Disclaimer: All characters portrayed in this story are the property of
Fujishima Kosuke and co.
This story draws ideas from both the manga and anime continuity.
Except for the intro, it largely takes place before the series begins.
C & C welcomed.
Before Heaven
By
Donny Cheng
"Good evening, Sayoko. How are you tonight?" Belldandy asked.
I grimaced at the cheerful greeting from my rival. From her
pleasantness, she obviously didn't see me in the same light. Couldn't
she even pretend that I was a threat to her and Keiichi's relationship?
Pushing my wounded pride aside, I greeted her with the same standard
words, my voice showing none of the same warmth even though it was a
perfect mimic of her tone. "I'm fine. And you? That's good."
The pleasantries done with, I handed her my jacket as if she were
a bus boy. To my annoyance, she just smiled and said she would put it
away. I wondered then what she would do if I handed her a hundred yen
tip. I thought better of it as I caught sight of my prey. He was
again being picked on by the group of scavengers he called friends.
"You used all the money in the treasury again, Sempai? We had to
save some of it to buy that engine for the next race. We're broke
again."
I shook my head as the two co-leaders of the pack just laughed it
off. I almost laughed too at Keiichi's foolishness. It had been one
of the reasons my cousin branched off. The club was well known for its
easy hand with any money they might have. I suppose what prevented me
from siding with Keiichi in this matter was that without these parties,
I would lose quite a few of my opportunities to be by him.
"Keiichi, I'd think you'd know better by now. Even if they did
save that money, the chances of them buying the engine instead of
building one that'll be more 'acceptable' to them is nil."
"Sayoko! Hi, you made it. I thought you had a date."
I remember a time when just standing in front of him would have
reduced him to a blubbering mass. It seemed having a girlfriend did
wonders for his self-esteem. I missed the old Keiichi. "Oh, he was a
bore. Had some time, so I decided to swing by here."
I began dragging him away from the crowd. In my experience, it
was easier to work over a boy, one on one. That and I liked to have
him to myself. I had no sooner than taken a step to the door leading
to the backyard when a shadow fell over us. Shadow may not be the best
word but that's what came to mind at the time. Without even turning my
head, I knew who it had to be. "Just invited Keiichi out for a little
stroll, Belldandy. Will have him back soon."
"Oh, that sounds nice. I was just going to bring some sake to
the others. Maybe you and Keiichi would like to share?"
Sure enough, I turn around and see him take the small bottle of
sake and two ivory white cups from her. The smile on their faces at
just the simple contact of their fingers irritated me. It was also
frustrating how they give me every chance in the world to steal him as
if knowing I can't.
With nothing to be done about it, I took my leave of her and
brought Keiichi outside. A sigh of relief escaped me as I shut the
doors behind me. However, my hope of using this time to work my charms
came crashing down on me as the idiot fainted on me five minutes into
the small talk. Suspiciously, I turned the bottle of sake around to
look at the label. It was the extra strong stuff all right. Combined
with his weak tolerance for alcohol, it was inevitable that this would
happen. Just my luck to chase after someone that I could out drink
even if I was loaded up with five bottles of sake.
As much as I would have liked to think that it was Belldandy's
jealousy that caused this situation, I knew she was just not the type
to do this on purpose. It meant of course that it was her sister Urd
again. It did me no good to curse her, so I made the most of this
diversion and decided to look for a wet towel. He hadn't drunk that
much so the night still might be saved. When I came back, the
temptation to put his head on my lap was too hard to resist as I
applied the cloth to his forehead.
I smiled victoriously as I noticed his eyes opening. So much for
him sleeping out the party. His face was still flushed a bit though.
"You okay, Keiichi?"
"Yeah," he managed to croak out, "fine like an engine filled with
sugar."
I laughed as this reminded me of a similar incident in the old
days. "Brings back memories."
"Yeah," he agreed, "back then my life was miserable. Before
heaven came along."
