Foreword: Thanks to Earl for the review. Also, thanks to all who followed and favorited.

The World Aphrodite Only Knows

Chapter 2

Aphrodite Loves Games? A Competition for the God of Conquest!

Chihiro arrived home. She was thinking about the day's events. I can't believe all those girls like Katsuragi, she thought. And those Goddesses! It was a lot to take in, but Chihiro understood everything now. The goddesses had explained everything in detail.

"Chihiro! There you are! Start packing your suitcase! I just won a trip to Paris!" shouted Ayano, Chihiro's mother.

"Wait, really?" asked Chihiro. She walked into her mother's room. There were clothes everywhere, and Ayano was in the middle of the mess with her halfway-filled suitcase.

"Yup! We are leaving tonight and we'll be back in a week!" stated Ayano. She smiled at Chihiro, who grinned back. Paris. Who would have thought.

"What about Dad? Is he coming?" asked Chihiro.

"He has to work, the poor guy. Hahaha. It'll just be us! So start packing," said Ayano.

"Okay," said Chihiro. A trip to Paris would be awesome, but she felt conflicted. If she left, then Katsuragi would be at the mercy of all the goddesses. But she couldn't just not go. Her mom would be alone. And if she didn't go but then got rejected by Katsuragi, it would be horrible. Plus, the trip was only a week. Maybe she would just leave a note for Katsuragi or something.

Meanwhile,

Aphrodite grinned. "That should take care of Chihiro. Okay! On to the next targets!"

Keima smiled. All six games conquered in one hour. He glanced at the clock. It was already five in the morning.

I thought the goddesses would be more persistent, he thought. Keima had went to school the day before because he predicted that the goddesses would not be at school, but his house, because he would normally be playing his games in his room due to withdrawal from not venturing into the 2D world for ages. But, they were at school for some reason, and thanks to Haqua, he had evaded the goddesses at school. After school, he had expected that the goddesses would barge into the house, but they didn't. He was overjoyed, but confused at the passiveness of the goddesses. Well, the girls do have busy lives. And the goddesses may have wanted to barge in, but the girls may not have wanted to or may have been busy.

Keima replaced all the finished games with new ones. In any case, with the goddesses lurking around, Keima had limited time to play games. Hiding was not an option, for the goddesses would probably track him with their magic so it was only a matter of time before he had to face all of them. He needed to find Chihiro fast. If he could get the girls to stop wanting to pursue him, he would essentially stop the goddesses. Then he would have time to play his games and come up with some way to help the goddesses restore their powers.

Keima stretched, and then reentered the God of Conquest Mode.

Two hours later,

Keima stopped in front of Chihiro's house. He was finally going to confess his feelings to Chihiro. He walked up to the door. He knocked a few times, but there was no answer. Maybe Chihiro was already at school?

He pulled his PFP back out. It was going to be a long day.

Later,

Elsie and Tenri were walking to school together. Elsie was sad that Kami-ni-sama had already left for school. Being a replacement for Kanon-chan had kept her apart from him while he was searching for the goddesses, and she had been looking forward to walking with him.

"I'm going to kill Katsuragi," said Tenri.

What? Elsie looked at Tenri and realized that it was Diana speaking.

"What kind of brother doesn't walk to school with his sister?" grumbled Diana.

Elsie sighed. So most brothers walked their sisters to school on Earth…

"Oh, Elsie, did you do what I told you?" asked Diana.

Elsie nodded. "Hai! But I still don't understand why you wanted me to do that."

Diana smiled. "Good. Thanks. Tenri and I are indebted to you."

"You're welcome," said Elsie as she smiled. She wondered what indebted meant.

They continued walking down the street. Elsie wondered what Kami-ni-sama was doing. As they entered the school grounds, the soccer team ran by, talking and pushing each other around.

"Hey Elsie-chan!" said the team as they ran by.

"Hey! -" DORODORODORODORODORO!

Elsie and Tenri both jumped in alarm. Elsie turned off her skull communicator.

A runaway spirit?

Haqua yawned as she walked down the hallway to class. She wondered what would become of the Runaway Spirit Squad after all the runaway spirits were captured. Luckily, the goddesses had stopped the runaway spirits from seeping into Earth, and now the Runaway Spirit Squad had a finite number of spirits to clean up according to Nora, the new head district chief. Haqua felt a little bitter that Nora got most the credit, but she was happy because she had been reinstated as district chief.

Haqua smiled, and then bumped into some guy's back. Oops, she thought. She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings.

"Oh, sorry," said Haqua. The guy turned around.

"Hmm? Oh, you must be the new transfer student some of the guys were talking about. I'm Shiro. What's your name?" he asked with a smile. He was about a foot taller than Haqua. He had short brown hair and was wearing the soccer team's uniform, and he was very attractive.

