"Why…?"
It has already been half an hour, yet Ayumi still couldn't explain why she had done such a thing.
In her hands right now was a plastic bag which contained a brand new PFP, not to mention a memory card filled with the same games which were available in the one she had destroyed. The total cost was phenomenal! She might not be able to treat herself to anything for the rest of the month, maybe even the whole year!
Hell, she might have to start working part-time to get her money back.
She had not told her parents of this. They would never agree to buying something expensive for the sake of someone else, especially if that person wasn't even that close to her and basically ignores and insults her on a daily basis. However, her conscience had told her otherwise. It was her who had destroyed Keima's PFP and shattered it into smithereens. She needed to compensate.
She was strongly against it at first. Her hard-headed personality shouted at her, saying that he deserved it anyway. She would have went along with it, cursing that damn game otaku to Hell, if it wasn't for a small piece of her mind, telling her to make up with him. She even swore that her own reflection seemed to be talking back to her at times. Ayumi sighed as she wondered just how much stress she must be going through to start hallucinating this much.
'Stress, that's right.' Thought Ayumi to herself as she held the plastic bag tighter in her grip 'And it's all because of that track meet! I bet that after the whole thing is over, I'll start to calm down.'
Maybe she'll regret the decisions she made right now, but those experiences would make for a good laugh in a few months, maybe years' time. If anything, she would just have to put up with her three seniors, as well as Keima, for a few more days. Then she could return to her normal life.
She wanted to believe that, she honestly did. However, a sudden sense of dread started to overwhelm her. What if Keima didn't want the PFP? What if she lost the track meet? What if her parents found out about her buying the gaming console and would yell at her all night for it?
Unbeknownst to her, as dark thoughts kept plaguing her mind, a blue mist started enveloping her body, invisible to the human eye. It kept filling her with despair and depression. The mist was large, enormous in fact by normal Loose Soul standards. The more pressure Ayumi's mind underwent, the stronger the Loose Soul would become. It was practically rolling with joy now. It had chosen a good host, it would need only a few more days before it could grow into a Level 4 spirit.
That fated day, was the day of the track meet.
With her mind still full of hatred and disgust at herself, Ayumi was totally zoned out until someone bumped into her, knocking her onto the hard pavement floor. Her yelp of surprise was cut short, though, as she noticed that the plastic bag she was holding had disappeared from her grasp. No, there was no way that this could happen! The school runner forced her head to the location where the mysterious person had run off to. She stifled a horrified scream as she noticed what was going on.
"Hey! Give that back!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, making the thief sprinted even faster.
The expensive console she had just bought was in the hands of the thief, currently swerving through human traffic and making a grand escape with great skill. What boggled Ayumi even more was the fact that nobody wanted to help her. In fact, they all only stared at her in confusion. It was as if he was a phantom, invisible to everyone save herself.
Ayumi quickly wondered whether she really was facing a phantom.
Still, Ayumi knew she had the upper hand. Her speed would surely help her out at a time like this; she could easily catch up to that person, no problem! The only thing standing between her and her stolen PFP, though, was a different story altogether. Humans had crowded the streets, civilians who had just finished their own shopping or were lazing around the streets with their friends. They would surely hinder her progress, not to mention make it harder for her to catch the thief.
No, she couldn't think like that now. She needed to catch that rotten thief and get her months' worth of allowance back.
A wild yell escaped her lips as Ayumi sprinted fast through the crowds. People moved out of the way, swerving left and right and jumping back just as the brunette was about to crash into them. Screams of panic and surprise resonated through the district, passing on the story of the Runner who was in chase of something they could not see.
The feeling of pure ecstasy filled Ayumi as she felt the rush of wind in her wild mane of hair. Yes, this was her turf, her skill, the one thing she had to her name. She could not, will not fail right now. Not even the knowledge of her almost crashing into a woman who was carrying a vase that screamed 'expensive and rare' could yield her actions now.
Things would have went her way, too, if it wasn't for the sudden sprain in her ankle.
Ayumi screamed. It was a beastly scream that any injured animal would have made if they were in pain. However, that was not the worst of her problems. Her frail form, laying down on the concrete ground as she held onto her burning ankle, slowly moved as she tried to look at the thief she was trying so hard to catch. However, her eyes only widened in shock at what she noticed.
In the moment it took for her to fall, the thief had disappeared into the wind.
In truth, Ayumi had felt like crying there and then. Why does nothing ever want to go her way? Just once, she wanted something good to happen to her. Anything would have sufficed - Anything at all. However, it was as if the world resented her for even dreaming of it. Her attempts at befriending the bespectacled God went astray, and she was made into the talk of the school. The track meet she had worked so hard for, it might as well have be for naught. Her seniors didn't even like her that much, anyway. Not to mention her grades were also plummeting.
