Rob Kelk
18th January 2003, 01:09 AM
A Closer Distance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Five: All That Glitters ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell us one more time, miss."
Sora sighed. It was bad enough that the police thought she was lying,
but what was worse was that she wasn't sure that they weren't right.
What she had seen was ... unbelievable ... even to her, and she was
there.
"Miss?"
"Could I speak to a lawyer, please?"
The police officer sighed. "We still haven't charged you with
anything yet. So, one more time, please, Hasegawa-san."
Sora took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I was shopping with my
friend Megumi ..."
"That would be Morisato Megumi, correct?"
"Yes, sir. We were shopping, and Megumi suggested that we take a look
in the jewelry store that we were passing. We went in, took a look
around, and Megumi bought a wristwatch."
"But you didn't buy anything."
"That's right, sir. We were about to leave when another woman came in.
Then for some reason we fainted. When we woke up, the woman was gone,
and so was every diamond in the store."
The officer looked at his notes. "That matches what the shopkeeper
said, so you probably didn't steal the diamonds. Can you describe the
woman who walked into the store just before you fainted?"
"I didn't really get a good look at her. I'm sorry. Oh, wait; she was
wearing a bandage on her forehead. Does that help?"
"Probably not, but it's better than nothing. Thank you, Hasegawa-san;
you're free to go."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Sora! Over here!"
She turned to the person calling her name. "Skuld? Did Chihiro-san
send you to get me?"
Skuld shook her head. "She asked Keiichi-san to come over, but Megumi
asked him to take her home when the police let her go. I stayed to wait
for you."
"Oh, yes, I can understand why he'd be worried about his sister. Thank
you for waiting, Skuld."
"What are friends for?" The two women left the police station and made
their way to the subway station.
"So, what happened at the jewelry store?"
"Don't ask me that, please. That's all that I've been talking about for
the last three hours."
"Sorry!" Skuld blushed. "I guess you told them everything you saw,
right?"
"Everything that made any sense ..."
When it became apparent that Sora wasn't going to continue on her own,
Skuld promped her. "What did you see that didn't make sense?"
"Promise you won't laugh?"
"I won't laugh, Sora."
"Okay ... When I was waking up after we all fainted, I thought I saw
the woman outside the store. But I couldn't have, because she
disappeared right in front of me."
"Disappeared?"
"I think so ... but maybe I was just seeing things. I did just faint,
after all."
"Actually, that sounds like something I heard about one time that I
visited Ranma and Akane." Skuld added to herself, *Something that
Belldandy-oneesan was telling the two of them, about us.*
"You think that the person was someone from the crazier part of Nerima?"
"I don't know, Sora. Was she standing beside or above anything unusual,
like a puddle of water or a mirror?"
"I don't think so. All I remember seeing after she disappeared was a
cat walking away."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"... and that's what Sora said about the jewel thief, neesan."
Urd frowned. "I don't know of any god or demon who has cats as a
travel medium, Skuld. But it might be a human. There's a maoniichunan
at Jyusenko ..."
Skuld's eyes widened. "Don't tell me that you think that your friend
Shampoo is the thief?"
"Of course she isn't; she's still in China. But somebdy else could have
fallen into that spring."
"Could you find out for me, please? I promised Rei-sempai that I'd help
her talk to Usagi-san, and I'd like to help Ami and Makoto find that cat
burglar they've been chasing, especially since Megumi and Sora spent an
afternoon at the police station because of her."
"Of course I'll help. Megumi is practically family, and we three
sisters have always stood with our family."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Elsewhere, if that's the right term:
"This isn't good."
"What isn't good?"
"Take a look at this."
The two watched the images for a few minutes. "You're right; this
isn't good. If that thing hits Tokyo, then all of our friends are
going to die."
"What can we do about it, though? We have to stay here ..."
"No, you don't," interrupted a third voice.
The two turned around. "Peorth? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here on the Almighty's business. None of us foresaw anything
like that happening," Peorth gestured toward the images, "so one of
you gets to go help. But somebody has to stay here, and I'm needed at
Yggdrasil right now."
"Peorth, why aren't you mixing languages?"
"There's no time for that now. Which of you is going to help Ranma,
Skuld, and the others?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued...
--
Rob Kelk <http://robkelk.ottawa-anime.org/> robkelk -at- jksrv -dot- com
"I'm *not* a kid! Nyyyeaaah!" - Skuld (in "Oh My Goddess!" OAV #3)
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of
childishness and the desire to be very grown-up." - C.S. Lewis, 1947
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Five: All That Glitters ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Tell us one more time, miss."
