Hey guys! Belated Thanksgiving! Managed to squeeze in a chapter between all my school work. Need a little emotional pick-me-up, so I'm looking forward to those reviews, got it? :)

Kidding...

The fic's still on hiatus, so don't wait.

As Keima and Youko climb up the quiet hill of a quiet neighborhood, Keima becomes more and more nervous.

Then there's one other place I need to show you, just so we're even.

Keima frowns. This is bad.

They were going pretty far up the hill. It was a steep hill too. So steep, in fact, that if it weren't for the Strength Suit, Keima might have never been able to keep up with Youko.

Steep hills meant height. The more height, the better the view. The better the view, the more romantic the event...

This is bad.

If this goes on, the Three-way Capture will fail.

"Ah!" Youko says, suddenly stopping in delight when they had reached the hill's crest, making Keima's heart sink as he looks around. How far were they from sea level?! He couldn't even see the mountains above the houses anymore! It was all sky!

"Katsuragi-kun, over here!" She says excitedly as she runs into a dingy corner of the street. Keima reluctantly follows her and finds-

"Tadaaaa!" Youko sings theatrically, spreading her arms.

Keima wears a nonplussed expression, though he is still nervous. "You wanted to show me... a wall?"

It was an old cinder block wall, the side of a planter. You could tell by the trees poking out from the top.

The View was obviously over the wall. Why was she excited by such an obvious trick? Still, he'd give a few points for a real girl attempting cuteness.

Youko giggles. "Ah, but you see, this isn't just any wall!" she says mysteriously. "Only a select few in Fujioka know of the secret beyond. And tonight, you will join our esteemed ranks." She searches the corner of the wall. "Actually, it was Rei who showed me this spot." Youko slips her foot into what seemed to be a foothold, climbs the adjacent tree, and from that, hops to the top.

...The monologue was... not terrible (except for the last part, which ruined it), and Keima couldn't help admiring the graceful way she climbed up the barrier. It was almost like watching a pretty ninja disguised in normal clothes. Since events in most galgames were illustrated with still pictures instead of animations, not only would events like this be expensive to create, they would've been difficult to unlock because of its unusually good qualit-

Wait.

Stop.

This is the real.

God shakes his head.

Then he notices Youko, hunkered down above him with one hand extended in invitation. She is smiling. "Let's go, Katsuragi-kun."

Keima stares at the hand.

...If he weren't currently Katsuragi the Baseball Player, she would've gotten an earful on how it was inappropriate for a heroine, unless she was a Tomboy character, to reverse the roles. Yes, Youko might've had a little Tomboy coming from her soccer background, despite being primarily the Helpful Class Rep type. Still, why couldn't she just let him climb the tree?

Keima scrolls through his options. It would be bad to initiate any more events.

He takes her hand.

She pulls him up...

...and nothing happens. No foot accidentally slipping off the edge, no faltering and forcing a panicked Youko to pull him close...

"Thanks," Keima murmurs, ready to sigh in relief that his poor coordination hadn't failed him just then, when he realizes, to his dismay, that she hasn't let go of his hand.

They are also standing quite close to each other, shoulders nearly touching, trees towering over them on either side.

Youko's attention is elsewhere. She is staring at the distance.

Keima follows her gaze and sees... lights.

Many, many shining lights, dappling the landscape like a sea of golden stars.

It is Fujioka City, lying like the ethereal wings of an evanescent dream. It winked and sparkled like shelves of rare dating sims at conventions.

Even God had to stop and absorb the wonder.

Eventually, Keima murmurs a single word. "...Fireworks."

Youko blinks. She looks at Keima, who is still staring at the bright expanse.

"Would you be able to see fireworks from here? During a festival? Or new years?" That would've made the perfect event.

"Er... I think so."

"Interesting..." He says, his hand at his chin in thought. Not bad, Real.

Youko suddenly yelps as she drops his other hand, and the spell is broken.

Keima looks down at Youko beside him, whose head is turned away.

"Sorry..." she says shyly.

This was it.

He could already see the ending.

He could grab her right now before this incredible view, the two of them lit by the gentle golden light of the city, and confess...

...but that would be very, very bad!

This is what he'd been afraid of! The conquest was going too well! Who knew changing your own parameters would be this effective on a desperate target! A Secret Spot Event on the first date? It meant her love points were high enough that he could end the night with their first kiss!

And a Secret Spot Event HAS to end with a kiss, or a promise of some kind, otherwise it loses its meaning!

Youko had progressed from feeling shy, to somehow steeling herself for a decision. Her back is straight, and she seems to be mentally preparing herself to say something.

The Three-way Capture... Keima had to save the climax for tomorrow, or the plan would fall apart and the other two runaway spirits won't get resolved.

He had to slow the capture down somehow, to subtly break her charged mood without losing love points! The safest route to do that was...

...to talk about another girl.

Youko opens her mouth.

"It seems like you and Sagami-san had a lot of fun as middle-schoolers."

Youko stops short.

Keima hopes it's the right line. Please, Real, cooperate for once! "To find a view like this, I mean," Keima continues, looking around.

"Oh." Youko says, deflated... but also... somewhat relieved. I was going to say something embarrassing again. "Yeah. Rei and I..." Her thoughts drift to the first time Rei had shown her this place. They were both exhausted from climbing the hill, but they were laughing. "Rei and I... did have a lot of fun. We always went places."

"Thanks for sharing."

Youko looks up at him.

