Author's Pre-Chapter Notes: Hello! If you need to know anything about this story to start off with, it is that this story is a completely original story with made-up characters. This is kind of meant to be a oneshot, I do have plans beyond this, which is why it may end a little unfulfilling, but I wanted to get people's opinion about it. Usually these notes are concerning more or less about my responding to your reviews, usually saying thank you, and maybe even putting forth a little bit about the chapter itself. What I have to say about this chapter? Well, it's the first chapter. There are no reviews, obviously, because of it. This chapter was made with the first episode/manga chapter in mind so if it feels a little generic, I'm sorry. Anyways, instead of typing up excuses for myself, I should let you read the story.

Oh, and of course, the disclaimer: I do not own TWGOK. That's maybe a good thing for the series… :-) And please read and review! Phew! Almost forgot about that.

Flag 1.0: The Arrival of the Demon

Tap, tap, tap

The coming of spring also signaled the coming of school. Even though it was still chilly for some, the classes began, notebooks were opened, and the bombardment of knowledge began its annual course. At this time, school has been transpiring for about a month. Clubs were up and running and school was starting to become routine once again.

Tap, tap, tap

But, at this time, the students of Amekura Private High School were given a brief respite: lunch time. With that, the noise level rose and as desks and chairs moved and people began their walk out of the class labeled as Class 1-B, people huddled into their own little groups. Most of the students remaining in the class all had their own food, packed tightly into their bento boxes. But, the ones in their groups tended to have their own interests. Some turned their eyes to their magazines and manga as they ate. Others gossiped over their food, even about those in the room at that moment. And one-

Tap, tap, tap

-focused the gaze of his golden irises to the window outside. His bento already unwrapped on his desk; the young male was seemingly unfazed by the noise level and even of those around him. No one came to sit with him, nor did any of them call out any offers either. One could notice just by looking into the class that between every group huddled off in the classroom, there was also a small, invisible wall. Sure, the wall was permeable. To the male, his space was literally his own personal space. But, he did not flinch, nor did he hold a bated breath when lunch came around. He expected this; even better, he invited it.

Tap, tap, tap

The plastic chopsticks held between his long and lanky middle and index fingers methodically rapped against the desk as his eyes drifted back to his desk and his bento. Even though his stomach was not making noises underneath his red jacket and white dress shirt, he could feel how empty it was. 'If I eat this fast enough, maybe I could go to the computer lab,' he reasoned before he picked up a gob of rice and placed it into his mouth.

Some time passed and the male was now walking out down the hallway. He ran his right hand through his messy, jet black hair before he put it into his pocket. His name was Naoto Fujimoto. As he strolled down the corridor, he could hear the people talking to each other. Unlike some, Naoto was not the kind of person who would draw attention for any reason. He was not the most athletic, nor the most intelligent. He was not even the most eccentric or the least cooperative. Really, he had no real outstanding quality about himself. But, that was fine. He would go to college, become a standard company worker, and have a relatively normal family life. He could settle for a life track similar to that.

The computer lab was a relatively quiet place during lunch. Not many people came there and many of the ones who did mostly kept to themselves. As Naoto entered the room, he took a look around to see black screens and a person sitting a desk near the furthest wall. He was a stern –looking male. His face was beginning to wrinkle and his hair, beginning to gray with small strokes of gray lying amongst his mat of black hair. Said person looked up to Naoto, a quick acknowledgement with a pair of fierce eyes that almost gives Naoto cause for alarm, before directing his attention back to what he was doing, whatever that was.

What Naoto did in the computer lab depended on the day. Some days, he would just simply look at his email, which usually included some online sales and some junk mail. Other days, he would let his hair down, to say, and play some online video games. It started out as the same old day… So, when he saw that there was a new email in his inbox, he decided to humor it and clicked on it.

Naoto's POV

Dear AkanoExorcist666,

You look like the kind of person who would want some kind of excitement in your life. Don't mind me if you don't… But, on the off chance that you do, I have some excitement for you.

Below lie a red button that has the word 'reply' in large, white letters on it. I cannot help but wonder what kind of person would send such a strange mail message. On the other hand, though, I cannot help but also feel a little bit insulted and provoked. After all, the second sentence makes it sound like even this person thinks full well that my life is boring. 'It's just a junk email…' I tried to comfort myself. But, I beg the question: how did this person find my email in the first place? I don't distribute my email all over the place, so how did this private person find my email?

'What's the harm?'

Of course, there is always the nagging feeling to just click on the red button.

'The worst that happens is that maybe I click on it and it goes to an 18+ dating site. And… whatever was seen between the two of us-'

I cast a glance over to the person at the desk who still seems to be preoccupied with something on his computer screen.

'-stays between the two of us. I would just need to explain myself is all.'

At this moment, the teacher gets up from his seat and my mouse drifts to the red button. 'Even better, if I do it now, then I'll have enough time to gauge it before deciding if I should close it or not,' I reason. My right index finger quickly pressed down on the mouse button. Quickly, a new window pops up, obstructing the screen that my email was on.

