The World God Only Knows:Volume 1 Chapter 3
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?”
Keima’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 an 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.”
