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The World God Only Knows:Volume 2 Chapter 1

2015-12-21T08:26:54Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 1: The Accursed Game */ Fixed a few minor errors.

==Chapter 1: The Accursed Game==

In this world, there exist people with a superb sense of smell.

A famous producer who raised many outstanding singers was quoted saying: “A real person will definitely look dazzling.” This wasn’t just a hyperbole, but that to the eyes of a thoroughbred, musicians with potential just look as if they’re covered in light.

No matter whether they’re performing in live houses that are small or on the roadside, a producer with the ability can use his eyes to search out singers who have a chance to make it big. And the producers make their decisions based on how much the opponent sparkles.

In other words, this is called ‘The Art of Recognition’.

A sushi chef from an old shop in Ginza said,

“When walking in a fish market, the feet will naturally move towards the best fish of the day.”

This should be called the sixth sense. Only a chef like this who trained so hard in the art of sushi making could have such instincts. To an ordinary person, this could only be described as extraordinary.

The body would move on its own.

In other words, the body would ‘naturally react’ based on experience.

The chairman of a companies that manages comedians said,

“I can somewhat smell something from these young people that are continuing to grow.”

“This smell, well, it’s not whether it smells good or not, but whether it’s fragrant. Everyone’s smell is a little different. Anyway, it’s sour!”

Eh? Isn’t this just because someone didn’t take a shower?

One mustn’t be hasty and make such conclusions. At least this chairman did groom a few great comedians, and earned big bucks while managing the business. It’s probable that he could use ‘smell’ to sense other people’s talents.

In other words, he could ‘sniff out’ talent.

To raise a more radical example,

“Let me tell you. An angel is whispering to me that ‘it’s this one, this ticket will definitely rise~’, fufu.”

A genius stockbroker said this. An ordinary person would feel that ‘this is just ridiculous’ on hearing this explanation, but he did become a really wealthy man. From this pitch, one might think that he really heard an Angel whispering into his ear.

That’s probably it.

Anyway, whether this was a result gained from talent, hard work or innate experience, this ability is no different from superpowers to an ordinary person, and they used this instinct to develop into a target.

If this ability can be described through having a superb sense of smell.

Then it could be truly proclaimed,

That Katsuragi Keima had that ‘instinct’.

And that he had Heaven’s blessings.

It was completely a coincidence that he would get off from the stop—the previous train was stuck because of power outage, causing the tracks themselves to be inaccessible.

Keima, who came all the way out to buy bishoujo games, and Elsie, who accompanied him out, could only listen to the audio broadcast of the station attendant ‘Please take other modes of transport. We apologize for any inconvenience’. They got off three stops before their destination and walked out of the gantry gate. Keima used his PFP to check it out. It seemed that a bus stop near the station had a bus that would pass by his house.

Under the furnace-like blazing sun of summer, Keima was a little impatient as he arched his back and walked out.

His hands were holding onto a bag full of games.

Elsie reached her hands out to block the sun and looked a little troubled as the heat that was reflected off the tarmac road would make anyone standing around sweat crazily.

Sweat flowed past Elsie’s white face.

Speaking of which…

Elsie started to think. She had never gotten off at this stop. This place gave a rather empty feeling as it doesn’t seem as if anyone else is around.

The sunlight was really vicious and the scenery was clearly divided into light and shadow.

“…A lot of shops aren’t open.”

Elsie muttered, and thus, Keima, who was walking slightly in front, impatiently looked back.

“Elsie, what are you doing? Let’s go!”

“Ah, okay, Kami nii-sama!”

Elsie ran and chased up to Keima, and both of them walked together side by side. After moving about 200m,

“Eh? Kami nii-sama, shouldn’t we be going this way,”

Keima suddenly went into a branched road, and Elsie raised her doubts in surprise. They should be walking another 100 meters before reaching the bus stop.

However, Keima,

“…Eh, this.”

Answered in a rare ambiguous manner.

“I don’t know why.”

Even he himself tilted his head in a puzzled manner,

“But it feels like I have to walk here.”

As he said that, he continued to walk forward quickly.

Elsie hurriedly chased him.

“Wa, wait for me, kami nii-sama!”

Keima turned 2, 3 times from the road to the lane, and he was walking faster and faster.

He didn’t run.

Even so, it seemed like he was pulled by something as he quickly moved his feet. His speed itself was really fast.

As the lower half of his body was too fast, the upper body that was holding the bag tilted backwards as it couldn’t keep up.

“Hau? Oh?”

Even Keima himself widened his eyes and smirked. As his upper body couldn’t keep up while his feet were continuing to move forward, it looked really mysterious.

“Ka, kami nii-sama?”

Elsie started to panic and flailed her arms around as she chased Keima with all she had. Keima himself however continued to move down the lane.

And he walked deeper and deeper in.

He entered the deep part of a dark alley, and the darkness inside there was even a little unbelievable. Then,

“!”

Keima’s feet suddenly stopped, and it was like he finished leading them.

He regained his usual composed expression.

“Ho, haa.”

Elsie finally managed to catch up as she was pressing onto her knees and panting heavily. Then,

“Fuu.”

She took a deep breath and then stood up.

“Really~ what’s wrong with you, kami nii-sama?”

Elsie lifted her head and saw Keima pushing his glasses up and rubbing around his eyebrows.

“Elsie…”

Keima pushed his glasses back to its original position and raised a question.

His voice was obviously hoarse.

“That shop.”

He reached out his slender white fingers.

“…Oh.”

Elsie looked where Keima pointed to and responded.

“Don’t you feel that the shop there is glowing? Golden, no, pink?”

“Eh?”

On hearing Keima say this, Elsie frowned.

“Ah?”

She instinctively looked back at Keima, and then continued to look at the shop intently. Then,

“Well,”

She used her fingers on both hands to press both temples and pondered for a while.

“No.”

(What’s with kami nii-sama?)

She thought. The ’10,000 Old Bookstore’ written on the signboard of that shop in the alley wasn’t even glowing, but was shrouded in an ominous atmosphere. It seemed that the house itself was a little shaky. It had an outer wall with ivy climbing all over it and a tightly closed glass door, and looked really dark.

Even if this shop’s door was opened, Elsie didn’t want to enter at all.

“…”

However, it was unknown what was going on as Keima didn’t move since then as he continued to look at that shop ’10,000 Old Bookstore’.

He held his breath slightly.

There was a tinge of excitement in his expression.

“…”

Then, he started to move forward with light steps. This time, it didn’t feel as if he was dragged around by something, but something out of his own will.

“…Kami nii-sama?”

As Elsie tilted her head and called Keima, his head was already on the door. For some reason, Elsie had a bad feeling about this.

“Ah, wai…”

Before she could finish, it was too late.

“Fu, fufu.”

Keima let out some mysterious laughter.

And walked into the shop.

As for Elsie,

“Hau~”

She started hesitating since just now, but because of her personality, she couldn’t just leave Keima alone and summoned her courage to follow him.

(Kami nii-sama! This shop seems a little weird~)

Her heart was crying a little. It wasn’t that she had this feeling because she was a devil. Anyone with normal judgment would be thinking about this.

This shop wasn’t normal.

What was already very cramped space had 7 large bookshelves in it, and each bookshelf was messily stuffed with books. On entering, there came an abnormal sense of pressure, as there were only books, books, books and more books inside.

The scene inside the shop was so messy that anyone would be dazed by it.

The cookbooks were placed besides the old-fashioned magazines, and more than 30 years worth of yellow school textbooks. There were encyclopedias and detective novels with the covers on the side nearly dropping off. Each book just looked completely messy, and there's no intention of letting anyone take it for convenience.

These books just looked messy as they were scattered all over the place.

The books were stacked up so high that they reached the ceiling, and even if the pages inside were all messy, they weren't arranged with and were stuffed inside the bookshelves. Origami books, documents in files, diaries with leather covers, foreign language books with locks on them, Japanese origami books, horror books with magic gates on the covers, and even books with unknown languages.

There weren't just books.

There were forgotten old records left in the shop, Buddha statues, candle altars, spiked handcuffs, Western wine bottles of unknown origins, cameras that were about spoilt and dusty plaid doll.

Even these things could be put around messily.

Were these all to be sold?

(...)

Elsie looked a little scared as she shrank her neck back and looked around.

And then,

“Ehh?”

“Eh!”

She couldn't help but cry up. That's because an old man who looked like a boss and had wrinkles all over his face was looking at Elsie as their eyes met.

She thought that he was some decoration.

It was only when he started smiling that Elsie realized that he was a living person. His teeth were almost completely gone, and there were only 2-3 of them left. He had a cap on his head as he was sitting in a seiza position beside the cashier.

His eyeballs were yellow as he gave a mysterious smile.

This old man's head was shaking about, and he was like a tumbler that wasn't stable.

(Is, is he even human?)

Elsie trembled. She looked away, and could feel that he was looking at her, and was so scared that she didn't want to look back.

Speaking of which.

What caused this in the first place?

The moment she stepped into the shop, she had a mysterious chill.

Right now, it was right in the middle of the hot summer.

It was definitely sunny outside,

And the boss was wearing thick clothing for some reason.

Elsie immediately had goosebumps rising.

Why is this shop so cold?

(Ka, kami nii-sama.)

Elsie's eyes were teary as she looked at Keima as if she wanted help.

However, Keima was completely hypnotized and it seemed like he didn't want to be bothered by her. Ever since just now, he was flipping around in the cramped shop and energetically walking around.

He twitched his nose, and for a while, it seemed that he was looking at a certain bookshelf, only to suddenly kneel on the ground and then climb up to the area near the roof.

After a while, he came out from the bookshelf, and then disappeared after a while.

To Elsie, it seemed like Keima's ears became dog ears and his backside had a tail that grew out.

He looked completely excited as his eyes were dazzling.

“Yes! It's definitely there! There must be something here! I smell it!”

“Wha, what's with you, kami nii-sama?”

Elsie folded her arms and looked really worried.

“Fufu, this smell's not hidden at all! It's right nearby.”

His answer was too abnormal as he ran straight to a corner. Even in this mysterious shop that had tattered metal and books, that corner looked really unnatural. Elsie couldn't help but tug at Keima's collar to try and stop him.

“Ka, kami nii-sama!”

But Keima,

“Go away~! Let go of me, Elsie! Can't you hear it? That child's muttering. Listen! She's saying 'I'm here! Come save me! Come save me!”

“Wa~kami nii-sama's not normal. You're going to fall into another world!”

“Wait! I'll save you right away!”

“Tha, that's just a hallucination! Am, ambulance! Someone call for an ambulance!”

Keima shook aside Elsie who was holding him from behind and ducked into that ridiculous pile of stuff.

In a moment.

“Hey!”

Right in front of the stunned Elsie.

“Fu, fufufu.”

Plak,

Plak plak.

Keima landed on that pile of stuff and slowly got up.

His eyes were glowing under the weak light. Even though his movements were a little strange, Keima's face showed a triumphant smile.

“Found it!”

He raised the box high up.

'Favor of the Western Lantern'.

Such a label was on it, and the packaging was rather weird as there was only the side of a white-haired girl's face on it. This should be a bishoujo game itself, but to be honest, it didn't look really attractive. However, for some reason, Keima showed a look like a child finding treasure as he delightfully patted away the dust on it before walking to the cashier.

“How much?”

He looked serious as he handed the box to the boss who was still swaying his head.

“...”

[[Image:TWGOK 02 008.jpg|thumb]]

The boss continued to smile, and Keima said adamantly,

“I understand the reason for this, and I'll definitely splurge as much money as I can on it. However, I won't just get the money out. In other words, I have two intents. One, don't bluff me. Two, I won't play along if you want to rip me off. Since this thing's put inside the shop, at least it means that it's to be sold, right?”

“...”

“Say a price.”

Keima brought his face closer in.

“Give me a price that I don't have to haggle.”

The boss remained silent for a while, and finally raised a trembling finger in front of Keima.

“...1?”

Keima tilted his head. The boss gave a thumbs up, and Keima frowned.

“1? 10,000 yen?”

“...”

The boss shook his head, and Keima looked indignant.

“Are you thinking of going more than 10,000...eh? That's not it?”

“...”

The boss didn't say anything, but one could feel his intent from the atmosphere. A little lower.

“1,000 yen?”

Keima said suspiciously, but the boss shook his head again. Keima was a little lost.

“...100...10 yen, don't tell me,”

He held his breath slightly.

“1 yen?”

Fufu.

The boss laughed and nodded his head hard. Keima was immediately delighted.

“I'M BUYING IT!”

And shouted.

“THAT'S WAY TOO CHEAP!”

He laughed as he grabbed and shook the boss' hand hard,

“YOU'RE REALLY A GREAT GUY!”

Elsie, who was watching all of this silently, placed her hand in front of her chest.

“Kami nii-sama, please start doubting a little, please?”

And couldn't help but ask.

And then, everything was too late. At this moment, Keima took a yen out to buy this game, this so-called fantasy bishoujo game called 'Favor of the Western Lantern'.

And then,

A prologue to a horror story began...

After a while,

The scene changed to Katsuragi Keima’s house. The location is the corridor in front of his room.

“Bishoujo games are really deep. Even I would sometimes be shocked and amazed by the complexity.”

On hearing Keima say this, Elsie spoke,

“We, well, kami nii-sama, I feel that something, Erm,”

“I have conquered or inspected more games than anyone else. Whether it’s the past or the future, there will be no one who will love bishoujo games more than me. That’s because I’m ‘God’!”

“That’s.”

“However.”

Keima pointed his finger at the sky, not listening to Elsie at all.

“Even I have two genres of games I can’t handle, thought this can’t be helped.”

After saying that, he took a handkerchief and pretended to wipe his eyes.

“Do you know what those genres, are?”

“Un, that.”

“…”

“I don’t know, but that.”

“That’s!”

Keima ignored Elsie and said directly,

“Time and space.”

“…Time?”

Elsie was curious and couldn’t help but ask. Keima nodded hard.

“That’s right. In other words, the ‘God’s window’ that only a living body has.

“?”

Elsie looked confused.

“God’s window?”

For some reason, it felt that the entire situation was hard to understand.

Keima laughed.

“No, this really isn’t hard. A simpler explanation would be that ‘before I was born…when I started playing games once I grew out of infancy, it’s impossible to play all games’, and also ‘the friendship games that were already rare or sold in limited special areas, and those unique given, rare or reclaimed products by the industry are hard to get.’ It’s just this simple meaning.”

“…”

“There were already so many games selling in Japan. It’s not possible for me to have all the games.”

“Eh?”

Elsie was a little surprised,

“Don’t you have all the games, kami nii-sama?”

Keima sighed and glanced at Elsie.

“How is it possible?”

“I thought that the collection kami nii-sama had in the room was all the games around.”

Elsie used her fist to press against her face as she remembered Keima’s room that was used as a storeroom of bishoujo games. The room was neatly stacked with an amazing amount of games. To Elsie, even if someone told her that all the games in the world were over there, she wouldn’t doubt it at all.

Also, there weren’t just games inside. There were even ‘Initial Limited Edition’ and ‘Director’s Cut’ versions of the games, and Elsie couldn’t even tell the differences between them as they were all packed within Keima’s collection.

“…I hope so.”

Keima said in a self-mocking manner.

“But no matter how hard I try, there will be missing ones that get by me.”

But no matter what.

He added on,

“My collection of bishoujo games aren’t of genre. I guess no matter whether it’s an organization or an individual, nobody would collect more than me.”

“I see.”

At this moment, Elsie suddenly thought of something,

“It’s true when you put it that way.”

It seemed that she wasn’t willing to give up. However, Keima spoke first,

“I’m not really trying to force things. It’s regrettable, but amongst the games that I have never collected, most of the game data values are more valuable than the work itself. For example, a little modification to the same game, or a game that wasn’t really much, or a game that couldn’t proceed on because of a really serious bug.”

“Eh, as for that.”

“But amongst the works I couldn’t collect, there were really a few outstanding works.”

“Well.”

“…This fact makes me really unable to sleep or eat well. Ah, thinking about how many outstanding works I have not touched in this work, the conquest of those cute girls who are waiting for me—”

Ahh.

Keima pressed against his chest and revealed a pained expression.

He looked just like an astronaut who dreamt of being able to land on Mars, which no one else had done before.

The endless romance and thirst of knowledge were clearly shown on his face.

He’s an adventurer, an explorer, a researcher, and one who seeks the truth.

In this peaceful era, not everyone could show such an expression. In a certain manner, the side of his face looked extreme~ly manly.

However, he was only interested in bishoujo games.

“I’ve always heard of this rumor about a few rare bishoujo games that were cursed within the world.”

Keima suddenly diverted the topic.

“The game itself, through the network, in a specialized publication.

“…”

Elsie had a bad feeling as she silently tugged at Keima’s sleeve. Keima’s expression seemed to be full of memories as it also looked like he was looking forward.

“That game itself had an outstanding script and an enigmatic female lead. The graphics and music were all rather dated, but the potential wouldn’t lose in those outstanding works. That’s an out-of-place artifact in the history of galge, and in other words, it’s an outstanding work that probably wouldn’t exist.)

“Ka, kami nii-sama.”

“I really regretted not being born earlier as that was a game that was completed before I was born. Fu.”

He chuckled.

“Laugh at me, Elsie. Everyone calls me ‘god’, but a human can’t overcome the biological limitations.

Elsie couldn’t laugh.

Her expression was really stiff.

Keima continued,

“How did it end up like this? I don’t really understand what happened, but this was already a game that was released by a small company and had limited numbers. Soon after the game was released, there was a huge controversy as the games were taken back, and most of the products were taken off the shelves.”

He frowned slightly,

“Based on people who know the situation, the sold products at that time didn’t have any problems. However,”

He paused,

“Rumors had it that the so-called initial version, the special editions that had only 10 sets had a problem. But that was just a rumor.”

His eyes were dazzling.

“It seemed that the original version would bring an otherworldly experience to you.”

“AH?”

“This is a game that’s full of mysteries, so I’m not sure if they’re real or not. However, it seemed that the original version had a design that far exceeded expectations. As for whether this design refers to the originality or the system, I’m not sure.”

“Ka, kami nii-sama.”

Elsie’s voice was trembling a little, and Keima smirked.

His eyes looked like they were infected with her fever.

“Favor of the Western Lantern.”

He quickly raised the software in his hands right in front of himself.

“This is the original version.”

On seeing this mysterious packaging, Elsie nearly screamed. Keima shook Elsie’s hand away and immediately entered his room.

He closed the door slightly and poked his head out.

“So to conquer this game, I need to shut myself in for a while. Please don’t disturb me!”

“Nii, nii-sama!”

Before Elsie could even stop him, the door was slammed shut. After that,

“Please, kami nii-sama! Open the door! I have a bad feeling about this!”

No matter how much Elsie knocked or shook the door, the door wouldn’t open. She lowered her head and looked really dejected.

That chilling depression continued to spread inside her heart, and showed no sign of recovering.

“…?”

At this moment, Elsie noticed something and knelt down. She picked up something that dropped onto the floor and continued to stare at it.

What’s this?

Then…

She had goosebumps.

It was a strand she never saw before.

And one that shouldn’t be here in the house, white hair that was of unnatural length.

At the same time, while Keima was locked inside his own room and when Elsie picked up the white hair, in a certain shrine that’s far away from the Majima City, a miko suddenly widened her eyes.

As she sat in a seiza position on the wooden-floored room, the knees of both her thighs were slightly separated, and her hands were placed on the knees. That straightened back and the seiza position showed serenity and discipline.

She was about 25 years old.

The candle altar nearby shone on her and the black shadow.

She had long black hair, a proper and beautiful face and dazzling eyes. It’s weird for a miko, but her lips had lipstick on. With the white skin as the background, the gloss of the lipstick made it really look outstanding.

Also, her ample breasts were supported tightly by the miko outfit. Her figure ratio was really outstanding. The shirt in front of her chest was slightly opened, and one could vaguely see the snowy-white chest. Her face was rather unique. Even though gentle, it gave a pure look.

“Granny!”

This miko suddenly shouted.

“…So you found out as well?”

On hearing her ask this, a hoarse voice came from a dark corner in the room.

“Un. Looks like someone got that again.”

The miko narrowed her eyes and looked over, and a shriveled old granny was sitting there. It seemed that she was already over 100 years. As her clothing was extremely dull looking and she was extremely small, she could hide her presence such that she wouldn’t be discovered. The old granny slowly opened her closed eyes and looked over at the miko.

“What do you think?”

The miko sternly frowned.

And then folded her arms.

“It doesn’t feel good…maybe the ‘mastermind’s over there.”

Her white and slender fingers reached out from her sleeves.

“Un.”

The old granny nodded her head,

“Even I can feel that this is some unpleasant smell.”

“…Yeah, it’s really unpleasant.”

The miko’s beautiful face showed a slight frown, and said in an unworried manner,

“Besides, that thing was always hiding in these bad places.”

“…That thing returned to this world. Which means someone appreciated that thing.”

“Granny?”

The miko stared sharply at the old granny, who in turn nodded again.

“Un, that person’s life is in danger.”

The miko suddenly got up, and at this moment, the old granny asked,

“I say.”

It seemed that she knew how the other person would answer.

The old granny’s sigh showed some reluctance of giving up.

“…Shino, where are you going?”

The miko’s reply was simple, looking as if she didn’t want the old granny to worry for her.

“Where else? I’m going to exterminate that thing!”

The old granny sighed.

“Even if I didn’t agree, you wouldn’t listen to me, would you…”

The miko gave a taunting look at the old granny as her expression was as sharp as a dagger,

“Do you feel that I’m not capable enough, granny?”

“No, I’m not worried about that.”

“I’m not that little kid when I was 6.”

“Un, you had been training hard during these 20 years.”

“Then are you worried about that mysterious thing that’s been living in my body recently?”

“No, I’m not worried about that. According to my divinations, you’ll soon meet someone who can handle that.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

“No, well?”

Seeing her granny look like she wanted to talk,

“Don’t say it! I’ll listen to your muttering later. I’ll head out first!”

The miko raised her sleeves slightly and quickly walked out to the exit.

“Ah.”

The old granny shouted, but the miko didn’t turn back.

And then,

“!”

The moment the miko stepped out of the room.

“KYAAAHHHH!!!”

She let out an ear-piercing scream. The sight of the old granny vanished from behind her. It seemed that she forgot that there were steps outside.

Soon after, the sound of something landing on the ground could be heard.

The old granny inadvertently closed her eyes and curled her neck down.

And then,

“Sigh.”

She sighed and reluctantly opened her eyes and shook her head.

“That’s what I’m worried about…your impulsive personality really worries me.”

...As the anomaly happened mysteriously, almost everyone except Elsie didn’t realize it.

It’s lunch break. Elsie, who was cheery and beloved by everyone, was invited out by her other friends.

They were Takahara Ayumi, Kosaka Chihiro and Terada Miyako.

“Elly, let’s eat together!”

Leading this gang of friends, Chihiro called out Elsie. On a side note, the four girls, including Elsie formed a girls’ band, and Chihiro was the lead singer and the guitarist.

Chihiro’s appearance, personality and interests, all her parameters (according to Keima) were all normal. She just wasn’t outstanding. However, as she had the personality of being a big sister and had the drive to bring people around for good or bad, she often ended up being the leader.

She was the one who got Elsie to join in at the beginning.

If it were the normal Elsie, once she heard Chihiro say that,

“Okay, I would like to!”

She would happily raise her head. But today,

“Ah, okay…”

Though she took the bento and stood up, she looked somewhat depressed as she looked at Keima’s seat that was somewhat far away.

“…”

Terada Miyako noticed Elsie being like this and tilted her head suspiciously.

“What’s wrong?”

Elsie immediately gave a stiff smile,

“Ah, no, nothing!”

And then frantically waved her hands in front of her face.

Terada Miyako was like Chihiro, someone who looked ordinary. However, she, unlike Chihiro, wasn’t the type to lead others. She was someone who was steady and hardworking, and amongst friends, she’s one who would take care of others.

That’s why she noticed that Elsie was a little weird.

Miyako was the keyboardist.

At this moment,

“Alright, let’s link the tables together! Link them together!”

The ever-energetic Takahara Ayumi called them.

Her face was beaming,

As she pushed Elsie and Miyako on the shoulders from the back.

“Ah, o, okay.”

“Un.”

Elsie and Miyako nodded their heads after being prompted.

They’re all girls in the growing stage, and even though they would say ‘I’ve grown a little fat’ or ‘sigh, looks like I have to start dieting tomorrow’, they would finish their bread or bento.

Most notably, Ayumi, who’s from the track and field team, would eat a lot more than an ordinary person because of the calories she would use up.

“In the end, at that time, the sempais,”

Ayumi was chatting away, and when she paused, she stuffed large mouthfuls of bread into her mouth. Her cute appearance was only second to Elsie in this gang of friends. Her hairstyle had a pure sense that was befitting of a girl from an athletic club as her figure was rather slender too.

Because of this, she was rather popular in class too.

However, she herself didn’t seem to be a girl who would mind.

On a side note, she was a guitarist, like Chihiro, in the band. Whether it’s the band or between friends, she was always the one being hot-blooded.

“…”

At this moment, Ayumi suddenly remained silent, and Chihiro, who was eating potato chips, seemed to notice something too,

“…”

And glanced at Ayumi and Miyako.

“…”

Miyako pressed against her forehead in a bothered manner.

“…”

Ayumi herself shrugged, seemingly saying ‘I don’t know’.

“Well.”

Chihiro finally spoke up for everyone.

“What’s wrong, Elly?”

Since just now, Elsie had been putting her hand on her chin and her elbow on the table as she looked at Keima worriedly. It seems that she had not listened to Ayumi’s random chat.

“…”

Even when Chihiro called her, she didn’t respond.

It seemed she didn’t notice Chihiro calling her too. Chihiro, Ayumi and Miyako silently exchanged glances with each other and nodded their heads.

“““ELSIE!!!”””

The trio shouted her name. Elsie was really shocked as she straightened her back and frantically turned around to look at them.

“Ye, yes? Wha, what’s the matter? What happened?”

Chihiro sighed. Ayumi said in an incredulous manner,

“What’s wrong? You don’t seem to be paying attention? Katsuragi isn’t so handsome that you are engrossed in him, right?”

Miyako seemed a little worried.

Elsie was giving a somewhat shy expression as she reached her hand out to scratch her hand.

“Ahaha, so, sorry.”

“What’s with you?”

This time, it’s Chihiro’s turn to frown and ask,

“Is something troubling you?”

The other two were giving off a serious expression. Elsie’s happy about this friendship, but she was hesitating over whether she should be asking this question.

“Eh, that.”

She glanced aside and looked at Keima before keeping her voice down,

“…Nii-sama.”

“Katsuragi?”

“Otamegane?”

It wasn’t really obvious,

But Ayumi and Chihiro trembled slightly, though it wasn’t really obvious.

Both of them blushed slightly, but probably no one noticed it, even them.

Elsie nodded her head, and seemed like she was ready.

“Don’t you feel that nii-sama had been acting weird recently?”

Everyone went silent for a while.

And then,

“Ahahahaha.”

“Wha, what are you saying~ isn’t that too sudden?”

“Oi oi, Elly. Don’t tell any jokes while we’re eating, okay?”

The trio started laughing. Elsie didn’t know what they were laughing about as she widened her eyes. At this moment, they suddenly spoke in unison,

“““That guy’s always strange!”””

And they had quite the chemistry.

It was true.

Right now, Keima had a visor on as he continued to bury himself in gaming. He curled his lips, not caring about his surroundings as he continued to play his galges.

During lunch break.

Could anything else other than ‘weird’ describe his actions?

“Tha, that’s true~”

Elsie’s fingers on both hands were spinning about, showing an embarrassing look.

“But that’s not all~”

But the other three girls were chatting away and didn’t hear what Elsie said.

“That guy’s really strange~”

That was everyone’s unanimous opinion.

From the students to the teachers, everyone felt that Katsuragi Keima was a ‘weirdo’. But when it came to his mother, she was a rather normal person.

As a female, she single-handedly settled all the matters in the café ‘Grandpa’, and even took the load of the Katsuragi family over Keima’s father who hardly returns home.

As she was once a reckless person, anyone who made her angry would have a horrible outcome. However, she was normally a good mother who would take care of people, very tolerant and very reasonable. She raised her child, Keima, who had a really weird personality (actually, she was somewhat worried deep inside), and even took in Elsie, her husband’s illegitimate daughter (though she misunderstood). From her gracious attitude, one could tell that she wasn’t someone ordinary.

From the way she courteously greeted the customers at the café counter, it may be hard to imagine that she was a mother with lots of nerves.

“Hm~hm~☆”

She was humming away, alone in the kitchen after work ended.

That skill of making delicious meals balanced in nutrition was something Elsie, a fellow female, really admired.

Elsie was beside her, helping to prepare dinner by peeling snow peas. Suddenly, she asked curiously,

“Well, okaa-sama.”

“Hm?”

Keima’s mother—Katsuragi Mari was pouring hot water as she asked,

“What’s wrong, Ell-chan?”

She sounded like she was in a good mood.

Elsie was somewhat hesitant.

However.

“Eh.”

Elsie still wished for the mother Mari to know about this, and she hoped to hear her suggestion.

“This may sound weird.”

Elsie approached Mari and kept her voice down to prevent Keima, who was sitting at the table in the living room from hearing it.

“Recently,”

She swallowed her saliva.

“Hasn’t kami nii-sama been acting weird recently?”

For a moment, Mari turned around and looked at Elsie straight on, even forgetting to put down the stirring chopsticks in her hands.

Elsie looked at Mari expectantly.

She believed.

She believed that if it were Mari, she would have noticed something wrong with Keima.

“Fu.”

Mari suddenly jerked her shoulders,

“Ahahahahaha.”

And then started laughing loudly and heartily.

“Please~ isn’t that child already weird, Ell-chan?”

“Eh, that’s true, but~”

Even Keima’s own mother would call him that.

Elsie looked really troubled as she secretly looked behind. Keima was wearing the visor and playing his game. He was in the exact same position as when he was at school, and even the curled lips looked the same.

“Speaking of which, he would sit obediently at the table when it’s time to eat, so I guess there’s an improvement.”

“…”

Elsie didn’t know how to answer as she rolled her eyeballs side to side.

“Speaking of which.”

Mari’s expression went a little serious.

“Recently, the weird one isn’t my son. It should be the house.”

Mari put down the stirring chopsticks, wiped her hands off the apron and looked at Elsie.

“Don’t you feel that there’s some wind blowing in from some gap?”

“…”

“That’s strange. I can’t find any hole even after looking for the entire day.”

“…”

“The house feels really cold. I don’t know why.”

“Yeah, it’s summer now.”

“Yeah. That’s really weird. We don’t turn on the air-con normally anyway.”

“…”

Elsie looked completely teary, and Mari continued,

“The house looks dark too. Are the lights spoilt?”

She looked up at the ceiling.”

“…”

Elsie suddenly turned around curiously. At this moment, Keima took off the visor and got up. Most likely, he was going to the toilet. He slowly moved his feet and was about to leave the living room.

“The toilet is so humid, and the house was shaking for a while at midnight. It felt like someone was moving around. Should we find some people who specialize in this to check this out?”

Just when Mari used her fingers to stroke her chin as she muttered,

“!”

Elsie felt a chill down her spine.

As Keima, who opened the door and was about to leave the living room…

“Eh!”

She couldn’t help but shriek.

Keima was showing a mysterious smile on his lips.

Elsie started to feel even more uneasy.

Elsie had a late bath today.

She was busy with housework, waiting for Mari and Keima to finish first before going in. That’s because Elsie considered that she was only staying with them for the time being, and also because she was considerate.

Even though Elsie’s face looked rather childish, her body proportions were full of charm.

She carefully washed her snowy-white skin and pitch black hair before dipping into the bathtub.

“Fuu.”

And then couldn’t help but heave a sigh.

“I was really busy today.”

In school, she had to practice with Chihiro and the rest in the band. At home, she had to clear the café, clean the house up and wash the clothes.

Thus, she closed her eyes slightly, and nearly fell asleep in the bathtub.

Ploop.

Suddenly, the sound of water could be heard.

She frantically opened her eyes. It was the water dropping slowly from the faucet into the basin that was full of water.

Ploop.”

The water droplet scattered on the water surface and let out a sound.

Elsie hurriedly reached for the tap and tightened it shut.

Ploop, plop. The hot water sled from her soft white skin and landed on the tiles.

“Fuu.”

She went back to soak inside the bathtub and then used the fingertips to tap her face to shake away her sleepiness. She was thinking about Keima.

“I still, feel, that it’s a little weird.”

Ever since he bought the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’, it was obvious that something wasn’t right with Keima. Even so, like what everyone said, Keima’s actions and mannerism were a far cry from ‘common sense’. However, Elsie could tell.

For some reason.

He was weirder than normal.

No, it should be said that he was a lot weirder than usual.

At this moment, Elsie had a brainwave.

“Ah.”

She inadvertently called out. So that’s how it was.

She finally thought of it.

The source of everything wrong.

Was…

“u.”

Elsie suddenly had goosebumps even though she was bathing in hot water.

She felt her body go cold.

“I see, so that’s why…”

The reason why she felt that Keima was strange.

Was actually because he was no different from usual.

Keima got a game he never thought that he would be able to buy, and it was a game that he’d always dreamt of. However, he didn’t become engrossed in the game just to conquer it, but went to school as usual (though he was playing), he would eat his meals normally at home (though he was playing), and was sleeping like usual (most likely, he locked himself inside the room and continued to play his game.)

Even so,

At what time was he playing that game?

That game called ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’.

Elsie understood well that once Keima got serious, he could break through that game at a speed that far exceeds human ability. However, even after buying the game and spending some time, it didn’t look like he managed to conquer the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’. He did explain everything about the game to Elsie. If he conquered it, he would at least describe his feelings.

Speaking of which,

The entire situation was even weirder.

Looking at what Keima would do normally, he would lock himself in the room and play that ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’ all day.

Which brought the question back,

“When was kami nii-sama playing that game?”

Right now, Elsie knew that it was a game that had to be ‘installed’ in a ‘computer’.

However, Keima would go to school as per normal and would also talk to Mari as per usual after getting home, get along well ‘happily’ with his family members in the living room.

In that case, when will he have the time to play that ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’ he finally got…

“Don’t tell me…night time?”

Elsie felt a chill inside her head and looked up at the ceiling.

The second level.

It seemed that she could look through the ceiling into Keima’s room while he was locked inside, staring at the game screen as if in a trance.

His back was arched.

And the eyes under the glasses were shining.

His mouth must be giving off that mysterious smile…

Just then, Elsie was so scared that she felt chills down her spine.

“!”

She nearly screamed inadvertently as the lights went out. She immediately panicked. Her eyes that lost sight of light couldn’t adjust for a short time in the darkness, and she could see anything at all. Thus, she stood up instinctively.

“~u”

She gave a crying look as she slowly climbed out of the bathtub, watching herself to not slip and reaching her hand out as she carefully touched about in the darkness.

However, she was nervous inside.

What’s going on?

What happened?

Was it a power shortage?

Did someone turn the lights off?

What?

What’s going on?

A pile of questions spun inside her head as she frantically looked for a way out barefooted. Just as she was about to reach the door leading out of the bathroom,

“!”

Elsie unknowingly stopped her steps.

(That’s strange? What’s that?)

Her eyes finally got used to the darkness.

It was vague, but she could see the changing room through the slightly opened gap.

What?

What’s that?

(Something’s kneeling on the floor.)

Her stomach felt a chill, and all her blood felt like it froze in an instant.

(Is it a person? Is someone there?)

Elsie completely forgot that she was naked. She was rooted there, and her eyes couldn’t look away from that thing.

Her teeth were trembling.

(Is it okaa-sama? Or kami nii-sama?)

How could it be possible?

Her common sense was telling her that it was impossible. If it was Keima.

If it was Mari.

Why would they crouch down over here silently and not make a sound?

In pitch darkness.

Elsie,

“Who are you?”

Really wanted to ask the thing, but her instincts were stopping her from doing so. That thing,

Wasn’t human.

But something else.

(!)

Elsie nearly suffocated. That figure,

Started to turn slowly towards Elsie.

First, it was the face.

Then, the shoulders turned unnaturally as the upper body turned around.

That thing didn’t say anything.

What replaced it was,

“Eh, eh.”

Elsie let out a mysterious voice from deep inside her throat and nearly collapsed. Her eyes couldn’t look away from that thing, and she was completely helpless. Under the darkness, she could see the figure of the thing, but for some reason, she couldn’t see the face at all.

[[Image:TWGOK 02 009.jpg|thumb]]

That face was completely blank.

Like a faceless ghost.

Then,

In that position,

Suddenly.

“~”

That thing,

Leaped up like an insect and stuck on the door.

“Chichichichichichichi!!”

And let out a strange sound.

The door was being forced open as the white hands swarmed and struggled in. The hands and feet were all messily reaching in.

“Chichichichichi!”

That,

Disgusting thing.

Wanted to enter the bathroom.

Chi.

Elsie fell back and collapsed onto the floor, and she instinctively let out a similar sound.

“KYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

The shout became a scream that rocked the entire Katsuragi family.

As for what happened next, Elsie couldn’t remember at all. All she knew was that Mari hurriedly carried her naked body.

It seemed that she fainted on the floor of the bathroom.

The lights were already turned on.

She could see Keima behind Mari. He looked away, trying his best not to look at Elsie. At this moment, what Elsie thought may not be suited for this situation.

(Kami nii-sama…cares about me.)

It seemed that Keima came over after hearing Elsie scream, which made her really happy as she couldn’t help but smile. At this moment, she found that she was naked and panicked.

She used the towel to wrap her body and stood up from the floor.

On hearing Mari’s concern,

“Are you alright? What happened, Ell-chan?”

Her mind recovered, and the fear rose up in her again.

And then, she shuddered.

Elsie frantically explained to the Katsuragis what happened.

The lights suddenly went out.

And there was something of unknown origin crouched inside the changing room.

She flailed her limbs as she desperately explained.

However,

“…”

“…”

Both son and mother, Keima and Mari merely exchanged looks with each other. Mari looked somewhat bothered, and Keima sighed.

“But, Ell-chan.”

And then Mari spoke,

“Keima and I were both awake, but the lights didn’t go out, you know? The lights were always on. That can’t be doubted.”

“In that case!”

Elsie desperately tried to convince them.

“That! That person!”

For some reason, Elsie’s instincts were telling her that it was female.

“That person must have turned off the lights!”

Keima sighed again. Mari herself smiled. And then,

“Ell-chan, you must have soaked yourself doozy inside the bath, causing that hallucination.”

Mari’s white hand was placed on Elsie’s forehead gently.

“Bu, but.”

Elsie wanted to continue on. At this moment, Keima spoke,

“I say, Elsie.”

He didn’t give Elsie time to continue talking. The eyes behind the glasses flashed, and he immediately said,

“I went downstairs to the kitchen to get a drink from the kitchen, and mom just happened to come out from the toilet. We were already here less than 10 seconds after you screamed. Mom was just right in front of the toilet, so there shouldn’t be any delay in time.

“Listen to me, Ell-chan.”

Mari seemed to be really bothered.

“It is like Keima said. It was really a coincidence that I came out from the toilet. You know that the toilet in this house is right beside the bathroom, so I immediately opened the bathroom door once I heard you scream.”

At this moment, Elsie finally understood what they were trying to say.

Mari added.

“Of course, I knew the moment I opened the door. There wasn’t anything strange inside the changing room, and the lights in the bathroom were all on.”

“Hau.”

Elsie’s eyes were a little wet.

Now that they mentioned it…

She may feel that everything was just a hallucination.

Thus, she accepted Mari’s explanation slightly, and felt a lot more relieved.

However,

She still felt that it happened before…

Elsie did not really understand things at all, and used her fist to thump against her chin as she sank into deep thought.

“Hau~”

“…”

Keima, who continued to look at her silently, sighed for the third time.

“Next time, remember not to take a bath for too long, Elsie. I’m going back to the room.”

Keima said as he left the changing room. It seemed that being with the half-naked Elsie made him really uneasy.

In a certain sense, this thinking should be logical.

Then, Mari said,

“Here, Ell-chan, hurry up and change and come to the kitchen. You look tired. Let me prepare some ginger ale to wake you up.”

She smiled and followed Keima. Thud, the door was slammed shut.

