Oh God, here we go again...

Welcome to my new story, being my fourth long-runner, and the fifth for this fandom... if only I could be like Xellos and write one at a time, without disappearing for three bloody months.

Well, whatever... while I take my time updating my other stories, I'll share this one, which has about 7 chapters worth of content, and I work on it every few days, because it's more light-hearted than my other stories (excluding Damn that Guy), and the link to canon is a lot weaker.

Storyline wise, it's pretty simple... shit happens, and Keima gets roped into a bet with Chihiro, where they both have to woo a person of the other sex into dating them...

But you must be wondering why I'd even bother... Keima has to woo girls all throughout the manga, so isn't this me just messing with the story?

Well, you're probably right... Keima still does the same stuff, but without the threat of losing his head... with the added threat of Chihiro messing up his hard work... and nobody losing their memories...

And of course, as what seems to be a prerequisite of my stories now, Chihiro and Keima share the stage, allowing for hilarious clashes, weird antics, and Chihiro's attempts at conquering guys, which will only go as bad as you can imagine that.

I love the whole romantic comedy "bet" premise, where the guy makes a bet with his friend to date some frumpy girl till he actually falls in love with her, and then her getting depressed when she finds out about the bet, then them finally getting together after some confession. Pretty standard romcom way to spend your youth, huh?

Then I just said "screw it", and flipped the entire premise over, leading to this monstrosity. Still, it's a story I'm proud of coming up with and writing, so I truly hope you guys like it as well.

Now, I hope you guys get on board with this one.

"I'm in love with you…" Chihiro said softly, her skin darkening a few shades. She quickly shoved the box of cookies in front of the confused boy to divert his attention from her face.

"Me?" he asked, surprised.

She nodded hastily.

"You… remember who I am, right?" he asked. It was perfectly reasonable question to ask, considering that he was the class nerd. Chihiro's eyes narrowed.

"I love you, Katsuragi!" she repeated again, this time more firmly and less hesitant, "will you accept me?"

Now, it would be understandable to think that the idiot author decided to spoil the climax of the story, but that is nowhere near the truth… the truth is that this is exactly how this story started… with one awkward confession.

How truthful this confession actually was is up for discussion, however.

Kosaka Chihiro, our heroine, is anything but one, being the epitome of normal. Heroines are either super-powered, or so motivated to get power that they'd work their butt off, of which Chihiro was neither. She was lazy as anything, and her dream of the future… well, she didn't have one…

Actually, that's a lie… Chihiro's only goal was to finally get that fairy tale ending Disney had taught her to expect… she was seventeen and hadn't even kissed a guy, for God sakes! How lame was that!?

Katsuragi Keima, on the receiving end of the confession, was also not your standard hero… while he was eccentric enough to not be considered normal, it was only his love of dating simulations that separated him from his more average classmates, like the girl who stood before him… He was a God of the gaming world, yet somehow, there was this very real girl before him, face dusted pink and fingers clamped hard over the little package she was trying to present to him. Who was she, even?

Needless to say, the pairing was odd… other than the matching hair and eyes, they had next to nothing in common… he conquered the 2D, while she animatedly gossiped about the 3D things he hated… while he stared avidly at a screen, she was flipping through magazines half-heartedly… while his pen glided over tests as if he was freakin' Kira, she chewed on the back of hers irritably, wondering how the hell he was so smart when he didn't even listen in class…

There's plenty more that could be said about their differences, but you get the gist, right? With two people so different, how could it be that she fell for him?

Simple… she hadn't…

'Then why is she confessing?' you ask… that answer is simple too. Chihiro just doesn't make sense.

It was about two weeks into the school year that Chihiro realised how sad she really was… no club activities… no social life (outside of her best friend, Ayumi, of course)… it wasn't as if she stayed home and studied either. It was around then that her book from two years previous appeared, and surely it had to be a sign.

To explain, the book was your average notebook until you opened it, revealing enough information about the male student body of Maijima Academy that it bordered on illegal. This was a book Chihiro had painstakingly worked on all through her third year of middle school after her mother kicked her out for returning as soon as school was over. Chihiro hated clubs, and studying was boring, so she just went with her only hobby at the time… admiring guys.

She had been very thorough while compiling this book… she took pictures… she constructed those web-like charts that those soccer games had (with her own categories, obviously), and even on a few days, she got into the filing room to see the school records on those boys, had she been missing anything… that, accompanied by her own surveillance, had left her with an insane amount of information that was all neatly written in that book.

As for where this book comes in here... well, Keima Katsuragi was on page 39. He had been good looking enough that she had researched him… though within her grade, he was the 19th hottest guy. He was, incidentally, the 35th guy she'd asked out since this trimester had begun, and the 18th boy in her grade, but that was only because Number 6 had transferred out after middle school…

Still, Chihiro was certain this was going to be different than those last thirty four attempts… she'd always aimed too high, in terms of standards. They were usually in clubs, and usually, pretty high up in their clubs. However, Katsuragi was different than them.

For one, both him and Chihiro were part of the go-home club… for another, he was pretty much disliked by the majority of the school for being married to his gaming console. There was no way he'd get anything better than her, which was why she was determined to hide the selfishness that was her intention.

"So Katsuragi…" she spoke softly, doing next to nothing to hide her blushing cheeks, "will you accept my feelings?"

