Disclaimer:
Don't own The World God Only Knows, Katekyou Hitman Reborn or any other series that might have cameos in this piece of fanfiction; I'm just having fun, hee hee. I don't own the rights to any of the games/series I refer to either, though I've probably played/watched them all.
The main character is an OC after long consideration of the other girls in KHR and finding them not really able to be a female Keima. Hana and Haru came the closest but I doubt Haru would do this (I picture her crying about blasphemy and how love is blahblahblah) and Hana is SO not a closet!geek though her temperament's close. I'm fashioning the OC vaguely after Katsuragi Keima from The World God Only Knows, where I shamelessly rip off the Weiss concept and it's sort of a half, AU crossover with that series, though she's also a little different. Hopefully, while she might not be realistic (considering she lives in her own world), she won't be hated and slapped with the label Mary-Sue… I doubt it would ever come to that, though. You'll see why.
Hopefully, this would be the only lengthy A/N in this story.
"Hey, didja hear? The ace of the baseball club broke his arm and is gonna jump off the roof! Isn't he in your homeroom, Teru?"
"What— no way—"
"Holy… he's right there!" one of the trio of boys pointed up to the figure standing past the metal fence.
"We have to do something!" the first year in the same class yelled before the three boys ran off, not having noticed a girl standing at the courtyard likewise looking up at the tall form of the suicidal baseball club member.
Her name was Kurokawa Kiko, second year Nami-chuu student and older sister of Kurokawa Hana who happened to have the suicidal first year in her homeroom – not that Kiko knew or cared. She was holding a watering can in one hand and a PFP in the other, the large round lenses of her glasses reflecting the daylight as she tilted her head to stare at the student who was going to fall in the courtyard she was assigned to take care of today.
After a moment, she took a deep breath before sighing. "Why does he decide to have this specific courtyard as his landing point on the day I get watering duty? Aah, whatever," she turned on a heel and started walking away, "If he jumps, that just means no one would notice I skipped out; more time to capture Luke's perfect ending!"
Kurokawa Kiko, fourteen years old, was a game otaku.
The second year played her PFP with one hand, still holding the watering can with the other, having intentions of finding an out-of-way place to play Love Tears Girl's Side: 2nd Story and finish Luke's route before moving onto Keita.
"No matter how many times we get reborn… I will always be at your side!" came from the PFP, showing a rain-drenched close-up of Luke.
"Fufufu… no guy is beyond my ability to catch," Kiko smirked as she got the last CG before the ones for the ending, which would complete Luke's album.
Kiko looked away from her PFP, something having sent her senses off, looking left and right before flinching at the sight of the Head Prefect, Hibari Kyouya, a few meters away. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice her yet, though it was only a matter of time, considering he had faltered as if something had struck him.
'A— save, save, save!' Kiko frantically pressed at her PFP, remembering her first encounter with the upperclassman and how he broke her PFP (59,800 yen) when trying to smack her with his tonfa in her first year.
He jerked his head in her direction and locked onto her just as she stuck the portable handheld into a pocket. A veritable cloud of bad mood was visible as he straightened and turned toward Kiko. "Kurokawa Kiko…"
Kiko blinked, stealthily taking a step back. "Hello, Hibari-senpai; I'll be going now," she attempted to make a quick retreat.
The sound of the metal tonfa telescoping out and clicking into place – a noise Kiko was unfortunately fairly well acquainted with more than some other Nami-chuu students – made Kiko back away from the advancing third year. "Do you think you could get away with attacking me, Kurokawa Kiko?" Hibari scowled.
Her previous nonchalant mask dropped and turned to alarm. "'Attack'? Why would I attack you senpai? I-I— WAH!" when Hibari started running the small distance they were apart, Kiko automatically reacted and tossed the watering can she held toward the crazy Disciplinary Head that seemed to have it out for her.
Incidentally, the watering can was still full, so Hibari got drenched when he sliced it in half, leaving Kiko to now deal with a furious and half-drowned looking Hibari Kyouya.
"…uh… Sorry?"
A beat passed before Kiko started running away from the swings of a tonfa aiming at her head. Meanwhile, around the same time, at the courtyard she had abandoned, Yamamoto Takeshi and a half-naked Sawada Tsunayoshi were laughing after surviving a dive from the roof.
The World She Only Knows
"So you're the transfer from the European Branch?" Docrow Skull sweatdropped as she stared at the old devil with lime-green hair standing in front of her that was roughly eye-level with the small Counter Measures Branch Chief. She stared down at the dossier to make sure there hadn't been any mistakes but, nope, next to the long-list of accolades, there was a personnel approval and recommendation from Roudret Ruhm Lentrant (the Captain of the Seekers Unit in Europe) and a photo of said chibi right down to the markings lining his eyes and the single horn on the right-side of his head that marked him an old devil. "Fran, was it?"
"Yes, Docrow-sama," the little devil squeaked.
"So… a special assignment, huh…" Docrow turned to the database crystal and contemplated what buddy to assign the little prodigy. A moment later, she remembered a human she had discovered peripherally before finding Elsie's buddy. The 'Queen of Games' had been a potential buddy candidate that had been set aside, because her specialty had been making males fall in love with her, for the 'Capturing God', who was known to capture any girl before him, considering that most kaketama holed themselves up in the gaps of a female heart that was of child-bearing age/ability to better gain a body through their container's first-born.
It was her first time being in-charge of a devil whose assignment coincided with the Re-incarnation Ops (that was a special division of the Kaketama Retrieval Squad), considering that all the signs of the Princes had thus far been isolated to Italy, where they had fallen a couple of centuries ago. Then again, it might be a false alarm, considering the energy signal detected in Namimori City might have just been misinterpreted, as the energy spikes disappeared too quickly to have a definite reading proving it was one of the Princes being reincarnated, and might just be specific kaketama that fed on refined life energy. Being reincarnated as a female host's first-born isn't the only way for the escaped souls to gain a physical body again, after all; they could feed off negative emotions to become a Level Four kaketama, which would overwhelm a host and the kaketama manifest itself, or they could take over the host body through overcoming their will.
"Well, I think I have a buddy in mind for you," Docrow eventually commented as she decided on just sending another copy of what she e-mailed the Otoshi-Kami to this Yuugi-Joou – if it ain't broke, why fix it? "Luckily, she happens to live in the ward the signals have been coming from."
"…" large dark eyes studied the skull-faced Counter-Measures Branch Chief for a moment. "Does she use love…?" his question sounded thoughtful.