Maybe it would have been better if she disappeared from this world.
Falling back onto the ground with a ferocious crash, Ayumi silently wept her misfortune. She did not feel much like getting up, and decided to stay there just a while longer. It didn't feel like anyone was watching her, too. Her pride, at least, was still intact.
"Oh my, what happened?!"
Or so she thought.
She felt the warm feeling of someone holding her, and soon said person had helped her up. However, Ayumi couldn't really see who that person was. Her eyes were too wet for her to detect the person in front of her. The kind individual, seeing the tears flowing down Ayumi's cheeks, took out a handkerchief and helped wipe her tears dry.
"Are you feeling better?" the person asked, feeling every bit of pity for the Runner.
"Mm…" was her quiet response.
When she was finally able to see properly, Ayumi looked at the kind soul who had helped her up. A woman with bright orange hair and glasses adorning her face stared back at her with a motherly gaze. It was as if a guardian angel had come to assist her in her time of need.
Thanking the lady, Ayumi decided that it was high time she returned home. Better to face her parents' wrath now rather than sooner. However, she winced painfully as soon as she raised her foot, making the woman worry for her even more.
"You're injured," the woman observed. "I live close by. Come on, let's get you all fixed up."
No complaints were exchanged as Ayumi allowed the elder lady to guide her to a café/house combo. As the two entered the building, a shrill ring could be heard. It was most probably the entrance bell, informing the workers that a customer had entered. However, something felt wrong. Ayumi noted that there were no workers, not to mention there were no customers as well.
No matter how important that seemed at the moment, Ayumi knew that her injury was the priority here. The lady had helped her onto a sofa with minimal protests. She then ran to the kitchen and returned a few moments later with an ice pack which the woman placed onto her swelling ankle. A pleased sigh was released as Ayumi could feel her injury start to quell.
"Thank you, Miss…?"
"Mari," the woman answered. "Katsuragi Mari."
Now that caught Ayumi by surprise.
"Katsuragi?" asked the girl as she tried to sit comfortably on the sofa, "You don't happen to be related to, um… Katsuragi Keima, are you?"
"Keima? He's my son, why do you- Oh!" Mari quickly realized her obliviousness as she finally took notice of the girl's school uniform. "You're Keima's friend, aren't you?"
"Friend is a really strong word," Ayumi corrected. "We're just classmates."
It surprised Ayumi to no end. Who knew that Otamegane, the lone gamer otaku, self-proclaimed God of Conquest, actually had a mother as kind and beautiful as this? In fact, she didn't even know that Keima lived in a café. Nobody did, probably. That guy never talks to anyone, after all.
However, being in the home of the person she had wanted to pay back made Ayumi feel rather uncomfortable. Adding the rumors spreading around the school into account, and not to mention the way they had parted ways that very evening, she wasn't sure if she was ready to meet Keima just yet. Maybe, if the PFP she had bought was not stolen right under her nose, Ayumi would have felt calmer, too.
"I'll call Keima down," Mari suggested with a wide smile, as if she had been waiting for this opportunity since forever. "I'll bet he'll be surprised to meet a friend here!"
Before Ayumi even had the chance to stop her, Mari had run upstairs to fetch her son. The injured girl could do nothing as she stayed there, laying on the couch of someone she had just been in a fight with. To try and hide her embarrassment, Ayumi managed to grab a pillow and hide her face beneath it.
It took five whole minutes before a reaction could be heard from upstairs, albeit it wasn't a reaction she had expected. Mari, who at this point of time was a kind and gentle person in Ayumi's eyes, suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs in a tone that Ayumi could only describe as violent. There was the sound of things being thrown and feet storming off in various directions before the sound suddenly ceased. Several seconds later, the woman had returned downstairs with her hair down and her spectacles missing, although she still wore her friendly smile.
Keima, who had dragged his feet down, seemed to have gone through Hell and back. He flopped onto the single sofa beside the one Ayumi was resting on, and directed his gaze at the girl.
"Well then, Keima," Mari started. "I hope you have a nice time with your classmate!"
The mother and leader of the Katsuragi household had walked over to the kitchen, where she would prepare dinner. Or wash the non-existent blood off her hands. Or both. Ayumi was leaning on both.
The two teenagers stayed in silence for a while. For Ayumi, it was because she could not believe that she had been assisted by Keima's mother and was now facing the very person she had wanted to apologize to. The sudden emotional whiplash was also still lingering in her mind. As for Keima, it was merely just the disbelief that in all of the student body, Ayumi was the one who wound up injured in his own home and had to see his mother's true self.
"This has 'bad Dating Sim' written all over it," Keima muttered to himself before turning to the Runner. "I always thought you were indestructible, since you crashed and destroyed walls and pillars on a daily basis. What happened?"
