Small Comfort
An Oh My Goddess! fanfic by Keiichi Masaki
keiichi_dono@altavista.net, keiichi_dono@hotmail.com)
Oh My Goddess!/Ah Megami-sama! is the property of Kousuke Fujishima
and whoever
he leased it to.
Inspired by the fanfic "The Heart of One Man" by Anand Rao
"Belldandy!" Keiichi Morisato desperately reached for the
sky, trying to break
through the solid column of spiritual energy separating him from his
goddess. If any
"mere mortal" could break through that field by sheer force of will,
it would be him.
But he couldn't.
And Belldandy, the love of his life, ascended into the
heavens, despite every
effort on his part.
Keiichi was looking up into the heavens for an hour after she
had been taken, as if
unable to move from that spot. Finally, Urd and Skuld, concern
etched into their faces,
appraoched him. Urd reached out a tentative hand, touching his
shoulder--
--and he collapsed to his knees. His eyes were closed, which
Urd was secretly
thankful for; she was afraid of what she might see in them.
The failed Ultimate Magic Circle of Warding had drained them
almost completely
of energy, so they had to carry Keiichi back into the house
themselves. Once they had
him safely tucked into his bedroll, the goddesses of past and future
began to confer.
"No!" protested Skuld, anger radiating from her face. "We
can't erase his
memories! It would be cruel! Besides, how would we account for the
elapsed time?
Almost a year has passed since Belldandy came to live with him!"
"Father will assist us," replied Urd, adding dryly, "He owes
Keiichi that much.
And as for the 'cruelty' of erasing his memory, how much kinder is it
to leave him the
way he is?"
Skuld lowered her eyes. "I know.... .you're right.... ." A
sigh escaped her lips. "I
wish Father hadn't recalled her.... ."
Urd nodded, her own heart heavy with sympathy for Keiichi.
"So do I." Almost
reluctantly, she rose to her feet. "Shall we?"
Skuld nodded, and the two goddesses proceeded to the room of
the young man
who had gained the heart of their sister.
* * * *
*
The harsh ringing of the phone threw Keiichi Morisato out of
his daydream.
After taking a moment to regain his bearings, he reached out and
picked up the receiver.
"Hello, Nekomi Tech, men's' dorm.... no, this is Keiichi Morisato....
no, I'm afraid
Tamiya isn't here, but he should be back around seven.... .'Call Mr.
Yamamoto?' Yes, sir,
I'll see that he does.... no problem. G'bye." He replaced the
receiver and sighed, leaning
back against the wall. This was NOT how he wanted to spend his
Friday night. He had
just finished his first week of classes, and he wanted to get away on
his bike, to just have
some time away from school.... .but Tamiya, Ootaki, and the rest of
the upperclassmen
had left him here while they went to do.... God only knew what.
*Oh, well,* he thought. *This is better than listening to
their endless teasing
about my horrible luck with girls. It's not MY fault that I'm so
short. I.... I know; I need
to talk to Megumi; she'll understand.* His little sister was the
only one he could have a
serious conversation with; while filling the role of the little
pain-in-the-ass cheerfully, she
was also loyal and compassionate.
Maybe she could help him get out of this dark mood.
Keiichi couldn't pinpoint just when he had started feeling
so.... empty. Probably
had something to do with that jock he'd seen earlier that day with
the half-dozen girls on
his arms. He'd seen the guy in class; he couldn't spell to save his
life, and he treated the
girls like mindless dolls at best.
Yet they kept flocking to him.
What was it his American cousin Nick would say? Oh yeah:
"It's the same world-
round: girls go for the jerks." How succinct--but also, how
accurate. The thought of
trying to be one briefly flitted across his mind, but was quickly
dismissed. Short jerks
were just ignored, and he didn't want to reduce himself to their
level, anyway.
*Just four more years,* he told himself. *Just four years
here, and then I'll be
able to find a good job.... something I can throw myself into....
something that'll keep me
busy.... something that won't give me time to think about being
alone....*
He shook his head violently. This kind of thinking wasn't
getting him anywhere.
As if in agreement, his stomach rumbled. His eyes flew to
the clock; four-thirty.
Grimacing, he reached for the phone book; most places didn't start
delivering till five, but
maybe luck would be with him for once.... .