I looked towards him sharply. His eyes were closed again and he
was mumbling. I guess he wasn't as sober as I thought he was. I
looked down at his face. It didn't look much like the face full of
worries at the start of their first year at Nekomi. Still, your life
wasn't that bad, was it, Keiichi? I mean, you still had friends, your
grades were passable, you had your health... and I was there.
* * * * *
I scanned the campus as I got out of my BMW. My showy entrance
was a hit if the slack jawed expressions were any indication. First
impressions were important, I knew, and especially so if you wanted to
be at the top of the pecking order. I was determined to retain that
status I enjoyed throughout high school.
I arrived fashionably late for my first class. To the
unprepared, coming in late could be an embarrassing experience if the
professor was evil enough to make a fuss about it. I was counting on
that. Sure enough, I was noticed by all as I answered the teacher
glibly and made my way slowly to a seat not far from the top where I
entered. Distance and slowness of my walk carefully balanced to please
both the patience of the professor and the eyes of male student body.
I sat down only after making sure that my profile was etched into the
memory of every one of the men that watched. I deliberately sat near a
bunch of girls who were attractive themselves, ignoring offers of the
more outspoken guys. I would get twice as many offers if they were to
be forced to only look at me for an entire class now that I've piqued
their interest.
The girls nodded at me as I sat down in their midst, each
understanding the rules of the game as I did. The small group of us
had already decided that we would probably be friends or at least
acquaintances the rest of our stay here, reestablishing a sort of
status quo that we enjoyed in high school.
Five minutes after my successful entrance came an example of an
unsuccessful one. I participated in the polite giggling of the girls
as the short man scampered into class, apologizing for distracting the
class in the mean time and drawing even more unwanted attention. I
didn't give the late student another thought as I turned my
concentration to the front of the class, knowing in a place filled with
young women, looks alone could not get me the status I desired.
* * * * *
The girls and I smiled knowingly at each other as we stepped
outside when the lecture was over. Many of the men that attended the
class made a beeline towards us. There were not that many being just
one class, but it was a start.
"Miss Mishima?"
I rarely had to repeat my name once I've mentioned it to a crowd,
but with this being a new environment, it was expected, I guess.
"Yes?" I said turning around. The voice sounded nice enough. Maybe I
would strike it lucky on my first try. I looked around, but there was
no one in that direction. Or so I had thought.
Most of the men around our group consisted of the tall, dark, and
handsome type, so I really shouldn't have been at fault for looking
upwards expectantly in the direction my name was called. A giggle from
one of the girls alerted me to my mistake and I looked a little lower
to find a man that was as far removed from the standard set by most of
the men here. Far removed.
I hoped this was not a sign of things to come as I looked
doubtfully at my short, scrawny classmate.
* * * * *
"My, what a nice catch you have there!" one of my new associates
said. We congregated in a small group away from our respective escorts
who hung around the punch bowl as we awaited the beginning of the next
song. Small was not exactly a very accurate description of us anymore,
as we grew larger with each increasing class. I met a few new faces,
since I did not share the same classes with all of the girls. Of the
entire group, there was none that I felt would be a contender to my
goal of being queen of the campus.
"He's not bad. Not too daring, I'm afraid though," I said
dismissively. Once again, I didn't feel that thrill I was searching
for in a man. He would do in the mean time though, as I was not that
desperate yet.
"Better than some of those louts that tried to ask us to the
welcoming dance, I'm sure," she laughed.
A chorus of girls joined in, relating the tales of the foolhardy.
I had my own share but didn't really feel like divulging them. The
earlier scene after my first class ended still left a bad taste in my
mouth. I didn't have any choice in the matter as the girls prodded me
on my 'turn'.
They all chuckled at my expense as I told them of the short guy
that had asked me out earlier. I mean even if you had no chance at all
of asking someone like me out, you should still try to put up more of
an effort. Take me out to a museum? As if. I instantly recognized
the man as the type to go through life without ever having a date. It
was no surprise to me later when I found out that he was the same guy
that made a fool of himself by entering class late. He was that much
of a loser.
