The World Girls Only Know: Blue Rose Paradox

Chapter 9: Her Story

Note: Characters from the Light Novel 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: I know this is an understatement but Hanazawa Kana (Shiori's Seiyuu) has the most incredible voice! Sadly Shiori doesn't speak much... but her Character Cover Album Song is amazing! To catch her in action, I recommend watching Bake/Nise-monogatari or Steins;Gate.

This chapter is brought to you with the help of dongaro as the beta-editor!


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..

Keima had been unusually pensive over the past few days but considering his company had been with Mio and Asami, one could hardly blame him for being a little... calculating.

The former was less of a chore and Keima did really enjoy his time with the girl, the latter however was a girl who he'd rather keep a distance from.

That said, the day had gone by quite well and he found himself accepting himself more, if that was even possible at all, as seeing Aoyama Mio moving forward in her life was something of a relief.

Despite his interference or perhaps due to that same interference was she able to pick up the pieces of her life and live her life strongly. There wasn't a need for him to push her forward in this scenario and Keima was eternally grateful for that.

He had his hands full with the rest of the girls, especially Nakagawa Kanon who had sent him several messages asking whether he'll be free to meet up over the weekend with the rest of the girls.

Come to think of it, he has not given any of the other girls his mailing address. Sure, they had his cell number but as he had the bad habit to turn his phone off, mailing him was the easiest way to contact him.

He wasn't ready to reply Kanon though, but he had the nagging feeling that if he didn't, the mails would continue to enter his inbox and he picked up his PFP to start his reply when she saw another notification that made him pay attention.

Scratch that, Fuse Aoba was another individual who had discovered his mailing address and although she never did tell him her mailing address, her address was an easy guess as his.

mai_hime zumcities . co. jp to think that she was using the same host as he did, how much did she want to copy about him anyway,

'Kami-Onii-sama, dinner is ready!'

Elsi knocked on his door and was promptly greeted by the door opening wide and almost knocking him over.

'W-whaaa? What's wrong, Kami-Onii-sama?'

'What is the meaning of this?'

Screaming at Elsi as he shoved the PFP to Elsi, the little demon was unsure how to react till she saw the contents of the message.

..

[Dear Capturing God, Katsuragi Keima,

This is my request, please be at Disneyland this Saturday at 9am sharp. I, no, we, would wish to spend the day with you.

You cannot refuse, as there are no grounds for you to do so.

-Best Regards

Mai-hime, Fuse Aoba.

P.S: Bring Elsi with you]

..

This was ridiculous, why should he agree to such a request! It was obviously a ploy to get all of them there at the same time! Keima could smell a trap a mile away, but it was as Fuse had said, there was no escaping his fate or this request after all.

The most he could do was try to make sense of the situation and make it less difficult for him.

Information was power and in this case, it was detrimental to find out what they wanted of him over at Disneyland. It wasn't his first visit to the place, he had been there three times.

The first time was when he went out to help capture Amami Tooru, the second was on a group date with Yoshino Asami, and the third was with a 'date' with Haqua.

None of those occasions, with an exception for perhaps the third time was for pleasure or for fun, and he started to have his reservations about the place.

'Tell me, did Fuse tell you anything at all about this, Elsi?'

Demanding and looming over the little devil angrily, Keima deduced that Elsi was saying the truth when she shook her head, shivering and blushing in fear as Keima held her down on the floor.

'I see... so you do not know what she is planning.'

Keima groaned as he released Elsi and pulled the younger demon up to her feet. Out of all the girls, the one girl whose eccentricity matched his own was Fuse Aoba, and he feared the girl-genius as much as he feared Kasuga Kusonoki's punches and strength. She was a girl who had been smart enough, cunning enough, as well as sharp enough to look through almost every single page in the book and to make a fool out of him in more than one occasion.

But in a way, since she had issued her request, the time for all this silliness to end was near at hand as there was only one other individual whom Keima had not met with or had replied with her 'request' for him.

