Oh! My Brother!

Chapter 5


All Oh! My Goddess (Ah! My Goddess, Aa! Megami-sama, whatever) characters
owned by Kosuke Fujishima.  I'm poor, don't sue me.

***

It was a beautiful day.

My internship at Comtel had finally ended, and I could get back to doing the
one thing I loved/hated more than anything else - going back to school. It
took a lot of work on my part to negotiate with my home university and NIT
to figure out how to complete my degrees.  I had a sneaking suspicion even
the Ultimate Force can't push bureaucracies too much.

Yes, I said degrees.  My home U had this wonderful arrangement where you
could take a computer science and engineering degree at once, and I decided
to take advantage of it. The NIT folks weren't too pleased, but after a lot
of talk, we finally agreed on a course plan.  Too bad they made me take an
extra year.  Oh well, at least I'll be able to say I'm class of 2000.

But that was not why it was a beautiful day.

The birds were singing as I walked down the street to the temple after my
first day of classes.  Going for walks had become one of my favorite things
to do, since I suddenly had the endurance to enjoy it.  I watched the cherry
blossoms fall from the trees in the setting sun, and smiled.  The scene was
truly romantic, and my heart was warmed merely to witness it.

Run for your lives, Tokyo.  Christopher James Angel, God of Moments, Brother
to the Norns, was in love.

(Or was that lust?)

***

My first day of class at a new university.  I felt like I was a freshman
again. Never mind the fact that I was a fourth year student, only two years
from graduating with two degrees, I was at a NEW school.  It didn't help
matters at all that Skuld had decided she wanted to go to university too.

So there we were, standing in front of the NIT Engineering Building.  It was
a large, sprawling building, obviously a victim of add-on-itis, that common
disease that hits buildings in universities all over the world.  I detected
at least four different building styles.

"Skuld?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Why are you taking classes?"

"I was getting bored at home," she said defensively.

I grinned.  Translation:  Boss ordered her to get out more.  That kid spent
FAR too much time in that room of hers.  I digested that for a moment.
"Skuld?"

"Yes?"

"How did you convince them to let a twelve year old into university?"

She gave me a 'don't be an idiot' look.  "I hacked together some high school
records.  They think I'm a genius."  She paused then added, "They're right,
but I needed proof."

"Uhh...why didn't you just fake some class records so you wouldn't have to
take all the artsy crap?"  Skuld and I shared the official engineering
disdain for anything non-science related. It wasn't that we really thought
it was crap (well, not ALL of it), but we just had to pretend we did.
Engineers have a reputation to maintain, you know.

She paused for a long moment.  "That wouldn't be fair." Translation:  I
didn't think of it and I'm too proud to admit it.  As you can tell, I was
enjoying this conversation immensely.

"Skuld?"

She growled in exasperation. "WHAT?"

"When did we start speaking Swedish?"

Her answer was cut off as we walked through the doors and came upon IT.
That monstrous, ten-foot tall statue of a samurai.  It was awe-inspiring.
It was grotesque.  It was stupendous.  It was ridiculous.  It was the most
touching thing I had ever seen.

It was Lego.

I looked down at Skuld, and tapped her on the shoulder, bringing her out of
her own reveire.  She tilted her head back and, and her mouth moved as she
tried to say something and failed.  I grinned.  "This, I like."

***

*This may be fun,* I thought as I walked out of my second class and headed
out of the building. Whomever decided what I should take had been pretty
competent at figuring out equivalences.  For most of my courses, it was
unfamiliar, but not completely new material.

My schedule did suck though.  Two classes in the Engineering Building, a run
across campus to take my obligatory arts class (Sociology) and then a run
back to take my last class.  *Oh well, could be worse, I could be Skuld.*
The poor kid had to run all over the university.  It's quite a sight seeing
a this five-foot-nothing girl run around with a backpack full of books
that's almost as big as she is.  Surprisingly, no one made much of a fuss
over it.  Of course, that might have been because of the six-four giant who
she hung around with...

