H'lo,
	With much frustration and an empasse at where I wish to go
on this, I send it to those who might comment on what I have so
far.  Please help??  I need C&C on this so very much, and would 
appreciate a different POV if one has insight and some spare time?
Arigatou in advance to those who do.  And so...

----- ----- -----
Copyright Notice:

	All characters and concepts that pertain to Ah! My Goddess are
copyrighted by Kosuke Fujishima.  The characters and concepts that 
pertain to Stepping Into Keiichi (Mika, Topper, and the like) are
copyrighted by b. b. brittain, 1997.  Copyrighted material not owned
by the author of this FanFiction story is used for entertainment 
purposes and Anime praisement only.  I.E. don't sue me, please? ^_^


	* Prelude *


	With a slam to the door of his room, Patrick Thompson dove 
headlong towards his bed.  Landing upon it, he let loose a long 
sigh and looked out his window. /I thought summer was supposed 
to be relaxing?/ he thought, as his mind started to shift through 
the past few weeks events.

	It started three weeks prior, returning home to Oregon from 
school in Seattle.  Summer break had just started, and rather than 
staying there, he decided to return home.  He figured, it would save 
on the phone bills of his parents yelling at him.

	And yelled they did, from the moment he stepped into the house.  
"How could you let your grades slip like this?"  "Do you know how much 
money we spent for that college?"   "We trusted you...and you show us 
this??" 

	Patrick knew his grades were low...but not that low.  He knew 
the importance of college; doesn't everyone at that age, through 
their own knowledge or their parents insistance?  His classes just 
didn't appeal to him like he thought they would.  His first semester 
wasn't so bad off.  But the second semester was terrible.  And his 
parents made their disgust known.

	While grounding usually became rather pointless after one left 
the home for college, Patrick's parents had found a way to incorporate 
it to post-high school life.  Being approximately five miles from 
Salem, the closest town, all they had to do was deny usage of all 
cars and presto.

	It was understood that he screwed up.  He didn't need it 
reminded to him, but his parents felt quite the opposite of that.  
They sat him down in the living room, and proceeded to rip whatever 
soul he had into shreads.  Trading off between his mother and father, 
they kept him in the living room, and carried it through into 
dinnertime as well.  In retrospect, Patrick thought it could have 
gone worse.  But not by much.

	After bearing through that three hours of hell, Pactrick was 
able to seek safety within his room.  After the upteenth sigh of the 
hour he picked up his bags and tossed them onto the bed, which were 
hastily shoved into his room by his father before the yellings 
began.  He started to unpack and near the end, he pulled out some 
video tapes.  For the first time that evening, a smile appeared on 
his lips.  A very weak smile, but a smile nonetheless.

	While he was at college, Patrick decided to find something to 
take his mind off things between classes and studying.  Looking 
through the club listings, he noticed there was an anime club.  While 
he didn't know that much about anime other than old shows like 
Voltron and Speed Racer of yesteryear, it was appealing enough for 
him to attend a meeting.  He was decidedly hooked on the club after 
said meeting, and became a member.

	Patrick watched more and more over the school year, and was 
able to procure some tapes of anime that he had recorded from 
member's tapes.  He had hoped to do more with the club in the fall, 
but that seemed so far away considering what he thought he would 
have to endure over this coming summer at home.

	One of the last tapes Patrick pulled out of his bags was his 
Ah! My Goddess OVA collection.  He managed to get it from one of 
his friends in the club, right before he returned home.  "You 
borrow it enough times, I thought you might like a copy before 
going home to the boonies," his friend had said.  It brought him 
a small smile, his mind returning to the present.

	Three weeks had now passed in his thinly veiled prison 
sentence.  Patrick's days consisted of helping his father with the 
seemingly endless odd jobs outside the house, while his nights 
consisted of him avoiding his parents in their snipes of his school 
record.  It was a good approximation of hell, in his 19 years of 
life experience.

	Barracading himself into his room after dinner, Patrick got 
up from his bed and walked over to his television and VCR.  He 
scrounged through his tapes and as he found it, he popped in his 
Ah! My Goddess tape in.  The credits started as he slid onto his 
bed, and leaned back into his pillows.  /Belldandy...if she were 
only real.../ he mused as she appeared on the screen, the opening 
theme echoing slightly in his room.  It was then his phone rang, and 
he pushed pause on the remote control before reaching over to his 
nightstand to pick up the phone.

