Ah! Megami-Sama was created by Fujishima Kosuke, and while I might wish I owned the series, I don’t.

I wouldn’t mind owning Negima, either, but I don’t. It belongs to Akamitsu Ken.

Exchange Student

Lesson Nine: Home Economics

The gate flared, and Skuld collapsed on the stone floor.

"Skuld-chan!" Negi knelt next to her, then looked up at Konoka. "Your healing magic—"

"She doesn’t appear to be injured," said Konoka. "Adeat!" Her fans burst into existence, and she laid one against Skuld’s cheek. "As I feared, she’s not injured. She looks more like she’s completely exhausted."

"But—"

"Ice cream," mumbled Skuld.

"This didn’t happen last time we came through the gate," mused Asuna. "Of course, she did immediately head out to buy some ice cream that time."

"She must be out of energy," said Negi. "Remember, when she first came, she said she needed ice cream to keep charged? There wasn’t any in the Resort until this morning."

"But she had a huge bowl of it before she left—"

"Ice cream!" Skuld tried to push herself upright, and collapsed again.

"But how—" Negi shook his head. "Kaede, pick her up."

The Ninja knelt and gathered the smaller girl in her arms.

"Chachamaru, run ahead to Chao Bai Zi and tell Satsuki to get a big bowl of ice cream ready."

"Vanilla," suggested Yue.

"Anything will do. Go!"

But Chachamaru was already out the door.

"Okay, let’s follow her. She’ll get there before us, but let’s not waste any time."

- - - - -

Kaede set the small girl down at the table. "Okay, Skuld, we have a litre of vanilla ice cream for you."

Skuld didn’t move. Her head lolled back into the corner, eyes closed and her mouth hanging open.

"Skuld." Negi reached forward and touched her cheek. "She’s not feverish...just exhausted."

"If she’s too tired to eat—"

"Can you call Belldandy?" asked Yue. "She might know what to do."

"Her telephone number is back in my office," said Negi. "I didn’t get around to putting it on my cell phone."

"What’s her teleport medium?" asked Yue.

"I don’t know!"

Yue pursed her lips, then grabbed the spoon and touched it to Skuld’s lips. Slowly, the Norn’s eyes opened, and she swallowed.

"Skuld?"

"So tired—"

Yue dug another spoonful of the soft-serve ice cream out of the bowl, and held it to Skuld’s lips. The girl swallowed it, then grabbed the spoon from Yue and dug in, slowly at first, but building speed.

Yue turned to the rest of the party. "Crisis averted."

Negi sighed. "Good thing you can think under pressure, Yue."

"Soft serve isn’t the most high-grade ice cream out there," said Yue.

"Sorry," said Satsuki. "We don’t have a lot of demand for ice cream, so soft-serve is all we carry."

Yue dug into her pocket, and scowled. "I’ve only got five hundred yen on me."

"Here’s another thousand," said Nodoka.

"I’ve got five hundred here," said Asuna.

"Another five hundred from me," offered Setsuna.

"Here’s five thousand."

Everybody paused, and looked over at Evangeline. The Vampire shrugged.

"What? Can’t I help someone out from the goodness of my heart?"

"If there was such a thing," said Yue. "Okay. Seventy-five hundred yen. Chachamaru, can I ask you to go buy as much of the best ice cream you can find? I don’t think she’ll care about the flavour."

- - - - -

By the time Chachamaru returned, most of the gang had left. Only Yue and Negi remained with Skuld, and the Norn looked a lot better. This did not, however, stop her from attacking the Haagen-Dasz like a wolverine. A starving, rabid wolverine.

"Thanks, Chachamaru."

"You are most welcome, my friend."

"You’re getting your colour back, Skuld-chan," said Negi. "Have you figured out what’s happened?"

"I think so," said Skuld. She paused, frowning, then said, "First off, do you know where Goddesses get their power?"

"From Heaven, I’d assume," said Negi. Skuld shook her head.

"Not precisely. We get our power from Yggdrasil."

"The World-Tree, of Norse myth?" He grinned. "Guess it’s wrong to call it myth, since I’m sitting in a diner with a Norse Goddess."

"Actually, ’myth’ is a good term," said Skuld. "The skalds got a lot of it wrong, so the Eddas are about as accurate as any other Holy Writ."

"Disturbing thought," said Yue.

"Anyway, Yggdrasil is currently viewed as a computer—"

"Currently?"

"It can change," she said. "At one time, we did view it as a tree, but viewing it as a computer is much more convenient. We’ve also viewed it as a tapestry."

"That I’ve heard of."

Skuld snorted. "Almost every trinity of Fates from every religion has the tapestry. Anyway, among its other functions, Yggdrasil delivers power to both Demons and Gods. Or more accurately, it channels the power of our divine or infernal cores to our avatars." She indicated her body. "We can be cut off from Yggdrasil, which can cause bad things to happen to the avatar. If I hadn’t gotten some ice cream soon, my avatar would have faded."