Anyway, it was at my Sociology class that I met HER.  The moment I saw her,
we locked eyes, and I had a sudden understanding of how Belldandy felt when
she saw Keiichi for the first time.  I thought time had stopped as we gazed
at each other, (it hadn't) and I smiled tentatively at her.  She blushed and
looked away.

She was the most beautiful creature on the face of the earth.

At least she was to me.  I'll be honest, I've seen more beautiful women
(Urd, for one, Belldandy, for two...I think I'll stop now).  But there was
something about her that screamed at the very fiber of my being.  She was
tallish for Japan, by my guess roughly five-foot-ten or so.  She had long,
dark brown hair that was the slightest bit wild, as if she had been walking
in a strong breeze.  She was obviously an athlete, but her figure was
extremely good.  (I expect she didn't appreciate it as much as I did.)

But oh, gods in heaven, her face.  Her skin tone was a sort of dark beige,
and it was obvious it was her natural skin tone.  Her eyes were a rich
brown, the color of deeply stained wood, and their slight almond shape made
her look more exotic than the regular Japanese.  She had a cute nose, that
sort of curved up at the end.  No doubt she looked unbearably cute when she
wrinkled it.  Her lips were full and rich, and they just begged to be
kissed.

Somewhere back in my mind, a little voice was screaming "Danger!  Danger!
You do NOT fall in love like this, Chris.  Snap out of it!"  I locked that
little voice away and forgot about it.  That voice kept me from getting a
date all through high school, I was through listening to it.

I sat in the row of seats ahead of her.  I knew if I had to see her back day
after day, I'd never pay any attention.  After twenty minutes of listening
to the prof, I resolved to sit behind her (or hell, beside her) at the next
class. This man gave whole new meaning to the phrase 'bad prof'.  If he
wasn't boring the class to death for ten minutes, he was quoting some
obscure fact that was out of date/inaccurate/just plain WRONG.

After he finished speaking, 'Bob' asked us if there were any questions or
comments.  I dutifully put my hand up, and started the first of my
soon-to-be-infamous arguments.  "Professor, you claim the internet is not a
culture..."

"Call me Bob.  I insist."

I grinned.  This would be fun. "Bob.  Let's start with the first element of
your definition of a culture..."

***

I stared at the shelf in the bookstore in disbelief, and then scowled down
at the book list the prof had given me.  "A hundred with the name
'Sociology'," I grumbled to myself, "and he couldn't give us any more
specifics than the publisher?  Man, I HATE arts profs."  That last bit was
said at full volume to the ceiling.

I heard a laugh behind me, and there she stood, holding out a book.  "This
is the one you're looking for."  Man, she was right on SO many levels.  I
dumbly took the books from her hand and smiled.

"Thanks.  I'm Chris Angel."

She arched an eyebrow.  "Just a few religious references there."  I winced
inwardly.  She had no idea how many.  "Rachel Iwasaki."  Well, that
confirmed my hypothesis that she wasn't a pure Japanese.

"Oniichan!!  Hurry up!"  Skuld came running around one of the shelves.
"Haven't you found that book yet?"  She grabbed my free hand and scowled at
Rachel.  "Who's she?"

"This is Rachel, she's in my Sociology class.  Rachel, this is my little
sister Skuld."  Rachel smiled a greeting at Skuld who glared back. I gave
her an apologetic look as Skuld dragged me off.  "See you in class!"

I stopped Skuld after we walked out of the bookstore.  "Skuld, what the hell
was that?  An extension of your Keiichi complex?"  She blushed guiltily.
"I'm a grown man, I can choose my friends myself."

Skuld looked ashamed.  "But...but...you're a god now!"

"I'm well aware of that.  I went through the twenty-four-hour fitness
program, remember?" I responded snidely.  "But that doesn't mean anything.
You expected me to fall for someone like Thrudr?"

She shook her head. "I was thinking of Freya."  I groaned inwardly.

