[Episode 15840] [Episode 15840]Belldandy stared out at the world from the porch of the shrine she and Keiichi called home. He wasn’t there, but she could sense his anguish as he curled up in a corner of the Motor Club’s home - the anguish, the questioning, the doubt of identity, the doubt of self. She’d felt it to a lesser extent a thousand times as thousands of His children discovered His gifts to them. With Keiichi, though, the cause carried a lot more - which was why she had been called to him, why Father had approved the wish.
His touch was life - but it was also death. His sister had been severely injured in a motorbike accident; she would have died - under normal circumstances. Keiichi grabbed her with a gentle touch only family or lovers could give, then tugged on Tamiya’s arm to urge him to call for help. Father’s gift did the rest.
She wanted to console him, tell him that Tamiya would survive - if barely - but knew it wasn’t time. Not yet. Five more minutes, five minutes for him to weigh the seriousness of her Father’s gift before she would make her way to the clubhouse.
And then, the real lessons for Keiichi would begin. He sat alone with the power of God in his hands, an instrument of His love for all. Unfortunately, the legions of Hel also held God’s power, and used it against His will. Keiichi could become a force for good, an instrument to allow for the greatest possible gift from one person to another - life - but could be used as a source of greed and hatred as he took life as he saw fit.
He sat alone, for four more minutes, while she waited for Father to let her go to him. After that, she promised, Keiichi Morisato would never be truly alone again.
She just wondered what he’d think when he found out about his sister...
***
At a nearby inn, Masahiko Yanagiba cried a river of tears.
Of course, she thought, considering what had just happened, maybe the “Masami” persona she’d come up with would be a more appropriate name. She felt like beating up everyone who’d led her to this point - but felt like crying more.
It was gone. The dream she’d had - oh, Lord, the dream! She’d dreamed that the guys that Shion’s friends had picked up were...
Oh, shit. If she was like this, then... she knew what they were planning. She had to -
“Hello.”
She looked behind her; the drunken haze she’d had before coming in was long gone. “G... Get away.”
They smiled. “Oh, no. You’re going to like this, I promise.” The looked down at the panties around her legs, and chuckled. “And it seems you’re all ready for this, too.”
One grabbed her arms in a gentle but firm grip, his breath hot against her ear; the other began to slide his hands through the fold of her yukata. “Oh, yes...”
For a woman who was used to the sensations of her body, the touch might have been considered pleasurable.
For someone who’d inexplicably become a woman overnight, the touch felt a thousand ways from wrong, and shocked her into action. Finding a strength she didn’t know she had, she jumped up, pushed one away with her foot, then elbowed the other before running out, her voice screaming all the while. She tumbled into the dining area, took one look at Shion’s wide-eyed stare, then chose that moment to pass out.
Shion looked down at her cousin and the uncontrollably-changing features of his body, and blinked. As Masahiko lay unconscious, his features changed - first becoming disturbingly like one of the other men in their party, then eventually settling on a face she knew well - her own.
Sighing, she hefted Masahiko into a fireman’s carry. Risa, one of the other girls, looked on in horror. “What... what’s going on?”
Shion let out another sigh, and adjusted her position as Masahiko adjusted. “I wish I knew. I’m taking her back to the room.” She made her way into the hallway and toward their room, periodically adjusting as weight and height shifted. She shook her head, not quite understanding except for one thing:
“Cousin, you really fit in with our family...”
***
Keitaro Urashima didn’t care how far; he just needed to fly.
Three days ago, they’d taken him to 'The Facility'. No hope of escape, they said; temporary neutralization of powers while they ‘indoctrinated’, and any attempt meant permanent disappearance. What powers he had left inadvertently shorted out the neutralizer; he understood that, when given a stay-or-die mentality, the best move was to run if given the chance. Perimeter defenses were designed to take down a Hulk (or at least attempt to); what he lacked in skill he made up for in sheer terror as the lasers couldn’t hit his erratic movements. He flew out of the facility on wings of energy, and hoped they would carry him to freedom.
And, finally, the instructors.
They did what they did for the good of Japan, or so they said; raise an army of mutants to defend the Home Islands against outside threats. As someone who’d studied more than his share of history in his quest for Toudai, he understood the justifications; he understood the real reason.
He was power. They as a group were power. He imagined Mutsumi’s and Shinobu’s faces, so kind, so full of life; he wondered what sort of killers these monsters would make them.
He could see three of them trailing behind, balls of fire and shadow a few miles behind him; he wondered how he could lose them or if he even could. Clouds didn’t help; he’d tried that already. He didn’t know how much longer his powers would last; as such, his course took him to the South China Sea. Run he would, fight he would try, but he would not be taken.
He felt his powers finally giving out as he began to slow down; he began the final dive. He didn’t want to become a heartless soldier like the ones he’d left behind. That was worse than death; that was becoming death. He wondered what Shinobu and Mutsumi were doing as he saw the blue-green concrete rushing toward him.
Keitaro didn’t stay conscious long enough to see the three look around the surface for him, then turn back. He was still unconscious when a small fishing vessel with a Yashida Fishing Industries logo approached his general position, and a tendril of paper scooped him unceremoniously from the sea.
***
Miki Kaoru stared out from the window of his dorm room, at the turning leaves, and sighed.
He could feel it; it was time to leave this place. He could never put these feelings into words, except to say that he just knew it was time.
The Kami had gifted him with two major boons. The first was a mind that could literally solve any problem. I.Q. tests - indeed, all tests - were useless to him. He understood the way the markets worked and operated, the issues governments faced and why they were so ineffective, even the reason why it was going to rain tomorrow afternoon at 3:27 even though the weatherman hadn't figured it out yet. Part of the reason why he'd joined Ohtori's student council was because he couldn't solve this problem; there were things hidden below the surface he hadn't quite deduced yet, and it made for a beautiful challenge.
The other gift... precognition. In two days' time, dark men from a government organization would figure out his abilities, and come for him; if he left, his life would become much darker, his gifts as cold as ice. He'd been too obvious about his abilities, it seemed; they already had the plans, and thought to take him by surprise as he studied. However, if he sent a bit of information there... it would attract the attention of other, more benevolent persons who would contact him within a day.
Sighing, he purposely pressed the enter key on his keyboard, the command to send the information where it needed to go. He didn't want to leave, quite; he'd never known people the likes of whom he'd found here. Anthy, a flower of rare beauty. Utena, a rock of stability among our machinations. Juri, soft heart inside such a hard shell. Saionji, the spirit of a true samurai. And Touga, a mind with a craftiness to rival his own. He would truly miss them.
He moved away from the window. He would have to say his goodbyes tonight.
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(Posted Fri, 13 Dec 2002 06:25)
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