Docrow raised a brow at the peculiar question. "Yes; I'd say more than definitely, considering she's known to be able to make any male fall in love with her. Though it might not be the easiest method to fill the gap in a human heart or the best method, if these spikes really are what they seem."
"No," Fran disagreed calmly but steadily, green eyes fathomless, despite the youthful face it was set in, "It's perfect, Docrow-sama."
The small Chief paused and turned to glance back at the horned devil, the dark eye-sockets of the skull scrutinizing the kid, from the black hagoromo wrapped around the neck like a winter scarf to the bland expression on the boy's face. After a moment, Docrow shook her head; it was the genuine stamp from Roudret on the files so she might as well trust in the boy's abilities despite Fran being about a hundred times younger than others in the Kaketama Retrieval Squad.
Why should she suspect a little kid of foul play? Docrow thought that the recent ruckus from Vintage, having started a decade ago with the mass breakout of six thousand kaketama into the human realm, had her seeing conspiracies where there were none. Of course, considering Fran represented the possibilities of one or more of the Princes of Hell being resurrected within her jurisdiction (being the Head for the Asian Branch), probably did not help, when it had always been Europe's problem.
Docrow had been in her prime as a demon when the Princes still lived and even that faint memory of the third Prince still sent chills down her spinal column.
"Well, anyway, all we have to do is wait for the reply; I'll look for another candidate in case she doesn't agree to the contract."
"What's my buddy's name, Docrow-sama?" Fran asked.
"If she makes a contract," Docrow reminded, "The Queen of Games, Kurokawa Kiko."
"Thank you! Please come again," the clerk chirped as Kiko paid for her purchases and headed out the automatic doors of the store.
Sitting on a bench outside the video game shop, Kiko double-checked the titles she bought, having received a reply from Keima of his recommendation of galges, considering she didn't have the time to slough through a couple dozen titles to find those few gems she would enjoy – out of schedule constraints, she only played galges that Keima, the 'Otoshi-Kami', suggested to her, leaving her more time for her otome games. Kiko couldn't exactly let galges go, considering the first game she played (thanks to visiting her mom's friend and son) was a galge, and some of the games were pretty enjoyable, though making a girl fall in love with her wasn't as fun as making a guy do the same.
She took out her PFP to double-check the e-mail she received shortly after school to make sure she didn't forget a title before typing and sending out a reply.
The PFP chimed. "Rikudou_Sharingan sent you a message!"
Kiko blinked as she saw several people IM her as soon as she was no longer idle, only the first person's nickname being voiced when multiple messages came, as usual.
'Hmm… "Yes, you need to be friendly with Elliot in order to get Blood's ending. Also, make sure to visit the twins if you haven't already IMMEDIATELY after the automatic event of Contents of a Small Bottle 2, or else you'll be killed by them at the end." …Eh? "Which version of Arabians Lost are you asking about?" Oooh! "You should, definitely! Were you thinking of cosplaying any guy from Starry Sky in particular?".'
Kiko sent the long reply to the person asking after Arabians Lost (the PS2 version) before turning her attention back to Rikudou_Sharingan, who had messaged that he was contemplating making the uniform for Seigatsu Academy (the school where the Starry Sky series takes place in).
"'Not really, though I can probably cosplay Tsubasa easily, I prefer Hayato's way of wearing the uniform.'" Kiko read. "Speaking of, the Seigatsu uniform is pretty elaborate." A small beep signaling his reply. "'That's actually what I wanted to ask you—' Hm…?"
"You've got mail!" the PFP announced.
Kiko agreed to send him blown up images from the Starry Sky games when she got back home before moving to check her e-mail.
"Kurokawa Kiko."
The second year recoiled at the recognizable voice and tone, twisting her body to see the Head Prefect glowering down at her. She paled, considering she'd technically been avoiding him ever since the Watering Can Incident that happened a few months ago. "Hibari-san… we're out of school so I'm not doing anything wrong, am I?"
"…you're loitering."
Instead of trying to reason her way out from the unreasonable tyrant like she might have before The Watering Can Incident, Kiko bolted; she realized that Hibari Kyouya was just looking for a punching bag and she was definitely not offering.
"Dammit," she muttered, having gripped her school briefcase handle by her teeth as she tossed her PFP into a shopping bag, running full-speed away from the crazy Disciplinary Head. In all her time attending Namimori Middle, why was it that recollection of her schooling seemed to be filled with incidents like this?
"Kurokawa," Hibari was right behind her, his mouth practically speaking right into her ear; only he could make her name sound like an epithet.
Instinct received from experience had her ducking into a squat, not completely dodging the swipe of the tonfa considering her hair falling free from the messy ponytail she usually had it in, knowing better to stay still and swerving around before leaping back up, making a 180. The way she had been going would lead into the heart of the shopping district which would make it fairly hard to lose the third year, so the fourteen-year-old had her sights on the park nearby, maybe resorting to climbing up a tree since desperate times called for desperate measures.
"#$%&!" Kiko cursed as a little boy with an afro and wearing a cowsuit (later, she would look back at the encounter and wonder if she had been hallucinating) walked right into the middle of her path, having wandered away from his mom, who looked about as ditsy as her own mother. There was no way she was going to put on the brakes, considering doing so would mean being caught by Hibari and his metal tonfa, but neither could she conscientiously bulldoze through a child (she'd probably get sued).
The only way was going up.
Kiko bent her knees as soon as her trailing leg caught up with her other before launching up and over the boy, clearing the top of his afro easily and landing on the other side, immediately resuming her full-on sprint.
"EXTREME, OLDER KUROKAWA!" her classmate – for who else was so loud and said 'extreme' like it was going out of style but Sasagawa Ryouhei – exclaimed.
'Why don't you help me instead of just standing there, then, Sasagawa?' Kiko screamed angrily in her mind, else she waste breath she needed to run away from the demon behind her. A glance behind her showed that Hibari had swerved to the side to avoid the obstacle (little boy) and was still right behind her. 'Why me?'
Who knows how long later found Kiko hidden behind a row of bushes, leaning against the trunk of a tree as she caught her breath. She brushed the curly locks of her loose hair away from her eyes with a sigh before remembering she was going to check her e-mail before Hibari snuck up behind her after she finished shopping.
Taking her PFP out, she turned it back on before logging back to the internet, noting she only had a few minutes left before she needed to switch to new batteries; the device ate power like a black hole.