	"Hello?" he asked into the receiver.

	"Topper Thompson, how would you like to go out to the 
hottest party of the summer?"  the voice said.  He raised his 
eyebrows slightly; not many people used his nickname, at least in 
college.  It narrowed things down a bit, and after the first few 
words, he deduced which high school friend was on the other side 
of the line.

	"Oh, hey Jake.  Hey, I'd love to, but...I'm still grounded." 
he said, his tone turning sour.

	Jake started to laugh, which only made Topper frown.  "Aww, 
poor college boy still grounded by his parentals?" he said, in 
that baby-thick voice usually reserved for parental abuse cases 
like this.  Topper really hated that voice.

	"Well, they took one look at my grades, and..." he let 
the sentence go.

	"Hey, well...I can understand.  My parentals aren't the 
best either, so...well, when they finally let you go, gimme a ring, 
�k?  Ciao for now, Top-man."  Jake hung up the phone, as did Topper.

	Topper pressed the play button, and the scene on the 
television came to life once more.  He layed back into his pillows 
again, putting his hands behind his head.  /Well/, he thought, /at 
least it couldn't get worse.../

	Outside, the clouds that crossed the late June skies started 
to darken.  The faint sounds of thunder loomed in the distance as 
night came.  And as night came, so did the rains...


	Stepping into Keiichi
	by
	b. b. brittain

	An Ah! My Goddess FanFiction Story


	* Chapter 1 *


	The winds outside gently rattled the windows outside 
Topper's parents home, as the credits to the fifth OVA started.  
Topper glanced outside his window to view the downpour that 
assaulted the house and all about.  Sighing softly, he turned his 
attention back to the television. /I doubt if Jake's having fun at 
least.../ Topper thought with a small smile as Keiichi scrambled 
about town, trying to earn enough money for his ring to Belldandy.

	As his mind wandered, letting himself get caught within the 
moment displayed on the television, the room suddenly went dark.  
After a moment of confusion, his mind locked on what was going on.  
It was a common occurrence in the area his parents lived in, power 
going out during storms such as the one going on outside his 
bedroom.  That was one of the drawbacks living in the �suburbs' of 
rural areas.  His parents didn't seem to mind that though, seeing 
it was so very cheap to live there.

	"Damn it to the seven hells..." he cursed under his breath as 
he sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed.  As he stood 
up, he started for the door and subsequently hit his knee on his 
nightstand.  A string of curses lined his lips as he picked up his 
phone, which had fallen to the ground.  The numbers on the receiver 
still lit up, indicating it still had power.  He stood and put the 
receiver back on its hanger.  

	Moving towards the door, Topper put his phone on his bureau.  
He slowly made his way to the door, pawing his hands in front of 
him. Finding the doorknob, he opened his door and peeked out into 
the hallway.

	The hallway was darkened and he heard his parents in the 
living room, muttering similar curses about the power.  He sighed 
and closed his door quietly.  /Great...what do I do now?/ he thought.

	Topper's mind drifted again, and he thought of the party 
that Jake mentioned.  His mind sparked, an idea forming as he made 
his way back to his bed and sat down.  /Well...I could sneak out...
if Jake picked me up.  With the power out, my parents wouldn't notice 
me being gone and it's better than sitting in the damn dark all 
night.../

	Resolved of his decision, he looked outside again and noticed 
the rain let up a little, though the clouds still loomed overhead.  
/The storm might be subsiding.../ he thought as he reached over 
towards his phone.  He leaned over to grasp for the reciever, but 
his hand ended up with empty air.  Blinking in realization, he 
remembered he put the phone on his bureau and started to stand, but 
as he did so he got tangled in the phone cord and lost his balance.

	Topper's body pitched forward, and his head smacked the edge 
of the bureau.  Gritting his teeth and stifling a yelp he rubbed his 
head furiously, trying to make the pain go away.  /Damn it damn it 
damn it.../ he chanted in his mind, as his other hand grappled for 
the phone.  He pulled the phone down to the floor where he was as 
the pain finally started to subside.  

	When Topper picked up the receiver, lights started to flash 
all around him.  At first, the thought of lightening passed through 
his mind but as the lights stayed on, he nodded slowly to himself.  
He sighed slightly, and set the phone back down.  /At least it was 
only a short brownout this time.../ he thought.