Haqua suddenly felt a little shy.

"I'm Haqua," she said.

"Haqua… what a cool name! You -"

"Hey Shiro, stop flirting with the transfer student and get over here!" shouted a guy that was also wearing a soccer uniform.

Shiro laughed in embarrassment.

"Well, it looks like my friends have something important to discuss. I'll see you around." He smiled and then ran over to his friends.

DORODORODORODORODORO!

Haqua jumped in alarm.

A runaway spirit?

Later, at the start of lunch.

Keima was frustrated. Chihiro was in Paris! His plans were ruined! And Ayumi didn't even know when Chihiro was going to be back! The goddesses would for sure confronting him, so he decided to stay in class instead of going to the roof. That way he would have some time to reach a save point before being confronted by the goddesses.

Keima glanced up. Everyone was exiting the classroom to go get lunch. Finally, some real peace and quiet.

5 minutes later, Keima reached the save point.

"Sa-!"

A hand snatched the PFP away.

"Hey!" yelled Keima. He was so close to the save point! He glared at the perpetrator… It was Diana?

She stood there with an annoyed face. She waved the PFP in front of Keima's face.

"I'll give it back after -"

"Give it back!" yelled Keima as he launched himself at Diana. He reached to grab the PFP from her hand, which she held up over her head, and because he was flying at such a fast speed, he collided with her so that they fell down.

"Give me my -"

"Katsuragi!" yelled all the goddesses in shock.

Keima and Diana looked toward the door. The goddesses were glaring angrily at both of them. Elsie and Haqua were with the goddesses also. Keima realized he was on top of Diana.

"Katsura-!"

"Ehhhh?" shouted Elsie.

"K-Keima-c-cun?" stuttered Tenri. The halo above her head was gone. And that meant that Diana had retreated. Keima snatched the PFP from Tenri and sat up.

"Save!" he shouted in triumph. Hmph! Like Diana could win against the God of Conquest!…

Keima suddenly felt the hairs on his neck stick up. He felt a dark wave of emotions flowing from the direction of the door. Mercury closed the door of the classroom and blacked out the windows with a spell. Mars cracked her knuckles.

"Stupid Kami-ni-sama!"

"You call yourself Ayumi's husband!?"

"What an ugly -"

"Perverted -!"

"Six timing -"

"Criminal!"

The goddesses and Haqua surrounded Keima and started stomping on him.

"Girls, girls!" shouted a voice. The girls, who were stomping with all their might, stopped their attacks. They backed away from Keima who was lying on the ground in pain.

Uhh, I managed to save just in time! But what's with this flag?

Someone had saved him, but he had no idea who it was. He wanted to look, but the pain was to much…

The pain is gone?

Keima was suddenly cradled in someone's arms. The smell of really nice perfume hit Keima's nose.

"I'm so sorry. I gathered the goddesses here, and because of that you ended up hurt. Those goddesses are so immature."

Keima felt much better. As if he was being healed in this woman's embrace. He opened his bruised eyes.

She smiled down at him. Keima suddenly felt like he was floating on a pink cloud. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her eyes were… enchanting. He couldn't even describe them they were so amazing. He blushed and looked away.

"Hey! Get your hands off Katsura-"

The woman glared at Diana, who suddenly lost her voice. Diana grabbed her own throat in shock.

"Oh! How rude of me! I haven't introduced myself. Keima-cun, I am Aphrodite, the goddess of love!"

She pulled Keima onto his feet.

"Aphrodite?" asked Keima incredulously.

"Yes? That's me," said Aphrodite. Her voice was alluring and lovely. Keima suddenly wanted Aphrodite to talk more, just so he could hear her voice again. She smiled a winning smile that made Keima feel lightheaded. She faced all the goddesses.

"Everyone take a seat!"

The goddesses grumbled as they each took a seat.

"Haqua, you too," said Aphrodite.

Haqua looked like she was going to say something, but she sat down.

"Keima, could you be a dear and stand right here?" asked Aphrodite.

He walked over and stood next to Aphrodite. She put her arm around him.

What's going on? He thought. There were too many flags, and this Aphrodite goddess was not helping Keima think.

"I have gathered you here today to talk about Keima-cun and how we should fight for his love. Oh, but first, roll call! Who is not present?" asked Aphrodite, who was suddenly wearing glasses and a teacher uniform.

The goddesses looked around the room.

Apollo, Vulcan, and Chihiro were absent. Keima wondered where Tsukiyo was.

"Well, I guess Apollo, Vulcan, and Chihiro won't be able to participate in this competition," said Aphrodite.

"Wait, that's not fair," said Mars, "I want Yui to win Keima's heart fairly. Let's give them all a chance."

"Wow, Mars, I never expected that from you," said Aphrodite.