And what would appear?

A white screen.

"Really?" I ask rhetorically. I close the window and promptly click the 'delete' button at the top of the email. "That email was just a-" All of a sudden, I forgot what I was even aiming to do with that email. I had already listed it as junk mail, too…

Regardless, though, lunch is about to end. So, I should get going.

Meanwhile, in the sky, the clouds began to blacken. It was definitely something that did not go unnoticed to the students throughout the whole school. However, what happened next was even more startling. A streak of purple shot through the sky and hit the roof of the school. To those who were on the roof- which, was no one- they would see that out of the weird streak of light, emerged a female with short, strawberry blonde hair. The clouds were starting to dissipate and as the light shone down on her, the scene almost looked as if an angel had descended.

How ironic.

She scanned the rooftop, looking for traces of anyone, before she looked to a purple cloth-like object that was resting on her shoulders. She removes if from her shoulders, takes a hold of it with both of her hands before she pulls on both sides. Soon, letters began to appear on the cloth itself and the cloth itself began to harden to the point where it looked like a screen. The female tilted the object so it was vertical to her person and held it out in front of herself, like she was reading a piece of literature.

"Naoto Fujimoto, Age Fifteen. Amekura High School, Class 1-B," she rambled as she took one of her fingers off of the back of the screen and slid her finger across it. As soon as she did this, new information appeared on the screen. "Of course I landed in the wrong place," she chastised herself before she sighed. 'It's pretty quiet here… But, it seems as if it is only noonish. School must still be going on, so I should wait until they let out.' With that, she plopped her butt on the tiles and looked up to the sky. "My previous experience probably won't apply here, huh?" She put on a small smile. 'At least I'm finally out of there…'

Riiiiiiiinngg!

The school day had been brought to a close and after saying goodbye to the last teacher of the day, the students began packing up in a fuss. Naoto, on the other hand, reached into his pocket and took out a red cell phone. He flipped it open and a picture of a skyscraper from the ground could be seen. But, more importantly, a new notification was nowhere to be found. 'Looks like Mom has Taiki under control,' he assured himself before he picked up his schoolbag and began his stroll towards the stairs. 'Maybe I should head to soccer practice today-'

However, before he had a chance for him to finish his thought, he saw a door swing open wildly to his left behind him and a pair of arms wrapped around his left arm. Before he could even say anything in protest, he was tugged into the door and the door slammed shut. Now, all of a sudden, he was crammed into a small dark place that emanated the smell of cleaning supplies. 'I was just dragged into the janitor's closet, wasn't I?' He would try to open the door, but he could see through the small light that permeated from underneath the door that the hand of whoever was in there with him was still there. Naoto did notice, though, that the hand's fingernails were short, but also painted purple. 'Did I just get dragged in here by a girl?' Regardless how advantageous this kind of development was- and Naoto knew that this was at least an interesting development; he was still crammed in a small space with someone that he did not know. He began to rummage around the area with his hands, looking for some kind of light switch.

"So, just to check, your name is Naoto Fujimoto. Nao for honesty and To for ascend, right? I've been waiting for you." asked the other person. The voice was definitely a female; Naoto could tell that. Apparently, she did not notice his searching for a light, however, as she did not even make a move to stop him. He soon felt a wall switch before he looked back at the shrouded female.

"Yes, and who are you to ask?" Naoto asks before he abruptly switches the light on to see his captor, of sorts. It was a female with stunning purple eyes and short, messy strawberry blonde hair. She was dressed in a red dress that stretched down to her lower thighs that stuck loosely to her slim and athletic figure. One thing that drew his attention, though, was the skull accessory in her hair. 'That kind of reminds me of an anime that Taiki wanted to watch… Tengu- Wait, that's not right. Tengen? Tengen Toppa? I think that was part of the title… Although it is kind of different…' The next thing that he noticed was the weird scarf-like object draped over her shoulders. 'Is it transparent or something like that?'

"My name is Charmaine. I'm here about the contract you signed earlier," the female explained.

"Contract?" Naoto immediately responded before he began to think about it. His eyes widened as he reached an epiphany. 'That troll of an email?'

"Yes, so you will be my spirit hunting buddy," Charmaine continued. Now, Naoto is particularly confused. Charmaine soon turned the knob and opened the door. "Follow me. I've already sensed one, so we'll need to be a little quick with the introductions." Naoto was so confused that he was now dumbstruck. But, he decided to follow if not for any other reason; he was interested about the contract itself.

"Anyways, now that I've found you, Naoto, we can get to the specifics of the contract," Charmaine explained as she sat down at one of the desks. She used her hand to beckon Naoto to come over, which he did with much reluctance. Once he pulled the chair over to the desk, he sat down opposite of Charmaine and looked directly into her eyes, observing her amethyst-colored irises to let her know that he had her full attention for the time being. "So, let me start… My name is Charmaine de Luce Sonorum. Some people call me 'Char.'" Naoto chuckled a little to himself as he heard the nickname and Charmaine soon realized that even he understood the joke. However, he did wonder where exactly this female must have come from in order for her to have such a foreign name. "I am a demon from Hell."

