It's complete, but still open for some amount of revision. Chapter
8 will be released sometime next week after consultation with prereaders.

************************************************
  An Oddzilla Productions fanfic, by Andrew Huang.
  Guard the Future, chapter 7.
  Based on Fujishima Kosuke's "Aa! Megami-sama!"
************************************************

  Wednesday came quickly--I threw myself into work, and tried not to think
about the recent new complications, at least too much. I didn't go out of
my way to avoid Urd, and I don't think she did either, but things were
still slightly off. And we also didn't try to sit down and talk again. But
when I thought about it...aside from me knowing something new, had
anything really changed? Hmm.

  So yes, Wednesday came quickly, but Wednesday also came with another
training session to get through before dinnertime. And this time, it
consisted of a joint session with Skuld and Urd together--skill plus
power, something I'd been lacking a bit in my first mission.

  The sight of a large block of granite flying toward my face is one that
will wake me up on dark, unpleasant nights for years to come, I'm sure.

  "Oh, come now, Andrew-kun, this is hardly as scary as some other things
you might be facing," Urd called out from the sidelines.

  "Gee, that's reassuring!" I yelled back as I twisted aside and swung
Heaven's Knuckle desperately.

  "Aim for the center, Andrew! The center!"

  "Trying my best here!"

  The flying shards didn't help much, either. My face and arms would be
covered with cuts if not for my regeneration. Still, I guess I needed
this.

  "All right, take a break. We're going to tweak something a bit."

  I wheezed quietly and straightened up from my ready stance, stretching
out my back a little bit, and wandered over to Urd, while Skuld went off
to fiddle with the training terminal's settings. "This was kinda brutal
and sudden," I said, breezily. "Don't you usually work your way up to
things like this?"

  Urd eyed me for a moment, then laughed. "You did well enough, I think.
Good start, at least."

  "Dang, I'm glad you've got cleanup spells. I'm going to be a sweaty mess
after this."

  She smirked. "Worried about how you'll look for Meg-chan?"

  "Er...well, yeah. But I wouldn't want to be all stinky for dinner in
any case." I shrugged as I sank down on a bench. I could always take a
shower, of course, but dinner was starting a bit earlier tonight.
Belldandy's tutoring session had been first this time, so she could head
back to cook. Then again, the timeflow here didn't exactly match up to
Earth. It was a little confusing at times.

  "You don't seem nervous."

  "I'm a little anxious maybe, but not really. No use getting really
worked up, not over this. Or getting my expectations up."

  She pursed her lips, thought about this, and nodded. "You're a practical
one, aren't you?"

  I grinned up at her and gave a mock salute. "That's me."

  She laughed. "Love isn't always a matter of practicality."

  I snorted. "Ain't love yet, Urd."

  A shake of the head. "You've got no passion."

  "Ah, give me time." I smiled faintly. "Glad to have things back to
normal."

  She smiled back at me a little. "Are they really back to normal?"

  I leaned back on the bench, tilted my head slightly. "Well. It's still
kind of weird, when I really think about it, but...you're still the same
person. Goddess. Half...whatever. You're still Urd, I figure. And plus," I
continued, sitting up as I realized something, "you know, my demon sense
never went off around you, right?"

  "I'm a goddess, first and foremost," she stated, plainly.

  "So I guess...I'll just think of things that way too."

  Urd looked at me for a few moments, then nodded. "If you can live with
that, then I can too." She held a hand out to me, and I clasped it firmly.

  "All right."

  And then she yanked me up to my feet. I blinked, not expecting this.
"Break's over, Andrew-kun." Her smile went toothy.

  I groaned. Then I looked at the grin on Skuld's face from her seat at
the terminal, and groaned again, this time with added sincerity.

------------------------------------------------

  I collapsed on the couch in the temple's living room. Keiichi ducked his
head in the door, blinking a little.

  "They drove me pretty hard today," I said.

