The World Only the Girls Know: A Sorrel's Teasing
Chapter 10: Subtle Intrusion
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: Please, R&R and leave your thoughts! Motivate me to write more =)
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Of course there would be problems if a boy was to be seen watching the swimming club practice directly in front of them and thus Keima was forced to sit at one corner and observe how the girls practice.
Minami had pulled Keima into the swimming complex without any thought of subtlety or reservation whatsoever and this made most of the other members of the swimming club a little embarrassed or curious towards him.
He was their Senior after all and the 'Senior Factor' was still in play, all underclass-mans were naturally curious about their seniors.
It is the element of mystery, maturity and of the knowledge that they obtained that made the 'Senior Factor' so powerful and influential to everyone and those girls in the All-Girl Swimming team were not immune to it either.
It would be tricky, but Keima himself knew that at all costs he must not embarrass Minami in front of this crowd. Even if she herself might not be happy about the attention that he was getting, he must remain 'loyal' to her.
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Putting his PFP away, the first time this day, Keima looked at the crowd of girls gathered around Minami with a bored expression; at least, if they were to approach him in the end. They seemed to be unable to muster the courage to approach him for now and although he would not have it any other way, that meant he is unable to game as well as long as he was in view.
'…'
The negative aspect of the 'Senior Factor' was shown plainly this time. As with any façade or any act that is put up, it is difficult to maintain under long scrutiny. The 'Senior Factor' is better than most other factors as there isn't a need for him to keep up the act for long periods of time as compared to other methods.
'… after all, a 'Senior' would have less contact with the 'junior' and it is relatively easy for a 'senior' to impress others than a 'junior' would as they would have more 'authority' and 'judgment' when making mistakes.'
However, a 'senior' would have more difficulty in covering a mistake than a 'junior' as they carry the weight and burden of people's expectations on them.
Thus, they suffer the same flaw as girls who are 'Ojou-sama's' or who appear to have high social standing in a game. It was the norm for those girls to have a crucial weakness or a 'secret' that the protagonist would find out, thus sharing a bond between the two that cannot be broken.
If a 'senior' screw up, it would mean creating a totally different image that would be impossible for him to replace.
'…'
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In short, when he is in full view of all the 'juniors', he must not break the illusion of the 'Senior Factor'. At no cost must he do that, especially with Minami around.
Even if he was the girl that created the image of him from scratch, made from all the positive and negative image of him and yet still fall in love with him, Ikoma Minami was still a normal junior high girl…
Looking up all of a sudden, he noticed all of the girls staring at him and when he and Minami made eye contact, she waved happily at him while he considered his actions.
Should he:
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1. Wave Back
2. Stay Silent
3. Scoff and Look away
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It was a tough choice among the three. The first decision would no doubt create the image of a caring senior but would at the same time mean that another fact would thus be established among the girls.
That he was indeed her boyfriend… something that he has to avoid at all costs. Thus, even though this is the best choice to increase the affection levels of Minami, it was probably the one choice that he could not take.
However, he must be reminded that Choice one could possibly be a trap as well, it may trigger a 'Bad End' if she made another girl take a fancy to him.
… No, what is he thinking, he is not in a gal game! (Author's Notes: Nice job breaking the 4th wall…)
Option 2 would be the option which might trample over her feelings while giving the other girls the opinion that he was cold or stuck up to not acknowledge her. However, the term: Tsundere is gaining popularity in the Real World, probably due to the Internets and Keima had reluctantly allowed it to affect all the possible decisions in the Real World as well.
He might be described as a person who was trying to be 'hard to get' and that would actually make the girls be more supportive of Minami, egging her on.
It is a situation that he dislike, but it could be a win-win situation as well for Minami as he would not only retain the 'Senior Factor' as well as allowing Minami to not gain any additional 'rivals' from the gaggle of girls that now surrounds her.
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The last choice would be the choice to totally trample over Minami's feelings while creating the impression that he was forced here. This choice is not the choice to choose, lest he is trying to test her love and resolve for him…
Thus the decision shall only be from the first two choices.
Which should he choose?
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'Neh neh, Minami-chan… is that senior your…'
The other girls looked at each other before they crowded around her in a large circle that prevented her from running away once they have all changed into their swimming wear.