The laughter promptly stopped. Well, that sure explained quite a bit.

'This must be some kind of hidden camera joke,' Naoto assumed as he laughed nervously. 'Either that or this woman is nuts!' Naoto quickly got up from his seat and began to move towards the sliding doors to the classroom. "Anyways, it was nice meeting you, Ms. Demon. I need to head out and do… stuff." He nodded a couple of times in agreement with himself as he spun on his heel to take his gaze away from her. Once he has turned away from the girl, he presses both palms of his hands together. 'May our paths never cross again,' he hoped.

"Of course, I sound crazy saying this. But, it might be nice to let you know… A broken contract is not an easy matter to resolve," Charmaine warned.

Naoto was now intrigued. Charmaine almost sounded serious about what she was saying. He thought he at least earned her the right to hear her out. "What do you mean by that?" he inquired, his body now turned in her direction with his hand rested on the sliding door.

"What's on your neck is what I mean," Charmaine retorted.

Naoto's POV

What does she mean my neck? I don't wear any kind of necklace or anything like that… I reach towards my neck to feel something almost plastic-like wrapped around my neck. Weird… It wasn't there before. I proceed to try to pull off the foreign object, originally thinking that it is just plastic. It should be easy to remove. Or so I thought. Soon, my minute efforts turn into me trying to pull off the plastic ring with all of my strength. But, to no avail. It won't come off and the female I just met, Charmaine, looks at me expectantly. "What's with this?" I complain, "It's like I'm supposed to take out my neck in an attempt to take it off."

"Well, it wouldn't be so intimidating if you could take it off with minimal effort, right?" Charmaine asks rhetorically before she pointed to her neck, revealing that she has the same black ring around her neck. "Think of this as a mini-guillotine. If you break the contract then-"

My eyes widen as I connect the dots in my own head by myself. "You mean that if I break this contract, then I'll lose my head?"

"Bingo. Same to me, too."

"And who decided this?" I yell back, near hysterical.

"My boss," Charmaine nonchalantly replies. "It's more of an assurance than anything else."

"Your boss is crazy!" I exclaim, my hands still on the ring trying to pull it off of my neck.

"Well, I can't confirm nor deny that," she replies bashfully, her gaze diverting away for a moment. I honestly wonder how she could stay so calm during all of this. "Anyways, if you do your job, then your head won't go flying off. You want to know what it is?"

At this point, I have given up. If this method is the only way to ensure my life, then I will do it. I take my hands off of the plastic ring and looks towards Charmaine, waiting for her response. "Well, we are hunting after souls that have escaped from Hell. All you have to do is just hunt them down." Soon, the skull accessory on Charmaine's head begins to sound off. She looks towards the window and beckons me to come over once again. I sulk my way over to the window, still distraught about the situation that I have gotten myself in. "Look over there. To that girl," she instructs, pointing in the direction of a group of males heading towards the gym and out of the group, there is one girl: the one leading the group.

"If I remember correctly, that's Tomomi Hisono… She's the boys' basketball team manager and part of my cl-" I begin to ramble, not sure as to why Charmaine wanted me to pay attention to her. That is, until I see a weird smoke emit from her. No one around seems to notice it, but I can definitely see it. Even worse, it almost seems ghastly in appearance. "What's that?"

"Sign of an escaped spirit wandering into the gap in a girl's heart," Charmaine explains. I, however, am lost and it must have communicated very well on my face because Charmaine lets out a small sigh and begins explaining further. "When something is troubling a girl, a gap appears in her heart. That's what the escaped spirits take advantage of and hide in. Once they go in, there is a way to get them out. You have to fill that gap in their hearts. So, pretty much, the spirit just went into that girl's heart recently so you have to force it out."

"So, why don't you just do that?" I interject.

"If I could, don't you think that would be easier? But, I can't," Charmaine continues explaining. "In order to help the girl, you need to force it out with love!" My eyes widen. Wait, if I just heard properly, the girl just told him that I have to make a girl fall in love with me. Even better, that girl in particular? She has some not-so-secret admirers in our grade! I'll get killed if I even try!

"You're nuts. You're telling me to make her fall in love with me!" I yell. "Listen, okay? I'm kind of not really popular around here and I have no- let me repeat that- NO. ROMANTIC. EXPERIENCES!" I let out a small sigh. "The closest that I have to romantic relationships are playing galge, visual novels, and watching dramas with my mom."

Despite my outburst, however, Charmaine just stands there, blinking at me. Then, the dots begin to connect once again. "And even if that is true, it doesn't make my contract any more invalid, does it?" I ask, already bracing myself for the answer.

"Hit the nail on the head," Charmaine replies.

I sigh, "Kind of thought so." I look down to the ever-retreating basketball team. I should begin working… If anything, I need to make Tomomi notice me. I'll just start with that. As I begin to walk down to the gym with Charmaine not far behind, I begin to wonder: what kind of obstacles could they throw at me now?

After all, I have probably heard the worst of it already.

