Morisato had begun to intrigue his 
cousin Sayoko, and propel *her* towards him.  What did Sayoko see 
in that little pipsqueak?  Actually, Toshi didn't think she saw 
anything in him at all, but if such a creature as Belldandy thought 
him worthy of her, there had to be something to him, and Sayoko 
*would* find out what it was.  In that, she became an ally: the 
idea was that eventually she would take Keiichi, and he would have 
Belldandy to himself.

A fortnight ago, all that changed.

***

No one would have anticipated it to end this way -- even the gods 
may have been taken by surprise.  After all, it seemed at times 
as if Morisato was indestructible.  Certainly, with Belldandy at 
his side, he lived a charmed life, impervious to trials divine or 
diabolic.

But apart from her, Keiichi Morisato was as vulnerable as any other 
mortal.

It was late on a Saturday night.  According to the police reports, 
his motorcycle was sideswiped by car being driven by some drunken 
salaryman on his way home to the exurbs after a long bender with 
some business cronies.  The jolt caused him to lose control of the 
bike and fly off the bridge they were on into a culvert.

Toshiyuki shuddered at the thought.  The seconds of cartwheeling 
horror as the bike drove off into midair, the realization that there 
was no power in heaven or on earth there to come to his rescue, the 
impact onto the stubborn concrete below.  A horrible way to go.

After a long pasue, Aoshima shrugged.  Well, were there any 
*pleasant* ways to die, after all?

***

He was sorry that things happened this way.  In his efforts to 
sabotage Belldandy and Keiichi's relationship, he was more than 
willing to do things like draining Morisato's gas tank so that 
*he* could drive off with Belldandy, but deeds like, say, cutting 
a brake line, were far beyond the pale for him.  Physical harm was 
not his style.  And it was as much a relief to him as everybody 
else concerned when the drunk driver was apprehended.  Some people 
were starting to talk... accusing *him*, of all people, of setting 
the accident up!  Well, he couldn't deny that Dame Fortune had 
smiled down upon him by removing Morisato from the picture.

Drunkenness is taken a little more in stride in Japan; it's the 
salarymen's safety valve, after all.  But an outraged NIT student 
body demanded justice, and Aoshima even went so far as to hire 
lawyers to argue for a severe sentance for the guilty party.  It 
took the gossips by surprise, and even Belldandy and her sisters 
seemed impressed by his dedication to the cause.  It gave him hope.

***

As he approached the gate of the temple grounds that Belldandy and 
her sisters called home, his mind drifted back to the funeral.  He 
had borne some of the cost of that, too; partly to make amends for 
the grief he'd caused Morisato in life, partly to continue to quash 
the rumor mill, and partly for Belldandy's sake.  During the ceremony, 
however, he had decided to keep a reasonable distance between himself 
and Belldandy, who was sobbing on Urd's shoulder.  This was just not 
the time for thos sorts of thoughts.  Besides, Sayoko needed attending 
to...

She was thoroughly distraught.  And somewhat drunk.  And -- most 
curious -- enraged at him.  "I s'pose yer happy now, arrrntcha?"

He maintained a flat expression.  "Should I be?"

Sayoko wobbled and thumped her chest, as if trying to release 
something.  "Ooooh yeah. He's gone for good, so she's alll yers, hmm? 
Go ferr it, tiger, why dontcha?"

Toshiyuki closed his eyes and sighed as he sat down next to his 
cousin. "Look, Sayoko.  I'm really sorry about this, okay?  I don't 
know what to tell you.  Yeah, I guess I'm in luck, but this isn't 
what I had in mind when I wanted to catch her on the rebound.  He 
departs this way, and he's a martyr... she'll never get over him, 
she'll practically deify him.  I don't think I could compete with 
that."

Sayoko dragged herself out of her chair and levelled an accusing finger 
at him.  "You couldn't compete with him when he was alive, Toshi!  He 
was too good, too sweet for this world.  I wasn't worthy of him, and 
you... you think you're worthy of the one person who was?  Well, I've 
got news for you, buster..."

Toshiyuki stood up and clamped his hand over his cousin's mouth.  "Cut 
it out, willya?  This is a funeral, for Kami's sake!  A little respect 
for the dead, if you don't mind..."

His hand was batted away.  "Respect for the dead?  *You're* asking 
*me* to have respect for the dead?  Look at her, Toshi..."  and she 
pointed at the three sisters.  "I *know* what you're thinking about 
right now, and I'm pretty sure that's not very respectful of the dead!" 
She turned on her heel and stalked out as best she could, given her 
condition.  Actually, she was quite wobbly.

Toshiyuki hurried after her.  "Sayoko, please, let me drive you home. 
You won't remember a thing of this in the morning.  Believe me."