That girl was someone who was close to him and yet, so far away. Either way, she'd have to give an answer soon or so Keima hoped.

As the saying goes: 'Better the evil that I know, then the evil I do not' desho?


..

..

'How was your day, Keima-kun?'

Mari had been curious about the development in Keima's life, and of course the girls that he had been seeing. As his mother, she was naturally curious as to who he was actually friends with or going out with.

The first girl that she met, that Kujyo Tsukiyo girl seemed nice, if a little young and quiet. One could say that she was a clone of Keima in some ways and so Mari felt that the girl didn't have much of a future with Keima.

However, if she was indeed the girl who was going out with Keima, she had quite a high chance in doing so; due to the fact that she had dinner with all of them. Mari would die to know who was the one confessed to Keima. She wanted to know all the juicy details as Tsukiyo was simply too mysterious to pass up.

The other girl was Yoshino Asami, a girl who lived a few streets away and someone who Mari would love to see as Keima's girlfriend. If she was going out with him, Mari would finally be able to set her mind to rest about Keima.

Sure, she had been very relieved the moment Elsi arrived in their home and after it seemed that Keima did accept Elsi as part of the family.

The saying goes: Blood is thicker than water and it seemed to apply perfectly for Elsi. As despite their differences, one was rarely seen without the other.

Yoshino Asami was the very definition of a clique and standard packaged High School Girl, with all the pros and none of the cons. She was polite, a little quiet perhaps but hard-working, eager to please and most importantly, hopelessly infatuated to her son.

Mari had always wondered when Keima's 'spring' and it seemed like it had finally happened and Mari was glad to see at least a few girls after her son. It was about time too as Keima was such a handsome at the start.

When had it started to go wrong?

Either way, since it had all turned out for the best, Mari was happy and satisfied as a huge load had been lifted off her shoulders.

'Did you get the lunch I passed Asami-chan today? I was a little late in preparing it, so I had to give it to her... you didn't wait for her today, did you? It isn't good for a boy to make the girl wait.'

Before Keima could comment though, Elsi interrupted by saying that it was mean of Keima not to eat the lunch that was prepared by Mari.

'I had it for lunch, Oka-sama... it's really delicious! But Oka-sama, Kami-Onii-sama went out to meet Mio-chan today, so please don't be mad at him.'

Elsi didn't understand why Keima suddenly choked on the rice he was eating while Mari's brow furrowed at hearing the news.

..

So, there was yet another girl that Keima was involved with? What was with all the girls that wanted her son? And why were they all popping out of the blue day after day? Had he been seeing girls without her knowing it? From Elsi's words, it seemed that it was something normal, and Mari narrowed her eyes even as Keima concentrated on his food.

It was too suspicious to be normal and Mari cleared her throat, plastered a fake smile on her face and glared at Keima, demanding answers from her son.

'Well, it seems that our son has became quite popular with the girls... Kujyo-chan, Asami-chan... and now Mio-chan? Do all the girls know about this?'

Mari's anger dissipated the moment Keima nodded his head and he even seemed a little relieved when he said that they did.

'All of them know that I'm meeting her today, that was why Asami didn't have to visit today... Are you certain you never called her over today?'

It was his turn to question his mother and Mari found herself driven to a corner when she least expected it. Yes, she had prepared the lunch to aid in Asami's quest to try and confess to Keima.

Mari figured that if there was one way for Keima to obtain or to have a girl-friend, the girl would have to take the initiative and she offered Asami a free pass to Keima.

Mari was saved from further interrogation when Keima simply dropped the subject and went back to his dinner, causing Mari to swallow a little as she decided that she might have to change her opinion about her son after all.

'Your father... he was quite the player when he was young... but he changed after he married me, or so I hoped anyway... the way he confessed to me in front of the guys was the most important thing in my life and it still is.'

Stating out of the blue, Mari looked at her son and daughter to ensure that they were paying attention to her and she continued.

'So, Keima-kun, Elsi-chan... your first confession is the most important event in your world. Nothing will prepare you for that.'