* * * * *
"Good morning, Sayoko!" one of my fellow classmates whispered to
me as I sat down at the nearest available seat near the entrance. What
was his name again? Keiichi, I think. I frowned at him for the noise
he was creating as I hadn't planned on being late this time. My father
had insisted I not leave the house until I was immaculately dressed as
always. He had a very strong obsession with me being his perfect
little girl.
Unfortunately the sharp ears of our strict teacher caught the
sound of the stir my entrance caused. While I liked attention, I also
craved a good mark. It would not be smart to get on the professor's
bad side as being late a second time in as many days would most likely
do to me. His head swiveled in my direction. However, he was not
looking at me.
"Uh, sorry. I had to get up to go the bathroom," Keiichi said,
bowing with comic exaggeration, accepting the noise my entrance had
made as an attribute to his own clumsiness.
I frowned inwardly at the save. I suppose I could go out for
coffee if he asked. He didn't ask me though. The only time he spoke
to me again was to wish me a good day and to apologize for almost
getting me into trouble. I again thought nothing more of the boy as it
had been his fault and I was not at all displeased with not having to
sacrifice my free time on him.
* * * * *
Man, my head was killing me. My date last night was one of the
best that I've had in a long time. He was almost as good a drinker as
I was. I reached for my coffee and found the mug to be empty. Damn.
"Sayoko, you don't look so good," what's his face, Keiichi said
as he passed by my table, while walking on the lower row to find an
empty seat.
"No kidding?" I answered more harshly than normal, my hangover
affecting my disposition. I was about to pull my hands back to my face
so I could sink my head into it when I felt something touch my fingers.
"It's my own special brew, guaranteed to wake you up. The guys
from my new club drank me under the table last night. I drank some at
home already. This is a reserve, just in case I needed another boost,
but you look like you need it more than I do.
I nodded as I took the offered mug from him. Whatever it was,
the bitter concoction did its job and woke me up fast. Just in time
for the class to begin.
Halfway through the class, Keiichi was kicked out of the lecture
for snoring loudly. One drink hadn’t been enough to keep him awake it
seemed. I gave him my notes the next day. He didn't ask me out.
Apparently, he really knew how to take 'no' for an answer.
* * * * *
Stupid jerks. They were all jerks, I thought to myself as I
staggered away from the bar. The one guy I found to be 'not bad' in a
long time turned out to be such a no good bastard. Not in a good way
too. I don't know how far I wandered from the campus bar, but I
somehow made my way to the dorms. I blinked in confusion as I looked
this way and that way, wondering how to get out of this place to my
car. I must have cried out really loud as suddenly lights went up all
around me and curses were thrown. I don't think they noticed it was
me, Queen of Nekomi. I burped.
"Sayoko, it is you. Aw, man. You're hammered. Come on, I've go
to get you out of sight. I don't think they noticed it was you."
I tried looking at the face the friendly sounding voice belonged
to. But, I could not make out his face very well. The motion of
moving forward to look at him closer caused me to trip and I found
myself draped along his chest. He's not so short when my head is down
like this, I found myself thinking for no particular reason as I
drifted off to sleep...
* * * * *
I endured my father's crying session as he lectured on about how
I behaved last night. Jeez, you'd think whoever knew me well enough
take the effort to bring me home would know not to bring me to my
parent's home. Fortunately, I was able to explain to my father that
the guy that brought me home, I had designated as my driver for such
occasions so that there was no chance of anything untoward happening to
me.
"I suppose that's alright then. But, I hope you would find a
tougher looking guy next time. He was so short and skinny he could
barely carry you into the house."
"Ah, yeah, I remember to tell... him next time? Uh, who was my
driver again? I never seem to remember the names of the guys that I
hire." I guess it was my own fault then for being taken home to my
parents as I carried both addresses in my purse in case of emergencies.
"Keiichi, I think. Polite lad. You might give me the number of
this agency next time. Good service."