The e-mail came half an hour ago, meaning she'd been running from Hibari for around thirty minutes. "Crazy rabbit," she muttered in agitation.
Dear Queen of Games, the e-mail started. I heard that you can capture any guy. At first, I felt there was no way, but on the off-chance it's true, I have a guy for you. If you feel you can do so, please reply. P.S.: If it's impossible, don't ever reply to this. From, Dokurou Skull.
She furrowed her brow. That was one of the more condescending e-mails from strangers she'd received but she'd had some weird (and idiotic) people e-mail her before regarding gaming. Mentally shrugging, she decided to reply, since she wouldn't mind helping if this Dokurou Skull was having trouble and she relished challenges either way.
As soon as she pressed the reply button, Kiko had goosebumps and her eyes darted around half-expecting Hibari to come looming out from the greenery. Instead, a large gush of wind pressed her against the tree trunk, Kiko throwing her arms in front of her face and glancing to where it seemed a mini-tornado appeared about a meter in front of her.
Eyes behind thick glasses widened as colored lightning crackled in the vague spiral before a small figure appeared to form from mist, her arms lowering as the pyrotechnics died down and realizing she might have just gotten in over her head. When she took in the individual, though, Kiko couldn't prevent the twitch of an eyebrow.
It appeared to be a little boy, even smaller than the afro-baby she had vaulted over, with lime-green hair and similarly colored eyes which pupils were obscured by the faint toxic-glow to them, wearing a preschool uniform consisting of a blue smock over white shirt and dark shorts (the only reason she realized he was a boy, considering the layered bob his hair was cut in). Then there were the out-of-place details, like the fang-like tattoos dropping down from his eyes, the too-long scarf whose ends hovered in a nonexistent wind, to the stylized skull hat(?) tilted to one side and let's not forget the curved horn on the opposite side of his head.
Her face slacked. "Did I just make a deal with the devil?"
"Yes."
Kiko looked at the screen of her PFP before noticing its batteries were dead, so she mentally recalled the e-mail and ran the contents through her mind several times. "You're Dokurou Skull?"
"Docrow Skull-sama is my boss," the little devil squeaked.
Subtly, Kiko moved to cross her arms in front of her as a pretense to pinch herself. Nope, this was really happening. "And you are…"
"Call me Fran; I'm your partner."
"Partner…?"
Fran pulled out a sketch pad from underneath his smock before opening the spiral pad – which was about as wide as he was tall, making Kiko wonder how he could have stored it under any clothing. Turning to the first page revealed a colored picture of the earth; Kiko was suitably impressed at the art itself. Fran sat down, which sufficiently had him disappear behind the sketch pad, to explain with the aid of drawings.
"There are three planes of existence: Heaven, Hell, and Earth. We'll ignore Heaven and concentrate on the other two, one of which is ruled by devils and the other by humans. Over six hundred years ago, there was a revolt in Hell which influence spread to the other realms; in the mortal world, millions had died in what your history calls the Black Death, which was a result of energy poisonous to humans leaking through the barriers."
Kiko grimaced at the graphic drawing of the afflicted humans and half-rotted corpses.
"Like Heaven, Hell is ruled by One, though even in the same realm the King is regarded as a deity and, back then, Hell was run by an oligarchy that kept Old Hell relatively in line. They were the Princes," he flipped a page, "the revolt began when the youngest Prince was assassinated."
Frowning, the fourteen-year-old studied the portrait of a beautiful blond and androgynous male. Unlike Fran, he had ram-like horns on both sides, curving toward his face amongst the long hair, with gossamer wings akin to a moth attached to his back while wearing the furs of a lion. She wondered what was artistic interpretation and what was reality.
"The other devils weren't really happy with the status quo and didn't like the restrictions placed on them ever since the turn of the millennium over venturing to the world of humans to prey on mortals. This started a century long war with the Princes falling one by one, till only the first Prince remained."
The portrait seemed to be the night to the other Prince's day. The horn tips were raised almost like a crown amongst the dark hair layered around a pale, aristocratic face. The devil was covered in black cloth unlike the skin-revealing portrait of the youngest Prince. What was most eye-catching in the drawing, other than the swords in each gauntlet-clad hand, were the humongous wings sprouting behind him like a shroud; it was unlike any wing she had seen on a bird, black like the rest of him with long silky feathers that made it look slightly disheveled.
"There was anarchy after the first Prince was finally slain before, three hundred years ago, the current government, New Hell, overthrew Old Hell by sealing those devils away. Time-skip to the present," cue a completely different drawing that basically looked like a loading bar on a computer before he turned the page again, "Souls are cleansed and recycled into another Realm once a human, angel, or devil dies. Yet there are spirits called Weiss, evil souls escaping into the Human realm from Hell despite not having been cleansed, that sequester themselves in humans so they could regain a body; most Weiss are devil instead of human."
Kiko blinked at the change of art style, from Romanticism to super-deformed. The page was fairly simple to comprehend, showing two cycles. The first depicted reincarnation, from a cartoonized Fran, a chibified Kiko, and a generic angel (with halo) that had arrows connecting each with the other two amongst animals – of the particular realm she assumed – scattered among the humanoid figures. The other image was of a ghost, looking nothing more like a Teresa from the Mario platform games, with an arrow pointing to a possessed outline of a human with the Teresa inside which following arrow ended with an explosion effect and a game over stamp.
The girl sweatdropped.
"Weiss usually hide themselves within the gaps of human girls' hearts, in the hope of being reborn in a mockery of reincarnation," he disappeared the large sketchbook within the layers of his smock again. His face bland of any emotion seemed to be mocking when he said, "Though that doesn't concern us."
Kiko waited a beat, before a muscle of her left cheek spasmed in annoyance; she cleared her throat pointedly.
"Our focus is on more specific Weiss that hide in special humans to consume their life and will, which usually hide within the gaps of a heart of a male human—"
And now the fourteen-year-old had a passing idea of her role in this, though she didn't quite have the time to contemplate the implications just yet.
"—since they eschew the thought of gaining the form of a harmless infant and human males have a higher ratio and occurrence of this refined life energy. We're also to find the natural reincarnations of the Seven Princes amongst the hosts. How can I say it?" the little devil furrowed his brow in concentration; the act being sickeningly cute on the 'child'. "Hmm. Our task is to capture Weiss while keeping an eye out for the Princes – or should I say that we're looking for the Princes while capturing Weiss on the side?"
