It's taken awhile, but I've finally mangaged to finish the prologue. Here they are in both parts, as they are meant to be read back to back, as they mirror each other.
The first part should be extremely familiar to Bleach fans being verbatim from the show, but after...
This work is an AU fic, as the backgrounds for both stories are similar, but very different, with AU being the dominant backdrop.
Blame GenocideHeart on this one for that thread in the Ideas section, as it would not leave me alone at all.
A extremely big thanks to Ghostface, who's help has been invaluable when making this.
I do need an overall title for the story, as I have the first Book name ready, but not the overall one. Help with that is appreciated also.
Oh, before I forget, I should mention that this is my first fic.... :sweat:
C&C welcomed.
Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and is distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha,Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media. Ah My Goddess is created by Kousuke Fujishima and is distributed by Kodansha, Afternoon Magazine, AIC, Tokyo Broadcast Station (TBS), Animeigo, Geneon, Media Blasters, & ADV Films. No infringement is intended.
Book I: Be Careful What You Wish For
Prologue A
-Serendipity-
It was raining.
Not that the rain mattered much to an a suddenly confident 9 year old boy. Despite the rough few hours in karate class, the aches and minor bruises taken from that all too gung-ho girl seemed to fly away in the presense of the one he was now happily walking home with.
He and his mother had just left the dojo where he had been training at, and all too eager he walked ahead, umbrella in hand, ready to defend her from anything that would try to harm her.
Well, almost anything. So caught up in his daydreams he didn't notice that they had reached the main street until he had gotten a face full of water splashed from the curb as a truck went rushing by.
"My my", he heard his mother say. She turned to him, hankercheif in hand, and began to dry his face off. "What a bad driver that was. Are you ok?" She smiled as he opened one of his eyes as she continued to dry him. "Let's switch sides and let mommy walk on the roadside, ok?"
Suddenly embarrassed by his sudden shower, he tried to down-play it. "It's ok", he replied, his voice somewhat mumbled as he attemped to talk around his mother's hand. He then remembered his one saving grace. "I'll stay on this side. It'll be ok since I'm wearing a raincoat." The raincoat had protected him, though it did nothing to
shield his pride as he now took in his surroundings.
While raining, it was still early evening, and the rain wasn't heavy enough to obscure his vision. That passing truck should have been obvious, and for that reason he decided to take greater care in his surroundings. "I'll protect you from cars like that from now on."
Amused with her son's effort to save his dignity, she replied as she dried his right cheek, "My, how generous of you, but not this time. Until you at least beat Tatsuki-chan once in a match, I can't let you walk on that side of the road."
"I beat her once the other day!", he retorted. It was true, one lucky punch got through her defenses and left her seated on the floor. While his first victory was great it was short lived as the infuriated girl redoubled her efforts.
His mother then took her hand from his face. "There - all done." She then stood up and turned towards home. "Let's go."
Somewhat downcast that his great victory hadn't convinced his mother he lifted his umbrella back over him. He paused as he thought of something he knew would cheer him up. "Mommy", he asked hesistantly, "Can I hold your hand"?
With a smile that suggested that needing to ask such a question was outlandish she held her hand outward to him. "Of course."
With his earlier mortification practically forgotten, he took her hand, grinning all the while. They walked across the street, hand in hand. From that incident only his resolve had remained. *I'll keep my eyes open for anything!*
------------
It had gotten dark.
And the rain was starting to come down harder.
True to his vow, the boy was keeping watch over everything, pointing at every car and every puddle, he made sure he and his mother were well out of their way as they went by. They were almost home, and had now begun to walk past the riverbed.
As they walked, the boy's eyes scanned the rushing water below. He then began to focus on something close by the river. He couldn't make it out at first, as it seemed to fade in and out in the rain. Squinting, he managed to make out the lines of a person. *What's he doing down there?* He then gasped as the figure began to walk towards the river.
"Hey wait!", he called. He let go of his mother's hand as he rushed
after that person, trying to warn them of the danger. Ignoring his mother's cries, he continued to run, trying to warn off the person from the danger they were obviously not aware of.
He had just reached the person and made attempt to grab any piece of clothing to get their attention when his hand passed through them.
Gasping, he had no chance to react as he was struck by something. The last image he saw was something what he would later dismiss as seeing things. An image of two faint reddish glows and a gleam of white that could be mistaken as a sneer.
---------
He could hear it was still raining.
Oddly enough, he was dry.
Feeling a weight upon him he opened his eyes and gasped.
"Mommy!" His mother was laid over him, her body keeping him dry. "Mommy!" he tried again, trying to wake her. He tried shaking her, and gasped once again as he caught the reddish hue in the faint light.
*Blood?*
He pushed himself out from under her, eyes widening at the blood that covered their immediate surrouning area. He begun to panic as he saw a gash across his mother's back. He redoubled his efforts to rouse her. "Mama! Mama!"
-Ichigo-
The boy continued to shake his mother, trying anything to get her to move under her own strength.
-Ichigo!-
Tears ran down his face, mixing with the rain, as the fear that she wouldn't wake up was swiftly becoming reality.
-Ichigo!-
He gasped as looked upward as everything went dark.
------------
"GOOOOODD MOOOOOOHHHHHHNNNIIIIINNNNNGGGG, IICHIIIGOOOOO!"
Sucking his breath in, Ichigo twisted to his left side, falling off his bed as the first thing to meet his eyes were his father's decending feet. Heart beating rapidly, he turned around, twisting out of his blanket and glared at his father as the end of his bed came crashing back to the floor.
"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP DOING THAT EVERY MORNING?!?"
From the top of his bed Isshin snorted and crossed his arms and noddeed sagely, "To keep up your training, why else?"
Ichigo stared at his father openmouthed, his breathing still deep as he tried to calm himself. This kind of morning had began a few months ago out of nowhere, and happened nearly every single morning since. Throwing off the blanket, he stood up and waringly backed away, the sudden adrenaline rush leaving him.
"Did I do something to piss you off, old man?"
"Nonsense. What I've been doing has vastly improved your reflex time. You should be grateful to receive such preeminent training from one such as I."