The rap on the door interrupted his thoughts. Keiichi rose
to his feet and ambled
over to the door. "Yes, wha--huh?!"
There was no one there.
Shrugging, Keiichi started to close the door, but his eyes
fell on the paper bag
sitting on the mat. Kneeling down, he saw that it had his name on
it. Closing the door
behind him, he sat back down and opened it, a quizzical expression on
his face.
The surprise grew as he saw the contents. Parchment-wrapped
chicken, with
sweet rice. His favorite Chinese take-out.
*What the hell?* he thought. He took the food out of the
bag, and also found a
can of Coke, chopsticks, soy sauce, and plenty of napkins. It was
like a small picnic in a
paper bag.
At the very bottom, he found a card: Caf� Heaven. Good food
at reasonable
prices. Delivery 24 hours a day.
So.
Keiichi Morisato was not where he wanted to be. He was
unwillingly single,
trapped here in his dorm by his academic obligations until his
seniors returned (that is,
assuming they even returned tonight). Looking to the food, the food
that had come in
answer to his unspoken prayer, he sighed. This was small comfort.
Still, small comfort was better than none at all.
Feeling, strangely enough, better than he had all day, he dug
in.
Author: THE END.... .awk! (dodges stones, laser blasts, missile,
etc., before finally
waving a white flag) Alright, alright, not the end, not the end!
Here's the epilogue:
Up in heaven, Belldandy was hunched over one of Yggdrassil's
monitors, her
fingers flying over the keyboard. Urd and Skuld, having returned for
a visit, stood behind
her. The looks they directed at their sister were filled with
concern. Skuld nervously
stepped up to Belldandy and made a quiet inquiry, one hushed enough
for Urd not to
hear. Belldandy mumbled something in reply, something apparently
disturbing, for
Skuld drew back with an apprehensive look.
"What did she say to you?" murmured Urd as her youngest sister
rejoined her.
"She kept repeating 'I'll make sure he's happy'," murmured Skuld in
reply.
"And that means?"
Skuld shivered. "Let me tell you some of the things she's doing....
"
Urd listened, and then pulled back, looking genuinely shocked.
"Huh?!"
Skuld nodded. "Two days from now, the daughter of the richest man in
Japan will fall in love with him. Keiichi will fix her car
after it 'accidentally' breaks down, and she'll give him a big
hug.... and never let him go."
"What else?"
"Let's just say that no other mortal will have had it so good."
"If anyone deserves it, it's him," admitted Urd. "But.... won't she
get in...."
"No, she won't," said a quiet voice.
Both goddesses turned to see a nondescript-looking man, looking like
any of a
thousand faces you see on the street. Of course, the goddesses
recognized him
immediately. "Father!"
The Almighty nodded at his daughters. "Girls. And, as to your
question, I gave
Belldandy carte blanche to see that Keiichi's life is a happy one."
He sighed, sounding
like the immensely old being he was. "I suppose.... I owe the boy
that much."
The three of them turned back to look at Belldandy, hammering away at
her
keyboard with a franticness that was extremely out of character. It
was Urd, naturally,
who broke the silence. "I think you made a mistake, Father."
"I fear you're right," replied the Almighty.
THE END (for real)
Author's notes: If you made it through this, congratulations. This
was written in response
to Anand Rao's "The Heart of One Man," which detailed the path of
Keiichi's life had the
recall notice not been voided. Good fic, if depressing--I can only
hope mine gets the
same comment--but just one thing: I thought Belldandy was supposed to
completely erase
herself from Keiichi's life and memories. Maybe his universe was
modified slightly, but
the most logical outcome I saw was for time to reset itself.
C&C requested.
Keiichi Masaki, High Priest of the Temple of the Teal-tressed Goddess, Kiyone Makibi
Member of the Kiyone Ring and the Tenchi Ring
Co-writer, Mugen Tenchi Muyo!
http://members.xoom.com/RC_Books/mugen1.html
Visit my Temple of the Teal-tressed Goddess
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/9909
ICQ #: 18044248
"I am the one you think I am."
--Katsuhito "Yosho" Masaki
"The carnival comes and goes. If you wait for a while,
it'll always come back to you."
--Ryoko
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