She stated triumphantly but was greeted with silence from the two of them, Keima seemingly fighting the urge to smirk while Elsi avoided her gaze.

'W-what's wrong? Is there something wrong? I'm saying the truth!'

'We never doubted that.'

Keima stated calmly before going back to his games and Mari was even more confused when she saw Elsi nodding her head as well.


..

'So it has came down to this.'

Resting after finishing his homework for the day, Katsuragi Keima considered his next target, the girl who wanted to be with him for tomorrow, Shiomiya Shiori.

The request had been handed to him on Monday when he was hanging out with Yoshino Asami, and the quiet girl had stuffed a handwritten letter into his hands during one of the small breaks between classes before disappearing again.

Shiomiya Shiori... one of the first few captures of his 'career' and with a predictable archetype that Keima thought was overused and boring.

Shiori had one of the most normal and predictable endings that Keima had seen in the end. But when one reflected upon it, there was a severe lack of response time to 'capture' Shiori. If they had been a little later, who knew what might have happened as he had to determine the right 'ending' within a few days after encountering Shiori.

Sure, the archetype was predictable but it hadn't been easy to break through that silent wall that Shiori had built around herself, and it was even more difficult to see through and to estimate what she was feeling or thinking throughout the entire process.

Keima could count the number of times with her two hands that Shiori had actually spoken to him and it had been a real challenge getting her to talk to her. Still, he hadn't visited her at all since her capture and perhaps, just perhaps, like Mio she had made important progress in her life.

Meeting up with Mio had been one of the easiest requests so far and the toughest being the mental torture that had been thought up by Fuse and Haqua. He really didn't know what those two are thinking, honestly. To Mio's credit, it hadn't been as physically exhausting as he had believed it would be and he had, dare he say it, enjoyed it quite a bit.

The interaction that he had with the tsundere girl was muted at best and Keima had the sneaking suspicion, which was later verified, that Mio wasn't quite sure how to react and behave towards him.

Either way, it was all in Mio's better interest to not get involved with him. Who knew what New Hell would do if they found out about their memory restoration. Yes, it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Right now though, Keima had to start on the small essay that Shiori had slipped into the letter that she passed him.

It reminded him of one of those feudal games, a handwritten letter enclosed inside an envelope that was sealed with a sticker. Perhaps Shiori was once again influenced by one of her novels again?

Her hand written note was straight forward. She wished for him to accompany her to several places. To quote her, she wanted to build her courage up, seeing as the courage he provided wasn't sufficient at the moment.

Keima wasn't sure whether it was a jibe against him, or not as Shiori didn't seem particularly mad when he last met her a few days ago.

However, to quote his own words: 'A literary girl always has more opinions and views than others, they just do not or cannot express them properly.' That meant that Shiori might be very upset at him for abandoning her but didn't feel like it was right to comment or to berate him on that.

Whatever the case, it would be another long day today and Keima pulled out the essay and started reading it.

..

..

'… huh?'

It wasn't often to see Keima being shaken or caught by surprise but this was definitely one of those times as he was reading an re-enactment of what he and Shiori had gone through those few days when he was capturing her.

Who knew that she had such a photographic memory... scratch that, Shiori was the one who memorized or had read all the books in the library after all, who knew that Shiori could have such literary talent?

It read like one of his games, and Keima found a smile forming on his face as he slowly turned the pages on the small essay. So Shiori had penned down her own thoughts and feelings throughout the entire time and for the most part, Keima could see that his responses and actions were mostly within his margin of error.

That meant, Keima had correctly anticipated Shiori's thoughts. She must have written this to tell him how she felt during the capture.

Shiori was perhaps confused by his sudden entrance and determination to get into his head and from her own thoughts, written between the lines, Keima could see that despite all the rude and offensive things that he might have done to upset Shiori, she was more confused and to some extent, interested in him. That definitely was what he had been aiming for and it was a relief to find out that he has done his job properly, especially considering Shiori had been his 4th capture overall.