"Ah, I'll do that," I said. While the guy was not the evil sort,
I knew he was far from innocent. The Auto Club, of which I later found
he was a part of, was rumored to share X rated movies amongst
themselves. It was one of the many reasons some of the male students
joined it. It was hard not to believe this rumor given the dubious
character of Keiichi’s two sempai. However, I could not shake the
feeling that absolutely nothing had happened. No, he must have at
least copped a feel, I decided.
I was prepared for the inevitable leering in school that day.
When I saw him in school, he asked me how I was and I said fine. And
that was that. He didn't ask me out again.
* * * * *
"This seat taken?" I asked, but sat down anyway when the
sputtering boy failed to answer. Most of my friends had either dropped
out of this class or now sat with the boyfriends they had found. I had
no desire to sit alone and really preferred not to sit with some guy I
know I'll dump in a week or less.
"Oh, I heard the Art Club and the Auto Club are both
participating in the dance next week," I said, seemingly out of the
blue, at him.
"Oh, that's right, you're in the Art Club. Yeah, it was Tamiya
and Otaki's idea to join in... for the food!"
Oh spare me. The only reason those two would join in was because
they sorely lacked girls in their club. While food and drink was the
norm in their bashes, girls were not. I could tell by the way Keiichi
was drooling at the word food, he was looking forward to all that the
various clubs had to offer. It assured me that he was as much a
pervert as the rest of them. "I'm probably going to go alone. I'm a
volunteer and I won't have a chance to get a date until the last
minute," I hinted not so subtly.
"Nah, you'll find someone to take you," Keiichi said confidently
in support.
Stupid.
* * * * *
I shot a quick glance at the comatose boy lying with his face
flat on the table. Ick. I looked at the various handsome boys
surrounding me after I won the crown as Queen of this dance. They were
much better to look at.
When the dance was finally over with, being a member of the
hosts, the Art Club, I was forced to stay and help. From the longing
looks of the guys, I knew it would only make my desirability tomorrow
even stronger. I noticed that Keiichi was still at the table passed
out. The girls were shaking him as he was one of the few men left to
help out. Most of the Auto Club skipped out of the cleaning duty.
I told them I would take care of it as I walked up to his body.
He was not that heavy and I managed to move him so that he now sat with
his back against the chair. A glass of cold water later and he was
awake. I offered to drive him home in repayment for how he helped me
last time. But he insisted on doing my share of the work for helping
him wake up, along with the work left behind by his, lack of a better
term, friends.
I found out later that the rest of the girls took my cue and
heaped the rest of the workload on him. The next day we found him
asleep in a spotless dancehall. He didn't blame me for what happened
and said 'told you so' when I was mobbed by a group of guys the moment
I hit the campus. "See? I doubt you'll ever have a problem with
finding a date no matter how late it is."
When a girl says that she won't go out with you, it doesn't mean
it lasts forever, I was tempted to say just then. But my eyes were
already roaming the crowd of boys for my next date. I forgot all about
Keiichi.
* * * * *
This cycle of me finding a perfect male to date and dump a week
later lasted for a couple of months. Each time, I would get plastered
and find myself wandering through the campus in search of my short
'hero'. He would invariable ask me what's wrong and then take me home.
I would forget about him the next day as I caught sight of someone else
that drew my fancy. It was so easy when the opinion of Keiichi around
the school was so low. He was jerked around and hazed by the Auto Club
so many times that it was bordering on pathetic rather than funny.
Another thing was that in the back of my mind, I always felt that he
would be there waiting and if he was too much of a wimp to do anything
about it, I wouldn't either.
It was during one of my less drunk nights that I found myself
sitting in a park bench with him. I scrunched my nose as smoke from
his cigarettes hit my face. I don't know when he had taken up smoking,
but it didn't suit him in the least bit. I noticed other changes in
him as I looked at him, really looked at him. He was dressed shabbily,
almost like a parody of a 'bad boy' on his short frame. While not
perfect before, he was decent if too wholesome compared the men I was
used to dating.