Flag 1.5: Love and Basketball

By the time that Naoto and Charmaine arrived at the door to the gym, the sounds of squeaking rubber and the basketball pounding against the ground could be heard from the outside. Charmaine had her attention turned once again to the cloth-like object that was now resting in her hands. Naoto eyed it as well, but could only raise an eyebrow before looking away from it. 'That is definitely a different language, alright.'

"Tomomi Hisono, age fifteen. Same class as you said," Charmaine recited, her eyes not leaving the screen. "Appearance above average, athletic ability above average, intelligence average…" Charmaine dragged her finger across the screen again. "Works as a boys' basketball manager… Played girls' middle school basketball. I wonder why she stopped…"

"I heard she got injured during last school year," Naoto interjected. "No idea what happened beyond that, though. It was bad, I heard. She couldn't even participate in the any of the tournaments last year."

"Any of them?" Charmaine asked before Naoto absentmindedly nodded. "That would mean that she probably got injured around the summer time… Must have been really bad." She then let go of the cloth-like object before she glanced over to Naoto. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Initiate contact," Naoto replied. "Like I said, I'm not very popular here. But, I'm also not very well-known here either. There is a good chance that she doesn't even know who I am. So what I can do is just find some kind of medium for me to get myself into her life."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to join the basketball club," Naoto declared.

Day 1

"So, with that, we have our newest member: Naoto Fujimoto," a middle-aged male explained. He was stout, with a bellowing voice that quickly took the attention of all who were present. His outfit consisted of a gray zip-up jacket and matching sweatpants. He wore a black sweatband on his forehead that rested just below the hairline for his straight, blonde hair. Around his neck was a whistle, as he was the coach of the team. "Introduce yourself, kid." He patted Naoto on the back and either because of Naoto's legs or his own strength, Naoto stumbled forward a step.

"Hello, I'm Naoto Fujimoto," Naoto greeted, his body underneath the white t-shirt and red shorts was twitching ever so slightly out of anxiety. "Please take good care of me." He bowed to the group of eight players.

"Good! Now, let's work on shooting individually!" the coach declared. Soon, the group dispersed to different sides of the gym, each near a basketball hoop.

It was only a half-hour after Naoto's conversation with Charmaine but, the situation called for immediate progression, not only for Naoto, himself, but also for the team. The team, from what Naoto heard, had a practice match soon with one of the better schools in their prefecture. This team, however, only comprised of eight players. Even though they could play with that amount, getting a ninth player was a success for them.

So much so that they never even asked how much he actually knew how to play basketball. All Naoto could do was sigh. He was satisfied with being able to get onto the team, but he would most likely make a fool of himself while trying to get Tomomi to like him. 'Speaking of her,' Naoto realized before he looked around the gym to catch any sight of her. 'Nothing, huh? Might as well begin practicing.' Naoto propelled the basketball towards the rim, but to no surprise to him, the ball bounced off the front of the rim and bounced back in his direction. Once gathering the ball, he shot it again. This time, it hit off the side and began bouncing away from him. Naoto jogged after it and after gathering it once again, tried once again. The ball then proceeded to bounce off of bottom part of the rim and hit the ground below it. Naoto sighed. 'I probably need to at least something consistent going before Hisono will even appear…'

"You're not keeping your balance when you shoot the ball," a female voice commented. Naoto blinked before he looked in the direction of the voice. "And your shooting motion isn't constant at all."

'Hisono,' Naoto thought, partially stunned that he had not noticed her beforehand.

Tomomi Hisono was a girl known for her smile and brown eyes. Even while she was criticizing Naoto's playing, she still had a smile on her face that let Naoto see her sparkling white, left canines. She pushed her short auburn hair behind her ear as she approached. "Listen up," Tomomi paused as her mind went deep into thought, "… Fujimoto-kun, right?" Naoto nodded in response. "The thing about a good shooting stroke is not that it looks pretty, or even that it looks correct, but it works." Tomomi's eyes look in the direction of the basketball before she looks to Naoto. "Try shooting it again. This time, just try to feel for the most comfortable motion. Don't care if it goes in or not. Even the best shooters can't get it all of the time."

Naoto took a deep breath before he took the basketball in his hands, jumped up, and pushed the ball towards the rim. The ball bounced off of the back of the rim and Naoto proceeded to jog after the ball. "And remember to always pursue the ball," Tomomi added. "Rebounds are important and if you can get rebounds for our team defensively, we will always be okay with you being on the court, even if you are just a point guard. We don't have many tall people on our team, so everyone has to make an effort on rebounding the ball."

'She sounds just like a coach!' Naoto thought as he caught the ball and proceeded to dribble the ball back to her. 'She must really love this sport…'

Soon, the whistle sounded. "Okay, we're going to have three-on-three for a little bit. Fujimoto, Tanaka, Sato! You three will be on one team!" the coach yelled.

"You should get going, Fujimoto-kun," Tomomi suggested, taking the basketball out of his hands before she began to walk away. "Remember, consistent stroke, consistent effort, and consistent focus."