What jarred him a little though was how Shiori felt after the capture, it wasn't just about how the weight had been lifted off her, that was a given due to the weiss being removed from her body, but rather how she had continued to search for him, to look for the inspiration and the same fleeting feeling that she experienced them.

Shiori was similar to Kanon, she... remembered and longed for that filling of affection, of love, of importance for someone that she has forgotten.

Unlike Asami though, Shiori and Kanon could not fix that feeling to anyone else and perhaps it had... made them suffered a little.

Kanon had her own stress relief in her singing and Keima suspected that her singing skills and passion did increase partly due to him. She did say that it was alright if she was singing for one person and that one person was for him.

She might have remembered that promise, although who that person was was lost to time and thus, she was able to channel her frustration and loneliness into her job, which worked out fine.

Shiori on the other hand, although similar to Kanon, was unable to vocally express her feelings and instead channelled them into her literary work.

All in all, perhaps Shiori was more similar to Kanon than he had initially suspected and perhaps he needed to look at her from that same point of view as well.

What really bothered him though, was the itinerary for tomorrow as Shiori hadn't said anything about where and when to meet her.

'… If it ends up like Yoshino... it might be tricky.'

Admitting that, Keima put down her essay and calmly returned it back to the envelope before going back to his games. There were many things that he needed to catch up on.


..

..

'Good Morning, Keima-san~'

Greeting him as he stepped into the living room was Yoshino Asami and she quickly got up to bow to him while Mari frowned a little.

'Keima-kun, how many times have I told you not to keep girls waiting?'

Raising an eyebrow in disapproval, Mari sighed when Keima asked her why she was here to early.

'I woke up early, Keima-san... so I thought that... I'd walk with you to school again.'

Blushing as she said that, Asami did not miss the brief look of exasperation and she felt a little guilty, was she really forcing herself on him?

'You could have come down later, Yoshino, there's really no need to wake up so early for me.'

Keima replied firmly but gently as he told Asami to sit down again to finish her cup of tea. Elsi was nowhere to be found and Mari told her that Elsi had stepped out the moment she saw Asami at the door.
'Even my little girl is growing up now...'

Wiping her eyes a little, Mari wasn't surprised to see Keima choke on his tea to avoid her gaze while muttering to himself. He had the sneaking suspicion that she went away to meet with Haqua and by extension, Fuse.

The Mai-Hime had been dabbling into Haqua's affairs ever since becoming friends with her. Of course, Keima was using the term 'friends' very loosely as he knew that Haqua really didn't quite like to associate or socialize with the genius girl any more than she had to.

Still, Keima knew that Aoba was as persistent as anyone could get, and once she was interested in something, the likelihood that they would be able to get out of her grasp was simply laughable at best.

'Keima-san?'

Hearing Asami call his name, Keima looked up from his assumed position to see Asami pushing a bowl of rice towards him.

'Breakfast is an important meal too, Keima-san.'

Smiling as only she couldn, Asami blushed when Mari commented that if she could just come around to persuade him to eat, she wouldn't have so much problems.

'You're flattering me, Mari-san... I... I'm just doing what I can after all...'

Keima didn't doubt that but that didn't stop him from digging into breakfast, if this wasn't any indication that today was going to be a long day, he didn't know what was.


..

The morning passed uneventfully unless one counted how he bumped into who else, but Aoyama Mio at the lockers. Contrary to her derey-derey behaviour during the last part the day before, Mio was outright tsun-tsun today and she dug her heels into his foot while he was attempting to escape.

'So are you avoiding me now, commoner? Just as I expected. Hmph!'

Crossing her arms unhappily, Mio beat a hasty retreat before Keima could respond, and he could only keep his head held high as usual while being accompanied by Asami to the classroom.

The two of them didn't talk much on their way to school but they did share a few words, like how she spent the day before, homework, the upcoming tests and of course about the coming Mai-High.

'I'm sure that everyone would like it if you spend just a while with them on that day, Keima-san.'