I don't know what possessed me to take his cigarette from his
mouth and throw it to the floor. I stomped on it a few times for good
measure with my heel. "It stunts your growth."
He looked at me with a sort of pained expression just then, but
it was quickly gone as concern replaced it. He obviously thought I was
not sober yet as he helped me to my feet and took me the rest of the
way home. I got a sudden insight as I slept in my warm bed thinking of
that look of pain. Could it be that he changed because of me? Why?
He still liked me, I answered the question myself.
The next day as I caught sight of him walking across the campus.
I took a step towards him, but I didn't get too far before I was again
mobbed by various guys. Oh well, I know he'll always be there for me.
Meanwhile, I'll just take a few more samples.
* * * * *
"What!?" I turned my attention to the gossipy girls in the
bathroom.
"Yeah, this Belldandy is causing quite a stir. I don't see how
she can get so much attention even when she has a boyfriend."
"Well, considering who her boyfriend is..."
How dare someone take my place as Queen of Nekomi? The boys that
surrounded me had become fewer in the past couple of days and now I
knew why. When I sought and found her, the rest is history as they
say.
She was as exotically beautiful as the rumors had said and just
as intelligent. The classes she sat in on were filled with jocks and
bookworms alike, I've heard. The word around the campus was also true
in that she did indeed have a boyfriend. Beside her was _him_. I
almost didn't recognize him with how happy he looked compared to the
melancholy face I had been used to. With Belldandy’s arrival, Keiichi
no longer seemed as undesirable as he used to. I told myself it was
because I wanted to get rid of her that made me sink so low as to chase
someone everyone in Nekomi considered a clown. Oh, how I hated her
then.
Contrary to what I had believed, Keiichi did not come to me at
the snap of my fingers. It had just made me want to try harder and pry
him away from Belldandy whenever I found the chance. I don't know when
it was exactly that my reason for chasing him changed from because of
her to something more personal. Something that I was not ready to
accept yet. I fought against the very idea.
However, at one point, I found myself entertaining the idea that
I might try Keiichi myself when Belldandy dumped him, as any attractive
girl in their right mind would do over time. Someone like me.
However, Belldandy never let go of her hold on him like I did.
While the number of boys in the crowds that gathered around me
whenever I touched the campus lessened with Belldandy's arrival, I
didn't seem to care as much as I first did. These days, I remember
when there was one boy who always stood to the side, but never in the
crowd since that very first day I denied him so flippantly. He was no
longer there anymore when my eyes wandered.
Life is bearable again as Belldandy's effect on the school has
diminished somewhat over time. The men seem to know that she is off
limits as long as Keiichi is around. As he is with her present. Our
roles have become switched. It is I that goes on with life and it is I
who looks in on them when I cross their paths. They don't look back.
* * * * *
I gazed down at him. He was not so far removed from the pervert
that watched X rated movies that none would disbelieve me if I were to
claim he took advantage of me in his drunken stupor. It would be so
easy. A few of the top buttons of my blouse undone, his shirt open,
and his body sprawled on top of me. I didn't do that though.
Instead, I left him outside as I went in search of Belldandy and
asked her to help me put him to bed. I found myself reluctant to leave
the doorway as light from the hallway shone into his room, giving me a
nice look at his cute face. "Take care of him."
"I will."
When I look at Belldandy this time, I don't get the feeling that
she doesn't care what I am to Keiichi. She is worried about me as a
rival for him, but seems to also be concerned for my welfare at the
same time. She seems to know what might have been if she hadn't shown
up and is making up for it by letting me see him when I want to. It
would be just like her. One reason, I wouldn't mind it if Keiichi
_did_ marry her. Or it could be I'm drunk again and I'm imagining
things.
I finally leave the temple, but I know I'll be back when the next
chance presents itself. In some ways I hope that Keiichi would marry
her then I would no longer have to wake up hoping that I still have a
chance. And in some way, I don't because then my one ray of hope would
be gone. In the end though, I'll wait until the last moment, as I
could only be me, Mishima Sayoko.
* * * * *
The End. (maybe)
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