“Hau~”

Elsie, who was left alone inside the changing room, was moaning. She then pondered as she slowly wore her clothes. She was draped in the towel as she took her underwear and lifted a foot as she was about to put it on.

“?”

She quickly put her underwear on and slowly knelt down.

Then, she used her fingertips to pick something off the floor.

“!”

Her face immediately went pale.

That was,

A long white strand of hair.

Elsie’s first response.

Was,

“~U!”

She pinched that strand of hair and raised it high up, and she was frantically running around the changing room. A human…no, even if it was a devil, anything that met a stimulus that far exceeded what they could take would unavoidably end up panicking.

(What? What’s this?)

She had no clue at all.

Why,

In such a place…

Is there such a strand of hair?

Elsie’s thoughts were linked together. That mysterious figure, the game software Keima bought back, and the strand of white hair that dropped right in front of his room.

And she came to a conclusion.

It’s that…

This strand of hair…

Was,

The strange figure’s.

That woman.

That thing?

“Is, is this all related? To that game?”

Her entire body couldn’t help but tremble.

Her body couldn’t listen to her as it went even colder.

“…That game kami nii-sama bought back.”

At this moment.

Elsie finally recovered, and noticed that her fingers were still holding onto the hair strand of unknown origins.

“KYAH!”

She screamed, threw the hair aside…

“U, uu.”

And then hurriedly ran to the basin to wash her hands frantically with soap. After checking that she washed it carefully a few times, she finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Then, she used a piece of tissue to pick the hair strand and dumped it in the dustbin. It was a simple action, but it felt so disgusting that she almost wanted to cry out…

“Hau~”

She merely hoped.

Not,

To have something strange going on again.

Her entire daily life,

Was slowly being corroded by anomalies.

Like when she was lying on the bed, she would look to the window as she couldn’t sleep, and outside the window…

Though it was the second level.

“!”

There was a face tilted sideway, looking into the room silently.

It was an empty face,

One devoid of any organs.

And a brush of white hair.

“Eh!”

Just when Elsie was about to scream out.

That face suddenly disappeared completely without a trace.

Was she dreaming?

Was this an imagination?

Or did she merely see wrongly?

Anyway, Elsie couldn’t sleep well at all.

As she was surrounded by her classmates at school.

She looked at Keima.

The sight in front of her eyes shocked her.

“!”

She nearly screamed out in broad daylight.

There was a white hand,

So slender that it was unnatural for a human that grew out from the gap between the table, sticking tightly onto Keima’s waist.

It wrapped around a few times.

Many times.

Just when Elsie nearly lost her breath and remain stunned.

That illusion vanished without a trace.

Keima continued to give a shallow smile as he continued to play his game casually. And there were all sorts of commotions around them as Chihiro and the rest called out for her.

What was going on?

Was something wrong with Elsie’s head?

What exactly happened?

When bathing at home, she would find white hair flowing towards the gutter.

That was obviously not Elsie’s.

It wasn’t her hair.

“Hau.”

She was all confused.

On a certain day, she finally couldn’t take it…

It was drizzling in the morning. Elsie felt uneasy after she got out from bed.

No matter whether it was school,

Or whether she was going home,

She felt that there was something that didn’t belong to this world staring at her from behind, and thus she continued to look behind her again and again.

Seeing her like this, even the normally careless Chihiro,

“…Oi oi, what’s with you, Elly?”

Couldn’t help but cock her eyebrows and ask.

And Elsie,

“…”

Could only give a smile that looked as if she was about to cry as she silently shook her head.

She couldn’t explain it.

And she couldn’t ask others for help.

Once she got home, something happened that made Elsie even more worried.

Keima’s mother, Mari,

“Sorry! My mother’s house had some issues, so I need to close the shop and head back there first.”

Actually clapped her hands together and apologized.

Elsie was a little panicky.

She actually had a thought deep inside her heart.

That was,

“It’s a good thing that okaa-sama’s at home.”

Elsie felt that no matter what happens, as long as Mari was in the house, she would be able to be more at ease. However, her only hope, Mari,

“I’ll leave Keima to you then.”

Actually left these words behind and hurriedly left the house.

“Ah.”

As Elsie opened her mouth, the door was already slammed shut.

She could feel the breezy cold wind,

Blowing into her sleeves.

After that, Elsie inspected the entire house and locked all the doors and windows shut. Sometimes, she would look at the grey sky outside the window.

It was only evening, but it was already pitch black nearby. The depressing dark grey clouds were all covering the entire sky in layers.

The icy cold rainwater dropped from the sky.

The water droplets were stuck on the glass windows.

The street lights outside the windows looked even more unnerving. As she looked at the yellow sunset that was being covered, Elsie’s depression seemed like it worked up as her body shuddered and she left the window.

As she didn’t feel safe at all, Elsie decided to watch the TV in the living room.

She had a blanket draped all over her head as she placed the cushion at her knees.

“I, I wonder if there are any funny shows…”

She continued to switch channels.

But, just on this day…

“Why, why must the cooking show be a supernatural special?”

She was about to cry.

As she switched to the news channel, the report of a sandstorm shocked her; once she switched to the comedy channel, the host would start talking about scary things.

Someone must be messing around here!

If Keima saw this,

“Why is a devil scared of these things?”

He would most likely tell Elsie off like this. However, she’s still scared.

Elsie,

“Uu~ hau~”

Let out sobbing sounds as she cried and trembled. At this moment,

Clack,

“…”

The door to the living room opened.

Elsie,

“!”

Jumped up in shock. Standing at the door,

“…”

Was obviously Keima. He used a calm tone,

“Elsie.”

To call Elsie.

“Wha, what is it?”

Elsie’s voice inadvertently shrieked. She put down the blanket that she subconsciously placed over her head and the cushion she had in her lap and stood up. Keima glanced at the blanket and the cushion for a while, but didn’t ask anything much as he clearly stated his request.

“I’m hungry. I want something to eat.”

Elsie vaguely nodded her head.

“O, okay, I understand…”

Normally, the dishes Elsie made would create quite an argument. As for her cooking, whether it was the taste, the nutrition or the appearance, she would have definite confidence in it; but Keima would grumble if the food was made for him (mainly because the appearance would cause some symptoms on Keima).

On a side note, the menu today was,

“‘Cheddar Cheese and Mururuka Steamed rice’!”

Elsie confidently served it up.

Normally,

“Mu, Mururuka? What’s that?”

Keima would tell her off, and Elsie would say confidently,

“Mururuka is Mururuka. It’s an animal with a bent-nose that’s very nutritious and lives in the Sanzu river!”

“Wha, what kind of answer is that!? How can I eat such a dangerous thing after listening to your explanation?”

And start off a quarrel.

But today…

“…”

Keima actually moved his chopsticks silently and ate the food in large gulps, without complaining at all.

Elsie started to feel depressed again.

“The, then, kami nii-sama.”

That was the reason.

Keima looked way too calm.

“Eh, eh.”

She timidly opened her mouth.

“Well.”

Keima suddenly reached his hand out and skillfully took off the flower decoration on the table and started to eat in large gulps.

Elsie stared at Keima.

“…”

She looked carefully, and found that Keima was completely aloof as the eyes under his glasses were swimming.

Elsie’s expression was a little cold,

“…Kami nii-sama.”

“Un.”

“Is the food good?”

“Not bad.”

After saying that, Keima continued to wolf the flower down, tilting his head and seemingly thinking about something. Elsie sighed and moved the flower pot away slightly.

She couldn’t let him continue to eat flowers.

Keima’s eyes were still swimming about, and the chopsticks started to flick and grab at space. After a while,

“I got it!”

He suddenly shouted and stood up. Clak. He put the chopsticks aside.

“I got the link between all of this! Now…I can solve it. Elsie, I’m going back to my room!”

“Eh?”

“Don’t bother me.”

After saying that, he turned around and got ready to leave the café. Elsie couldn’t help it,

“The, then, kami nii-sama!”

And called him.

She thought that Keima wouldn’t stop,

“…”

Unexpectedly, he stopped at the door and turned to glance at Elsie.

“…What’s up?”

And asked.

Elsie panicked. Actually, she didn’t have any real reason for calling Keima. More accurately,

She was somewhat confused and anxious.

About Keima,

About everything that happened in the house.

All the uneasiness.

However,

“We, well.”

Hau~

After a moment of hesitation,

“Eh, eh, well…that Lantern game you bought before, have you conquered it?”

Elsie couldn’t help but raise this question.

Keima showed blank white eyes.

Elsie gave an appeasing smile. Keima glanced at her, and then,

“Fu.”

He smiled.

“Not yet. That’s a pity.”

“…”

Elsie couldn’t understand.

“It’s strange for me to say this.”

She carefully tried her best not to make Keima angry,

"But with kami nii-sama’s ability, it seemed that it took a longer time.”

“…”

“Is, is it because the game’s hard to conquer?”

“…”

Keima was silent for a long while, and it felt unnatural. Then,

“Un, that was really a somewhat harder game. To be honest, I never thought that such levels of research on religious studies and testing of logical thinking were required.”

However,

Keima paused for a while.

“These weren’t the problem.”

The problem was,

He gave a meaningful smile,

“This game can only be played at night…”

Elsie was so scared that she was trembling.

During this time, Keima narrowed his eyes, and his expression regained its calmness.

“Let me say this again. Don’t disturb me!”

After leaving these words behind, he hurriedly left the café. Elsie was left alone in the café, standing there blankly…

For some reason, everything felt really scary.

Elsie quickly cleared up all the plates and swept about before taking a shower and hurriedly changed into her pajamas before entering her futon. She showed only half her face from the blanket as her body continued to shudder.

“U, uu, hau~”

Her eyes were full of tears.

What’s with Keima?

What did he mean by those words?

What happened?

She didn’t have any intention of sleeping. She didn’t want to sleep at all.

But, once she recovered,

“Tha, that’s weird?”

Elsie frantically wiped the drool away from her mouth.

Her blurry vision gradually cleared up from within the darkness. It seemed that she slept unknowingly.

Actually, she herself somehow couldn’t believe it.

This sense that was of an unknown origin was ever so strong, and yet she accidentally fell asleep…no,

However,

This sleep felt like her entire thoughts had entered the darkness. It felt unnatural…thinking about this, she was shocked.

“Eh?”

She finally realized what was wrong.

“!”

Elsie was so scared that she was trembling.

It was too strange.

She remembered she never turned off the lights.

“Hau~”

She was about to cry.

It was unknown when it began, but everything was in pitch blackness. She hurriedly reached out her hand and pressed the switch beside the pillow.

“~”

She pressed it a few times.

However,

“Wh, why?”

Elsie’s teeth were chattering as she muttered. The lights were completely out.

“Was, was there a power shortage?”

Though it wasn’t impossible…

But what occupied her mind was the incident that happened in the bathroom a few days ago, that unknown figure crouched in the changing room.

Elsie worriedly looked around the bathroom.

That thing.

She wondered whether that weird woman was crouched over there.

“UUU!”

She let out a meaningless shout.

And then used the blanket to cover her head to forget everything that happened before. Actually, Elsie did intend to do this as she decided to escape from reality with all she had until daylight.

Elsie was determined to hide under that blanket.

She was all curled up.

Very small.

Small.

The rain continued until midnight, and the stuffy humidity disappeared and was replaced by cool air that was all around.

The residence was completely silent.

The vending machine looked especially bright on the streets that were covered by night.

The clouds quickly flew past the night sky.

As the clouds moved, the moon would occasionally appear, shining on the muddy ground, appearing bright and dim at times.

The white tabi stepped hard into the puddle as a miko appeared.

“Is it here…”

She was holding onto a paper umbrella, and she lifted her head from under the umbrella to look at a café.

The signboard on that café,

Had the word ‘Grandpa’.

Elsie was determined not to leave the blanket no matter what happened. She convinced herself that if she stayed inside it, she wouldn’t have to worry about anything.

“Hmhm~hm☆”

Even though she hummed to endure,

“Hau.”

Her tears continued to flow.

“Hau~”

She couldn’t overcome this physical phenomenon.

Just like that, Elsie was draped with the blanket, leaping up from the bed and running out of the room.

Splash. The sound of water could be heard.

Elsie was still covered by the blanket on the head like a snail as she timidly wept and dragged herself into the toilet.

As the moonlight was shining in from the windows, it wasn’t dark all around.

Though it was dim, the irritation around her felt like it was the white light that was scattered.

However,

“Hau.”

Even so, Elsie was really uneasy that there was no light. To be cautious, she hid in the corner and tried to press all the lights of the corridor and the toilet, but there was no response.

Was the thing called the circuit breaker broken?

But Elsie didn’t exactly know what kind of mechanism that was, and she didn’t know where it was installed. She had no idea how to handle it.

At the same time, she felt somewhat puzzled.

If all the ‘electricity’ in the house couldn’t be used,

“How is kami nii-sama playing the game?”

Even Elsie knew that a computer required electricity.

At this moment.

“Eh!”

Without thinking too much, Elsie ran out of the toilet and shrieked lightly. Her bare toes touched something icy.

She gently took her foot back and brought her face closer to the corridor to check,

“…Water?”

It was a puddle of water.

She looked around. The bathroom was right in front.

The door that was definitely closed showed a little opening.

“Why is there water here…kami nii-sama?”

For a moment, Elsie thought that Keima toppled something, but it didn’t look that way. That puddle of water was reaching forward.

It was like something wet was walking over.

A certain thing was climbing out from the bathroom.

Elsie immediately felt her blood froze.

She started to shake uncontrollably, and stared…

At the front of the corridor,

Something was crouched there.

That wet and slimy thing.

Lifted its face.

Face?

No, that thing,

Didn’t have a face.

It was completely smooth and blank.

That thing was wearing a white one-piece dress, and the limbs were bent unnaturally like a monkey as it crouched down there.

As Elsie watched, that thing’s limbs opened up like a crab.

Elsie cried.

In the darkness that was lit by the silvery white moonlight.

“KYAAH!”

But, her body,

Was stiff.

It couldn’t move.

She couldn’t run away.

“~”

Her voice was becoming hoarser and hoarser even though she wanted to drag her body and run away with all she had.

However, it was like that mysteriously-shaped thing was giving off a strong magnetic field as Elsie couldn’t look away no matter what.

The air on the corridor got colder and colder.

Her feet were completely stiff.

However, she was about to collapse onto the floor. Elsie was rooted there, completely helpless like a little animal facing a predator.

“Hau.”

Just when Elsie was in such despair that she almost cried out.

“Chichichichichichichi!!!”

THUD! That woman rushed forward.

And in the middle of the corridor, its animal-like limbs leaped up. After a long and unnatural moment of suspension.

“EH!”

Just as she was about to land on Elsie.

“Unclean being, back down!!”

A high-pitched voice rang from around.

A powerful yet clean impact grazed Elsie from behind.

Sending her hair fluttering forward.

“Chi~”

The strangely-shaped woman was hit by the impact as she collapsed onto the corridor. She then flipped her body and looked over like a beast.

“Ah.”

Elsie stiffly looked around. Behind her,

“…How dirty.”

Wielding a chokutou, the sexy, tall and big miko agilely moved in front of Elsie.

“…”

Elsie couldn’t say anything.

The miko who appeared at the Katsuragis’ house for some reason raised the chokutou that had the exorcism talisman hanging on it.

And quickly rushed over to that strangely-shaped woman.

“Chi.”

The strange-shaped woman lowered her head slightly, looking as if she was examining the situation as she looked around. Then,

“!”

She disappeared just like that, into a pile of smoke and merged with the darkness. The miko sighed.

“…She got away? Luckily, she’s not skilled enough.”

“Ah, uu.”

Elsie’s tense emotions immediately relaxed, and this sudden change in situation caused her to collapse immediately. The miko hurriedly supported her waist.

“We’ve got to move fast. It should be your,”

The miko stared at Elsie,

“Your brother, right? Please lead me to the boy who’s playing that ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’.”

That’s—

The miko revealed a complicated expression.

“That’s a cursed game that would bring death.”

She said sternly.

At the same time.

DURUDURUDURUDURUDURUDURU!!

Elsie’s hair decoration let out a sound as it reacted.

This scene was rather remarkable.

First, it was the miko who was sitting on the floor.

With the bright contrast of white and deep red of the miko costume.

“Hello, my name is Akuragawa Shino. I came from the Toyoboshi Shrine on Mount Uryu.”

She opened her lips that had a tinge of lipstick on. Her nose was rather prominent, and her eyes were clear. Anyway, she was born with this proper face. Her thick black hair was tied with a white cloth and was laid behind.

She casually gave a bow, and then lifted her white face.

“I’m really sorry for visiting so suddenly tonight.”

The body proportions of this miko were so good that even Elsie, who was sitting beside her, felt shocked. Her body curves were in sync, and the ampleness of her breasts was so great that it could be doubted if it was inappropriate for a miko to be like this.

Also, she was rather tall.

Whether it was the eye-catching face or the flexible limbs, even if she wasn’t a miko but a model, it’s possible that she could stand on a runway immediately.

“…”

“…”

As for the owner of the room who the miko was lifting her head to,

“…”

“…”

He was still sitting on the chair with his back facing the rest as he continued to play and hit the keyboard. There were many screens interlinked right in front of him.

Elsie glanced at a corner of the room.

There was a red box-shaped machine rumbling.

(So the electricity’s coming from there…)

Of course, Elsie didn’t know that it was the emergency generator. It was small, but it could provide enough energy for multiple computers. Of course, an ordinary gamer’s house couldn’t possibly prepare such a thing, but Keima, who had reached a god-like mode, was well prepared in everything.

“…May I know your name?”

On hearing this miko who called herself Shino say this,

“…Katsuragi Keima.”

Keima continued to face them with his back as he answered clearly.

To Elsie, Keima wasn’t really in a bad mood, and he had no intention on avoiding the unexpected guest in the Katsuragis’ house.

And he even let them into his room.

However.

“…”

“Katsuragi Keima. That’s a nice name.”

He didn’t look like he was entertaining Shino wholeheartedly.

He was just unconcerned.

Unconcerned as he continued to play his game.

Patapata, he continued to hit at the keyboard. Elsie was entranced by the graceful movement of those fingers that were smooth and quick, like a pianist.

Shino’s eyebrows twitched.

“…You.”

She slightly increased her volume,

“You do know what kind of game are you playing, don’t you?”

Elsie was so scared that she curled up.

Actually, she was already curious since just now. Of the many screens, only the screen in front was lit up, and it should be showing the game screen of the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’. Ever since she started living together with the ‘God of galge’ Keima, Elsie learned some aspects of galges, so she could tell that the screen was a lot different from an ordinary galge. First, the screen was really dark.

On the black screen, the white words were scrolled down quickly.

Keima was looking at those words normally, but Elsie couldn’t understand what seemingly meaningless paragraphs of words there were. There were a lot of calculations and English technical terms. If it were an ordinary galge, what appeared on the screen should mostly be the illustration of the female lead and the images of the streets, but this game didn’t seem to have any of these.

No, there should be, but the way it was presented was abnormal.

The black figures that were no different from shadows suddenly glided across the screen and disappeared. A normal looking girl who seemed to be the female lead suddenly appeared without warning and then went away like she was curled out. Other than that, the scene of a dump would be shown from time to time. ‘I want to die, I want to die, I want to die’. Red text streamed on it. To be honest,

Anyone watching this would find this really scary.

“…”

Keima didn’t answer as he merely tapped at the keyboard gracefully. After a while, he moved his body aside and moved his shoulders,

And narrowed his eyes as he continued to watch the screen.

It seemed that he was only moving his body.

Seeing Keima like this, Shino was obviously anxious.

She grabbed her crimson red hakama.

“…Can’t be helped. Looks like I have to start explaining that game from its origins.”

She coughed dryly, seemingly to motivate herself, and then spoke,

“Though I’m not really well-versed in this.”

She said as an opening.

“About 20 years ago, a man’s idea was rather mysterious. That game…it should be a galge or something, right?”

Keima didn’t answer.

Shino gritted her teeth,

“I have no idea of the genres of games. If there are any mistakes, please forgive me.”

“…”

Keima still didn’t respond, and as Elsie was breaking out in cold sweat, Shino seemed to have given up.

“…The designer for that galge was a man called Mogami Takeshi. According to my investigations, he seemed to be a genius in this line of work. Eh, his works include the ro, road to decadence or something and the first something.”

“The ‘Daily Life leading to Decadence’ and ‘the First Murder’.”

Keima immediately corrected her. He was still facing the screen as he said calmly,

“Mogami Takeshi was a scriptwriter, programmer and original artist for a galge, and he was a genius who balanced on the verge of generations. His signature works were the ‘Daily Life leading to Decadence’, ‘the First Murder’ and the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’ I’m playing now. He had very few works, but he had a system that far exceeded its time, a brand new kind of script and an advanced human portrait, which amazed lots of galge players then. He was really a genius, but it’s too bad that he died in his prime.”

“…”

This time, the reason Shino was silent was different from before.

Then, she seemed to be motivated.

“It seems that you understand the game extremely well. Anyway, the problem in question is that Mogami Takeshi.”

“…”

Keima went back to being silent. Shino looked serious as she continued,

“Keima-dono’s view of Mogami Takeshi was that he was a genius who verged between the times, but to me, I feel that he was too greedy about his own work.”

“…Greedy?”

Elsie, who never interrupted, tilted her head. Shino nodded her head hard.

“That’s right.”

At this moment, she was a little hesitant on how to explain it.

“…That person wanted to instill a soul into his own work.”

“…”

Keima stopped his hands that were typing. Elsie looked like she wanted to cry, and for some reason, it seemed that the topic had developed in such a way that she didn’t want to hear it…

After checking that Keima was listening seriously, Shino continued,

“I’m not sure as a religious person, but amongst creators, it seemed that there would be people who would head down the wrong path? Do you know of Akutagawa Ryuunosuke’s short story ‘Hell Screen’? It was about an artist who wanted to draw his ideal work and watched his own daughter get burned to death, right?”

Shino paused for a while, pondering over whether she should continue,

“…Mogami Takashi and the artist in that work, Yoshihide, seemed to be of the same kind.”

“…”

“…”

Elsie and Keima remained silent. The generator rumbled, and Elsie was a little scared as she couldn’t help but look around.

For some reason, she felt that the pale woman hid somewhere, like under Keima’s table or behind the cupboard that was full of games.

She just couldn’t relax.

“…It’s only temporary, but I set a boundary, and I’m here, so there’s no need to worry.”

Elsie was shocked, and found Shino smiling at her. It seemed that she intuitively detected Elsie’s uneasiness. Elsie answered with a nod and a stiff smile. Shino then turned around and continued,

“There are ‘evil spirits’ in this world.”

“…”

“…”

Elsie and Keima understood that this was becoming more believable. Shino showed a cautious expression.

“This isn’t speculation now. According to word of mouth, that was the vengeful spirit of a woman who was killed in unaddressed injustice, but I feel that it was the result of the unclean beings we purified being collected and existing before the legend spread. That thing had always been sealed inside our shrine.”

She looked afar,

“…Deep inside our shrine were many barriers. We used the stone gate to lock her inside. The grandmother of my grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother had always used a ritual to seal her inside to prevent her from escaping and harming humanity. However,”

Shino suddenly showed an unhappy expression and continued,

“Unexpectedly…someone undid the seal while we were off guard.”

“!”

Elsie widened her eyes. Keima still had his back facing them, but he was obviously noticing Shino’s actions.

Shino sighed,

“That person was the man named Mogami Takeshi.”

“…”

“…”

“Let me repeat this again. To be honest, I don’t understand the author’s intention.”

After some silence, Shino added on,

“However, I know that this man called Mogami Takeshi is a genius. After undoing that seal that even we didn’t really understand, he put a part of it into his work.”

“!”

Elsie looked shocked and suddenly looked at Keima. However, Keima didn’t look back as he merely let his back slide down the chair.

He seemed to be thinking about something. Shino continued,

“It was said that Mogami Takeshi’s dream was to make ‘an unparalleled game’. Like the name suggests, he wanted to ‘make a work with all his soul in it’…that was what I knew when I investigated him. Many people noted this.”

“...”

Shino noticed Elsie’s stare and gave a somewhat self-depreciative laugh,

“Don’t look at me like this. I did lots of investigation on that guy, though my movements were slower than his by a lot.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly, and looked somewhat cold,

“…How is it? Any thoughts on playing this game? Is the game Mogami Takeshi put all his soul into that amazing?”

And asked Keima.

“…”

Keima didn’t answer.

Shino sighed.

“However, I really never expected to meet the main body of the ‘evil spirit’ over here…”

“Excuse me?”

Elsie, who was trying her best not to speak out, stammered and asked courteously,

“Erm, tha, what’s the point of putting tha, that ‘evil spirit’ into the game? And,”

There was something she always wanted to ask,

“What’s that pale woman? Is that the true identity of the ‘evil spirit’?”

“…”

Shino spent some time to collect her thoughts.

“I heard that the ultimate aim of Mogami Takeshi was to present real ‘horror’. What I want to say next was all I know in my investigations on him, and not my own personal view, so please understand. It’s said that his view was to ‘make a game as close to reality as possible’.”

(Reality…)

On hearing these words, Elsie couldn’t help but look back at Keima.

Keima’s back didn’t move at all.

Shino then continued,

“Both of you do know of the ‘suspension bridge effect’? When a boy and a girl are in an unstable state and feeling terrified, it would be easy for them to fall in love.”

“We~ll.”

Elsie used her fingers to stroke her chin.

“Chihiro-san…my friend at school said that it’s best for a couple to watch a horror movie together. Is it something like that?”

“That’s basically it.”

Shino smiled.

“…That’s the basic of basics. In other words, even after reaching the end, the genius still went back to the origin, right?”

Keima muttered to himself. Shino glanced at him,

“That person…Mogami Takeshi seemed to feel that only the deepest fear would cause an unparalleled romance. To prevent this fear, he used the Red-Ogre as the final element. That should be the way to describe it, right? That’s basically making the sticky blood in a haunted house real or using a real corpse to film. For a human, such thinking is crazy.”

She said calmly,

“To be honest, whether it was a crazy thought or not, I have to really respect his acute sense to use the ‘evil spirit’ that’s sealed in our shrine.”

Elsie remained that pale woman and felt chills deep inside.

“That’s because…that thing was really inauspicious.”

Shino sighed and shook her head. And then, looking like she wanted to motivate herself again,

“Anyway, Mogami Takeshi stole the ‘evil spirit’ from our shrine and installed the main body into his game. What you saw was her clone.”

“…Clone?”

“Or a part of it.”

The miko properly explained things,

“The ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’ could roughly be divided into two types, the original and the copy…I’m not really sure, but there’s something called original and replicate in the gaming realm, right? Even though the original was the only one who had the ‘evil spirit’ sealed inside, there would still be remnants of the soul left inside the copy, and thus, the effect Mogami Takeshi wished for was created.”

Elsie,

(This is the original version of the ’Favor of the Western Lantern!)

Remembered the moment she saw Keima shout.

In other words, was the game Keima’s playing now the ‘main body’ Shino said?

Elsie was trembling.

As for Shino,

“…Playing this game will cause the plot to move on, and the unsealed parts of the ‘evil spirit’ will look for the sealed parts just to become one. Of course, the copy itself an ‘evil spirit’ of comparable power.”

Un, she nodded.

“The level of horror wasn’t something that could be experienced in an ordinary haunted house. The evil spirit will slowly close in, and the house would have lots of strange shadows, the sound of weeping, houses shaking, people getting nightmares. Un, supernatural phenomena. The ‘evil spirit’ would start to look for its other parts, and most people would not be able to take this fear and give up. However, it seemed that quite a few people went mentally ill or damaged their bodies.”

“…So that’s the reason why there was a recall after it was released on the market.”

Keima muttered. On hearing him say that, Shino muttered.

“Whether it’s the original or the copy, by breaking the copy, the ‘evil spirit’ would be forcefully destroyed. In other words.”

“By conquering this game, the soul of the ‘evil spirit’ will disappear, right?”

Keima kept his back facing them and said that directly before looking at the game screen and tapped away at the keyboard. His actions even made Elsie speechless.

As for Shino,

“…”

She narrowed her eyes somewhat unhappily.

Was this guy even listening to me?

She should be thinking about that. Shino coughed dryly.

“That’s right. However, these copies…really have the remains of the ‘evil spirit’ on it, and no one was able to conquer it. Luckily, no one ended up losing their lives, but everyone lost to the curse of that ‘evil spirit’.”

“…”

Keima casually looked at the gaming screen. It seemed that Shino finally couldn’t take it as she slowly got up and said,

“You…what do you think happened to Mogami Takeshi in the end?”

Her words had fury in them.

Elsie gave off some cold sweat, and Keima merely glanced at Shino,

“…”

And continued playing the game. Shino smirked.

“In a certain sense, he got what he wanted. No, most likely, he expected this. In other words, he left this world after witnessing his own masterpiece completed. In other words,”

She paused,

And then said,

“That guy, he was killed by the ‘copy’ of the ‘evil spirit’ just when the game was about to be conquered.”

“!”

Elsie was so shocked that she backed away. Keima muttered,

“in other words, he tested the original himself…what an idiot.”

“You!”

Just when Shino wanted to close in on Keima, Keima, who never looked back, spun his chair around,

“…”

And pushed his glasses, staring straight at Shino.

“It’s not that I don’t understand how terrifying this game is. Who do you think I am?”

“Uu.”

Shino was inadvertently shocked by his aggression.

He was just a boy.

But even a miko who was trained for many years was shocked by him. Keima continued,

“Actually,”

His voice was calm,

“I have been betting my life on this game.”

And then smiled suddenly,

“Up till now, I’m not scared of any evil spirits.”

Keima declared.

As for Shino,

She was so shocked that she couldn’t answer back.

“Your…brother is really weird.”

The next day.

Shino said to Elsie in the grandpa café. Elsie said to Shino that it was alright, but she said that ‘I have to bother you for a while here’ and half-forced Elsie to let her help out in the café. On a side note, as for Keima’s mother Mari,

“So the father’s out working and the mother’s here as well? Uu~un, the days ahead may not be peaceful, so it would be good for the mother to be out.”

Shino suggested,

“Sorry, Ell-chan! It seemed that the quarrel at my mother’s house may last a little longer, so it looks like I can only go back after a week! I’ll leave Keima and the café to you then for the time being!”

Luckily, the phone call with Mari was like this. Anyway, the uninvited guest to Keima and Elsie, the miko Akuragawa Shino looked like she may be staying with the Katsuragis for the time being.

Shino’s plan was rather simple.

“Katsuragi-dono said that he wanted to conquer that game.”

And then,

“During this time, I will protect Katsuragi-dono even if I have to risk my life.”

That was her plan.

When Shino raised this plan last night, she was kneeling on the floor as she bowed to Keima.

“Right now, Katsuragi-dono’s playing the original version of the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’, which means that half of the main body of this ‘evil spirit’ is sealed inside. If we destroy this game, we can destroy half of the ‘evil spirit’, but we can’t deal with the other parts that were scattered, and if we lose half of it, we won’t know what will happen to the other half. If we want to destroy that thing completely…that ‘evil spirit’, there’s no other way but to conquer the game.”

“…”

Keima didn’t respond as he continued to stare at Shino.

“I know this had no benefit to Katsuragi-dono, and to be honest, I can’t assure that you will be completely safe, but, but!”

Seeing Shino so serious, Keima sighed and shook his head.

“…It’s alright. I never thought about getting any benefit, and never thought of letting you assure my safety.”

“You know,”

Shino seemed to be really anxious,

“The more you play this game, the more half of the ‘evil spirit’ will close in on you, which means the burden on you will be even greater! To be honest, your life is in grave danger!”

At this moment.

“…What evil spirit?”

Keima interrupted Shino with a stronger tone.

“What mission of your shrine, what evil spirit, it doesn’t matter.”

“You!”

“I just,”

He again showed those dazzling eyes and swung his hand.

“Want to conquer all the galges personally. That’s my only aim!”

“!”

Shino was speechless. Keima’s expression suddenly softened as he showed a little smile and patted Shino on the shoulder.

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing how you take care of that monster. We’re all amateurs in that aspect.”

After saying that, he yawned and left.

“This game can only be played for an hour when the demons come out. I’ll take a shower first.”

And left these words behind.

“Really.”

Shino shook her head.

“Does he really have guts…or that he didn’t think too much?”

“…”

Elsie didn’t know what to say too. Even she couldn’t understand Keima at times and not understand what he was thinking.

And she maybe did not understand what he saw.

It’s just.

He had never taken back his words on anything he promised before.

As long as Katsuragi Keima says that he will conquer it, he will definitely do so.

No matter how much danger he would have to bear.

No matter how many threats there were in front of him.

He would definitely believe in himself and advance forward.

Elsie trembled.

She was scared.

She was really scared.

Maybe she has to face that horrifying thing again.

If possible, she really wanted to leave this place.

However,

Elsie had an intense thought.

The one who will protect Keima would definitely be…

The one who will be with him will be…

Her.

“…”

Elsie glanced at Shino. Actually, last night,

“That person had a runaway spirit.”

She told Keima this last night. Immediately, Keima hesitated a while.

“I see. But in terms of the outcome, it should still be the same. That’s because the inner emptiness in that weird miko definitely has something to do with the ‘evil spirit’.”

But he immediately concluded.

“I guess that once we beat the ‘evil spirit’, we can fill the emptiness in her heart.”

Elsie agreed wholeheartedly with Keima’s view.

Unbelievably, even though Elsie’s viewpoint was completely different from the god-like observation skills of the god of conquest Keima, she came to the same conclusion.

That was because Elsie was a member of the runaway spirit capture squad.

Most likely.

Elsie stared at Shino and thought,

Just as she was chasing after runaway spirits, this person should be chasing after ‘evil spirits’ too. From the conversation yesterday, it seemed that this person had bet her entire life on it.

And it seem that she was unlike Elsie, who had a reliable and respectable partner like Keima, and a colleague who was aiming for the same thing like Haqua.

If not, she wouldn’t have appeared alone.

Alone.

Always alone.

“?”

Shino found that Elsie’s eyes were a little wet, and showed a somewhat surprised look, but immediately smiled.

“…What’s wrong? What happened, Elsie?”

For some reason, this miko was being courteous and understanding to Elsie all the time.

“Ah, nothing! No, nothing!”

“Fufu, you’re really weird. But you’re amazing. You’re taking care of your brother and even helping to manage the shop after school.”

In the morning, Shino once said, “Looking at you, it reminds me of a little daughter with a relative.” Though she looked serious and had an aggressive presence, to put it, she should be someone with lots of maternal love. Elsie smiled and thought. At this moment,

“Ring.”

The bell chimed. A customer’s here.

“Oh, customers. Elsie, I just need to greet them, right?”

“Ye, yes.”

Elsie immediately nodded her head. Shino hurriedly moved towards those two male customers.

“Welcome.”

She smiled.

“Ah, wel, welcome.”

Shino was still in her miko outfit.

She called it a traditional outfit, but the customers who entered would be shocked. They only came here for tea, but found a miko wearing crimson red hakama here.

They stared at Elsie, who they were familiar with, and saw her earnest smile.

--This didn’t look like a comedy show.

Just when the customers were hesitating.

“This way, please.”

Shino let out a mature and charming smile.

“Here, this way.”

She nodded her head and stood properly in front of the two customers. The fragrance scattered all around, and the two male customers were stunned.

“Ah, tha, thanks.”

“We’ll leave it to you then.”

The two male customers looked confused like foxes and followed Shino to the seats near the windows. Elsie heaved a sigh.

On hearing that she wanted to wear the miko outfit and stand in the shop, Elsie was confused at first, but Shino herself was a miko trained in traditional and highly elegant ways, and was extremely polite (for a café waiter, this is extremely underappreciated). Her mannerisms were rather refined too, so it looked like things would be alright.

Also, she looked like she could cook and knew how to brew tea. Once she could get along with Elsie, even if Mari wasn‘t around, maybe they could operate the café without resting. To Elsie, she hoped to at least help out in this way for Mari, who she respected and was really fond of.

Ring, the bell chimed again. Another customer was here. Shino smiled at Elsie with her eyes, indicating that she wanted to lead the customers.

Elsie smiled and nodded her head.

It seemed that Shino’s response was rather quick too. Elsie walked towards the customers Shino just led and took their orders.

What they wanted was red tea and coffee.

“E, erm, who’s that big beauty? A new waitress?”

“Why is she wearing a miko outfit?”

These two could be said to be old customers, so they secretly asked Elsie. Elsie gave an ambiguous smile, said a few words and hurriedly ran away.

She returned behind the counter and poured out red tea and coffee. During this time, Shino took the orders of the second group of customers and led another group of customers to their seats. Just as Elsie prepared the coffee and tea.

“I’ll send it. Table 2, correct?”

Shino asked as she smiled before taking the tray of red tea and coffee.

Elsie really felt that she was amazing.

Her movements were so fluid, so graceful.

Right now, the customers in ‘Grandpa Café’ (who coincidentally were all male) were all staring at her in an intrigued manner, and were even looking at every single action Shino took in a rather perverted manner. It seemed that she had a heroic and yet mature ambience around her that caused her to capture the hearts of everyone.

Actually, even Elsie thought that she was really a mature beauty. That gentle smile, elegant etiquette and the somewhat quaint but clear manner of speech.

At least, there were very few people around Elsie who were like this.

Normally, the ones Keima would conquer or the ones Elsie would interact with were mostly girls in their teens or slightly older, and most of their personalities weren’t too stable. It was rare to see a mature and reliable woman like Shino who was already aware of herself.

Un un.

Elsie nodded her head as she thought that she should look up to Shino as she continued to prepare drinks for the other customers. At this moment,

“GYAAAAAHHH!!!”

“HOOO!!!”

[[Image:TWGOK 02 010.jpg|thumb]]

The screams and breaking of porcelain could be heard.

Elsie couldn’t help but close her eyes and cringe. After a while, she finally opened her eyes, and what appeared in front of her was,

“HOOOOTTT!!!!”

“So, sorry! Are you al…!”

The knees of the customer were drenched as he frantically shouted in agony as he was scalded. Shino wanted to help, but ended up tripping and creating a second disaster.

CLANK! The cup broke again, and the one who was scalded by the coffee shouted,

“HOOOTTT~!”

The number of people who were caught in this ended up increasing.

Elsie,

Could only stare at this scene in a stunned manner…

It was hard to tell, but Shino was a very careless girl, and Elsie didn’t take too much time to realize this.

Just like that, Keima and Elsie would head to school during the day, and Elsie and Shino would take care of the café after school. At night, Keima would start playing the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’ for an hour from 2am on. This happened for 5 days.

As the sun set, after Shino finished her fast and bath, she would set a new barrier throughout every corner of the house (Using straw ropes to surround the house and adding talismans on them). Then, she would sit in a seiza position in front of Keima’s room and silently keep watch until daylight.

The amazing thing was that as long as Shino concentrated, the atmosphere in the Katsuragis’ house would become clearer and clearer, until even Elsie could detect it.

Thus, Elsie, who originally couldn’t sleep well, could finally get a good sleep recently.

She personally felt the care of others.

This really made her feel secure.

Also, Shino would put a weird-shaped crystal talisman on Keima every time Keima went to school or came back from it. From then on, there weren’t any mysterious phenomenon at school or other places.

According to Shino,

“It’s temporary, but those little things, and even ‘evil spirits’ can’t touch him in the day.”

That was it.

And as Keima and Elsie went to school, Shino would take a nap. The opening time wasn’t long, but once they got back home, the café would open till evening.

During that time, Keima would play his games as per usual.

The amazing thing was that even though Shino messed up the café the last time, the number of customers that came continued to increase.

Even though Elsie couldn’t understand

“I heard that there’s a careless, sexy and mature miko here?”

But it seemed like a lot of people talked about this incident and liked it. There were many customers who came here because of Elsie’s attire. It seems there is a demand in the market for this.

Every time Shino,

“So, sorry!”

Accidentally spilt drinks, like tea, onto the customers,

“Ho, HOOOOTTT!!!”

Many customers would scream, but their eyes would look like they’re smiling, and the other customers would give envious looks and say something like ‘I’m so jealous’ or ‘can you spill it near me?’ or something like that.

It felt like there were a lot of chaotic things.

Elsie thought.

She really hoped for things to end quickly and that Mari would come back.