Flabbergasted, he replied, "Grateful? Why the *hell* would I - no, forget it." He brought his hands up and rubbed his head. "I don't wanna deal with this crap right now." He turned to get ready for the day before he paused and turned back toward his father.
"You can get off my bed, now."
-----------------
"Daddy?"
Exiting Ichigo's room, Isshin turned to the side towards his youngest daughter. "Hm?"
"Is Ichi-ni going to be ok?"
"Yeah, he'll be ok". Isshin was going to let his son have the 'morning off' until Yuzu had hurried to him to about Ichigo. Rushing towards his son's room he found Ichigo twisting and turning in bed, obviously in the midst of an all too vivid nightmare. With how moody Ichigo had become in the last few days it wasn't too hard to figure out what he had been dreaming about.
Well, there had been an easy way to fix that.
"He just needs to wake up. He'll be ok, you'll see, Yuzu."
For Ichigo, he hoped the day would pass by quickly.
-----------------
Ichigo splashed the water on his face, the remaining soap being washed away. He stared at himself in the mirror as he dried himself. His bright orange hair stood upon end, and though wild complimented him. His fifteenth birthday was just slightly less than a month away, though such thoughts were furthest from his mind as he looked at the calender earlier.
June 17th.
The sixth anniversary of his mother's death.
Snorting he continued to groom himself, his thoughts turning toward the day. It was unusual, as he and his sisters normally stayed home on this date to visit and spend the day at his mother's shrine. However one of his father's patients, a Mrs Sendou, he recalled, was having more problems that required his father's attention.
While they would still go to visit, it would be breif, and that was
something that did not sit too well with him, but there was nothing he
could do about it. The only saving grace was that he would be getting out of school early. As to why he didn't just take the entire day off, there was a big test coming up in one of his early classes, and if could attend to take notes for it, so be it. It's not as if he was slacking off or getting bad grades.
Despite his growing infamy at Mashiba Junior High for his brawls, his grades had hardly taken a hit, in spite of how many times his face did. Besides, a good portion of his fights were against the thugs from other schools, and it's not like he would be punished for things that happened off campus.
A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts.
"Ichi-ni, are you finished"?, he heard from behind the door.
He turned towards the door and answered. "I'll be out now Karin".
Finishing up, he placed the brush back down and exited the wash room. He took notice of Karin as she walked passed him. She looked more somber than usual going in.
He scowled as he all too soon he remembered the significance of the day.
*My fault*
----------------
-7:44-
Or so his watch claimed as he ran toward school. While not late the run to school was somewhat relaxing as he was mostly focused on dodging and weaving through foot traffic. The day was warm but not humid so he wouldn't sweat so much from the run. He began to up his speed as he came to a series of corners to get to the main street to the school.
He was doing well until he turned the second corner at near full speed and crashed into a incoming rushing pedestrian.
Ichigo painfully pulled himself into a sitting position. "Sorry 'bout that, I wasn't loo-"
"Kurosaki!"
"Wha-?" The stars finally cleared from Ichigo's vision and he scowled at who he was seeing.
"Chitose Kanayama" he growled out. Subconciously his hand came up as he rubbed his head where he had been knocked out with a piece of concrete a month or so ago, a piece that had been held in the hands of the bastard he was looking at. Things had gotten really hairy after that before getting saved by that new guy, Chad.
Ichigo's scowl slowly turned into a sneer. He did have *some* time before he needed to get to class.
Kanayama had wobbly gotten to his feet before trying to manuever his way around Ichigo.
"I don't got time ta kill Kurosaki, I really gotta get-!"
He didn't finish as he barely dodged Ichigo's fist flying by.
"Damn you Kurosaki! I toldja I needed ta be-oopphh!!"
Kanayama's back slammed the wall as he began to slump toward the ground, knocked out by Ichigo's follow up backhand.
----------------
The class was mostly full as students began taking their seats. It was about seven minutes to go before class was to begin though the teacher had not arrived yet, causing some students to goof off a bit more than they would under normal circumstances.
Ichigo entered class to no one's notice except two.
"Kurosaki-kun?", one whispered.
"Ichigo"? The other, Tatsuki Arisawa stared in disbelief as she double checked the calender date. She left her seat and walked over to him, leaving Orihime Inoue behind. Orihime stared for a moment before she decided to stand and follow, then paused as she thought better about it and began to sit before stopping and beginning to stand again, before once again stopping herself once more trying to decide what she wanted to do.
"Is... is Inoue ok?"
Tatsuki turned to see Orihime seemingly paused in mid stance between sitting and standing, so deep in concentration Orihime practically hummed to herself before noticing that Ichigo was staring at her, to which she promptly splat down on her seat, blushing as her shoulder length orange hair bobbed.
"I... think she's ok - nevermind that, what about you? What are you doing here? I thought that-"
Cutting her off he replied, "Dad's helping out Mrs Sendou. She called again last night and he needs to help her out a bit. He'll be by to pick me up later".
She blinked. "Oh."
Ichigo then sidestepped her to take his seat, dropping his bag onto the desk and falling into the chair. He began to take the contents out as he didn't notice the concerned look Tatsuki sent his way.
------------------
Ichigo slowly opened his eyes and withdrew his hands from the prayer position. The stones with his family's name and the breif surrounding area had been cleaned by the four of them. The flowers had been replaced and incense had been lit when the family had gathered for their prayer. He had said his words to his mother, hoping that she was well whereever she was while once again asking for her forgiveness for the situation, especially since he could hear Yuzu begin to sniffle beside him.
The actual trip to the shrine had been merciflly breif. Well, breifer than it had been in years past. True to his word, Isshin had picked up Ichigo from school when he said he would. He had noted that Karin and Yuzu had been talking to each other during the trip, and even heard a giggle or two. Though it felt somewhat odd to hear that on this day, he at least could admit to himself that it was a very large step up from the silence that had been present in years past. Wait, to amend that, silence from his sisters - his father, true to form, had not shut up the entire way there.