"Hey, I was chasing after this bastard who took my stuff!" Ayumi huffed.
"I'm guessing the contents of your items are undisclosable?"
"Sort of…"
Ayumi blushed madly as she wondered just what was going on. Keima of all people was holding a conversation with her, even if it seemed more like an interrogation rather than two people chatting. He didn't seem to be playing a game, either. His mother must have done something, and Ayumi was terrified to know what.
Another thing that kept bugging Ayumi was the fact that Keima had this intense glare in his eyes, as if he was trying to analyse something. However, Ayumi did not feel as if the glare was directed at her. It was more like whatever Keima was staring at, it was in her general direction.
Ayumi was just about to say something when…
"Has something been troubling you, Ayumi?"
Wait, what?!
"N-N-No-Nothing!" stuttered the petrified girl. "Wh-Why would y-y-you think so?!"
"You don't seem like your usual self today," he answered "Usually, you would talk a whole lot more and laugh at the most absurd things. In Dating Sims, this is usually a Flag that you need to overcome in order to raise the parameters of the Heroine. Obviously, something is bothering you emotionally."
"Don't compare real life to a game!" Ayumi shouted at the top of her lungs. She could not believe how Keima could analyse her like that. "Honestly, what are you? My psychiatrist?! And what about you? You don't talk to people, and you're usually playing one of your games right now."
"Hey, you HEARD what happened upstairs, and you really think she'd let me bring one down after all that?"
He had a point there.
Ayumi huffed and turned the other way around, not wanting to look at Keima face to face. The boy, however, had obviously already pieced everything together. Although it seemed rather unlikely, Keima knew that the source of all this madness had something to do with those two invisible girls who kept following him. His eyes were still locked onto Ayumi, although it wasn't because of some obscure reason such as thinking that she was beautiful or seeing a mole on her face. No, it was because he saw it again, that blue mist.
It seemed to be larger now, and this worried Keima to no end. Sure, he did not have any connections to Ayumi, but the fact that he alone could see it was a cause for concern. He noted that the larger that thing became, the more moody and self-deprecating Ayumi acted. Now was probably the best time for him to act – Not to conquer Ayumi, but to stop that thing from taking over her body or something. Some Dating Sims had this as their plot – Increase the Heroine's parameters to stop the Big Bad from winning.
Keima swiftly stood up and walked into the kitchen. This made Ayumi glance at the general direction of the kitchen in concern. She didn't know what he was up to, so that worried her. That was when Keima soon came out holding two cups of coffee. As he placed one on the table in front of the couches, he sat down and drank his own cup.
"Drink," Keima invited "It should make you feel better."
Praying that nothing would happen when she drank it, Ayumi slowly picked up the cup and took a sip. Then another. And then a huge gulp that swallowed the entire contents of the cup.
"This coffee's too good!" Ayumi exclaimed in surprise. "Everything I drank before tastes like mud water!"
"It's a special blend, glad that you enjoyed it." Deadpanned Keima as he finished his own cup.
There was no more conversation after they had finished, filling the room with a heavy atmosphere. It was practically unbearable. Ayumi was used to being surrounded by noise. Even if she was studying in her room, she would blast the music on her radio to the max. Silence wasn't something she could really cope with.
Keima, on the other hand, preferred the silence. The only noises he accepted came from the Virtual World, and since he didn't have that luxury at the moment, he would prefer it to be quiet. He was fully aware of Ayumi's shift in mood. Obviously, he knew that he had managed to overcome one of the many Flags in the Runner's route.
"K-Keima…"
"Hm?" Keima looked at the injured girl with a neutral gaze.
"I'm… I'm sorry for, you know, what happened at school just now," Ayumi was trying her best to not look at Keima in the eyes, so she decided to face the pretty couch instead "I just don't know what came over me."
"Doesn't matter. I have other spares in case something like that happened."
"Wait, you predicted your PFP was going to be smashed by me?!"
"Always expect the unexpected. In Dating Sims, a surreal event occurring is usually a-"
"Oh, shut up."
The two continued to talk as Keima observed the blue mist. For some reason, it started to waver, slowly shrinking to a smaller size. That is, if you consider a few centimeters as a smaller size. Perhaps, Keima thought, despair was what fed the invisible thing. He would just have to keep this up for some time, and then maybe he could return to his uneventful, gaming life.
"You're going to run in the track meet in a few days, right?"
That sentence suddenly made Ayumi shiver, earning an insightful look from the God of Conquest.
Jackpot.
Meanwhile, a certain clueless demon was weeping in confusion as her purple haired friend scolded her. She didn't know what it was all about, something about being extremely conspicuous. In her defense, the demon said that she had made sure that no one else saw her.
"And now people would think that Ayumi is insane and was chasing a flying plastic bag."
"Huh, I knew I forgot something."