If this kept up, the future of ‘Café Grandpa’ may develop in a strange manner…

But other than that, the days were rather peaceful and smooth sailing. Ever since Shino appeared, the mysterious presence and the phenomena all disappeared without a trace, and the Katsuragis’ house had a rather peaceful atmosphere.

Elsie thought that there would be a lot of things happening and made her preparations already. Thus, to her, this was a little depressing.

Except for that hour at night, Keima would continue to play other games as per usual. Even when Shino told him that ‘this involves lives’, he didn’t look like he was motivated at all, as he was merely rather docile as usual, a weirdo that’s a little strange.

His daily schedule would be to head to school, play games, and eat the meals Shino made for him (though she was really careless, her skills were decent), and would only conquer the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern at night. According to him, the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’ was slowly being conquered.

“This game’s tough, but the ending’s nearly there.”

Keima said on the morning of the 7th day.

He pushed his glasses and let his lens shine as he declared,

“I’ll conquer it tonight!”

In this aspect, Keima’s prediction would never be wrong. He definitely wouldn’t be mistaken at this crucial moment. Since he said so, it meant that the ending was already right in front of them.

Elsie heaved a sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was because Shino’s power was too strong that those demons couldn’t approach them.

She finally couldn’t help but,

“Fufu.”

Laugh happily.

However, the other two had different views.

First, Akuragawa Shino was extremely cautious as she bathed herself again. However, it was merely pouring water onto herself inside the Katsuragis’ bathroom to purify herself, though it does follow the procedure.

She was fervently splashing water onto her white naked body.

Every time she splashed once, the presence that Shino released would become cleaner. She wasn’t as optimistic as Elsie, but was already mentally prepared somewhat.

(Tonight…we’re going to settle this.)

Her spiritual sense detected something. It was that the irritating presence that wanted to enter this house was becoming stronger and stronger every day.

Before that, that thing was definitely sealed off outside Shino’s barrier.

However, that thing didn’t give up.

Actually, it was the complete opposite.

That thing was waiting silently.

For the moment its powers peaked.

There was only one chance.

The moment right before Keima conquered the game.

(Tonight.)

This miko stood up naked and looked up at the ceiling.

(I’ll have to settle this with that thing…)

The moment she was about to leave the bathroom.

“KYYYAAAHHH!!!”

She slipped and fell backwards awkwardly. Her feet kicked the shampoo and the bathing foam, letting out a loud thud. That sound was so shocking that even Elsie, who was changing the towel outside, couldn’t help but cringe…

At the same time.

Keima, who was playing the PFP a while back, stared at his hands.

The PFP was placed on the cushion near him.

“What’s wrong?”

The female lead in the game asked. As he put down the game, the self-disciplined AI gave the most appropriate question.

“What happened, Keima?”

He systematically answered as per the system,

“No, nothing.”

And then smiled so that the character in the game wouldn’t worry.

“Really, it’s nothing…”

However, his eyes were sharply narrowed into a fine line as he looked up at the ceiling.

(Tonight…)

He too,

Secretly made his determination.

The dinner tonight started under a peaceful atmosphere as Elsie was the only one chatting away excitedly. However, she noticed that the other two’s faces were rather grim and held back.

“We, well, Shino nee-sama, your skills are really good, you know?”

On hearing her say that,

“Un? Ahh, my grandmother taught me…”

The miko merely smiled and looked back at Elsie before being lost in her own thoughts again. She looked a little nervous.

It was rare to see her so anxious like this.

Elsie felt really uneasy.

“Tha, that, kami nii-sama, okaa-sama, she,”

And then turned to talk to Keima,

“…Un, I do have a mother.”

Then, Keima looked unconcerned as he continued to be immersed in his game of PFP. Even though he had spent a lot of effort trying to conquer that ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’, it seemed that he left that world completely.

He said that the ending was near, which meant that it should be true.

Then, she just needed to ask when the game could be done.

An indescribable tense feeling surrounded him.

Elsie was really affected by this,

“I know you have a mother!”

“Un, I have a father too.”

“I KNOW THAT!”

For some reason, Shino chuckled, and for some reason, Elsie felt really awkward as her face went red.

“Re, really~! Kami nii-sama! At least stop playing when you’re eating!”

“Un, I still have Elsie.”

At this moment, his hand suddenly jerked.

“Eh?”

Elsie was shocked.

“Tch.”

Keima clicked his tongue and used his left hand to hold his right wrist, but his hand continued to jerk.

“Eh? Eh?”

Elsie panicked.

“Eh?”

“…Oi.”

Keima stared at Shino.

“I’ll leave it to you.”

Both of them understood each other. It seemed that they knew that Keima was starting to be affected by the soul.

“Un.”

On hearing his words, Shino immediately nodded her head. Elsie gave a crying look,

“Ka, kami nii-sama!”

“Elsie.”

It’s rare for Keima to give a gentle smile.

“You must believe in me.”

“!”

On hearing these words, Elsie finally realized the seriousness of this and looked really affected, thinking that she was so stupid.

Actually.

Things haven’t ended yet!

“I’ll go take a nap first.”

After saying that, Keima stood up with his hand still shaking. Shino herself closed her eyes. Elsie looked lost and said,

“Tha, tha, that!”

Keima merely glanced back to look at Elsie and left the café. Elsie really wanted to catch up, but at this moment, Shino spoke,

“Don’t go after him.”

She stopped Elsie.

“Bu, but.”

“I finally understand. He,”

Shino quickly opened her eyes.

“He is a strong-willed person.”

“…”

“He’s ready. I’m ready. You should be ready.”

“The, then.”

“What you should do is not get in his way.”

“Uu~”

Elsie looked like she couldn’t accept it as she puffed her cheeks. Shino stared at her,

“You hear? No matter what happens next…got it?”

You can’t leave this house.

You can’t open the windows.

And no matter what happens, these are to be followed.

This was what the miko instructed.

Then, the miko headed towards Keima’s room. Elsie was uneasy as she moved between the café and her own room, but still did not know what to do. Thus, she tied a scarf on her head and tied her sleeves with her belt.

She took her broom out from the storeroom and put it aside.

“Uu, uuu.”

Elsie was trembling throughout as she wanted to at least use the broom as a weapon.

Today.

If she could last through today, Keima and Shino would definitely win.

She turned on all the lights in the house, brewed some tea and went to the living room to watch TV. Even though the contents of the program may not be able to enter her brain, she just wanted something to distract her.

Every 5 minutes, she would look up at the clock hanging on the wall.

Time passed so slowly that it was infuriating.

Whether it was the stupid comedy channels or the international channels she normally wouldn’t watch or the boring education program, she just wanted to have some sounds and light.

Sometimes, she would feel like sleeping. At this point, she would slap herself to wake herself.

By midnight, she was drinking tea continuously to keep herself awake and stared at the midnight channel with a blurry look.

Finally.

The time ticked and showed 2am.

The time the demons come out.

It started.

The final,

Conquest began. Elsie unknowingly looked up at the ceiling. Was Keima watching the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’?

(Kami nii-sama…)

Elsie clasped her hands and closed her eyes tightly.

(Please do your best.)

She prayed to this one ‘god’ that she knew of, the strongest one.

At this moment,

DING DONG, DING DONG! The Katsuragis’ house bell rang…

Elsie went completely frozen at first.

Then, she didn’t know what to do as she frantically looked around. However, the doorbell continued to ring.

It continued to ring.

The sharp sound invaded Elsie’s mind.

DOK DOK DOK.

Then, it was the forceful knocking on the door.

In the midst of this sound,

There was a soft sound,

A soft yet familiar sound…

“Uu.”

Elsie first held the broom like a spear, and then walked towards the door. However, she didn’t want to answer the door at all.

However, she just had to go over.

That’s because.

That voice…

DING DONG.

DOK DOK DOK DOK!

DING DONG!

DOK DOK DOK DOK!

The bell of the answering machine and the knocking of the door rang. Elsie felt dizzy, and the sounds didn’t even stop as she came to the corridor.

Not only that, it got even more agitated and loud.

DOK DOK DOK

BAM BAM BAM.

DING DONG

DING DONG

Elsie slowly moved towards the door and pointed the broom at the door as she trembled.

Her trembling hand caused the front end of the broom to shake as well.

“Ahh, uu.”

She couldn’t let out a voice.

The throat was all stiff.

“~!”

There was someone screaming on the other side of the door.

It was a person Elsie was familiar with.

That voice,

“~!”

Seemed to be shouting something.

Elsie,

“Ah, uu, u.”

Still couldn’t talk.

The voice came in.

It went,

Into her ears.

“Ell-chan! Save me! There’s a strange monster! A strange monster’s chasing me~!”

It was Keima’s mother.

The one Elsie respected and loved.

The voice of Katsuragi Mari.

“Save me! Faster! Open the door!”

“Ah, uu.”

Elsie was all teary. Someone reminded her.

Shino reminded her over and over,

No matter what, she must not open the door.

However.

“Ell-chan, please! Uu, please, the monster…monster.”

She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t leave her like this.

She couldn’t leave Mari like this and pretend that nothing happened.

Elsie just couldn’t do it.

“Uu.”

Even though her eyes were full of tears, she still looked towards the peering hole. Outside the door was,

“Ell-chan!”

The bloodshot eyes of Katsuragi Mari as she leaned over to the door.

“Uu!”

Even though she was taken abak.

“Open the door! Hurry! Open it!”

Elsie was still led by this shrill voice.

“Uu!”

“Open it open it open it open it!”

“Uu.”

“Open the door.”

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Elsie screamed as she turned the lock of the door and opened the door.

“Okaa-sama!”

She cried and called Mari in.

“Hurry!”

“Fufu.”

It’s unknown whether it was Elsie’s imagination as Katsuragi Mari, who was crouched there, lifted her head.

“Finally got in.”

She smirked as her face cracked.

That couldn’t possibly be Katsuragi Keima’s mother Mari!

But the ‘evil spirit’.

“!”

Elsie’s expression grimaced with fear and regret.

“KYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

A shocking cry came.

The white air rose from Mari and surrounded Elsie completely.

“It’s here…”

Shino, who was sitting in front of Keima’s room, looked hurt as she muttered.

Her originally closed eyes immediately opened.

Even though she set up the barrier all around the house, she knew that it would be broken through.

It was merely faster than what she expected.

Shino looked up at Keima’s room door that was still tightly shut. Right now, she knew one thing; that the boy called Katsuragi Keima was definitely trying his best to fight.

“Please…strong-willed boy.”

Shino smiled and muttered before looking back adamantly with a sharp gaze at the stairs leading to the first level.

At the darkness on the other end.

At the same time, Keima’s fingers were slamming hard on the keyboard at an amazing speed.

“Uu!”

He looked up at the clock.

He clearly heard the sound downstairs, but there should still be some time till the ending. He originally felt that he would only need another 20 minutes,

“Uu.”

However, his hand was trembling, numbed.

“Ugh!”

He looked like he was deflected away as his body faced sideways.

“Ugh.”

He used his left hand to grab his right wrist and used his right hand to press the keyboard. About 3 days ago, whenever he started to play the game, the hand would start to tremble.

Was this the curse of the ‘evil spirit’?

It was obviously wearing Keima down supernaturally.

However,

“Fufufufu, this design’s really interesting…this is the first time I’m playing such a game full of sensation. A lot of work’s put in.”

Keima merely chuckled fearlessly.

Chi.

Chichi.

The dark yet heavy presence started to float up from downstairs. Shino stood at the middle of the corridor and waited for the enemy to arrive.

“…”

She quickly raised the chokutou.

Shino let her aura fill her entire body. Even though she raised her alertness completely, the presence was somewhat calm. The clean spiritual air surrounded her.

In contrast, the thing that climbed up the stairs and came onto the corridor was,

“Chichichichichichi.”

Wasn’t in human shape anymore.

It wasn’t a human.

It was a giant white slab of flesh.

The size of the flesh block was so large it was irritating. That large and fat white flesh filled the entire corridor. Whether horizontally or vertically, it continued to move forward.

It seemed that the ‘evil spirit’ went from its spiritual form to its real form.

The opponent was mustering its strength to fight.

“Chi, chichichichichi.”

A certain sound that sounded like things rubbing together or worms creaking came from what looked like the face in the middle of the slab of flesh.

There were 3 black holes over there.

These 3 holes look like the eyes and the mouth, and it looked really disgusting.

“Chi, chichichi.”

On hearing this, Shino remembered what happened in the past and started to get goosebumps.

She hurriedly took a deep breath.

Don’t be scared.

Calm down.

However,

Her mind started to work on its own.

She didn’t need to think.

She just needed to focus on taking down this enemy in front of her.

But she still remembered.

How long had it been since I faced this thing head on?

She remembered.

Once, when she was really small.

When the ‘evil spirit’ Red Ogre was taken by Mogami Takeshi, she did touch this thing a little…

She remembered.

That thing.

That large and pale spiritual thing.

After taking it, she let out a scream for unknown reasons, and verged on the gates of Hell for three days and three nights.

“Ugh!”

Shino’s body trembled.

No.

No, no.

I’m no longer that young brat. I was 5, 6 back then. I was just a little kid who never underwent training.

But.

I’m different now.

I’ve trained; I came here to capture this thing.

To hunt this ‘evil spirit’.

I was completely powerless when Mogami Takeshi stole this, and I couldn’t do anything.

That’s why I started training. I continued to train, trained my spirit, and increased my soul’s strength. I won’t make the same mistake again. I will stop this thing here.

I will stop this thing for all to see.

This is also for that ‘strong-willed boy’ who’s facing against that game in that room.

But.

“Chi, chichichichi!”

The center of the block of flesh, what looked like a face seemed to smile in a twisted manner.

A chill went through Shino’s body.

I,

Can’t do it…

That thing sensed the fear in Shino’s heart and was mocking her…

The monster immediately closed in.

“Damn it!”

Shino tried her best to overcome this situation.

“Kya!”

But she couldn’t hide the fear within her.

“KYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

BAM! A loud sound rang as the door was slammed aside. Shino’s body entered the room. At this moment, Keima,

“Tch!”

Glanced behind him and clicked his tongue.

It seemed that Shino lost before the match even began.

“10 MINUTES WILL DO! MIKO, CAN YOU TRY AND HANG ON!?”

Keima shouted.

Chichi.

The dragging sound came over.

The face that didn’t really appear suddenly came looking from the corridor, and there were three black holes on the face.

“Uu, guu!”

Shino tried to get up and looked outside the room.

“EEK!”

On seeing the giant face looking in from outside the room, she shrieked out in fear. Seeing her like this, Keima couldn’t help but look up and sigh.

It seemed,

That Shino was completely overwhelmed by fear.

She collapsed and landed onto the floor with her butt.

She wasn’t a refined miko anymore, but an ordinary weak woman that was just trembling and looking up at the monster.

“OI! BUCK UP, STUPID MIKO!”

During this time, Keima was till typing away quickly at the keyboard. The crisis was right in front of him, and so he hastened the rate of conquest.

The ending was already right in front of him!

It was right in front of him!

“HANG IN THERE! SHINO! DIDN’T YOU COME HERE TO BEAT THAT THING!?”

“Uu.”

“Chichichichichi.”

The thing that was looking in from outside the room seemed to smirk as its black holes were staring at Keima.

Even Keima couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat.

That thing was as large as an abnormally swollen runaway spirit. Keima was stared at by that thing, and there was nothing between them.

“Chi.”

Zz.

That thing continued to expand its surface area like an amoeba as it crawled into Keima’s room.

Keima felt that thing moving behind his back and hastened his conquest. He didn’t mess up his steps as he continued to gain progress and tried his best to continue his mission.

“Tch.”

Just when he was gritting his teeth.

“Chichichichichichichichichichichi!!”

The thing looked like it was reaching out its hand as it reached its materialized part over to Keima.

Better late than never as,

“I WON’T LET YOU!”

An energetic voice,

“HURT KAMI NII-SAMA!”

A figure slipped in from the side. She knelt down on one knee, tilted her body and jumped up, extending her hagoromo to the maximum to protect Keima, blocking down the white monster’s body that was rushing in like a tidal wave.

[[Image:TWGOK 02 011.jpg|thumb]]

“ELSIE!”

Keima shouted as his eyes never looked away from the screen.

“Hau~!”

Tears welled in Elsie’s eyes.

She was so scared that her body was trembling, but she still shouted,

“Kami nii-sama! Faster!”

Keima’s eyes flashed.

Good work, Elsie!”

“Hau, uu~!”

Elsie spread her hagoromo to fill the entire room’s length and continued to block off the attacks of the white hands. On the other hand, the main body of the ‘evil spirit’,

“Chichichichichi!”

Creak.

Was filling the house and letting out a creaking sound as it slowly moved into the house.

“Chi.”

And pressed its body forward as it tried to break through Elsie’s hagoromo.

“Hau, uuu~!”

Elsie was desperately trying to stop it.

“…Tch.”

Keima glanced at that thing, and the words that were flying quickly slowed down. His body was going numb.

His arms were trembling.

His fingers missed. It seemed that as the ‘evil spirit’ closed in, the power of the ‘curse’ would begin to severely affect his body.

In the end, he couldn’t even tap the keyboard.

“Ugh!”

Keima’s body collapsed aside. On the other hand, even Elsie,

“KA, KAMI NII-SAMA! I CAN’T HOLD ON! I CAN’T HOLD ON FOR LONG!”

She started gasping. It seemed that it was only a matter of time before the ‘evil spirit’ broke through.

“Can’t do it…”

Keima looked at Elsie again, and then left the computer to calm himself down.

He then smiled.

“Just a mere evil spirit.”

He closed his eyes,

And raised his hands.

At this moment.

He had 6 hands.

“In front of this ‘God of Conquest’!”

Keima opened his eyes, and his hands started typing at twice the speed before this. On seeing this, Elsie exclaimed,

“IT, IT’S THE GOD OF CONQUEST MODE!”

As the burden on the body was too great, Keima would rarely use this super-speed technique.

It was ever so majestic,

Even beautiful.

Under the light of the screen, Keima seemed to be giving off light as he shone all around. That extremely fast hand movement seemed to give off afterimages.

“Chi!”

The ‘evil spirit’ started to get anxious as one could feel from its presence that it was getting riled up. To deal with Keima once and for all, that large body used its size and continued to press at Elsie’s hagoromo.

“WAH!”

The entire house was creaking. If they’re not careful, this horrifying strength may even cause the entire room to collapse.

“I, I can’t hold on for long! My power alone…”

At this moment,

The miko who collapsed onto the floor stood up.

She got it,

“Really.”

And shook her head.

“That was really embarrassing. Granny’s right…my training still wasn’t enough. Sorry Elsie.”

She smiled.

“I’ll use some of my strength too. I,”

She stared coldly at the ‘evil spirit’.

“I won’t be scared of you again. It’s a miko’s job to protect the deities!”

She swung her chokutou and gave off an aura.

“Chichichichi!”

“Shino-san!”

Elsie shouted happily.

“Chi!”

The tent-like object that was glowing spread itself on Elsie’s hagoromo, and the ‘evil spirit’ backed away.

Unfortunately, good things didn’t last for long.

“Chichichichi!”

The mysterious shapeshifting white flesh increased its force.

“Elsie!?”

“Shino-san!”

And countered.

“Hau! Uu!”

“Damn it! This filthy thing!”

Both sides launched an intense battle. The ‘evil spirit’ wanted to get rid of Shino,

Elsie,

And Keima behind them all at one go, and thus, the power gathered was abnormal. On the other hand, Shino and Elsie,

“We can’t lose! Elsie!”

“Ye, yes!”

Both of them were extremely determined as they worked together to ensure Keima’s safety.

“However.

“U, guh. That, that’s some terrifying power.”

“…Uu~! Hau~!”

As they faced this monster with endless endurance, both of them were almost unable to hang on.

At this moment.

A calm voice rang.

“Why this game, the ‘Favor of the Western Lantern’,”

The voice came from behind Shino,

And Elsie. Both of them were wondering whether Keima’s mind was burned up.

However.

His voice was rather calm.

And clear.

“Why it was created. I had been wondering. If it was just to present the horror, there were many manners of presentation and elements that didn’t need to be entered. I couldn’t tell the creator’s intention at first, but now I finally got it. The female lead for this game was always waiting.”

His confidence was rather rational.

“Waiting for light to overcome darkness.”

“Katsuragi-dono…”

On hearing Shino mutter,

“What you saw before wasn’t correct. This game wasn’t presenting fear, but through force of will to overcome the darkness in front of us and obtaining hope. That’s the true nature of this game.”

“CHICHICHICHICHI!!”

The ‘evil spirit’ maniacally swayed its body. Keima quickly kept his ‘God of Conquest mode’ as both arms sagged on both sides.

And he sighed.

“I’ve already seen the ending…no, I should say that this game was always waiting for someone to break the ending. This is the wish of the game, and the last dream Mogami Takeshi illustrated. It wasn’t a ‘curse’, but ‘hope’, all meant to be solved by someone.”

Shino and Elsie couldn’t help but look back, and they saw it.

On the screen.

What appeared should be the words of the last option. Keima suddenly turned around and lifted his head to look at the ‘evil spirit’, and then pointed his right finger.

He coldly narrowed his eyes that looked full of intelligence.

“CHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHICHI!!!”

KLUUAAA~!

The body of the ‘evil spirit’ let out a loud sound. It got smaller and smaller like a large balloon being deflated.

Finally.

“…”

Keima silently watched this and made the final declaration.

The thumb that was facing the ceiling turned down.

Keima said,

“As the ‘God of Conquest’, I command you,”

The hand on the other side rose up above his head.

And then,

He pressed the enter button.

He then shouted,

“RETURN BACK TO WHERE YOU BELONG, TO THAT EVIL CONGREAGATE OF YOURS!”

Don’t come back again.

The keyboard let out a click. At this moment.

“IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!”

The ‘evil spirit let out a long wail without any restraint as its body became white smoke and scattered away. What looked like white mist surrounded them.

Everything ended here.

In the midst of this mist,

“Shino.”

Keima got up and approached the miko. Shino, who was terrified and speechless as she watched the ‘evil spirit’ disappear, finally seems to realize something,

“…You’re really strange.”

She narrowed her eyes at Keima,

“You like older big sisters?”

She looked somewhat mischievous. It was because her senses were far superior to normal people that she should have realized it. Shino closed her eyes.

“If everyone I met was just like you.”

Keima grimaced.

“It would be a lot easier for me now.”

And then, he kissed Shino.

On a side note, the runaway spirit that left Shino was the smallest ever…

The next morning, Elsie and Keima were in the café. Keima closed his eyes, seemingly enjoying the coffee fragrance, and Elsie was washing the dishes.

She then used the apron to wipe her hands,

“…Aren’t you tired, kami nii-sama?”

And asked. Keima took a sip of coffee and widened his eyes,

“Why did you ask?”

And asked back. Elsie was intrigued,

“Be, because, things escalated so much yesterday.”

Keima suddenly smiled.

“That’s nothing much. The game itself was set to be only playable for an hour at night, so it was a little troublesome. The game itself wasn’t difficult.”

“I see.”

Elsie responded, and it was hard to tell whether she was amazed or surprised.

Even after so many things happened, he still insisted that it was merely a game…

Elsie was really impressed.

(Speaking of which, kami nii-sama was so calm until the end…)

She recalled everything that happened. The ‘evil spirit’ was so scary…let alone Elsie, even the miko Shino was so scared that she was trembling. However, Keima didn’t even flinch as he faced the main body of the ‘evil spirit’.

He was completely unmoved.

Was there something he wasn’t scared of?

“Luckily, the computer and my personal collection are all safe.”

Just when Keima spoke halfway through and was about to put the coffee to his lips,

“Hm?”

He tilted his head. Perhaps it was Elsie’s imagination as Keima seemed to be uneasy.

“…That’s right, where did that strange miko go?”

“Ahh.”

Elsie nodded her head.

“It seemed that she wanted to head back today, so she wanted to repay us a little before going back.”

“Repay?”

“Yes. She said that she wanted to clean up this place before heading back…”

“…”

Keima’s face immediately went pale.

“I remember…”

Elsie used her fingers to support her chin.

“She’s cleaning kami nii-sama’s room.”

At this moment, Keima clumsily dumped the coffee cup onto the table and dashed out of the café. Elsie cringed.

She hurriedly ran up to the second level,

“OI! STUPID MIKO! DON’T MESS UP! DON’T MESS UP MY ROOM!”

And heard Keima shout,

“Ohh? Katsuragi-dono, please relax! Look, I’m just going to turn on the vacuum cleaner.”

And Shino’s cheery reply, and then,

“KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

There was a cry and the sound of things breaking.

BAM, and an impact.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Keima cried out.

This was the first time Elsie heard Keima scream…

<noinclude>{{Nav|{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{TWGOK List v2}}|The World God Only Knows}}</noinclude>

The World God Only Knows:Volume 1 Chapter 4

2015-12-21T08:21:45Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 4: Minus World */ Katsuragi Keima was often referred to with female pronouns. This just fixed them.

==Chapter 4: Minus World==

Katsuragi Keima led the way, and the girl was fidgeting somewhat, and she said with a stiff voice to hide it,

“He, hey, Katsuragi! Where are you bringing me? I, I’ll say these bold words first. I’ll refuse if you want to do anything bold to me! I’ll really refuse you! We have to go in order.

“…”

Keima suddenly turned his head back.

He stared through the girl with a piercing expression, and the girl could only look around helplessly. They were at a shrine somewhat distant away from the road.

There wasn’t anyone else there.

No, there was someone there.

The person who seemed to be observing them came out stealthily from behind the trees…

(Who, who’s that?)

The girl didn’t know what to do. A girl with a skull-shaped headdress appeared there.

Katsuragi Keima was asking that girl something.

It seemed that those two people knew each other.

“Elsie, how is it?”

The girl called Elsie shook her head.

“Not her.”

“…In other words.”

“No. This person doesn’t have a wandering spirit.”

Katsuragi Keima sighed loudly.

“I see. Thinking through it carefully… maybe I should have realized it. I thought it through and thought that the girl with a wandering spirit would have some problems. And because of that, I was searching a girl without problems for problems. After clearing the smokescreen, it wasn’t even a dual character.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I was really naïve! No, rather than that.”

He grimaced.

“Elsie, there wouldn't have been this problem if you had followed me after school. I wouldn’t have been bothered by such a low-level trick…well, the reason why I put you in charge of Amami Tooru was because you were the only one who could detect runaway spirits.”

He sighed.

“This time, the smart one got misled.”

The girl called Elsie stared at the other girl.

“She really looks the same.”

The girl panicked.

She was anxious.

Katsuragi Keima and this girl called Elsie were saying something strange right from the beginning. She was thinking that ‘it seemed that Katsuragi-kun’s not some bad person, so my mission should be over with’. However, these good feelings scattered away.

Her instincts were scaring her, burning like oil being lit.

Who is this person?

Katsuragi-kun.

Who is this person?

Keima glanced at the girl.

“Fuu…‘what do you want?’. Actually, that's my line. Well, it doesn’t matter. I can roughly guess why you wanted to do this. So just confess, you’re not Yoshino Asami.”

“!”

The girl widened her eyes. Keima raised his hand and pointed at her.

“…You’re.”

He said this.

“Yoshino Ikumi. Her sister, and twin.”

The girl.

Yoshino Asami’s twin sister, Yoshino Ikumi stood there, stunned.

She was confused.

She looked around in a flustered manner, and the girl called Elsie was looking at her in an interested manner. Yoshino Asami—

Or rather, Yoshino Ikumi who was pretending to be Yoshino Asami felt Keima’s cold gaze pouring through her,

“Thi, this, that.”

First, she raised the one question that bothered her the most.

“Let’s ask this…how did you know my name?”

Even after been seen through, she didn’t get angry due to embarrassment, and neither did she laugh at Keima. She was just panicking honestly.

At this moment, a certain aspect of Yoshino Ikumi showed through, or rather, she basically revealed herself there.

Keima sighed.

“It’s simple. I asked your elder sister a question back at school, and made a request.”

“Eh?”

“I asked her ‘do you have a twin sister?’. And, the request was ‘don’t tell your sister what I asked you today when you get home, but you can follow whatever else she says’.”

Yoshino Ikumi widened her eyes. Keima then said.

“Yoshino Asami…your elder sister answered yes to both questions. She looked incredulous, like you now. She had never told anyone the existence of her twin sister at a different school, and how I knew—like that.”

Keima then continued.

“It’s because of this, right? You heard from Yoshino Asami…your elder sister. She had never told anyone at school about you, so logically, I wouldn’t know of your existence. Thus, you tried to trick me and pose as Yoshino Asami…your elder sister to understand me, right? To know me personally.”

“Ah, un.”

Yoshino Ikumi was stunned.

“Then, when did you realize it?”

She was completely lost.

“You didn’t show any change in expression even until the weekend.”

Keima looked somewhat self-mocking as he laughed.

“No, that was a coincidence…one that you won’t understand even if I tell you. A girl would look so different, then maybe the opposite can hold true. In other words, two girls may look like one person under set conditions. I just thought of that.”

Keima glanced at Elsie.

For some reason, Elsie was all happy, and Keima stared back at her with a somewhat kind look.

“…”

After a moment of silence, haha, Yoshino Ikumi laughed stiffly.

“That’s amazing.”

She lamented from deep inside her heart.

“I could even fool mom since young if I was serious. To think that you saw through it.”

Keima then added on.

“…But you weren’t serious at all.”

After revealing this, Yoshino Ikumi looked somewhat embarrassed.

“U, tha, that’s because…”

“It’s likely.”

Keima pushed his glasses and said with a heavy tone.

“If you were serious, you may be able to be just like your sister. That ‘ordinary’ personality can be completely duplicated, right? But you showed your true personality in front of me because you weren’t aiming to make fun of me or play a prank on my. Your aim was simply just to understand me.”

Yoshino Ikumi was showing fear in her eyes.

Because Katsuragi Keima.

This good looking boy in front of her was practically saying the truth.

Fu, Keima grimaced.

“…Speaking of which, even if you weren’t serious, I was fooled by you. Twin switching should be the basics of basics.”

He clicked his tongue slightly.

“Two conquests overlapped…so I had the idea of taking the initiative. I was too naïve too.”

He continued to remind himself.

“But, well, since you took action like this, I found a way to solve it, and this outcome’s rather delightful too.”

Keima used his long and narrow eyes to look at Yoshino Asami.

“You’ll tell me, right? Tell me about your sister’s troubles, Yoshino Ikumi. That’s why you approached me, right? If it’s me.”

Keima said confidently.

“I’ll definitely save your sister. I can do it.”

Yoshino Ikumi timidly shouted out.

“HOW MUCH!?”

She practically shouted her lungs out.

“HOW MUCH DID YOU KNOW, KATSURAGI-KUN?”

The shout was filled with the fear the ordinary girl had on the insightful boy. Keima widened his eyes, but just for that moment.

“…How much?”

Fuu, he laughed confidently.

“Everything! Everything! I know everything! Yoshino Ikumi, everything!”

Keima waved his hand as his declared that.

Elsie nodded her head too without hesitation as she folded her arms.

“Hm~as expected of kami-sama.”

“…”

Yoshino Ikumi looked at Keima and Elsie, showing obvious fear on her face.

“You said, eve, everything…”

She said with a hoarse voice.

“Yo, you.”

She finally managed to find her words.

“You’re not god!”

Then.

“…”

Keima’s expression suddenly went serious. He turned around and muttered to himself.

“Speaking of which…this is the second time I was called ‘kami-sama’ since I started this conquest. However.”

He again turned to look at Yoshino Ikumi.

“I’m really.”

He gave an expression that was overwhelming and wouldn’t allow for any objections, and it can even be called pressurizing.

“I am God! I’m the conquest god!”

It wasn’t just an expression itself as Yoshino Ikumi was wavering from the expression. Elsie seemed to be really impressed as she said,

“Hey, that’s true, you know? Kami-sama’s really god!”

“…”

Yoshino Ikumi was speechless. It’s like a certain part in her brain short-circuited, and that she felt numb. (Actually, this was really Keima’s aim, to use a forceful tone to show his confidence to her.)

And then,

“Aha!”

Yoshino Ikumi suddenly showed tears in her eyes, and at the next moment.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

She started laughing like she had a loose screw. Elsie was shocked, but Keima merely cocked his eyebrows.

“…Is it strange?”

He asked coldly.

“Is it strange that I called myself god?”

“Ah, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Yoshino Ikumi was laughing so much that she was gasping, and shook her hand.

“No! That’s not it, ahahaha!”

Finally, she managed to hold back her laughter, and her fingers wiped away the tears that came out.

“Un.”

She suddenly nodded her head with a relaxed expression.

“Un!”

Her eyes were full of confidence. Keima’s lips showed a smile. This was exactly,

The outcome that he wanted.

Yoshino Ikumi declared.

“I got it! I’ll trust Katsuragi-kun completely! Please! Solve onee-chan’s problems!”

“…”

Keima smiled with his lips, and also his eyes.

He simply said.

“Understood.”

That was something that happened a long time after that. Yoshino Ikumi still remembered everything as she said to her friends in amazement.

“Katsuragi-kun’s really.”

Her words were full of honesty,

Though she more or less misunderstood about the term ‘Conquest god’, this was more or less something to take heart from!

“Really’s a guy who conquered earth!”

And,

However, this would be what happened after. Right now, Yoshino Ikumi was wholeheartedly describing her sister’s situation to Katsuragi Keima. Keima, Ikumi and Elsie went to the back of the shrine, found a bench to sit down on. They were drinking the canned juice Elsie went to buy, and Yoshino Ikumi started to talk,

About her sister’s situation.

“Onee-chan, she really hates people.”

She said such a shocking thing so easily, took a deep breath, exhaled greatly, and looked at Keima.

However, Keima was,

Completely unmoved.

Yoshino Ikumi smiled.

(That’s great.)

She thought.

(It’s great to have someone like this.)

Then, she hurriedly said to hide her delight.

“It’s not just an expression.”

She said to Keima, who in turn nodded his head.

“I know.”

“Aren’t you surprised? This onee-chan of mine looks so ‘ordinary’, so approachable, doesn’t have any special characteristics and looks so well-behaved hates others, you know?”

“Why?”

Keima similarly asked back.

“Is there something to be shocked if she merely hates people? And,”

He showed a knowledgeable expression as he added,

“I’m thinking of whether it’s this sort of reason…or rather, this kind of reason. That ‘ordinary’ was just a mask of Yoshino Asami, right? For convenience in her life.”

“Aha.”

Yoshino Ikumi chuckled.

“No wonder onee-chan would be so concerned about you, Katsuragi-kun?”

“…”

Keima prompted her to continue on with her eyes. Yoshino Ikumi nodded her head hard too. On a side note, Elsie was the only one who was confused.

The girl didn’t understand more than half of her words.

However, Yoshino Ikumi and Keima continued with their conversation as they left Elsie aside.

“Ever since we were young.”

Yoshino Ikumi started saying,

“Ever since we were young, we were often told that ‘you sisters really aren’t like each other’. Ah, of course we’re not talking about our appearances. About that, we’ll occasionally feel that we’re facing the mirror. I feel that twins are more similar to each other.”

Keima nodded his head.

Yoshino Ikumi smiled slightly and said with a complicated expression.

“But.”

She said with a sad expression.

“She’s completely different inside.”

“…”

“Katsuragi-kun, what about me?”

Yoshino Ikumi hurriedly turned to look at Keima.

“I guess you can tell from the time you were with me, but I like people! I like being with others! I have lots of friends, I like school, and I’m really happy to talk with Katsuragi-kun now. But,”

She sighed,

“Onee-chan’s the opposite.”

Keima remained silent. Yoshino Ikumi continued on,

“But onee-chan, she’s the complete opposite of me. She hates others, hates gatherings, hates being with people, and a school with lots of people is something that depressed her. Interacting with people and being with them would cause her to feel like she’s suffering.

Keima thought.

(In the karaoke bar…in the theme park, at the bowling alley…so that’s the reason why she doesn’t feel comfortable.)

Yoshino Ikumi said,

“As for onee-chan, she said that she really liked to read books alone, play games, watch movies. That’s her dream.”

Yoshino Ikumi grimaced.

“When we were young, both of us had a dream. Mine was to be a kindergarten teacher. Guess what onee-chan’s wish was? To hide in a nunnery deep inside a forest, and that was during elementary school, you know? What kind of student is this!? A lot of people would have thought.”

Keima didn’t say anything.

Yoshino Ikumi shook her head.

“But,”

She added on with a depressed look.

“The biggest problem is.”

She paused and then muttered,

“Onee-chan hates this aspect of hers the most.”

Keima’s eyebrows never twitched at all.

Because this was exactly what he expected.

If not, she wouldn’t be wearing that mask to live on.

“Onee-chan, she.”

Yoshino Ikumi continued,

“She said that she always envied me, seeing that I’m on so good relations with others, envied me for laughing together with everyone else. That’s what she said. We’re sisters. Is it because we’re twins? No, that’s not it. Onee-chan herself would have exceptions when it comes to hating people. Family members are basically alright, so at home, onee-chan would often…no, would always talk to me, and then.”

She smiled.

“It was the first time, really the first time. Onee-chan started talking about all sorts of things that happened in school. More accurately…”

She sealed the lid to look at Keima’s expression.

However,

“…”

Keima’s expression didn’t show any change at all. Yoshino Ikumi then smiled slyly as if she wanted to crush Keima’s poker face, and said,

“She started talking to me all about this guy called Katsuragi Keima.”

“…”

However, as expected.

Keima still remained silent.

This was also as expected.

“And then?”

Keima prompted her to continue. Yoshino Ikumi looked somewhat bored as she said,

“Aren’t you shocked? That onee-chan would only talk about how you, Katsuragi-kun, whether it’s ‘whatever happened to Katsuragi-kun today’ or ‘he enraged a teacher today’ and would continue talking! Her eyes were blazing! Isn’t this love or something! Onee-chan’s really an ordinary girl!”

(Is that so?)

Keima had a question mark in his mind.

(It’s not love or anything. Absolutely, at least for now.)

However, he didn’t say this to Ikumi and merely asked.

“So.”

He stared at her eyes and said,

“So to check my behavior, you disguised yourself as Yoshino Asami, your own sister?”

“Yes~!”

Yoshino Ikumi nodded her head heavily.

“I was really shocked the first time I met you! At that time, I knew that Katsuragi-kun stayed near our house. I was shocked when onee-chan was really happy as she said ‘I walked home with Katsuragi-kun!’. That’s because you were really there, Katsuragi-kun, and more importantly, your appearance was just like what onee-chan told me! ‘Pretty-looking face and looks like a rich kid hikkikomori!’ or something like that.”

“…”

“Before that, I heard onee-chan that ‘otamegane, he’s called otamegane’, so I thought that onee-chan’s description of Katsuragi-kun’s appearance would be an image created from a girl in love, so I was half-doubting it. But I was really shocked when I met you. You’re really like a rich kid.”

Yoshino Ikumi giggled.

Keima himself was giving off cold sweat.

Should he be happy about this at this point…

“Ahaha, it’s late, but I have to apologize to you, right. Anyway, I still tricked you, Katsuragi-kun.”

Yoshino Ikumi lowered her head.

On a side note, at this moment, Elsie was…sleeping.

Kukaa~she was sleeping soundly. It seemed that she logically gave up on understanding the topic at hand as it was too complicated. Keima glanced at her and sighed.

“It’s alright. This shows that you’re worried about your sister. So your sister’s not really good with socializing with others, and if you understand me really well, it’s obvious that it’s not suitable for her to dive into a relationship with me. So you wanted to try me out to see whether I can match your sister.”

“To be honest.”

Yoshino Ikumi scratched her head in an awkward manner.

“To be honest, I was a little curious as well. I was really curious how this Katsuragi-kun onee-chan kept talking about was like.”

“…Which was why you didn’t disguise yourself completely to be like your sister.”

“Yes.”

Yoshino Ikumi admitted.

“Because, if possible, I wanted to look at how you would respond to my sister with a different mask on, a different ‘me’…how you would respond to onee-chan inside school and outside school. Well, this can be a conclusion somewhat.”

Keima smiled,

“It’s true that I was troubled.”

“Really?”

“Because a lot of scenarios overlapped with each other.”

“Hey.”

Yoshino Ikumi lifted her eyes and looked at Katsuragi Keima.

“I could have told you the truth earlier, but I didn’t do so. I delayed it for a while…well, I actually wanted to confess about this to you…do you know why?”