	But as he looked around expecting to see his own room...Topper 
realized what his eyes told him was anything but.  Instead of his 
bureau in front of him, there was a small table.  A bookcase was to 
the right of him as he turned his head right slightly and as he 
turned back, he noticed a cramped kitchen set to the left.  The door 
outside was to the far left, and straight ahead was what appeared to 
be a closet.

	The room itself was swathed in a neutral beige colour, nothing 
like the cool blue of his own room.  He also didn't see a bed, though 
the room felt distinctly like a bedroom.  Bewildered, he turned around 
fully to see what was behind him.  He saw a mirror, but the woman 
presently appearing through the mirror was what he was momentarily 
concentrating on.

	Topper locked his gaze briefly upon the young woman.  Her eyes 
were the most marvelous shade of light blue-green he had ever seen.  
Her face was almond shaped, strands of dishwater blonde hair 
cascading down the sides. Beside her eyes were two triangles of 
azure blue, a slender diamond of the same colour upon the center of 
her forehead.  She seemed familiar...

	What really snapped Topper out of his gaze however was the 
mirror.  She was coming out of it and of course, that made no sense 
to him whatsoever.  In such fashion, he started to back away.  He 
stumbled over the table, his mouth and eyes growing wider as he 
moved.  He kept moving away at a fast crawl, slowly  scrambling to 
his feet.  He looked back as the woman slipped fully out of the 
mirror, and his escape would have been complete...if it were not 
for the wall.  As he turned forward he hit his head again, and 
fell to the ground.

	The two impacts upon the same spot on his head made 
losing consciousness much more easier.  As his senses drifted, 
he thought he heard the word, "Cuuut!", yelled by someone but wasn't 
sure...and all became dark.

	* * *

	"Mmmrrr...kkkaaa...mmer Katawa...are you all right...?"

	Topper slowly regained consciousness, bucking from the 
smelling salts placed under his nose.  He kept blinking his eyes, 
noticing slowly that over him stood two figures.  His eyes finally 
started to focus, but there was something different.  Things looked 
fuzzy and seemed to stay that way.  Nothing took definate shape as 
they should, and judging distance started to become a tinge harder 
than before.  If he didn't know any better, it seemed things were 
two-dimensional.

	Topper continued to blink his eyes, hoping that blinking 
enough times might help them see clearer.  He noticed something else 
as his eyesight cleared as best as he could get it.  Colour seemed to 
be less textured.  There were less tones to each colour, it was like...
like...

	"Mister Katawa, are you okay...?" the voice said again, and 
he looked towards the voice.  The older of the two women who were 
hovering over him was holding out a damp cloth.  "Here, take this." 
she said.

	With a shaky hand, Topper slowly took the proffered cloth.  
"Thanks." he said and placed it on his head.  It took a moment for 
the several things out of place to register but as it did, his eyes 
went wide.  Looking from the old woman to the girl beside her and 
back once more, he finally exclaimed, "I'm dreaming!?"

	The older woman sighed softly and looked back behind her to yet 
another person in the distance.  She called out, "I think he's lost 
it for today.  We might as well close down until tomorrow."

	As Topper looked more and more frantic, the older woman turned 
back to him and said softly, "Mister Katawa...you just have a nasty 
bump on your head.  Just rest up and tomorrow we'll try the scene 
again, okay?"  She smiled comfortingly to him, hoping it might help 
Topper's excited condition.

	Topper just shook his head, staring blankly at the older 
woman.  Two things immediately struck him a bit off.  The first was 
that the older woman...no, he could faintly hear other conversations 
in the distance as well, they were speaking in Japanese.  The second 
was, he could understand it.  He ventured slowly, "Um...s-sure...I 
g-guess...?"  He guessed that was in good Japanese, and it felt as easy 
to say as something in English, which until that moment was the only
known language he thought he knew.

	The older woman slowly stood up, and walked back to a small 
crowd surrounding some gentleman so she could talk with him.  As she 
did so, Topper sat up to take in the surroundings before him.  From 
his best guess, he was in a studio.  The bedroom setting ended a few 
feet from him, and the series of cables, lightings, and cameras 
began.  People were walking in hurried gaits here and there, through 
the jumbled cacophony of sets and makeshift pens that housed various 
departments.  It was as he was trailing someone towards the makeup 
department that he saw another young woman come into view.