Keima had stopped short of asking her if that was an invitation of some sort, as he felt that she was being a little obvious for his liking. Still, he would have to give the Mai High a pass unless he had to, as the thought of socializing on a day where he could spend time of his games instead was really a nightmare for him. His only hope was that Asami wouldn't bring that topic up to the rest of the girls. Especially Kanon or Aoba as the two of them would get ideas on what to do with him on that day.

Reaching class, Keima accepted another mail from Elsi that came from Shiori. The silent girl had dropped by early and requested help in passing this latter to him, something which Elsi would do.

'hmm...'

Shrugging as he walked off to a corner to have a look at the contents, Keima watched with amusement as most of the girls were bursting with curiosity about the contents of the message. Perhaps Shiori wasn't being influenced by her books and wanted to safeguard against the girls instead?

It was an laughable attempt but Keima could tell that the girls didn't want to break their promise with each other, as they kept their curiosity to themselves with as much dignity as they could muster.

..

[Good Morning, Katsuragi-san.

It would be my humble request to meet you at Disneyland today after school. I would like to continue with my confidence building with your help.

-Yours Sincerely

Shiomiya Shiori]

..

It was going to be a long day indeed.


..

..

'… I wonder if he would come with me.'

Shiomiya thought to herself as she sat behind the reception desk in the library. By requesting the afternoon off, she had to man the library during the breaks and although she didn't mind that, Shiori found herself struggling to concentrate on the most mundane tasks like helping the users borrow books as she had her mind in the clouds.

There were many possible scenarios that would happen with him around but Shiori was letting her imagination get the better of herself. There was no way anything ridiculous or fantastical like would happen right? Right.

She wanted to say but having met Haqua-san and Elsi-chan made anything and everything possible.

It might even be possible for her to be a goddess in another form or another.

'… Silly.'

She scolded herself quietly and jumped when she heard someone clear her throat and she turned towards that direction timidly for she recognize that voice.

'Fujidera-san...'

Swallowing nervously as the chairwoman of the library committee glowered down at her for spacing out, Shiori let out a relieved smile when she shook her head and asked her how she was doing.

'Is everything alright, Shiomiya? You've been acting a little weird lately... you've been spacing out more often.

'Yes... I mean, nothing is the matter...'

Shiori still had some problems with her speech patterns, but she felt comfortable with Fujidera-san as she had always been supportive of her, giving Shiori chances and new roles in the library committee. Thus it was quite easy for her to speak her mind with her as compared to others.

'Hmm? Well, I hope so, you're still behind schedule with your work, aren't you? You know, the novel that you wanted to pen for the festival?'

'It's about... done.'

Shiori admitted to the chairperson and apparently that was news to her as she pushed her glasses up in shock at the news. This wasn't a surprise to Shiori as she had been in a writing frenzy the past few nights. With her memory restored to her, she was able to polish up and further the novel that she had been writing about.

Naturally the story was written with her and Keima as the main characters, and as embarrassing as it was, Shiori managed to not only keep the identity of the protagonists a secret but was approved to have her novel published together with the literacy club's other novels for the Mai High festival.

It was an accomplishment that she was very happy about, even if she was very embarrassed as it contained scenarios that came from her own imagination. Things that she hoped would or could be done together with the person that she liked and had a crush on.

All of them were things that... Shiori wanted to experience and learn from so it'd really be a dream come true for her if it happened to her.

'… No... it will happen.'

She told herself sternly before promptly being swatted on her head by Fujiiidera-san for spacing out again.

'Seriously Shiomiya... what's wrong with you...'

She sighed just as the bell rang and she allowed Shiori to leave after telling her not to do that again.

'I-... I won't, I'll try.'

'Trying isn't good enough, you have to make sure it happens, neh? Just like how you did persuade us by locking us out of the library... Just, don't do that again.'

Scratching her nose as she shooed Shiori away, Fujiiidera did not see Shiori pause and giggle a little in agreement to her words.

'That's right... I'll... do that...'


..

..

'Good afternoon, Shiomiya.'