  "Are you almost going to fall asleep partway through like last time?" he
asked, coming to sit down across from me.

  "I hope not. I actually don't feel as tired as last week, actually, at
least physically. I think part of it had to do with getting my power last
week."

  "She'll be here soon. Five, ten minutes, I think."

  I grunted, noncommitally. Quick change of subject there.

  "Nervous?"

  "Urd asked me the same thing," I said with a chuckle. "Nah, not really."

  "I kind of hope it works out, actually."

  I looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. "Oh?"

  "Like I said before, you're a nice guy. I think I can trust you with
her. And sometimes I've wondered if she'd find someone to settle down with
someday."

  "...dude, let me just make friends with her first, hey?"

  "Sorry." He was still grinning, though. Urd was rubbing off on him.

  I shook my head. "Besides, shouldn't that be something your parents
would be worrying about?"

  Keiichi looked thoughtful. "Our parents are pretty laid back about all
that, actually."

  "Huh. So they aren't pushing for you and Belldandy to get married?"

  "They...haven't actually met her yet."

  I took a few moments to digest that. "You've been here with Belldandy
how long?"

  He just smiled at me sheepishly, and was saved by Skuld deciding to
wander in then. She looked at me, then briefly at Keiichi, then back at
me.

  "Yes, Skuld?" I inquired.

  "You seem really calm for someone that Urd's trying to 'help'."

  Keiichi snickered. I shook my head. "Is it really that bad?"

  "Yes."

  "I'll be fine, I'm sure," I said, flatly. "And yes, I know about the
love potions. I'll make sure she doesn't slip anything into my food."

  "Your faith in me is just so heartwarming," Urd said, coming in at this
point, leaning on the back of the couch right behind me. "I've just got
your best interests in mind, Andrew-kun."

  "Er, I'm sure you do, Urd."

  "She's just got this funny tendency to mess it up, that's all."

  There they went again, Urd and Skuld, sniping at each other. At some
base level, I'm sure they somehow enjoyed this, or else they wouldn't be
at it so constantly. I thanked Skuld silently for the distraction--her
oldest sister was probably about to drape herself all over me to 'get me
in the proper mood' and see me squirm--and scooted away a little bit.

  "I'd hate to see the day Urd tries to help out Skuld and that Sentarou
fellow," I murmured to Keiichi. Right when the two had stopped yelling to
glare fiercely at the other.

  "Why, that's a great idea! How could I not have thought of that
earlier?"

  Ooooh, bad.

  "...Andrewwwwwwwwwww...."

  "Not in the house, Skuld, not in the house!" Keiichi waved his arms
frantically, from his place now behind the couch.

  "If you blow me up, Skuld, you won't have a guardian angel to protect
you," I said, nervously eyeing the bomb she had thrust out toward me.

  "Yeah, but you'll heal up real fast, and then I can do it again!"

  "And again, and again, and again," I mumbled weakly, staring at the
'THIS SIDE TOWARD ENEMY - DO NOT EAT' note stamped on the bomb even as I
leaned away. They told me many of her inventions unintentionally exploded
quite spectactularly, so I expected one of her bombs would do the trick
even better. I hadn't yet witnessed any of her technological weapons in
use so far, and I really hoped I wasn't going to start now, at very close
range.

  So it was with great relief and a quickly whispered prayer of thanks to
the Lord that we all heard a knock on the door and a call of, "It's me,
Megumi!" Belldandy walked by, looked pointedly at Skuld (who grumbled and
put the bomb away), and opened the door.

  "I think I love your sister already, if only for saving my sorry butt,"
I muttered to Keiichi, standing up; I think I heard him snort quietly in
response. I smiled and waved to Megumi as she spied me and waved back.
"Good evening, Megumi-san."

  "Evening, Andrew-san!"

  "Dinner will be ready in just a moment. You can wait in the living room
with the others."

  Megumi nodded to Belldandy and walked over to join us. Suddenly, and a
bit curiously, the only open seat was the one next to me on the couch. How
convenient. I looked over at Urd, who just grinned at me.