Keima gave a wry smile and said,

“It’s because you saw Amami Tooru…that girl who was just like an angel, right?”

“That’s absolutely correct! At that time, I was thinking that even though this guy’s called otaku, otamegane, is he really a flirt? I don’t know how you managed to attract such an irritating onee-chan, but were you fooling around with that onee-chan or something like that.”

“…You’re mistaken.”

Keima plainly stated.

“I...”

He stated casually,

“I’m not popular with girls at all. Normally speaking, that’s the case.”

“…”

This time, it’s Yoshino Ikumi’s turn to break out cold sweat.

This time, it’s Keima’s turn to ask.

“You just said that Yoshino Asami, your sister, started talking about me from the first day on. That’s likely something that happened long ago, right?”

Yoshino Ikumi nodded her head.

“I guess it’s around the time when she was in the same class as Katsuragi-kun.”

“I see. This is just my guess, but was there a huge change in Yoshino Asami during the few days after she met me? For example, did she say lots of self-loathing things, especially about human relationships?”

Yoshino Ikumi widened her eyes.

“Why.”

Either way, her voice trembled in amazement.

“How did you know?”

“Just as expected.”

Keima sighed.

“…”

Yoshino Ikumi continued to stare at Keima silently for a while, and then sighed in the same manner, looked forward and said,

“Un, that’s how the case is. I don’t know how you knew this, Katsuragi-kun, but it’s just as you said. Onee-chan was always envious of me, but it seemed to have become even more intense. ‘Let alone you, Ikumi…I guess I want to be a girl who can interact with others too’—that was what she said. We, well, I guess that’s it. She felt even more bothered after liking you, Katsuragi-kun, I guess. Maybe she thought this way because she wanted to be on good relations with you?”

“…

Keima didn’t answer.

But in his heart,

“I see. It’s shaping up…seems like Yoshino Ikumi was correct.”

He muttered deep inside his head.

He then answered with a question.

“But your sister always wanted to correct herself. That’s why she joined the tea ceremony club which requires one on one communication with others, something she’s most inept at, right?”

“Ha, haha.”

Yoshino Ikumi laughed stiffly.

“That’s right, that’s completely right. Onee-chan joined the tea ceremony club because of this reason. Onee-chan had been worried about her personality and wanted to correct it, correct how she hated others. Thus, she would try to join gatherings, and would even work hard to participate in club activities.

“…”

“Hey!”

Yoshino Ikumi grabbed Keima’s hand.

“Please! How can we cure her? What should we do to make onee-chan more sociable?”

Her eyes were full of trust in the almighty insight of Keima.

“If it’s Katsuragi-kun! If it’s you, Katsuragi-kun, you’ll know, right? What should we do?”

“…”

Keima didn’t respond as he raised a question that’s slightly deviated from the topic at hand.

It wasn’t really a question that was directly linked with the conquest, just something that this boy called Katsuragi Keima himself wanted to know, something he wanted to understand about Yoshino Asami.

“How’s your sister when she’s not wearing a mask? How’s she at home?”

“How’s she at home?”

Yoshino Ikumi said with some doubt,

“Ah, no, you’ve been talking about some mask up till now, Katsuragi-kun. But onee-chan won’t really change personalities immediately, and she would be delicate and kind to others just like she would be to us. She would also listen to my complaints too. I feel that she was even gentler because she’s not really good with people. It’s just…onee-chan would never show her burdens to others, ever. It seemed that she would be pained to let others see her real weak side. Thus, she always wanted to be a good girl. I said before that onee-chan would let me share my complaints, but that’s the difference. Onee-chan, she,”

Yoshino Ikumi paused for a while,

“Actually, she’s really a good girl who tries to overcome her weakness.”

She concluded.

Keima was silent for quite a while.

“…Is that so.”

And he merely answered and stroked her chin. Elsie rubbed her eyes and got up in a dazed manner. Keima glanced at Elsie and then said,

“I got it. I’ll find a way. It’s definitely possible.”

Yoshino Ikumi’s eyes were shining.

“Rea, really?”

At this moment, Keima answered with a stern expression and said,

“But your assistance will be necessary. You’ll help me, right, Yoshino Ikumi?”

At this,

“Of course!”

Yoshino Ikumi raised her hands in approval.

And Elsie,

Was standing there blankly.

That day,

Yoshino Asami was invited by her younger sister Ikumi, who just returned home.

“My friends and I will be going to Dean Land tomorrow. You want to come along, onee-chan?”

Of course, Yoshino Asami wasn’t really interested. However, the younger sister said,

“Well, I feel that it’s a good training for you as you try to get along with others well, onee-chan.”

Then, she added an ‘and also’ which shook Yoshino Asami’s heart.

“Katsuragi-kun’s coming along too, that Katsuragi Keima-kun onee-chan often mentioned.”

Of course,

“Eh?”

Yoshino Asami couldn’t help but ask as that face of hers was full of,

(Why???)

Such questions. Yoshino Ikumi answered,

“Coincidentally, my friend’s friend is Katsuragi-kun!”

On hearing that,

“I’ll go.”

Yoshino Asami answered as if it was instinct.

Her younger sister Yoshino Ikumi was nodding away in a satisfied manner.

The next day was a bright sunny day.

Yoshino Asami’s heart was beating hard as she reached the entrance of the Dean Land. Over there, there’s the bronze statue of the founder of Dean Land, Ikegoma Gakkan. This was the gathering place.

For some reason, her little sister Ikumi,

“I’ve got something on, so I’ll go first, okay?”

And after saying that, she smiled and left the house.

Yoshino Asami thought,

(Since we’re living together, shouldn’t we just go together…or rather, even though I don’t know what you have, I can still accompany you.)

Even so,

“Ahahaha, you must enjoy yourself today, really enjoy yourself, onee-chan~”

Seeing her little sister give such a bright smile, she couldn’t say anything.

Facing this sister of hers who had a completely different personality, Yoshino Asami always felt that there was something she couldn’t match her in.

She was heavily reliant on her twin sister, Yoshino Ikumi.

She had reached the age of youth, and she couldn’t fawn around with her parents like when she was young (even though this was the case, there wasn’t really much of a family issue, just a little feeling of isolation, especially to the father). Her sister was basically the only person she would talk to.

Even though she would also have her own troubles or talk about school, whenever the little sister complained about youth things that ‘studying for tests is so hard~’ or ‘there’s a handsome guy in class…’ (Even though they look the same physically, in this aspect, Yoshino Asami would be a late bloomer, so she was rather restrained in front of guys, often being very shy) she would listen attentively.

Even removing this factor, the twin sisters were on good terms with each other.

But even though she’s the elder sister, the decision making between these two girls would always land on the younger sister, whether it’s about school or about Katsuragi Keima.

“Onee-chan, tell me more!”

Ikumi would always prompt her to talk about it. She knew that her sister was worried about her.

Worried that she still had inter-personal problems.

Her sister was always so worried.

‘You hate people.’ That’s how the sister would describe Asami, but to Asami, it was a little different.

She’s just not good with others.

Asami wasn’t really good with building relationships with others on the surface.

Thus, if there’s a need to say that she ‘hated’.

It’s more like she hated,

‘Communication with others’.

She hated it…

No, that’s not it.

More accurately,

‘She hated ‘herself’ for being unable to communicate with other successfully.”

In fact, she didn’t really hate ‘humans’, or rather, it was the opposite. Asami loved to read books, and she basically read highly-rated books, biographies, and of course, light novels too. However, she’s engrossed with the characters that appeared in the books because she liked the existences called ‘humans’. As she couldn’t be involved, Yoshino Asami liked to see people interactions.

For example,

“Onee-chan, in our class, a classmate close to me likes a certain guy from another class, but he.”

She liked to listen to her sister Ikumi talk about these unnecessary things. To be honest, what shocked Ikumi was that Asami was very clear about her sister’s relationships with her friends, and also, she understood her classmates’ personalities, standpoints, history and so on.

It’s not that she didn’t care about others. She was really interested in them. However,

Once she got involved, she couldn’t take it.

Yoshino Asami really liked happy people.

Ikumi was able to describe things things so happily because she could always build rapport with anyone around her, and she liked to look at classmates who could get along well from afar.

However,

She herself.

Couldn’t do it. Once she got involved, she felt like she would crumble. How should she put it? It’s like the harmonious balance would collapse once it enters ‘her’. She would not know how to react, and would then feel uncomfortable, and then her body would feel uncomfortable. Thus, other people thought that ‘onee-chan hated humans’ as a response.

Also,

She’s really frustrated with herself for having such strong thoughts.

She wondered when was it that she couldn’t get along well with people.

It wasn’t that there was any chance.

Before she realized it, she found her sister dazzling, and then always envied her, and then felt unhappy about it—that was when she was still a kid.

She wrote that she ‘wanted to be a hermit in the mountains’ as her dream, and her homeroom teacher was extremely worried and told her parents, who were in turn extremely angry.

However,

These were her true thoughts. It’s not that anyone wasn’t good with her, but that she just couldn’t do it.

After they reached their youth, the difference in personalities between her and her sister became more obvious, and Asami tried her best to correct her personality…

Even though she felt anxious about that, but this was a major reason why she agreed to go to Dean’s Land. Asami was still fearful about personal relationships, but she would often take part in class activities or social events, and she chose the tea ceremony club because she hoped to use one one one communication to improve her interaction ability.

But in fact.

Most of the situations couldn’t work. She couldn’t smile too much when she was playing with others (she didn’t feel like she was smiling), she was worried about whether she irritated them, whether she made them unhappy, got really anxious until she felt uncomfortable. Then, she would be more cautious about the people around her and would feel even more embarrassed. She would always inadvertently compare herself with her sister.

‘’Why am I always like this?’’

And would feel dejected because of it.

But to be honest, she had a little expectation that came with this anxiety.

That was…

“Un…here?”

After she got off the bus a walked down a gradual downhill slope, she looked around and found the meet-up location. There was a stern-looking male bronze statue beside the entrance, and 2 people were already standing there.

Huh?

Ikumi and Katsuragi-kun aren’t here yet?

Thinking about this, she wanted to turn to the opposite direction to look for him, and found him there.

“Ah!”

Her heart beat wildly as Katsuragi Keima was standing there alone.

However,

He was still playing his handheld games. Asami was troubled as she wondered if she should talk to him. After hesitating for a moment.

“We, well, Katsuragi-kun.”

She summoned her courage to utter out those words.

“HA!”

Katsuragi Keima suddenly spread his arms wide and kicked his right leg like he was using to the handheld console in his hands to catch something that’s falling from the sky.

Yoshino Asami was taken aback as she backed away.

“Hm?”

Keima’s eyes returned back to the screen.

“Okay, success…good morning.”

He spoke.

Yoshino Asami heaved a sigh of relief.

“Ah, u, un, good morning.”

She found her senses and put on her usual ‘ordinary’ mask. This was the only skill of interaction Yoshino Asami had.

Yoshino Asami, who’s not good with getting along with others, thought of the only way to mix with the crowd.

A low profile.

Average.

Ordinary.

Not making people unhappy or be too forthcoming. That’s,

Yoshino Asami’s method.

“You’re really early.”

She said with a calm tone as she looked for a way to start the conversation.

“Your younger sister…Elsie-san, she’s not coming?”

It doesn’t look like it was a problematic question, and logically, she felt that Keima would answer,

“Un, I like buns, but I’ll take anything you make for me.”

“?”

Yoshino Asami was bothered.

“Eh?”

She couldn’t help but ask back.

“So you don’t have to depreciate your own cooking.”

“Ha?”

“Ha?”

Unable to establish a conversation, Keima then said to the handheld game,

“I, TOLD, YOU, I, LIKE, BUNS!”

“…”

Yoshino Asami was speechless.

“We, well, Katsuragi-kun?”

The moment she asked this question, Keima said,

“I, LIKE, BUNS!”

No matter how she looked at it, there’s only one dangerous weirdo. Yoshino Asami finally realized that Katsuragi Keima was talking to an in-game character.

The proof was,

“Un…NO! I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE COLOR OF UNDERWEAR I LIKE, REALLY!”

She frowned.

“Un…it’s nice to download this morning breakfast event, but the voice recognition device still can’t work. This will be bad for conquest. Got to let the manufacturer correct it. Hm?”

At this moment, Keima finally noticed that Yoshino Asami was staring at him blankly. After glancing at her, the first thing Keima said was,

“Hey, you’re here?”

Yoshino Asami was stunned…

Katsuragi Keima.

Has she really fallen for him?

To her sister, it was,

“Well~it’s love love! You’re definitely thinking about Katsuragi-kun now, onee-chan!”

And that was what she said.

As she reported her daily school life events to her sister, the mysterious boy called Katsuragi Keima kept popping up more often, and her sister pointed that out.

On hearing that.

She should more or less be honest with herself.

It was a fact that she was blushing, and her heart was beating even faster. Her sister happily said,

“Hey~ just as expected!”

She clapped her hands.

“No, that’s not it!”

Yoshino Asami shook her head and her hands. She thought that she couldn’t possibly have this feeling.

Normally, when she talked about him, she would be merely a little more shy than usual.

However,

Ignoring this rationality, it’s just like what her sister said. Her heart did waver. Was this—falling in love?

At the beginning, she was often mindful of this boy called Katsuragi Keima. During lessons, lunch break, inside the classroom.

Even when they brushed by each other on the corridors.

Before she realized it, she was shocked to find that her eyes were always following Keima. To be honest, recently, she had been going home with Keima, and even though she looked like nothing was going on, her heart was secretly beating wildly.

Love…

Nobody knew whether it was really love or not, and to be honest, she didn’t really understand this thing called love.

There’s just one thing.

There’s just one thing she could be certain of.

And it was,

She was very mindful of Katsuragi Keima, this boy.

She couldn’t deny that she had feelings for him.

She didn’t know the reason.

Thus, she checked this thought of hers which she couldn’t really understand. Even if it’s a little, if she talked more to Katsuragi Keima, maybe she could sort out the messy thoughts that couldn’t be sliced off. However…

She just felt uncomfortable on meeting him.

What made her even more troubled was—the next thing Keima said,

“Alright, let’s go in, shall we?”

And just like that, he brought Yoshino Asami into the Dean’s Land. Asami was panicking.

“Eh? Th, this?”

Right in front of Keima, the ‘ordinary’ mask she always managed to put on successfully was shed.

“Wait! Where’s my sister? Everyone else?”

“Hm?”

Keima stopped.

“What? Didn’t you hear? Your sister and Elsie will be here one hour later, and the rest seem like they’ll be here after that. There are only 2 of us right from the start.”

On hearing these words,

Yoshino Asami was rooted for a moment.

“EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!!?”

And couldn’t help but shout out as it was completely unexpected.

Then, Keima hurriedly entered Dean’s Land, and Yoshino Asami looked lost as she followed in.

Keima looked at the crowds of people that entered and said without hesitation.

“…I don’t feel like changing clothes. What about you?”

(This is a facility that only allows access after getting into cosplay.)

Yoshino Asami blinked her eyes and blushed.

She didn’t know what to do, what to cosplay.

It was alright if she was with her sister, but it would be too embarrassing to do it alone with Katsuragi-kun!

“No, no!”

She couldn’t help but say these words, and then realized something as she stuffed her mouth. However, Keima’s mood didn’t seem to be affected.

“Of course. Really, I don’t know what those people who like cosplay are thinking. It’s impossible for 3-D to beat 2-D.”

He muttered to himself, and Yoshino Asami’s mind was thinking about all sorts of things.

(Eh? Ar, are we going to be alone together? Wha, what do I do now? I can’t sing karaoke, I can’t play games, I, I can’t hang on!)

Asami was bothered by this as she started to panic again. But soon, all these thoughts were for naught. Keima’s expression suddenly,

“…”

Went completely serious.

“?”

Yoshino Asami reacted to where Keima was looking at. Over there,

“Bishoujo game~Uniform enhancement week~”

There was such a poster on. Keima looked around with an even serious expression, and Yoshino Asami also looked around.

So that’s how it was.

She wasn’t sure, but there were really girls wearing strangely glamorous uniforms around.

Perhaps these uniforms were all worn by girls in games?

At this moment,

“Is that the uniform of Izumi Academy in ‘Poninyan’? But the color of the sash isn’t right…and what’s that!? The uniform of Grand Sand Academy from ‘The Time Without You’ and the Furuhara High School uniform from ‘The Smiling Summer Vacation’ is all mixed up!”

It seemed that Katsuragi Keima really couldn’t stand seeing the slight mistakes in the uniforms.

“That uniform’s insignia’s reverse! I said that there’s a bird together with a tree on the insignia of that Ohno bird patch! Or else that last flag would be meaningless!?”

To be honest, Yoshino Asami didn’t understand what Keima was saying, but…

“Really unbelievable!”

She could thoroughly understand why Keima was angry. Then, he answered the statements of ‘hey you, do you have any right to say that’ with action.

Completely ignoring the existence of Yoshino Asami, who was accompanying him, he stormed to the reception and ranted,

“This so-called uniform has huge problems!”

He complained to the workers of Dean Land, and then said meticulously,

“Then, remove the scarf here, and that should be all. There should be gold thread used to make prince clothing, right? It would look more like a student from Neville Academy.”

He continued to raise point after point of improvement. At first, the workers were all incredulous, but as what Keima pointed out were direct and would have a huge effect with just a little correction, what happened was that it wasn’t just the counter girl who listened, but also the superior, until,

“That, that’s really amazing! Please be our costume consultant!”

He held Keima’s hands in a touched manner and tried to convince him. As for Keima,

“If I can do so for costumes related to gal-games.”

He readily agreed.

Just like that, an hour passed.

Until the time Yoshino Ikumi and Elsie arrived.

At first, Yoshino Ikumi heard about everything that happened and called out.

“Eh~? No way! You two didn’t go play!?”

To this, Yoshino Asami could only agree with it. Elsie was the only one who looked guilty as she gave a bitter expression and looked at Keima who was slamming the table at the counter and saying things.

(That’s really just like what kami-sama would do.)

It was somewhat a little reluctant.

Thus, Keima and Yoshino Asami were joined by Yoshino Ikumi and Elsie, and even Keima didn’t intend to stand in front of the counter and talk about gal-game clothing. ‘’Really’’; he gave such an expression before following the Yoshino sisters and Elsie.

The one excited was Yoshino Ikumi, as she looked like she wanted to bring her sister closer to Katsuragi Keima as this sister of hers looked like she was unable to get near Keima,

“Over here! We’re going in here!”

She loudly declared as she pointed at the selling point of the 7-levels Dean Land, ‘entering a haunted house with a swimsuit’. Yoshino Asami was blushing, Elsie was shocked, and Keima was merely giving a blank face.

What’s with this facility?

That’s what his expression was arguing.

Let alone cosplaying and walking inside the facility or the jet coaster outside, the designer of Dean Land took it too far. Also, this ‘wearing swimsuits and entering a haunted house’ was a rather brilliant concept.

The entrants would have to change into swimsuits at the entrance (both male and female versions were available for loan), and they would enter a building where the water’s at their knees.

It was designed as an ‘underwater complex’.

As of his understanding, it’s a haunted house combined with a swimming pool. The entrants would have to wade through the water-filled complex.

The ‘Water moving at knee level’ was the crux.

For example, they’ll find that the water that was all clear up till a certain point became bloody red, or that someone grabbed their ankles from within the water.

Whether it’s an increase or decrease in temperature, ordinary humans will feel a large psychological burden.

There were too many unknowns that were concerns.

The unknown water.

That’s rather scary.

In a certain sense, it was an outstanding creation.

Another reason was that as they have to wear swimsuits, a lot of couples were attracted as they were looking for thrill. Yoshino Asami was hesitant at first, but bought an entrance ticket on Yoshino Ikumi’s forceful request.

They came out separately from the men and women changing rooms on the left and right sides respectively. Yoshino Asami and Ikumi were wearing striped one-pieced type, while Elsie was wearing a separate thing with a towel wrapped around her.

What’s amazing was that even though the twins were wearing the same swimsuits and had the same face, Yoshino Ikumi gave a lively impression while Yoshino Asami just looked pathetic.

Also, Elsie’s figure was unexpectedly good.

Even Keima, who was rather cold to real-life girls, was somewhat moved.

After that, Keima, the only guy, and the 3 girls entered the haunted house and dipped their feet into the warm water as they walked into the labyrinth attraction. It was rather scary, and Elsie and Yoshino Ikumi were walking in front, and Keima and Yoshima Asami were following behind.

Every single time there was a drop of water from the ceiling or a zombie popping out to scare people, Yoshino Asami would let out a pained cry and cling onto Keima.

It was impossible to resist it.

She didn’t mean for this to happen, but that her body was saying its own thing and responding in such a manner. Keima blushed slightly as well, but never ever rejected Yoshino Asami.

She would cry at one moment and make a ruckus at the next moment. The four people finally finished this one-of-a-kind facility, and Elsie and Yoshino Ikumi seemed like they really enjoyed it.

After completing everything, they changed back into their own clothes inside the changing room. Even after walking for quite a while from the haunted house, Yoshino Asami’s heart was still beating wildly.

And this,

Was unlikely to be because of fear.

They ate their slightly late lunch at a restaurant in the theme park. At that moment, Yoshino Asami just felt like she let go of everything as she would talk and joke with Keima and criticize Keima with Ikumi, and even to Elsie, whom she never really talked to…even though there were some restraints, she could still talk normally.

She was happy.

So she could talk to people other than her own sister.

She was so shocked,

About this new discovery.

She wanted to thank her sister,

And she wanted to thank this boy called Katsuragi Keima even more. However,

“Ah, that’s right! My friends will be here this afternoon~”

Her sister said that. On hearing Yoshino Ikumi’s casual words, Yoshino Asami’s abdomen ached slightly. The intense happiness suddenly wilted, and it felt like she got a dampener.

At this moment.

Katsuragi Keima was silently looking at this Yoshino Asami,

While eating his omelette rice with his spoon,

He naturally,

Had an expression that looked like he could see through everything.

Katsuragi Keima’s request beforehand to Yoshino Ikumi was extremely simple.

“First, let’s have Yoshino Asami and I have some time alone in the Dean Land…let’s see, about an hour. Then, it’ll be you and Elsie. Finally, your friends will show up in 2 hours’ time. Get some optimistic and forgiving people who are really sociable here.”

On hearing this, Yoshino Ikumi said,

“I got it! So we’re going to get onee-chan to get used to it in steps, right? First, Katsuragi-kun, then, us, and finally, the rest. In that case, even onee-chan who’s not used to group gatherings can ease her burden a little~I see. As expected of Katsuragi-kun!”

She said that in amazement. Elsie also said,

“Un~ as expected of kami-sama! This method’s really nice!”

She said as she flailed her arms. At this, Keima merely,

“…”

Smiled slightly.

Thus, Yoshino Ikumi followed what Keima instructed. Once it was afternoon, Ikumi’s friends slowly gathered at the Dean’s Land one by one.

The group was then so large that there were 7 people altogether.

Keima, Elsie, the Yoshino sisters, a tall boy, a kind looking boy and an energetic girl with a really cute smile.

“Okay~ everyone! Let’s enjoy ourselves today!”

The tall boy who had that leader attitude declared.

That girl happily said,

“I always wanted to come here to play!”

“Ah, I came here a few times. Un, I recommend..ahh, before that, let’s introduce ourselves first, okay?”

The kind looking boy seemed like he was thinking for everyone. After that, everyone decided to head back to the counter to change before playing.

Yoshino Ikumi was extremely excited.

“Hey hey, what clothes is everyone changing into today?”

She asked her friends as she looked really happy.

In response,

“U~n, let’s wearing something we couldn’t wear the last time. Hey? Onii-sama?”

Elsie was also completely into playing mode as she asked Keima. Yoshino Asami looked rather ordinary as she said,

“…Katsuragi-kun may be really suited to dress up like a prince.”

She smiled.

“…”

Only Katsuragi Keima,

“…”

Was playing the PFP silently.

Everyone ordered the costume they wanted to cosplay from the counter and changed at the changing room. After changing, they started to cheerily evaluate each other’s clothing.

And then, they went for karaoke.

They all sang for 2 hours, and then changed clothes before moving to the bowling alley.

It was really exciting.

They were split into two teams in a competition.

Right now, the competition was intense. Teammates were high-fiving with each other, and it was really bustling. Then, everyone was having tea inside Dean Land and chatting away.

Excluding Yoshino Ikumi, who recruited everyone, they all met for the first time. However, everyone got together rather well, and the boys and girls with quite the good personalities didn’t seem to show any estrangement. Elsie and Yoshino Ikumi were laughing from start to end, and the important Yoshino Asami looked rather ‘normal’ as she blended in.

She was still smiling.

After a while, everyone decided to head to the game center. The boy joked about, and everyone burst into laughter. Then, everyone started to jab each other with words, and Yoshino Asami was laughing while covering her mouth.

Elsie, who was walking last, whispered secretly with a soft voice that nobody else could hear to Keima, who was walking beside her.

“As expected of Yoshino Ikumi’s friends! Everyone’s all really good people.”

“…”

Keima remained silent.

Elsie said in amazement,

“I see! Creating such a joyous atmosphere and getting a few sociable people can correct Yoshino Asami-san’s ‘human hating’ presence. Lookie look, kami-sama! Yoshino Asami-san has gotten on well with everyone!”

“…”

Keima looked at Yoshino Asami’s thin profile. She was answering someone, and looked rather happy.

“Is that so?”

And then, he turned to look at his PFP again.

“I can bet that things won’t be that easy. A lack of communication skills can’t be treated so easily.”

“Eh? Then, then why?”

The unexpected words caused Elsie to stop as she didn’t know what to do. Keima left her behind.

“…”

And remained expressionless.

But just for a moment, his eyes sparkled.

He was waiting.

It looked like he was waiting for something.

After that, they had dinner, and everyone head towards the dance hall level. There, one person changed for some reason.

That person was Yoshino Asami.

Yoshino Asami should have Keima, Elsie and Ikumi with her, but unknowingly, Keima wasn’t with her.

At the event place, he was called out by the workers to head out through the back door. It seemed that they were asking for suggestions for the sudden ‘gal-game clothing consultant’ that suddenly appeared, and she couldn’t help but wanted to keep him with her.

However, she couldn’t find an excuse. Thus, Yoshino Asami swallowed her words.

That’s right.

Normally,

Keima didn’t have any direct links with her. As she responded, she found her sister Ikumi saying something to the 2 boys.

She was alone.

She didn’t know how to get involved. She didn’t know what to say.

The remaining girl Elsie was looking around blankly.

To Asami, there’s nothing more painful that getting together with the people around her. Once she entered her youth, she unknowingly had the ‘ordinary’ as a manner of response, and after such a long time, she finally reached her limit.

She felt even more pained.

She felt that it was harder for her to smile.

To get along with others,

Her heart was starting to ache.

It was painful.

That’s why she hated herself, and Ikumi, who was like her split personality, was able to talk with others so happily.

The discomfort on her body started to strike her.

She wanted to puke.

Her body couldn’t help but tremble.

It was like for a few times, and she was really unhappy. She wanted to go, she wanted to get involved, she always wanted this to succeed.

She wanted to be like her sister, to get along well with others in an ‘ordinary manner’.

However,

She would face a huge setback every time.

Why?

Why couldn’t she just be ‘ordinary’?

A simple chat with anyone,

Anyone could do it.

But she couldn’t do it if she didn’t borrow the power of the mask she constructed. So that’s how it was.

She had such a huge flaw.

It couldn’t be helped then.

Her forehead was sweating, and unknowingly, she couldn’t take it, and couldn’t smile anymore. As she watched Elsie and her sister Ikumi getting along well with everyone, she couldn’t keep a calm heart. ‘’Let’s apologize then, apologize to my sister later, and apologize to Katsuragi-kun after that.’’

She covered her mouth with her hand, forcing herself to hold back the strong urge to puke.

There were cosplayers wearing all sorts of costumes. And at this moment, she,

Ran out of the event hall, not looking back as she ran off, down a staircase where no one was, stuttered down half the level, and turned back after she found a certain boy who passed by her.

Standing over there was,

Katsuragi Keima, who was holding the PFP tightly.

He kept his back facing her and said,

“Are you going back home like this?”

And so,

“Ka, Katsuragi-kun…”

At the corner of the stairs, Yoshino Asami looked up to see Keima’s back and muttered. Keima turned around,

[[Image:TWGOK 01 225.jpg|thumb]]

“Before you run back home.”

He sighed, lowered his head and looked at Yoshino Asami before asking,

“Yoshino Asami, let me ask you something.”

Facing the lost Yoshino Asami, he took a step down and said,

“…You.”

He raised a question,

“Why must you make friends with others?”

“!”

Yoshino Asami was stunned. Keima continued to walk down the stairs and say,

“I had been observing you, trying to know you. You’ve been forcing yourself, right? Is it really that important to talk and joke around with others? Was there a need to chat happily with others? Do you have to worry about being left out in a friendly group? Ha! That’s stupid! Watch a person’s mood? Why do you have to observe a person’s mood? Atmosphere? Just let it be messy if it’s messed up! What’s so bad about being haughty? Just being alone! If that suited you, be proud of your own solitude! Don’t be lost, Yoshino Asami!”

Yoshino Asami immediately understood.

She was seen through. That Katsuragi Keima,

Saw through all the problems she had.

She had always been struggling with her feelings, and had given up on the true nature.

“As for me.”

Keima stared at Yoshino Asami with a sad expression,

And took the next step down,

“I’m like this, Yoshino Asami. I had always been like this.”

He was just like an eagle flying in the blue sky and looking down at a pathetic animal that was crawling in a lonely manner.

He knew.

He knew that.

Keima,

Always been like this, he had always been like this. He was proud of it, and never complained about living alone.

He saw through her existence.

So,

That’s right.

She must have always admired this boy called Katsuragi Keima for not being swayed aside by anyone, standing alone there with superhuman will.

“Bu, but.”

Yoshino Asami’s voice was trembling. She finally realized that she, Yoshino Asami was really admiring Keima, and had feelings for him.

But, she realized it.

She couldn’t be like Katsuragi Keima.

“Because!”

Her tears flowed out, and her body couldn’t help but tremble. She covered her mouth with her hand and cried out,

“BECAUSE! I CAN’T DO IT! I’LL FEEL HURT!”

Words naturally flew out of her.

“I DON’T WANT TO BE ALONE! I’M SCARED OF BEING ALONE! I, I’M NOT STRONG LIKE YOU, KATSURAGI-KUN!”

Whenever she saw that her sister was getting along well with others, she felt the unspeakable loneliness, anxiety, and that her sister was about to leave her.

So.

That’s why she always followed it. Her split personality.

“…”

As for Keima,

He smiled kindly and said,

“Yoshino Asami. You don’t actually hate humans.”

He slowly walked down the stairs and stood at the same height as her as their eyes met,

“You’re just simply afraid, afraid of being hated by people…just a little more afraid than ordinary people, just a little.”

“!”

“If it’s the original you, will you feel lonely?”

“Be, because!”

“You won’t.”

Keima said firmly. He kept his kind smile and placed his hand on her shoulder. At this moment.

Keima’s eyes were showing sincere light.

Perhaps it was concern for the girl who seemed similar to him but was in fact not. He said,

“Aren’t they here? Don’t you have a sister who’s thinking of you no matter what? Who says that you can’t live normally with people?”

“Eh?”

“If there’s a choice between ‘you’ and ‘the world’, she’ll undoubtedly choose you. You’re not alone. You’re not alone, Yoshino Asami.”

And,

He added as he brought his face closer in.

“I’m also…”

‘’Ah.’’

Yoshino Asami’s body stiffened for a moment as Keima’s words invaded her heart and soul at this moment.

“I’m right beside you. I’ll accept the normal you. On this basis…”

Un.

Yoshino Asami closed her eyes, and Keima’s lips gently closed in.

Then,

A kiss.

That forgave everything, accepted everything, approved everything.

Keima’s kiss.

The kiss that had Keima’s ‘belief’.

Yoshino Asami was thoroughly released at this moment.

That was the first conquest for the day.

Swoosh. The runaway spirit flew out from Yoshino Asami’s body, and Elsie, who was waiting at the stairs above,

“It’s time!”

Immediately reclaimed the runaway spirit. Keima opened his eyes and sighed in his heart.

He seemed to feel a weird stare.

That’s to be expected.

Keima’s eyes met with the girl who was looking up at the two of them in a surprised manner.

The possibility of meeting was unexpectedly high…

But he managed to trigger an encounter.

“!”

The ‘Denpakei’ girl, Amami Tooru was standing there.

After that, the chaotic series of events happened. Amami Tooru was clearly shocked as she widened her eyes and turned around before fleeing.

“We did it! Kami-sama! We got the runaway spirit!”

Elsie was extremely happy.

Yoshino Asami was still leaning on the wall in a dazed manner, and she shall lose all her memories of this conquest. At this moment, the workers from Dean Land came rushing over.

“Ah, so you're here, fashion consultant! You see, the dance had already started. It's thanks to you that this dance event was really successful!”

They said that as they pulled Keima.

Keima hurriedly said,

“Wait!”

However, they never let go, and Keima was forcefully brought back to the event hall and pushed up the stage as he was given the support from everyone as he was lifted up.

“Hey, wait a sec! I'm busy! Let go of me!”

Even after Keima said that, the crowd were just cheering loudly.

They must be thinking that it's some form of entertainment.

The happy music echoed.

Then,

Keima looked up.

“...I guess.”

And sighed.

“It's necessary to follow the original plan, isn't it...”

Katsuragi Keima was seen kissing a girl directly, and having bore such a negative impression that would be hard to take back, he started his final conquest...

She stayed in a very luxurious mansion

Her father was a big boss.

He ran a few famous enterprises.

Her mother was a famous aristocrat.

Her entire family was extremely rich.

Ever since she was young, she had nothing to worry about. She had full-time maids and butlers, which would be unbelievably rare in modern Japan, a chauffeur, bodyguards and specialized chefs. Also, there were Japanese and western food.

Ever since she was young, she had 4 outstanding home tutors taking turns to teach her. Her garden's really bad, and German Shepherds would be released at night.

There was also a large lake.

A few white birds were swimming on the lake, and their wings were clipped—to prevent them from flying away.

It sounded like a joke, but there was even a personal golf course in the garden. It was an interest of her stout father.

Her father was one with such great wealth.

No matter how sumptuous they lived, they had such wealth that there seemed to be no problems.

It was so great that it probably wouldn't be shaken even if the next three generations continued to spend. Her life was that envious.

When she wakes up, her maids would be waiting for her at a corner of the rest.

She would walk to her personal bathroom, and someone would hand her a hot towel, wipe her face and choose her clothing.

For breakfast, the emphasis is on the ultimate harmony of healthy and delicious food.

Her parents belief were that,

Everyone must be present for meals. That would then be a happy breakfast befitting that of a prestigious family.

And so, all 3 members of the family must be present. After having breakfast, she would go to school, and there would be a black limo sending her there. Normally, this kind of sending would be extremely exaggerated, but the school was one where extremely rich kids would be studying at, which made it quite a common thing there.

There were princes of large enterprise companies, daughters of politicians, girls of foreign royal blood and sons of famous international pianists. Everyone was obviously outstanding, not worrying about the things in the world. Each one of them were obviously rich, and each one of them were served by others and accepted them accordingly.

There was a world that was completely different though.

They definitely won't know.

In school, she would use the 'keigo' tone that nobility would use as girls were always like this.

So thus, she was like this too.

That's the kind of education she had.

And she did it.

If she didn’t do so…

She was the only daughter, a girl who was to inherit the vast fortune of her father and the highly prestigious bloodline of her aristocratic mother. She was always given lots of expectations and love.

While she was rather healthy, she once fell ill when she was young.

While it wasn’t an exaggeration, all the staff of an entire hospital was summoned to the house, and her parents felt that this should be the case.

However, she still felt somewhat guilty.

Of course, she was bathed in the highest class of love, and she had the most advanced care, and even the highest level of education was often prepared for her.

As a child of a respectable family.

Education was something that was necessary.

Flower arrangement.

English conversation.

Violin, piano and even riding were taught to her.

And she even learned table etiquette before she learned how to talk.

Standing posture, mannerisms or even verbal gestures; all these minor details were checked by her father,

Mother,

And the specialized home tutor. She would be told off if she broke the rules slightly.

‘Minus check’.

This seemed like it was implemented from her mother’s family, from the time of her maternal grandmother.

Once she showed any signs that didn’t fit that of a daughter of a respectable family,

“Minus check.”

She would be told off. As her mother,

“That’s our love for you! That’s why we have to harden our hearts and show our scowls!”

She teared up as she said that. At a certain level, she would receive a penalty.

Like for example, being unable to go out.

Like for example, not allowed to have her meals.

Like for example, being smacked lightly on the hand.

“When my mom did this to me back when I was young, I really hated her for it, but now, I’m really grateful to her for training me to be such a refined lady.”

Her mother would emphasize this in a teary manner.

And she,

“…Yes.”

Answered dryly with a dull expression and accepted it.

She accepted it.

To become a highly refined girl, she had to try her best not to disappoint her parents. Her father would only,

“Un un, mama’s right.”

He would often agree with her mother, and then, to his own daughter,

“Minus Check.”

And he wouldn’t hesitate about it. That’s because it’s his love to his daughter.

It’s all for his daughter’s sake.

So,

She,

Would have the voices ringing inside her head.

“Minus Check! Minus Check!”

And it would never become positive.

It was always negative.

Under the education as points continued to be subtracted off instead of being added.

She grew up under such an environment.

She had a unique habit in that she liked to imagine ever since she was young. For example, as she look out from her room through the window and into the night sky far away, her mind would start to weave a story.

She would use a story that she knew as a basis and illustrate the prince on the moon and the princess on the stars, and then rethink about it again and again and enjoy herself.

No one would obstruct her.

This was a sweet world that belonged only to herself.

For example, if she saw the white clipped birds and the German Shepherds with the chains on them, she would come up with a story of a remarkable friendship between a hurt traveller and an artist who lost his lover and his will. The intricate details of this story would even amaze her.

That’s her only shelter.

During the storm of Minus Checks.

She used her imagination that spread her wings out in this situation. Most of the source of this imagination was from the current books or manga she had.

She had secretly bought a lot, hid them and browsed through them.

In contrast to her age,

There were a lot of books that were more like children books, and she liked to read books or manga that were aimed at a younger age.

But one day,

They knew about it.

‘I guess this person should be alright’. After deciding this, she said this to a maid after she went out, and yet she told it to her mother, and her mother threw out all her collection. Seeing her stunned like this, her mother said,

“These books and manga are for kids, not for a refined lady like you at all! You actually hid this from your mother…”

Minus check.

And that’s what happened. Once the points were accumulated to a certain extent, she would be hit on the hand.

However,

That pain didn’t matter.

The physical pain on the body wasn’t much as compared to the pain that she felt inside her heart, and she couldn’t even cry out.

That night, as she returned back to her room,

She looked outside the window listlessly, bathed under the bright moonlight, and thought.

(I want it to be always a plus.)

Normally, she wouldn’t imagine with herself as the main focus, and she had never imagined herself to be the protagonist in her imagination.

But that day was different. She imagined and thought.

In this planet…where the guiding stars were shining, there was a treasure that’s called ‘an eternal plus that won’t fade away’. Even though she didn’t know what it was or how it looked like, but she started on an adventure. This was a journey of infinite imaginations as she looks for herself, relies on the guidance star and finds it. Sometimes, she would be an angel, and sometimes, a princess, and sometimes, a female detective, and sometimes, a female swordsman. However,

She had to become a character that’s far different from herself.

To find an ‘eternal plus’.

That would change her heart. So let’s try it.

She wanted to search for it in the real world.

From that day on, her preparations were all set. She skilfully arranged the time such that she had enough remaining time for herself after school, extra-curricular activities and as she moves to and from home.

Though there were only 1 or 2 times at school.

It wasn’t impossible at all. She was smarter than what her parents thought as she used the internet to buy clothes, download the maps, and had already planned her journey one time after another.

She tried it that day.

She was always cautious as she went home. There was a large 5-sided star painted on the building, and she snuck in as her parents went out. As that building had restaurants, manga cafés, and billiards shops, nobody could stop her once she entered.

As she completed her cosplay as an angel, she looked up the emergency staircase, and thought that it didn’t matter even if she was seen.

Because she was an angel now.

She had become an angel.

She wasn’t,

She wasn’t that princess who was always stuck inside the huge mansion and had to take Minus Checks.

