FGC
The moon provided enough light that, even in dark, Keima could make out Chihiro's flushed face. Her face was formed in such a pitiful manner that even he-The Capturing God, The Hater of the Real- could not help the shudder that ran down his spine as his hormones raged against his will. The arch of her eyebrows, the uncharacteristic softness of her chocolate brown eyes, the quivering of her delicate lips... the real had offered him a unnecessarily succulent sight. But this was not a time for enjoyment, he had a job to do. He felt Chihiro's soft hand, clasped between his own, squeeze firmly as Keima slowly inched towards her face.
"Katsuragi...please be gentle. It's...it's my first time..." Her hot breath brushed his lips but almost all the eroticism and inhibited lust that Keima had accumulated from the situation had disappeared in an instant. Keima unconsciously created space between his face and Chihiro's, taking a moment to comprehend her words.
His mouth dried.
A blunder.
"First time...the kiss?" A voice in the back of Keima's mind told him to forget this and chase after Ayumi already, but he needed to know. This made no sense what so ever. She set up the flag herself! He needed to...
"Yeah...is that bad?" Chihiro averted her eyes. Her voice a low whisper, a far cry from the obnoxious tone she usually adopted when the two conversed.
"No...it's not." No Goddess. He needed to get to Ayumi...
Chihiro couldn't help but notice, even with the dim lighting, how Keima's eyes shifted, from being aware of her to something more calculating and distant. Even so, his face settled on a bewildered expression. "Wha...what's wrong?"
Keima seemed to reregister her and looked directly in her eyes this time. His gaze was surprisingly sincere and she could feel her face heat up some more.
"Chihiro."
"Eh? Huh..." She was painfully aware of his hand a few inches away from her face. He was so aggressive a few minutes ago yet he seemed to hesitate now.
"...wha-what..." Keima couldn't help but notice her beckoning look. Her anticipation. But he didn't have time to worry about that, not with the final Goddess still about. Not with Kanon's need... But Chihiro was unrelated to this incident, how was he supposed to-
Chihiro tightened her grip on Keima's arm, slowly, but firmly, pulling him closer to herself. "Katsuragi?" She murmured his name expectantly.
He needed to end this quickly...but he...
Keima sighed and pulled away once more, using his hand to gently release Chihiro's grip on his arm.
"Chihiro...Do you really like me?"
Chihiro, who could not help but keep her eyes on Keima's face, tucked her chin to her chest at the unexpected question. "Wha...what's with that?!" Her voice was infused with her nervousness. It was just like stupid Katsuragi to ruin the mood with a question that had such an obvious and embarrassing answer. Chihiro paused, taking in everything-the bench, the coolness of the air, the full moon, the darkness, their isolation from the rest of the world (even though it wasn't a question that she needed to ponder)- but Keima's face before she answered. "Yeah. I like you." Her face stained red again at her own confession.
"Wh..why? Since when?!"
"When?"
"When did you start liking me?!" Chihiro did not expect such a passionate response from the otamegane. His tone and manner a complete one eighty from his previous demeanor. Chihiro adjusted herself so she was sitting properly on the bench, and so that Keima wouldn't have a full view of her tomato red face.
"If you ask when..." Chihiro averted her gaze to the side so that Keima's face would not even appear in her peripheral vision. "Well I don't really know, but... I guess it was sometime in spring." Chihiro could not hide the embarrassment from her face.
"It was since spring?!" Frustration and confusion erupted in Keima's voice. "Rather than retaining the memories of the conquest? I had no interactions with you during that time!"
"Whaaat?! What do you mean conquest?!" Chihiro herself was becoming upset by Keima's behaviour. Dammit shouldn't they have kissed by now?
"B...but, you're always making fun of me...not to mention you were confessing to a lot of guys!" Keima was on the verge of yelling. But Chihiro easily matched his intensity.
"Th-those things aren't important!" Chihiro stared at Keima's thoroughly cowed face and took a moment to calm herself. "To tell the truth...the one that I was interested in...might have been you the whole time!" Chihiro wasn't sure if she wanted to reveal this much information to Keima on their first date, but Chihiro also wasn't one to cry over spilt milk.
A pregnant pause was only interrupted by fireworks that neither Keima nor Chihiro had any intention of enjoying anymore. The P.A blared its message while the duo reflected on their recent discussion.
"Th-there's no way you could...like someone that way!" Keima broke the silence, his thoughts still in a disarray from Chihiro's confessions. He needed to get a confirmation to his denial so he could get on with his mission. "I haven't conquered you...I had no interaction with you...how could you like me that way?!"
Keima felt Chihiro's warm hand rest on top of his colder one's, the light squeeze she gave him almost made it felt as if she was trying to reassure him that a relationship like this was totally acceptable, even if her intention was only to let him know she was serious.