"Skuld, you, your sisters, and a few others excluded, the gods I've met are
the most shallow, self-absorbed, BORING group I know!  I'm not surprised
Belldandy fell for a mortal and Urd has no use for the rest of them."  I
felt bad about saying that, but it was true.  Thrudr was maybe the best of
the other goddesses, and even with her, everything came back to her love of
fighting.  It was like talking to a broken record.  Freya was a flighty twit
that irritated the hell out of me.  I liked her brother though.  Don't even
START me on the Valkyries.  Of course, I later had cause to retract that
little opinion on the deities in general.  They kind of grow on you after a
while, you know?

"He's not good enough for her, and she's not good enough for you," she
grumbled.  I dropped my books and knelt in front of her, now looking her eye
to eye.  I placed my hands on her shoulders.

"I appreciate it, but trust me.  Don't try to force Belldandy to choose
between you and Keiichi.  It's not fair to you or her."  *And you'll lose.*
I grinned suddenly.  "As for me, I just met the girl, before I decide I want
to spend the rest of my life with her, I'd like to get to know her first."
I cocked my head to the right, dropped the grin into a half-smile.  "Hey,
Miss short, brunette and unbearably cute, I'm still your big brother, I
always will be. OK?"

Skuld nodded miserably, on the verge of tears, and threw her arms around me,
hugging me.  "Yes, Oniichan."  Hugging her back I glared at the audience we
had gained, and sent across a silent message - if one person applauded,
there'd be hell to pay.  Good thing we weren't speaking loud enough for
anyone to overhear.

"Isn't this cute," a familiar voice said behind me.  Skuld stiffened and
gave a growl I knew well.  It's the 'oh, look, it's Urd, where did I put my
hammer' growl.

"Hi, Urd," I sighed, and let go of Skuld.  "Just having a little
brother-sister talk."  I picked up the books I dropped.  "So what's up?  I
thought you were off irritating the lovebirds."

"They're in class," she grumbled.  "So I thought I'd check out some college
boys, and saw you two.  What's wrong?"  Urd does care about her sisters, you
know.  She may do it in a rather...unrestrained manner, but she tries.

"Aww, nothing," I said.  "Skuld didn't like the fact I was interested in a
girl, that's all."

Over time, I learned there are a few things you should never mention around
my sisters.  Around Skuld, you should never mention a new ice cream store.
Around Belldandy, you should never mention a new recipe.  Around Urd, you
should never, EVER mention your love life.  Too bad I didn't know that
then - it would have saved me a lot of pain.

Skuld groaned and smacked herself on the forehead while Urd got this feral
gleam in her eye.  "You're interested in a girl?  Let your sister help!"

One of these days I'm going to learn to shut up.

***

I stared at the envelope in front of me in disbelief.  "You did WHAT?"

"That's every single piece of information you could possibly want on Rachel
Iwasaki," Urd stated proudly, and then smiled.  "Down to how to please her
best in bed."

I must have blushed beet red.  "That's what I thought you said."  I shook my
head and handed the envelope back to her.  Tempted as I was, I really didn't
need to know all that.  Hell, I wasn't sure I wanted to.  "Thanks, but I'd
rather do it the old fashioned way."

Urd looked at me like I'd grown a second head.  "Why the hell would you want
to do that?  Belldandy knew everything about Keiichi."

Belldandy, who was listening, blushed guiltily.  I turned and looked at her.
"You didn't," I asked disapprovingly.

"She sure did," Urd confirmed.  "Their wedding night is going to be the best
night..."

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" I yelled, overriding the rest of her speech.
"Look, I don't want to know.  I'll find it out when she tells me."  I stood
and went to my room, trying to ignore the presence of that envelope.

"Urd," I heard Belldandy say softly as I entered the hallway, "can I see
that please?"  Just as I was closing my door, I heard two words which scared
the living daylights out of me.  "Oh my!"

Did I mention it got worse?