"I get it," Kiko withheld the urge to release a gusty sigh, recognizing signs of pointless monologuing. "The e-mail – contract? – mentioned something about capturing guys… Wait. Waaaait. You don't mean… real life guys?"
Fran blinked and gave her a blank look which, to her, silently stated 'what other guys would there be?'.
She mentally calmed and told herself not to jump the gun. "What do you mean by 'capture'?"
"Well, the Weiss usually finds a gap in the heart of humans which are formed because of some sort of mental or emotional trauma. In order to drive the Weiss out so it can be contained by a devil in the Retrieval Squad – me – it is up to the buddy – you – to fill the gap."
Remembering this Docrow Skull had e-mailed her regarding her adeptness over otome games (or what it seemed to be at first), Kiko had to ask, "Fill the gap how?"
"With love," Fran gave her a doe-eyed look.
Kiko sighed and raised a hand to press against her forehead, her head leaning back to hit the tree trunk with a 'thunk'. "I was afraid you'd say that," she muttered under her breath.
While the girl was trying to wrap her mind around making real life guys fall in love with her without cringing in disgust, Fran continued talking.
"It is negative emotions that creates a gap of the heart and love is something that Weiss have no tolerance for. Love fills and overflows the heart with positive emotions and also strengthens and reinforces refined life energy – in the West, we call it Fiamma del Coraggio di Morire, or Dying Will Flames in Japanese. Love is the best method. 'Love conquers all!' is what they say," Fran said this entirely in a deadpan that Kiko was starting to think was his normal expression (or lack of one). "Love is also the best method for the Princes – the only method – and you're the perfect person for these possessed guys to love."
Kiko shivered, goosebumps of disgust raising on her arm as she involuntarily thought of real life guys loving her. Urgh; she had the sudden urge to vomit. "I won't try to get out of this, considering I know that contracts can't be backed out of, but I have to tell you that you guys might have made a mistake. I capture guys in games," she waved her dead PFP slightly for emphasis, "Not real life guys. I've never dated or had a boyfriend and I'm frankly not interested in the Real guys. So you guys might want to reconsider."
"Impossible; we're both already under contract," his scarf slithered off his neck to reveal a black choker as he looked at her neck. One of her hands darted up to feel a copy around her throat. "Breaking the contract will mean death," he gave her a teary-eyed look with wide eyes and quivering bottom lip, "I'll die too."
A nerve at her eye twitched and she slid her gaze to the side, a wry smile on her face as she said, "You didn't have to give me the puppy-dog look; just the I would die part would have been enough."
"Ah, I see, but using my youth usually works," Fran remarked, no sign of tears or fear as he went back to his neutral face.
Kiko tsked, "How old are you anyway?"
"Four and a half."
"Physically," the second year waved it off, "I mean actual age."
"I'm four and a half."
The girl focused on the devil a little more. "…were you born on a leap year?"
"March 16th."
"So you were born four years ago, on March 16th? And your physical age is your actual age?"
"Yes."
"… right," Kiko sighed as she removed her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Like I'm gonna accept that!" she suddenly burst out, "What th' 'ell?"
"Ah," Fran parts his mouth as his glowing eyes stared at the human girl, "Is that Kansai-ben? But your profile said you were born in Narusawa City—"
"It's to emphasize my incredulity!" Kiko explained in irritation. After a moment, she took a deep breath. It wasn't exactly the brat's fault and she didn't really know about how Hell was run; maybe it was perfectly normal and devils mentally matured quicker. The fourteen-year-old hadn't actually thought the brat was ACTUALLY a brat since, when he spoke, he was articulate and used complex vocabulary.
Kiko froze, realizing a point that might be the most important of all, and more immediate.
"Hey, do you have to be near me from now on? Or will you, you know, head back to wherever you came from to sleep?"
"The only time we're to head back to Hell is during the biannual meeting of the Runaway Spirit Squad but I'm an exception. I'm to stay in the mortal realm till our contract is completed."
"What are the terms of the contract, exactly, and where do you think you're gonna stay considering you're a little kid?"
"The collars would fade away upon finding the Seven Princes, probably."
"Probably?"
Fran continued, "As for where I'll stay…"
Roughly half an hour later, in the Kurokawa residence, Kiko stared at her mother cussing her father out on the phone with Keima's mom on the other end.
"You've got to be kidding me," Kiko finally said after teetering into her bedroom and sitting heavily onto her chaise lounge (which doubled as her bed).
Fran, who had followed the fourteen-year-old girl, stood at the doorway into the dark room with genuinely wide eyes. Three of the walls (one of which had the door that led to the hallway) were covered with bookcases from floor to ceiling, stuffed to the brim with games, books, manga, and the occasional collectible figure or memorabilia. Across the room from where he stood, the last wall, was the most amazing part, with a couple of shelves lined with consoles and some other technological bits, two or three workstations, two large monitors on the long table, and a huge flat-screen hung on the wall above them. It looked more like an entertainment room than a bedroom.
The little devil opened his mouth, "Achoo!" and sneezed.
"Close the door, you're letting out the cold air," Kiko absent-mindedly chided.
Sniffling a little, Fran took a couple of steps in before going on his tip-toes to close the door, turning back around and spotting the portable air conditioner near the corner to his left. On the floor space, there was only the chaise lounge along with a kotatsu table and chair with a laptop and what vaguely looked like a breakfast tray with a wireless keyboard and mouse on top.
He wrapped his hagoromo a couple of more times around his neck and made a b-line toward the kotatsu table, passing by the pile of plushies behind the back of the chaise lounge that was the only sign this room was owned by a female. He carefully lifted the futon of the kotatsu so the shopping bags Kiko had leaned on an adjacent side remained undisturbed, before wriggling most of his body under the kotatsu, immediately warming up.
Kiko, who had been blankly staring at the chibi-devil step into her room, finally asked, "Did you really have to do that?"
Fran stared at her with slight confusion. "I'm not used to the cold."
"That's not what I meant," she slapped her forehead, "I mean, did you have to… do whatever you did, and use 'an illegitimate son' of my father as your cover?"
"I manipulated Dad's—"
'Oi oi, you're calling him that already?' Kiko thought.
"—memories so he'll have a vague remembrance of an encounter with my 'mom', leaving him to fill in the rest, while I left evidence and a paper trail of this fictitious business trip. Any background checks would be the exact same as my cover story; everything's incontrovertible," he said somewhat proudly.