He frowned as hoped to God that his father wouldn't suggest another game of domino rally. The groundskeepers nearly booted him for good after that incident three years ago.
------------------
"Karin, Yuzu, we're almost home. C'mon, it's time to wake up".
Yuzu yawned as she readjusted her seatbelt. "We're home already?"
"Yeah, the traffic wasn't so bad this year, eh Ichigo?"
"Ah", Ichigo replied, once more shifting in his seat. The ride had been long, but not as bad as in year's past, though this year he hadn't been able to get comfortable enough in his seat to actually get any sort of rest. Combined with the days events and still feeling rather depressed he felt exhausted.
Isshin made the final turn and began to slow into the driveway. "See girls, even your brother agree's with me. When we get inside I'll get us - "
::ringring::
Ichigo glanced at his father as Isshin pulled his cellphone out from his pants' pocket as the car came to a stop. "Hello? Yes?" Isshin's eyes then narrowed. "Sendou-san? What's happened?"
Ichigo turned his head, now curious to what was happening now. Isshin ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He also noted that his father didn't bother to take off his seatbelt.
"Ichigo. Mrs Sendou is having problems again and I need to see her."
It must be serious, as his father now appeared to be in 'doctor mode' now.
"There's some cash on my dresser. Use it and go get some food for you and your sisters tonight. Don't worry about me I'll probably be home a bit late."
Ichigo at this moment really wanted nothing more than to go to bed and end this day, but he wasn't going to leave his sisters hungry.
"Sure."
-------------------
Ichigo sat hunched over on his bed, one leg over the side and and a cellphone in hand. The girls had cleaned up and though Yuzu had offered to cook something for them, he wouldn't hear of it. Yuzu had taken the role as mother as far as the kitchen was concerned, and she of all people deserved as rest, especially on this day.
He blinked as his vision blurred a bit and took a deep yawn, rolled his head side to side and glanced at the clock.
-8:03-
'Almost over', he thought, 'almost over and I can put this day behind me and get back to being normal.'
Well, normal as one could be for someone who's been able to see spirits all his life. Though for someone who could see spirits, he had been disappointed that he hadn't seen the one he most wanted to. He shook his head when he realized he was starting to slip into a funk. He swiftly then turned his thoughts to the current situation.
'Let's see. It is late so some of those places are closed. There's a nice ramen place a few blocks away but they don't have take out and I don't feel like going out right now.'
'Hm.'
Ichigo continued to go through a mental list before coming to a decision. He quickly got up and went downstairs to grab the phonebook before recalling that he left the cell in his room. Grumbling, he went back up to his room. Tired as he was it slipped his mind that he could use the phone in the living room.
Flopping down on his bed he held the phone book in his left hand, thumb holding up the proper page while his other hand dialed in the number.
He brought the cell to his ear as he heard the phone being picked up on the other end. "Hello? Yeah, I'd like to - "
"Hello, you have reached the Goddess Relief Office."
"The wha-? I'm sorry, I think I dialed-"
"A represenative will be sent to you shortly."
"Hey, sorry but I said that-" ::click::
Ichigo blinked as he stared at the cell.
'Ok that was weird'. His thumb rested against the dial buttons as he double checked the number.
So concentrated on the book Ichigo did not notice a speck of light that began to gather at his mirror. Ichigo brought his head up as he caught it in the corner of his eye and stared as he saw a hand reach out. His mouth dropped a bit as a head popped out followed by the rest of her body. She floated as she fully came out of the mirror and gently touched down on the floor, and the blue aura that surrounded her faded as she opened her eyes and smiled at him.
Ichigo bowed his head and his shoulders slumped as he groaned. 'Today of all days...' He looked up as she drew a breath to speak.
"How do you do? I am the god-"
"Not today", he firmly stated. "Please just not today, ok?"
He raised his arm and stopped her before she got a chance to reply. "Hey, it's simple. Not today. I'll deal with you tomorrow if you want, but I really want the day off. Ok?"
"I'm sorry", she began. "But I think that you've misunderstood. I've come to -"
"Come to play, bother, hang around or whatever it is you're going to do before you get bored and go off to whereever it is you go to."
Ichigo got off his bed and took another glance at her. 'Pretty girl', he thought as he quickly took in her confused face. Part of his mind wondered how she kicked the big one, but that was a problem for another time. Right now he had dinner to get before his sisters starved and this spirit now had to come and make him waste time. He walked to his door and grabbed the handle. Before opening he turned back to her.
"I, am gonna go downstairs, and order some food for me and my sisters. And when I get back, you will have moved on to do whatever you regularly do and the night will go back to normal. Ok?"
He opened the door and walked out before allowing her a chance to answer and gently shut the door.
Left alone in the room Ichigo's uninvited guest had only one thing to say. "Oh my".
--------------------
Dinner had been uneventful. After using the phone in the living room and dialing the correct number the food had been brought in and the siblings gathered at the table to eat. Conversation had been brief, as all three of them had been worn out by the day. After dinner Ichigo had taken the empty bowls and trashed them and cleaned up while he told his sisters to go to bed. Karin didn't have to be told twice as she quickly went up to their room however Yuzu had put up a small fight, refusing to let Ichigo do all the cleaning. He had crouched down to be eye level with her to tell her it was ok this one time. After a few moments of going back and forth Yuzu had relented and went up after her sister.
'She can be more stubborn than Karin when she wants to be', he thought as he went up the stairs to his room.
Ichigo yawned as he opened the door and stopped halfway through, hand still on the doorknob. The spirit was still there, sitting at the foot of his bed, patient as one could be.
'It's gonna be a long night'. Tired and bit more than irritated now, he sighed as he went through and closed the door behind him.
"I could of sworn", he began, "that I said that when I get back things would be back to normal and that you would go back to do whatever it is you do".
She smiled as she replied, "And that is what I intend to do."