Keima took the liberty to wait for Shiori outside her class but Shiori did not seem too phased by his unexpected gesture as she bowed to Keima calmly and returned the greeting.

'Good afternoon, Katsuragi-san.'

'Shall we be off?'

Being totally un-phased by the attention the two of them were getting from everyone else, Shiori and Keima headed off together towards the school gates; their destination Disneyland!

The two of them were quiet by nature and being similar seemed to help resonate that urge to be silent as the two of them walked together, side by side while doing their own things.

For Shiori it was reading a small light novel that she was holding with one hand while Keima held his PFP, his hands moving like a blur as the odd couple exited the school compound.

The entire school was used to the new relationship that the Otamegane had with the girls and although some of the boys were unable to accept it, the girls were all keeping their distance, saying that love makes people blind.

Even so, seeing Shiomiya Shiori being one of them made some of the boys drop into despair again. Right now the Otamegane has got the market cornered with most if not all the most eligible girls.

If the boys were not envious before, they were now and if the girls were not confused before, this took the cake.

..

For Keima himself, being with Shiori was both a relieving and stressful thing all at the same time; as he was able to play his games in peace due to Shiori's preference in staying inside her own world. Stressful as with two different inner worlds so close together meant there would be friction.

The friction wouldn't be visible to people around them but the two of them could, they rejected each other due to the obvious difference in their ideals. Still, both parties were happy to compromise and remarkably, the two worlds seemed to have came to terms with each other.

All they wished for was silence and peace for them to immerse themselves in their own little worlds At their own leisure and as they stepped into the train station and waited for a train to pull up, Shiori looked up for a moment to catch Keima staring at her curiously and she blushed before raising her book up to hide her face.

'Ano... Katsuragi-san... it'd be nice if you didn't stare at me so much. It's... embarrassing'

Keima could swear that two cat ears appeared over her head and flopped down to increase the impact of the image, steam was literally coming out of her ears as she tried to get Keima to stop staring at her.

'That book, may I have a look at it?'

Keima looked genuinely interested and he took the book from Shiori, who simply nodded dumbly as she stared at him scrutinizing the title. It was a light novel that had recently been brought into the library, and being the librarian, she had first dibs, even if she shouldn't abuse her privileges like that. It was a popular book too and she was interested in seeing what it was about.

Apparently it was a novelization of a popular game that included several additional scenes that the creator had included in them-oh...

Looking at Keima timidly, Shiori hoped that he wasn't getting any odd ideas like how she had picked this book up to appear favourably in his eyes.

'Would you mind if I read this for a moment, Shiomiya?'

He said so abruptly after flipping through the contents for a moment, Shiori nodded and then before she realized what she was doing, spoke that she would like to see what Keima was playing too.

'You... would?'

Keima looked genuinely surprised and Shiori turned redder when his hands grabbed her shoulders tightly to emphasize his feelings.

'If you... insist...'

It was like Keima was just being a little emotional as he quickly released Shiori and handed her his PFP, not before saving his game of course.

'Just press this to progress and this to check the dialogue... ah, I have a save file at the start that you can start with...'

Explaining to her, Keima set up everything for Shiori and the two of them sat down in empty seats in the train as they headed towards their destination.


..

They almost missed their stop as they were lost in the other's inner world. It felt, right somehow to be able to do that, and this made Shiomiya Shiori a very happy girl.

Just like how she had started getting interested in songs by reading the scores and the lyrics, she was beginning to enjoy Keima's games by going through them logically and slowly.

The games were interesting, the characters were interesting and although she didn't quite understand most of what was going on, she enjoyed herself nonetheless. It was similar to some of the books that she had read before and with the music and the visuals, it was much easier to relate to.

That was why she was lost in his games while for Keima he had been too focused on flipping through the novel to notice the things around him.

It was odd to not have choices to choose, and it was very odd to see a linear plot in anything, at least for him anyway but he had been satisfied overall by the novelization of the game that he had played before.