"You don't need a reason...to like someone!" Chihiro stated firmly. It had been a while since she had spoken like this to him and Keima involuntarily faced her, his flushed face paled in comparison to hers. "By the time I realised it, I was already in love with you!"
For one moment the Capturing God lost sight of his goal. In a moment of weakness he forgot about even Kanon's condition. Instead he took in the sight of a beautiful girl.
Her smooth skin.
Her bright eyes.
Her bold confession.
And he took in the sight of an ending.
Against years of training to keep his composure in front of the real, to never be seduced by the real, to ignore even the physical reactions caused by his own body and hormones...
He felt his heart skip a beat.
Chihiro's lips moved in.
But the god could not forget his duty. Keima's arms pressed on Chihiro's shoulders, halting her process and opening Chihiro's eyes.
"I can't."
"Oh..yea..." Chihiro whipped her head to the side and brought the heel of her hand to rub her eyes and to absorb the excess moisture. "I guess someone like me is no good huh? You always did say I w-was just a side character." Chihiro's voice cracked in her failed attempt to add a humorous inflection to her voice.
Keima leaned over and gripped his hair in his hands as he dealt with these...feelings...this was all Elsie's fault. He never even considered 3D women as anything other than parasites that tried to leach his gaming time until the conquests. A year ago a crying Chihiro would mean nothing to him yet...
"Don't cry."
Chihiro chuckled but anyone could easily see through her bravado. "Who would cry over you otamegane? It was stupid to try and appeal to you huh? I-I know I could never be perfect like one of the girls in you games but I thought..." Chihiro let out a heavy sigh. She was too emotionally exhausted to continue such a useless charade. "Whether it's a fake confession or a real one I still can't get a good outcome. I guess that's what's expected from a nobody..."
"Shut up." Keima glared at her anger written all over his features.
Chihiro herself could not believe this. First he played with her emotions and then shot her down when she opened his heart to him, now he had the audacity to tell her to shut up? She wanted to scream and beat him, but she wasn't up to it. Rather he was probably right in telling her to cease her self loathing. He probably thought she was an ugly creature.
"You...you're not a nobody. And you're not a side character." Chihiro steeled herself to look at his face and found that his harsh features had morphed into something uncharacteristically gentle for Keima. "You... you're not a person that needs to doubt herself. You worked hard to make the band, even in the face of adversity. That's what a heroine does...and no heroine is perfect so you don't need to pretend to be one. Instead your flaws...and your imperfections...a hero will definitely accept those and come to love them."
Keima paused his mini speech to gauge Chihiro's reaction. Tears had stopped falling down her cheek and she stared at him enraptured by his gentle and encouraging words. But she was still distraught.
"I want you to be my hero..." Neither Chihiro nor Keima were embarrassed by her words.
"...I can't." Chihiro clenched her eyes shut, already knowing and accepting his answer. She knew trying to convince Keima to love her would not work.
Her eyes snapped open when Keima's hand gripped her chin carefully and tilted it towards him. She, for the first time, noticed how tired and burdened he looked. However when the corners of his mouth stretched slightly and offered her a kind smile, she also couldn't help but notice that he was indeed handsome.
"I can't right now... but if you could wait for me then maybe... I can't explain myself right now nor can I expect you to deal with my excuses, but I can't accept your feelings right now because there is something I need to do. I can only ask that you trust me and you wait for me." Keima absent mindedly brushed his thumb against her cheek and noted the smooth texture.
Chihiro supposed that maybe she should feel irritated or maybe shocked but all she felt was elation. She leaned her cheek into his hand that was cupping her face and closed her eyes, allowing herself to bask in this strange feeling.
Hope.
"I'll wait for you...so make sure to come back, okay Keima?"
Keima nodded and wondered if he should have felt something like embarrassment or discomfort from having his hand cup Chihiro's cheek, rather than content. He withdrew his hand and stood up. His mind began to flood itself with preparations for his conquest of Ayumi. He could not afford to be so selfish anymore.
"W-wait!" Chihiro stood up and grasped Keima's arm.
Keima turned around.
"Before you go... at least finish what you started!"
Keima's already prioritized capturing Mercury now. His feelings and Chihiro's feelings now took a backseat to his duties.
That is why he would tell himself his lack of hesitation had to do with the fact that appeasing her right then would keep Chihiro satisfied longer and keep her from interrupting his conquest. It wasn't as of her soft, pink lips were inviting or that her flushed, beckoning face finally set him off the edge.
But the god supposed he could admit that maybe he did find some pleasure in the kiss.
Maybe.
FGC
I live. This seems rough to me, maybe even my worst so far. Anyway I know I got that Chihiro request a while ago and with a different situation but this is what I came up with.