A beat. "Haa," she exhaled with a whoosh. "But why do you have to be my half-brother? Why my dad – you saw how my mom reacted when she started crying during her phone-call to dad. And use simpler words more appropriate for your age group."
"I don't understand," Fran crinkled his nose, the cuteness factor much like a bunny doing the same. "I would have tried to convince your family that I was their third child if genetic inheritance allowed it, but I'm clearly from the West. And Dad didn't know my birth mother and still came back to Mom so I don't see what's wrong. Eh?"
Fran looked down at his chest at the lump that suddenly appeared under the futon, lifting the purple comforter up revealed it was an odd-eyed cat wearing a bow-tie collar.
"Sebastian," Kiko called in irritation as she stood and picked up the tuxedo cat, "When did you sneak in?" She opened the door and set the cat outside, considering she didn't want any accidents in the room, before continuing their line of conversation once the door shut again, "It's called adultery."
Fran stared back at her blankly. "What's 'adultery'?" he asked.
Kiko blinked, realizing she had walked into a landmine while simultaneously figuring Fran really was four years old despite the way he spoke. "… nevermind."
"Tadaima!" Hana's muffled voice sounded, the younger Kurokawa sister back from Club activities (the School Band).
"Oh, tsk, I totally forgot about Hana."
"Eh?"
"My younger sister hates kids – she hated kids when she was a kid herself. I think it's a result from family get-togethers and a bunch of rowdy cousins." Kiko thought for a moment, face grimacing slightly as she realized that she'd have to take care of the brat much like how she took care of Sebastian despite it being the family cat. She couldn't exactly lump the kid off for Hana to handle. "No choice; you're gonna stay with me."
"Am I going to sleep under this kotatsu?" Fran tilted his head.
"You could catch a cold like that," Kiko repeated the saying before shrugging, "… you're small enough, though you might get burned by the heater if you toss and turn."
"Devils have a high heat tolerance." He turned his head about, "Where do you sleep, Joou-neesama?"
A nasty chill ran down her spine from the distasteful name – but mostly since he called her respected older sister. She patted the chaise lounge she sat on in reply, "Here."
"What about pillows and blankets?"
She pointed at a small section of lower shelves covered by doors, "My clothing and linen are all in there."
"Oh," Fran said. He was beginning to realize his buddy wasn't exactly a normal girl; he had no idea he was going to discover a whole new world that was not Earth in the following months.
The slightly delusional world a dating-sim otaku lived in, that is.
"And what exactly do you mean by a 'high heat tolerance'?" Kiko got back to the point and sufficiently brought Fran out of his ponderings over his assigned partner. "Are you fire-proof?"
"Basically, among other things," Fran replied blankly.
"So you won't get burned?" Kiko persisted for some unfathomable reason the little devil didn't understand. He hoped the teenager wouldn't try to set him on fire to make sure, having heard other devils with more seniority saying that happened on occasion.
"No."
Kiko nodded. "Then you'll sleep under the kotat—"
"Fran-kun, come down and meet your other older sister!" Kurokawa Tsurumi's muffled voice was heard through the closed door, originating downstairs.
"WHAT?" Hana's screech rung loud and clear, in contrast; it was probably a nasty surprise for the girl that just got home from her usual club practice only expecting to take a bath and eat dinner after finishing her homework before heading to bed (rinse and repeat the next evening).
Fran's large green eyes turned to glance at Kiko, who just gave a long sigh and reached for the shopping bag to pull out a game, before getting up and heading toward the door to meet this misopedist 'sister' of his.
Kiko unwrapped the game and popped the disc into her Xbox 360 while the little devil slowly left the room (thanks to having trouble with reaching the doorknob), reclining on the lounge with controller in hand as the door softly clicked close again. The fourteen-year-old was pondering which route she should go through first, not wanting to think about what she got herself into and the brat that followed her home and threatened the solidarity of her family.
At the mental picture brought up automatically comparing her father with Fran, Kiko's eyes bulged and she shot out of her seat. She scrambled for the door before abruptly doubling back, heading to a bookcase, grabbing the first usable thing for her goal and then zipping back out of her room to hopefully catch the mini-devil in time.
Fran was at the archway to the kitchen as Kiko caught sight of him and his horn perfectly visible in that green mop of hair. She knew the two other women in the family was in the kitchen (her mother practically holed herself up there) and she didn't have time to spare.
The girl made a flying leap—
"Ah, there he is—"
FWUMP!
Safe! Kiko mentally swiped an arm across her brow over having sufficiently covered the evidence Fran wasn't human before her family could notice. Her mom had been distracted before with the information of her father 'cheating' on her, along with not being the sharpest crayon in the box, but Hana was totally another story (ignoring the chance the younger girl would avoid taking too good a look at the kid in an attempt to stem from breaking out into hives from the sight of a child).
"Kiko-chan? What—"
"Fran very easily catches colds," Kiko lied with a straight face, "so he needs to wear hats all the time to keep his head warm. You know how dangerous it is for little kids to get a cold. First it's a cold, then it's a high fever, lost of consciousness, hospitalization— you get the picture."
"Oh, is that why he's wearing a scarf even though it's not that cool yet?" Tsurumi voiced.
"Yes," Kiko finally took a glance at Fran. She had ended up grabbing a heartless cosplay hat which was way too big for the little devil – the only reason the horn couldn't be seen in from the felt fabric – which rim fell to his nose and the 'antennae' swept the floor behind him. The two circle for eyes on the thick band sat right where his eyes were, so it was more of a hat turned half-mask.
Tiny hands pushed the hat up so he could see again, not really understanding what was happening but conceding for his buddy to take the lead in front of the two other humans.
Kiko glanced at Hana, who looked a little pale and was slowly reaching for her neck to no doubt find she'd broken out into hives. The older girl had discovered that Hana was more allergic to cute things than little kids. Sure, bratty snotty boys had Hana break into hives and have a minor conniption but nothing did it faster than a tooth-achingly moe child which Fran admittedly was to the S-Degree. She scooped Fran up and took the chance to leave with the opportunity her little sister's 'allergy' gave her.
"Hana's not looking so good so I'm gonna take Fran away. Call when dinner's ready!"
The girl ran briskly walked back to her room, closed the door, set the brat down, before collapsing to the floor and panting like she just ran a marathon. If someone had timed her, they would realize that the second year made a new school track record with the dash to catch Fran, not that Kiko would have cared either way, being more preoccupied with recovering from the harrowing experience.