	He recognized her as the woman who frightened him before.  Now 
that she wasn't coming out of a mirror Topper noticed she stood about 
five and a half feet tall or so.  Her dishwater blonde hair cascaded 
down her back to her legs, her frame gossamer but flattering at the 
same time.  She brushed back a stray bang from the side of her face 
to behind her ear as she kneeled down, and he noticed her wonderfully 
deep blue-green eyes once more.  She wasn't in the unique costume that 
she was before; rather she was in a regular set of clothes.  A plain 
white tee-shirt and a pair of bluejean shorts, along with a long-
sleeved red-checker shirt tied about her waist.  She smiled 
comfortingly, as she looked at Topper.

	"Hey, are you okay?  That bump looks awful." she said.

	Topper simply blinked at her.  His voice was slow to come to 
him, but when it did, he muttered slowly, "B-belldandy...?"

	Biting her lip with worry, the young woman shook her head and 
replied, "No, not Belldandy.  Don't you remember...my name's Mika.  
Inata Mika.  I'm the person who plays Belldandy."

	Topper blinked again. /She...plays...Belldandy?/  "B-bu-but
...this...this is..." he stammered.

	Mika shook her head again.  "Maybe you should go home and get 
some rest.  You know where you live, right?"

	Topper nodded his head slowly, "1245 North Finders Road, 
Salem, Oregon..."

	Mika's eyes slowly went wide, as she heard Topper give his 
address.  "Um...maybe...maybe I should take you home...I'll get the 
address from the director's assistant."  She stood up, and walked 
off the bedroom set, leaving Topper to wonder once more.

	/I can't be where...no...that's impossible.  And Mika...Mika...
there has to be something to explain all of this.  I must have hit my 
head on my desk and got knocked out when the power went out./ Thoughts 
became a jumble in Topper's head, as he tried to stand up.  Wobbling 
all the way, he slowly made it to his feet and started off the set, 
holding the damp cloth on his head.

	Mika hurried back and as she got to him walked along beside 
him.  "Okay, I got the address.  My car's in the lot outside.  Can you 
make it, or do you need some help?"

	Topper smiled back weakly, "I think I can make it...lead the 
way Bell...I mean, Miss Mika."  Mika looked at him and gave a weak 
chuckle as she led him outside to the parking lot.

	* * *

	Mika led Topper through the maze of studio streets before 
finally ending up within the parking lot.  She walked over to a 
white compact convertible and opened the left hand door for Topper to 
get into.  She walked around and got into the driver's seat, pausing 
for a few moments to take down the top.  After that, they left the 
studios.

	The sun brightened the afternoon as Topper and Mika sped down 
the road through the city.  Topper took an avid interest in looking 
at the city before him, gazing longingly at the buildings and people 
that flew past.  At one stoplight, Topper looked at a group of people 
walking across the street.  He shook his head, and smiled to himself.

	Mika caught the smile as she looked at Topper.  "What, haven't 
you ever seen a group of people before?" she said, a smirk appearing on 
her own lips.

	Topper chuckled and replied, "Well, not drawn the way they are, 
no."

	Mika's smile suddenly fade.  "Uh..._Drawn_?  Um..." She 
glanced down into her lap for a second.  "I'm...I'm really sorry, 
Mister Katawa, for what it's worth.  I thought you were ready, but 
you seemed so genuinely scared when I popped out of the mirror, I...
sorry."  She looked up and started forward, just barely letting the 
light change green.

	Topper glanced over to her.  "Hey, it's...um...it was in the 
script, right?  It's not your fault; I was just caught unawares, and 
got caught up in the moment."  He smiled comfortingly towards here.  
"Really, don't feel bad about it, okay?"  Mika nodded and smiled weakly 
in return.

	After turning back to look at the scenery, his smile abruptly 
faded and his mind started to race. /What script!?  This...this is...
I must be in a coma.  I'd better be in a coma.  At least Mika's feeling 
bet...what am I saying!?/

	The rest of the ride was silent, and about twenty minutes later 
Mika pulled the car towards the curb and parked it in front of a 
high-rise maison complex.  She looked at Topper and grinned, "Mister 
Katawa...your palace awaits."

	Topper looked to Mika, then to the complex she alluded to.  It 
was a simple building, nothing very fancy at all.  He turned back to 
her and nodded.  "Um...Mika, would you mind coming up with me?  I'm...
well...I still can't piece things together very well yet."

	Mika narrowed her eyes slightly, looking at Topper cautiously as 
she bit her lip.  After a moment, she nodded.  "Um...sure.  But I can't 
stay long...and no funny stuff, okay?"  He nodded, and they got out of 
her car.