At a turn up the stairs, she met a male smoker who walked in. That man widened his eyes in shock after seeing her dress-up.

She was a little ashamed, but she felt more like teasing him. Unlike the usual get-up she would show, she pushed the initiative with the next daring action.

“…I’m an angel. I’m looking for an ‘eternal plus’. Do you know what it is?”

She looked serious as she asked.

The man took a few steps back before running out of the staircase, and a happy feeling swelled up in her.

Fufu. She chuckled.

She used this time to run up the staircase. Ahaha, before she realized it, she was laughing, and then she arrived at the rooftop.

An endless landscape appeared in front of her.

The unlimited blue sky covered the streets in front of her.

Ahahahaha, as she laughed, she felt.

She felt that the thick fog in her heart was cleared from her eyes, and for some reason, she cried for a while for some unknown reason.

After that, she just needed a chance to repeat this and make some minor changes. However, no matter what costume she wore, her basis of ‘looking for this eternal plus that wouldn’t fade’ never changed. She continued to believe that ‘I’m looking for it’, and turned this daring entertainment into a decisive action.

Her parents were even stricter on her.

It’s because of this, because of this, that what looked like another form of entertainment opened up in her like a window…

On a certain day, just when she was dressed as an angel like usual and looking for her ‘eternal plus’,

“Fire!”

There was a fire, and she was shocked about such bad luck. Anyway, she decided to get to safety first. However, as she was the only one at the rooftop, so it was slightly too late the moment she heard the alarm. As she reacted, the surroundings were already covered with smoke, making her really scared.

However, she used her handkerchief to prevent herself from breathing in smoke and successfully managed to head down the emergency staircase. At this moment, she managed to get an encounter.

A boy collapsed onto the floor while hugging a brightly colored bag to his chest.

“…”

At first, she couldn’t help but be stunned.

However,

“Are, are you alright?”

As a kind girl, she obviously went to save him. The boy stared at her in a dazed manner for a while, but quickly lost consciousness.

As a delicate girl, it was already a miracle that she could save him. Another reason was that the boy himself was rather light, but there was a strange force that she had never felt before filling up her body. This time, it was because of that power.

“Because I’m an angel!”

That’s what she really thought back then,

“So I have to save him!”

Before she realized it, she had already reached the bottom of the body and laid the boy’s body on her back onto the floor. After exhaling a huge breath, she felt like she really accomplished something.

But once she felt the sounds of the ambulances and the fire engines coming over, this sensation wilted and quickly became fear. If they stayed here and talk about who saved the boy, someone would contact her family, and her secret adventure game may be discovered by her parents. She felt terrified about it.

She hurriedly left the scene and subconsciously turned behind.

Un~ He moaned.

It seemed that he was okay, but she was still worried.

After barely managing to squeeze some time out, she decided to take a look at him. Thus, she checked on the boy, who he was and what hospital he was staying at.

To her, who’s good at collecting information, money and contacts, this wasn’t something hard to her.

On a certain day, she went to the hospital and met with the boy. It was really a coincidence that they met on the rooftop, and after seeing that the boy was really healthy, she wanted to head back, but as the weather was too good, she couldn’t help but enjoy the scenery as she looked out from the roof.

After that, the boy followed her…

“In that case.” She jumped down and talked to him. She felt that his eyes were really beautiful. As she talked to him casually and saved him, she was an angel.

Thus, she continued to disguise herself as an ‘angel’.

She saw that he was really puzzled, and deep within her heart,

(Well, we won’t be meeting for a second time already.)

That was what she thought,

Bye bye. She waved her hand and left that place. It was supposed to end there.

However, the boy appeared there for the third time.

It was a break day, and she found an alibi, left the house and walked around on the streets. As she was looking around for the star-shaped building, the boy again talked to her.

He said,

“Shall I help you find something?”

The girl was shocked. She was really happy to see him safe, but she had never even thought that they would meet each other again. While talking, she found that the boy continued to stick to her.

Suddenly, she thought.

Was this.

“A request to go on a date?”

“Does he have an interest in me?”

In fact, she was already used to being talked up by young guys on the road. She knew of such animals.

She had already learned that guys are animals who would want to attract the attention of girls. She also knew that she was rather attractive to guys.

She really felt like playing tricks on him.

Thus, she continued to act an angel. She felt that the boy was trying to make a good impression, and that if she continued to talk about things from her own imaginary world, he would run away eventually. The other guys were like this without exception.

Like for example, if other guys would say to her,

“Hey hey, do you have time now? Let’s go out to play.”

At this moment, she’ll just say,

“Sorry, I’m looking for my guidance star!”

Or,

“I’m looking for treasure! I’m a runaway princess! You’re wearing such shiny costume. Are you a soldier?”

As long as she smiled and said this, the other party would definitely reveal an ambiguous expression and say ‘ah, it’s alright, never mind, sorry’ before running away.

Thus, she thought that this boy would be the same too, and would quickly surrender before retreating…

However, this boy was different. He never took a step back as he continued to follow her until the end. No matter what nonsense she did by bringing him to the entertainment center that he was always interested in,

No matter how she tried to make him cosplay.

No matter how she dragged him selfishly along for a roller-coaster ride.

He always tried his best to respect her view on the world, which shocked her. Up till now, nobody would do this for her.

Her parents denied her inner world without exception.

The rest viewed her as a strange creature from her imaginary stories.

However, the boy,

Still believed with those beautiful eyes.

Her actions, her world, her worlds, her behaviour.

The boy accepted all of that while he was with her, and embraced this with her. No matter how others viewed her with strange looks, he never backed down.

He did that proudly.

Not flattering her at all.

He just continued to look at her.

She…never had this feeling before.

This person.

“What was going on?” She thought. However, happy times would fly so fast. There was contact on her handphone, and it seemed that her mother started to doubt her excuse.

She had to go back.

As she would be lonely,

She never said goodbye.

Maybe she acted until the end.

And because like a lost angel,

She disappeared.

The fourth encounter was too disastrous. She met him while walking on the street at an open terrace café.

After walking by happily,

She found a cute girl with him, and the shock she had was so huge that it was far more than what she expected. So, that’s how it was, she thought.

As expected, he was just a guy who really liked girls.

Maybe it was just out of interest that he went out with her, and she really couldn’t take it as she hurriedly left. That day, for the entire day, she was really restless.

Then, the worst thing happened that day.

Her parents,

Found out that she was walking on the streets.

The reason seemed to be,

The check carried out by her home tutor.

Perhaps it was the one positive amongst all the mishaps as the reason why she did so was undetected. Her parents just thought that she made up the schedule to play on the streets.

She took numerous ‘Minus Checks’ and endless punishments. She was forbidden from going out except with her parents, and got scolded over and over again.

“That’s not what a refined lady should be doing!”

“We had such high expectations for you!”

“You betrayed out trust!”

Minus check. Minus check. Minus check.

She heard those words until her mind was all blurred, and while she cried unhappily at first, it didn’t matter in the end.

Perhaps her mind was breaking.

Every time there was a Minus Check, her body would have black fog around her, and looking at it, it was a ‘-‘ sign after another. The ‘-‘ sign continued to cover her like garbage and dust, taking her vision away.

But her parents didn’t seem to realize it.

The girl was imprisoned by the ‘-‘.

Her dreams vanished.

Her imaginations wilted.

What swallowed her was the corrosion of reality.

This was her final resistance. Her greatest wish. She tried hard to search through her happy memories and arrived back at the Dean Land where she had fun with that boy.

The time was really tight, and she felt that she could see those clear eyes of the boy clearly.

And then, they met,

The boy was kissing another girl…

Nothing else really mattered then.

The girl already,

Gave up on thinking.

The girl’s name was

Amami Tooru.

That day, Amami Tooru had lots of Minus Checks. As she sighed heavily and returned back to her own room,

She was lethargic during the past few days.

Especially,

After seeing that boy, Katsuragi Keima kissing another girl.

The minus fog that covered her was too much.

It was too thick,

It was hard for her to move forward,

Taking extremely fatigued steps,

The girl,

Amami Tooru,

Opened the door to her room, and then,

She met him for the sixth time.

Basked in the moonlight that shone directly into the room, he whispered,

“Hello, princess-sama.”

Yes, he smiled.

Katsuragi Keima was standing there.

Amami Tooru was stunned. What was most unbelievable was the fact that he was there. The security in this house was extremely tight, and it couldn’t be imagined how he would break in through the front door, escape the guards, prevent the German Shepherds from barking and being undetected by the security snesors.

It was impossible.

“H, ho, how? Why?”

Amami Tooru muttered and looked up. And she was even more,

“!”

Stunned. A huge hole opened in the ceiling, only the ceiling in Amami Tooru’s room. The gentle moonlight shone in from there.

It was like spotlight shining down from heaven.

The boy who was shining brightly like a prince.

“I’m a prince, so I’m here to save the imprisoned princess.”

Keima respectfully placed his hand in front of his chest and said that. Amami Tooru was so stunned that she couldn’t say anything.

“How, how did you do it?”

She repeated. Keima smiled,

“Didn’t I say it? I’m a prince. I used lots of ancient magic. The moon tonight is really beautiful, and magic is really effective now. I rode a silver carriage and flew in the air before arriving in this house’s garden. The soldiers guarding you raised their spears at me, but I chanted a magic spell to make them sleep.”

“St, stop kidding around!”

Amami Tooru was angry,

Unknowingly, their positions were reversed.

“How, how could there be such a thing?”

Keima described his fantasy, and Amami Tooru denied it.

“…”

Keima smiled and took a step closer. Amami Tooru instinctively took a step back.

“Then.”

Keima started to come up with another story,

“I’m like what you said. I’m god. I borrowed the power of a demon to look for the lost angel.”

“You liar!”

“Why?”

Keima asked calmly.

“Wh, why? Why? Be, because.”

Amami Tooru was confused.

“Wh, why!? Why are you here!? Why must you come here!?”

“Because I like you.”

It was direct.

Straight into the core. Amami Tooru’s eyes lifted up. The reason why she rejected Keima wasn’t just because he appeared in that room like magic,

“You, you kissed that girl already!”

She was angry, clenching her fists and growling.

“YOU’VE ALREADY KISSED!”

Keima’s expression never changed.

“Actually, I had a deal with a demon.”

He said casually,

“That kiss was actually to save that girl. To prevent that girl’s soul from being eaten by other demons, I could only do that.”

“I, I don’t believe it!”

“But, this.”

Keima said.

“This is the real story that belonged to me. It’s like the story you said, a quality, real story.”

Amami Tooru was confused,

“What are you…”

Her body started to tremble,

Her legs started to tremble.

The black fog that surrounded her got thicker.

“Who exactly are you?”

“Didn’t I say it?”

Keima narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I’m the prince who came to save you.”

He stretched his delicate hand out.

“…To save a princess who’s bound by such a minus mark.”

A beat later,

“!”

Amami Tooru widened her eyes.

Nobody could see that ‘Minus’.

Nobody could,

See that imprint that was placed on her soul!

“You, you can see this?”

Seeing the shocked Amami Tooru, Keima merely nodded his head.

“Of course.”

“I, I.”

Amami Tooru shook her head.

Showing the wavering in her heart.

In front of Keima,

Her real thoughts,

The soul that was hurt and suppressed shouted out.

It cried out.

“I’M NOT SOME PRINCESS! I’M JUST A USELESS GIRL WHO’S ALWAYS CALLED OUT FOR SOME MINUS MINUS THING! INCLUDING THOSE BOOKS! I JUST HATED MINUS! I HATED IT! BECAUSE I HATED IT!”

She hugged her head.

And started shouting out in an almost maniacal manner,

“I HATED IT! I HATED MINUS! I REALLY HATE IT! I DON’T WANT SUCH A WORLD! I WANT TO BE, I WANT TO BE MYSELF THAT’S DIFFERENT! THAT’S ALL, THAT’S ALL!”

“…”

Keima closed in on Amami Tooru with a pained expression, and at a distance where they almost touched.

“…I like your story. I like the you that’s narrating the story. I like this you right now. Even if you change, I’ll definitely,”

“YOU LIAR!”

“I have a belief, I face reality with that belief. Your story, the one you created where you’re fighting with ‘now’.”

He looked straight in her eyes and asked,

“Don’t you have any belief?”

Amami Tooru timidly said,

“Bu, but I’m covered in minus! What can I believe in!?”

She shook her head,

Tears flowed out of her eyes.

“My story already had flaws! I’m powerless!”

“…Flaws? Where?”

Seeing Keima question her so calmly, she shouted out at the top of her lungs.

“THAT’S WHY I SAID THAT IT DIDN’T EXIST! I’M LOOKING FOR THAT ‘ETERNAL PLUS’ OR SOMETHING! I KNEW IT RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING! THIS THING NEVER EXISTED RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING!”

“Yes it does.”

Keima interrupted.

He suddenly changed his expression and said clearly,

“The eternal plus is here! Now, right in your heart!”

He pointed at Amami Tooru’s chest.

Over there, it was the cross that was hanging on Amami Tooru.

The shape of the ‘plus’, the symbol.

Keima smiled and said,

“I have a belief. With this belief,”

“All minuses will become plus.”

(As long as you have a belief that you want to save the other party with all your heart.)

As if time stopped, Amami Tooru was frozen for a while.

Her mind accepted Keima’s words,

Chewed on it,

And swallowed it.

And dissolved,

All the entanglements.

(I see. So that’s how it is…)

Warm.

Something warm appeared, and the moment it exploded.

The cross let out a glow.

The minus signs were blown away, and the light shone like a storm as the chains of minus gradually broke, the negative thoughts that bound her words broke. In the midst of this light, Keima smiled, stepped forward and kissed her. Amami Tooru never tried to avoid Keima.

Or rather, she took the initiative and accepted Keima.

His words,

His everything,

His thoughts.

Covered everything.

That,

[[Image:TWGOK 01 261.jpg|thumb]]

Light of hope.

After a while.

Having heard the explosion, the parents rushed into Amami Tooru’s room. They were stunned. First, it was the large hole in the ceiling.

The furniture that was all over the place.

And a seemingly restless Amami Tooru.

Her face looked flushed like she was drunk.

“It feels…like there was a prince here.”

Then, she turned around,

And smiled.

That smile,

Wasn’t an expression of a princess that relied on her parents’ expectations to survive.

But one that realized something important,

An energetic girl’s smile.

At the same time, Elsie, who was in the air, said to Keima.

“It’s finally over now!”

She was the one who used the power of the hagoromo to pierce the ceiling, captured the runaway spirit that flew out as Keima kissed, and brought Keima away from the scene.

At this moment, Keima sighed tiredly,

“That was really a long night…”

He muttered.

However, he looked rather satisfied.

<noinclude>{{Nav|{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{TWGOK List v1}}|The World God Only Knows}}</noinclude>

The World God Only Knows:Volume 1 Chapter 3

2015-12-21T08:17:07Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 3: Double Bind */ minor fix

==Chapter 3: Double Bind==

On the night when Amami Tooru and Yoshino Asami left at the same time.

Katsuragi Keima remained silent, and ignored Elsie completely after he got home as he continued with his gaming.

First, it was dinner.

Keima’s mother had something on and had to go out, so Elsie made it. At least it’s safe. Or rather, that’s what Elsie believed.

Keima glanced at the crawling food (which looked like a skeleton’s hand).

“…”

Normally, he would start grumbling about it.

“…”

He wordlessly put the food into his mouth and continued to play his PFP. Elsie couldn’t help but break out a little cold sweat, but Keima remained silent.

Elsie too,

“…”

‘’It, it’s not good for digestion when you play game and eat at the same time!’’

Or

‘’Let’s talk as we eat!’’

Would suggest something like that usually. But as she failed very badly today, she couldn’t tell Keima off.

Dinner proceeded silently. After Keima finished eating,

“I’ve finished.”

He said these words quietly and moved straight to the sofa at the living room as he continued with his game. It was silence, silence that came with extreme pressure. Elsie’s expression was obviously nervous, not knowing what to do. Anyway, she decided to clear the dishes and watch Keima as she washed the plates.

Keima was completely silent.

Elsie finished washing and wiped her hands. Keima was still silent.

“Er, erm, kami-sama…since we just finished dinner, I want to peel some fruit. What do you want?”

Silence.

“The, then, there’s apple and pear, you know?”

Still nothing.

Elsie,

(U~!)
Held back her urge to cry out as she walked towards Keima. She sat down beside him, her knees bent together as she placed her hands on it.

“Eh, ehehe.”

She gave an engaging smile as she leaned her shoulder over.

“Ka, kami-sama. Well, today, that’s, erm.”

Just when she was about to apologize.

“I’ll take a shower.”

After saying this, Keima stood up and hurriedly left the living room, leaving behind Elsie who was crying away.

Keima was playing the PFP which was waterproofed in the bathtub. Even though Elsie was really worried,

He wasn’t angry.

He was thinking.

About the conquests this time.

He felt a little repulsed.

The ‘Denpakei’ Amami Tooru and ‘Dual Character’ Yoshino Asami. For some reason,

It felt like he left out something important.

Actually, Keima didn’t feel that the meetings with the two girls were tough. He was spinning his head at full speed to set a guideline. He nodded his head, and just when he was about to get out of the bathtub,

“Er, erm, kami-sama!!”

At that moment, the bathroom door suddenly opened.

“At, at least let me scrub your back!”

After saying that, Elsie gave a determined look as she rushed in. Just like how she and Keima met just before, her white naked body was only covered with the towel that was transformed from the hagoromo.

Her curves were unexpectedly ample.

And this figure was now hidden.

After Keima tensed up for a while,

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

He screamed out.

After thinking of ways to chase Elsie out of the bathroom, Keima changed and returned back to the living room while looking like he was enduring a headache.

Elsie also changed back into her original clothes.

“I’m sorry~, kami-sama, I’m sorry~”

She was rubbing her face as she shed tears. At this moment, Keima finally noticed that Elsie was depressed over her mistake just now.

“…”

He was speechless for a moment, and he then turned his reddened face away like he was hiding his embarrassment.

“I’m okay with it already! This isn’t some major mistake anyway, Elsie.”

“But~ but~”

“…Listen up, Elsie?”

Keima sighed and said.

“You saw many of my conquests from close up, right? Sometimes, the tactic of giving girls a bad impression may be an effective move.”

“But~but~”

“Once I make her angry, once I’m hated by her, there’ll be a hint on how to conquer her successfully.”

“Bu, but~ but~”

“Minus points, Elsie. It’s sometimes linked to plus points.”

Keima said.

“We just need to believe.”

He merely stood up and placed his hand on his chest.

However.

“I just need this belief. To be able to do something for this girl, to definitely be able to help this girl.”

To Elsie, that handsome and clean looking face of Keima, who just so happened to be facing the light, could be described as pretty.

This was just like a real one,

Like a game imported expression.

A guy’s expression while he’s full of belief.

Elsie inadvertently

“…”

Blushed.

“The, then.”

However, Keima didn’t seem to notice Elsie’s expression.

“As proof that I didn’t really mind it, I’ll give you the same mission, got it?”

“…”

“Elsie! Are you listening!?”

“Ah, ye, yes!”

Elsie slowly recovered and hurriedly answered.

“What, what is it, kami-sama?”

Elsie’s face was still a little red.

“Really.”

And he narrowed his eyes with a disappointed expression.

“That’s good, Elsie. We’re working separately. I’ll chase after Yoshino Asami. You will go find Amami Tooru.”

“Eh?”

“Of course, we’ll be working together in school, but the efficiency will be higher once we separate after school. I’ll interact with Yoshino Asami inside school and outside, and if possible, I’ll conquer her. During this time, you will look around on the streets and find Amami Tooru.”

“…Erm, search out?”

“Find her and bring her home. If you can’t, try finding a way to contact. If there’s a need to track Amami Tooru down to her house, so be it. Anything. As long as we can find out any clue about her background.”

“Clue…clue?”

“Yes. You have the runaway spirit sensor, right? And you saw it in Amami Tooru as my younger sister. In the current phase, she probably doesn’t have any negative feelings about you. So you have to walk around the streets, thoroughly.”

“We, well.”

Keima nodded his head.

“We’ll have a battle on two fronts, a simultaneous conquest. So while you make contact with Amami Tooru, I’ll start my conquest on the other side.”

“…”

Keima sighed as he said this.

And then, he blushed as his finger scratched his face. He said softly,

“I still trust you, and find you reliable.”

Softly,

“Somewhat.”

“!”

Elsie’s eyes immediately widened.

That brain of hers which definitely couldn’t be called smart digested the meaning of the words Keima just said.

‘’I trust you.’’

‘’I find you reliable.’’

The meaning behind it.

The weight behind it.

To Elsie,

It was all enough…

“Kami-sama!”

She stood up tearily and hugged Keima.

“Thank you!”

She thought that this person was really a god.

“I’ll do my best!”

In response, what Keima said was,

“Wah, hey! Le, let go of me! Don’t get too close!”

Just that.

His face was redder than before.

After being all delighted, Elsie let go of Keima and asked,

“But.”

She placed her finger on her face and asked in a puzzled manner.

“…Erm, it’s not that I’m making irresponsible remarks about kami-sama’s plan, but why not conquer them one by one?”

It was a simple question.

“…”

Keima remained silent. Elsie then said,

“I find that it would be less difficult.”

At this moment, Keima started laughing, ‘fu’, and pushed his glasses.

“Well, I’m actually a single route follower, but it’s not like I can’t conquer both at the same time.”

And then, he muttered,

(I haven’t really seen it before, but there’s a game with really bad balance such that I can’t conquer one person without trying to conquer more than 10 of them at the same time…)

And then, he clenched his fist and said,

“Anyway, a gal-gamer won’t be scared of trying to conquer at the same time!”

Facing these forceful words, Elsie could only,

“Ha, haa.”

Nod her head away. Keima was burning ridiculously for some reason.

On the next day, Keima and Elsie observed Yoshino Asami while they were in school. Both of them kept their faces near each other while watching her read a book at the seat at the back of the classroom.

(Are we right?)

They were whispering to each other.

(That’s right…it’s her. She had a runaway spirit.)

Elsie answered. Her runaway spirit detector was reacting. Doro doro. Keima stared at her.

“…Is that so?”

He merely muttered that.

Keima just felt that there was something he couldn’t figure out…

Anyway, he kept his doubts to himself. First, they started collecting information about Yoshino Asami. It was at this point that Elsie made a huge contribution.

Or rather, since Keima, who couldn’t integrate himself into the class at all, would be completely useless, only Elsie, who was extremely sociable and gets on really well with both genders, could do so; and this would be the more precise explanation. Either way, Elsie made a huge contribution.

Then,

The reason why it was like it was because Elsie’s personality was such that she really couldn’t act, causing Keima to have all sorts of information on Yoshino Asami from all angles.

Witness account number 1.

A girl who provided the first information, called A.K.

“Ee-chan, why are you so mindful about Yoshino-san…well, it doesn’t really matter. Yoshino-san, eh…well, I’m not really clear about that person at all. It’s not that she’s being bullied or hated or anything, but well, it seems like she couldn’t get along well. We went to play darts together. Yeah, it was like a class outing. At that time…arre, it’s a little too much to say it to you like that, Ee-chan, but the one who was far away from everyone and didn’t take part at all was your brother. Ee-chan, your brother Keima-kun always give that vibe, often…are, what’s that? Game? Anyway, it seemed like he was always playing games, and Yoshino-san went back home because she said she had a cold. Thus, our relationship’s still not very close now.”

Witness account number 2

A boy who sits beside Yoshino Asami, called E.K.

“Me? Un? Soccer club~ I’m the ace and the forward, and also 16 years old. Trying hard to gather girlfriends…eh? You want me to tell you about Yoshino-san instead of this? Ah, hahaha, okay, okay. I got it, Elsie-chan. Eh, Yoshino-san who sits beside me, un…actually, as far as I know, that girl looks a little frail. I once invited her out before. You see, Yoshino-san’s pretty good looking too, right? I like those ‘ordinary-looking’ girls. And then, we went out to sing karaoke with other guys and girls. Then, she didn’t seem to be feeling well then and kept resting outside…more than that, Elsie-chan. How about we go for karaoke next time? Eh? What? ...ah, hahaha. So you need your brother’s permission? Is, is that so?”

Witness account number 3

A girl who’s also from the tea ceremony club, called T.Y.

“What nya? You’re talking about Asa-chin? Asa-chin…well, I don’t really know Asa-chin~. She’s really ‘ordinary’~. H, but I do know about this, you know? Asa-chin looks like she’s easily sick~last time, everyone went to the theme park, and she didn’t seem to feel well after taking that spinning thing. She tried her best, but ended up resting on the bench~ but, Asa-chin will never say anything bad about others, and she would sweep and clear the rubbish quietly. I think she’s a good person hya~n.”

“Number 3.”

Keima read through the reports that was collected during lunch (repeating what Elsie just said into a notebook), and couldn’t help but give off cold sweat.

“…That’s really intense.”

Besides feeling interested in it, there were other aspects he was interested in.

“I see…‘ordinary’, is it?”

Will this person really change outside school…no, once she’s in normal clothing?

Keima narrowed his eyes as he remembered Yoshino Asami who was so lively and talkative yesterday. At that time, she gave the impression that she liked hanging out with others, that she was really lively.

Keima pondered.

Such a person like her…

Why would she become like this in school?

“…”

“And then, there’s this.”

Elsie, who linked her table together with Keima’s as they were eating their bentos together, looked around and brought her face close.

“This report’s really a little unconfirmed…”

“?”

Puzzled, Keima prompted her,

“What’s wrong?”

Elsie stuttered and said,

“I don’t really believe this,”

“So, what is it?”

“…Ah~! It’s strange! I feel that there’s no such thing!”

“El..sie—!”

“Ah, okay, okay. It’s about…this.”

Elsie continued to stutter, but after Keima glared at her, she started waving her hand frantically and said,

“Eh, this…the 3rd person said that. Yoshino-san, she may have someone she likes.”

“Oh?”

Keima coolly accepted it unhurriedly.

The possibility was small.

But he didn’t deny this possibility. A possibility that the ‘dual character’ was a result of having a crush on someone.

“And then.”

Keima drank his green tea as he calmly thought and waited for Elsie to add on.

“She said that the person she liked could be you.”

“GUHHAA!!”

Keima choked as the tea was splendidly spit out.

“Ho? Wha, what? What did you say?”

Keima hurriedly wiped his mouth as he turned to look at Elsie.

“Is this true? What’s going on?”

“Who, who knows?”

Elsie chuckled in a vague manner,

“It, it’s strange, isn’t it?”

“THAT’S WAY TOO STRANGE!”

Keima concluded. Not understanding what’s going on, Elsie said,

“Th~that’s right. It’s great that she’s the one being conquered. Kami-sama, the problem is that you haven’t done anything…”

And thus, both of them eliminated the one possibility that girls would have any feelings for Keima if he didn’t do anything.

“I heard from that person as well…but.”

Elsie kept her voice done and said in a scary voice like she was talking about ghosts,

“According to that person.”

Keima swallowed his saliva. Elsie then said,

“Yoshino Asami-san, it seemed like she would often look at kami-sama…”

Once she said that, Keima and Elsie seemed to have thought about something as they looked back.

In the end.

What will happen…

“!”

They looked straight in the eye at a very shocked Yoshino Asami. She looked like she was watching here all this time…

Yoshino Asami’s attitude was,

“…”

“…”

After seeing Keima and Elsie stare at her blankly,

“!!”

She hurriedly lowered her head and pretended to be studying. It’s a rare sight as even her neck was red.

Keima too,

“…”

And Elsie too,

“…”

Were stunned. After that, both of them said at the same time.

“No way.”

“I’m thinking the same thing too.”

"It was just that inexplicable.”

Katsuragi Keima continued to think as he sorted out information.

(Being called ‘ordinary’…frail? No one she’s really close with, and everyone’s comment about her were all the same. ‘Ordinary’, ‘ordinary’ and ‘ordinary…)

He made some assumptions before school ended as he played games during lesson time.

“Katsuragi~! Ka~tsuragggiii!”

He continued to ignore the teacher who was lecturing him.

“Katsuragi Katsuragi Katsuragi Katsuragi~!!”

Even with the teacher gritting his teacher and seething with anger, he continued to ignore him.

He continued playing his game as he placed his hand on his face,

“…”

He turned his head to the other side, and finally,

“Uu, Katsuragi…uu, Katsuragi~kun”

The teacher dejectedly left after giving up, yet Keima didn’t respond at all. Also.

Yoshino Asami was watching all these from behind.

And nobody knew whether Keima noticed this stare or not.

After school,

Keima separated from Elsie at the staircase,

“I’ll leave it to you then, Elsie?”

With such an emphasis, Elsie responded with a radiant smile.

“Please leave it to me! I won’t disappoint kami-sama!”

It seemed she was really happy about getting Keima’s trust.

She ran off quickly and lightly as she ran off to look for Amami Tooru on the streets, as according to the plan.

“Fuu.”

Seeing her back, Keima sighed. He had his own things to do, and first, he had to talk alone with Yoshino Asami.

Keima decided to wait for her here…

It was time for the students to end the club activities and head home. It wasn’t really the same as dismissal time, but the stairs were rather busy.

As compared to the sports club players who were changing or have to practice late into the night, there were more students from the culture clubs, which end at a more regular time.

Amongst them,

“…”

Yoshino Asami passed through the crowd and changed into her shoes at the shoe cupboard,

“…”

And walked out of the school building.

Over there.

“Yo.”

A boy talked to her.

Stunned, Yoshino Asami lifted her face.

Standing over there was,

“What a coincidence, I’m going back too. Can we go back together?”

It was Katsuragi Keima.

“…”

Yoshino Asami was silent for an instant,

And then,

“Un.”

She smiled.

“Okay.”

What was that little moment of hesitation about?

Or was it that she was stumped by the unexpected words?

Or rather,

Was it his imagination that her face went red? Or was it that the sunset turned the surroundings red?

Keima deliberately chose not to get close to Asami as he deliberately created the same scene from yesterday.

He chose a scene when both of them were walking together.

There were two reasons.

The first was to use the same action as yesterday to gauge Yoshino Asami’s reaction better, to observe if there were any changes. Thus, the road back home, their distances between each other and the arrangements were all the same as yesterday.

The only thing different was that as there was the tea ceremony activity today (which Keima had investigated through beforehand), Yoshino Asami was a lot later getting home.

There was another reason, a somewhat rare instinct for the rational Keima. It felt that even when both of them were together, they should avoid doing so in school.

This,

Was something he just thought of…

No, that’s not it.

He was shaking his head deep inside. He decided not to lie to himself. This was his own will.

As for why…

“…Katsuragi-kun, where do you want to go next?”

“Nn?”

It was a little tough for Keima to act calm.

“Un, there seems to be something here. I’ll walk down this way during this time.”

“Oh~”

Yoshino Asami didn’t inquire further as she nodded her head. She continued to look forward. Even though she was smiling,

It was really impossible for others to know what her expression was about. Keima swallowed his saliva.

It was too tough to handle.

‘Yoshino-san may have feelings for Katsuragi Keima’. Elsie’s information may be more binding on him than what he thought.

Thus, to prevent himself from panicking, he chose to head home after school dismissal as he wanted as little interference from other students as possible.

Keima continued to try and raise some questions at her from time to time, and Yoshino Asami would take these questions seriously as she answered.

“…Yes, club’s really interesting.”

Also,

“Speaking of which, it’s about time for modern language. I’m not really good at comprehension, so I’m a little worried here.”

And also,

“It seems like our classmates are planning to go? Our classmates are really on good terms with each other. I’m looking forward to it…will you be going too, Katsuragi-kun?”

And things like that. Yoshino Asami’s answers were not importantly. Just like how he’s reading a manual,

Keima was sighing deep down inside.

And as for the last question.

“Nope, I’m not going.”

Keima answered readily.

“How could I possibly go?”

At this moment, Yoshino Asami, who had been giving only ‘normal’ responses up till now, seemed to be mindful of something as she turned her head around and looked at Keima.

Keima too was,

“?”

Staring back at Yoshino Asami with a surprised expression.

Then,

“!”

Yoshino Asami’s ‘ordinary response’ collapsed for the first time at this moment.

“No, nothing.”

She blushed, and also,

“That, that’s all. So, we’re at my…my house now!”

She hurriedly entered the house door that she just reached. Keima was a little bewildered.

What was that all about?

Did she really…

Have feelings for me right from the beginning?

Keima was thoroughly confused.

His confusion was compounded after that. After taking a few steps away from Yoshino Asami’s house and intended to meet with Elsie,

“Katsuragi-kun! It’s me! Hey hey! I’m going out now! How about we go play together? I still have lots of things I want to talk to you about!”

The PFP received the mail from Yoshino Asami. (Keima sent a mail to her yesterday, telling her his address.)

Right now, Keima had no choice.

The Yoshino Asami that appeared was wearing cute clothing.

A pink miniskirt, a blouse, a look that felt just like a girl’s. It was different from how she looked when she was in uniform, and she was really energetic, so she ended up being a really charming girl.

At this place where Yoshino Asami arranged to meet Keima,

“Here, let’s have fun, Katsuragi-kun!”

She grabbed his arm and walked,

Glamorous,

She was smiling really brightly and energetically.

After that, she and Keima were at a game center. Yoshino Asami said,

“Katsuragi-kun, you’re good at all sorts of games, right? Show me!”

And then, she started playing all sorts of games. Though Keima was slightly lacking behind in rhythm games and touch games, he showed overwhelming prowess in puzzle games and quiz games. Yoshino Asami clapped happily,

“That’s amazing! Katsuragi-kun’s really amazing!”

Just like it.

After that, as according to Yoshino Asami’s proposal, they went to a fast-food restaurant to order something to eat. During this time, Keima tried to probe into her real nature, but what was shocking was that,

“Hey, hey, what have you been doing during the holidays, Katsuragi-kun?”

And,

“Where did you go with your sister?”

And also,

“You said you liked bishoujo games. What sort of games? They’re a little ecchi, right?”

And things like that as she blushed and asked a series of questions just like a machine gun. Keima was really taken aback and didn’t know what to do. Amongst all the conquests up till now, nobody had shown that much interest in Keima himself.

It’s a definite that Keima wanted to know about Yoshino Asami.

Thus, he came out with her out to talk with her.

To get close to her.

To gauge the emotional distance between each other.

“But you don’t really hate humans, right? Because because, you’re talking a lot to me now, right?”

And also,

“Katsuragi-kun. Let me ask you. For example, what are you thinking while I’m talking to you?”

Yoshino Asami was wholeheartedly trying to understand Katsuragi Keima.

Yoshino Asami was serious.

“Well.”

She was stuttering, but kept staring at Keima.

“Then, let me ask you. I’m sorry if it makes you unhappy, but that, last time, who’s that girl who appeared when Katsuragi-kun was talking with me?”

“…”

“Katsuragi-kun’s dating with her…no, sorry. I shouldn’t be asking this…but I want to know, who’s that girl to Katsuragi-kun?”

“…”

What’s going on?

Keima thought.

The difference between the one inside school and outside school.

No, the difference between the one in uniform and the one out of uniform.

“That girl.”

Keima clearly stated.

“Wasn’t any of those. She’s just an ordinary friend.”

He merely,

Concentrated his will into his expression.

Perhaps Yoshino Asami felt it as she chuckled.

“Really?”

She merely continued to drink the cola through the straw, and smiled.

“That’s good then.”

She didn’t ask on, heaving a sigh of relief just like a girl who knew that the guy she likes doesn’t have a lover.

“Hehe.”

And in a shy manner,

“That’s great.”

Normally, guys would be able to conclude this already. First, Yoshino Asami kept looking at Keima when they were at school. Even Yoshino Asami’s friends noticed that she often looked at Keima, even though Keima himself didn’t realize it.

But once he knew that she had a runaway spirit, the attitude Yoshino Asami had at Keima were rather good (as compared to the other girls). And today, she even blushed when she went home with Keima, and even wanted to know about where he was going.

Yoshino Asami in plainclothes was undoubtedly interested in Keima, and wanted to go out with him, to understand him.

Normally speaking, this is,

Yes.

Yoshino Asami had feelings for Katsuragi Keima in a boyfriend and girlfriend sense.

It could be concluded this way.

However.

Keima felt that this wasn’t it.

Keima felt that there was something that didn’t match deep inside him.

That’s strange.

Something’s not right.

There’s a problem.

It’s strange.

No.

However,

He just didn’t know.

On the same day, after he separated from Yoshino Asami, Keima sank into deep thought, and felt that something was just not right.

‘Yoshino Asami’s conquest route.

It could be said to be completely clouded.

And worst of all, Elsie, who came back home at a very late time, dejectedly said,

“I’m sorry, kami-sama~”

She looked like she was going to cry.

“I couldn’t find Amami Tooru-san no matter where I looked! I had already set the search area to the largest…but this.”

And then, she stuttered,

“It’s like she vanished somewhere.”

“…”

Keima just kept thinking.

This route was starting to get tough too.

‘Amami Tooru’s conquest route.

It’s like there was an invisible wall blocking.

The next day, Keima continued to try and talk enthusiastically to Yoshino Asami inside and outside school, and Elsie went through the streets, looking for Amami Tooru.

However,

There wasn’t any results on both sides.

Keima would feel troubled whenever he talked to Yoshino Asami.

And Elsie’s search for Amami Tooru didn’t show any progress.

Both of them were spent.

They were tired.

Keima was mostly drained mentally,

And Elsie was mainly tired physically after walking around for so long and yet unable to find Asami Tooru.

Both of them,

Returned home tired and laid on each other’s backs.

“Kami-sama, it’s really tough when both sides don’t have any clues.”

“…”

“It would be good if at least one side could give some information as a little hope.”

“…”

Keima was silent.

Silently waiting for something.

But on a certain day, there was a huge break.

That day was a rest day.

It was raining from morning on, and Keima and Elsie were walking around on the streets. Normally, Keima would focus his conquest on Yoshino Asami, but as there was no need to go to school today, he and Elsie were looking for Amami Tooru.

Both of them were moving with heavy footsteps, and they were talking very little.

Even the normally cheery Elsie said in a depressed tone, probably because of the rain,

“I’ve been using the runaway spirit detector like this recently, but there’s no response.”

After saying that, she placed her hand on the skull headpiece.

“Where’s Tooru-san?”

Just when she sighed and muttered.

Dorodorodorodorodoro.

There was a tremendous response.

Keima and Elsie couldn’t help but face each other.

And then,

“Over here!”

Elsie looked like she was knocked aside as she turned around, and Keima went chasing after her. Both of them made about 2 to 3 turns before getting onto a main street.

Elsie panted and said,

“That’s right, Amami Tooru-san’s.”

She pointed at a certain direction.

“!”

She was speechless. Keima was also panting heavily as he looked over there.

“?”

He blinked his eyes. The one over there was.

“…What’s that, a car?”

There was a large black limo parked there. A man dressed in black suit, most likely the chauffeur, opened the back door of the car in a respectable manner, and a rich-looking over passed through the street and walked there. But of course, Elsie’s spirit detector wasn’t responding to the skinny middle-aged woman in brand clothes and glamorous jewels all over her…

“Arre? Really, eh?”

Elsie rubbed her eyes. Keima himself however,

“…”

Remained silent. A girl followed that followed the middle-aged lady as they walked out of the building in front of them.

She was…

“Was that really…Tooru-san?”

Amami Tooru.

At first, Keima and Elsie couldn’t recognize her as Amami Tooru as she was completely different. First, her clothing was different.

It wasn’t those casual and loose clothing Keima saw those few times.

But a proper-looking jacket.

The blond hair was properly tied up, and her shoes were shiny black leather.

She’s undoubtedly an ojou of the upper levels of society.

The only thing that was the same was the cross-chained necklace that was hanging on the neck, and to be honest, if it wasn’t for the response of the spirit detector and that cross, Keima and Elsie wouldn’t be able to tell that the girl who walked out of the building was Amami Tooru.

The difference in impression was this big.

What changed wasn’t just the clothes, but also her expression. It wasn’t the expression of the Amami Tooru Keima and company knew.

That fantasy story-like energetic pretty girl was already gone, and she just looked like a girl with a mask on in front of Keima, looked all proper and like she got something on her mind. The eyes that once boasted ‘I’m looking for my guiding star’ were now showing a blank black.

The energetic angel disappeared.

What replaced it was a stiff puppet.