Although Tomomi said that, however, Naoto was obviously having trouble. He still could not shoot well and although he was a moderately good passer, it was nothing amazing. He was able to grab some rebounds without much resistance, but really could not do much because everyone outside of his opponent had a few inches in height and wingspan to him, and was able to stay in front of his assignment more often than not. But, still: nothing impressive. Maybe it was luck, or because of the people around him… But, his team was still competing well and that was the good part about it. There were about twenty seconds left and the opponent had the ball. The teams were tied, and luckily for Naoto's team, there was enough time left on the clock to ensure that they had the last possession.

As the ball went up into the air with only about seven seconds left on the clock, Naoto, as well as the person he was guarding, began to scramble towards the basket. Once there, it became a matchup of physicality and Naoto, possibly because of his legs, was able to keep himself in position. The ball soon bounced off of the side of the rim and trajectory was obvious. So obvious, that he jumped into the air as soon as it took off into the air again. At the exact same time, his teammate's matchup jumped as well and inadvertently bumped into Naoto while in midair. Maybe it was luck, but Naoto's hands managed to touch the ball first and he was able to direct it towards his teammate that was nearby. His teammate reached up and grabbed the ball, as Naoto landed on the ground and immediately began sprinting down the court. "Here you go, Naoto!" he yelled before he hurled the ball in Naoto's direction, bouncing once in front of Naoto before he took control of it with his right hand and continued his sprint. He could see his matchup in his peripherals, but continued running regardless. 'This is my only chance to make some kind of impression,' he reminded himself.

To those, however, who were watching from the sidelines, it was readily obvious what was going on. 'Fast… And a good jumper as well,' Tomomi observed, 'He lacks the fundamentals… But, he's an above average athlete, no doubt about it.' As Naoto approaches the rim, he releases the ball with his right hand. The ball bounces off of the rim a couple of times, but what Tomomi was more concerned about was Naoto, who feels the impact of someone from behind him and stumbles forward and onto the gym floor. Even though it was not noticeable to those who were watching, Tomomi's eyes widened and her own legs began to shake.

Meanwhile, Naoto could feel his knee bang against the gym floor as he crashed against it. After a few moments of anticipation, the players who were just on the court begin moving in Naoto's direction. "Hey, Fujimoto, you okay?" a couple of the players asked.

Naoto sat up and rubbed his knee. It was aching and was stiff, but he could tell easily that there was no long-term damage done. "I'm fine," he replied as he got up from his sitting position to stand up.

"Watch them brakes," one of the players recommended as Naoto, embarrassed, rubbed the back of his head and laughed.

"Still, though, that was a good play," complimented the person who bumped into him. "Sorry about that. I thought that doing a hard foul would stop the play…" One of the players walked over and hit him on the head.

"Dude, this is practice. Do we really need hard fouls?" he scolded his contemporary. "Hey, Tomo-chan! Knock some sense into this guy, will you?"

Their gazes drifted to Tomomi, who soon snapped out of her thinking and put on a sinister smile on her face. "Okay, then!" she replied cheerfully. However, Naoto noticed it. The widened eyes, the parted lips… She liked basketball so much, so why would she ever watch a game with that kind of look on her face. 'Was she… worried about me?' Naoto wondered as the coach strolled over to the group.

"Nice job everyone and nice try there, Fujimoto, even if you did miss."

"Huh? I missed?" Naoto asked, looking over to the rest of the team.

"We said 'good play,' not 'good shot,'" one of the players replied before said player reached out his hand for Naoto to pick up.

It was now late and Naoto, being the newest recruit (as well as a first-year), had the outstanding privilege of putting the basketballs back into storage. As Naoto begins to push the tin cart towards the door to the storeroom, Charmaine drifted in from above and floated next to Naoto. Naoto, who was not paying attention to his surroundings, instinctively jumps away from Charmaine when she appears. 'I almost forgot about her! Wait, she can fly?' he mused, startled.

"You didn't really interact with her that much today," Charmaine commented.

"The most important thing is that I got my foot in the door. Now, she'll be used to me being in her life, even if it's just here. It's important to galge and visual novels," Naoto explains. "Even if I just failed all day…"

"I didn't ask you to succeed in basketball… Just in making her fall in love with you," Charmaine encouraged.

"If only that was easy…" Naoto sighed. As Charmaine drifted into the storeroom, Naoto paused for a moment before he noticed someone walking around out of the corner of his eye. 'Is there someone still here?' He looked over to notice auburn hair dressed in a red zip-able jacket, red sweatpants, and white sneakers. As that was the same outfit as what Tomomi was wearing earlier, Naoto automatically assumes that it is Tomomi. But, she seemed to be engrossed in something at the moment. Her eyes were directed towards the nearest basketball hoop and her body stood still. Naoto blinked a couple of times before he silently flipped up the lid to the cage for all of the basketballs, took out a single basketball, and then closed it.

Although Charmaine was confused, she decided to stay quiet and watch. Naoto began to dribble the basketball, which grabbed Tomomi's attention almost instantly. She looked in his direction with a blank face that Naoto was surprised to see. "Fujimoto-kun," acknowledged the female, "almost done cleaning up?"