	They walked up the path and entered the lobby and upon spotting 
the series of mailboxes in a cove to the side, Topper decided to check 
them.  It would help him find the correct maison, in his view.  He 
pulled out the keys that he noted were in his pocket, and looked 
casually at the listing of the boxes, trying to find what would be 
�his' maison.  He finally found the listing he needed; Katawa Yoshio, 
1302.  He tried a couple of keys before finding the correct one, and 
once pulling out the small wad of letters from the box, the two made 
their way to the elevators.

	They stepped into the elevators, and as they waited for the 
doors to open again, Topper gave pause to think for a moment. /So...
my name here is Katawa Yoshio.  That's why Mika's been calling me 
Mister Katawa.  Makes sense, but what about me...Patrick Thompson?/

	The doors opened, and the two walked out.  Sighting the doors 
on either side of the elevator landing, they walked off towards the 
right.  After another moment of fumbling with the keys, Topper pushed 
open the door to the maison.  He motioned for Mika to enter first, and 
they both walked in.  As they took off their shoes, Topper took a good 
look at the maison that he supposed would be his home for the time being.

	With the consideration in mind that Katawa was a batchelor, the 
space in the maison was rather generous.  Even from the doorway, he 
noticed the balcony on the far side of the room.  There was no doubt 
that it must provide a wonderful view of the city.  To his right was 
the dining area, and to the right of that was the kitchen.  The left 
wall contained doorways leading to a guest bathroom and bedroom.  All 
in all, it seemed like a wonderful apartment...if it weren't for the 
fact that it was a pigsty at the moment.

	Topper groaned softly to himself as he shoved the keys into 
his pocket.  As he moved to put the mail on the small table by the 
door, he said, "Uh...sorry about the mess.  Please, make yourself at 
home."

	Mika nodded, and made her way into the mess that was the living 
room.  She elected to sit in one of the chairs surrounding the 
coffeetable that wasn't piled up with bricabrack, while Topper started 
for the kitchen.  "Did you want anything to drink?" he called over to 
her.

	Mika called back, "Maybe a glass of water, please."

	Topper entered the kitchen, and turned towards the refridgerator.  
Pulling out a small bucket from the freezer, he rummaged for a couple 
of glasses.  He slipped some ice into the two glasses, and filled it 
with some tap water, before returning to the living room.  He offered 
one glass to Mika, and sat down on a part of the sofa that wasn't 
cluttered.

	"So...how did you get the part?" Topper asked, trying to make 
idle conversation.

	Mika thought a little bit.  "Well, it wasn't my idea, 
actually."  She smirked and took a sip of her water.  "See, my friends 
sort of pushed me into the auditions, and one thing led to another.  
I figured over the summer, I was going to work...well, I don't really 
know.  But...this is definitely better than the alternatives."

	She looked at Topper for a moment as she sipped her water once 
more.  "How about you?  Oh wait...your agent probably got this part 
for you, neh?  How many of these have you done now?"

	Topper smiled weakly and leaned back in his chair a little.  
"Well, um..."  He looked down in thought.  "I don't really remember."

	Mika mmmed softly and looked down to her lap.  "That bump 
really must have taken you for a real loop.  Maybe I should go...you 
could use the rest."  She set her glass down on the coffee table 
before standing up.

	Topper did the same and nodded.  "I guess...I'll see you on 
the set tomorrow?"

	Mika nodded.  "Yeah...about 7 or so."  She stood and walked 
over towards the door, with Topper in tow. 

	"Um...I don't suppose..." Topper asked, as Mika slipped on 
her shoes. "Um...can you give me a ride there?"

	Mika blinked as she stood up straight.  "Oh...um...sure.  
Your car's still on the lot, isn't it.  Okay...I'll meet you outside 
at 6:30 then. Thanks for the water, Mister Katewa."

	Topper smiled weakly.  "Please, call me To...er, Yoshi."

	Mika showed the start of a smile as she replied, "Yoshi.  See 
you."  With that she left and he slowly closed the door.  Leaning on 
the door for a moment, he let loose a long sigh.  /Thank the gods for 
luck.../ He walked over and picked up the glasses of water from the 
coffeetable and returned to the kitchen.  He put them in the sink and 
started to rummage for some sort of liquor.  Damned if he didn't need 
a drink at this moment.