Or it looked that way.

And also.

“Eh? Wha, what’s going on?”

“…”

Keima said softly,

“Maybe.”

He was now discussing based on their premises.

“…She got affected by a runaway spirit.”

Up till now, he had met an idol who would disappear when they don’t meet, or a female martial artist who would split into two people, so Keima made this decision quickly.

Amami Tooru had something strange on her as well.

As she followed the middle-aged lady and walked towards the limo, there seemed to be a black fog surrounding Amami Tooru that started to cover her body.

Keima and Elsie were speechless about this. At this moment,

“Here! Tooru-chan! You have to listen to your piano teacher and French teacher once you get home, okay? You have to learn what you lacked, got it?”

The middle-aged female cackled in a shrill voice.

“…Yes.”

Amami Tooru answered simply. They sat on the back seats of the limo, and the chauffeur then closed the door, returned back to the driving seat, and started the limo. Keima and Elsie couldn’t move until the limo left.

What should they do now?

Both of them had no idea. And until the end, Amami Tooru didn’t detect their presences.

[[Image:TWGOK 01 161.jpg|thumb]]

After a while.

“Ka, Kami-sama…”

Elsie seemed like she was finally released as she asked.

“Wha, what do we do now.”

Keima still remained there, not moving at all. His eyes were staring at a certain point in the sky. Elsie sighed,

“For some reason.”

With a pained expression.

“It doesn’t feel like Tooru-san. She’s the person yet she felt like someone else…don’t you feel that way, kami-sama?”

“Elsie.”

At this moment, Keima moved. His voice had a little hot air in it. Though it was little, he was really trembling. He had an inspiration from what Elsie said, but Elsie herself didn’t realize it at all.

“Ye, yes? What is it?”

Elsie answered normally.

Keima asked a question.

A very important question.

A question that could cover all the scenarios.

“Elsie, that person was really Amami Tooru, correct?”

“Ye, yes.”

Though Elsie was blank for a while.

“That’s right. My spirit detector did show that it was Amami Tooru-san.”

“Is that so.”

At that moment.

(They’re the same person, but why does it feel like they were completely different people? On the other hand~Yoshino Asami’s ‘ordinary’~, the possibility of having feelings~ frail~why is she so different? After school and during school? And Elsie’s existence~ I saw a ‘Denpakei’~searching for the reason~Amami Tooru’s reason to look for something~why did she disappear after saving me~Yoshino Asami~Amami Tooru~ Yoshino Asami~Amami Tooru~Yoshino~Amami. After connecting the similarities and differences between these two.)

(All the answers.)

Keima’s thinking ability suddenly kicked into active gear.

Fuu, he chuckled. He used his fingers to push his glasses and said,

That classic line.

“Elsie.”

Nonchalantly.

“I can see the ending.”

And without hesitation.

And Elsie could only stare blankly at Keima.

<noinclude>{{Nav|{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{TWGOK List v1}}|The World God Only Knows}}</noinclude>

The World God Only Knows:Volume 1 Chapter 2

2015-12-21T08:06:42Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 2: The Front and Back Sides of the Coin */ Fixed minor tense and word errors.

==Chapter 2: The Front and Back Sides of the Coin==

On the next day after they lost Amami Tooru at the Dean Land.

Katsuragi Keima, the ‘Capturing God’ dragged his feet and walked around on the street. His body was tilted forward, his shoulders were slumped, and he looked very listless.

“Haa.”

Keima sighed while still in his school uniform.

After school, he came out without even changing his clothes. Beside him, Elsie was also in school uniform as she walked beside him.

“…There’s no response. Right now.”

Elsie muttered as she touched the skull hairpiece,

“I tried looking around yesterday, but Tooru-san seemed to have escaped outside my detection range.”

After saying that, she watched Keima in an apologetic manner. Keima said with a listless expression.

“It’s alright. One characteristic of a ‘Denpakei’ is that it’s rare to meet them.”

“Is, is that so?”

“Un, basically, we don’t know her residence and background, and there are also cases when we don’t know whether it’s a real name or not. One of the biggest reasons why the Denpakei is so troublesome is that we can only walk around randomly on the streets and hope.”

Just when he just finished saying that.

Dorodorodorodorodoro.

Elsie’s runaway spirit sensor suddenly had a reaction.

Both Elsie and Keima were stunned.

“It’s here!”

Elsie said.

(That’s too fast…)

Keima muttered deep inside. Elsie pointed her finger and said,

“That way.”

Both of them looked over. At the entrance near a shopping street, a girl was walking slowly in a horizontal manner at the arcade.

Then,

“Who’s that?”

“Eh?”

Both of them were stunned. That person,

Wasn’t Amami Tooru.

To actually,

“Ee?”

“Ha?”

To think that it was a completely different girl from Amami Tooru!

“WA! WA! WHAT’S GOING ON!?”

“Calm down!”

Keima chided.

“It’s alright. That’s just another girl with a runaway spirit.”

“But, but. How did it happen! Eh?”

Just when Elsie was panicking, another change happened.

Dorodorodorodorodoro.

The runaway spirit detector again reacted. This time, it was in a completely opposite direction. Elsie and Keima instinctively turned around.

“Uu.”

Keima couldn’t help but bemoan.

“WA~ WA~! It’s Tooru-san this time…”

Elsie looked lost as she said that. In the corner on the opposite side, at a place directly opposite from where the girl was, Amami Tooru was walking alone.

She didn’t seem to realize what was going on here.

“WA~ WA~! THEY’RE BOTH WALKING AWAY!”

Elsie flailed her arms about.

She looked up at Keima and waited for his decision.

“…”

Keima quickly made his decision, and immediately after thinking, instructed Elsie.

“Elsie! Go chase after Amami Tooru! I’ll go chase after that new girl!”

“Bu, but!”

“Just go already! Catch up and try to delay Amami Tooru! You hear me!? And as for contacting…no, just bring her to my house if possible!”

After saying that, Keima ran away to chase after that unknown again.

Elsie didn’t hesitate too.

“I, I got it! I’ll do my best!”

And thus, she ran off in the opposite direction.

Keima’s judgement was simple. One simple point; Amami Tooru and Elsie knew each other. In other words, Elsie could get Amami Tooru to stop even after chasing after her.

However, in contrast, Keima had no information on this unknown girl he was facing, and he could only check her situation out personally. Only Keima could say hello to her or call her. Thus, Keima let Elsie chase after Amami Tooru, and he went to chase after the other girl.

Luckily, the girl was walking in a rather casual piece, and even Keima could catch up successfully. (Even so, Keima was already panting hard).

“!”

Soon after, Keima saw her back and frowned.

“Eh?”

Keima was shocked.

“Is it from…our school?”

The girl was wearing the uniform of Maijima Private High School where Keima was studying at, and also,

“…”

The girl who heard Keima’s footsteps, and what she said when she turned around stunned Keima.

“Arre? Katsuragi-kun?”

Keima was shocked, and stopped.

She,

Was a girl in the same class as Keima…

Keima would hardly interact with other people at school. Whether it was during break time or lessons (and even PE lessons!), he would always be holding his handheld games and playing his bishoujo games, so he became a weirdo to the rest.

Keima himself wouldn’t talk to girls in real life who he thought were imperfect existences, and the girls would tease him as an Otomegane who only knew how to play games from day to night, and no one would try to interact with him actively.

Thus, instead of saying that Keima himself won’t remember these girls names…

(I remember…)

Keima thought.

(Yoshino Asami, that’s her name…)

That wasn’t the case. Katsuragi Keima had an exceptional memory. Keima could still remember these girls name if there was a chance where he would do duty together with someone or when someone was called by the teacher to do something.

Keima also remembered the other personal particulars of this girl.

(Member of the Tea Ceremony Club. Sits at the back row of the classroom. Would often read books alone. Extremely quiet.)

The fragments of information.

Keima knew all these, but.

(A person who’s not special per say.)

“…Keima-kun too.”

The girl,

Yoshino Asami said with a calm tone,

“Are you going in this direction too?”

“Eh?”

“Home?”

“Ah, ahh.”

Keima’s response lagged for several moments, but was extremely quick.

“No, I just had something to do, so I came over here.”

He shook his head. He continued to observe Yoshino Asami, and was perplexed. It was tough, there was no clues at all.

She had a nice face, and her body profile was also rather good. However,

There was nothing that gave her the ‘beauty’ impression like Amami Tooru. It wasn’t like ‘cute’ or ‘active’, but even so, she did have a mouth, and she’s not expressionless.

She was smiling,

There were a lot of girls who made fun of Keima, so it’s rare to see someone like her take the initiative to talk.

But it wasn’t like she had feelings for Keima, and it wasn’t out of loving compassion.

Her voice was normal.

Her expression was normal.

Her dress attire was normal too. Everything was normal, everything was plain.

“…?”

As Keima was suddenly silent, she frowned slightly as she didn’t understand. However,

“…Ehh, if possible, can we walk together for a while?”

After Keima asked that,

“Sure.”

She smiled and nodded her head.

However,

This expression was normal too.

She wasn’t a sportsgirl, and he never heard that she was rich. She looked like she liked to read books, but it’s not like this literature girl didn’t have a mouth. She wasn’t a fighter, and yet not an idol. She didn’t avoid Keima, but wasn’t especially close to him.

She was just plain.

Plain, the sort of feeling when she would talk to a classmate when she’s on the way home. Keima felt extremely troubled as he was walking beside Yoshino Asami.

Up till now, the experiences he had showed that those with a runaway spirit would have obvious traits, either good or bad. For example, being very eccentric or being very aggressive. Then, he would take on these traits, find a gap and tackle them.

But this Yoshino Asami was way too ordinary.

A shocking contrast from the ‘Denpakei’ Amami Tooru Elsie should be chasing now.

“…Today.”

Keima asked.

“There’s no club activities?”

“None.”

Yoshino Asami answered as she walked.

“If I remember correctly,”

Keima then asked,

“It’s the Tea Ceremony Club, right?”

Keima really needed clues urgently, no matter what it was or how little it was. On facing these questions, Yoshino Asami was slightly surprised,

“Arrea? You’re really sure about that, Katsuragi-kun.”

“One of the notes on the class noticeboard is a review of clubs, right? That one where we see who join which club. I did that on my duty day, so I remembered.”

“Oh~”

On hearing that answer, Yoshino Asami looked amazed,

“Katsuragi-kun’s memory’s really good.”

She smiled.

Keima felt anxious.

All these were too plain. To Keima, it might be better if she tried to avoid him or even feel disgusted by him.

What is this girl?

Keima thought.

Thus, he tried a little jab in his words.

“As for you, Yoshino-san.”

He deliberately made a mischievous expression.

“…You would actually remember my name. The name of an Otamegane who only knows how to play games.”

“…”

Yoshino Asami didn’t really have any special response.

And then,

“Because,”

She smiled calmly,

“You’re very famous, Katsuragi-kun very famous. Definitely more famous than what you imagine.”

She answered in an extremely ordinary manner.

Keima was troubled.

It felt that there’s a wall between him and Yoshino Asami, but he wasn’t clear about what this thin wall was about. This wall that gave an ‘extremely normal response’ was a troublesome one.

Soon after.

“Ah, Katsuragi-kun, I’ve arrived at my house.”

Yoshino Asami smiled as she said and waved her hand.

“See you at school tomorrow.”

She sounded so calm even at the end. She walked into a bungalow that was opposite.

“Eh…un, see you tomorrow.”

Seeing her like this, Keima couldn’t help but think,

(Even the house looks so normal!)

[[Image:TWGOK 01 103.jpg|thumb]]

It was really a standard bungalow amongst standards.

--

“It can’t be helped.”

After looking at this bungalow that didn’t have any unique feel to it, Keima could only shake his head. It doesn’t feel like there would be any benefit for him to continue looking at Yoshino Asami’s house.

Anyway, the girl with a runaway spirit was Keima’s classmate, and he confirmed her residence. It was fruitful as compared to Amami Tooru, who he didn’t know anything of. Now he should met up with Amami Tooru and Elsie first.

As he made this decision and was about to step forward, Keima suddenly realized something.

(Speaking of which,)

Yoshino Asami should be in school today. However, Elsie’s spirit detector didn’t have any response to it.

In other words…

(Maybe a runaway spirit went in when she went home. I better check with Elsie tomorrow just to be safe.)

He nodded his head.

And then,

“Oh?”

He suddenly stopped in his tracks. As he was talking with Yoshino Asami up till now, he didn’t realize that there was a small old bookstore beside her house.

A small shop.

The type where they were placed like a wagon sale.

Keima’s eyes than sharply noticed a few magazines that were placed on the shelves of the wagon.

<<Bishoujo Game Guide>>

And also,

<<From Tsundere to Yandere~ a certain game developers own words~>>

It was selling books that looked like they were about to move his heart

“Mu.”

Keima really couldn’t ignore them.

“Ummmm.”

He took a few books that were lined up with a heavy expression and started browsing.

Even if he wanted to buy them, he had to check their contents.

--

After about 10 minutes later,

“I’m going then~”

A lively voice came from next door, and a girl jumped out. Keima suddenly lifted his head.

This voice,

He couldn’t be mistaken.

It was Yoshino Asami!

The girl then stopped.

“?”

And after realizing that Keima was behind her, she showed a surprised look.

“…Katsuragi, kun?”

Perhaps bothered that the person she just left was still here, Yoshino Asami frowned and looked at Keima, and Keima was thinking,

“Ah, arre?”

For some reason,

(There was a huge change in her expression…)

The girl saw Keima holding the <<Bishoujo game Guide>>,

“As expected.”

She smiled as she said that.

“You’re Katsuragi-kun, aren’t you?”

“Ah, ahh.”

“That’s so like you~”

“Eh?”

“Reading game books like this.”

“Un? Ahh…well, Yoshino?”

“What is it?”

Having changed into casual clothes, Yoshino Asami casually tied the hair behind her head and smiled at Keima. She didn’t show any real concern about Keima like just now, but now, it’s rather…

“Are…are you really Yoshino?”

Yoshino Asami was stunned for a while.

And then she smiled,

“Ahahaha, really! I’m Yoshino!”

And then she showed a mischievous smile.

“I’m Yoshino, Yoshino Asami!”

Keima was shocked. As for why,

The impression Yoshino Asami gave others had a huge change.

Was it because she was wearing plainclothes?

Or was it because she had makeup on.

Unlike before, she looked really energetic. Just 10 minutes ago, as she entered her own house, it felt like she was wearing clothing of ‘equal value’ which gave an impression of not have any special characteristics.

But now, she was giving off a vibrant and energetic vibe.

From head to toe, he could feel that she was full of self-confidence and delight, and what was more unbelievable was the way she was talking lively,

“Hey, Katsuragi-kun.”

Yoshino Asami lifted her eyes slightly and said with an impish-like sweet voice.

“…You look very bored. How about you go for a drink with me?”

She became a really cute, really charming girl.

Keima really couldn’t understand.

This girl.

Was a complete mystery!

Before he even knew it, he was sitting down at a nearby sweets shop and having tea with Yoshino Asami. The first floor was of a wooden open deck, and there was a blue umbrella covering them from above. The table and chairs were of the more delicate kind, and it was a cafeteria with quite the sense.

The shop attendants uniforms were cute too.

They were at this tea shop,

“…And then, I watched this TV program the last time.”

Yoshino Asami said some pointless things.

Keima stared at her blankly,

(I see…so it’s ‘dual personalities’.)

Once he recovered, he continued to observe the girl.

It wasn’t dual personalities.

But dual characters.

Characters. Basically, he’s taking down girls in a galge manner, so to Keima, it wasn’t about ‘personalities’, but ‘character’.

Dual characters would mean that the girl had two different ‘characters’.

Like how she would look proud in front of others and yet look so humble when it’s two people. Or when the girl’s normally capable, but would act like a bumbling onee-san in front of the protagonist in a mero mero manner.

The biggest characteristic girl with such dual characters would be that they would have completely different responses and actions in a fixed situation.

(This girl’s situation…)

Keima’s eyes flashed.

(So the switch’s inside and outside of school, right?)

But it was too early to conclude that.

The girl with a runaway spirit definitely had some problem.

This problem is related to the girl’s actions and words. This was what he understood greatly after conquering a few girls.

If,

Like what Keima deduced, that this Yoshino Asami has dual characters, this trait of hers would have a direct relation to her problem.

“Hey.”

Suddenly, Yoshino Asami waved her hand in front of Keima and asked,

“Were you listening there, Keima-kun?”

“Eh? Ah, ahh.”

Keima recovered and looked at Yoshino Asami.

“Sorry…where were we?”

“Really~”

And Yoshino Asami puffed her cheeks.

“I said that it’s troublesome that the tea ceremony club couldn’t draw people in.”

“Really? Sorry then.”

Yoshino Asami smiled.

“It’s alright.”

And then said jokingly,

“So how about you treat this one?”

After saying that, she continued drinking her iced coffee from the straw as she gave a mischievous expression. Keima smiled.

His eyes were giving off a warm light.

“I’ll be happy to do so.”

“!”

Yoshino Asami’s face went a little red.

Keima’s looks were really primp and proper, and the girl’s heart seemed to be moved by it as she frantically said,

“Really~ really~ I was joking…Katsuragi-kun, you’re unexpectedly serious.”

“…”

“Speaking of which, Katsuragi-kun…it may be a little rude of me to say this.”

“?”

“Lo, looking at you closely, are, aren’t you quite handsome?”

Keima frowned. He wasn’t unhappy, just a little shocked.

“Ahahaha! It’s very different from what I hea…heard from the other girls. Aren’t you called otamegane?”

“A few of them do…”

“But, you’re quite a looker, right?”

She grinned and narrowed her eyes.

“You have a girlfriend already, right? You’re a playboy, right?”

“…”

Keima didn’t know what to answer.

The most important thing was that he felt,

What was this girl worrying about?

Yoshino Asami was so carefree, so worry-free. The strange wall he experienced when they went back home together disappeared completely.

(In other words.)

Keima’s eyes shone.

(The dual character problem was in school, isn’t it?)

In this situation, the key would be that he had to meet her again in school. As Keima was thinking about this,

“Ah, arre?”

A soft voice came from beside him.

“Are you…prince?”

On hearing this voice, his heart pounded wildly.

(Do, don’t tell me!)

It shouldn’t be like this.

It couldn’t be like this.

It mustn’t be like this.

This situation…

(eh!?)

As he turned around, he thought.

(What were you doing, Elsie!?)

Standing over there was,

“…Good afternoon, prince.”

The ‘Denpakei’ girl Amami Tooru…

In bishoujo games, there were often situations where the girls that were being conquered at the same time would appear at the same time to create a ‘Shuraba’ event.

Based on the event, there would be a likelihood that the protagonist could create jealousy in the girls and move in further. However, if he ended up losing the trust of both parties, it would be a direct Bad Ending.

It was an event which required very deli~cate decision making.

Keima quickly looked at the expressions of the two girls.

First, Yoshino Asami.

“Fuu~n.”

She made such a sound as she narrowed her eyes, putting her arms on the table as she smiled at Keima in a very interested manner. On the other side, Amami Tooru,

She,

“…”

Was looking at Keima sadly.

“Ah, no, this isn’t,”

Keima hurriedly answered.

This, this is bad!

His heart was thinking that this was bad, that this couldn’t do, but he didn’t know what to say.

Speaking of which, why was Amami Tooru here?

“…I went over there.”

Amami Tooru pointed at the street opposite the tea shop.

“And I saw a familiar back profile, prince.”

Guwaa~

It’s already hard for them to have an encounter, but she appeared here in such a scary moment.

That’s why ‘Denpakei’ were hard to handle!

“Well.”

At this moment, Yoshino Asami casually took out a notebook from her bag, ripped a piece of paper out and wrote a series of numbers with a pen she brought out.

“That’s my mail.”

She smiled and said,

“You must send mail to me, pri-nce♪”

She blinked an eye lightly and stood up.

“Ah.”

Keima immediately tried to stop her without thinking as he stood up, but at this moment.

“…”

Amami Tooru turned around wordlessly.

“Wa, wait a minute!”

To Keima, this reaction was way too awkward, but it couldn’t be helped.

That super-precise of his,

(It’s hard to meet Amami Tooru, so it seems that she had some misunderstanding between Yoshino Asami and me, so I should call out to stop Amami Tooru, but in this case, I’ll end up moving away from Yoshino Asami, who I managed to get closer with. Also, Amami Tooru’s response really puzzles me. It may be better to let her misunderstand…but the opposite effect may happen too!)

Was spinning at high speeds.

Yoshino Asami and Amami Tooru. Who should he talk to?

Who should he explain things to?

Who should he call out to?

Facing this fated question,

“It’s practically 50-50!”

No.

(There won’t be any good outcome no matter who I call!)

He got this conclusion.

“Ah, that’s right!”

Facing

“How about you treat then? Thanks for the ice coffee♪”

Yoshino Asami waved her hand and left with light steps, and,

“…”

Amami Tooru gave an icy expression that could scare Keima as she again wordlessly glanced at him. Keima couldn’t make an effective move before they left the terrace. Whether it’s Yoshino Asami or Amami Tooru, both of them left Keima alone at the tea shop.

“Wha, what’s going on…”

At this moment, Keima didn’t have any clue.

This was completely unexpected.

Or rather.

“Elsie…”

If she had kept Amami Tooru busy well, this ridiculous event wouldn’t have happened.

At this moment.

“Ka, kami-sama~!”

Dededededede. The person who had caused this event to happen came running over. She looked like she was going to cry and said,

“I, I’m really sorry~ I lost sight of Tooru-san!”

“You,”

Keima said this, and then,

“YOU IDIOT!!! SHE WAS HERE JUST A WHILE AGO!!!”

In response to Elsie’s mistake,

Keima couldn’t help but hug his head and scream out…

<noinclude>{{Nav|{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{TWGOK List v1}}|The World God Only Knows}}</noinclude>

Silver Cross and Draculea:Volume01 Chapter3

2015-06-12T21:57:34Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 3 - Unresponsive Cross */ I felt that "finite lives" rather than "infinite lives" was the right way to supplement the previous line about the living.

==Chapter 3 - Unresponsive Cross==

By the time Hisui stepped out of the school gates, the sun had already set.

He should be elated by the arrival of Saturday, a holiday, tomorrow, but his footsteps felt incomparably burdened.

The vampire had thrown an inexplicable temper tantrum and run off on her own—clearly that was all that had happened.

"So tired......"

Hisui listlessly murmured, walking without purpose.

In his hands were his school bag and the parasol Rushella had left behind.

Although it was past sunset and Rushella did not need the parasol—this was her personal belonging after all.

Leaving it behind should have been fine, but for some reason, Hisui picked it up when leaving the classroom.

It was not as if the thought of returning it to its owner had not occurred to him. However, he did not know the owner's current location.

If one had to hazard a guess, she was most likely at Hisui's own home.

Since they had parted on such poor terms after the ridiculous dispute, Hisui did not expect her to continue insisting on living in his house. But since her coffin was still there, she would have to return at least once.

Although vampires did not have to sleep in coffins, they provided cover from sunlight and helped recover fatigue and spiritual powers, hence coffins were necessary items. Especially high "class" vampires were very particular about their coffins and liked to have them custom made. Rushella's coffin was probably the same.

If she really were to leave him, she would surely take it with her.

Besides, she might be done with her move. By the time he got home, it was possible that she might have left already.

To think the day that they would go their separate ways would arrive so simply, Hisui could not help but make a wry expression.

Besides, why did he have to waste brain cells on a noisy and arrogant girl?

Suddenly biting him, calling herself his master on her own, a willful vampire.

Chasing him to his home, chasing him to school... so troublesome beyond compare.

Even in drinking blood she was so clumsy...... most annoyingly, she made him once again aware of his unusual constitution.

He originally wanted to forget it completely.

He originally wanted to forget about his constitution and live like an ordinary human being.

"Such a pain in the ass......"

Hisui muttered to himself. At this moment, he felt cold water drops on his face.

"It's raining huh......"

Hisui looked up at the sky. The rain drops instantly blotted the sky and poured down violently.

The weather report had not predicted this rain. The surrounding pedestrians were all caught in the sudden disaster.

The rain was astounding, causing people in the streets to hold up bags or magazines as substitute umbrellas as they made their way rapidly through the rain.

Watching them, Hisui suddenly recalled the parasol in his hand.

Rushella had mentioned—this could be used as an ordinary umbrella, able to handle unexpected rain with ease, a fine treasure. In other words, it was used by vampires to defend against living, flowing water that they feared.

But currently, it was not in Rushella's hand.

The sudden rain did not care whom it was pouring down on, simply continuing nonstop.

Thinking seriously, this sort of worry was perhaps part of his overactive emotions.

Whether Rushella was outdoor—he did not know.

Whether Rushella had returned to his home—he did not know.

Whether Rushella was in trouble because she forgot her umbrella—he did not know.

Even if he delivered the umbrella to her hands, surely, definitely—she would not have pleasant words for him.

Clearly this result could be easily guessed, but Hisui did not slow down at all.

The road was wet and he almost slipped a number of times. His sight was also foggy. His stamina was also draining gradually as a result of getting drenched.

Yet Hisui still did not rest and ran straight for home.

Finally, when the front entrance entered into view, Hisui was already panting out of breath. Using the last of his strength, he opened the gate and stepped into the garden in front of the entryway.

"You......!"

Clearly he had hoped he was worrying too much, but Rushella appeared before his eyes in the worst possible state.

Flowing water: a vampire's weakness. And in one of its typical states—a girl drenched in rainwater was trembling slightly, collapsed in front of the entryway.

"Hey, are you okay!?"

Hisui held her in his arms and shook her but could not get any response.

Rushella's eyes were tightly closed, her lips blue, her entire body trembling, her body stiff, her temperature low. Even her pristine white skin was turning into sickly pallor.

Flowing water was a weakness but not a fatal one. But due to standing out in a rainstorm for a long period of time, the damage was still severe.

Rushella's body was virtually like a corpse right now. Her heart beat was very weak, her entire metabolism slowed to a crawl.

"What are you doing here!?"

Because the sudden rain weakened her, with no umbrella at hand to shelter from the rain, drenched in this manner, she finally fainted—the process was easily imagined.

However, normally speaking, a vampire could not possibly be caught out in the rain unprotected like this.

After all, vampires themselves were the most sensitive and aware of this weakness.

Hisui clicked his tongue, picked up Rushella in his arms and entered the house.

Although he was drenched as well, he could feel from his arms that Rushella's body temperature was even colder than his, almost as though it had fallen to water's freezing point.

It really felt like—hugging a corpse.

"Don't die okay......!!"

This cry made Rushella's hand twitch slightly but Hisui missed it completely.

He was not even aware that he had used the word "die" instead of "destroyed."

"......?"

Waking up, she found her surroundings warm.

Clearly it was unbearably cold just now, almost chilly enough to cut straight to the bone from a vampire's perspective, but it was quite warm now.

"This place... is.......?"

"You woke up?"

"You......"

Her consciousness still hazy, Rushella sat up from the sofa.

As soon as she got up, Hisui, sitting beside her, frantically turned his face to the other side.

Just as she found it strange, she instantly noticed her appearance.

"Ah—!!"

Looking down, she found herself completely naked. Although she was sleeping under a blanket, due to sitting up, her voluptuous bosom instantly jumped out.

"D-Don't......!"

"I'm—not—looking."

Hisui spoke while keeping his face turned away. He had predicted Rushella's reaction already.

Rushella's raised fist halted in midair, then blushing, she pulled the blanket up to cover herself.

"It's okay now... you can look this way."

Called by Rushella, Hisui faced her again.

He had already put on his usual sleep outfit of a T-shirt and shorts. He had also taken a bath, thereby warming up his body that had been drenched in the rain.

Rushella surveyed the room as though to confirm the situation.

This was Hisui's living room. The air conditioner was blowing warm air. The temperature was originally winter-like, but now the room was nice and warm. The blanket earlier had also served to help her stay warm.

"Why... was I naked?"

With the key issue raised, Hisui avoided eye contact and answered.

"...If you stay in wet clothing, you'll catch a cold, right? By the way, I kept my eyes closed while taking your clothes off. Then all I did was help wipe you dry. Because there was a towel, I didn't feel anything at all."

"...Really?"

"I'm not so depraved that I'd make a move on an unconscious girl."

"Just this once... I'll believe you."

"Thanks."

The two of them seemed to be suffering from some kind of dialogue disability.

As if trying to find each other, searching for each other's location... The two tried hard to form words.

"You helped warm me up? For me......"

"...Yeah. But not like in movies where two people hug together naked. If I really did that, you'll surely kill me. Besides, I'm not that warm either, I'd just make you colder."

"I see......"

Normally, no matter how Hisui explained himself, Rushella would still attack...... but today, she seemed unusually honest.

In any case, she looked so frail, combined with the pure whiteness of her body, one would only think of her as a frail and vulnerable young beauty.

"This thing, you forgot it."

Hisui casually handed the parasol to Rushella.

The owner received her lost item and simply stared blankly at it.

"Isn't this a vampire's necessity? Why did you leave it lying around?"

"Because......"

Rushella pouted.

Because she did not have any legitimate reason. She had simply thrown a tantrum like a child and caught in the mood, she threw the parasol away.

"Why were you standing in the rain? Even if you didn't have an umbrella, you could have found shelter, right?"

"It suddenly rained when I was at your entrance. I didn't have time to find shelter......"

"Then you could have broken the glass on the door and entered, right? Even if the rain weakened you, that's within your ability, isn't it?"

Hisui pointed out an easily imagined solution. Rushella simply answered softly:

"...I was afraid, you'd get angry......"

"......"

Apparently she fainted in the rain because she was hung up over such a matter.

While she was hesitating, the rain fell harder, in the end, she did not even have time to come up with a different plan—that was probably how it went.

"...Anyway, let's put that aside. Come here."

Hisui extended his neck and pointed at it.

Seeing Rushella cock her head in puzzlement, he added reluctantly:

"Hurry and drink."

"...Why? Aren't you always unwilling to let me suck your blood?"

"After all, when that girl pushed me down... you saved me."

Hisui treated this as a return favor. However, he did not look into Rushella's eyes.

"Even a vampire would recover very slowly if they were hurt due to their weak spots. Drenched by that much rain, drinking blood is the best way to recover faster. You should know that better than me, right?"

Hisui's words were very unbiased and objective, but Rushella did not take action.

Clearly she never considered his feelings before when sucking his blood in the past—pouting, she averted eye contact.

"What, you're not satisfied with my blood now?"

"...After all, I suck blood very clumsily, right!?"

Rushella covered her face with the blanket and spoke with despair.

Although Hisui could not see her face, she seemed to be weeping.

"Say......"

Hisui showed an exasperated expression

Apparently, his honest opinion had damaged this proud lady's self-esteem.

"......Now is not the time to mind that, right?"

"........."

Rushella remained silent, staring at Hisui resentfully.

It looked like the comment had struck her in a sore spot.

"...Clumsy, well... It's because of that. You're still not used to it, right? After all, you lost your memories. You should be able to retrieve the feeling, since you're a 'True Ancestor' after all."

"...You really believe it? That I'm a 'True Ancestor'?"

"........."

"Even if I call myself a 'True Ancestor'... I have no way to prove it. If I had servants or family, they could help me prove it but I'm just alone... I can't prove anything."

Rushella spoke in self-mockery.

She belonged nowhere in the world. Just a lonely vampire.

Having only awakened last night, she had not even seen any of her own kind.

Solitary—all she knew was that she was a 'True Ancestor' class vampire.

Nevertheless, even this one fact cannot be proven.

"By the way—what exactly are 'True Ancestors'? I just know the literal meaning of the words, but never truly understood the term as an existence......"

"Same for me as a human. Even among vampires, those who truly understand the term can probably be counted on one hand—no, maybe not even that. The only ones who can understand it are the 'True Ancestors' themselves."

Indeed, speaking of the greatest secret in vampire legends, nothing surpassed that of the 'True Ancestors.'

For a vampire, the one who had sucked their blood was their 'master.' And the masters in turn had their own masters.

Tracing this cycle all the way back, the entity known as the 'True Ancestor' was the final end point.

Also, there existed offspring between vampires. They were called the "Pure." And tracing back the lineage of the "Pure" to the very source, the progenitor's existence was known as the "True Ancestor."

Blood sucking and mating were the two methods by which the birth of new vampires was achieved.

Vampires did not exist in isolation, but instead belonged to complicated and massive family lineages through these two methods of procreation.

And taking the most primitive spot at the top of these lineages, ruling from the summit was the existence that was the "True Ancestor."

Given so many servants and descendants, then the existence of a first "master" or "progenitor" was only natural.

So—where did these 'True Ancestors' come from?

There was no clear answer to this most natural question.

"Who on earth... am I? Why would......"

Rushella's eyes were glimmering from a faint hint of tears. Hisui indifferently said to her:

"It's blood."

"......?"

Hearing Hisui's incomprehensible words, Rushella finally looked up to face him.

"How to identify a 'True Ancestor'—it's by blood. Vampires find blood sweet and tasty but humans do not experience the same feeling. It's just an ordinary liquid. But the blood of a 'True Ancestor' is different. Even humans or vampires belonging to different clans would be charmed by the blood of a 'True Ancestor.' That type of blood gives off a rose's fragrance, compelling people to taste it... It's said that the taste is sweet enough to melt your heart and soul. That said, I have no interest in drinking it."

"You......"

"Also, when the blood is shed, the droplet of blood will produce a stain, forming a certain pattern. Completely defying the laws of physics. It's also said that there's a difference in color, but that's about all I know."

"......"

Hisui spoke coolly while Rushella listened with a calm expression.

Then listening to this point, as if guided by his voice, she reached for her short sword on the table.

Hisui immediately called to stop her with a sharp tone of voice.

"Don't do anything reckless."

"But......"

"Whether you're a 'True Ancestor' or not, it doesn't matter to me. You are you, that's all. If you want to obsess over that, I don't care but save it for when your body has recovered."

"......"

"Okay, hurry and drink. If you delay too long, I might change my mind."

Urged, Rushella approached Hisui timidly.

Originally called a "kiss," the act of blood drinking was actually carried out like a kiss right now.

In order to stabilize her body that was still unsteady, Rushella slowly wrapped her supple arms around Hisui's neck. Her bountiful bosom pressed against Hisui's chest and their heartbeats were superimposed as one.

Then unlike previously violent and forced attempts, Rushella's lips touched Hisui's neck with utmost gentleness.

Nibble.

Rather than sinking her fangs by instinct, she bit lightly the way a pet might engage in play biting with the master.

As blood seeped from the wound, Rushella did not suck hard, instead she lapped lightly. Even the drops of fresh blood spilling out of the corners of her mouth, she would lick the clean with the tip of her tongue. Preventing the blood from staining the area surrounding the neck, she used her red tongue to carefully lick Hisui's skin thoroughly.

"Mmm......."

The ticklish feeling caused Hisui to stir.

This time, it did not hurt at all.

He could even go so far as to say it was comfortable. If an analogy was needed, it would be similar to the feeling of sucking your wounded finger.

The duration of blood sucking was quite brief. Rushella stopped soon after and left Hisui's body.

A silver thread of saliva connected the two of them.

"...Is that enough, you're only drinking this little?"

"Yeah......"

Rushella nodded and shyly pulled up the blanket, returning to the sofa.

Seeing her recovered to some extent, Hisui stood up.

"Since you can move, go take a bath, it'll feel warmer."

"Eh......"

"Your drenched clothes are not dry yet. If you're willing, just settle with using mine for now. In second floor, the room on the right, the clothes are in the closet."

Saying that, Hisui walked to the kitchen next to the living room.

Rushella stared in a daze at his back. After watching for a while, she stood up in a stumbling manner.

Roughly an hour later, Hisui laid out the diningware on the low table in the living room.

Since he had not even had a proper meal since the night before, Hisui decided to have sumptuous feast tonight.

Placed on the table were a plate of carbonara pasta, a large bowl of salad and vegetable soup.

There were also plates for eating—the table was set for two people.

Right after he finished preparing, Hisui heard someone enter the living room.

Rushella had just exited the bath.

"Oh, you're done with your bath... Hey, why did you pick that one to wear!?"

The beauty straight out of the bath—Rushella—was wearing nothing but a white shirt.

There was nothing underneath and the shirt's top was wide open. Her breasts were at risk of spilling out any moment. Even the protruding tips' shapes, poking at the shirt, were fully visible despite the fabric.

One could accidentally catch glimpses of the the base of her slender thighs if one were not careful... Hisui tried his best to shift his gaze away from the danger zone.

"Isn't that my uniform......? I intended to wear it on Monday, that's why I hung it on the clothes rack......"

"You asked me to find clothing to wear. This one is able to cover up the bottom as well. It also feels nice."

Rushella spoke with satisfaction, completely unabashed.

"Fine, whatever you want...... sit down first. I made more than enough. Although I'm very hungry, I don't think I'll finish it all."

Only after Hisui indicated towards the low table which was laden with food did Rushella notice the situation.

With a wary expression, she looked towards Hisui for confirmation.

"May I......?"

"Didn't I already say I made extra? Relax, I didn't put garlic. In fact, I've hardly ever eaten garlic my whole life. Even chili peppers, I haven't eaten them recently."

"...In that case, how did you get that stuff all over me yesterday?"

"I happened to buy it because of a sale. After all...... that annoying person's no longer in this house."

"......?"

Rushella could sense some kind of underlying message in Hisui's words but she simply sat opposite him instead of asking about it.

Watching him clap his hands together and go "itadakimasu", she could not help but imitate him.

"Itadaki, masu......"

Next, the meal started.

Rushella used her fork to curl up the pasta and observed for a while, then finally shoved it in her mouth with determination.

"...Delicious."

"Thank you."

Hisui said emotionlessly.

Rushella smiled and began to eat harmoniously.

When the food on the table was almost finished by the two of them, Rushella spoke up as though she remembered something.

"...Hey."

"Hmm?"

"About yourself, tell me stuff too......"

"Huh?"

Hisui was drinking his soup and cocked his head, unable to understand what Rushella was referring to.

"After seeing the world during the daytime today... I understand now. Very likely, my race has dwindled to few survivors in the current world. Even if there are survivors, they hide away and spend their days in the shadows. Hence, humans do not know of our existence. But you're different. You understand too much, particularly about 'True Ancestors'... ordinary humans won't know that much, right?"

"......"

"You said you used to know someone who's a vampire, right? You heard from that... person?"

Rushella gazed intently at him.

Hisui wanted to just dismiss her casually, but in the end could not win against her serious gaze. Shrugging, he returned his cup to the table.

"Rather than someone I knew...... I guess family would be more accurate?"

"Why did you lie to me!?"

"I didn't lie. That still counts as someone I know, right? If I told you that, you'd press the issue so I just worded it ambiguously."

"What a sly way you have with words...... but what's with this talk of family? Are you actually......"

"We're not blood related. Probably, you can think of that person as the foster parent who raised me? As much as I hate to admit that."

Instantly, Hisui's expression was filled with an air of reminiscence.

That appeared to be—a very sorrowful air.

"A person your age should usually live with your mother and father, right? Your parents—"

"Were dead. I don't even remember their faces. Then from what I've heard, I was adopted by a vampire before I was old enough to know things."

"That person... a woman?"

"...Why is gender the most important thing you care about?"

Hisui remarked with surprise.

Rushella looked a bit miffed and continued to press the matter.

"Cut the crap!! She's a woman, right!?"

"Fine, yes......"

"What kind of woman!? Prettier than me!?"

"This sort of subjective question varies from person to person, right? She looked older than you. Who knows how old she was actually."

"Advanced in years!? Then it's my victory!"

"...Who the heck knows. Besides, do vampires even have the concept of getting old? Although I don't know what you're deluding yourself about, a vampire adopting a human probably happened on a whim. Once fattened and matured, she planned to suck my blood?"

Ultimately, just a vampire and her food—that was Hisui's conclusion.

Rushella remained skeptical and stared intently at Hisui as she asked:

"That woman... what happened to her?"

"She's dead."

Without any sorrow, a completely monotone answer.

Rushella looked apologetic and did not know what to say. Hisui continued with his meal, unfazed.

Although Hisui was not depressed nor was he struck with sad nostalgia, Rushella still noticed something strange about his words.

Dead—this was a term that could only be applied to the living, to those with finite lives.

Hence, 'death' was not a concept used for vampires.

Their fates ended not in 'death' but 'destruction.'