"Yeah, I wanted to at least get a few more shots in," Naoto lied, dribbling the basketball in Tomomi's direction. "My shot is really erratic, and the practice match is coming soon, so I want to get better as soon as possible."

"That is true. Your shot is really erratic," she jabbed at him with a small smile on her face. As Naoto moved to take a shot once again, Tomomi's eyes quickly drifted to the knee that he had banged against the hardwood floor before. The shot bounced off the rim and as Naoto moved to get the ball, Tomomi's eyes stayed focused on the knee. "Is your knee okay?" she asked absentmindedly.

'So, she really is worried about my knee,' he affirmed as he grabbed the ball with both hands and looked in Tomomi's direction. "It's fine. A little stiff, a little sore… But, nothing to concern about."

"I see," she replied. "Then that's fine." The girl began to walk off.

'Although it wasn't intentional, I did manage to hit something. This could be my chance to get somewhere…' Naoto reasoned.

A. Suggest teaching him

B. Suggest walking home together

C. Do nothing

'I could do nothing…' Naoto pondered. 'But, this may be one of the only times where I can take advantage of the situation.'

"Would you like to play with me? I would like it if you taught me some more," Naoto asked. In the back of his head, he was almost rejoicing. 'Maybe I could possibly get some alone time with her even beyond today, if this works.'

"I can't really play. My knee's in a brace," Tomomi replied. All Naoto could do is hang his head, although he did notice that she mentioned that her 'knee' is in a brace.

'No wonder she seemed to be so shaken by it,' he reasoned.

"But, I can tutor you," Tomomi replied. Naoto looks to Tomomi, who has a devilish smirk in his direction. "Better warn you, though, you have a lot to work on."

Naoto could feel a chill down his spine. All he could do, though, is just nod. "Please take good care of me," he cautiously stated.

Day 2

It was the end of practice for his second day and Charmaine, appearing once again beside him, accompanied Naoto to the storeroom.

"So, according to what I've gathered to this point, she seems to have fear of getting injured. As in other words, we have almost nothing," Naoto explained.

"Well, we still have some time. We don't need to solve all of her problems, either," Charmaine replied.

"The thing is, though, if her gap in her heart comes from her not being able to play basketball because of injury, then we can't do anything," Naoto sighed. "And you said before that it went into her recently, right?"

"Yeah, it did, based on our logs," Charmaine noted.

"So, why did the gap appear just recently?" Naoto asked to no one in particular, "You would think that she would have gotten the gap at any given moment during the last year of middle school." Naoto leaves the basketballs in the storeroom as he proceeds to step out of the room with Charmaine walking alongside him.

"Not going to train with her tonight?" Charmaine asked.

"Please don't remind me," Naoto replied with a deadpan expression. "I'm still aching from the last one." As Naoto continues walking across the court, he notices the same auburn-haired girl from before, aka Tomomi, dribbling a basketball. 'Did I forget about one?' he wondered before he opened his mouth to say something. However, before he could get a chance to, Tomomi threw the ball towards the backboard and ran towards the basket. As soon as she got within range, she jumped into the air, caught the ball as it rebounded off of the backboard, and lightly tapped it towards the hoop. The ball went in, as well, but Naoto did not care. What he just saw was in direct contradiction with what he previously believed. "Well, that was definitely different," he spoke before Tomomi looked back at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but Naoto beat her to it. "So, you're not injured anymore."

And awkward moment filled the air. But, Naoto knew one thing: if anyone was going to make a move, it was going to be Tomomi.

All that Tomomi could do at that point is pick up the basketball, as well as a brace that was resting near the basketball hoop and began running away from Naoto, towards the female dressing room. As soon as Tomomi disappeared from sight, Charmaine floated over to Naoto. "Well, that was a surprise," she commented. "I wonder what she would be hiding behind an injury for…?"

Meanwhile, Naoto closes his eyes and puts his right index finger to his forehead. 'Injury, fear, playing…' he began to wonder. What could the reason be that the route has worked out like this? His eyes soon snap open and his mouth begins to hang. It soon curved into a smile. "It looks like all the pieces have lined up now. The path to the finish is clear!" Naoto spun on his heel and began to walk away. "I'll confess tomorrow."

Charmaine was not sure what had come over Naoto, but seeing the amount of confidence that he had, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "Fine. Do you need my help at all?" she asked.

"Yes, actually, I do."

Day 3

"So," began Charmaine softly, "how long do we have to be crammed under my hagoromo for?"

That day's practice was commencing and although Naoto was there, he was hiding underneath Charmaine's purple cloth. As a result, no one could see him or Charmaine and most of the people on the team wondered where exactly Naoto could have gone off to. However, Tomomi, despite the usual smile on her face, was lacking in energy. Naoto did not need to wonder why, but everyone on the team did. Hearing Charmaine's question, Naoto looked over to her.