Ichigo sighed again. "And what is that? To stay and bother me awhile before you leave to bother someone else? "
"No." The young woman then rose to her feet giving the youth another gentle smile.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, my name is Belldandy and I represent the Goddess Relief Office. I am here to grant-"
"Are you a foreigner?" He somewhat blurted it out as he took in more of her features. A very nice face with some sort of makeup on her forehead and on her cheekbones. His face took on a look of disbelief as his face turned downward, now noting the decisively non-Japanese attire. He mumbled to himself, "I have gaijin spirits visiting me now... man...."
"I am not a spirit", the woman, Belldandy, corrected, startling him out of his thoughts.
"No? You've already done something that I haven't seen living people do, and I've been able to see spirits such as yourself all my life. If that isn't a spirit, then what is it?"
"Well, have you ever met a goddess?"
Goddess. Is that was what she was calling herself? She didn't strike him as a primadonna. Then again he did hear that foreign women did think highly of themselves. Or maybe she had been an actress?
His eyes blurred a bit as fatigue caught up with him again. "Look. I don't care what you call yourself. It's been a long, long day and I really want to end it. So if you will...." He brought his arms up towards the window in a gesture of, 'after you'.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
He sighed. This one just couldn't take a hint. It seemed this one was going to be stubborn. He looked at her again. Her eyes held no sort of menace, teasing or mischeviousness that he had been used to seeing, and he found himself relaxing a bit. 'Maybe if I say something it'll get her to go once her curiosity's satisfied.' Surprising himself, he took a step forward, getting closer to her before taking a seat.
Taking his cue, she sat down in front of him, legs tucked under her, hands clasped in her lap.
A moment passed as he sat, elbow at his knee as his arm propped his head up. He stared at the floor trying to think how to begin. 'Probably would be best if I get straight to the point'.
Without raising his head he responded. "My mother died. Six years ago, today."
The woman looked hurt, "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Thank you." He felt surprised to find that he meant that. Glancing up to look at her, her concerned and saddened face looking back at him, he found himself relaxing a bit more. He looked back down, unsure if he wanted to voice something he had never mentioned to anyone else. Looking up once more and staring into her eyes, he felt that he could trust her.
"I...", he stopped as he collected himself. "I was... I was with her when she died. When... when she was killed".
She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
His vision blurred again, though not from weariness this time. He blinked as he could feel the moisture begin to well up. 'Why now'?, he thought, surprised. 'Am I that tired'? He gathered himself again and continued. "I'm not sure how..but I know..."
The woman was tearing up now, her heart clearly going out to the young man "You poor dear."
Her reaction caught him off guard. He hadn't expected her to get so caught up. He once again felt a feeling of trust around her. 'Not for long', he thought, 'not when she finds out'.
"No. Don't look like that at me. You see... I know that... I know... it's my fault she's dead."
"How can you say that?"
His head drooped down and he closed his eyes. "It has to be".
Trying to gather himself and think how she would react to that he had to be the one to get her killed he gasped as he felt two hands gently take his head. Stunned, he felt an odd sense of powerlessness as she gently brought him forward and gently laid his head in her lap. So gentle, so soft and yet it felt like he couldn't break away - no, he didn't want to break away. He moved his body to the side so he laid there, on the floor, head in her lap as she gently placed her hands on her forehead.
He was so out of it he didn't even register that she was able to touch him.
She then begun to move her mouth, seemingly speaking but so soft he couldn't hear her.
For the woman who's hands cradled Ichigo's head, she could see.
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Ignoring his mother's cries, he continued to run, trying to warn off the person from the danger they were obviously not aware of.
He had just reached the person and made attempt to grab any piece of clothing to get their attention when his hand passed through them.
Gasping, he had no chance to react as he was struck by something. The last image he saw was something what he would later dismiss as seeing things. An image of two faint reddish glows and a gleam of white that could be mistaken as a sneer.
---------------------------------
Her heart truely went to him. It was the work of a hollow that took his mother's life, not him. The guilt that she could feel from him was overwhelming.
She gently ran her hands through his hair and massaged his temples. "It isn't your fault".
Ichigo had not heard her. The moment she had begun to run her hands through his hair he found himself miles away and years in the past.
---------------------------------
He peered around the corner and found his mother in the living room, watching television from the floor with her back pressed up against the sofa. He walked up to her and went to his knees and put his head in her lap. He sighed as he felt her hands run through his hair. He brought an arm around her lap and gently squeezed, happy to be where he was and yawned, content.
---------------------------------
Ichigo found himself sighing, the nearly lost feeling of contentment welling within him, remembering. He had forgotten completely that he was in the lap of a beautiful girl.
Another thought came to him. Karin. Yuzu. How long since they had been able to do this? Would they even remember? 'I've robbed them of these moments. These moments when they needed mom the most...'.
As the hands of this woman continued to work their magic, he found himself blinking. Trying to bring himself back to the present, his mouth said the first things to come to mind.
"This... this is nice." He blinked again to banish the weariness that was reasserting itself. "You must have done this often."
The woman smiled softly, "Yes. With my little sister."
"She must've loved it." Ichigo found his vision blurring heavily this time, and found himself struggling against the comfort that he hadn't felt in years.
"Yes," she confirmed as she continued to run her hands through his hair. "Sometimes, she would just need someone to hold her and comfort her after a long day."
"Yeah...a ... long... day...". 'Karin, Yuzu, I'm sorry. If only...if only I hadn't...'. His mind once more took in how nice he felt now, in this position, and wondered how they would've liked it. He found himself content now, arm subconciously wrapping around her lap and yawned. A strange thought came to mind, pulled from his dulling senses. Of this girl with his sisters, in this position. Though his mother may be gone, would his sisters react the same as he was now? His mind noted that she fit the bill.
A small laugh escaped his lips.
"Yes?"
"I...just had the strangest thought." He struggled again to stay awake to voice his thoughts to her.
"It's funny... and it's almost too bad...but the way this feels now..." He yawned once more. "I think... I wish they...'we'..could have had... a mother like you..."
Peaceful darkness finally claimed him.
Had he been awake a few seconds longer he would have been treated to a spectacular light show followed by a stunned comment.
"Wish... wish granted".
To be continued....
Now what should really burn some reader's minds is that did Ichigo mean to say more before he fell asleep?
