Trust is just a Five-Letter Word

Disclaimer: Don’t own Candidate for Goddess (Megami Kouhosei). Any original characters are mine.

A/N: I’m still not sure if I kept the characters in check, so please tell me if I screwed up! Reviews are appreciated.

Chapter Two: Revelation

"NO! NOOOO! YOU CAN’T MAKE ME!"

Zero struggled desperately as Roose and Yamagi held him down. Clay advanced towards Zero, carrying a spoonful of the day’s lunch special: Mystery Meat Surprise. Every person who had attempted to eat that had ended up in the infirmary.

"Come on Zero," Clay said, pushing him glasses up with his middle finger. "It’s for the sake of science. All I want to know is the amount of edibility in the meat."

"WHY ARE YOU USING ME?!"

"Well, Yamagi and Roose won’t do it, and I really don’t want to test it on myself. It could contain small amounts of poison."

"SO YOU’D RATHER KILL ME?!" Zero screamed, and he struggled harder. "FAT CHANCE! LET ME GO! SOMEBOSY HELP!"

A few tables away, Saki shook her head. "Boys," she muttered. "You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them,"

"Tell me about it…say, where’s Ikhny?" Kizna said suddenly, looking left and right. "Don’t tell me she’s still working on Hiead’s Pro-Ing."

"He did damage it pretty badly," Saki said as she ate the strange, quivering mush on her tray. "But Ikhny seems to be a little off on her repairs lately."

"Not that it’s a bad thing," Wrecka implied. "Remember when she refilled the oxygen tanks with helium? Hiead had a squeaky voice for five full hours! Boy was he mad! But he deserved it." The girls laughed at glanced at Hiead, who was sitting at a table all by himself as usual.

At that point, a tired but happy Ikhny walked into the cafeteria. She grabbed a tray and plopped herself next to Kizna. The girls stared at Ikhny as she ate, humming a tune happily. Then, she just sighed and gazed off into space, forgetting all about her food. The girls all thought the same thing: Boyfriend!

"So…" Saki said slyly as she leaned closer to Ikhny, "what’s on your mind Ikhny? A special guy, perhaps?"

"Hmm?" Ikhny snapped out of her daydream and stared blankly at Saki. "What? I’m sorry, did you say something?"

At this, Saki looked like she was ready to explode, and she probably would have if Kizna hadn’t stepped in.

"What she means is, did something happen while you were at the hanger?"

Ikhny smiled, but said nothing, leaving the girls in a complete frenzy, especially Saki.

"Something happened didn’t it? Come on Allecto, spill it!" Saki yelled, pounding her fist on the table. Her glittering eyes warned Ikhny of danger, but Ikhny continued to smile.

"Nothing happened," she said. "I just met the chief inspector for the repairer candidates, that’s all. He and I had a small conversation."

That statement would have been believable, but Ikhny’s eyes betrayed her. They held something that the girls couldn’t quite place...

WHAM! A loud crash at the boy’s table broke the moment as Zero, unable to pull away from Yamagi and Roose’s grip, rammed himself against the two, which resulted in all three of them collapsing in a heap on the floor. Then Zero, who was on the top of the heap, scrambled up and started pelting food at the fallen boys. Everyone in the cafeteria stared in shock..

"Cut it out, Zero!" Yamagi yelled one of the disgusting globs of mush hit him right on his face. Roose got up and began throwing food at Zero as well, and one well-aimed glob hit Zero’s hair.

"Stop it!" Clay yelled, but Yamagi, who now joined in the food fight, threw some mush at Clay, and it smacked him right in his face, knocking off his glasses.

At this, the entire cafeteria went in an uproar. Food was flying everywhere, hitting the walls, the cooks, everything. Most of the repairers ducked under the table where there was relative safety, but Ikhny didn’t have time to duck, for one glob was heading straight for her face. Ikhny shut her eyes and waited for the impact.

"Ikhny, get down!" Kizna yelled, but then something weird happened. The glob started to glow, and it stopped in midair. What was weirder was that Ikhny was also glowing. Her hair color changed to a light green, and a light green aurora was emitting from her body. Ikhny seemed completely oblivious to this, her eyes were still shut.

But now the entire cafeteria was silent. They stared at Ikhny, who at last opened her eyes, and watched as the glob fell at her feet. Then she looked up to see hundreds of staring eyes, including the ones of her friends. She backed away slightly.

"Did…I…miss something?"

* * * * * *

"This is ridiculous. Women cannot have the EX ability!"

Azuma and Dr. Rill scanned Ikhny for the eighth time in a row, and for the eighth time, the test results came out positive.

"This is ridiculous," Azuma repeated, and sat down, defeated. Dr. Rill sighed.

"It’s strange," she said. "When eighty-seven first came here, she showed no signs of having this ability. But the data I’m receiving now shows that all the atomics in her body are gone. It’s just too confusing. But I’m more worried about what’s going to happen to her now. What is she going to do? Can she keep her position as a repairer candidate?"

"No. I talked to the headmaster. Said that if eighty-seven does have the EX factor, make her a pilot candidate."

"You’re kidding."

"Nope, dead serious. Looks like GOA’s gonna have a female pilot candidate."

"Wait, what about Pilot candidate eighty-seven?"

Azuma sighed and closed his eyes. "A new repairer is coming tomorrow. She’ll fill in."

"And who will be Ikhny’s partner?"

"Hmm…"

A voice from the door interrupted their thoughts.

"I will sir."

End of chapter two. What did you think? Reviews are appreciated.