"Until the club is over. I need to create a false sense of security to make Hisono-san feel confident about going to the basketball court," Naoto explained, "If I go in there today, then she'll think that I'm going to confront her and she won't stay."

"Is it very important that you confess to her here, though?" Charmaine interrogated further.

"If I confront her anywhere, then she'll be on guard. But, if I confront her here without her noticing me at first, this is the only place where I can startle her. That's because she feels at home here," Naoto explained. "This is the only place that I know of has that and is easy for me to get to."

"Hm… For someone who wasn't confident to begin with, you sure seem to have a plan now," Charmaine lightly jabs.

"Honestly, I don't even know how I formulated this strategy…" he muttered to himself before he felt Charmaine shift a little bit beside him. "Hey, don't take the covers." Naoto began to shift as well.

"Well, it would be less of a problem if they found you then if they found me." Charmaine began to shift further until she had her body up against Naoto's.

"Hey, haven't you ever heard of 'personal space?'" he asked rhetorically as he felt the blood rush to his face.

Tomomi's POV

Practice usually goes quickly, but for some kind of reason, my heart wasn't in it today. I wouldn't say that the absence of Fujimoto-kun completely rid me of my confidence, but he did see me yesterday… All I can do is sigh. Why didn't I say anything to him? It's not like running off did anything to erase his memory or explain myself! But, I would have looked weird, I'm sure of it, spilling out my hidden thoughts to someone who I had just noticed the day previous. I know he was in class today, and we even left around the same time… So, he must have decided to not come here. It probably would have been awkward for him too. I mean, he doesn't look like the type who would spill something like that. But, it still would have been on his mind and he probably would have confronted me about it.

Anyways, today's practice has ended and because Fujimoto-kun isn't here, I decided that I would pick up after everyone. That way, everyone can leave and I can play for a little while. As I collect the basketballs, the players approach me with goodbyes, as well as the coach himself. I will admit, though, that I feel almost… empty about it. I enjoy being their manager and helping coach and being part of the intricacies of it, but I wish I was out there playing. Well, of course I can do it now physically! But, I just can't do it… Whenever my feet leave the ground, I feel fear now. How can I play like this? But, is it enough reason for me to not even mention that I'm better? Everyone expects me to play basketball… So, how would I explain to them that I'm too afraid to take the court?

After I pick up the last of the basketballs, I wheel the cart over to the rim and stare up at it for a moment. Well, a couple of shots wouldn't hurt… I flip over the lid to the cart and proceed to take a ball from the cart-

"Do you want to play basketball? I could play with you," Naoto asked, getting his body out from under hagoromo. He could hear Charmaine whisper 'Good luck' as he proceeded towards Tomomi, who was looking at him with dilated pupils. "You shouldn't look at me like that… I'm not going to do anything."

'I'm not ready for this,' Tomomi affirmed to herself as she bit her mouth. She managed to curve her mouth to a smile. "Well, you're sure late, Fujimoto-kun. Did something hap-?"

"I wanted to see you and only you," Naoto interjected. All that Tomomi could do was feel the blood rush to her face and Naoto could notice it, even from his distance. "I'm not going to tell anyone about this."

"I know," Tomomi replied softly.

"But, I want to know why," he added. "No, I don't want to know the reasons why you won't play. But why you won't face it?"

"I am facing it!" Tomomi exclaimed. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"You're just running away, hiding behind the injury."

"No, I'm not! I- I'm doing this for my own good!"

"Even though it's tearing you up inside?" Naoto asked.

"If I told everyone, then they would push me to play basketball again! I don't want to be pushed into it!" Tomomi hung her head and looked down to her knee. "I am-"

"No one's ever told you that, though, have they?" Naoto asked softly, with Tomomi snapping her gaze back to him. "The reason why you're afraid is because you're worried that you'll go back into it too early. I bet your doctor told you that people who dislocate their knees are prone to having it happen again." Naoto could notice that Tomomi's casted down towards the gym floor in shame.

"It came up… During our rehab sessions," Tomomi began speaking softly. "It hurt, really… when my knee literally broke on me. Everything in it was injured. I think that part of me wanted to forget about it… But, now, it's hard for me to even trust my own knees anymore. I just remember that time and I- I- I freeze when I'm out there." Tomomi's eyes began to tear up and Naoto began walking towards her again, a little bit astonished to notice at the sight that the bright and happy Tomomi was reduced to.

"Why can't it shake from my head? I've worked so hard to get myself here, and yet the fear is just taking it all away," she cried.

"It's hard. But, wouldn't telling everyone be better?" Naoto asked, trying to calm down Tomomi, "Because you see… playing basketball is what you want and you can wait for the fear to subside. But, fear can only be handled with time. But if you have people alongside you, then you can face the fear until it goes away. And I-"

Tomomi looked to Naoto to see him with hand over his mouth. Honestly, even thinking about saying the words did not equate to actually saying them. "I… can be there for you if you want," he suggested, the words partially muffled by his hand. Despite that, however, Tomomi could hear the words and blushed herself. However, soon, Tomomi broke out in laughter. 'Was it really that funny?' Naoto wondered as he began to feel a little glum.