  "So, how's everyone's week been?" Megumi said, settling down by my side.
"Anything special?"

  There were, of course, special things happening, but we unfortunately
couldn't really tell her about them. Ah well.

  "Not really," Keiichi said. "Mostly just the usual. How about you?"

  "Just my brother's girlfriend conspiring to 'introduce' me to one of her
relatives by marriage," she said cheerily.

  Oh, yeah, my little white lie.

  Um....

  Well, I was vaguely comforted by the fact that even Urd looked floored,
if only for a brief moment. That didn't stop my face from heating up
slightly, however. I shot a look over toward the kitchen, but Belldandy
was safely out of sight.

  Megumi laughed, then. "She was just a little obvious about you being
here when she invited me to come tonight, Andrew-san. Don't worry, I don't
mind. So, what do you do, exactly?"

  I laughed too, as did the others. She was refreshingly blunt, which was
nice. "Just started working in the finance department of a specialized
trading company, called Denbashi Shousha. Nothing particularly
interesting, but it's a good opportunity." I shrugged a bit; to a non-
business kind of person, it probably was boring stuff. "You go to Nekomi
too, right?"

  "Yeah, decided to tag along with my brother. It's a pretty good school
for the stuff we're interested in. I'm also in the motor club with
Kei-chan and the others...."

------------------------------------------------

  Urd was right, I decided, as we chatted; Megumi was a nice girl.
Pleasant to talk to, intelligent, cheerful. We moved to the dining room
soon, carrying our conversation along over there--she and I seated next to
each other, of course. I can't say that we delved into a deep, heartfelt,
talk, but I didn't expect to, not so soon. I found out that she had yet to
visit any foreign countries, while I described living in Europe for a few
years as a young child. While I did track and field in high school, she
was on the college softball team. She talked about cars and motors, which
were subjects I was forced to admit I had little knowledge of. Though at
least I'm able to change the oil in a car with minimal difficulty.

  Of course, when I related that I'd never ridden on a real motorcycle,
she decided that shouldn't stand.

  "You should ask Kei-chan to take you for a ride sometime!" she said,
putting down her teacup. "Or maybe I can."

  This made Urd look thoughtful, which is always cause for alarm.

  "That's an idea," I said, in an attempt to head off an attack of
'helpfulness'. "You've got that motorcycle with the sidecar, don't you,
Keiichi?"

  "That thing's reserved for Bell, Andrew-kun." Drat. "And a sidecar isn't
the same thing as sitting on the motorcycle itself." Urd looked smug.

  Megumi nodded. "Definitely. And if it's danger you're worried about--"
She paused, shrugged slightly. "Yeah, it's somewhat dangerous. But
Kei-chan and I both have plenty of experience riding motorcycles. Just be
sure to hold on tight and not make any sudden movements, you know."

  I wasn't really worried about getting hurt. Well, it would hurt, but I'd
heal up quickly. Trying to explain why a gash on my arm was closing up
right in front of her eyes, that I was worried about. On the other hand...
Back when I wasn't indestructible, I had a chance of getting killed in a
car accident (er, never mind the fact that I sorta did, almost), but that
didn't stop me from hopping behind the wheel every day to get to work. You
can't be paralyzed for fear of something like that.

  The red-blooded male part of me said: you get a chance to cling to a
cute girl tightly. As long as you ride with the cute girl and not her
brother, anyway.

  I smiled. "All right, Megumi-san. I'll take you up on your offer. I'm
busy the rest of this week, including the weekend, but next week,
perhaps."

  She nodded decisively. "Don't worry. I'll be careful. Maybe I'll even
teach you how to ride one yourself."

  "Myself? How long does that take to learn?"

  "It's not that easy, I'll admit, so it might take a little while. But
you won't know without trying."