Ironically or perhaps coincidentally, Shiori was now going through the sequel for the game and although it wasn't one that he personally recommend due to the later contents, Shiori was a slow reader compared to him, scratch that, a fast reader compared to normal individuals but thankfully didn't come close to the more... disturbing and explicit scenes in the end.

From her progress and her choices, Shiori didn't have much talent in reading people or the plots and was heading for the Bad End.

The extra content in the novels was a little disappointing though and it was something that could be improved.

'Shall... we go, Katsuragi-san.'

Pulling his sleeve, Keima looked down to see Shiori looking down as they stood in front of the train station and the entrance of Disneyland.

'Sure... if that's what you wish.'

Keima did not sigh, Shiori seemed timid enough and she was probably thanking her lucky stars that he agreed to come with them in the first place. The key thing is not to get her started in a downward spiral of self-dejectedness. What Shiori needed now was confidence to get what she wanted off her chest.

That's right, she needed courage and in her own words: 'Confidence Building' was necessary for that!


..

'… The haunted mansion?'

Keima's eyes twitched a little as the two of them stared at the signboard over the flimsy looking shack and he didn't even feel Shiori clamping her hands on his arm till she tugged at it.

'… yes...'

As laconic as ever... huh?

'… If that's what you wish...'

Lowering his head, Keima mustered his courage and plunged straight into the lion's den together with Shiori, the girl clinging to him desperately as they started their first 'confidence building' exercise.

The Capturing God on the other hand, asked himself what he had gotten himself into, as he really didn't like amusement rides at all!

Much later on, the two of them staggered out of the amusement ride panting and pale-faced.

It hadn't been so bad at the start, Keima was able to deduce where most of the traps and hidden monsters were hiding and after pointing them out to Shiori, she had braved all of it without breaking a sweat.

She had clung to him tightly though and that made him very conscious of her, which later led to his downfall as an unexpected trapdoor burst out in front of them, terrifying Shiori and causing the poor girl to bolt away, pulling him along for the rest of the journey.

Shiori was a mess of nerves; she was scared silly by the monsters and traps despite Keima's constant reminders that the monsters and zombies weren't real.

'Besides... this wasn't 'confidence building' at all. It was more of courage building...'

Keima muttered to himself as he bought drinks for Shiori and that's when his own words hit him like a brick.

'… Isn't that what she wanted? Did she phrase it inaccurately today?'

Keima wondered thoughtfully as he made his way back.

..

'T-thank you...'

Shiori mumbled back after sipping a bit of the tea that Keima passed her and despite herself, she slowly inched away from him as he sat beside her.

'Are you okay, Shiomiya? Do you feel better now?'

It was shameful to admit but she had been terrified and in her hurry to get out of that place, and had probably lowered her overall stock value in Katsuragi Keima's eyes.

'… I... I'm... sorry.'

She managed to squeeze out and Keima's response made her blush even more even though she knew that he was saying that to comfort her.

'Don't be... it wouldn't be called a Haunted Mansion if it wasn't the least bit scary, would it?'

Closing one eye as he returned to Shiori's book, the two of them spent some time in silence before Shiori got up and pulled his sleeve again.

'L-let's... g-go on... I... I still want to... work on my confidence...'

She smiled embarrassedly as she pointed towards the next ride, the roller coaster aptly named the Cyclone of Death.

'… Like I said... it's bravery.'

He said that out loud as he was pulled off, Keima heard Shiori giggle before nodding her head.

'I'm sorry, I bit my tongue~'

'No, you definitely did it on purpose!'


..

It was an interesting experience to say the least and Keima found that with the influence of fear, Shiori was 'liberated' from the stony silence that had characterized her. It wasn't a good thing per se as he knew that he was seeing a side of her that she wasn't showing naturally.

But it was comforting to see that she was enjoying herself though, as although she screamed her lungs out and the death grip on his hand never once loosened, Shiori was having fun.

Was this just a pretence to have a date with him? If that was so, Shiori could have said so, right?

It was an ordinary date and could be compared to the one he had with Kanon, only more impersonal. Shiori really wanted to go on the rides and so Keima reasoned that perhaps she just needed some company, some 'confidence' for her to get on the rides in the first place?