Yue considered this, then said, "Isn’t ’avatar’ a slang term for an internet persona?"

"Where do you think the concept came from?" Skuld smirked. "The grand-daddy of all computers, of course."

"So losing your link to Yggdrasil is just like losing your high-speed connection," said Yue. "The avatar drops."

"Yes," said Skuld. "Of course, every God or Demon has a secondary power source. I think I covered that with you already.

"Anyway, while we were in the Resort, I was cut off from Yggdrasil. The first time we went, I was cut off for only a day. Yggdrasil picked me back up when we returned, but because we returned only one hour after we went in, it delivered only an hour’s power to me."

"Which was enough to keep you going, but left you in mana debt," said Negi.

"It’s not exactly mana, but it’s in the same family. The analogy is apt." Skuld nodded. "This time, I was gone a week. My power reserves must have been tapped right out, but for whatever reason, I don’t feel that when I’m in the Resort."

"There’s a lot of mana in the Resort," said Negi.

"Yes, but it’s not the right kind of energy," said Skuld. "I guess I could run on it, but couldn’t recharge. And since I was doing a lot of heavy training, I burned right through my reserves. And Evangeline uses that mana to create the ice cream that I ate, so I couldn’t even recharge off of that. I came back to Midgard, running on fumes, and Yggrasil only gave me seven hours of back-log power."

"And since your energy debt was considerably higher," said Yue, "you crashed."

"Exactly. Every last dram of energy had to go towards maintaining my avatar, leaving me with none for anything else." She smiled at the older Mage-Apprentice. "Thanks for dragging me back out of it."

"Excuse me."

The four of them turned at the interruption. Negi’s jaw hit the table.

"Satsuki...how long have you been listening?"

"The entire conversation." She smiled. "People often overlook me. I don’t mind that."

"Oh, hell." Yue scowled. "Satsuki-chan—"

"If I may," said Satsuki. "You are a Goddess?"

Skuld nodded. "I’m not supposed to tell anyone."

"And you two—" She indicated Negi and Yue. "—are Mages."

"And we’re really not supposed to tell anyone that," confirmed Negi.

"Chao Rin Shen had already told me about you, Negi." Satsuki smiled. "And I guessed that Yue and Evangeline were also Mages. Plus, the events of the festival were a bit of a giveaway."

"True," conceded Negi.

"Don’t worry, Skuld. I won’t tell anyone about you being a Goddess." Satsuki sat down next to Negi. "In fact, I’d like to say that I’m very honoured to meet you."

"Oh, don’t start." Skuld sighed. "Just because I’m a Goddess doesn’t mean I’m your Goddess."

Satsuki grinned. One hand pulled at her shirt collar, and she fished out a fine silver chain. At the end of the chain was a small golden hammer.

"Are you sure?"

"You’re Asatru?" Skuld blinked, then shook her head. "I didn’t think that there were any at all in Japan." She smirked. "Aside from Keiichi. You could say he worships my sister."

Satsuki tucked the hammer back into her shirt collar, then pulled a wad of yen from her apron pocket. "Please give this to repay your friends for the ice cream."

"That’s a lot of money, Satsuki-san."

"It’s a small sacrifice," said Satsuki. "One must show hospitality."

Skuld considered the pile of yen on the table, then said, "One must also show self-reliance and industry." She looked up at Negi. "Thank you, Sensei, for taking care of me when I could not."

"It’s my job," chucked Negi.

"A bit beyond that." She glanced over at Yue. "I’ll catch up with you later today."

Yue smiled. "Sure."

"Satsuki? Offhand, I’d say I owe you about eight hours of work—"

Satsuki waved it off. "I’m happy to help."

"So am I," said Skuld. "I can’t cook, but I can wash dishes and bus tables. When does the lunch rush begin?"

- - - - -

By one o’clock, Skuld was almost regretting her impulsive decision to assist.

Almost.

Despite having hired another girl to assist with the daily rushes, Satsuki was still short handed. She had two waitresses, who also did bussing and dishwashing, and did all the cookwork herself.

Skuld had taken over the bussing and dishwashing, making life easier on the two waitresses, and also assisted with the prep-cook. Once the last of the customers left, she dropped into a seat with a groan. The two waitresses waved from the door before leaving; they were only hired on to cover the rushes.

"How do you keep up with all this, Satsuki-san?"

"It’s my art," said Satsuki simply.

"Do you enjoy this sort of work?"

"I certainly do," said Satsuki. "To finish each day in the knowledge that I have helped make another’s day better. How can I not enjoy it?"

Skuld pondered this for a moment, then said, "You remind me an awful lot of my sister."