The first part should be extremely familiar to Bleach fans being verbatim from the show, but after...
This work is an AU fic, as the backgrounds for both stories are similar, but very different, with AU being the dominant backdrop.
Blame GenocideHeart on this one for that thread in the Ideas section, as it would not leave me alone at all.
A extremely big thanks to Ghostface, who's help has been invaluable when making this.
I do need an overall title for the story, as I have the first Book name ready, but not the overall one. Help with that is appreciated also.
Oh, before I forget, I should mention that this is my first fic.... :sweat:
C&C welcomed.
Enjoy!
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Disclaimer: Bleach is created by Tite Kubo and is distributed by Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha,Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo, Adult Swim, & Viz Media. Ah My Goddess is created by Kousuke Fujishima and is distributed by Kodansha, Afternoon Magazine, AIC, Tokyo Broadcast Station (TBS), Animeigo, Geneon, Media Blasters, & ADV Films. No infringement is intended.
Book I: Be Careful What You Wish For
Prologue A
-Serendipity-
It was raining.
Not that the rain mattered much to an a suddenly confident 9 year old boy. Despite the rough few hours in karate class, the aches and minor bruises taken from that all too gung-ho girl seemed to fly away in the presense of the one he was now happily walking home with.
He and his mother had just left the dojo where he had been training at, and all too eager he walked ahead, umbrella in hand, ready to defend her from anything that would try to harm her.
Well, almost anything. So caught up in his daydreams he didn't notice that they had reached the main street until he had gotten a face full of water splashed from the curb as a truck went rushing by.
"My my", he heard his mother say. She turned to him, hankercheif in hand, and began to dry his face off. "What a bad driver that was. Are you ok?" She smiled as he opened one of his eyes as she continued to dry him. "Let's switch sides and let mommy walk on the roadside, ok?"
Suddenly embarrassed by his sudden shower, he tried to down-play it. "It's ok", he replied, his voice somewhat mumbled as he attemped to talk around his mother's hand. He then remembered his one saving grace. "I'll stay on this side. It'll be ok since I'm wearing a raincoat." The raincoat had protected him, though it did nothing to
shield his pride as he now took in his surroundings.
While raining, it was still early evening, and the rain wasn't heavy enough to obscure his vision. That passing truck should have been obvious, and for that reason he decided to take greater care in his surroundings. "I'll protect you from cars like that from now on."
Amused with her son's effort to save his dignity, she replied as she dried his right cheek, "My, how generous of you, but not this time. Until you at least beat Tatsuki-chan once in a match, I can't let you walk on that side of the road."
"I beat her once the other day!", he retorted. It was true, one lucky punch got through her defenses and left her seated on the floor. While his first victory was great it was short lived as the infuriated girl redoubled her efforts.
His mother then took her hand from his face. "There - all done." She then stood up and turned towards home. "Let's go."
Somewhat downcast that his great victory hadn't convinced his mother he lifted his umbrella back over him. He paused as he thought of something he knew would cheer him up. "Mommy", he asked hesistantly, "Can I hold your hand"?
With a smile that suggested that needing to ask such a question was outlandish she held her hand outward to him. "Of course."
With his earlier mortification practically forgotten, he took her hand, grinning all the while. They walked across the street, hand in hand. From that incident only his resolve had remained. *I'll keep my eyes open for anything!*
------------
It had gotten dark.
And the rain was starting to come down harder.
True to his vow, the boy was keeping watch over everything, pointing at every car and every puddle, he made sure he and his mother were well out of their way as they went by. They were almost home, and had now begun to walk past the riverbed.
As they walked, the boy's eyes scanned the rushing water below. He then began to focus on something close by the river. He couldn't make it out at first, as it seemed to fade in and out in the rain. Squinting, he managed to make out the lines of a person. *What's he doing down there?* He then gasped as the figure began to walk towards the river.
"Hey wait!", he called. He let go of his mother's hand as he rushed
after that person, trying to warn them of the danger. Ignoring his mother's cries, he continued to run, trying to warn off the person from the danger they were obviously not aware of.
He had just reached the person and made attempt to grab any piece of clothing to get their attention when his hand passed through them.
Gasping, he had no chance to react as he was struck by something. The last image he saw was something what he would later dismiss as seeing things. An image of two faint reddish glows and a gleam of white that could be mistaken as a sneer.
---------
He could hear it was still raining.
Oddly enough, he was dry.
Feeling a weight upon him he opened his eyes and gasped.
"Mommy!" His mother was laid over him, her body keeping him dry. "Mommy!" he tried again, trying to wake her. He tried shaking her, and gasped once again as he caught the reddish hue in the faint light.
*Blood?*
He pushed himself out from under her, eyes widening at the blood that covered their immediate surrouning area. He begun to panic as he saw a gash across his mother's back. He redoubled his efforts to rouse her. "Mama! Mama!"
-Ichigo-
The boy continued to shake his mother, trying anything to get her to move under her own strength.
-Ichigo!-
Tears ran down his face, mixing with the rain, as the fear that she wouldn't wake up was swiftly becoming reality.
-Ichigo!-
He gasped as looked upward as everything went dark.
------------
"GOOOOODD MOOOOOOHHHHHHNNNIIIIINNNNNGGGG, IICHIIIGOOOOO!"
Sucking his breath in, Ichigo twisted to his left side, falling off his bed as the first thing to meet his eyes were his father's decending feet. Heart beating rapidly, he turned around, twisting out of his blanket and glared at his father as the end of his bed came crashing back to the floor.
"WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP DOING THAT EVERY MORNING?!?"
From the top of his bed Isshin snorted and crossed his arms and noddeed sagely, "To keep up your training, why else?"
Ichigo stared at his father openmouthed, his breathing still deep as he tried to calm himself. This kind of morning had began a few months ago out of nowhere, and happened nearly every single morning since. Throwing off the blanket, he stood up and waringly backed away, the sudden adrenaline rush leaving him.
"Did I do something to piss you off, old man?"
"Nonsense. What I've been doing has vastly improved your reflex time. You should be grateful to receive such preeminent training from one such as I."
