Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai Very Gaiden

"I did invite you to have a drink, but don't think I trust you yet. You will have to show me you can be serious about me…and look at me at least!

"Huh?"

Keima looked up for a moment and his gaze met Chihiro's eyes for one second… two seconds… three seconds…until she gave up and turned her head, obviously embarrassed.

"Well, apparently you don't like it that much when I look at you. So I'll continue playing if you don't mind," Keima calmly explained. He had to finish the final route of Tokimeki Magical, this new PFP game where you could date cute magical girls. It also included cool 3D RPG battles as special events and you could gain love spells to strengthen your bond with the magical girl of your choice. A very nice game; a bit cliché perhaps, but Keima had to conquer all these girls anyway. Now that he was free of this collar around his neck, he was finally able to play all the games he wanted without having to worry about saving all the girls orbiting around him.

"T-That's embarrassing. Idiot." Chihiro shook her glass of iced tea in her hand and took a sip of it with the red straw she chose. It was obviously the best color. Keima was still impossible to read. He did seem to have a lot to deal with and she didn't really help him solve his problems with Ayumi and with the Goddesses. Actually, she wanted to get her revenge after the terrible way he rejected her. She kinda understood he had a good reason to do so, but she still remembers how much she cried after her first true love turned her down. She wanted to hate him, but one cannot manipulate one's feelings so easily. This is when she really understood this fact.

"Well, it's not because I'm playing a game that I cannot appreciate this date," Keima said. "I can do more than one thing at a time. Also I'm playing only one game, I only need 10% of my brain for this. You can have the rest."

Chihiro blushed just a bit more. "I never said this was a date. I just invited you to drink something. Don't think your dreams are reality." Chihiro looked around her a bit. It was just a perfectly normal family restaurant, with the average families around and a few students that stopped here to chat. Keima and Chihiro sat one in front of the other, a thin table as the only barrier between them. Maybe the other people of the restaurant thought the two of them were a couple? Well, they weren't a couple, right? Their current relationship was not clear, but at least they weren't a couple. The two parts have to agree mutually or it's just a one-sided love. And she didn't want to make Keima happy by agreeing to what he said when he came to her house. A declaration of love, just when she was about to go to school?! Talk about an embarrassing story!

"With all the flags that were triggered, this is obviously a date, Chihiro. No need to hide it." Keima had to choose whether he would follow Kuki the magical girl to fight the evil witch or if he had to stay behind and pray for her success. It was so obvious that Kuki wanted him to come with her. No hesitation for the God of Conquest.

"Well, even if it were a date, you're not doing anything very date-like. I mean, I've never been on a date before, but I'm pretty sure the guy is not supposed to act like this." Well, Keima was special for sure, but still. He cannot say 'I love you' one day and ignore her the next day. But he was not really ignoring her, right?

"Drinking tea together is already a good start, no? I could compliment you on your outfit, but you're wearing your school uniform. Please make an effort and give me flags that I can raise." Chihiro was starting to understand his gamer terminology, even if it was still extremely rude to be treated just like a girl from a video game. But still. She was the one he chose, right? Among cute and athletic girls like Ayumi, popular girls like the idol Kanon, mysterious girls, shy girls…the school had a lot of girls this guy interacted with, but he still chose a normal girl like her. Why?

"Hey, tell me Keima…why me?"

He stopped playing for a few seconds, looked at her and went back to his game. Finally, he explained. "Well…if you were a girl in a old-school dating simulator, I wouldn't know which stats to increase to make you fall for me." It was very subtle, but Chihiro could swear she saw Keima's face get just a little redder. Even he could get embarrassed after all. She didn't understand his compliment though. If it was a compliment. But if it wasn't a compliment, he wouldn't be blushing. Yeah, it definitely was one. She wouldn't thank him for it though. This still didn't look like a date at all. She answered a small "if you say so…", but Keima was apparently waiting for her to react. He didn't stop playing though. "You don't understand what I mean, right? You know, in games, girls act according to a predetermined set of commands. If the game is well-written, the gamer can understand the logic behind their actions and make decisions based on his interactions with the target of his conquest." Chihiro thought she understood a bit. "So I'm not well-written, is that what you mean? You can try harder with the compliments." Keima laughed a bit and continued. "No, you're wrong. Real life is a terrible game for sure. Sometimes you want to raise a flag, but you don't have the item you need. This wouldn't happen in games. But even in real life, most girls still follow easy-to-predict patterns, that's why I managed to capture the hearts of so many girls." Chihiro learned a lot about what he did to capture hearts and still felt a bit uneasy about it. "Stop talking like a playboy. It doesn't suit you." Keima's glasses were already correctly placed, but he still felt the need to touch them. "What I mean is that the game world has almost only advantages over the real world, so if the girls act the same in both, I would prefer the game world. If the way a girl acts in a game doesn't make sense, this is only because the game is badly written, but if this is the case in real life, it probably means the girl is…interesting."

Chihiro was speechless. He was really, seriously comparing girls – real ones – with characters from some games. That was very rude. But if she understood correctly, he meant he found her more interesting than any girl – virtual or real. That was a very weird compliment, but coming from him, she knew it was a very strong one. Did he really like her that much? He was not trying to conquer her again for some reason, right? "How can you prove to me you're sincere? Are you not just playing with my feelings a second time?"

On Keima's PFP, the climax of Kuki's route was taking place. How could a girl with such a tragic past be so incredible? That scene when she finally remembers the truth about her mother and why she was fighting all these years. A tear almost fell on Keima's cheek, but he felt Chihiro wouldn't react nicely if he was showing more emotion to the game scene than to their actual date – even if she didn't want him to call it a date. "I'm sorry. I have no way to prove it yet. I hope you will trust me after some time. In the meantime, I can give you… this." He leaned forwards and gave a small kiss on Chihiro's cheek. The girl became instantly red. Maybe even redder than when she received a kiss on the lips…just before he rejected her. Damn, she hated him and loved him. She didn't know what to do.

"I-I guess I can give you just one last chance then. Don't waste it, you won't get another one!"

And finally it was done! Kuki's route was over and the game completed. Chihiro's third conquest – the last and true route – was also on a good way apparently. Keima wouldn't quit video games any time soon, but he felt he didn't want to quit Chihiro's route either. Maybe she's the best heroine I was looking for, he thought.