The laughing, however, soon ceased as quickly as it started. "Honestly, I don't know if you can even handle ten percent of my troubles," Tomomi lightly jabbed, teary-eyed with a bright smile on her face.

"If you're willing to depend on me for ten percent, then I'll be there," Naoto replied, a smile growing on his face.

"I'd have to think about that." Tomomi slowly walked over to Naoto and looked eye-to-eye with him. "However… thank you." Naoto soon felt something warm on his lips. It took a moment, but he quickly realized that Tomomi's lips were on his own.

'A kiss?' Naoto was stunned, so much so that he didn't even make an effort to fight back and could only blush. Before he could close his eyes and enjoy the moment, however, he looked behind Tomomi to see the same ghastly being detach from Tomomi's body and began floating up into the air. 'It must be trying to escape! Where's-?' However, as Tomomi fell into Naoto's arms, apparently knocked out, Charmaine appeared above the ghastly being with a massive jar, almost the size of herself, in her hands. "You're going to capture it with a jar? Where did it come from any-?" Then, Naoto began to think about it and thought, 'Oh, magic cloth.'

"Just watch me," Charmaine replied, brimming with confidence. As the spirit saw the jar, it soon began to move away from it, but a wind was starting to pull it in. "Come on…" she muttered to herself as the spirit began to drag into the jar before she pulled up, towards the ceiling, which caused the spirit to go completely inside before she put a lid on it. With that, the jar began to shrink to a size that fit comfortably in one of Charmaine's hands. "Nice, first spirit captured."

All Naoto could do was just sigh. "What kind of world did you suck me into, demon?" he asked with a small smile on his face.

"Hm… I wonder," she replied with a small laugh.

Naoto's POV

It has been a few days after the capture. Literally, the day after the conquest, Hisono told all of the boys that she would be leaving to play with the girls. Rumor has it that the club was devastated, so devastated that they even forgot that they had lost their phantom ninth member as well on the same day. Hisono is apparently on the bench for the girls' team, but everyone seems to be in the loop about her worries. Meanwhile, well-

Naoto could feel something hit against his desk. He readjusted his desk before looking up to see who could have bumped into it. Noticing the auburn hair that he had grown to like over the course of the last week, he knew it was Tomomi. "Sorry, Fujimoto-kun," she said, with a small blush appearing on her face. That was a first. She did not even know his name before the conquest.

"No problem, Hisono-san," he replied with a smile creeping across his features. As Tomomi began to run off, Naoto looked back at her for a moment. 'Apparently, she doesn't even remember the events between the two of us… Well, it's probably better that way for me.' Naoto soon blinked a couple of times. 'Now that I think of it, what happened to her?' Naoto soon noticed that the teacher had entered the room and opened his notebook to get ready for class.

"Excuse me, class, I would like to introduce a new student," the teacher informed. As the student stepped inside, Naoto's jaw dropped as he mindlessly stared at said new student. "She is a transfer student from Europe. Please introduce yourself, Ms. Williams."

'C- Char?' Naoto managed to think as Charmaine's eyes drifted around the whole class before settling on him.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Charmaine Williams," Charmaine greeted, "I am a transfer student who is going to be living with Naoto-kun." All of a sudden, Naoto could feel the glares of all the males in the room focusing on him.

'Did she have to put us on first name basis, too?' Naoto trembled in his seat.

"Please take good care of me," Charmaine bowed and showed a half smile to the class.

And that was how the normal life that Naoto Fujimoto was okay with leading began to crumble…

Author Post-Chapter Notes:

So, that's it. So, in this part, I tend to just mention anything that may be going on, or maybe mentioning something that I may be writing in excess to the next chapter (if this does expand beyond a oneshot, mind you). Usually after the arcs for each of the girls, I do a little bit of an editorial on them, I guess. So, for Tomo-chan:

Tomomi was really made to grab the essence of Ayumi all over again at least on the surface. Tomomi's struggle had everything to do with her injury and the mental repercussions that could come from having a devastating injury like that. I was told, when I broke my ankle this past year, that part of the problem of getting to one-hundred percent again was regaining the confidence that you can do all of the things that you're told that you can do with the part. In that, her gap was actually multilayered: it wasn't the fear of getting injured again that was the problem, well it was, but it wasn't the gap. It was actually that her worry that the fear would interfere with her playing basketball again that caused the gap. That's why fixing her worry and not her fear forced out the spirit.

Personally, I really enjoyed writing her. Of course, people will probably say, "Well, of course you did, why wouldn't you be writing a fanfic if it wasn't for fun?" And I can understand where they're coming from. I just think that sometimes it's nice to emphasize that point so I can remember it. I tend to be very critical about my work, especially anything that I've written that I've put up on the internet because I'm broadcasting it.

Anyways, enough about me. Please read and review! I really appreciate any kind of input, just as long as it is constructive (or it makes me feel better about my writing, admittedly). I will mention that if this fanfic continues, there will be an omake for Tomomi either after the third chapter or the fourth chapter.