1.) I finished the chapter early, so I'll give my small amount of followers a treat, and release it early!

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Flag 04: Yuuko Kinoshita Route Part 4


"I'm coming!" replied the guy from above. Yuuko suspected that he had rifled through her room, and stiffened. There were two things that she didn't want to expose to anyone: her underwear, for obvious reasons, and her BL books. He couldn't have gotten a hold of her undergarments (the drawer they were in was locked), but the possibility of the BL books being out in the open was very plausible. With her fingers crossed, she hoped that her "books" weren't just sprawled out on her study desk as she cursed her former self for giving Keima free rein to roam around. "By the way... what is this?"

"W-What!?" Yuuko spun around, only to face the boy she invited holding one of her dreaded BL books. He didn't have an accusative or jeering expression on his face. In fact, he had on a faint smile. Jiggling the tankoubon a little, Keima walked over to Yuuko, with the latter backing away slowly. "O-Okay, I know what you are thinking, but that is not mine!"

"You stopped using contractions, Yuuko," said Keima, dropping his innocent smile. Sure, Yuuko may have been a prodigy, but she wasn't a hardened liar. Keima could've laughed at the pitiful attempt to hide the truth. The girl in question gulped, her backsides already pressing against the counter. "Plus, you just moved in, so not too many people are gonna visit you, at least for a few days. No one else could own this."

"F-Fine, I like Yaoi, okay?" said Yuuko, sighing. Keima smirked, pushing up his glasses. This was perfect! If he just worded his thoughts correctly, he could game and Conquer at the same time! Putting the BL book on the table, Keima reached into his pocket, the cold metal of the PFP bringing familiarity and courage to him- not that he was lacking in the latter, mind you.

"It fine that you have a... pet peeve," said Keima, internally shivering at the thought of Conquering a yaoi-loving heroine. Pulling the PFP out of its sheath, Keima showed if off to Yuuko, his slight smile getting a little bigger. "Everyone has one. For example, my weird quirk is my love for dating sims. You mind if we keep each other's secrets?"

"...It's a deal." Yuuko knew that she was throwing away her pride, but she knew she had to do it, lest he spread her secret around the school. 'Wait,' she tried to reason, 'I have dirt on him too. But for him to admit his quirk so nonchalantly means that the secret must be already pretty well known. Yeah, I guess it is best to go along with this. Besides, he seems trustworthy enough...'

'Yes, game on!' cheered Keima, flicking on his PFP. He was overjoyed that he could have a Conquest while having a Conquest! If all that time spent Capturing Runaway Spirits were used to Conquer 2D heroines, Keima wouldn't have any trouble dealing with his backlog of galges. Sadly, it seemed that the 2D + 3D Dual Conquest would only last for Yuuko Kinoshita's route... or would it? 'Mwahaha, the Capturing God is back! Now, should I go for Minami or Mizuki?'

"A-Anyway, it's time to eat, Keima," said Yuuko, watching his cold-yet-elegant expression melt into pure delight as he played his galges. Noticing that he was rude, Keima pocketed his PFP (reluctantly) and walked over to the dining table, which was covered by delectable dishes. Sadly, they weren't like Haqua's patent-pending "Auto-Swallow" meal, so he couldn't just funnel the food into his mouth while gaming. Nope: he had to eat like a civilized individual. Isn't that sad? He pulled out a seat - which was facing Yuuko's seat - and got comfy, slightly admiring the chair.

"Itadakimasu," said the two of them automatically. Piling his plate with enough food to be polite yet not consume too much time, Keima took a bite... and nodded. The food tasted good - maybe even Yui level, but Keima's sense of taste wasn't strong enough to go beyond that comparison. "...It's good."

"Thanks," said Yuuko, brushing back some loose strands of hair. A semi-comfortable lull in conversation settled as the two adolescents ate, with only the clang of utensils keeping the deafening silence at bay. Once the meal was over, Keima and Yuuko both said their thanks for it, and brought their plated to the kitchen. "Keima, I'll wash these, so just sit on the couch, and play some games, okay?"

"No, I'll handle the dishes: you just sit on the couch and continue reading your... novels," said Keima, rolling back his sleeves. If you didn't catch on yet, here are Keima's objectives: 1.) Get close to Yuuko; 2.) Ask her about Hideyoshi, who, according to Keima's suspicions, is the source of her problems; 3.) Have her pour her heart out; 4.) Fill the gap. If everything went according to plan, the Conquest, which started just a few hours ago, would be completed in three days, at the very most.

"...Okay, Keima."


"Katsuragi," said a possessed Luna, ominously towering over the poor gamer, who was bound to a chair by ropes that Keima, with his abysmal strength, would never be able to break... unless he used his God of Conquest mode. Which he couldn't. "Where did you go, you unfaithful piece of sh-"

"Vulcan, calm down," said Diana, contradicting herself by choking Keima (in her mind, of course).

