The World Only the Girls Know: A Sorrel's Teasing
Chapter 7: Genius Vs Genius
Author's Note: Sister Fic of the Azalea Side
Characters from the Light Novels and Manga will be included as well.
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Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ
Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki
Written by: wrathie
Author's Notes: Yes, I am still looking for a Beta-Reader. Yes, I hope to get more reviews ;-;
Yes, I know Azalea side is more engrossing :
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On hindsight Keima should have realized something was terribly wrong by this setup. Why would any sane person want to enter a classroom that was obviously used for changing?
It is common practice that girls would get to use the classroom for changing in Mai-High as Mai-High is populated with a higher ration of females than males.
That makes changing very difficult for them as the changing room is always full.
The situation did not improve when the school schedules the classes so that there would always be more than one class having Physical Education lessons at a single time.
Taking all of those factors into consideration, Keima should have realized it was a trap.
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But again, he did not consider that he was being set up by the one mind that can rival his.
It is her way of combating and meeting with the challenge that has been set by the other girls.
Fuse Aoba, Mai-Hime would want to increase her chances of being the 'main heroine' after all. Even if it might be playing… a little unfairly in her opinion and is using her body as a weapon.
'…'
She had been spying on him ever since lunch and when she saw him heading towards her class, the plan was formulated immediately in her mind. It was a wild shot as she was not certain if he will indeed fall into his trap of hers.
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There were many variables involved as he might not even be visiting her. But as any Gal-gamer would know, the polite and most common way to start a game would be for the player to visit all possible 'heroines'.
Fuse Aoba is a heroine and thus, she would be 'visited' by the 'hero' sooner or later.
'After the underclass girl, the shy librarian and the quiet and unassuming classmate, it would no doubt be my turn soon enough.'
She knew she can be classified as the 'Ice Princess' and is reasonably next in the list as the 'Main heroine', Haqua has not made an appearance so far and thus can be eliminated.
Staring at the gym clothes in her hands, Aoba hugged them nervously as she retreated back into class where everyone else has finished changing, leaving only her around.
'… It is still embarrassing.'
Face tinged with a shade of red, Fuse Aoba gave a resigned sigh before starting to change as well.
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Unaware of what Aoba is up to, the Capturing God slowly strolled toward his impending doom. The classroom where Fuse Aoba resides in sight and as if in testament to his abilities a God, he stopped and froze for a moment.
'…'
What is this odd, awkward feeling that is making him stop in his tracks? Keima narrowed his eyes and stared at the classroom door that was now in front of him, unsure as his inner instincts told him not to enter.
'… I am the…'
Capturing God, that is why he should not be afraid of what lies ahead of him!
'…'
But when his hand reached out to touch the door, he was reminded of the possibilities of it being a trap by his own reasoning. The chances of something bad happening was astronomically high… given his track record of meeting with so many 'events', and 'flags' today, one more would be… more or less to be expected.
'But it is a disgrace to my name if I do not even dare try!'
Keima declared as he grabbed the handle and pulled open the door.
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'Ah…'
The air froze as Katsuragi Keima entered the room just as Fuse Aoba was in the middle of changing. She had just finished stripping off her skirt and was about to wear the schools shorts when he entered, causing her undergarments to be fully exposed to him as she was facing away from him.
'… White… huh?'
He commented to her while Aoba turned red with tears in her eyes as she stared at him in shock. But soon she had recovered after taking a deep breath and spoke softly to him while pulling down her top anxiously to cover herself.
'Pervert.'
Coldly she said that while Keima slowly closed the door and turned his back towards it.
'I apologize for intruding.'
At least she did not throw something at him like any other normal girl would…
Pushing his glasses up as he sighed, the Capturing God was relieved that he was probably the one boy on earth who would not be visibly embarrassed by such a scene while Fuse Aoba is probably the only girl in the world who would cold dismiss him that way.
'…sigh…'
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Did it work? Aoba herself was not sure what to expect from that 'scene' that she had forcibly triggered on Keima. But she herself was a little embarrassed at him seeing her in such a compromising situation, as what a normal girl would be.
'… but he is indeed the one.'