"Which one?"

"Belldandy," said Skuld. "Not the one you think you know from the myths—"

"Not much is said of Velthandi in the Eddas," pointed out Satsuki.

"True," allowed Skuld. "I was shocked to find her mucking about in a kitchen, cooking and cleaning for a Human, of all things. But she likes it." Skuld paused. "Of course, she also likes racing."

"Racing?"

"Motorcycles and broomsticks. Anything that goes fast."

"I don’t think that that is something I would enjoy," said Satsuki. "But running my restaurant..." She grinned. "Aside from the satisfaction of serving the customers, there’s also the knowledge that, though I’m only fifteen, I’m the owner of a successful business. My founding partner fronted all the start-up cash, true, and forgave the loan, but start-up cash doesn’t make a successful business."

"Didn’t she help out with the restaurant itself?"

Satsuki shook her head. "She waitressed, and did a bit of the advertising work, but that’s really it." She smiled again. "This restaurant is all mine. I’ve put my mark upon the world, and in a way I can be proud of."

- - - - -

The mirror cleared, and Belldandy’s face appeared in it. "Skuld!"

"Hi, Sis." Skuld grinned.

"How are you settling in at the school?"

Skuld made a face. "Did you know that when you signed me up for this, I was going to be doing regular school in addition to magic?"

"Well, no, I didn’t," admitted Belldandy. "But I don’t suppose it’s such a bad thing. Have you made any new friends?"

"Oh, yes," said Skuld. "Setsuna and Satsuki and Asuna and Chachamaru, and most of the rest of the class seems okay."

"I had heard that the class was a bit...eclectic," admitted Belldandy.

"Well, aside from the magic—which we haven’t really started on yet—Negi has also been teaching me the basics of hand-to-hand combat." She snorted. "He thinks it’s something that everyone should know."

"Well, give it time. Remember that you’ve only been there five days."

Skuld opened her mouth to object, then remembered the time dilation of the Resort. From her own perspective, it had been just over two weeks.

"How are you and...Keiichi doing?"

"We’re well, and I thank you for asking."

Skuld grinned. "That’s good to hear."

"I’ll pass along your well wishes to him when he gets out of the bath."

"You look...happier than usual, Sis."

"Do I?" Belldandy smiled. "I suppose I feel quite well today."

"I suppose." Skuld sighed. "Well, I’ve got to get my own bath. Yue and Nodoka will be here any minute, so I’ll talk to you later."

"Thank you for calling."

The mirror faded, showing Skuld’s reflection again, and she set it down and sighed.

"High grade sleep? Or is it that I’m not underfoot?" Skuld bit her lip. "Is she happy I’m gone?"

There was a knock at her door. "Skuld?"

"Hold on, Yue." Skuld hopped off the bed, grabbed her towel and bath bucket. She opened the door. "Where’s Nodoka?"

"Studying." Yue pursed her lips. "She’s done all her tests, and she still wants to study."

"I think we could both learn from her."

"Who were you talking to?"

"Belldandy," admitted Skuld. "Figured I’d call her and find out how she was."

"You have a cell phone?"

"No," said Skuld. "A mirror. That’s Belldandy’s teleport focus, so she can talk through them as well. At least, if the person on the other end is also a Goddess."

Yue nodded, then said, "You’re homesick, aren’t you?"

"A little." Skuld sighed. "I miss Belldandy, and Sigel, and Banpei-kun, and even Urd and Keiichi."

"Couldn’t you have brought Sigel or Banpei with you?" Yue smirked. "Not like anyone around here would bat an eye at another robot."

"No," said Skuld. "They’re designed to fight demons, and they protect the temple. I can’t leave Belldandy with no protection." She sighed. "I guess I could build another robot, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to have the time. Negi-sensei is keeping me busy."

"You’ll feel better after a good bath."

The two girls walked down the corridor, towards the bath-house at the end of the dorm.

"How much of that ice cream did you eat?"

"About a liter," said Skuld. "Why?"

"Tomorrow, Negi wants us to go back to the Resort for another week."

"Again?" Skuld blinked. "We just got back from a week!"

"I was thinking that you should take whatever ice cream you still have with you," said Yue. "So you don’t pass out again."

"Good thinking," said Skuld. "Especially since Negi-sensei told me I’d be starting real magic next."

They reached the doors of the bathroom, and stepped in.

And ran back out again, slamming the doors. Both girls were blushing.

"Asuna didn’t put out the sign," observed Yue.

Skuld shook her head. "Didn’t see it...didn’t see it..."

"What are you so embarrassed about?" asked Yue. "It’s not like he saw you naked. And he’s only ten, remember?"

"If it’s not that big a deal," countered Skuld, "Why are you blushing?"

Yue wisely chose to quit while she was behind.