Flabbergasted, he replied, "Grateful? Why the *hell* would I - no, forget it." He brought his hands up and rubbed his head. "I don't wanna deal with this crap right now." He turned to get ready for the day before he paused and turned back toward his father.
"You can get off my bed, now."
-----------------
"Daddy?"
Exiting Ichigo's room, Isshin turned to the side towards his youngest daughter. "Hm?"
"Is Ichi-ni going to be ok?"
"Yeah, he'll be ok". Isshin was going to let his son have the 'morning off' until Yuzu had hurried to him to about Ichigo. Rushing towards his son's room he found Ichigo twisting and turning in bed, obviously in the midst of an all too vivid nightmare. With how moody Ichigo had become in the last few days it wasn't too hard to figure out what he had been dreaming about.
Well, there had been an easy way to fix that.
"He just needs to wake up. He'll be ok, you'll see, Yuzu."
For Ichigo, he hoped the day would pass by quickly.
-----------------
Ichigo splashed the water on his face, the remaining soap being washed away. He stared at himself in the mirror as he dried himself. His bright orange hair stood upon end, and though wild complimented him. His fifteenth birthday was just slightly less than a month away, though such thoughts were furthest from his mind as he looked at the calender earlier.
June 17th.
The sixth anniversary of his mother's death.
Snorting he continued to groom himself, his thoughts turning toward the day. It was unusual, as he and his sisters normally stayed home on this date to visit and spend the day at his mother's shrine. However one of his father's patients, a Mrs Sendou, he recalled, was having more problems that required his father's attention.
While they would still go to visit, it would be breif, and that was
something that did not sit too well with him, but there was nothing he
could do about it. The only saving grace was that he would be getting out of school early. As to why he didn't just take the entire day off, there was a big test coming up in one of his early classes, and if could attend to take notes for it, so be it. It's not as if he was slacking off or getting bad grades.
Despite his growing infamy at Mashiba Junior High for his brawls, his grades had hardly taken a hit, in spite of how many times his face did. Besides, a good portion of his fights were against the thugs from other schools, and it's not like he would be punished for things that happened off campus.
A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts.
"Ichi-ni, are you finished"?, he heard from behind the door.
He turned towards the door and answered. "I'll be out now Karin".
Finishing up, he placed the brush back down and exited the wash room. He took notice of Karin as she walked passed him. She looked more somber than usual going in.
He scowled as he all too soon he remembered the significance of the day.
*My fault*
----------------
-7:44-
Or so his watch claimed as he ran toward school. While not late the run to school was somewhat relaxing as he was mostly focused on dodging and weaving through foot traffic. The day was warm but not humid so he wouldn't sweat so much from the run. He began to up his speed as he came to a series of corners to get to the main street to the school.
He was doing well until he turned the second corner at near full speed and crashed into a incoming rushing pedestrian.
Ichigo painfully pulled himself into a sitting position. "Sorry 'bout that, I wasn't loo-"
"Kurosaki!"
"Wha-?" The stars finally cleared from Ichigo's vision and he scowled at who he was seeing.
"Chitose Kanayama" he growled out. Subconciously his hand came up as he rubbed his head where he had been knocked out with a piece of concrete a month or so ago, a piece that had been held in the hands of the bastard he was looking at. Things had gotten really hairy after that before getting saved by that new guy, Chad.
Ichigo's scowl slowly turned into a sneer. He did have *some* time before he needed to get to class.
Kanayama had wobbly gotten to his feet before trying to manuever his way around Ichigo.
"I don't got time ta kill Kurosaki, I really gotta get-!"
He didn't finish as he barely dodged Ichigo's fist flying by.
"Damn you Kurosaki! I toldja I needed ta be-oopphh!!"
Kanayama's back slammed the wall as he began to slump toward the ground, knocked out by Ichigo's follow up backhand.
----------------
The class was mostly full as students began taking their seats. It was about seven minutes to go before class was to begin though the teacher had not arrived yet, causing some students to goof off a bit more than they would under normal circumstances.
Ichigo entered class to no one's notice except two.
"Kurosaki-kun?", one whispered.
"Ichigo"? The other, Tatsuki Arisawa stared in disbelief as she double checked the calender date. She left her seat and walked over to him, leaving Orihime Inoue behind. Orihime stared for a moment before she decided to stand and follow, then paused as she thought better about it and began to sit before stopping and beginning to stand again, before once again stopping herself once more trying to decide what she wanted to do.
"Is... is Inoue ok?"
Tatsuki turned to see Orihime seemingly paused in mid stance between sitting and standing, so deep in concentration Orihime practically hummed to herself before noticing that Ichigo was staring at her, to which she promptly splat down on her seat, blushing as her shoulder length orange hair bobbed.
"I... think she's ok - nevermind that, what about you? What are you doing here? I thought that-"
Cutting her off he replied, "Dad's helping out Mrs Sendou. She called again last night and he needs to help her out a bit. He'll be by to pick me up later".
She blinked. "Oh."
Ichigo then sidestepped her to take his seat, dropping his bag onto the desk and falling into the chair. He began to take the contents out as he didn't notice the concerned look Tatsuki sent his way.
------------------
Ichigo slowly opened his eyes and withdrew his hands from the prayer position. The stones with his family's name and the breif surrounding area had been cleaned by the four of them. The flowers had been replaced and incense had been lit when the family had gathered for their prayer. He had said his words to his mother, hoping that she was well whereever she was while once again asking for her forgiveness for the situation, especially since he could hear Yuzu begin to sniffle beside him.
The actual trip to the shrine had been merciflly breif. Well, breifer than it had been in years past. True to his word, Isshin had picked up Ichigo from school when he said he would. He had noted that Karin and Yuzu had been talking to each other during the trip, and even heard a giggle or two. Though it felt somewhat odd to hear that on this day, he at least could admit to himself that it was a very large step up from the silence that had been present in years past. Wait, to amend that, silence from his sisters - his father, true to form, had not shut up the entire way there.