***

Indeed, the incident did seem to have been forgotten, and after two weeks 
had passed, Toshiyuki Aoshima decided the time was ripe.

"What do you think, Sayoko?  Have I given her enough time to recover?"

"Toshi,what do *you* think?  *I* haven't recovered, and he wasn't even 
mine."  Sayoko's face was somewhat grim.

"Yeah, well, I imagine she needs some comfort beyond that which her 
sisters can give her.  You know what they say about widows..."

"No, what *do* they say?"

"Ah..."  Aoshima's mind went blank.  He couldn't think of a single 
epigram.  "Well, you know, they have certain... needs, after all. 
They're accustomed to... various activities that his, er... absence 
deprives them of."

A wan smile began to creep over the grey mask.  "And what makes you 
think she and Morisato ever...?"

"Well, she's familiar with love hotels, that much I know."

Sayoko's eyes went wide.  "No kidding?  How d'ya know that?"

"Well... I took her to one once, and she understood where she was, and 
I think what was expected..."

"Get out!  *You* took her to a love hotel?  No *wonder* you think you 
have a shot at her!"  Sayoko leaned forward.  "What happened there?"

"Uh..."  Toshiyuki scratched the back of his head.  "It's a difficult 
story to tell... I think she threw me out."

Sayoko facefaulted.  "You haven't got a *prayer*, Tosh'."

Aoshima drew himself up defiantly.  "Well, I'm going, anyway."

"Whatever.  Good luck, I guess."

***

The sun shone cheerily as he crossed the temple courtyard.  Yes, it 
looked as if through all these disastrous events of the past couple 
of weeks, fortune was finally smiling down on him.  Maybe she would 
give him a tumble.  Maybe she would actually like him.  Maybe...

Maybe she would answer the door.

Toshiyuki stood there, tapping his foot impatiently, checking his 
bouquet to make sure it hadn't wilted yet.  Finally, he could make 
out a tall shadow approaching the door, followed by a shorter figure. 
his gaze narrowed: could it be?  Could Morisato's amazing luck have 
allowed him to even cheat death?

He shook himself slightly as Urd shunted the door open.  Oh, and that 
was Skuld following behind.  His imagination had been running away with 
him again.  He placed his hand to his forehead in disgust at himself.

With his hand over his face, neither of the two sisters recognized him 
right away.  "Can I help you?"  asked Urd.

Her voice, smooth as satin, calmed his agitation, and he dropped his 
hand and lifted his face.  "Here goes nothing...>  "Is Miss Belldandy 
in?"

A pained and irritated look crossed Urd's face.  "Oh... it's you. Go 
away, little man."

"Yeah!  Belldandy's gone!"  Skuld chimed in, and she looked as if she 
was about to cry.

What?  Toshiyuki Aoshima was not about to be dismissed so easily.  
Not when the prize was so nearly in his grasp.  "Oh, she's here all 
right..."  He walked into the temple, right between the two sisters. 
"I can tell..."  He sniffed the air.  "She can't have left; I know her 
scent, and the trail ends here."  He put his hand to the door of what 
he believed to be Belldandy's room.  But before he shunted the door 
open, he turned to face Urd and Skuld.

"I'm really terribly sorry about this intrusion, ladies... But I really 
must speak with Miss Belldandy."

Urd shook her head.  "You won't find her in there."

Aoshima faced her, defiant, his hand still on the door.  "This *is* 
her room..."

Urd nodded.

"And she just walked in here not too long ago... I can tell."

Urd cocked her head, surprised at his perception.  "That's true, but..."

"Fine, then."  And he turned to the door, opened it, and stepped into,,,
an empty room.  A number of boxes of memorabilia had been piled up 
into a corner, and a mirror hung on the opposite wall, but apart from 
that, the room was completely bare.

"B-b-but... where...?"

Urd walked over to him, and laid a hand on his shoulder.  "She's gone 
home, little man."

"Home?"  He knew the three girls were gaijin, but their native land 
was just one of the mysteries about them he had not yet been able to 
ascertain.  "Where's that?"

The older girl rolled her eyes, with an expression of 'you-don't-get-
it-do-you' "No, she's gone home... to be with Keiichi.  Home to be with 
our Father."

The phrase sounded vaguely Christian, like a Western euphemism for...
no!

Toshiyuki Aoshima's eyes glazed over, and he staggered from the temple 
grounds, grief-stricken.  Somewhere in the distance, he heard the 
mocking laughter of a woman, a cross perhaps between Sayoko and Urd. 
It must be Dame Fortune herself, he thought to himself, as he ran 
desperately into the night.

*****

<sigh>

Comments and criticism are welcomed, nay, begged for.  Please send to:

ukyoukwnji@aol.com

Until next time, I am yours.

Itsu mo,
Ucchan