Mars shrugged. "I am the goddess of war, not secret skirmishes. And besides, Keima is Yui's bride, so Yui will easily win."

Aphrodite smiled, "Okay, then we will include them in our competition."

A pink piece of chalk appeared in Aphrodite's hand.

"So, I have a game that each of you will be very interested in, for in this game, each one of us will get a day to take Keima on a date. Each competitor gets a date with Keima. If they do not show up for the date, they do not get to go on a date with Keima. Is that fair enough, Mars?" asked Aphrodite.

"Yeah," replied Mars. Her arms were folded across her chest.

"Good!" said Aphrodite.

She started writing everyone's names on the chalkboard. Keima sighed. Didn't he get any say in this? He didn't want to go on any dates, but he had no choice. Not when Aphrodite was around. She quieted Diana with one glare, so she was obviously someone that he did not want to anger.

"And Keima, you should thank me," said Aphrodite. She released her grip on him.

"There are rules in this competition: each day the dates will occur from four to nine o'clock. Only the person who was allocated that day is allowed to talk with you. Also, since they only have four hours to go on a date with you, that means the rest of the time is free time to play your games uninterrupted. And, now that this competition has been created, you do not have to worry about a bunch of angry goddesses," said Aphrodite.

Keima blinked. Aphrodite was smart. It was a good plan. It gave him time to play games and think. And, he was free from the wrath of the goddesses.

He looked at Aphrodite.

"There must be a catch," said Keima.

Aphrodite nodded. "There are two catches, actually. The first one, is that anyone can join in with this competition at any time, and the second catch is that you have to go on the dates."

Keima thought for a second. Anyone can join? Well, all the goddesses were signed up. So that was fine. And -

"Oh, I want to join!" said Elsie as she raised her hand. Keima sighed.

"Okay! Anyone else want to sign up?" asked Aphrodite. She eyed Haqua. "How about Haqua?"

The goddesses stared her down with hate in their eyes. Haqua started to shrink down in her seat.

"Oh, I forgot to mention a third catch. Keima-cun has to pay. That is unless you girls want to pay," said Aphrodite at which Keima replied, "No way! I'm not participating!"

He immediately regretted it.

"Keima-cun," Aphrodite cooed, "If you don't I will have to cut off your fingers!" A pink knife appeared in her hand.

How can she say that so happily? thought Keima as he backed away from her.

"Good! Then it's all settled! Are there any last minute participants?" asked Aphrodite as she eyed Haqua.

"Actually, I will join," said Haqua. She grinned evilly. The goddesses glared at her.

"I'm not joining because I'm fighting for Katsuragi's love or anything, it's because he owes me for all my efforts recently. I'm going to make him buy me things!" said Haqua. She smiled at Keima.

Why was reality so cruel? Keima just wanted to play games in peace. And now he wouldn't have money for the games. He glared at Haqua. Why was she bullying him again? Keima blinked.

Everyone was glaring at Haqua. Well, everyone but Aphrodite. She was looking at her with a knowing smirk that instantly turned into a glowing smile.

"All right! Now we will spin the wheel of love to determine when we will go on dates with Keima-cun!" said Aphrodite. She waved her hand. A pink wheel appeared behind Aphrodite. Every contestants' name was on a slice of the wheel: Tsukiyo, Elsie, Kanon, Ayumi, Shiori, Chihiro, Yui, Tenri, Haqua, and… Aphrodite?

"Hey! Since when did you join?" yelled Diana as she jumped out of her seat. "Grandmas aren't allowed to participate in this competition!"

Aphrodite's eyes flared in anger.

Diana continued, "You may look young, but you can't beat the fact that you are -"

Aphrodite pointed her finger at Diana.

Diana grabbed her own throat. Keima worried that Diana's voice was gone for good. Diana's face was filled with pure hatred. She sat down in her seat, death-glaring Aphrodite the whole time.

Aphrodite smiled. "To answer Diana's question, the rules state that anyone can join! So I joined! I mean, I have to have fun too, don't I? Plus, now the stakes are higher!"

She pointed her finger at Keima, who was almost at the door. An invisible force pulled him toward her. He zoomed next to Aphrodite's side. She wrapped her arm around him.

Shoot! I was almost free! thought Keima. He shifted uncomfortably. Aphrodite was taller than him, so he felt like he was in a headlock.

"T-the stakes are higher?" asked Minerva.

Aphrodite's eyes twinkled.

"This competition is now a full-blown love war, for I have decided to win Keima-cun's heart! These next few weeks, Keima is definitely going to fall I love..."

Aphrodite smiled.

"With me."

...

...

Author notes: How can Haqua compete against a love goddess? Find out in the

Next chapter: Dates with Goddesses and Demons? Keima's Wallet Loses Weight!