  I chuckled, trying to ignore the grin on Urd's face as she glanced
between the two of us. "Let's just start with me being a passenger, and
we'll see after that, maybe. Make sure I like being on a motorcycle to
start with."

  "I'm sure you will!"

  "I think I've got the perfect bike for you to learn on, Andrew," Keiichi
now interjected. "Something we've been restoring at the Whirlwind."

  "Whirl...oh, yeah, where you're working now. Hey, wait, I just
said--urnf."

  "What's that, Andrew?"

  "Nnnothing," I said, reaching down to rub my shin where Urd had just
delivered a sharp kick. I glared at her nastily, but she just gave that
same infuriating grin back. "Uh. Sure, whatever you think, Keiichi."

  He nodded, and then descended into rapid-fire shoptalk with his sister,
discussing the motorcycle in question. I noted that Skuld was paying close
attention to them--this was right up her alley too, and she soon was
throwing her ideas into the conversation as well. Belldandy took this
opportunity to rise and collect the dishes--we were pretty much done with
eating by this point, though I knew she'd soon be setting out some ice
cream for dessert, including a double helping for Skuld.

  And Urd shifted seats to sit next to me, still grinning. She glanced
past me, apparently to make sure that Megumi was suitably absorbed in her
discussion, and said quietly, "You two seem to be hitting it off decently.
Though you could stand to try a bit harder."

  "Well, you're right--she is a nice girl. We'll get along pretty well, I
think. But stop with the elbow-nudgding and waggling of eyebrows, Urd."

  "Just trying to be encouraging, Andrew-kun. And that's just it--it's not
enough just to 'get along pretty well', you gotta connect with her. You
know what I mean? _Connect_. Me and Bell, we're trying to help you out.
Don't you be half-assing it on us now."

  That made me snort slightly. "What's wrong with starting out with simply
being sociable and friendly?" She gave me a piercing look. "Okay, okay,
she's worth thinking about, sure. I'll give this a chance. Didn't say I
wouldn't." I sounded faintly sulky, I realized with a little bit of
embarrassment.

  "That's the spirit, if lacking slightly in enthusiasm. Just try to be a
little more charming next time, right?" She patted my shoulder.

  "Oh, by the way."

  "Hm?"

  "Surely you'd thought of, uh, 'encouraging' Skuld and Sentarou on your
own before, right?"

  "Of course! I did that to teach you a lesson about doubting my kind and
helpful nature."

  "By winding up Skuld and pointing her at me. Gosh, thanks."

  At which point, Belldandy served some yamaimo flavored ice cream, which
broke up the conversation at the other side of the table. "So!" Megumi
said, brightly, "You'd be free a week from this Saturday, Andrew-san?"

  I thought about this briefly, then nodded. "Yeah. Next Saturday, wide
open."

  She rubbed her hands, before picking up her spoon and trying the ice
cream. "Plenty of time to plan out a good route for us to enjoy. Hey, this
is good, Belldandy!"

  "Mrphmmmrm!" assented Skuld with vigorous nods.

  "Thank you! I made it last night."

  "I just wish I could stay longer...I'll need to head back home soon,
start working on a paper I've got due this Friday."

  "Ah, such a pity," Urd murmured.

  "I do hope you can come again soon, Megumi-san," Belldandy added.

  "I hope so too. Your cooking's delicious. I know I've said it before,
but my brother's lucky to have you." She finished off the last of the ice
cream, and clapped her hands together. "Thank you for the meal!"

  Even I knew what to do at this point, and I rose to my feet with a faint
smile. "I'll walk you to your motorcycle, Megumi-san."

  "Why thank you, Andrew-san."

  We walked side by side to the front door. "Oh--let's exchange numbers,"
I said, pulling out my celphone.

  "Right, of course." She turned to her side to grab hers as we
approached the entryway....

  Oh, yes, there just happened to be a stack of books sitting in the
hallway where Megumi could trip over it.