"-! Argh, I can't believe that my majestic, elegant Tsukiyo fell in love with trash like you- wait, are you sleeping!?" exclaimed the Eldest Goddess, popping Keima's snot bubble. With a mutter, he straightened himself up, patting the PFP in his pocket to make sure of its safety, sighing out of relief once his fingertips felt the console He sighed again once Vulcan continued her rant. "This just proves your incompetence-"

"Enough, sister," said Mars, putting her hands on the doll's shoulders. With a stern look on her face, Mars dragged the agitated Goddess away, for the sake of everyone else. In fact, once the doll was out of the way, everyone let out a synchronized sigh of relief. It's not that they hated Vulcan's constant ramblings - the girls actually agreed with what the eldest Goddess spat out most of the time - it's just that she ranted a little tooo much. Luckily, one of the more mature sisters would haul her away before things got out of hand. Speaking of out of hand...

"W-What in Goddess's name is this development!?" cried a still bound Keima, the rest of the girls pulling out their dinner time bentos. A Reverted (Switched from Goddess to Host) Tsukiyo and Yui peeked from the corner with boxes of food in hand, and Keima knew that he wasn't going to eat Cup Noodles for the all-nighter that he was going to pull. Sighing, he succumbed to his cruel fate. "...Line up, single file. Let's get this over with."


"Why is Kami Nii-sama talking using a computer?" asked Elsie, pointing at the poor boy who was lying on his side with a computer in his reach. Huddled around him was the usual group: the Hosts, Elsie, and Haqua, with Mari cleaning up the kitchen. Why, you ask? Because everyone wanted a Conquest update, so that they could all party (excluding Keima, who would make a tactical retreat to his room) once it was over. Sadly, Keima didn't really feel like talking about the Conquest, or anything, for that matter. No one would be, if they were as stuffed as him. All he wanted to do was sleep the food off, but the Hosts + Haqua wouldn't allow that.

"Because my mouth was so abuse by certain females that it is now incapable so speech," said a Stephen Hawking-esque voice, Keima's sharp glare stopping the girls from laughing at him. Satisfied, he continued his computerized dialogue. "Anyway, the Conquest should be nearly finished: I'll use tomorrow to increase Yuuko's affection through events, and Capture her the next day."

"N-Not to be rude, b-but what's her p-problem," asked Shiori, causing question marks to pop up above Elsie's head. "T-That's what Keima's doing, r-right? S-Saving the girl- I-I mean Yuuko, j-just like how he saved the rest of us."

The rest of the Hosts nodded in agreement, shocking Keima a little. Even if the Goddess Hosts had their differences, they were still united under one flag – Keima himself. And even if it sounds good, it isn't. If they reached an agreement, they'd probably gang up on Keima, take away his games, and make him love them. With the power of Goddesses by their side, that possibility isn't so farfetched. The only thing Keima could do to prevent that horrible gameless outcome would be to keep the goal – his love – in sight, but out of reach at the same time. It was cruel, but Keima wasn't going to take any risks with his game time on the line.

"...It has something to do with her twin brother, Hideyoshi."


"Hello, Yuuko! I'm your Class Rep, Aoko Aozaki," said a red-haired girl, bowing to the twin sister. Apparently, she was absent on Yuuko's first day, so she wasn't able to take Yuuko on the obligatory tour of the campus, and the representative decided to rectify that. "I'm very sorry that I wasn't able to show you around the school!"

"It's fine," said Yuuko, giving a comforting smile to the panicking rep, which calmed the red-head down. Yuuko knew how stressful being a class official could get, having been the ambassador of her old class. Aoko gave Yuuko a smile in return, and lead the brunette out the door. "Let's just start the tour."

"Of course!" The ever-so-peppy Aoko showed off the campus to Yuuko: the cafeteria – which was almost void of students thanks to its overpriced food, the track-and-field oval – where a certain short haired human bullet was absent from, the other buildings, such as the junior high facilities and the library – where Shiori was nowhere in sight – and other places.

"By the way, what do you know about Keima Katsuragi," asked Yuuko, Aoko stopping dead in her tracks. The brunette couldn't make out the expression on Aoko's face: was it fear, shock, or plain loathe. Apparently loathe won out, as Aoko's unreadable expression curled into a grimace. She turned on her heel, and put her hands on Yuuko's shoulders, the intensity of her eyes chilling Yuuko to the bone.

"You do not want to be associated with that filthy pile of trash," said Aoko. "He plays his games, no matter what the situation. He even plays during class – it's like he's wed to the thing! Plus, according to a popular rumor, he's making a harem of women, and was sighted on the rooftop eating lunch with over eight women at once! Just stay away from that Otamegane: he's bad news." A deafening silence reigned as Aoko let the words sink in. Yuuko was shocked. It turned out that his little quirk was actually pretty well known, and knowing that she had potentially let a womanizer to house – and fed him, no less – chilled her to the bone. Still, Yuuko tried to think positively – proof before theory. Earlier, Keima had asked her about letting him have dinner at her house again, and she had obliged, so that would be the perfect time to ask him the question that was screwing with her mind.

"What kind of person is Keima Katsuragi!?


Footnotes:

Aoko Aozaki: Reference to Tsukihime/Fate Stay Night/Mahou Tsukai no Yuru. Not the actual Miss Blue, for those wondering.


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