	Finding a bottle of whiskey of all things, Topper pulled out 
another glass and poured himself a small amount.  He quickly downed 
that, making a face as it burned down his throat.  He poured more into 
the glass and set the bottle back into the cabinet where he found it.  
Walking back into the living room, he reclaimed his chair and sighed 
again.

	Turning his head to a clock on the wall, Topper noted that it 
was about 1:40 in the afternoon.  /Great/, he thought as he took a sip 
from his glass.  /I've got about half a day to learn Keiichi's lines...
what in the world have I gotten myself into???/

	* * *

	Topper took his time in finishing his drink, before standing 
and moving towards the bedroom.  Considering he figured it would take 
him all night trying to memorize his lines for tomorrow, he decided to 
get his rest early.  He made a beeline for the bed as he entered the 
room, not paying attention to anything else.  It took him only brief 
moments to fall asleep.

	He awoke slowly some 8 hours later, and sat up amidst the rumpled 
sheets of his �new' bed.  He sat in the dark, the faint shadows of the 
room telling him that it wasn't a dream that he was experiencing now.  
At the moment, the darkness suited him fine.  His current situation 
mirrored the room perfectly.

	Topper tried to go over what this situation entailed.  The two 
most notable things that jumped out at him was just who (or what) 
Yoshio was, and where exactly was he.  Then there was this whole 
filming business and Mika.  With at least some sort of thought as 
where to go next, Topper reached over to turn on the light on the 
nightstand.

	Illumination did little to brighten up the room, however.  It's 
motif was a slightly somber one, darkish blues and blacks prevaded the 
area.  /Oh jee, how original.  The classic bachelor's colours./  
Topper slipped out of bed, and slowly spun himself around to take a 
better look of his surroundings.

	It was a sizable bedroom, a walk-in closet almost as soon as 
one came in on the left, and a door to a private bathroom right 
afterwards.  The bed was in the center of the far wall, two nightstands 
on edges beside and on the right was a window, which gave lighting 
to a cleartop desk beneath.  On the entrance wall  was a rather 
expensive entertainment center.

	Topper decided to make for the desk first, looking at the 
contents upon it.  There were a few odds and ends, notes from some 
producers and some agents, and contracts for other productions.  
After ruffling through the pile for a little bit, he found a bound 
copy of the series scripts.  He grabbed that immediately, a happy 
sigh escaping his lips. /Thank the gods...if I had to do this from 
memory, I'd die in the first act!/

	Slipping the copy under his arm, he continued to look through 
the desk, pulling open the filing drawers beneath the desk.  He paged 
through the files, but it wasn't very interesting.  He closed the 
drawers, and turned for another part of the room.

	Glancing towards the entertainment center, he walked up to it 
and admired it for a few moments. /Very nice...and very expensive./ 
Opening one of the cabinets, he started to paw through the tapes 
within.  He noticed that a majority of them were of Anime series that 
he knew; Bishoujo Senshi SailorMoon, Maison Ikkouku, Marmalade Boy, 
Koko wa Greenwood to name a few.  He smiled wanly, most of his Anime 
clubmates back in Seattle would give their arm for a collection like 
this.  But what would you expect here, in...

	That gave Topper a random thought. /If all the shows here are 
Anime, that would mean that...Yoshi could be in dozens of things like 
Mika said, like actors and actresses in Hollywood.  Wow, that's a far 
out concept...Keiichi in something other than Ah! My Goddess.../ He 
gave a little chuckle to that little realization.  /I'm definately 
going to have to check out that theory./

	Topper decided to check the closet next, and peeked through 
the door.  Flipping on the lightswitch right inside the door, he 
glanced in.  Inside were a variety of suits and casual wear that 
threatened to break the bars that they were hung upon.  Under the 
clothes were rows of shoes that matched most outfits found above 
them.  As he rummaged through the suits briefly, Topper just shook 
his head disdainfully. /What a clothes hog.../ With that, he closed 
the light, and walked out of the closet.

	Turning towards the bed again, he stopped in front of the 
nightstand.  Looking inside the drawer he found nothing, but when he 
climbed on the bed to look in the matching nightstand on the other 
side, he found a picture.  It was a picture of an older couple along 
with Keiichi. /Nonono Topper...not Keiichi, Katawa.  I guess they're 
his parents.../

	He put the photo back into the drawer and closed it, slumping 
back to the bed.  Another random thought suddenly occured to him and he 
put the script on the nightstand.  He stood and made his way towards 
the bathroom.  As he entered he flipped on the switch to the changing 
room, and moved over to the wash basin.  He took a deep breath, and 
looked up to the mirror set above it.