  She yelped as she toppled forward, trying to keep her balance. Guided by
my newly-developed bodyguarding instincts, I darted forward and spun
around to catch her. Unfortunately, as she collided into me, I lost my own
balance as my foot missed the step where the hallway met the foyer. I
ended up falling on my rear, while my head and upper back slammed into the
doorframe. She landed mostly on top of me, legs sprawled out behind her,
cheek nestled against my shoulder. She blinked in surprise, while I
blinked in trying to clear the pain from my head.

  "Oh...I'm sorry," she mumbled, sounding slightly dazed.

  "Ngh. That's okay." I reached up, rubbing the back of my head.

  Even as I realized how horribly contrived this was--didn't you usually
see something like this in one of Skuld's manga?--I couldn't help but
enjoy this a bit. Just a bit.

  "Hey, are you okay?" Keiichi's voice floated down from the kitchen. We
both turned to look to see him emerging from the door to stare at us,
followed by the goddesses. I think his eye twitched just slightly. Sorry,
fella, it really wasn't intentional....

  "Ah...I'm fine, Kei-chan. I kind of tripped, and he managed to catch
me." She began to pull herself up, sounding completely unembarrassed.
However, I could swear that her face was tinged with a little bit of pink.
"That was a pretty swift reaction, Andrew-san. Thanks."

  "Ah. No problem." I smiled, and stood as well. "Just...where'd I drop my
phone?"

  Megumi held it up. "Right here. I managed to catch it. Ooh, pretty nice
model."

  Studiously ignoring the others (Belldandy and Urd were smiling, Skuld
and Keiichi did the raised eyebrows thing), we quickly exchanged numbers.
I opened the door for her, and we then exited, making the short trip down
the stairway to where she'd parked her motorcycle.

  "It really was nice meeting you tonight, Megumi-san."

  "Glad I had the chance to meet you too." She lifted her helmet onto her
head; I could see her grin through the faceplate. "Give me a call when you
have the time, all right?"

  "Sure thing. Drive safely."

  "Thanks!"

  I watched her drive off into the night, then jogged up the steps, and
made my way back to the kitchen whereupon I was met by the others.

  Urd grinned. "Very smooth, Andrew-kun. Save for smacking your head on
the wall, but I guess you were a little short on space there. And if
you'd managed to get up first and help her stand with a properly offered
hand...."

  I pointed at her accusingly. "You set those books right there, didn't
you?"

  "I'm sorry, Andrew-san, those were mine, actually." Belldandy smiled at
me sweetly over a pile of cookbooks now sitting on the table.

  I gaped. "Et tu, Belldandy?"

  "Oneesama! You're in on this too?"

  Keiichi shook his head. "Well, you kept her from getting hurt, I guess."

  "It was to get you to make up for being such a huge stick-in-the-mud for
most of the evening," Urd added severely, before changing over to sly.
"And don't tell me you didn't like how that felt."

  "I plead the Fifth," I said, quickly.

  "Too bad, you're not in America anymore."

  I grunted.

  "Andrew's not a pervert like you and Keiichi are," Skuld said pointedly.
Keiichi rolled his eyes, while Belldandy giggled. "Right, Andrew?"

  "I Have No Comment," I responded measuredly, with a bright smile that
probably looked a little glazed.

  Skuld frowned, then looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Don't tell me--"

  "Don't tell me you haven't had daydreams about Sentarou-kun," Urd
murmured in Skuld's ear, who then turned bright red.

  The night ended with an attempt at damage control and the chance to
observe Skuld Bombs at work, thankfully directed at someone other than
myself. Quite impressive, they are, when used properly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

  Yamaimo is Japanese for yam. Yes, I have had yam-flavored ice cream, and
it tasted pretty dang good.

  For you non-Americans, the Fifth refers to the Fifth Amendment of our
Constitution, which states that you can refuse to give testimony that is
potentially self-incriminating.


Andrew Huang...Shizumaru@KawaiiMUCK
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
NAC MAC FEEGLE!

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