She had studied his expression closely and was not disappointed to see that beyond the initial surprise, Katsuragi Keima betrayed no other noticeably emotion.
'If it was someone lesser… they would have screamed something annoying.'
She would have to react appropriately by throwing something at them, but Katsuragi Keima had remained calm and apologized to her immediately. He was indeed genre savvy enough to be called the 'hero' and Aoba sighed despite herself, sitting on her chair as she finished changing.
Now that he had seen her in a state of undress, he would no doubt know that the ties between them cannot be severed.
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'You can come in now.'
She called out to him and the door swung open again, not hesitantly but in a normal way as he stepped in, hands on his PFP as he regarded her.
'I understand that you would want me to take responsibility for my actions. It is a good move that you have played here.'
Bravo, that was her intent and Aoba Fuse, Mai-hime, waited for the Capturing God, Katsuragi Keima to make his move.
'Even if it might be an accident, I should have knocked to see if anyone was present, I acknowledge the mistake that I've made and…'
He seemed hesitant, unhappy even as Fuse Aoba smiled in triumph at his defeat.
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'Even so, I would not take responsibility as White Pantsu does not suit your character archetype!'
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the Capturing God declared that to her unexpectedly and she was caught off guard as she stared at him.
'Fuse, you are not the innocent or air-headed princess type. You should be wearing more refined undergarments instead. Wearing purely white does not fit your achetype of an 'Ice-Princess!'
Stunned, Aoba retreated step by step from Keima who advanced towards her after putting his PFP back into his pocket.
'I expected better from you, Fuse. You are regarded as a rising star in the gaming community and yet you do not possess such basic knowledge of character design. White pantsu is designed for innocent and air-headed characters who give off the 'pure' vibes. Striped pantsu are for childish and 'cutesy' types. Frilly pantsu are for girls who can be classified as Ojou-sama or are refined sufficiently to-'
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This tirade went on for a while till he stopped, wanting for breath while Fuse Aoba simply looked at him in a mixture of shock and awe.
Yes, awe, she did not expect to be criticized this way and she even felt a little embarrassed at the end of his lecture. She had been indeed not playing true to her genre and lowered her head, ready to apologize to him-…
'…'
Wait… why should she apologize to him?
Showing some emotion at last, Fuse Aoba slapped him in the face with as much strength as she can muster and slowly walked off, her whole body shaking in anger at his behavior. Keima tilted his head in confusion before rubbing his cheek in pain, unsure as to what happened as he muttered.
'… that was probably a mistake.'
But the both of them realized it too late as she slammed the door angrily when she left, making it difficult for Keima to decide whether to chase after her.
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'Fuse!'
Hearing him call her name, Aoba twitched a little in anger. It was not like her to lose her temper but she was really mad this time. Not because Keima had peeped at her, not totally at least but she was upset that he did not view her as a 'heroine' or a girl and is insistent on treating her as a 'discipline'!
'Fuse!'
Hearing him cluck his tongue, Aoba realized that she has actually learnt something interesting by knowing that yes, she has indeed been under his care for his time. So the time that they had spent together has indeed been forgotten by her.
But… how? She did not have short term memory loss or anything similar to that illness. She has been perfectly fine since childhood.
But when she reflected upon it, what is more surprising is that she did not seem to remember him or find it odd that she had forgotten him prior to that fateful day where she had met with that girl.
'…'
It is certainly confusing, but at least the both of them did have 'shared memories' together. That is definitely to her advantage. Did the other girls have a similar reason as well? Looking at how daring they had been in their advances, each of them seemed confident that they too will be the 'main heroine' as well.
And why… why did he not acknowledge her prior to now?
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She had not noticed that she had stopped walking while deep in her thoughts and that allowed Katsuragi Keima to catch up with her and subsequently allow him to grab her hand.
'Aoba!'
'…'
Tersely he tugged her towards him so that she was facing him but she spoke before him, causing him to fall silence with her question.
'Why… did you give up on me, Katsuragi, Keima.'
Her eyes were fierce and it made Keima fall back unconsciously under her fierce and interrogative gaze.
'Why, did you give up and ignore me for so long, Capturing God?'