Not quite as heart attack inducing as the Head Prefect attempting to discipline (read: try to send her to a hospital) her but close enough, and Kiko really couldn't believe that had only been an hour ago. It and school had felt like a lifetime ago after she inadvertently found herself signing a contract with a devil.
Someone knocked on the door.
Kiko took a moment before standing up and opening the door a crack and poking her head through, moving the rest of her body out into the hall and closing the door when she saw it was her younger sister.
"So dad cheated on mom when he went on a business trip?" Hana asked as she discreetly fidgeted and scratched a wrist. "Did he even go to Italy five years ago? I thought it had been Germany."
"No, it was Italy—" though Hana was actually right and it had been Germany "—and apparently. Fran's birth mother passed away so he was shipped over here to his other parent."
"Shouldn't we do a blood test or something? This is dad we're talking about. I'm not sure what he ever saw in mom but our parents are the most sickeningly lovey-dovey couple I know," she rubbed up and down an arm in worry. Or because of the hives.
"I doubt they'll get a divorce because of this," she paused for a long moment, "Probably."
The two girls stared at each other.
"Let them talk it out when dad gets back while we stay out of it?"
"Yeah," Kiko agreed.
"I'm gonna live with Auntie if they do separate," Hana announced with her usual cool attitude as she turned toward her room.
A nerve on Kiko's face twitched. Hana wasn't worried over the break-up of their family more than the fact that she'd be the daughter that ended up with their mom, huh? After a moment, Kiko just exhaled loudly, expelling that entire conversation along with her breath; out of mind, out of thoughts. Why was Kiko surprised when she should have expected this from Hana?
Returning to her room, she leaned back and slid down the door with a sigh. Kurokawa Kan'ichirou was going to come back home early after that phone-call announcing his illegitimate son was at the house, meaning he'd be home within a half hour, considering the commute from the city and assuming he dropped everything and left immediately.
Kiko stared at the brat, who was still wearing the cosplay hat, hands raised to keep the item out of his eyes, which were large, round, sparkling, and staring right back at her.
A beat passed.
"…you have to hide your horn," Kiko finally stated.
"Ahhh," his eyes widened slightly in realization.
Kiko ignored him reaching up and patting said body extension through the black felt, her dark cobalt eyes scanning her shelves behind thick glasses, trying to find something better to cover the horn. It had to be stiff material and something that did not hug the skull. Inevitably, her perusal stopped at collection of Keroro Gunso figurines.
She stared at the life-size replica and her face slacked; like she was going to eviscerate her precious collector's item for the brat.
Fran, in the silence, had followed her gaze before contemplatively looking up in the general direction of the hat he was wearing. He took off the hat, turning to walk to the kotatsu and setting it down on the tabletop before reaching for the skull ornament on the side of his head and setting it next to the hat. Fran started unwinding his black scarf, his actions finally catching the otaku's attention when the scarf shimmered from being woolen to a matte shadowy material.
Kiko watched incredulously as Fran directed the material to scan the head of her Keroro figurine, before the material shrunk and morphed into a black replica of the helmet the alien frog wore which the little devil promptly stuck on his head, the stiff leather-like material sufficiently hiding his head growth.
She picked up her jaw, it having gaped open at the process, before half-demanding, "What…?"
"The members of the Runaway Spirit Squad are outfitted with several items. The hagoromo," he adjusted his new headgear pointedly, "is made of electronic magical nanomachines that reproduces the user's magic without an expenditure from their magical stores. It gives us flight capability and is a general aid in our task; basically, it's similar to a supercomputer." Fran picked up the skull accessory and affixed it to his chest, "This is a Runaway Spirit Sensor which I've modified to detect potential Prince candidates, it has a mapping and tracking system, along with the fact it's a communicator to HQ."
Kiko leaned in and poked the helmet with a finger, surprised when she actually felt fabric when she had been expecting some mystical material instead.
Fran searched through his clothes until he pulled out a clear jar with rubber bung. "I'll use this Special Grade A confinement bottle to detain the Weiss expelled by our targets, which is another basic item given to squad members, though I have Special Grade S-SSS confinement bottles on me too considering the Weiss we're after…"
"…you're like a magical boy," Kiko deadpanned.
"Eh?"
"So that sensor's going to find guys I'll have to…" she managed to choke out the last few words without gagging, "make fall for me or something?"
"Yes, an alarm would set off if a Weiss is detected within its range."
Kiko rubbed her temples and moved to sit and play Chaos;Head Love Chu Chu!, a recommendation from Keima, ignoring the little devil who stared at her. Instantly she was pulled into the game, the past day's woes and future headaches swept away by the plethora of cuteness in the romantic comedy galge, only resurfacing when she heard the last member of the family come home. She was still happily playing the game until she heard the first noise of broken dishware.
The fourteen-year-old twitched again when something made of glass impacted the wall downstairs, both the individuals in the room suddenly hyperaware of the one-sided argument on the ground floor. Fran blatantly stared at the closed door that led to the hallway and the rest of the house while Kiko was halfheartedly clicking buttons on the controller, her head gradually shrinking into her body at each crash, scream from her mom, and bang.
Suddenly there was an eerie silence.
After a minute or two, Kiko abandoned the controller and slowly headed toward her door. It was probably a good thing that she hadn't heard her father's voice in the ruckus but there was also a probability that her former female bosozoku mom had just committed mariticide and the noise they'd been hearing was actually inflicted on Kan'ichirou.
When Kiko arrived at the landing, the second year saw Hana had a disgusted face before it was replaced by flinching avoidance at the arrival of Fran behind the fourteen-year-old. No need to ask that their parents were most likely making up, especially heard by the low murmur of Kan'ichirou's voice.
Introductions were made surprisingly creepy since Kan'ichirou's brainwashing seemed like that drunken debacle had actually happened, judging by his reserved and stiff behavior and dinner went much the same way, though Tsurumi seemed to have recovered and was her usual cheery self with remarks about having a cute son now. At the first opportunity, Kiko headed back to her room, taking the brat along considering she didn't trust him not to reveal his less-than-human origins by accident.
"Dad's a nice person," Fran remarked.
Kiko took a bracing breath before ignoring the little devil and intending to finish homework due tomorrow.
"Why are you called the Queen of Games?"
"Shut up."