They had spent the time 'checking out' the boy who she had brought over and it made Minami feel a sense of proud when the overall opinion was divided between: 'He looks so mysterious that he's kinda cool!' and 'He's kinda odd… isn't he that geek the seniors were talking about?'
No matter what the seniors view Katsuragi senpai to be, he was still the most important person in Minami's life that helped her get over the regret that she had felt when she was left out of the last swimming meet and being forced to 'quit' the swimming club as there was no need for her to practice again.
After that incident she had went back to practice and she has found herself more motivated and thus more able in her swimming, clocking in new personal bests and becoming a role model for the younger and newer members of the club.
Katsuragi senpai is like a savior to her and there was no reason for her junior's words to influence what she felt for the boy after all.
'Is he your boyfriend, Minami-senpai?'
'… Not yet…'
She timidly replied while the girls all gave out comments like: 'Eh… really?' 'But then why is he here?' 'But Minami-senpai is holding hands with him… right?'
'But.. I confessed to him…'
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She admitted with a bright blush and that took all of the younger girls by surprise and they all covered their mouth in shock. Some of the girls were innocent enough or perhaps not brave enough to confess to the boys they have taken a fancy to and it was a great shock to them.(Author's Note: I understand that in Real Life, this is not much of an issue when you are 15-16.. but let's assume it is.)
Even if Ikoma Minami was their senior who had taught them many things, she did not seem the type to be actively pursuing a guy or to be more mean towards her, a girl who would have any experience in a relationship.
But to think that such a quiet, soft spoken and unremarkable girl would actually beat all of them in confessing to a boy!
Even if she was a year or two their senior, it was made even more unremarkable by the courage she took to even wave at him in the middle of all of them.
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'…'
Even though he simply stayed silent and did not wave back, he still nodded in recognition to Minami calling out to her and that caused most of the girls to crowd around her asking for more details. How they came to meet each other, how long have they been seeing each other, how did she actually hide everything from them and most importantly, what they have been doing together!
'E-ehhh! But aren't we supposed to practice?'
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It seems that he has made the right choice, for once and Keima breathed a sigh of relief, shocked that he has been subconsciously so tensed up. Was it a sign that he has begun to stop trusting himself and in his own abilities? He is the Capturing God, that is the truth and even now he can still 'capture' all the game girls with nary a thought or making him break out in sweat.
But has his repeated failures in preventing 'flags' and 'events' to trigger cause him to doubt himself? That must not be…
Pushing his glasses up, he started to furiously run through the events that had happened over the past two days. It was true that many events have not gone as what he had expected… but he was still in control of the situation… right?
A creeping feeling that he could not shake off manifested itself and he fidgeted uncomfortably while stopping his game and placing it on his lap.
It was no good, he could not concentrate like this… there were too many implications. 'what ifs' and 'maybes' that he could not find the answer to all of it right now. Better rest his mind and focus on the 'heroine' that is now in front of him, swimming in the pool and completely overtaking all of the other girls who were practicing with her.
She stood out amongst the others with her multi-colored hair and as she touched the ends of the pool, signaling her victory in that particular lap, she pulled off the goggles she was wearing and looked towards the direction where Keima was and she waved to him, happy about her performance. A new personal best! It was like she said, she will perform well if Katsuragi was watching her and she smiled and blushed when the girls all crowded around her to congratulate her.
The icing on the cake was that even Keima nodded and waved slightly at her before dropping his hand.
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It was odd that he was not chased out by the Swimming coach, but he had made arrangements with Elsi and to Haqua as well for him to be an exception.
After all, unlike other girls, he clearly stated that:
I still prefer 2D girls over 3D ones.
And thus would be no 'threat' to the girls when they were changing and neither will he approach them while during club activities. That was probably why a guy was allowed to oversee the All-Girls swimming club.
'…'
There have been no clues so far, he went this far to help fulfill one of Ikoma Minami's wishes. After all, she had probably not thought through her plan when she invited him over to watch her swim, the rules and regulations had probably not mattered in her mind at that point of time. However, this is the real world and much as Keima detests it, he knew more about rules in the real world than in the games.
After all, the world that he resides in is the perfect example of how the world in general should be. But since this is the 'real' world, he was forced to live his life in this 'world'.
Thus, he is well acquainted with many of the rules as he has the tendency to break them, he is not known as a delinquent/genius student in Mai-High after all. If it was not for his stellar results and his ability to more or less minimize the 'damage' caused by him breaking the rules, he would be thrown out of this school long ago.