It is indeed a weird sight, Aoba Fuse in her school Gym Clothes grabbing the boy by his collar and pulling her close enough to stare in his eyes.
'Answer me!'
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It is possibly the worst scenario that he can imagine but he could not help but still marvel at the thought processes of Fuse Aoba while in her grasp.
This girl, was indeed his equal as she had asked the right question, in the right time to the right person. The main issue that he was trying to avoid, trying to cover up was that question:
Why did Katsuragi Keima, ignore and even stay out of the lives of the girls he had met and helped?
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It made no sense after all, why would he do that? Why would he stay out of the lives that he had enriched, had saved from their troubles. All of them did solve their worries only with his assistance, without him, they would probably be wallowing still in self-defeat.
It was his strong hands that had pushed him in the right direction, no matter how hard the path was, he had gave them the strength to push through their obstacles to achieve their goals.
There is plenty of reason for the girls to want to thank him, for the girls to develop feelings and wants for the boy who had helped them that much.
Logically, the boy too would not have invested so much effort or time in the girls if he had not shown interest in them, right? They would allow the girl which he has spent so much time on to be by his side, the person that he chose to help would naturally think that after all.
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But it had not happened. The boy who had suddenly entered her life and saved it had simply left when the goal was in their hands.
He did not stay to reap the reward that he had rightly deserved to partake in. He just… disappeared.
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And now, one of those girls wanted to know why. One of the girls whose life he had touched, helped and managed to turn around, realized this and is now demanding answers from him.
Why, oh Capturing God. Why would you not wish to be with the lost lamb, the lost lamb that you saved from the darkness that threatened to engulf her?
Was she not good enough for him? Was she not suited for him? Then… why did he approach her in the first place?
There is no one in the world who would help someone just for the sake of doing so… right?
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So many questions that she wanted answers from and for a moment, the Capturing God was left tongue tied as Fuse Aoba never relented, even pushing and dragging him into a vacant classroom so they could be alone together.
'Answer me, Katsuragi!'
She was close to screaming now, the Ice Princess which had remained calm and complacent, even emotionless up till now, lost control when her intelligent mind pieced the various pieces together in the right order.
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This is her mettle and this is her genius, this is why she is called Mai-hime, the person who could rival the Capturing God himself. If it is someone lesser, someone who is lost in the feelings of euphoria at remembering him, or one that would not dare to face the truth, they would not have stumbled upon this and subsequently, questioned him with it.
From her own hand, she had discovered Keima's hidden hand and now, after showing it to him, it was the God's turn to answer her.
To answer the one that had finally, painfully reached him.
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'Aoba…'
'KATSURAGI!'
Tears were rolling down her eyes now as she recalled how painful their last meeting had been. There could only be separation, she had sensed that without him saying it to her. It was odd how she could sense it and she wanted so much to avoid it…
But Katsuragi… Katsuragi he had avoided her when he could have contacted her. He had not said a word when one word from him could have made her return to him… Fuse Aoba could not help herself and she hugged Keima tightly, not letting him go as he tried to find an answer to give to her.
Any answer perhaps, to calm her down.
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It is not purely that Keima felt guilty about Aoba, he does but he too instinctively knew that if he did not stop her from making a scene, the situation would gradually develop into something even nastier to clear up.
But at the same time, he too wanted to buy time to find something that would be a sufficient answer for her to accept. The Capturing God was in a pinch, a pinch like nothing he had ever met before and his brow furrowed in thought, trying to find an answer.
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As he petted her shoulders, trying to make her calm down while he eased her to a chair, he wished for once that Elsi was present to help him. Even if that devil is prone to screwing up, some help would be better than no help at all.
'Answer me! Katsuragi!'
'Alright… I will, Aoba, I will…'
He decided with a heavy heart that perhaps she deserved the truth, at least… until a certain girl that had been spying on them, crashed into the room as well from the window.
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'Stop right there, Katsuragi!'
In one single move, the devil that had accepted Aoba's challenge kicked Keima in the face, knocking him out.
But of course, the last thing that he would remember seeing was that she was wearing… white.
Author's Notes: DYNAMIC ENTRY!