The next day, Kiko was sufficiently recovered from Thursday's ordeal after having played games through the night. Fran had also been preoccupied with cramming after Kiko had been horrified at finding out the little devil couldn't read Japanese when she had finally deemed to reply to his question of why she was called Yuugi-Joou, and only Fran's technical expertise saved the handheld and Harvest Moon DS from entering the unlimited electricity/batteries and Wi-Fi world in the Sky (it was quite possible, considering Kurokawa Kan'ichirou had broken half-a-dozen games before Kiko thought better to let her father touch any tech of hers, technology being allergic to the man). The four-year-old had tried to stay up with Kiko but had conked out by midnight, leaving Kiko to leisurely turn on the rice cooker and take a shower, eating a breakfast of plain onigiri and leaving the house before anyone woke up, like usual.
Kiko didn't really worry about leaving the chibi-devil alone with her mother for the day, considering Fran would be concentrating on the books she had given him to learn kana and kanji, and Kurokawa Tsurumi had almost ingrained instincts of not bothering children studying or playing thanks to raising Kiko and Hana (the latter of which had no problem lecturing adults to their face). In fact, the day went by so normally she forgot about her impeding task, actually forgetting the black collar around her neck, until she came back home and saw the brat studying at her kotatsu table when she had been planning to update her website.
It had been a good day too, considering she had arrived early enough to avoid Hibari Kyouya (and managed to not see a glimpse of him ONCE). Sasagawa Ryouhei was distracted from bothering her – by the virtue their younger sisters were best friends – since he kept going on and on about a having a first year named Sawada Tsuna needing to join his club, who he had a match with after the opening ceremony a few days ago for the fall semester. Kiko couldn't be bothered to care that Sawada Tsuna was a scrawny guy when it got Ryohei off her back and, if the recent rumors were true, Hibari Kyouya would hopefully direct his attentions away from herself and toward the budding 'troublemaker'.
On her way home, she had even had Sawada Tsunayoshi run past her with skull tattoos all over his skin, so the rumors might have some credit.
Yes, a normal day in Namimori Middle.
Kiko dropped her school briefcase near the door before heading down to the kitchen, bland mood having turned to bad.
Tsurumi greeted her eldest daughter as the girl reached opened the fridge, "How was school today? Did your father and I mentioned how proud of you we are?"
The fourteen-year-old made a noise of acknowledgment, taking out a pitcher of mugicha and pouring herself a glass. "It's not that hard maintaining first place when I have no real competition academically. Hana, on the other hand, needs to take care, having been bumped off the single-digits by a transfer student."
Her mother giggled, "Ara ara, we've heard enough about Hana-chan's complaint toward this Gokudera Hayato. Do you think I'll be calling him son-in-law within the decade?"
Kiko stared blandly at her mother. "Hana has something against younger guys, even if it's only a few months difference in age."
The petite woman gave a long-suffering sigh; her younger daughter was overly picky of traits that weren't all that important on the long run while her eldest wasn't even interested in guys at all.
Pushing a tray of food, two settings (one obviously for Fran), Tsurumi spoke again, "You must be hungry, Kiko-chan, and Fran-kun had been very diligently studying Japanese today. Oh! Can you take Fran-kun to you school tomorrow and look after him that day? He arrived so suddenly and Mari-san and I had planned this trip for several weeks."
Joy.
When Kurokawa Tsurumi spoke of a 'trip' with Katsuragi Mari, it usually meant the two mothers would channel Bonnie and Clyde, capturing their 'golden days' by riding motorcycles across the country; obviously, Tsurumi couldn't bring a child if they were trying to recapture their youth.
"Will you be gone the entire weekend?" Kiko, as usual, just chose not to comment on her mother's wild past, and inquired over relevant information instead.
"Yes," Tsurumi confirmed, tucking a long, straight bang behind an ear. "Hana-chan agreed this morning on handling the meals which is why I ask you about looking after Fran-kun. He seems to be attached to you," the woman gained this dreamy look, "Fran-kun was going on about 'Joou-neesama' this and 'Joou-neesama' that. Kyaaa— so cute!"
Kiko, inured to her mother's quirks, ignored the woman, mentally translating Tsurumi's words. Basically, it meant Hana volunteered to take over cooking so she could get out of being left to babysit their 'half-brother'.
Leaving the thirty-two year old to her fantasies, Kiko left the kitchen with the tray of food after setting two glasses of mugicha on a free space, heading upstairs.
"Joou-neesama," Fran greeted, not having had the chance to before, considering Kiko had taken one look at him and left. "Look, I wrote a journal entry of yesterday in Japanese."
The girl glanced at the netbook she handed him to practice with (set in an English system before letting him touch it) and saw he had reverted its region back to Japan. After a moment, she announced, "Good, now you just have to work on writing Japanese; I hope you memorized stroke order of the characters you covered. You can do that when you come with me to school tomorrow."
There was a silence when they set up the kotatsu to eat, where Fran slowly placed his dishes in front of him while, having already moved her portion, Kiko read the journal entry in a format typically assigned in Elementary, mentally sweatdropping when adultery was mentioned.
"I'm going to drop you off at the Reception Room, where you'll stay until I come pick you up, Saturdays only being half days."
"Roger," Fran acknowledged before distractedly drinking the cold barley tea, using both his hands to hold the glass up.
"Ah, Kiko-chan, you're still here!" Tsurumi exclaimed as the girl arrived in the kitchen with Fran following her like a lost little duckling.
"Yeah, I have to catch Hibari-senpai when he gets to school so we can't stay for breakfast," the fourteen-year-old stated as she grabbed two slices of toast and handed a slice to Fran.
"Hibari Kyouya? Why?" Hana completely forgot about being uncomfortable with Fran's presence at the mention of the psychotic Disciplinary Head. Honestly, who voluntarily sought the fifteen-year-old third year out?
Their father, who had been reading the paper at the table, glanced at his girls curiously at the turn of conversation.
"It's required, considering I'm bringing Fran to school grounds. Plus, I'm going to leave him with the Disciplinary Committee while I attend classes, so I need to talk to Hibari-senpai before I take him to the Reception Room."
"Huh, the Disciplinary Committee is using the Reception Room? How sly," Hana was no longer interested, having her curiosity over her sister's lap of sanity explained.
"Why not the Student Council Room, Kiko? Isn't that right next to the Reception Room?" the forty-year-old businessman asked.
"The Reception Room is more cushy," Kiko deadpanned as she turned her attention to her mother, who was waxing poetic about Fran being part of their family allowing Tsurumi to make more cute bentos, considering Hana hadn't allowed her to make kyarabens for her since she had turned ten.