He watched her, one eyebrow hiked to the cloudy sky. He figured it wasn't worth his time, by the fact that he turned back to his PFP, swinging his body around so he was walking to the roof entrance.

"O-Katsuragi…" she slipped, nearly calling him by his mocking nickname, "can't you give me an answer, at least?"

"I think my answer is fairly clear," he replied, not even stopping in his path. Chihiro grabbed his shoulder, sending a shiver through him.

"Don't touch me!" he hissed, but her hand only closed harder on his maroon school jacket.

"You won't even give me a chance?" she asked angrily, her arms crossing, "I would have accepted a no, but walking without a word is plain rude."

"You already proved my point," he spat, his body strung too tight to throw her hand off, "I know this is a trap and you're lying…"

Chihiro was a bit too panicked to be impressed at his deduction. Her chance at any relationship was shrinking with every second, and she needed to restore it.

"Why would I joke about something like this?" she asked seriously, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"This is the problem with you Reals… you hate me, and just want to humiliate me…" Chihiro scoffed.

"I'm not that petty…" she growled, "I told you I like you, and you just brush it off like some sick joke…"

Chihiro didn't know why she was so worked up about his (very true) accusation, but she could feel her blood boiling. He just looked down on her pissed expression with calm eyes.

"Really then… so you really like me?"

"Yeah," she nodded briskly.

"Really, what do you like about me then?"

That question threw Chihiro off enough that she unhanded him. She hadn't thought of anything to say there at all. Keima smirked, wiping his console's screen.

"Nothing, huh?" he started pressing buttons again, just about ending the conversation, "without proof, your argument completely falls… now, if you'll excuse m-"

"You want proof…" Chihiro spoke softly, her mouth working without consulting with her brain, which was just telling her to quit.

"You have no-," Keima shrugged. He was about to turn away when a hand curled around his neck scarf and brought his head down a few inches. His eyes widened as his classmate's face came close.

He was powerless as she roughly pressed her lips on his, the pressure transferring to his front teeth in a nearly painful way. Luckily, it was brief, and her head pulled back, her eyes snapping open, revealing still narrowed eyes.

In less than a second, her pupils grew slightly bigger, and the colour in her face drained. Her hand drifted toward her slightly opened mouth before she stopped herself, her brain finally catching up with her body. She gave him a look for a moment before yelling, rubbing her mouth madly with the back of her hand.

"Ewewewewewewewew!" she exclaimed, now using her flowery sleeve of her winter shirt to wipe her tainted mouth.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Keima yelled as well, nearly dropping his PFP in his slackening grip, "not only was I right, but you are an idiot!"

"I didn't think, okay!" she yelled, her cheeks now darkening, "I can't believe that's how my first kiss went!"

"It's your fault, you know!" he pointed out, and she looked at him angrily, the start of tears forming at the corner of her eyes, "and that was mines as well…"

Chihiro's angry face fell a little bit in surprise before she figured that it made sense… he was Otamega, dammit!

"I want a redo!" she shouted, "that was an utter disappointment…"

"You want to do that again?" He asked, his hand hurriedly covering his mouth.

"Not with you, Idiot!" her face turned pinker, but she didn't look away, "maybe you can't get anything better, but I sure can."

Keima took a millisecond to absorb the insult. His face darkened as well, but this time, due to anger.

"Look who's talking!" he hissed, "you're the one who asked me out! You must be hella desperate if you thought kissing me was a good idea!"

Chihiro fell back for a moment before realising she wasn't standing her ground.

"I told you that I didn't mean to do it!" she hissed back, "you may as well remember it, because that will be the only one you'll get while you keep acting like Otamega!" her folded arms suddenly fell slack… she hadn't thought of that as a solution.

Yeah, she'd just forget this… it was a foul anyway, so what's the point of remembering?

She was in the process to leave the school roof and find some brain bleach, his voice interrupted again, as irritated as before.

"Take it back!" Keima screamed, the girl turned around, but continued walking backwards.

"Oh trust me, I already have!" she pulled a disgusted face.

"No, you acknowledge that you aren't the only girl I could get…" she stopped moving at the serious look on his face.

"That's what bothers you?" she asked, one eyebrow arched, "I'm not taking it back, because I'm right."

"No you're not…" he scowled, "12067 girls want me…" Chihiro's eyes widened, before his next words came, "in games, of course…"

Chihiro couldn't help it… her laughter came out more raucously than she intended, but she regretted nothing.

"By that logic, Yuya Matsushita and Mitsuo Tachibana must be in love with me, because of the fervid gazes they send my way every week…."

Her barely contained laughter overflowed again, and she was bent in half from laughing too hard.

"Those situations are nothing alike!" Keima shouted, "even if we're talking about the real, I know I can do a better job than you with regards to romance."

"Really?" Chihiro paused, her face becoming serious again, "that's a bold statement you make… are you willing to put your money where your mouth is, Mr I-have-five-million-girlfriends…" her poker face quivered, "…in games!"

She then lost it again.

So there you have it... Chapter One of Overboard.

Hopefully, it lived up to its name, being a ridiculous, over-the-top, near incomprehensible start to a romantic comedy.

So thank you for reading this tripe. If you have anything to say, please send a review. I'll probably do a review reply section like how I do in Down Memory Train.

Hopefully, I'll post up the new chapter on Monday or Tuesday.