Soon to graduate from Nekomi Tech, Keiichi attempts to land a job working on motorcycles.
Summary
Keiichi and Belldandy visit an employment office so he can find a job, but he is told by the woman working there that there are hardly any open positions in his field of interest. Instead, she hands him an ad for work as a stableboy, but Keiichi tells her that he wants to work on racing bikes, not racing horses.
Chihiro visits the Motor Club but finds Keiichi in a dejected state. He tells her about his job-hunting difficulties amid the ongoing recession and jokingly suggests that he should just settle for shoveling horse manure. Chihiro tells him that he should do that if that's what he really wants to do. She also asks him to share any hots tips he has about races with her.
Keiichi thinks about what Chihiro said earlier as well as her decision to quit her job as a motorcycle team engineer to start making her own motorcycles. He asks Belldandy why she chose to work for the Goddess Technical Helpline, and she tells him that, among other reasons, she loved seeing the smiles of people when they got their wishes. Keiichi realizes that the key to doing what he wants is love.
Urd finds Keiichi as soon as he arrives home and hands him a letter from a person named Takami Imai, a name Keiichi doesn't recognize. While Urd teases Keiichi by guessing Imai is an old lady friend of his, he eventually remembers that Imai was one of the old members of the Motor Club (the one who wore the spirit mask on the side of his head) who had gotten a job at a custom bike parts shop called "Wyvern" after graduating from Nekomi Tech. Keiichi calls Imai at work and (in-between Urd tickling him) learns that his boss wants to speak with him tomorrow.
As Keiichi puts down the phone and mentions he needs to prepare for his interview, Urd uses magic to change his appearance by giving him a suit and cutting his hair, but Keiichi doesn't like the haircut. Urd tries several more times and eventually gives Keiichi a satisfactory appearance. Skuld, who admits she was eavesdropping on them, then presents a head ornament she calls the Mister Tester Bester (Beta) that Keiichi can use as a practice test for his interview. After putting it on, Keiichi incorrectly answers a question by Belldandy and his muscles get contracted by the machine sending an electric current through his body; Skuld also mentions that Keiichi can't take off the device until he gets a perfect score.
Keiichi continues getting shocked until he wakes up the next day, realizing he is almost late for his interview! Belldandy asks Urd to let her use her fastest broom, and Urd reluctantly hands it to her. Keiichi hops on the broom behind Belldandy and lifts into the air, flying so fast that he can't breathe, but manages to get to Wyvern on time. He meets Imai and his boss in the latter's office, where the boss asks to see Keiichi's hands. He notes how his fingernails are deeply soaked with engine oil and figures he must work on engines every single day. Knowing everything he needs to know about Keiichi, the boss tells him that he will hire him as soon as he graduates.
Keiichi meets Belldandy outside and walks with her to Nekomi Tech. He wonders if it was the best thing to turn his passion into his job since that would mean having to do it even if he didn't enjoy it, but Belldandy tells him that he'll be fine, saying that he may not always like what he loves, but that he'll never hate it. However, when they reach an academic office at Nekomi Tech, Keiichi is told that he is short one credit to graduate because he only took one foreign language class (English) instead of the required two. Keiichi realizes that with only six months left until graduation, he can't earn another credit and that he'll have to attend another year to graduate.
Keiichi tells Imai the bad news over the phone at the motor clubhouse, but Chihiro suddenly enters and puts up a help wanted poster for her brand-new motorcycle shop, obviously inviting Keiichi to work for her. Outside, Keiichi thanks her for the job offer and immediately accepts it. Belldandy notes that Keiichi is starting to follow his dream, but she wonders exactly how long she'll be able to follow him along it.
Meanwhile, Imai is upset that Keiichi didn't get hired, as he believed that the hot girls he lives with would hang around his workplace if he got job.
Trivia
- As Keiichi doesn't graduate until after the end of the manga, the remaining portion of the manga from now until the final chapter only covers Keiichi's current semester and his next and final semester—in other words, less than two years.