He frowned as hoped to God that his father wouldn't suggest another game of domino rally. The groundskeepers nearly booted him for good after that incident three years ago.
------------------
"Karin, Yuzu, we're almost home. C'mon, it's time to wake up".
Yuzu yawned as she readjusted her seatbelt. "We're home already?"
"Yeah, the traffic wasn't so bad this year, eh Ichigo?"
"Ah", Ichigo replied, once more shifting in his seat. The ride had been long, but not as bad as in year's past, though this year he hadn't been able to get comfortable enough in his seat to actually get any sort of rest. Combined with the days events and still feeling rather depressed he felt exhausted.
Isshin made the final turn and began to slow into the driveway. "See girls, even your brother agree's with me. When we get inside I'll get us - "
::ringring::
Ichigo glanced at his father as Isshin pulled his cellphone out from his pants' pocket as the car came to a stop. "Hello? Yes?" Isshin's eyes then narrowed. "Sendou-san? What's happened?"
Ichigo turned his head, now curious to what was happening now. Isshin ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He also noted that his father didn't bother to take off his seatbelt.
"Ichigo. Mrs Sendou is having problems again and I need to see her."
It must be serious, as his father now appeared to be in 'doctor mode' now.
"There's some cash on my dresser. Use it and go get some food for you and your sisters tonight. Don't worry about me I'll probably be home a bit late."
Ichigo at this moment really wanted nothing more than to go to bed and end this day, but he wasn't going to leave his sisters hungry.
"Sure."
-------------------
Ichigo sat hunched over on his bed, one leg over the side and and a cellphone in hand. The girls had cleaned up and though Yuzu had offered to cook something for them, he wouldn't hear of it. Yuzu had taken the role as mother as far as the kitchen was concerned, and she of all people deserved as rest, especially on this day.
He blinked as his vision blurred a bit and took a deep yawn, rolled his head side to side and glanced at the clock.
-8:03-
'Almost over', he thought, 'almost over and I can put this day behind me and get back to being normal.'
Well, normal as one could be for someone who's been able to see spirits all his life. Though for someone who could see spirits, he had been disappointed that he hadn't seen the one he most wanted to. He shook his head when he realized he was starting to slip into a funk. He swiftly then turned his thoughts to the current situation.
'Let's see. It is late so some of those places are closed. There's a nice ramen place a few blocks away but they don't have take out and I don't feel like going out right now.'
'Hm.'
Ichigo continued to go through a mental list before coming to a decision. He quickly got up and went downstairs to grab the phonebook before recalling that he left the cell in his room. Grumbling, he went back up to his room. Tired as he was it slipped his mind that he could use the phone in the living room.
Flopping down on his bed he held the phone book in his left hand, thumb holding up the proper page while his other hand dialed in the number.
He brought the cell to his ear as he heard the phone being picked up on the other end. "Hello? Yeah, I'd like to - "
"Hello, you have reached the Goddess Relief Office."
"The wha-? I'm sorry, I think I dialed-"
"A represenative will be sent to you shortly."
"Hey, sorry but I said that-" ::click::
Ichigo blinked as he stared at the cell.
'Ok that was weird'. His thumb rested against the dial buttons as he double checked the number.
So concentrated on the book Ichigo did not notice a speck of light that began to gather at his mirror. Ichigo brought his head up as he caught it in the corner of his eye and stared as he saw a hand reach out. His mouth dropped a bit as a head popped out followed by the rest of her body. She floated as she fully came out of the mirror and gently touched down on the floor, and the blue aura that surrounded her faded as she opened her eyes and smiled at him.
Ichigo bowed his head and his shoulders slumped as he groaned. 'Today of all days...' He looked up as she drew a breath to speak.
"How do you do? I am the god-"
"Not today", he firmly stated. "Please just not today, ok?"
He raised his arm and stopped her before she got a chance to reply. "Hey, it's simple. Not today. I'll deal with you tomorrow if you want, but I really want the day off. Ok?"
"I'm sorry", she began. "But I think that you've misunderstood. I've come to -"
"Come to play, bother, hang around or whatever it is you're going to do before you get bored and go off to whereever it is you go to."
Ichigo got off his bed and took another glance at her. 'Pretty girl', he thought as he quickly took in her confused face. Part of his mind wondered how she kicked the big one, but that was a problem for another time. Right now he had dinner to get before his sisters starved and this spirit now had to come and make him waste time. He walked to his door and grabbed the handle. Before opening he turned back to her.
"I, am gonna go downstairs, and order some food for me and my sisters. And when I get back, you will have moved on to do whatever you regularly do and the night will go back to normal. Ok?"
He opened the door and walked out before allowing her a chance to answer and gently shut the door.
Left alone in the room Ichigo's uninvited guest had only one thing to say. "Oh my".
--------------------
Dinner had been uneventful. After using the phone in the living room and dialing the correct number the food had been brought in and the siblings gathered at the table to eat. Conversation had been brief, as all three of them had been worn out by the day. After dinner Ichigo had taken the empty bowls and trashed them and cleaned up while he told his sisters to go to bed. Karin didn't have to be told twice as she quickly went up to their room however Yuzu had put up a small fight, refusing to let Ichigo do all the cleaning. He had crouched down to be eye level with her to tell her it was ok this one time. After a few moments of going back and forth Yuzu had relented and went up after her sister.
'She can be more stubborn than Karin when she wants to be', he thought as he went up the stairs to his room.
Ichigo yawned as he opened the door and stopped halfway through, hand still on the doorknob. The spirit was still there, sitting at the foot of his bed, patient as one could be.
'It's gonna be a long night'. Tired and bit more than irritated now, he sighed as he went through and closed the door behind him.
"I could of sworn", he began, "that I said that when I get back things would be back to normal and that you would go back to do whatever it is you do".
She smiled as she replied, "And that is what I intend to do."