"I see Hana-chan doesn't have to bring your lunch along with hers, Kiko-chan," Tsurumi was delighted in seeing her eldest before she left for the weekend, apparently. She handed Kiko a bento wrapped in purple and yellow furoshiki, before picking up a smaller wrapped bento (black with green frog pattern), "And this is for Fran-kun! Hope you enjoy; I'll be back on Sunday night."
Kiko thanked her mother and excused herself from the kitchen. "Let's go," she said to Fran and they were soon out the door.
After making sure Fran was keeping up with her, the fourteen-year-old immediately took out her PFP and started playing.
Normally, Kiko arrived well before even Hibari Kyouya got to Namimori, usually heading to her desk and playing her handheld as the other students slowly trickled in, but it was true that she needed to announce Fran to the Disciplinary Committee and faculty to keep to school guidelines – which she never broke for fear of bringing more of the Head Prefect's wrath on her head. Still, considering that chase in the heart of Namimori City on Thursday, Kiko thought it safest to meet Hibari at the gate than in the Reception Room itself as the third year would likely use the excuse of Kiko invading his territory to bite her to death.
She was planning on going around the shopping district with Fran tomorrow to ostentatiously get started on this screwed up quest she had accidentally signed herself up for (in blood, hypothetically, considering her head was literally on the line). Kiko was not like her mother and dreamed of situations happening in the Real world, so she was still rather dubious of this situation she got herself into. Real Life, as her honorary big brother Keima likes to say, was a crappy game, after all. And while Kiko didn't truly register the Real as a game, she did agree that it was monotonous and didn't make sense.
Granted, Kiko's view of the Real World might be jaded thanks to attending Namimori Middle, who housed some interesting characters (herself included).
If she was lucky, she wouldn't have any encounters with potential targets for awhile yet.
About a block or two away from school, Kiko stopped and scooped the brat up to use as a shield against the cantankerous Head Prefect, hoping he'd pause long enough at the sight of Fran in her arms to let Kiko say what she needed.
"Are we almost there?" Fran asked, looking left and right.
The fourteen-year-old mentally checked the time. "Hold on a second," Kiko stated before starting to move, pacing herself as she had a mental countdown to five seconds before seven-thirty.
As her inner clock struck 07:29:55 on the dot, she arrived before the front gates of the school at the same time Hibari Kyouya hit the brakes of his scooter, three feet away.
Bingo.
"Hibari-senpai," Kiko greeted, Fran still in her arms.
The third year's eyes flicked down to the four-year-old before narrowing his eyes slightly as he returned Kiko's stare – granted, the girl's strong prescription practically made her glasses opaque. "Kurokawa Kiko."
"We recently have a new addition to the family," Kiko slowly set Fran back on the floor now that it seemed the older boy wouldn't attack her on sight. "This is Fran, my younger half-brother who just recently arrived to Japan. I had to take him to school with me since no one else can take care of him today."
Fran stared up at Hibari with his doe eyes.
"As Head of the Disciplinary Committee, I'm informing you of the visitor to the school. He'll stay in the Reception Room while I attend classes," Kiko finished explaining.
Hibari twitched a little at the mention of Kiko attending classes – he clearly knew what she did in those classes – but just scowled in acquiesce. "Of course."
It was what was expected, leaving a 'visitor' under the eye of the Disciplinary Committee; the two headaches for the Namimori Middle faculty completely disregarding the administrators and other adults of the school, as usual.
"Thank you very much, Hibari-senpai," Kiko did a shallow bow as manners dictated, "I will go inform my homeroom teacher now before I drop Fran in the Reception Room."
Kiko decided to not test her luck of Hibari's rare non-tonfa swinging mood – she had nearly forgot how he had been like without the fear of him going into assault mode at the sight of her face, before the Watering Can Incident of months ago.
She moved a hand toward the brat to take, hoping he'd take the hint so they could get away from the Head Prefect before his mood soured. "Come on, Fran, let's go."
Hibari, who had been standing in place with a slight scowl fixed on his face, took another glance between Kiko and Fran before his lips thinned. He looked away and moved to park his scooter when…
The skull motif on the neck of Fran's blue smock set off, the eye holes lighting up and an alarm blasted the quiet circumference of the trio, effectively freezing the two older ones in their tracks.
Kiko slowly moved her eyes to stare at the Runaway Spirit Sensor, remembering what Fran had said two nights ago.
"Aah!" Fran slowly looked down, as if just noticing the alarm that was loud enough to wake the dead. He unclipped it from his neck and looked at the still beeping skull, raising it in both hands and directing it in the direction of the only teenage male of the trio. "Joou-neesama, we have our first target."
The second year looked at Fran in dread, trying really hard not to look anywhere near Hibari. "You mean…"
"Yes. Aren't you glad we found one so quickly?"
Kiko's face slacked. She walked the few steps to the start of the wall that surrounded the middle school, the side farther away from Hibari, and squatted down, rummaging through her school briefcase. Finding a notebook and pen, she started scribbling.
Fran blinked at his buddy's curious actions and walked toward the girl. He stretched a little to peek over her shoulder the same time he asked, "What are you doing, Joou-neesama?"
"I'm writing my will; I'm going to give all my galges to Katsuragi Keima and the rest of my stuff to Izumi Konata. I'm requesting my TokiMemo Girl's Side games and Mizushima Iku poster to be cremated with me and that I'd prefer a closed casket wake since I doubt they can hide stitches around the neck," Kiko replied calmly.
Next Chapter – What's with the boss-level first target? It's like totally reversed! … The Insurmountable First Target.
End Notes: I'll try to keep the references to a minimum (and toward relatively popular titles) and I'll try to stick to minimum Japanese jokes. Minor edit- I changed Dokrow Skull's gender to female in compliance with the latest TWGoK chapters. Oh, and I have a pic of chibi-Fran up in my blog.
Keima=Gamer. Therefore, I named her Kiko (Geek). I made Kiko related to Hana so it'd be easy to make Hana more of a main character than in the manga/anime.
Quick reference: Weiss, kaketama, and Runaway Spirits are all referring to the same thing. Otome games are geared toward girls. Galges are games with pretty girls in them and is a shortened form of bishoujo game. PFP is not a typo.
So, how is it? I managed to stick in a bunch of characters even though it was mainly an introductory chapter. Six targets have already been mentioned – can you guess who and if any of them are one of the Princes? A clue: two Princes have already "appeared". :D