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Furthermore, he is a part of the Runaway Spirit Squad where his partner, Elsi was a girl with a lack of common sense in the Human world. If he does not have a clear understanding of the 'rules' in place, they would not be so successful.
Thus, it had taken him lots of work, (mostly Elsi's efforts) and lots of knowledge just to make that simple wish of 'him visiting her and watching her practice' come true.
Kudos to the Capturing God, and Kudos to Ikoma Minami, who has him just where she wanted him.
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Even if she herself did not realize she had pulled just a good move, pulling him into her own 'territory' a place where she has 'home ground' advantage as well as the power of numbers to influence his decision.
In retrospect, this was probably the most powerful 'move' by a 'heroine' thus far. Forcing and making the Capturing God to maneuver himself into her trap… was the dark horse and strongest candidate Ikoma Minami after all?
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He had managed to survive the grueling wait… until he had remembered that he can game while blindfolded, sort of and he started to play his game while just using his hearing, plugging into the PFP while keeping an concerned eye on Minami.
She really seemed to be getting better in his swimming; at least that was his assumption as she kept getting congratulated by her juniors. Unknown to him however, she was actually being showered with comments about her 'boyfriend', mainly about how jealous they were that she had such a 'cold and yet cool' boyfriend waiting for her while minority was about how she has smashed all her personal records to bits with today's performance.
Even the Swimming coach could not help herself and mentioned that it was probably the power of love that enabled Minami to actually swim much better today.
'It is a pity you are graduating soon, Ikoma. If not we can use you in the next swimming meet. Looks like all you need is a little motivation and a reason to swim for, eh?'
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Winking at her, she had continued to allow her to practice with the juniors while turning an eye to Keima before shaking her head as well. Looks like the rumors she had heard about him were right, he only did have eyes for that girl.
Odd though… that she has overhead some of the other students saying that he has spent lunch with another girl in his class.
'I must have heard wrongly…'
Not wishing to hurt or endanger the fledging relationship and her charge's happiness, the swimming coach went back to supervising the girls while Katsuragi Keima simply waited for the 'event' to surface.
There is no doubt in his mind that it was an event and the things that he has made Elsi prepare for him would be all necessary.
Even if he might be wrong at times, he is the Capturing God. Even if the options that he choose were wrong, all the archetypes, possibilities of the options were all in his mind.
There was no way he could be wrong with that buildup!
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'We'll be seeing you, Ikoma-senpai!'
'See you tomorrow, Ikoma-senpai!'
The girls that were closest to her hung around her till the end as they changed to their school clothes and were ready to take their leave.
Taking one more look at Keima, who had not moved from the spot despite the sun setting, they giggled and whispered to Minami that they will be rooting for her.
'At least get him to kiss you, Ikoma-senpai!'
'No no, at least make sure that you're a couple this time!'
'Ahhh! I can't stand it! My imagination is running wild! Let's go and not disturb them already!'
'Ah! Is Ikoma-senpai embarrassed that there are only the two of you? Now you can really be inhi- Ah!'
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Turning red and chasing the pesky and teasing juniors away, Ikoma Minami turned back to look at Katsuragi Keima as he stood up upon them leaving. Slowly walking down the steps of the spectator stands that he were on earlier, Keima ignored or was not aware of the fact that in the warm orange glow of the evening sun, his features were forever burnt into that innocent girl's memory.
Just like how he had 'Captured' Ikoma Minami the first time, this marked the end of yet another 'Capture'.
Ikoma Minami might have fallen in love with him before, but not in this scale. She was literally overwhelmed by the look on Keima's face as he slowly walked over to him.
She might not have believed in love in first sight before, but her thumping heart betrayed the fact that she was probably a firm believer now.
He was probably just tired of waiting for her but the slow meaningful steps that he took to meet up with her again left her imagination running wild (her juniors probably influenced her with their naïve hopes) and as she shivered from the cold wind, (she had not changed out of her swimsuit after all), Ikoma Minami blushed like the setting sun when Katsuragi Keima placed a jacket over her trembling shoulders and asked if she was cold.
She really, almost fainted then out of bliss and joy.
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It seems that at least for the first round, the winner is the Capturing God!
Author's Notes: Really, please R&R!