As for why, that was because they were already dead.

At least, based on the concept of human 'life', they were already outside existences.

However—he had just used 'dead' to describe the vampire who had raised him.

Basically treating her as human.

"What was she like... as a vampire?"

"A strange woman. Although Japan counts as her base, she still ran around all over the world. Because I accompanied her, I never went to school properly until middle school. This house was also hers. Right, one more thing......"

"What?"

"She was a 'True Ancestor.'"

"WHAAAAAT!?"

Rushella's face was filled with shock.

On their first encounter, she discovered that Hisui was unfazed by the sight of vampires, calm to a suspicious degree—combined with his constitution, she wondered if she had sucked blood from someone of extraordinary stature!?

"That's what she said. I don't know the specifics. Because I lived with her, I could not help but learn plenty of knowledge about vampires. But personally, I'm still just an ordinary high school student."

"You're fine despite getting your blood sucked by me. That doesn't sound very ordinary to me."

"Yeah, but only when my blood is sucked. When I'm not losing blood, I'm no different from ordinary people. My constitution only acts up when a vampire bites me. I don't want to talk about it. Having seen human society today, have you remembered anything?"

"No......"

Rushella shook her head sadly. Her core memories about herself were still very uncertain.

"However, I did have some results. First of all, I've decided I need to understand more about the human world. This will surely have intimate relations to my origins."

"I see... okay."

"So... I will be going to school too!"

Rushella acted majestically as usual and declared loudly.

"EHHHHHHHH!?"

Perhaps things would be better if she had not recovered.

Seeing Rushella's conceited look, Hisui's face began to twitch.

"Eh, what the heck, you're going to go to my high school on Monday too?"

"Of course! Besides, you're my servant, it's your job to serve by my side!!"

"I refuse!! How important do you think you are!?"

"I am the great 'True Ancestor' of the vampires!!"

Rushella proudly puffed out her massive chest.

Hisui secretly regretted saving her and watched from the corner of his eye as Rushella stood up and left the living room.

Then she quickly returned with a sack in her hand, large enough to hold a human head.

"What's that?"

"I kept it in the coffin."

Rushella did not answer the question but poured the contents onto the floor.

Out from the sack came a lustrous golden brilliance.

Accompanied by crisp metallic sounds, they scattered all over the floorboards.

"This..."

Hisui picked one up for a closer look. Unbelievably, it was a gold coin, roughly the size of a 500yen coin, with a pattern like someone's face on top, but who knew what time period and what country the coin was from. Clearly it was not merely gilded but forged out of highly pure gold.

There were roughly five hundred of these gold coins rolling on the floor, instantly filling the house with a swathe of golden magnificence.

The scene in the room was like opening a treasure chest in a fairy tale.

"What's this, your accumulated wealth for hibernating?"

"Although I don't know its exact value, it should be worth quite a lot, right?"

"Of course, this is real gold after all... but it needs to be converted into cash first."

"I see. So, umm... basically, yeah, umm that......"

Rushella spoke in an arrogant tone of voice as she sneaked glances at Hisui's reaction.

"This can count as 'rent', right?"

"Huh?"

Hisui was increasingly befuddled by her words.

Rushella awkwardly fiddled with her fingers and looked up at Hisui.

"Umm...... If I go to school, I need an address. It's too troublesome to find a new one...... besides, you're my servant, so staying by my side is your obligation without question!! Indeed, you should be the one kneeling down and begging me!! Hurry up and prostrate yourself to beg me to allow you by my side!!"

"Huh——!?"

Hisui's face twisted.

He really should not have saved her. He should have simply cast her aside.

He began to deeply regret everything he had done for her. Rushella then began to pick up the scattered gold coins. Then holding a full pile in her hands, she presented them to Hisui.

"You don't want... them? This, isn't enough......?"

"You......"

"Staying here...... I can't......?"

Just like the time when she confessed her memory loss, Rushella's voice was helpless and dream-like.

Like the color of her skin, her existence was so fragile that it seemed as though the surrounding scenery would be dyed white.

Hisui scratched his head and took one gold coin from Rushella's hands.

"I'll use it as a lucky charm."

Saying that, Hisui stood up, cleared the table and took the utensils back to the kitchen.

"Wait, you......"

"After all, this isn't my home originally. It's the house of your kin."

"......"

"So basically... even if some vampire of unknown origins lived here, I won't have any objections."

Hisui spoke with his back towards her. Rushella instantly burst into smiles.

Her unease dispelled, she instantly recovered an expression that befitted her teenaged face.

This change could be sensed even with his back turned towards her. Hisui then said indifferently:

"The inner room on the second floor...... should be the most convenient for you to use. There's thick curtains to block light so you don't need to worry in the mornings. Also, it's the most spacious bedroom."

"Yes!"

As if wanting to see her bedroom immediately, Rushella raced up to the second floor.

Hisui smiled wryly and began to wash the dishes.

In a blink of an eye, it was late night already—Hisui went down to the basement at home.

The basement's layout was very spacious, basically an open area the size of the entire floor.

The room was built with solid rock with a library, wine cellar, food storage and used antique candlesticks for lighting, giving a decrepit medieval atmosphere—in other words, very much filled with a vampire's style.

Rushella had already gone to bed in the room he assigned to her. Originally, he had thought about providing the basement to her who did not like sunlight.

But Hisui did not do that.

Because the object before his eyes did not permit the existence of vampires in the basement.

Stabbed into the ground, this object was a vampire's weakness rivaling sunlight.

Namely, a cross.

Standing at a tilt, entrenched in the ground, its size was large enough to crucify a human on it.

The luster of its surface resembled that of pure silver. A pristine and flawless exterior.

The cross' edges were polished to be as sharp as knives, with the four ends shaped like "hooks" that resembled arrowheads or harpoons.

Criss-crossing the center were decorations of crimson gemstones. Wrapped over it were chains symbolizing dogma.

Although the style of the design was different from the ones usually found in churches, this did not affect the sacred impression the cross exuded.

Ordinary crosses used as signs or decorations did not pose any threat to vampires.

But this cross right here was the real thing.

It was a crucifix for exterminating evil and purifying the world.

Furthermore, it was the the tombstone of the former master of this home and this place.

Hisui gazed at the cross, his eyes wavering with indescribable sorrow.

Facing the cross for a long while, Hisui said softly in a grumbling manner:

"Hey...... Is this house cursed by any chance? A weird vampire has moved in, you know? Are you scheming something? She's sleeping in your room now."

The silver cross remained unresponsive.

It could not answer in the first place.

"You were dead already but another one came. Clearly I don't want to be involved with your kind anymore, but here I go running into one again."

The cross remained silent.

Unresponsive.

Hisui bent down and stared at the crimson gemstone inlaid in the silver cross.

"Come on, say something...... Miraluka."

The cross did not respond.

The tombstone simply chose to reject the living through silence.

The dead could not resurrect.

No matter how he interrogated, his questions simply resounded through empty space.

Although Hisui knew it was futile even before coming here, in the end, nothing changed.

Listlessly, he left the basement.

"Ow ow ow!!"

The next morning, even without an annoying alarm clock, Hisui still could not enjoy waking up in a natural and comfortable manner.

After a tempestuous first day at school, it was Saturday immediately.

Just as he planned to prepare for the official start of high school life next week by getting proper rest, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his neck.

Opening his eyes...... there was a vampire slurping away at his blood in the same posture as yesterday.

"What are you doing... Rushella-san!?"

"What am I doing? First blood in the morning. After a bath, this is the perfect taste."

Rushella declared openly. Her body felt warm and still had some humidity.

Her pale white body was wrapped in nothing but a bath towel.

Enjoy a drink of blood after a bath like yesterday.

"Who asked you to take a bath so casually!? Didn't you take baths last night already!? Are you Shizuka!?"<ref>'''Shizuka'''(静香): Doraemon character who has a passion for baths.[http://doraemon.wikia.com/wiki/Shizuka_Minamoto]</ref>

"Shut up, I took a bath first so that the blood will taste better!"

"Why do you have to take a bath to make someone else's blood tastier when you suck it!? Isn't that completely reversing means and goals!? Also, get away, it hurts!"

"What are you saying to your master!? I paid already!"

"Japan has no system of blood selling! Besides, you're wrong if you think you can buy my blood with a single gold coin, it's not that cheap!!"

"You're really noisy, anyway, who cares!?"

Rushella pressed down from above while Hisui struggled below.

While struggling, Hisui unmistakably touched Rushella's massive bosom—the bath towel slid and fell.

"D-Don't look——!!"

"Say, this is your own fault......!!"

This scene, familiar to both of them, was reenacted once more as the house echoed with screams and groans.

Vampire and human, master and servant.

Thus the curtain rose for the drama of Hisui and Rushella's life together.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea:Volume01_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea:Volume01_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Silver Cross and Draculea:Volume01 Chapter3

2015-06-12T21:47:30Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 3 - Unresponsive Cross */ "gives off" makes more sense than "gives of" in this context

==Chapter 3 - Unresponsive Cross==

By the time Hisui stepped out of the school gates, the sun had already set.

He should be elated by the arrival of Saturday, a holiday, tomorrow, but his footsteps felt incomparably burdened.

The vampire had thrown an inexplicable temper tantrum and run off on her own—clearly that was all that had happened.

"So tired......"

Hisui listlessly murmured, walking without purpose.

In his hands were his school bag and the parasol Rushella had left behind.

Although it was past sunset and Rushella did not need the parasol—this was her personal belonging after all.

Leaving it behind should have been fine, but for some reason, Hisui picked it up when leaving the classroom.

It was not as if the thought of returning it to its owner had not occurred to him. However, he did not know the owner's current location.

If one had to hazard a guess, she was most likely at Hisui's own home.

Since they had parted on such poor terms after the ridiculous dispute, Hisui did not expect her to continue insisting on living in his house. But since her coffin was still there, she would have to return at least once.

Although vampires did not have to sleep in coffins, they provided cover from sunlight and helped recover fatigue and spiritual powers, hence coffins were necessary items. Especially high "class" vampires were very particular about their coffins and liked to have them custom made. Rushella's coffin was probably the same.

If she really were to leave him, she would surely take it with her.

Besides, she might be done with her move. By the time he got home, it was possible that she might have left already.

To think the day that they would go their separate ways would arrive so simply, Hisui could not help but make a wry expression.

Besides, why did he have to waste brain cells on a noisy and arrogant girl?

Suddenly biting him, calling herself his master on her own, a willful vampire.

Chasing him to his home, chasing him to school... so troublesome beyond compare.

Even in drinking blood she was so clumsy...... most annoyingly, she made him once again aware of his unusual constitution.

He originally wanted to forget it completely.

He originally wanted to forget about his constitution and live like an ordinary human being.

"Such a pain in the ass......"

Hisui muttered to himself. At this moment, he felt cold water drops on his face.

"It's raining huh......"

Hisui looked up at the sky. The rain drops instantly blotted the sky and poured down violently.

The weather report had not predicted this rain. The surrounding pedestrians were all caught in the sudden disaster.

The rain was astounding, causing people in the streets to hold up bags or magazines as substitute umbrellas as they made their way rapidly through the rain.

Watching them, Hisui suddenly recalled the parasol in his hand.

Rushella had mentioned—this could be used as an ordinary umbrella, able to handle unexpected rain with ease, a fine treasure. In other words, it was used by vampires to defend against living, flowing water that they feared.

But currently, it was not in Rushella's hand.

The sudden rain did not care whom it was pouring down on, simply continuing nonstop.

Thinking seriously, this sort of worry was perhaps part of his overactive emotions.

Whether Rushella was outdoor—he did not know.

Whether Rushella had returned to his home—he did not know.

Whether Rushella was in trouble because she forgot her umbrella—he did not know.

Even if he delivered the umbrella to her hands, surely, definitely—she would not have pleasant words for him.

Clearly this result could be easily guessed, but Hisui did not slow down at all.

The road was wet and he almost slipped a number of times. His sight was also foggy. His stamina was also draining gradually as a result of getting drenched.

Yet Hisui still did not rest and ran straight for home.

Finally, when the front entrance entered into view, Hisui was already panting out of breath. Using the last of his strength, he opened the gate and stepped into the garden in front of the entryway.

"You......!"

Clearly he had hoped he was worrying too much, but Rushella appeared before his eyes in the worst possible state.

Flowing water: a vampire's weakness. And in one of its typical states—a girl drenched in rainwater was trembling slightly, collapsed in front of the entryway.

"Hey, are you okay!?"

Hisui held her in his arms and shook her but could not get any response.

Rushella's eyes were tightly closed, her lips blue, her entire body trembling, her body stiff, her temperature low. Even her pristine white skin was turning into sickly pallor.

Flowing water was a weakness but not a fatal one. But due to standing out in a rainstorm for a long period of time, the damage was still severe.

Rushella's body was virtually like a corpse right now. Her heart beat was very weak, her entire metabolism slowed to a crawl.

"What are you doing here!?"

Because the sudden rain weakened her, with no umbrella at hand to shelter from the rain, drenched in this manner, she finally fainted—the process was easily imagined.

However, normally speaking, a vampire could not possibly be caught out in the rain unprotected like this.

After all, vampires themselves were the most sensitive and aware of this weakness.

Hisui clicked his tongue, picked up Rushella in his arms and entered the house.

Although he was drenched as well, he could feel from his arms that Rushella's body temperature was even colder than his, almost as though it had fallen to water's freezing point.

It really felt like—hugging a corpse.

"Don't die okay......!!"

This cry made Rushella's hand twitch slightly but Hisui missed it completely.

He was not even aware that he had used the word "die" instead of "destroyed."

"......?"

Waking up, she found her surroundings warm.

Clearly it was unbearably cold just now, almost chilly enough to cut straight to the bone from a vampire's perspective, but it was quite warm now.

"This place... is.......?"

"You woke up?"

"You......"

Her consciousness still hazy, Rushella sat up from the sofa.

As soon as she got up, Hisui, sitting beside her, frantically turned his face to the other side.

Just as she found it strange, she instantly noticed her appearance.

"Ah—!!"

Looking down, she found herself completely naked. Although she was sleeping under a blanket, due to sitting up, her voluptuous bosom instantly jumped out.

"D-Don't......!"

"I'm—not—looking."

Hisui spoke while keeping his face turned away. He had predicted Rushella's reaction already.

Rushella's raised fist halted in midair, then blushing, she pulled the blanket up to cover herself.

"It's okay now... you can look this way."

Called by Rushella, Hisui faced her again.

He had already put on his usual sleep outfit of a T-shirt and shorts. He had also taken a bath, thereby warming up his body that had been drenched in the rain.

Rushella surveyed the room as though to confirm the situation.

This was Hisui's living room. The air conditioner was blowing warm air. The temperature was originally winter-like, but now the room was nice and warm. The blanket earlier had also served to help her stay warm.

"Why... was I naked?"

With the key issue raised, Hisui avoided eye contact and answered.

"...If you stay in wet clothing, you'll catch a cold, right? By the way, I kept my eyes closed while taking your clothes off. Then all I did was help wipe you dry. Because there was a towel, I didn't feel anything at all."

"...Really?"

"I'm not so depraved that I'd make a move on an unconscious girl."

"Just this once... I'll believe you."

"Thanks."

The two of them seemed to be suffering from some kind of dialogue disability.

As if trying to find each other, searching for each other's location... The two tried hard to form words.

"You helped warm me up? For me......"

"...Yeah. But not like in movies where two people hug together naked. If I really did that, you'll surely kill me. Besides, I'm not that warm either, I'd just make you colder."

"I see......"

Normally, no matter how Hisui explained himself, Rushella would still attack...... but today, she seemed unusually honest.

In any case, she looked so frail, combined with the pure whiteness of her body, one would only think of her as a frail and vulnerable young beauty.

"This thing, you forgot it."

Hisui casually handed the parasol to Rushella.

The owner received her lost item and simply stared blankly at it.

"Isn't this a vampire's necessity? Why did you leave it lying around?"

"Because......"

Rushella pouted.

Because she did not have any legitimate reason. She had simply thrown a tantrum like a child and caught in the mood, she threw the parasol away.

"Why were you standing in the rain? Even if you didn't have an umbrella, you could have found shelter, right?"

"It suddenly rained when I was at your entrance. I didn't have time to find shelter......"

"Then you could have broken the glass on the door and entered, right? Even if the rain weakened you, that's within your ability, isn't it?"

Hisui pointed out an easily imagined solution. Rushella simply answered softly:

"...I was afraid, you'd get angry......"

"......"

Apparently she fainted in the rain because she was hung up over such a matter.

While she was hesitating, the rain fell harder, in the end, she did not even have time to come up with a different plan—that was probably how it went.

"...Anyway, let's put that aside. Come here."

Hisui extended his neck and pointed at it.

Seeing Rushella cock her head in puzzlement, he added reluctantly:

"Hurry and drink."

"...Why? Aren't you always unwilling to let me suck your blood?"

"After all, when that girl pushed me down... you saved me."

Hisui treated this as a return favor. However, he did not look into Rushella's eyes.

"Even a vampire would recover very slowly if they were hurt due to their weak spots. Drenched by that much rain, drinking blood is the best way to recover faster. You should know that better than me, right?"

Hisui's words were very unbiased and objective, but Rushella did not take action.

Clearly she never considered his feelings before when sucking his blood in the past—pouting, she averted eye contact.

"What, you're not satisfied with my blood now?"

"...After all, I suck blood very clumsily, right!?"

Rushella covered her face with the blanket and spoke with despair.

Although Hisui could not see her face, she seemed to be weeping.

"Say......"

Hisui showed an exasperated expression

Apparently, his honest opinion had damaged this proud lady's self-esteem.

"......Now is not the time to mind that, right?"

"........."

Rushella remained silent, staring at Hisui resentfully.

It looked like the comment had struck her in a sore spot.

"...Clumsy, well... It's because of that. You're still not used to it, right? After all, you lost your memories. You should be able to retrieve the feeling, since you're a 'True Ancestor' after all."

"...You really believe it? That I'm a 'True Ancestor'?"

"........."

"Even if I call myself a 'True Ancestor'... I have no way to prove it. If I had servants or family, they could help me prove it but I'm just alone... I can't prove anything."

Rushella spoke in self-mockery.

She belonged nowhere in the world. Just a lonely vampire.

Having only awakened last night, she had not even seen any of her own kind.

Solitary—all she knew was that she was a 'True Ancestor' class vampire.

Nevertheless, even this one fact cannot be proven.

"By the way—what exactly are 'True Ancestors'? I just know the literal meaning of the words, but never truly understood the term as an existence......"

"Same for me as a human. Even among vampires, those who truly understand the term can probably be counted on one hand—no, maybe not even that. The only ones who can understand it are the 'True Ancestors' themselves."

Indeed, speaking of the greatest secret in vampire legends, nothing surpassed that of the 'True Ancestors.'

For a vampire, the one who had sucked their blood was their 'master.' And the masters in turn had their own masters.

Tracing this cycle all the way back, the entity known as the 'True Ancestor' was the final end point.

Also, there existed offspring between vampires. They were called the "Pure." And tracing back the lineage of the "Pure" to the very source, the progenitor's existence was known as the "True Ancestor."

Blood sucking and mating were the two methods by which the birth of new vampires was achieved.

Vampires did not exist in isolation, but instead belonged to complicated and massive family lineages through these two methods of procreation.

And taking the most primitive spot at the top of these lineages, ruling from the summit was the existence that was the "True Ancestor."

Given so many servants and descendants, then the existence of a first "master" or "progenitor" was only natural.

So—where did these 'True Ancestors' come from?

There was no clear answer to this most natural question.

"Who on earth... am I? Why would......"

Rushella's eyes were glimmering from a faint hint of tears. Hisui indifferently said to her:

"It's blood."

"......?"

Hearing Hisui's incomprehensible words, Rushella finally looked up to face him.

"How to identify a 'True Ancestor'—it's by blood. Vampires find blood sweet and tasty but humans do not experience the same feeling. It's just an ordinary liquid. But the blood of a 'True Ancestor' is different. Even humans or vampires belonging to different clans would be charmed by the blood of a 'True Ancestor.' That type of blood gives off a rose's fragrance, compelling people to taste it... It's said that the taste is sweet enough to melt your heart and soul. That said, I have no interest in drinking it."

"You......"

"Also, when the blood is shed, the droplet of blood will produce a stain, forming a certain pattern. Completely defying the laws of physics. It's also said that there's a difference in color, but that's about all I know."

"......"

Hisui spoke coolly while Rushella listened with a calm expression.

Then listening to this point, as if guided by his voice, she reached for her short sword on the table.

Hisui immediately called to stop her with a sharp tone of voice.

"Don't do anything reckless."

"But......"

"Whether you're a 'True Ancestor' or not, it doesn't matter to me. You are you, that's all. If you want to obsess over that, I don't care but save it for when your body has recovered."

"......"

"Okay, hurry and drink. If you delay too long, I might change my mind."

Urged, Rushella approached Hisui timidly.

Originally called a "kiss," the act of blood drinking was actually carried out like a kiss right now.

In order to stabilize her body that was still unsteady, Rushella slowly wrapped her supple arms around Hisui's neck. Her bountiful bosom pressed against Hisui's chest and their heartbeats were superimposed as one.

Then unlike previously violent and forced attempts, Rushella's lips touched Hisui's neck with utmost gentleness.

Nibble.

Rather than sinking her fangs by instinct, she bit lightly the way a pet might engage in play biting with the master.

As blood seeped from the wound, Rushella did not suck hard, instead she lapped lightly. Even the drops of fresh blood spilling out of the corners of her mouth, she would lick the clean with the tip of her tongue. Preventing the blood from staining the area surrounding the neck, she used her red tongue to carefully lick Hisui's skin thoroughly.

"Mmm......."

The ticklish feeling caused Hisui to stir.

This time, it did not hurt at all.

He could even go so far as to say it was comfortable. If an analogy was needed, it would be similar to the feeling of sucking your wounded finger.

The duration of blood sucking was quite brief. Rushella stopped soon after and left Hisui's body.

A silver thread of saliva connected the two of them.

"...Is that enough, you're only drinking this little?"

"Yeah......"

Rushella nodded and shyly pulled up the blanket, returning to the sofa.

Seeing her recovered to some extent, Hisui stood up.

"Since you can move, go take a bath, it'll feel warmer."

"Eh......"

"Your drenched clothes are not dry yet. If you're willing, just settle with using mine for now. In second floor, the room on the right, the clothes are in the closet."

Saying that, Hisui walked to the kitchen next to the living room.

Rushella stared in a daze at his back. After watching for a while, she stood up in a stumbling manner.

Roughly an hour later, Hisui laid out the diningware on the low table in the living room.

Since he had not even had a proper meal since the night before, Hisui decided to have sumptuous feast tonight.

Placed on the table were a plate of carbonara pasta, a large bowl of salad and vegetable soup.

There were also plates for eating—the table was set for two people.

Right after he finished preparing, Hisui heard someone enter the living room.

Rushella had just exited the bath.

"Oh, you're done with your bath... Hey, why did you pick that one to wear!?"

The beauty straight out of the bath—Rushella—was wearing nothing but a white shirt.

There was nothing underneath and the shirt's top was wide open. Her breasts were at risk of spilling out any moment. Even the protruding tips' shapes, poking at the shirt, were fully visible despite the fabric.

One could accidentally catch glimpses of the the base of her slender thighs if one were not careful... Hisui tried his best to shift his gaze away from the danger zone.

"Isn't that my uniform......? I intended to wear it on Monday, that's why I hung it on the clothes rack......"

"You asked me to find clothing to wear. This one is able to cover up the bottom as well. It also feels nice."

Rushella spoke with satisfaction, completely unabashed.

"Fine, whatever you want...... sit down first. I made more than enough. Although I'm very hungry, I don't think I'll finish it all."

Only after Hisui indicated towards the low table which was laden with food did Rushella notice the situation.

With a wary expression, she looked towards Hisui for confirmation.

"May I......?"

"Didn't I already say I made extra? Relax, I didn't put garlic. In fact, I've hardly ever eaten garlic my whole life. Even chili peppers, I haven't eaten them recently."

"...In that case, how did you get that stuff all over me yesterday?"

"I happened to buy it because of a sale. After all...... that annoying person's no longer in this house."

"......?"

Rushella could sense some kind of underlying message in Hisui's words but she simply sat opposite him instead of asking about it.

Watching him clap his hands together and go "itadakimasu", she could not help but imitate him.

"Itadaki, masu......"

Next, the meal started.

Rushella used her fork to curl up the pasta and observed for a while, then finally shoved it in her mouth with determination.

"...Delicious."

"Thank you."

Hisui said emotionlessly.

Rushella smiled and began to eat harmoniously.

When the food on the table was almost finished by the two of them, Rushella spoke up as though she remembered something.

"...Hey."

"Hmm?"

"About yourself, tell me stuff too......"

"Huh?"

Hisui was drinking his soup and cocked his head, unable to understand what Rushella was referring to.

"After seeing the world during the daytime today... I understand now. Very likely, my race has dwindled to few survivors in the current world. Even if there are survivors, they hide away and spend their days in the shadows. Hence, humans do not know of our existence. But you're different. You understand too much, particularly about 'True Ancestors'... ordinary humans won't know that much, right?"

"......"

"You said you used to know someone who's a vampire, right? You heard from that... person?"

Rushella gazed intently at him.

Hisui wanted to just dismiss her casually, but in the end could not win against her serious gaze. Shrugging, he returned his cup to the table.

"Rather than someone I knew...... I guess family would be more accurate?"

"Why did you lie to me!?"

"I didn't lie. That still counts as someone I know, right? If I told you that, you'd press the issue so I just worded it ambiguously."

"What a sly way you have with words...... but what's with this talk of family? Are you actually......"

"We're not blood related. Probably, you can think of that person as the foster parent who raised me? As much as I hate to admit that."

Instantly, Hisui's expression was filled with an air of reminiscence.

That appeared to be—a very sorrowful air.

"A person your age should usually live with your mother and father, right? Your parents—"

"Were dead. I don't even remember their faces. Then from what I've heard, I was adopted by a vampire before I was old enough to know things."

"That person... a woman?"

"...Why is gender the most important thing you care about?"

Hisui remarked with surprise.

Rushella looked a bit miffed and continued to press the matter.

"Cut the crap!! She's a woman, right!?"

"Fine, yes......"

"What kind of woman!? Prettier than me!?"

"This sort of subjective question varies from person to person, right? She looked older than you. Who knows how old she was actually."

"Advanced in years!? Then it's my victory!"

"...Who the heck knows. Besides, do vampires even have the concept of getting old? Although I don't know what you're deluding yourself about, a vampire adopting a human probably happened on a whim. Once fattened and matured, she planned to suck my blood?"

Ultimately, just a vampire and her food—that was Hisui's conclusion.

Rushella remained skeptical and stared intently at Hisui as she asked:

"That woman... what happened to her?"

"She's dead."

Without any sorrow, a completely monotone answer.

Rushella looked apologetic and did not know what to say. Hisui continued with his meal, unfazed.

Although Hisui was not depressed nor was he struck with sad nostalgia, Rushella still noticed something strange about his words.

Dead—this was a term that could only be applied to the living, to those with infinite lives.

Hence, 'death' was not a concept used for vampires.

Their fates ended not in 'death' but 'destruction.'

As for why, that was because they were already dead.

At least, based on the concept of human 'life', they were already outside existences.

However—he had just used 'dead' to describe the vampire who had raised him.

Basically treating her as human.

"What was she like... as a vampire?"

"A strange woman. Although Japan counts as her base, she still ran around all over the world. Because I accompanied her, I never went to school properly until middle school. This house was also hers. Right, one more thing......"

"What?"

"She was a 'True Ancestor.'"

"WHAAAAAT!?"

Rushella's face was filled with shock.

On their first encounter, she discovered that Hisui was unfazed by the sight of vampires, calm to a suspicious degree—combined with his constitution, she wondered if she had sucked blood from someone of extraordinary stature!?

"That's what she said. I don't know the specifics. Because I lived with her, I could not help but learn plenty of knowledge about vampires. But personally, I'm still just an ordinary high school student."

"You're fine despite getting your blood sucked by me. That doesn't sound very ordinary to me."

"Yeah, but only when my blood is sucked. When I'm not losing blood, I'm no different from ordinary people. My constitution only acts up when a vampire bites me. I don't want to talk about it. Having seen human society today, have you remembered anything?"

"No......"

Rushella shook her head sadly. Her core memories about herself were still very uncertain.

"However, I did have some results. First of all, I've decided I need to understand more about the human world. This will surely have intimate relations to my origins."

"I see... okay."

"So... I will be going to school too!"

Rushella acted majestically as usual and declared loudly.

"EHHHHHHHH!?"

Perhaps things would be better if she had not recovered.

Seeing Rushella's conceited look, Hisui's face began to twitch.

"Eh, what the heck, you're going to go to my high school on Monday too?"

"Of course! Besides, you're my servant, it's your job to serve by my side!!"

"I refuse!! How important do you think you are!?"

"I am the great 'True Ancestor' of the vampires!!"

Rushella proudly puffed out her massive chest.

Hisui secretly regretted saving her and watched from the corner of his eye as Rushella stood up and left the living room.

Then she quickly returned with a sack in her hand, large enough to hold a human head.

"What's that?"

"I kept it in the coffin."

Rushella did not answer the question but poured the contents onto the floor.

Out from the sack came a lustrous golden brilliance.

Accompanied by crisp metallic sounds, they scattered all over the floorboards.

"This..."

Hisui picked one up for a closer look. Unbelievably, it was a gold coin, roughly the size of a 500yen coin, with a pattern like someone's face on top, but who knew what time period and what country the coin was from. Clearly it was not merely gilded but forged out of highly pure gold.

There were roughly five hundred of these gold coins rolling on the floor, instantly filling the house with a swathe of golden magnificence.

The scene in the room was like opening a treasure chest in a fairy tale.

"What's this, your accumulated wealth for hibernating?"

"Although I don't know its exact value, it should be worth quite a lot, right?"

"Of course, this is real gold after all... but it needs to be converted into cash first."

"I see. So, umm... basically, yeah, umm that......"

Rushella spoke in an arrogant tone of voice as she sneaked glances at Hisui's reaction.

"This can count as 'rent', right?"

"Huh?"

Hisui was increasingly befuddled by her words.

Rushella awkwardly fiddled with her fingers and looked up at Hisui.

"Umm...... If I go to school, I need an address. It's too troublesome to find a new one...... besides, you're my servant, so staying by my side is your obligation without question!! Indeed, you should be the one kneeling down and begging me!! Hurry up and prostrate yourself to beg me to allow you by my side!!"

"Huh——!?"

Hisui's face twisted.

He really should not have saved her. He should have simply cast her aside.

He began to deeply regret everything he had done for her. Rushella then began to pick up the scattered gold coins. Then holding a full pile in her hands, she presented them to Hisui.

"You don't want... them? This, isn't enough......?"

"You......"

"Staying here...... I can't......?"

Just like the time when she confessed her memory loss, Rushella's voice was helpless and dream-like.

Like the color of her skin, her existence was so fragile that it seemed as though the surrounding scenery would be dyed white.

Hisui scratched his head and took one gold coin from Rushella's hands.

"I'll use it as a lucky charm."

Saying that, Hisui stood up, cleared the table and took the utensils back to the kitchen.

"Wait, you......"

"After all, this isn't my home originally. It's the house of your kin."

"......"

"So basically... even if some vampire of unknown origins lived here, I won't have any objections."

Hisui spoke with his back towards her. Rushella instantly burst into smiles.

Her unease dispelled, she instantly recovered an expression that befitted her teenaged face.

This change could be sensed even with his back turned towards her. Hisui then said indifferently:

"The inner room on the second floor...... should be the most convenient for you to use. There's thick curtains to block light so you don't need to worry in the mornings. Also, it's the most spacious bedroom."

"Yes!"

As if wanting to see her bedroom immediately, Rushella raced up to the second floor.

Hisui smiled wryly and began to wash the dishes.

In a blink of an eye, it was late night already—Hisui went down to the basement at home.

The basement's layout was very spacious, basically an open area the size of the entire floor.

The room was built with solid rock with a library, wine cellar, food storage and used antique candlesticks for lighting, giving a decrepit medieval atmosphere—in other words, very much filled with a vampire's style.

Rushella had already gone to bed in the room he assigned to her. Originally, he had thought about providing the basement to her who did not like sunlight.

But Hisui did not do that.

Because the object before his eyes did not permit the existence of vampires in the basement.

Stabbed into the ground, this object was a vampire's weakness rivaling sunlight.

Namely, a cross.

Standing at a tilt, entrenched in the ground, its size was large enough to crucify a human on it.

The luster of its surface resembled that of pure silver. A pristine and flawless exterior.

The cross' edges were polished to be as sharp as knives, with the four ends shaped like "hooks" that resembled arrowheads or harpoons.

Criss-crossing the center were decorations of crimson gemstones. Wrapped over it were chains symbolizing dogma.

Although the style of the design was different from the ones usually found in churches, this did not affect the sacred impression the cross exuded.

Ordinary crosses used as signs or decorations did not pose any threat to vampires.

But this cross right here was the real thing.

It was a crucifix for exterminating evil and purifying the world.

Furthermore, it was the the tombstone of the former master of this home and this place.

Hisui gazed at the cross, his eyes wavering with indescribable sorrow.

Facing the cross for a long while, Hisui said softly in a grumbling manner:

"Hey...... Is this house cursed by any chance? A weird vampire has moved in, you know? Are you scheming something? She's sleeping in your room now."

The silver cross remained unresponsive.

It could not answer in the first place.

"You were dead already but another one came. Clearly I don't want to be involved with your kind anymore, but here I go running into one again."

The cross remained silent.

Unresponsive.

Hisui bent down and stared at the crimson gemstone inlaid in the silver cross.

"Come on, say something...... Miraluka."

The cross did not respond.

The tombstone simply chose to reject the living through silence.

The dead could not resurrect.

No matter how he interrogated, his questions simply resounded through empty space.

Although Hisui knew it was futile even before coming here, in the end, nothing changed.

Listlessly, he left the basement.

"Ow ow ow!!"

The next morning, even without an annoying alarm clock, Hisui still could not enjoy waking up in a natural and comfortable manner.

After a tempestuous first day at school, it was Saturday immediately.

Just as he planned to prepare for the official start of high school life next week by getting proper rest, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his neck.

Opening his eyes...... there was a vampire slurping away at his blood in the same posture as yesterday.

"What are you doing... Rushella-san!?"

"What am I doing? First blood in the morning. After a bath, this is the perfect taste."

Rushella declared openly. Her body felt warm and still had some humidity.

Her pale white body was wrapped in nothing but a bath towel.

Enjoy a drink of blood after a bath like yesterday.

"Who asked you to take a bath so casually!? Didn't you take baths last night already!? Are you Shizuka!?"<ref>'''Shizuka'''(静香): Doraemon character who has a passion for baths.[http://doraemon.wikia.com/wiki/Shizuka_Minamoto]</ref>

"Shut up, I took a bath first so that the blood will taste better!"

"Why do you have to take a bath to make someone else's blood tastier when you suck it!? Isn't that completely reversing means and goals!? Also, get away, it hurts!"

"What are you saying to your master!? I paid already!"

"Japan has no system of blood selling! Besides, you're wrong if you think you can buy my blood with a single gold coin, it's not that cheap!!"

"You're really noisy, anyway, who cares!?"

Rushella pressed down from above while Hisui struggled below.

While struggling, Hisui unmistakably touched Rushella's massive bosom—the bath towel slid and fell.

"D-Don't look——!!"

"Say, this is your own fault......!!"

This scene, familiar to both of them, was reenacted once more as the house echoed with screams and groans.

Vampire and human, master and servant.

Thus the curtain rose for the drama of Hisui and Rushella's life together.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea:Volume01_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea:Volume01_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Silver Cross and Draculea:Volume01 Chapter2

2015-06-12T21:19:41Z

Guilty Spark: /* Chapter 2 - Creature Born Upon the Earth */

==Chapter 2 - Creature Born Upon the Earth==

"Why are you so unhappy?"

Rushella lovingly lowered her head and asked, but Hisui did not reply.

He only stared at the sky, cursing the world's change to abnormality and his own life.

Right now was break time, and the location was the rooftop.

It was a symbol of high school life, with the sweet smell of spring, but Hisui's face was full of confusion.

The nightmarish homeroom class was over, Hisui finally finished the morning class.

Because it was the first day at school, the stuff they taught were the basics, only requiring some light attention and it was over. But Rushella's arrogant performance in front of the teachers had completely devastated Hisui's heart.

Even the precious rest time, due to incessant questioning by Rushella regarding school regulation and policies, left him neither peace nor rest.

Not only a transfer student, but also a complete gorgeous beauty, she was popular with both the girls and the boys. But Rushella completely ignored everyone else, only talking to Hisui, thus creating a dangerous aura among the male student population.

Finally break arrived, but... she still followed over.

"I say... can't you be a bit more merciful... just how deep is your hatred for me?"

"Very deep. I drank your blood and yet you refuse to become my servant, and even sprayed me full of garlic."

"But you struck first, right?! And why do you pretend to be a student? High school life has nothing to do with my body, right?"

Hisui's questions were reasonable suspicions, and Rushella looked away.

"Could it be... you look at these young people as prey?"

Hisui's tone became serious.

Teenagers gathered in a high school, so in certain ways it would be an ideal hunting ground for a vampire.

The common knowledge was that vampires loved the blood of a virgin girl the most -- there should be plenty here.

"Wrong, I am not the type that leaves a prey half full and then runs off with someone else."

"Not even one drop, completely dry? I am not going to feel grateful you know, with that kind of logic."

"Isn't it better than abandoning you half transformed?"

"That is vampire logic only."

Hisui sighed, then leaned against the rail fencing.

After being fanged by a vampire, there were usually only two possibilities --- death, or transformation into a vampire.

Death or servitude, this was all the vampire's choice. In certain rare cases during the process for a person to become a vampire, the master vanished.

In a situation like that, the victim that remained behind would be stuck at [Mid-transformation] for the rest of his/her life.

Due to the [Mid-Transformation] the victim might have acquired certain vampire characteristics --- they might have vampiric instincts and a longer lifespan compared to average humans --- and they would carry the curse for the rest of their lives.

"I will carefully select the partner I drink blood from. If I want him to become my servant then the criteria is even more stringent. And in addition, I will not leave until he becomes my servant. It is a (True Ancestor)'s etiquette from the ancient days."

"Then why did you select me?"

".................."

"Looking at you, who is so serious on making me your servant, why did you target me last night?"

Hisui was still confused about last night.

When they met last night, Rushella really had wanted to turn him into her servant.

But his body had prevented that transformation, so she had even charged into the school.

Thus... why was she so interested in me?

"Don't you feel honored? I became attracted to you. As if I am really attached to you. To look for someone young and handsome, similar in age to me, a boy with a delicious blood flavor to become my servant."

"...Similar age? What are you blabbering about? Aren't you a [True ancestor]-sama? Although you can't tell from looks, a vampire's actual age must be ancient compared to me. Speaking of that, how old are you?"

As Hisui asked, Rushella's expression froze.

It is almost as if she wasn't feeling offended by having someone ask her age... but as if someone asked her something scary.

"What? Isn't longevity something a vampire should be proud of?"

"I... I don't know."

It was so far the lightest whisper that came from Rushella.

It was the voice of a girl of Hisui's age, feeling totally helpless.

"How old I am... I am really not sure."

"Because you lived so long you forget... apparently not. Then, where are you from... hey, where are your relatives and servants? Why don't you ask them...?"

"I don't have... those people."

"Eh? But..."

"Relatives... I should have them, but I can't remember. Servants... I shouldn't have any. Drinking blood... you are my first time."

"Ha ---- ?!"

Completely confusing.

Ok, now Hisui could understand why her blood sucking techniques were so awful, but the mysteries just got deeper.

"But... aren't you a [True Ancestor]? A royal-blooded Ojou-sama, standing on top of thousands of servants?"

"I don't have... memories."

"Eh?..."

"For example, when was I born, where I was born.... I completely don't know. Thus, how old I am... I don't know either."

Rushella held her arms together, withdrawing back.

She looked far away, biting her lips.

"Lost your.... memories?"

"Maybe so... The night I met you, I woke up from the coffin. Near the forest outside the city. But, why I was there, or when I was there.... I completely don't remember. I only know my name, that I am a true ancestor, other than that...."