Did she not have any friends? Well, Keima was not one to speak, and he shrugged those thoughts aside even as Shiori recovered once again after getting out of another ride.

'Are you alright?'

Keima asked her as she struggled for breath after getting out of another ride, one that had messed up her hair and Keima reached out to pet her hair down for her.

'A-ano...'

Shiori blushed deeply as she slowly coaxed him to stop, deciding to smooth her hair down herself.

'… There is... one more place I want to go... to...'

Keima blinked as Shiori got up and after waiting for a moment he followed after her. She must have something up her sleeve, and it must be important for Keima had falsely believed that this was all she wanted.

He had previously determined that Shiori was similar to Kanon so was there something that he had missed out?

She was an individual who had remembered a little part of her memories about him prior to the memory recall that all the girls had experienced. This part was obvious... Kanon had vented or shunted her feelings into her songs and Shiori had turned to her novel instead... what was the link...

'… I should have... seen it before.'

Keima muttered to himself darkly as he recalled the handwritten letter that she had given him. It all started and ended there. No, that was the beginning, but if there was a beginning, there must be an ending as well!


..

..

Bringing him to higher ground, Shiori panted as she looked around anxiously till Keima placed one hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing so.

'Shiomiya, no... Shiori.'

He repeated her name to her confusion, and she was about to ask what was wrong when Keima showed her the letter that she written him a day ago and she froze.

'Or should I say... Shiomi-chan?'

Smirking as he saw Shiori turn red at his words, his suspicion, no, he is the Capturing God, he has seen the correct ending again for Shiori after all.

'You were following what you written in your novel... didn't you? That's why... you were able to act naturally today.'

By now Shiori was hiding her face in her hands, cupping down to avoid seeing Keima. She wasn't embarrassed, well, she was, but she was more humiliated to know that Keima had figured that out too. She thought she'd get away with it too.

'… Though I'm a little disappointed that you didn't write more dialogue in your novel, Shiomi?'

Taking another jibe at her, Keima guided Shiori to sit down in another empty bench as she nodded in reply.

'I... I... I wanted to... but... I'm... not good with speech... after all.'

Shiori was persuaded to look at Keima when he reached out, cupping her chin as he guided her eyes to meet his.

'If you're writing, you're simply putting your thoughts into words. You can say anything you want to, Shiori. I've said this before... perhaps not to you, but.'

Taking a deep breath, Keima smiled at Shiori as he repeated what he said so the night before.

'A literary girl always has more opinions and views than others, they just do not or cannot express them properly.'

It was enough to make Shiori laugh again, a real happy laugh as Keima made her lean against him while she laughed. It was the funniest thing she had heard for some time but it seemed so right to her.

'That's... ridiculous, K-Katsuragi-san... b-but, I guess... it's true too.'

Shori admitted as Keima nodded while letting go of her chin. He was getting a little uncomfortable at being so close and intimate to Shiori. Who knew what she'll do to him when she realized that?

'… did you finish... my novel at all? H-how... did you know?'

'No, I just read what you've sent me... you called yourself Shiomi... but I saw you clutching a script earlier. You shouldn't have done that at all.'

Keima berated her but Shiori shook her head and explained herself.

..

'No, I wanted to... I guess, I wanted to feel whether I was right... the feeling that I wanted Shiomi-chan to feel... was what I would feel. Thats why... I wanted Katsuragi-san to accompany me...'

It was reasonable he supposed but he added quickly.

'It really wasn't fair to me, or for you, Shiomiya.'

'… That's not... what you said, Katsuragi-san... you said, that I have more opinions than everyone else... and what I've written are my thoughts... that means, that what I've written... is what I wanted to say, desho?'

Blushing deeply as she turned Keima's words against him, Shiori leaned closer and gave him a peck on his cheeks as a thank you gift.

'And... that's the ending of my novel... Katsuragi-san...'


Author's Notes: R&R would be nice and appreciated and would help me lots.