	True enough, as Topper looked up to the mirror, the person 
looking back at him was not himself but Kei...Katawa.  He flinched 
slightly but kept his ground and gave the mirror a good look.  He was 
still wearing what he had on from the set, a white tee-shirt and a 
faded pair of bluejeans.  He gazed at the image in the mirror, the 
brown eyes in the mirror staring back at him.  He reached up with 
his hand, as did the image in the mirror, and he slowly brushed his 
hand across the top of his hair, the image brushing his hand over 
the short black hair in return.  Looking in the mirror closely in a 
pseudo-trance, he shivered and finally looked away.  /Gods...that's 
scary/, he thought and exited the bathroom, turning off the light as 
he went.

	He walked over to the nightstand and picked up the scripts 
before entering the living room once more.  He fumbled about for at 
least ten minutes looking for the light switch before finding it and 
lighting up the darkened room.  It took him another twenty or so 
minutes to clear away a good portion of the trash accumulated in the 
living room so that it looked marginally respectable, before he sat 
down on the couch.  He grasped at the remote control on the coffeetable 
and turned on the living room television.  /Time to prove that 
theory.  But I do hope they have CNN here at least, or whatever the 
alternative is.../

	As he flipped through the channels, the conclusion he came up 
with was that his theory was most likely correct.  He continued channel 
surfing until something caught his eye.  From the look of it, it was 
a type of entertainment news program. /Better than nothing I 
guess./ he thought, as he set down the remote and leaned back into 
the cushions.

	The anchor was a well-dressed woman, who was just finishing up 
another segment.  Her voice was a soft contralto, but contained the 
accented touch that Topper always associated with the glamour and 
glitz of Hollywood.  "...and production on that should begin later in 
the fall.  When we return..."

	Topper sat through most of the program, his intrest beginning to 
drift as the woman went on about this show or that.  It was rather 
unappealing after a bit talking about the �fun fun' exploits of this 
actor or that actress, so much so that Topper was about to change the 
channel.  He was rather unabashed by the hold that the entertainment 
business had on people, wondering just how someone could be paid so 
much for being on the screen.  He was about to change the channel 
when the woman said something that perked his interest.

	"...the long awaited Ah! My Goddess series started filming 
today at Koishatai Studios..."  Topper blinked at that, and turned 
up the volume.

	"...but was cut short when Katawa Yoshio was slightly injured 
during the opening scene.  Sources say he's okay though, and filming 
will resume tomorrow."  A chagrin appeared on his lips. /I made the 
news...sort of./

	"As most may know, Katawa, whose fame is well known to most in 
Japan, has been involved with more than several famous projects in the 
past.  They include award winning films such as �He Rode Alone', 
�Apocalypse Mission', and �In Your Heart Forever'..."  As the woman 
continued on with Yoshi, Topper's mind wandered.  /I guess Yoshio's 
pretty big here.  Though I've never heard of anything on that list 
but Ah! My Goddess.  It really puts my theory in a good light.  
Definately an interesting fact to know.../

	Topper changed the channel as the show drifted back into other 
news.  What he really wanted though was a regular news channel, 
preferrably local.  As he found what seemed to be one, it was just 
ending.  He sighed and shook his head, turning off the television. 
/I guess I'll have to find out later about where exactly I am.../

	Topper picked up the script and looked at it for a few moments.  
He had to wear glasses back home but was a bit surprised, not to 
mention a little relieved, that it appeared he didn't have to here.  
He glided a hand over the top of the script and took in a breath so 
he could sigh deeply. /Chances are, this dream'll turn into a 
downright nightmare if you don't start reading, Topper.  So.../ 

	With that, Topper opened the script to the first page and dived 
in.  The title on top was printed in a nice script font and said, 
�Ah! My Goddess OVA 1: Moonlight and Cherry Blossoms'.
______________________________________________________________________
Delany Brittain
  turtyl@montana.com		--Primary e-mail
  turtyl@selway.umt.edu	--Secondary e-mail
  turtyl@otaking.org		--For use in case of bounced e-mails.
-----
	"A pat on the back isn't that far away from a kick in the ass."
	  --Doug Flutie

http://www.megami.net/~turtyl/ --looking for a new home at the moment...