Mashing buttons on the hand held gaming device, Keima Katsuragi continued to walk on through the busy streets.
If one were to observe him, it could be said that it was a matter of a miracle (or extreme innate skill) that he hadn't been once run over by a vehicle with what he was doing. He seemed to be detached from the world whenever he immersed himself into gaming, but at the same time he was also wary of the world around him.
Keima took a step to his right just as a delivery motorcycle passed by him.
He wanted to live in the world that the games provided him. To him, it was the ideal world, a world that was clearly more perfect than the world he, as he hated to acknowledge it, lived in. Others may see this as unhealthy and require him to go to some sort of psychiatrist, but he would wave them off as fools. Those same people might even call his immersion to gaming as a sort of escape – though that statement wasn't clearly far from the truth.
Keima loathed the world he currently lived in.
There was absolutely nothing perfect about it, and was filled with flaws you would certainly never find in a video game.
Of course, he had to admit that there was no such thing as a perfect video game (he had sent an email regarding what he would view as a perfect video game, though it remains to be completed), but the world was clearly much more flawed and had more bugs than a game could possibly have.
The people of the world that he lived in were certainly boring. They didn't have the brightness of a character in a game, they were quick to anger and quick to judge something that they couldn't understand or see something that is clearly not normal. While in games, the characters were full of life and were much more interesting than a person you'd meet in real life.
In a few words, normality sucked hard.
Turning to the right, he entered a convenience store.
That is, if it even applied to him.
In a matter of a month, Keima's life was changed into something that he wished he could have changed. For the first time in many years, Keima wished that his life returned to its daily routine.
While his life had never actually been normal, his life now was clearly more abnormal than anyone he can think off (frankly, he could somewhat compare his life to one of those shounen manga he had read on his free time).
A ringing from his PFP alerted him to a new message.
Pausing his game, he opened his Inbox and noticed that he received an email from Elsie.
He just hoped it had nothing to do with another runaway spirit.
'Nii-sama! I'm going to be home late today because of practice! So please inform mother for me, okay?'
Keima gave a sigh of relief as he sent a simple 'okay.'
Ever since Elsie had come into his life, he had a much more eventful life. A life that he hated since it occupied too much of his free time. Right now, he's way behind on schedule and if this keeps up, he'd have another month of backlog. It didn't help that he couldn't refuse the job (which if he could, he would have done so right after Elsie had introduced herself).
Keima entered the convenience store and grabbed hold of a basket as he made his way in.
The reason for this was the purple metal like bangle that resided at his neck.
If he ever failed to capture a Runaway Spirit (by fail, as in, completely refuse to capture one) his head would be leaving his shoulder. With that incentive it was why he reluctantly agreed to continue hunting runaway spirits. While he was exceptionally good at gaming (as the self-proclaimed 'God of Conquest'), he doubt he could continue gaming when his head was no longer attached to his neck.
Placing a pack of instant noodles and soy milk onto his basket, he was about to head towards the counter...
While Keima claimed that all he needed is the food that he could get from games, he was still human. This meant, that no matter how much he tries to deny the reality of the world around him, he still gets hungry like any other human. Though Keima could hardly care what the food is, so long as its edible (Elsie's food does not look anywhere near edible), and fills his stomach.
With the amount of instant noodles he bought, it would be enough for a whole weekend of non-stop gaming.
...Keima grabbed hold of a simple chocolate milk bottle and tossed it in his basket before he headed towards the counter.
While Keima didn't know why he grabbed the chocolate milk that now resides in the basket (he never did feel a liking towards the taste of chocolate), but something within his head was nagging at him to get one. The chocolate milk certainly didn't look distinct enough that he would have thought of it as an important item in a game, but he took it nonetheless.
Keima shrugged.
Maybe buying a chocolate milk wouldn't hurt. If anything, he could just give it to Elsie if he didn't want to drink it.
Paying for the food and drink, Keima headed out of the convenience store and restarted playing with his game.
In games, there was no way he could possibly get hurt – be it emotionally or physically – by a simple mistake (the only exception is if the game he had bought was done pretty badly; if there was one thing he hated more than reality, it's a lousy game). For one, a simple sentence from himself towards one of his own classmate could easily send them to a rage with the sole purpose of causing him bodily harm. He often cursed the unpredictability of his own classmates when he simply stated a fact (at least, in games, there was potentially little harm done to the protagonist – unless it was a sort of adventure game – if he made a simple mistake).
Glancing towards the sky, he noticed that the sun was already setting down.
He decided to take a shortcut through the park.
While he would commonly complain about his messed up life, he had somewhat gotten used to it. There was simply no point on complaining if it would get him nowhere. So, he decided to do his best and finally be rid of the metal piece that he currently wore. Though he doubted that he'd finish anytime soon if he happened to be the most efficient one on taking down runaway spirits.
Keima stole a glance to his side.
There was no one else in the park, except for one person.
The person was clearly female. She looked graceful despite sitting down at the park bench and looked, for all and intent purposes a crying maiden.
Keima's mind had already come up with the label that the person needed to be avoided.
If real life was even a bit like how situations would take place in a game, then he could expect something to happen if he stayed any longer.
After taking several quick steps to get away from her, his attempted escape from the situation suddenly came into a halt when he heard the barely audible voice of the female on the bench.
"...is there any meaning to life?"
It was a philosophical question, that frankly, he shouldn't have even graced with a response. In fact it sounded more of a question to herself than anyone else.
His mind however, was a bit late as his mouth had already started moving.
"Is there any meaning to your life?"
The girl looked up from her position and was startled to see that the boy that had passed her was now looking at her own crimson eyes.
While the girl's eye showed just how lost she was, the eye of the boy before her showed a depth that, simply was just otherworldly.
Keima didn't know what made him do it, but he had turned to girl and had given her his own question.
The eyes that he was met with, was a lot similar to the eyes that he had held long before his life changed. If he had met her earlier, he would have seen a kindred spirit.
Keima walked towards the girl and tossed her his chocolate drink, to which she caught, albeit clumsily.
"If you don't find any meaning to your life, then at least know that I, at least, value you as a person that much."
Without another word, Keima turned around and walked onwards, without turning back, his eyes once again glued onto his game.
Surely, reality is flawed.
The girl stood up from the bench and looked towards the departing figure. Her hands holding tightly to the beverage that she had been given.
That perfection is clearly impossible.
A small smile graced the lips of the girl.
But... even if reality is flawed, just like an extremely crappy game.
Then... may be an ideal route – a route that leads to the best ending – exists.
"Kami-nii-sama, you're late! I thought you'd be home long before I did."
Came Elsie's voice as she stepped out of the house to greet him.
Keima was no longer paying attention though. Instead he glanced towards the full moon that lit up the night sky.
'If it exists, then I will definitely find it!'
Author's Notes:
Well, this is simply a one-shot. I was sort of bored so I wrote this with what I know of the manga and anime. This could possibly become a lengthened story, but I don't quite have the motivation within me to carry it out.
For those wondering, this (roughly) takes place somewhere after the conquering of Tsukiyo.
Please read and review, and tell me what you think of it!