"Some average day-to-day knowledge is there, but nothing about myself. But that knowledge... is a bit outdated."

Hisui finally understood.

Strange fashion, a vampire "style" that is rare nowadays, idiotic blood drinking technique.

Such a strange existence, because she don't even understand herself.

It looked like Rushella was not lying; besides, there was nothing good to gain by revealing her own weakness to humans. It looked like she really lost all her memories.

"You came to school; does that mean you want to learn about the current era? Is that the idea?"

".... Correct. I want to know how this world is like. But.... humanity has definitely changed a lot. Looking at this world during the daytime, really shocked me. Such huge buildings, so many people... and if I think carefully, people work and play in broad daylight. Although it makes me feel uncomfortable, but it is clear that world power is in the hands of humans. But it is so strange.... forget about the vampires, I don't even feel the spirits of any supernatural beasts. Why is it like this?"

"Because this is the world's situation right now. Most of the people, even if they know vampire exists, will not believe it."

".... It appears so. When I spoke my name this morning, no one gave any reaction. My name has significant history in the vampire lore. Anyone with a tiny understanding of our history should know who I am."

"It looks like you considered that too..... so that is why you said your name so loudly. Just to grasp the situation."

Hisui's opinion of this outdated vampire had improved a little.

Though her common sense stopped hundreds of years ago, her adaptability was definitely not bad.

"What happened to this world? Why did my race vanish? Why don't the humans know I exist!?"

"Even if you ask this... this 15 year old me, I am still learning the basic common knowledge."

"Tell me quickly. Since you are not surprised of my existence, then you are better knowledgeable than general humans."

She saw through him completely, so Hisui can no longer play dumb.

"I only heard a little from my relative<ref>'''Relative''': The word used to describe "relative" is "someone close", in here it probably mean "guardian".</ref>; historically, it should be sometime around the industrial revolution? During that period, humanity's knowledge became more and more advanced. Because of this, our World and the Monster's World's [position] became misaligned."

"Please explain in simple words. What is the Industrial Revolution?"

"..... So I need to explain from the beginning, huh. I think you should learn about world history. To put it simply, it is like wireless communication. When there is a wireless broadcasting station, TV shows become possible. But most of the audience cannot receive the signal. They were meant to match up together, humanity and monsters, which is now miss-positioned. Thus they weren't aware of each other. But now and then they will link up, and the two world overlaps. Those who are sensitive to high frequency.... people who are described as spiritually sensitive, are able to receive effects of the other world much more simply."

"I am completely confused.... wireless what?"

"..... Sorry, my mistake."

Hisui thought his explanation was pretty good, but it appeared she wasn't understanding the critical point. The boy shook his head, and rephrased his explanation so this ojou-sama from another world could understand it.

"In other words, monsters didn't cease to exist, but humanity could no longer feel their existence.... something like that. It is almost as if they were separated into their own world. Thus, even vampires wouldn't be able to find other monsters."

"You should have said this earlier, instead of going around and around."

"..... My mistake."

"I understand. But vampires are special. Vampires are different than other monsters; Vampire still exists in this world, they must completely live in the human world. We are corporeal. And it will be troublesome for us if humans don't exist."

"Indeed. It is completely different than specters who have no body and just floats around. Vampire still exist in this world. You could say they are the representatives of the monsters. Thus, humanity is still alert to their existence."

Hisui's eyes darkened with hesitation, which Rushella did not miss.

"What are you saying? Are you saying humanity expelled my race?"

"My meaning is, such people do exist. They understand this world's true appearance, and consider monsters who coexist in the human world to be their enemies. During self introduction --- You said, no one had any reaction to your name? On the other hand, a few may suspect you are a vampire. You should be careful."

"You don't have to worry, I do not plan to hide my identity. Even if humanity banded together against the vampires, it is nothing special."

Rushella puffed up her chest as she replied.

Such an answer completely met Hisui's expectations, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"First I must find my memories; if I manage to, I should be able to find other vampires. I want to ask them things. You seem to have a great understanding of vampires, so help me."

"Don't want to, you can do it alone."

"But you are a servant that's meant to serve me."

"I am not your servant; I am not familiar with your race's organizational make-ups, nor am I interested."

"You really are the cheeky type."

Rushella's pride appeared to be wounded, she clicked her tongue then moved closer.

It is day time, thus her physical capabilities are reduced, but Rushella will still definitely win if she decided to play hardball.

The boy was still considering his options when Rushella laughed.

"Although beating you is simple, but in certain ways I would have lost. I want you to surrender by your own free will, kneel before me, then I will bury the hatchet."

"(expletive), but vampires are naturally like this. But you have your fangs and <Mystic eyes>, couldn't you subdue anyone easily?"

"Isn't it useless against you!? But in certain ways, it is still effective. For example.... you worry about me looking for other prey, right? Those people have no relationship with you, but you still care about them."

"Of course I care. If someone around me dies, or stops being human... I definitely don't want to see it happen. If it becomes like that, even me.... I would become a vampire hunter."

To protect his peaceful life, even Hisui would become a cold-hearted foe.

Rushella *hum* (sound), then stands up.

"I don't think you could exterminate me. But, let's stop wasting time. You will still come to help me."

"That, I already said..."

"If you agree to help me, I will not suck anyone else's blood. I can promise that with you. If you are willing to sacrifice your body to me, I will guarantee the safety of other people around you. How is that?"

"This sucks..."

This must be the feeling of a man staked on altar meant for human sacrifice.

It was the first day at school, and the fate of everyone here was on his shoulders.

"So? Decide quickly."

"......... I will serve you."

"I can't hear you, speak louder."

Rushella wanted to show off her beautiful ears, moving it next to him.

"Let me help you."

"Did you forget something?"

"Please allow me to help you.... mistress."

"Hum, you speak well!"

It was clear he didn't lose his humanity, but Hisui suddenly reached a level lower than average humans.

"Damn it... I never thought I would curse my own body one day..."

"Then you will work hard right. A servant who can move during daytime is precious to me. And one day you will become one of my kind. Then, let's perform today's service?"

"Ha?"

Hisui looked confused, suddenly his field of vision turned dark, and Rushella's face came close.

In that instant, he found himself on the floor.

What was blocking the sun was Rushella on top of him holding a parasol.

"Then.... Rushella-sama?"

"You went to the 'cafeteria' to buy lunch right? Then I am going to have lunch as well."

Rushella licked her lips, then dove at Hisui's neck.

The boy tried to struggle, to avoid the sweet breathe down his neck.

"Hey, let go! Didn't you suck me this morning?! It should had been enough right?"

"Be quiet, I don't feel well, what is the problem? All I want is to suck a little bit!"

"I said it is not allowed....!"

Rushella's lips came closer and closer, while Hisui struggled.

The two struggled, until Rushella's lips reached his neck.

"Making me waste so much energy..! Ok, I am going to take care of you..!"

"Are you a corrupt bureaucrat who steals people's daughters?"

As Hisui prepared his final line of defense, the rooftop door suddenly opened.

"..... Hisui.... san?"

Hisui recognized the voice, and froze.

There were several people standing by the stairs.

Rushella's lips were still on his neck, while he turned his sight around.

Among the students he barely knew, there was one who had the best relationship with him --- Class Rep Sera Reina.

Judging by the lunch box she was carrying, Reina planned to come to have lunch with Hisui.

"That..... I am sorry for interrupting!"

Hearing Reina's heartfelt apology, Hisui began to sweat uncontrollably.

His own limbs were currently pinned to the ground by Rushella.

It looked like they were about to share a passionate kiss.

Even if he pushed the vampire away, there would still be kiss marks left behind.

"I, I say...!"

Before Hisui could explain, the girls all dispersed.

But their harmless gossip still flow into his ear.

"Hum, they are... really together? They already got it done so early?"

"It looks like they weren't going to just kiss..."

"School just started, and it is broad daylight outside, what the heck..."

"Foreign girls... so open."

Even though it was only whispers, but they felt like a painful roar in Hisui's head.

.... And a stab in the heart.
[[image:Draculea V01 - 063.PNG|thumb]]

Hisui stared at the sky soullessly.

Rushella appeared to lose interest as well, brushed up her hair and straightened out her clothes that were messed up by Hisui; she got up from his body.

"Peeking at other people eating lunch, what a bunch of impolite people. Don't you think so?"

"I finally understood what a girl feels like when she is forcefully pushed down...."

Hisui tearfully murmured. His hands became loose, and the plastic bag with the food he brought from the cafeteria fell down.

"Ah yes, what did you buy? Let me look, I want a taste."

"Up to you.... in fact, it would be helpful if you helped me eat it."

Searching through the bag, she finally selected a strawberry milk.

She studied the container back and forth, and after finally understanding how to use it, began to sip its contents.

"What? Such a sweet and pink milk! Perhaps they added blood in it?"

No, the original material was the same thing, no need to mix it... Hisui don't even have the strength to sigh.

Rushella began to suck the milk, and began to release a cute sound. Hisui sat nearby with tearful eyes.

The class's final bit of compassion, was swept away by the wind.

Really did want to go to the afternoon class.

The opposite sex's ability to disseminate gossip was faster than the speed of light.

Just lost the ability to have a normal school life.

Now he had to welcome his "being labelled as strange" high school life.

Hisui was considering a school transfer, while Rushella was blissfully sucking away at the milk.

"This is so sweet! It is only secondary to blood..."

"...... Just kill me."

Hisui replied with a blood-coughing despair, but someone not far away was observing the two.

She was not part of the group of girls earlier, she stood in the shadows behind the roof access door, and focused at Hisui with a laser like intensity.

"Good male, found <3."

"..... Why were you so terrible yesterday? Even if you are hopelessly untalented you shouldn't be this bad!"

"It is only a physical examination, why do I have to go all out?"

After school, in front of the locker-room <ref>'''Locker room''': The one in Japan where the students put on their shoes</ref> Rushella was criticizing Hisui's results. His results were mediocre at best.

But Rushella had refused to accept the results, and repeatedly criticized him.

"It looks like you were not serious. You really didn't pay attention, right?"

"Isn't everyone the same? Also, I shouldn't be criticized by someone who didn't participate."

Because Physical Education took place outside the school, Rushella used her mystic eyes to stay indoors.

Even though she was not a teacher, she sat on a chair holding her parasol, while cheering and rooting for Hisui.

To be honest, it was extremely embarrassing. And the men's/women's physical ed was suppose to be separate.

"Why were you looking at my Physical Tests?"

"It is your job to forge your own body so you can protect me. Even though you are strangely unable to become a member of my race, you are able to work under the sun, therefore covering my weakness."

"My principle is not to waste energy, what is so special about physical ed? Just meandering through it will be fine."

"Don't be too proud of yourself; when you were serious earlier, you weren't anything special."

"You really know how to make it hurt, you broke through all of my defensive lines."

"Keep your spirits up. When it is 'class time', you were only half paying attention, right? Why are you so meritless?"

"It is no big deal. At critical moments, the strength in my body will come out."

"Stop spouting nonsense. You are my servant, in the moments when lives are on the line, you should be willing to die for me!"

Rushella showed her "high class" looks again, and Hisui was not going to argue.

He stopped looking at Rushella, and opened his shoe-locker. Reaching his hands in for his shoes, he found a slip of paper.

The message was both mysterious and interesting.

"I will be waiting for you on the first floor of the second building, in the empty classroom."

He thought for a moment, then left the shoe-locker and headed back to the school.

"Wait a second, where are you going?!"

"I have something to do. Why don't you go ahead and go home?"

"Why are you angry? Stop spouting nonsense, you are my escort, take me back to that crude residence."

"You still plan to live at my place...? If you are not satisfied then you can go find a different place, Vampire-sama."

As Hisui complained, Rushella realized she had no argument, and became silent.

Thus Hisui escaped and headed for the empty classroom.

He was still unfamiliar with the structure of the school, so he got lost several times before finally finding the right place.

Hisui opened the door, and it was a mess of chairs and desks.

It looked like the place was unused, because of it being a corner room, there wasn't anyone in sight.

As Hisui stared out the window at the fading sun, he heard a voice from behind.

"Ah, you came."

"..... Looks like it was not a wild goose chase, what do you want?"

Hisui turned around, and it was one of the girls from the classroom.

She looked extremely feminine for a girl of their age. Tea colored hair with ponytails, and he could barely recall her face from the self introduction in the morning.

But he could not remember her name.

"You are..."

"Mei, Sudou Mei."

"Ah, right..."

As Hisui recalled, Mei came closer, no, hugging should be a more accurate description.

With a "growth" rivaling Rushella pressing against his chest, and a button undone, the boy could see her mesmerizing cleavage. Mei also raised her head to look at him.

"Why... are you looking for me?"

Suppressing his male instincts, Hisui pretended to be calm.

"(expletive-in a cute manner).... you really don't understand?"

Sudou answered with a devilish smile.

To be honest, it was sexy as hell.

She sounded like someone who was very experienced, her skirt was also short as hell. And keeping her shirt unbuttoned in a style that would make her #1 in the school.

".... I don't really understand, it is the first day of school, for what reason did you call me out here?"

Hisui heightened his awareness, and began to look around.

There doesn't appear to be anyone around.

"Other than two of us, no one else is around. Who are you looking for?"

"Someone could be lying in wait, ready to mock the fool who naively believed the note, worked up their imagination in excitement, and came here shamelessly... such a possibility cannot be ruled out."

"What? Why are you suddenly saying that? Do you have trust issues? Even if you were caught in the spotlight today, there shouldn't be anyone in the class who would start playing pranks the first day of class, right?"

".... Ok, that is good."

Hisui sighed in relief.

While deep in thought, Mei's excited face came even closer.

".... That is a bit too close?"

"I am intentionally closing in. Hisui-san... you seem little cold... hard for people to get close to. During the self introduction, I felt you were observing everyone."

".... Do you really have the right to say that? What, is that when you started to check me out?" 

"Of course, handsome, white skin, must be the best in the freshman class, must be great at cross-dressing?"

"I would be?"

Hisui reached out to touch his own face.

To be honest he really didn't have that feeling. Even though his looks apparently attracted vampires, but that isn't something to be happy about.

"Handsome boy... no one around you ever told you that?"

"The one who raised me kept telling me I 'look like a girl' and 'don't be a sissy.'"

Hisui mumbled to himself, but Mei became even more interested, and brought her face even closer.

The two of them were so close to each other, they could feel each other's breath and their lips were almost touching.

"I say..."

"If you don't realize how attractive you are, then I am telling you now."

The devil in front of him smiled.

Hisui could not stop his breathing, and kept on shaking his head.

"You should stop playing, and go look for someone else."

"Ahh, so serious? High school life... wanting a handsome boyfriend to pass the day together... is very normal right?"

"This morning was self-intro. Isn't it too strange? It isn't love at first sight.... all I have to do is to be handsome?"

"Do you want to learn about the other person first? No problem, I will tell you."

Mei reached out and entwined her arms around Hisui's neck.

She closed in on his lips.

"You have something with that child named Rushella right? The rumors among girls are scary."

"No, I don't have anything with her!"

He used this opportunity to come clean, but Sudou was still suspicious.

"Really~? She is so cute, and she has a great body."

"Absolutely horrible personality."

Also not human.... but he couldn't say that point out loud. Looking at Hisui's straight face, Sudou began to believe him.

So she began to pursue in earnest.

"Then it wouldn't be a problem if I became your girlfriend. Let me become your girlfriend."

Her lips were even closer now.

As they were about to touch, Hisui finally freed himself from her grasp.

"What are you doing?"

"This should be my line. Stop making these kinds of jokes. These kinds of things.... is very strange right?!"

Hisui had no ill feeling, but this line made Sudou frown deeply.

"Strange... you mean me?"

"Of course. I don't really hate the fact you are praising me, and I feel the way you are doing it is really cute, but suddenly being called out by you, enticing me, and confessing.... no matter how you think about it, it is strange. The fact it is not shocking should be what is surprising...."

Hisui's voice trailed off suddenly.

Mei bit down her lips, and grabbed a corner of a desk.

CRACK! A piece of the desk broke apart.

It is clear that she didn't exert any strength - it was as if she was just snapping a small tree branch.

Then her delicate fingers wrapped around the broken piece --- and crushed it into powder.

No matter how you looked at it, it was definitely not the strength of a normal high school student.

Suddenly being called out to receive a confession -- and then there was her supernatural strength.

Strange. Everything appeared to be strange.

Hisui eyed the young girl in front of him.

"WHERE AM I STRANGE! WHERE ARE YOU NOT SATISFIED!?"

Mei's face burst into rage and her teeth began to grind against each other.

Kujou became scared, and took a step back.

"No, I am not saying I am not satisfied..."

"Why can't you do it with me?!!! It is clear you did it with a vampire!?"

"YOU...!"

Mei lost her voice, then held her mouth shut.

But it was too late, as the boy began to question her instead.

"Did you find out during the self-introduction...! Did you just call me out to confirm?"

"No, absolutely not..."

With her position reversed, Mei took a step back.

Kujou took a step forward, but accidentally tripped her.

"AHHHH...."

"Be careful!"

Hisui reflexively tried to catch her, but it was too late.

As Mei collapsed, she also dragged him down.

PING! The boy's jaw hit the floor, and stars exploded across his eyes.

His sight turned dark, but Hisui recovered quickly.

"Hurts..."

"Eh?"

Even though his eyes were open, everywhere was still dark.

And there was a warm and soft feeling brushing against his face.

Stunned, he realized what he was looking at.

In front of his eyes was a triangular piece of cloth.

It was extremely high class for a freshman student, and also made of high quality material.

That is... the legendary sexy underwear.

The most important part were covered, so Kujou could not see it, but that defense was fleeting at best.

(...............!!)

The young man finally understood the situation.

He was under the skirt.

He knew it is already too late, but he still tried to look away as a gentleman, looking left and right, but there were only the sizzling legs.

"Eh....?"

Scribbled across the peachy skin was a series of black letters.

They were different than tattoos, as if they were transcribed under the skin.

Kujou froze for a moment, as those words -- or rather legs, finally moved out of his line of sight. At the same time, light poured from above, and his ability to appreciate otome garden had ended.

"Ahhh..."

Mei already stood up. It looked like she was not injured in the fall.

The atmosphere became more awkward by the second. Although this was an accident, but Hisui couldn't stammer an explanation.

He prepared himself for an impending slapping, but Mei only whispered.

"..... saw it?"

The boy obviously was treated to eye candy.

Unable to deny, he could only look away, looking for a way out of this.

"Ah, that, it is a bit exciting."

His heart leaping in terror as he stared at Mei, the other person who locked her legs tightly together, with her hands fiercely holding her skirt down, looking extremely embarrassed, thus completely different than before.

Faced with her natural reaction, Hisui naturally made no excuses and could only confess.

"Sorry, it was not intentional. If you want to slap.... me, I will accept it."

"Did you see.... that?"

She repeated it again.

Hisui tilted his head in confusion.

It was clear he would see it in a situation like that earlier.

But, Mei was using one hand to hold her skirt, another to cover her right leg, thus the boy finally understood what she meant.
[[image:Draculea V01 - 076.PNG|thumb]]

She was not asking about her panties.... but that line of writings.

"Ah, I saw it, huh..."

"That is... tattoo? You shouldn't mark your beautiful skin like that. A tattoo should be cute right? That kind of English letters and numbers..."

While speaking, Kujou recalled the words in question.

FC-XX07-a machine like sequence.

"Perhaps this is not a pursuit of fashion, but a cypher? Or a Machine Serial?"

Although it was only a joke, the girl's face twitched.

She replied with a complex expression.

"Exciting... will come naturally. In other words, if you don't want this you will curb your interest naturally. Thus speaking.... hateful, something inhuman." 

"By getting excited... it will naturally show itself. In other words... to not let it show I must hold back my feelings. Even like this... it's still disagreeable. This inhuman like thing..." 

"You're..."

Kujou's brain started working.

There was a extremely beautiful girl in front of him.

But something was different, there was something wrong.

She recognized Rushella's true nature, there was a strange engraving on her leg, combine the two, one can feel something unnatural.

"What are you? Are you human?"

"...So impertinent, of course I am human, a normal human."

"You are wrong, you are not a normal person."

Hisui coldly deduced.

Mei stared back with furious rage, close to murderous intent.

"Looks like calling you inhuman leads to rage, so you are really not human. What are you?"

".........."

"You are not afraid of sunlight, so you are not a vampire. But no matter what your strength way exceeds that of a high school girl. I said serial number, did I guess correctly? Are you an android?"

"So impolite. Who is an android? I am a human!... just not from a mother's womb."

Mei let go of her rage, and spoke quickly.

"Then how were you created? Cloned? Or artificially made? We are not in a sci-fi novel... there hasn't been a live example yet, right?"

"There is a live example. After 11 months in a laboratory..."

"Ha?"

Kujou frowned, following Mei's words, and suddenly the cover of a famous novel appeared in his mind.

He read a faithful translation of the book once -- and began to recall the content slowly.

"I guess there is no point hiding it. You are a sharp individual, and you did it with a vampire already, I thought you would see through me as well, and that is why I want to win you over. But that vampire never hid the fact who she is, right? And carrying a parasol, anyone who understands vampire lore will know exactly who she is."

It look like she gave up winning over Kujou, so she began to speak out everything in her mind.

"Hum, Hi-kun, have you ever heard of [Frankenstein's tale]?"

"Um. I read it before, and I still can recall some of the details."

It was a world famous sad story.

The young genius Victor Frankenstein discovered the secret of creation, and to prove his theory he created the first artificial human.

However, the plan was supposed to give birth to a beautiful being, but instead it created a monstrous abomination.

That was Frankenstein's monster.

It, along with the vampire, are synonymous with monsters.

According to Kujou's knowledge, like vampires, they exist hidden within human society, rare species of "monsters".

"The original is famous, I heard it was a science-fiction novel. Does that mean that you are..."

"Correct, that crazy genius, Victor Frankenstein's monster --- You could say I am the latest model. And that mark, like you said, is a serial number. Of course I hate it."

Mei stared at the marking on her right leg as if it was some kind of hideous scar.

No matter how similar she was to a human, only that part allowed people to recognize she was artificial.

"According to the story, that monster didn't have any progeny."

Kujou started to recall the content of the novel, and told that to Mei.

That creator, Victor was so different to the creature, experienced so many events together, finally came to the creator and asked him to create a companion for him -- but the creator refused. 

This lit a fuse between the father and son, mutually hating each other, which resulted in a cycle of vengeance leading to their destruction.

"It is true, the original prototype died alone. And Victor still hasn´t released the secret of creation. But, he did not destroy his notes, so there have been fragments of them left behind. Geniuses who inherited his madness, with their continued research, finally gave birth to us."

With severe disgust, Mei explained the truth behind the literary masterpiece.

Like the original, ugly creature who hated its scientist creator, Mei also seemed to harbor complicated feelings towards the mad genius.

"But, now Hi-kun found out I am not human, what are you going to do?"

Mei brought her arms together, staring at the boy.

Based on Kujou's answer - the empty classroom could become a bloody battlefield - But Kujou replied calmly.

"I don't mind, I don't have any interest regarding Frankenstein."

"Re...really?"

Mei was a little disappointed. It was clear that his observation skills were hideously sharp, but his willpower to act was zero.

"So what you are saying is, you are not going to publicize Rushella's identity? Although no one would believe it, but something like this would cause waves."

"........."

"Say, are you really an android? shouldn't you have screws on your temple?"

"What era is that? And it only happens in movies right? Although the original was a monster, but I look real, right?"

To prove her authenticity, Mei grabbed Kujou's hands and put it against her face.

Kujou's heart leaped, but his hands transmitted from her a soft feeling, and instantly shattered any preconceived notions about her.

"This is really good, soft, flawless, there are no stitches, it really is a... great face."

"Right?"

Sudou smiled, then dragged his hand on to her chest.

Because the movement was so natural, Kujou also enjoyed her chest's softness.

"Really...... this soft yet elastic, subtle feeling............ Wa——!!"

Regaining his senses, Hisui hastily retracted his hand from her bosom, but it was already too late.

Mei triumphantly glared at Hisui as if she was the victor.

"What are you doing, though it was me who pulled your hand, but isn't it you yourself who rubbed it?"

"...... Much appreciation."

Hisui diffidently moved his gaze away, his hand still retaining the shape when he was touching the breasts, he repeatedly recalled the sensation, anyhow he didn't feel like touching any other objects.

Speaking of the truth he really wants to touch it once more.

"Do you understand now? At present there is no difference between us and a normal human. Besides, the original possessed intellect and feelings, the only difference is the outer appearance."

"Isn’t it better that there is no model number? Why do they need to be deliberately engraved on the skin?"

"That sounds...... admonishing. The original, didn't possess any self-restraint, so it killed people. To not walk in the same path to ruin, we exercise restriction onto ourselves. If we don't want that kind of uncouth scene to happen, we must retain our rationality."

"I see. I completely understand. Bye."

Finishing his speech, Hisui tried to leave.

But Mei took hold of his arm, refusing to let him go.

"...... What? No problems, I won't tell the others."

"Really? You don't feel that I am... a monster."

"What same? Didn't you just stated that you are the same as human? I also feel the same. Compare to those girls walking on the street you are much better. Plus you are cute."

Hisui expressed his opinion, causing Mei to can't help but blush.

"Do you... feel that way?"

"Yeah."

"... Really really?"

"Why would I lie to you? Release me already. If you have anything left to say then say it."

"That... it is ok now. This is a different matter —— like what I had said in the beginning, about being your female partner."

"That, you are being way too blunt... so, is this some sort of love affair?"

"This, of course. After all this is our clan's long cherished wish. In case we are in love with humans, wouldn't that make us artificial humans a true human?"

"So it is like this... indeed, putting it like that then there is no way to distinguish from humans. However, a normal romantic relationship won't do... speaking of which Sudou, there must be more than this......."

"No, putting it in a proper way, romantic relationship is not the final objective, it is just the intermediate pathway? A process in between."

Hearing her weird explanation, Hisui showed a dumbfounded expression.

Although Hisui had no interest in either the artificial humans or their creation, but he was curious about Mei's objective which she painstakingly went through a great deal of troubles to enter high school for.

"Then what's your objective?"

Mei giggled for a moment and replied.

"Making babies❤."

Eh?

Before he even understood what happened it was already too late.

He had been pushed down, his body was lying on the cold floor.

Raising his head up, Mei was currently mounted on top of him.

"E-eh... Sudou-san?"

"What — is it?"

Her chest weighed down.

Crap.

Lunch break is almost over, if this goes on —— it would be bad in a lot of ways.

"W-what do you think you are doing......!?"

"Didn't I say it already, MA·KING·BA·BIES. As a testimony to our lover relationship. Like what Victor Frankenstein had in his mind at first, artificial humans originally possess the ability to reproduce. But it would be meaningless if it isn't with a human wouldn't it? If we are to become [human], it is necessary to do it with a human. This is my objective, the sole reason for my existence. Thus said............"

"Thus said my arse!! Find another person, another person!!"

"What's the problem, you don't need to take responsibility for this❤."

"This is totally not a romantic relationship!! Let me point this out... you are far away from being a human!! Aside from your appearance, the rest are completely off the mark!!"

"How troublesome... I have no intention of listening to your thoughts on this."

Hisui was struggling trying to think of a way to get out of this mess.

Mei continued to push him down.

Generally speaking the situation here had been reversed, the pitiful Hisui was being restrained by a girl’s slender hand, not budging in the slightest.

“So humiliating... why do you have this much strength......!?”

“That’s rude of you. It’s because of the original’s brutality that I, the latest model have a limitation put on. Basically half of the original’s strength.”

“Who in the world would want to know that kind of trivial knowledge, release me!!”

“Nope.”

“You......!”

Even if he used force to fight back, he definitely could not win. Compared to Rushella, her strength was greater in daytime.

On the verge of losing something precious, Hisui gave up on his dignity. Since he could not compete in strength, then the only option left is to call for help.

Hisui opened up his mouth, Mei who perceived his intention, quickly took action.

Yet she did not cover up Hisui’s mouth, rather than that she glared at Hisui.

Momentary, out came a flash from her pair of glamorous eyes.

This really isn't something superstitious, rather than that it is real, a flash of physical light, manifested out from her eyes.

The light then condensed into a beam, travelling past Hisui's face, and penetrated the area of floor board at his right.

Due to the dazzling light Hisui was taken aback, afterwards he turned to look to his right side.

Two holes were beautifully carved out onto the floor, white smoke continually rising from it.

"Eh——————!?"

"Be at ease. I will guide you through❤."

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait, didn't you just shoot out a laser beam? From your fucking eyes!? This already deviates much from the original, isn't that a weapon equipped in the military!?”

“Because our strength is suppressed, the excess energy output from the internal combustion is used to supply the weapon instead. Were its to be used with maximum power, a certain amount of time would need to pass before it could be employed again, but if it is the standard setting then you can fire it successively❤”

“Who would want to hear your damn explanation! What is this situation of a high school girl with overrated body’s functions!? You want to be a human, you are completely the polar opposite of that!!”

“You are so annoying ~~ do you want me to turn you into ash?”

Mei once again locked her sight onto Hisui.

Owing to the sheer brute strength and the destructive pair of eyes, this caused Hisui to shut his mouth.

Were he to resist, death will be his final destination.

However, it would also turn bad if he does not resist.

“C-Calm down, I got something to say...... put down your weapon, keep your distance. It is good that our relationship hasn't become worse............!”

“Why do you act like a dispirited lover? Don’t move............!”

Mei used her slender fingers to untie Hisui’s necktie, then his shirt buttons.
Gently caressing the bare white chest.

Hisui thought of struggling free though it was impossible at present.

The caressing appeared to be a very light touch, soothing the mind, Mei’s finger brushed back and forth on the smooth skin, resembling a melody.

“How, come, this............? Can't muster, any strength............”

“Ah...... your expression is really cute. Seems like I am right on the mark. Let me tell you this first, my standards are pretty high. It’s love at first sight, you should be honored.”

“Who, would, want to............”

Hisui denied with a feeble voice, gasping for breath.

His whole body had gone limp, and some unknown substances was creeping up from inside his stomach.

"What the fuck, this... What did you do to me...!?"

"I said it before... I'm the latest model. In order to successfully make babies with the target, I'm equipped with ten thousand different pleasure functions. A perfect blowup doll❤"

"Blowup doll... Isn't that term the most insulting for artificial humans!"

"In any case, you refuse to back down? Fine, prepare yourself..."

Mei licked her lips and untied her ponytail.

Her hair draped down onto Hisui's face, giving off a seductive fragrance.

Even her body's scent and breath was probably part of her pleasure functions, right? Hisui felt even more powerless, even mentally he was gradually losing resistance.

"S-Stop..."

"You looked so flippant yet you're surprisingly rational. But... you're at your limit, eh?"

Mei slid her tongue into Hisui's ear, using her fingertips to tickle Hisui's chest.

Her other hand was caressing Hisui all over, finally reaching between his legs. Then her lips approached Hisui.

No good.

This is really no good.

"Let us build a bridge between two races❤"

"..."

Hisui couldn't even muster up verbal resistance.

The approaching lips and the finger reaching down below.

Farewell, my precious whatever.

Although he was not crying, somehow an image of a painted canvas appeared before his eyes.

"Hands off! What are you doing!?"

Suddenly, a loud voice demanded. Mei suddenly got up and separated from Hisui.

"Who is this...!?"

Mei looked at the speaker to find Rushella standing there with arms crossed.

"This is a place of learning, right!? Here, doing that kind of...! Who allowed you to make a move on my servant!?"

Rushella pointed to Mei and asked. From the way her face looked, she was going to rush over and grab Mei any moment.

Mei simply tossed her hair lightly and replied with composure.

"Hands off? Is there a problem with a mere handjob?" 

"Stop it with those dirty puns, okay..."

Hisui got up and did not forget to retort.

Stumbling, he distanced himself from Mei and leaned back on a wall to avoid getting pushed down again.

"Oh my, you're so cold. Clearly just now, you were so happy from my touch."

"I am really feeling disgusted with myself..."

Hisui spoke bitterly, thankful for Rushella's existence for the first time.

But this savior had no self-awareness and pointed her hostility towards Hisui.

"You're my servant, you know, why did you offer yourself to this fake!? Show some backbone!"

Who the fuck is your servant? Before Hisui could retort, Mei already reacted to Rushella's words.

"Hey, what do you mean by fake?"

Mei crossed her arms and glared at Rushella.

Rushella's word choice had struck the artificial human's landmine.

"A fake is a fake. No matter how you disguise yourself as human, don't think you can deceive my vampire eyes! To prevent sucking the blood of lowly trash, my kind excels in distinguishing humans from non-humans."

"In other words, you both knew each other's identities already. You should have told me."

Ignoring Hisui's complaints the vampire and the artificial human postured themselves for battle.

"Such grand words... for a mere vampire."

"What!?"

Mei insulted her in turn without backing down.

Vampire vs Frankenstein's creature, the two major monsters were now facing off.

"You say I'm a fake, but aren't vampires simply mosquitoes wearing human skin? No, you are even more lowly than mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can be smacked and they just cause itches after a bit. But your kind deprives humans of their dignity. Unforgivable."

"You bitch...!!"

Hostility. No this was a snarl full of intent to kill.

Crimson colored cold light shot out from her eyes. Originally adding to the allure of her slender hands, those nails also lengthened and became sharp.

With the sun halfway set, all the cells in Rushella's entire body were filled with power.

If she really went crazy, the consequences were unthinkable.

In order not to get the school destroyed on the first day, Hisui had no choice but to try to arbitrate.

"Hey stop it. Godzilla vs Gamera this dreamteam combination should be left for dreams."

"I don't care. I could hardly bother with this bitch. I just don't want my blood to be sucked. Once my kind becomes fully human, it'd be a complete waste of effort, if my blood were sucked."

"As if anyone would suck yours! As an exalted True Ancestor, I will never suck the blood of a fake like you!!"

"...True Ancestor? No way, are you serious!?"

Mei was laughing so hard her shoulders shook.

Rushella's face became even worse. Hisui didn't know what to do.

"True Ancestor means those highest existences by tracing back the lineages of vampires, standing at the very top, right? Why would someone that important be a high school student here?"

"Does an artificial human have the right to say that about me?"

"Aren't all those fossils extinct already? What the heck are you trying to pull?"

"Shut up, I'm real!"

"Then prove it. Using a method that we can both understand, how's that?"

Mei looked at Hisui, approached him and hugged his arm.

Since she can't reenact the pushing down scene again, nevertheless Hisui still remained on alert.

"...Umm, why am I on your side?"

"Oh my, how cold of you... To think we had already progressed to second base already."

"Damn it, I can't even deny that..."

"Hey, get away from him right now! He's my servant!!"

"What, you're not his girlfriend, right? That aside, hurry and prove that you're a True Ancestor."

Mei showed off and pressed Hisui's arm against her breasts.

Rushella did not retort but simply clenched her fists and directed her wrath at Hisui.

"Why are you getting entangled with her!?"

"Actually, she came over and entangled me."

"You're mine, you know!? Didn't I suck your blood this morning too...!?"

"Please don't talk about this morning as though it's a kiss before leaving home..."

Hisui grumbled, Mei stared with her eyes wide.

"Eh... Hey you, your blood was sucked!? But I didn't see any wounds..."

Mei had hoped to have babies with a pure human. She was very surprised.

Hisui who hung around Rushella did not show any symptoms of turning into a vampire.

Naturally, there was not cursed seal on his neck.

"...Were you bitten in a normally concealed spot? But most vampires pick..."

"The neck. The taste turns poor in any other place. Also, it causes problems during the vampirization process, possibly turning a victim into irrational undead walking corpses, so they never drink from anywhere apart from the neck."

"Then could it be that you've turned completely to a vampire...?"

"Do I look like one?"

Hisui's tone of voice indicated he had never let go of his humanity.

Hearing that, Mei recalled his actions over the past day.

Even in the process of vampirization, victims would show a tendency to avoid sunlight, but Hisui did not.

But Rushella clearly said she sucked his blood.

"...What is going on?"

"This guy is a freak. Even though I sucked his blood, he hasn't turned into my servant!"

Rushella spoke angrily. Hugging Hisui's arm, Mei simply stared in surprise at this "freak" according to the vampire.

"No way... can something like that be true? I know it too... A vampire's bite is the highest level 'curse' and 'poison'... once bitten whether a saint or a sinner, both end up the same way, right!?"

"I am just an ordinary human."

Hisui declared indifferently. Mei became even more interested, her eyes turning passionate.

Rushella was getting impatient with the two hugging so closely. She waved her arms and snarled.

"It's about time you let go! He's my servant!!"

"What? He's not turning into a vampire, right?"

"Shut~ up~! He will be mine sooner or later!! Hurry and let go!!"

Mei ignored Rushella's protests and her sweet voice whispered into Hisui's ear.

"Hey, show me where you were bitten. I want to know what it's like."

"There. If it's me, there won't be a wound. Look."

Hisui did not take special precautions and stretched his neck to show Mei.

Mei brought her lips close to that pale white neck.

Kiss.

Unlike a vampire's kiss, her seductive and sweet lips lightly touched Hisui's neck.

"...Hey, what are you doing!?"

"Disinfecting, just disinfecting. Doesn't it feel much better than a vampire's bite?"

"That's true..."

Recalling the soft sensation on his neck, Hisui was filled with joy and could only look up at the ceiling.

This caused Rushella's anger to reach its peak.

"What are you doing!? To think you would do this with that kind of woman...! Shameless!!"

"Say, I didn't even leave a hickey... You don't have to get that mad, do you...?"

"Are you a man who easily offers his neck to others...? Are you fine with anyone!?"

"Could you stop with that description? You're making it sound like I'm some kind of easy woman, okay!? Besides, why do I have to give you priority? Clearly you're so clumsy at blood sucking."

Faced with Rushella's unreasonable squabbling, Hisui let loose all his dissatisfaction all at once.

Mei poured more fuel on the fire.

"Eh, what, this child is clumsy at blood sucking? Eh, isn't a vampire's bite supposed to be accompanied by sexual pleasure? Especially when sucking a member of the opposite sex."

"Because of my constitution, I guess the pleasure is rendered moot as well... Anyway, it really hurts."

Hearing Hisui's feelings, Rushella suddenly went expressionless.

Tears were faintly seeping out the corners of her eyes, but Hisui and Mei did not notice.

"Wow~ To think one really existed, this kind of worthless vampire. Say, if even blood sucking is clumsy, then what value of existence is there? Let alone a True Ancestor, not even trash level. Really, that's mosquito level."

"Hey, that's going a bit too far..."

Hisui was halfway through when his cheek was met with a light punch.

"......Idiot."

By the time he came to his senses, he found Rushella standing before him.

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Ah..."

Hisui did not get a chance to speak. The tiny fists began to rain down on him.

"Idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Hey stop it, it hurts!"

A childish attack purely for venting emotions.

But as a vampire after all, every hit from this careless attack was still heavier than a normal human's. But compared to physical pain, this feeling was strongest in Hisui's heart.

"Idiot!"

Rushella raised her parasol and smashed it towards Hisui as a final strike. Then without looking back, she ran out of the classroom.

"Ah, hey...!"

Hisui had only taken a single step when a cold voice stopped him.

"Don't go. What do you intend to do once you catch up to her?"

Mei asked coldly.

Rather than merciless, her tone of voice sounded full of rationality.

"You were not made her servant successfully, right? You simply had your blood sucked. A one-sided victim. You also don't seem to be under the mystic eyes' control. Neither are you in love with her."

"... Of course not."

"Then just leave her alone. It's better for both of you."

Mei's tone of voice sounded very experienced.

That was probably not just her personal thoughts but the lesson learned by her entire race's experiences.

"Things will never sail smoothly in a relationship between a human and a non-human. That's the case with us. With an appearance that anyone could tell was non-human, you should know what kind of life Frankenstein's creature lived through, right?"

"..."

Even among themselves, humans have not escaped from bias and discrimination.

Let alone when the other party was outside the realm of humans.

"She's only treating you as food. Don't be fooled by her tears."

"...I know."

"So... come... with me❤"

Mei held Hisui's hand and started to hassle him.

Hisui simply shook her hand off mercilessly and left the classroom.

Refusing to admit defeat, Mei called out from behind.

"I haven't given up yet. I'm even more interested now. I will surely make you mine and mine alone!!"

Ignoring her declaration, Hisui departed, expressionless.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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