"It was good to see." He smiles at her, then laughs. "But this really doesn't make us even. It's worth at least ten more dinners."

Youko stares at him for a moment.

A smiles starts to tug at the corners of her lips. She stifles a laugh, covering her mouth with a hand. Then she tilts her head happily. "Then I guess it'll be your turn to show me around Maijima next time, dinners included."

An alarm rings.

Youko feels her pocket vibrating. She pulls out her phone and looks at the screen for a long, silent moment. Then she stops the alarm and replaces the phone. "I'm sorry, Katsuragi-kun..." She gives him a sad smile. "I have to go home. My mom will expect me back by seven."

Inside, Keima melts in relief. He nods. "I understand. Let me walk you."

They leave the view. Before jumping down, Keima gives it one last look.

The dappled lights... the distant, glittering expanse... It was the kind of view you returned to in later years with the person you first shared it with.

"Katsuragi-kun?"

Keima is pulled from his thoughts. Youko is looking up at him from below.

"I know we didn't get to spend much time here today, but..." she fidgets. "...we should come back when there are fireworks."

Her words hung in the cool air; a breeze rustled the trees around them.

"That would be... nice."

Youko's face brightens. Keima jumps down after her, and both boy and girl begin their walk down the hill.

...Youko doesn't know that this is the last time he would come here. She doesn't know that this is the last time she would share this view with him, before her memories are erased.

She had shared something important with Keima. Keima would remember the gift, but she wouldn't be able to.

She wouldn't remember that she had opened her heart to someone.

As Keima and Youko leave the view behind, Keima makes a decision.

Enough doubting. It was idiotic to feel guilty.

Keima would make sure that the next time Youko returned to see that view, it would not be with him.

No... the next time Youko returned to that place, she would be with Rei, her real friend.

And when she had found herself another man, Youko would show him that place, and return to watch the fireworks with him, not Keima.

Gods have no place in the realm of mortals. Gods sit too high above them. Gods merely guide their flock to the proper endings.

That's the way it was in games, and that's the way it should be in the real.

X

"Ah, I have your money, Katsuragi-kun!" Youko chirps as she steps up the porch to Whiteflower Apartments. "The team pooled their allowances for Akiko-chan this morning. Let me just go upstairs and get it."

"Wait," Keima blurts out. He is standing on the lower step. He looks away shyly, scratching his cheek. "I'll pick it up tomorrow."

Youko blinks. "You don't want it back now?"

"I don't really need it yet." Then, he intones brightly, "Tell you what, I'll stop by Yukinoshita-san's school tomorrow to pick her up, then I'll take it once she gets home. I've got business to do here again, anyway. The game stores were really nice, but I didn't get a good look in."

Youko is confused. Then it hits her. Is he using the money as an excuse to see her again? She blushes. "W-wait, Katsuragi-kun!"

Keima is already at the sidewalk. "I had a lot of fun today. I'll see you tomorrow, Yukinoshita-san!" He runs off before she can continue.

Youko leans against the doorframe, feeling weak, her heart hammering against her chest, as she watches after him.

What is it about Katsuragi-kun that made him so different from everyone else? It was as if everything he is, and everything he said... was everything that Youko needed.

"Happiness..." she murmurs quietly. "...The path I ought to take..."

She runs up the stairs to her apartment. She take a deep breath outside her door, and pushes it open.

"Mom?" Youko whispers. "I'm home! Oh."

Harumi is asleep on the couch, the TV remote in her hands.

She's been watching TV? That's not something she usually does.

Wondering what she had been watching, Youko gently takes the remote from her mother's hands, points it at the screen, and presses the power button.

The TV stays off.

Huh. Youko puts the remote down and goes up to the TV. She presses the power button on the TV itself. Then she notices, on the floor, that it is unplugged from the socket. "That's weird," she whispers, examining the plug before plugging it in again.

Youko looks at her mother...

Harumi is panting slightly, a film of sweat on her face.

Youko kneels beside her in concern. "Mom?" She feels her forehead, and immediately pulls away.

"Mom?" Youko says worriedly, shaking her. "Mom!"

Harumi opens tired and heavy eyes. "Welcome home, Youko," she manages hoarsely, before succumbing to a fit of harsh coughing.

X

The date with Rei had gone fine. Merui got Rei to talk about Youko; Merui solidified her reputation as a cool person and invited Rei to the Pond the next day, which was the most important part.

Now that the day is over, Merui arrives at her cramped apartment complex. She rushes up the dingy stairs to her two-bedroom home and goes directly to the studio apartment across from it.

"How's it going, Maggie?" Merui asks, shutting the door behind her.

Maggie looks up from her hagoromo, worried. "Merui-chan! The DVDs didn't work!" she exclaims. "You said the movies were going to help Harumi-san think about her relationship with Youko-chan and make it better, but look!"

Merui looks at the hagoromo screen. A dark cloud is surrounding Harumi's unconscious body as Youko rushes to and from the kitchen for towels and a basin.

"The kaketama is stronger! Not only that, it's making her sick, like Youko-san's kaketama after she first met Keima-kun. What should we do?!"

Because her buddy does not answer, Maggie looks up. "Merui-chan?"

"It's fine," Merui says with difficulty. "The operation is progressing just fine... I was a bit more careful with Rei, but the gap in Rei's heart has gotten bigger too."

Maggie stares at her. "What do you mean?" Maggie's eyes widen as comprehension sinks in.

It can't be. Merui wouldn't.

"...You mean... you expected this to happen?"