Secrets of the Goddess

Chapter 2

Katsuragi, it had to be him. I did not know anyone in the class that had a voice that was in any way as enchanting as his. I wanted to stay longer to hear Mio's reason for living in the decayed apartment complex, and to find out why Katsuragi was talking to people. I felt guilty though. I knew that it was none of my business to know what was wrong with Mio and Katsuragi. I turned the corner and saw Elsie, the girl who was… flying the day before. She was holding the same jar, but it seemed to be empty. Her head slowly started turning towards me, so I made a run for it. I sprinted home and locked myself in my room.

There were so many questions yet to be answered, so many mysteries waiting to be solved! I wanted to go back and find out what was wrong with Mio and why Katsuragi started flirting all of a sudden, and I had never felt such an urge before. All I had ever felt was determination to defeat the boys in my games. With this new feeling, I felt invincible. My life was about to begin, and not because the handsome prince was about to save me from my tower, but because I was willing to jump from the top floor.

I had to talk to Katsuragi, even if it meant I had to get him by force. I came to school prepared with a dangerous weapon in my pocket: a camera. I strode to school, brimming with determination, but at the same time, felt very awkward. Since the camera was in my skirt pocket, where I would normally keep my PFP, I had to leave it at my house. My fingers flipped the camera back and forth as I scanned my surroundings for any signs of Katsuragi. Of course, it did not take a long time for me to find one. And it was a big one.

Around the corner and across the street went Katsuragi pulling a carriage with his bike. In the carriage sat the posh Mio, shooting looks of hatred and disgust out of her gleaming eyes at anyone who was staring. That was more suspicious than Katsuragi kissing Ayumi! I had to get to the bottom of it. I crept behind the carriage and listened in on their conversation. Mio said something about sandwiches, while Katsuragi continued pedaling without saying a word. Elsie was there as well, hiding in a bush, thinking that no one would notice her peeking through the greenery.

I was not getting any good information from listening to that brat babble. I slowly and stealthily slipped behind the bush. I crept towards Elsie to ask her why she was flying the other day, but as I got close to her, an old man stepped out of house and demanded, "Get out of my bush, or I will call the police!" Elsie and I quickly leaped out of the bush. That was the last that I saw of her that morning. I was thinking of asking her in class, but remembered that the class would be suspicious of both me and Elsie if we were seen talking to each other. I decided to try again with Ayumi and warn her that Katsuragi was cheating on her. I pulled her aside at the end of second period.

She had a look in her eye. The kind of look that you give someone instead of straight out saying, "Why are you touching me?" or the classic "Stranger danger!" I had gotten that look many times and knew exactly how to deal with it.

"Look, I normally do not talk to people like you, but I need to tell you something."

"What would that be? And make it quick, I have to go to a doctor's appointment."

"I will. Here we go…" I muttered under my breath. " Keima Katsuragi has been flirting with Mio and I thought you should know because you kissed him…"

Ayumi's face went blank for a second; confusion registering in her features. Suddenly, she burst into a fit of laughter. "You are hilarious! Me and Katsuragi… Ha! Like that's ever going to happen. Well, I better get going. Bye!"

"But…" I attempted to stay something, but embarrassment was clogging my vocal chords. I threw my hand at her in an attempt to earn her attention for at least another short moment, but was slightly off timing, too late. I had failed. Why was she not listening to me? I wished that I was invisible. That I could disappear whenever I wanted to as if I did not even exist. I could warn Ayumi using signals and mysterious messages. Most odds were against that though. I could not do anything to help her if she kept ignoring me, but I could help Mio before it was too late.

I shuffled home that evening, drowned in my thoughts, wondering why Katsuragi had suddenly become so social. I did not desire to waste my non-existent intelligence on the matter, since I had so many better things to do with my life… well, maybe I did not. I simply played games, hid in trees, and got abused by my grandmother. These events with Katsuragi were the only things making my life interesting. I conjured up ways to warn Mio without embarrassing myself.

Thankfully, I came up with a plan and was prepared to go through with it. It was sandwich day, and I knew that Mio would be buying more than half of them. I was going to sneak behind the booth, and slip a note into one of Mio's sandwiches saying "meet me on the roof at 3:00". To my surprise, she did not buy a sandwich. I thought that she might be running a little late, so I gave the note to one of the workers at the sandwich booth and asked him to give it to her. I crept up to the roof and climbed into a tree. Of course, I saw a familiar face.

Katsuragi, on a bench, watching Kanon Nakagawa, the biggest idol in Japan, sing. Seeing the two of them was a huge shocker. The way that Kanon looked at him as she sang gave me the feeling that she was extremely committed to impressing Katsuragi. That was very strange for someone with such high social status. I watched her serenade him as I thought about what he must have done in order to get a private concert from Kanon. I studied her: the direction she looked, the lyrics she sang, the way she was swaying back and forth, and then I discovered what Katsuragi had done. He had pulled off a classic way of getting the heroine in a dating simulator. He had discouraged Kanon so much that she wanted to show him what she was really capable of. If that was actually the case, then according to a typical dating sim case, Katsuragi was quite far from getting her to kiss him, and he would most likely be attending some concerts of hers in order to build the relationship.

I knew that I would have to go to Kanon's concert in order to see Katsuragi, so I bought one of her extremely expensive tickets and waited in a very long line behind some crazy fans for the doors of the auditorium to open. When I got in, the voice on the loud speaker announced that Kanon was having some delays and that the show would start later than expected. "Katsuragi must be with her," I thought to myself. As much as I wanted to investigate, I could not stand the noisy crowd. I took a step outside and sat on a bench by the street until the show began.

I saw a colorful wispy figure crawling around the auditorium wall. I could not tell what it was exactly, but judging by the pink, baby blue, and yellow coloring, I had a good idea of what, rather who it was.