Ichigo sighed again. "And what is that? To stay and bother me awhile before you leave to bother someone else? "
"No." The young woman then rose to her feet giving the youth another gentle smile.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, my name is Belldandy and I represent the Goddess Relief Office. I am here to grant-"
"Are you a foreigner?" He somewhat blurted it out as he took in more of her features. A very nice face with some sort of makeup on her forehead and on her cheekbones. His face took on a look of disbelief as his face turned downward, now noting the decisively non-Japanese attire. He mumbled to himself, "I have gaijin spirits visiting me now... man...."
"I am not a spirit", the woman, Belldandy, corrected, startling him out of his thoughts.
"No? You've already done something that I haven't seen living people do, and I've been able to see spirits such as yourself all my life. If that isn't a spirit, then what is it?"
"Well, have you ever met a goddess?"
Goddess. Is that was what she was calling herself? She didn't strike him as a primadonna. Then again he did hear that foreign women did think highly of themselves. Or maybe she had been an actress?
His eyes blurred a bit as fatigue caught up with him again. "Look. I don't care what you call yourself. It's been a long, long day and I really want to end it. So if you will...." He brought his arms up towards the window in a gesture of, 'after you'.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
He sighed. This one just couldn't take a hint. It seemed this one was going to be stubborn. He looked at her again. Her eyes held no sort of menace, teasing or mischeviousness that he had been used to seeing, and he found himself relaxing a bit. 'Maybe if I say something it'll get her to go once her curiosity's satisfied.' Surprising himself, he took a step forward, getting closer to her before taking a seat.
Taking his cue, she sat down in front of him, legs tucked under her, hands clasped in her lap.
A moment passed as he sat, elbow at his knee as his arm propped his head up. He stared at the floor trying to think how to begin. 'Probably would be best if I get straight to the point'.
Without raising his head he responded. "My mother died. Six years ago, today."
The woman looked hurt, "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Thank you." He felt surprised to find that he meant that. Glancing up to look at her, her concerned and saddened face looking back at him, he found himself relaxing a bit more. He looked back down, unsure if he wanted to voice something he had never mentioned to anyone else. Looking up once more and staring into her eyes, he felt that he could trust her.
"I...", he stopped as he collected himself. "I was... I was with her when she died. When... when she was killed".
She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
His vision blurred again, though not from weariness this time. He blinked as he could feel the moisture begin to well up. 'Why now'?, he thought, surprised. 'Am I that tired'? He gathered himself again and continued. "I'm not sure how..but I know..."
The woman was tearing up now, her heart clearly going out to the young man "You poor dear."
Her reaction caught him off guard. He hadn't expected her to get so caught up. He once again felt a feeling of trust around her. 'Not for long', he thought, 'not when she finds out'.
"No. Don't look like that at me. You see... I know that... I know... it's my fault she's dead."
"How can you say that?"
His head drooped down and he closed his eyes. "It has to be".
Trying to gather himself and think how she would react to that he had to be the one to get her killed he gasped as he felt two hands gently take his head. Stunned, he felt an odd sense of powerlessness as she gently brought him forward and gently laid his head in her lap. So gentle, so soft and yet it felt like he couldn't break away - no, he didn't want to break away. He moved his body to the side so he laid there, on the floor, head in her lap as she gently placed her hands on her forehead.
He was so out of it he didn't even register that she was able to touch him.
She then begun to move her mouth, seemingly speaking but so soft he couldn't hear her.
For the woman who's hands cradled Ichigo's head, she could see.
---------------------------------
Ignoring his mother's cries, he continued to run, trying to warn off the person from the danger they were obviously not aware of.
He had just reached the person and made attempt to grab any piece of clothing to get their attention when his hand passed through them.
Gasping, he had no chance to react as he was struck by something. The last image he saw was something what he would later dismiss as seeing things. An image of two faint reddish glows and a gleam of white that could be mistaken as a sneer.
---------------------------------
Her heart truely went to him. It was the work of a hollow that took his mother's life, not him. The guilt that she could feel from him was overwhelming.
She gently ran her hands through his hair and massaged his temples. "It isn't your fault".
Ichigo had not heard her. The moment she had begun to run her hands through his hair he found himself miles away and years in the past.
---------------------------------
He peered around the corner and found his mother in the living room, watching television from the floor with her back pressed up against the sofa. He walked up to her and went to his knees and put his head in her lap. He sighed as he felt her hands run through his hair. He brought an arm around her lap and gently squeezed, happy to be where he was and yawned, content.
---------------------------------
Ichigo found himself sighing, the nearly lost feeling of contentment welling within him, remembering. He had forgotten completely that he was in the lap of a beautiful girl.
Another thought came to him. Karin. Yuzu. How long since they had been able to do this? Would they even remember? 'I've robbed them of these moments. These moments when they needed mom the most...'.
As the hands of this woman continued to work their magic, he found himself blinking. Trying to bring himself back to the present, his mouth said the first things to come to mind.
"This... this is nice." He blinked again to banish the weariness that was reasserting itself. "You must have done this often."
The woman smiled softly, "Yes. With my little sister."
"She must've loved it." Ichigo found his vision blurring heavily this time, and found himself struggling against the comfort that he hadn't felt in years.
"Yes," she confirmed as she continued to run her hands through his hair. "Sometimes, she would just need someone to hold her and comfort her after a long day."
"Yeah...a ... long... day...". 'Karin, Yuzu, I'm sorry. If only...if only I hadn't...'. His mind once more took in how nice he felt now, in this position, and wondered how they would've liked it. He found himself content now, arm subconciously wrapping around her lap and yawned. A strange thought came to mind, pulled from his dulling senses. Of this girl with his sisters, in this position. Though his mother may be gone, would his sisters react the same as he was now? His mind noted that she fit the bill.
A small laugh escaped his lips.
"Yes?"
"I...just had the strangest thought." He struggled again to stay awake to voice his thoughts to her.
"It's funny... and it's almost too bad...but the way this feels now..." He yawned once more. "I think... I wish they...'we'..could have had... a mother like you..."
Peaceful darkness finally claimed him.
Had he been awake a few seconds longer he would have been treated to a spectacular light show followed by a stunned comment.
"Wish... wish granted".
To be continued....
Now what should really burn some reader's minds is that did Ichigo mean to say more before he fell asleep?