Sora sighed. It was bad enough that the police thought she was lying,
but what was worse was that she wasn't sure that they weren't right.
What she had seen was ... unbelievable ... even to her, and she was
there.
"Miss?"
"Could I speak to a lawyer, please?"
The police officer sighed. "We still haven't charged you with
anything yet. So, one more time, please, Hasegawa-san."
Sora took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I was shopping with my
friend Megumi ..."
"That would be Morisato Megumi, correct?"
"Yes, sir. We were shopping, and Megumi suggested that we take a look
in the jewelry store that we were passing. We went in, took a look
around, and Megumi bought a wristwatch."
"But you didn't buy anything."
"That's right, sir. We were about to leave when another woman came in.
Then for some reason we fainted. When we woke up, the woman was gone,
and so was every diamond in the store."
The officer looked at his notes. "That matches what the shopkeeper
said, so you probably didn't steal the diamonds. Can you describe the
woman who walked into the store just before you fainted?"
"I didn't really get a good look at her. I'm sorry. Oh, wait; she was
wearing a bandage on her forehead. Does that help?"
"Probably not, but it's better than nothing. Thank you, Hasegawa-san;
you're free to go."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Sora! Over here!"
She turned to the person calling her name. "Skuld? Did Chihiro-san
send you to get me?"
Skuld shook her head. "She asked Keiichi-san to come over, but Megumi
asked him to take her home when the police let her go. I stayed to wait
for you."
"Oh, yes, I can understand why he'd be worried about his sister. Thank
you for waiting, Skuld."
"What are friends for?" The two women left the police station and made
their way to the subway station.
"So, what happened at the jewelry store?"
"Don't ask me that, please. That's all that I've been talking about for
the last three hours."
"Sorry!" Skuld blushed. "I guess you told them everything you saw,
right?"
"Everything that made any sense ..."
When it became apparent that Sora wasn't going to continue on her own,
Skuld promped her. "What did you see that didn't make sense?"
"Promise you won't laugh?"
"I won't laugh, Sora."
"Okay ... When I was waking up after we all fainted, I thought I saw
the woman outside the store. But I couldn't have, because she
disappeared right in front of me."
"Disappeared?"
"I think so ... but maybe I was just seeing things. I did just faint,
after all."
"Actually, that sounds like something I heard about one time that I
visited Ranma and Akane." Skuld added to herself, *Something that
Belldandy-oneesan was telling the two of them, about us.*
"You think that the person was someone from the crazier part of Nerima?"
"I don't know, Sora. Was she standing beside or above anything unusual,
like a puddle of water or a mirror?"
"I don't think so. All I remember seeing after she disappeared was a
cat walking away."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"... and that's what Sora said about the jewel thief, neesan."
Urd frowned. "I don't know of any god or demon who has cats as a
travel medium, Skuld. But it might be a human. There's a maoniichunan
at Jyusenko ..."
Skuld's eyes widened. "Don't tell me that you think that your friend
Shampoo is the thief?"
"Of course she isn't; she's still in China. But somebdy else could have
fallen into that spring."
"Could you find out for me, please? I promised Rei-sempai that I'd help
her talk to Usagi-san, and I'd like to help Ami and Makoto find that cat
burglar they've been chasing, especially since Megumi and Sora spent an
afternoon at the police station because of her."
"Of course I'll help. Megumi is practically family, and we three
sisters have always stood with our family."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Elsewhere, if that's the right term:
"This isn't good."
"What isn't good?"
"Take a look at this."
The two watched the images for a few minutes. "You're right; this
isn't good. If that thing hits Tokyo, then all of our friends are
going to die."
"What can we do about it, though? We have to stay here ..."
"No, you don't," interrupted a third voice.
The two turned around. "Peorth? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here on the Almighty's business. None of us foresaw anything
like that happening," Peorth gestured toward the images, "so one of
you gets to go help. But somebody has to stay here, and I'm needed at
Yggdrasil right now."
"Peorth, why aren't you mixing languages?"
"There's no time for that now. Which of you is going to help Ranma,
Skuld, and the others?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued...
--
Rob Kelk <http://robkelk.ottawa-anime.org/> robkelk -at- jksrv -dot- com
"I'm *not* a kid! Nyyyeaaah!" - Skuld (in "Oh My Goddess!" OAV #3)
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of
childishness and the desire to be very grown-up." - C.S. Lewis, 1947