The World Only the Girls Know: A Moonflower's Wish for a Certain Side Story
A Certain Side 3 – Chapter 4
Author's Note: 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: God, that was a rough week. I'm low on morale, so humor me with a few reviews why don't you? Aha~
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'It's happening again.'
Keima commented to himself as the two of them made their way to a vending machine. The short moment of privacy, was thankfully preserved as neither of Kanon's companions chased after the two of them.
It was a sign of trust that had been built between him and the other three, that honestly Keima wasn't really comfortable about.
His first meeting with Ms. Okada had been quite interesting, to say the least. She had no doubt heard of him from Kanon, and thankfully Kanon had told her about their relationship with each other prior to their first meeting.
It hadn't quite been planned, with Ms. Okada dropping by to pick up Kanon during one of the group dates that the girls themselves were fond of organising. Kanon's manager had been very pleased and happy to see all of Kanon's friends, commenting that she was relieved that she had made many friends despite her working schedule.
She of course, had been less than amused when she found out that they were all competitors and love rivals. Still, Keima knew that Ms. Okada was also conflicted despite not showing it visually.
Even if Kanon's heart might be lost to him, someone who might actually harm Kanon's career if it was made public, the alternative of losing him might also cause a backlash on her career.
She was caught between a rock and a hard place.
The only consolation, if she could call it that, was how Keima didn't seem to be actively pursuing any one of the girls, Kanon included. At least Kanon wasn't linked or attracted to some playboy in the school.
During the past week and the different times where they actually met, where Kanon had actively tried her best to return to school to monopolize Keima, Ms. Okada had found less reasons to actually criticize Keima as well.
Taking aside his flaws of being an obsessive gamer, as well as having more than his share of unsavoury rumors in school. Katsuragi Keima had been nothing but a gentleman to Kanon, he did not push Kanon to do anything that she didn't want to.
It was more of Kanon pulling him around than anything else, and he did not seem not interested either.
All in all, like with the rest of the real that Keima was dealing with, Ms. Okada was forced to accept the 'image' of Katsuragi Keima that had been built up painstakingly by him and Aona.
That of a clueless, but sincere 'protagonist'.
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'It's happening again, what do you mean, Keima-kun?'
Kanon asked even as Keima stuffed his PFP into his pocket, he didn't really meet Kanon's eyes but he pointed wordlessly to the vending machine to see if Kanon wanted a drink.
'Ah, no, I'm fine. But do continue, Keima-kun! What's... going on.'
Kanon suddenly frowned as she remembered something. Like Keima had mentioned before, each of the girls had developed their own way of interacting with Keima, some might have needed a small push from Keima to get started, but it was true that they each had found a way of interacting with Keima. It wasn't that they were comparing or anything, but they all had their ways of speaking with Keima, their own ways to know Keima, and most importantly their own ways to love Keima.
Kanon was no exception, and she did that mostly through her attempts to try and read Keima's feelings. Keima might be the Capturing God, and he was perhaps the best in 'capturing' as well as knowing exactly what he wanted, needed and should say at every moment through his own analytical analysis of the situation.
If he was given enough input, nothing was impossible for him.
Kanon however was different, she was an idol. And the main job, or the main purpose for her profession was to sing, perform and entertain, and make other people like her. Through the few years she had been in idol school, and by herself, she had picked up on how to read the expressions, vocal tones as well as small physical cues to give her clues on what a person was feeling or thinking at each moment.
Kanon had known Keima only after he had captured her, but during her sparsely spread out visits to school for her exams or for her attendance, Kanon had started cataloguing and memorizing Keima's facial cues.
So she could pick up that Keima had his 'game' face on. It was shown only when he decided on a course of action, and there was only one thing that Keima would decide to do, willingly, that was not partaking in his games.
Kanon was resigned to it and she sighed helplessly, before slotting in a few coins and getting a drink as well.
She knew she didn't want to, the least of the reasons was because she'll have to take off her mask, but she needed something to distract her from this, a drink helps very much in this regard.
'I'm afraid that Rise has a crush on me.'
Keima answered, almost sheepishly at least, and Kanon realized that just like how she had read his cues, Keima could read her own cues as well. Probably always did have, and it made her blush just a little to know he was paying attention to her.
The damper was that he was probably aware of every one of the 'captured' girls cues as well, and Kanon's feelings dropped just a little before recovering again. At least, Keima was being frank and truthful to her. That was good, very good actually!
'Wait... Rise-chan?!'
Keima's statement finally struck home, and Kanon whirled around to seek out her younger cousin. Only for Keima to stop her by pulling her back to stare at the vending machine. To think that the quieter of the cousin would like Keima was such a bombshell to her that she didn't even blush or react to Keima's hands clutching hers. Or how he released it just as quickly as he had done so.
Kanon always knew that it was possible for this to happen, truthfully he was actually dreading and waiting for this to happen.
Some might feel outraged at someone else falling in love with the person one liked, Kanon had been one of those, but after thinking about it, she decided to take that as a compliment. Kanon had starred and read many scripts detailing one true love, the triangle relationships and all that, and so she could grudgingly accept this kind of scenario if she viewed it as being vindicated in her choice.
Keima wasn't someone that everyone wanted to fall in love with. Even if he might be able to make everyone fall in love with him... it didn't meant that everyone would continue to like him.
But he had his charms, and those charms were apparently working on Rise. Though if Kanon was a betting person, she'll actually put money on Clair being the one to actually develop a crush on Keima, or maybe that was perhaps too obvious?
Perhaps she did have a crush on Keima, and just outgrew it after she knew how eccentric and 'unique' Keima was, or maybe she was still nursing one. This was as complicated as she had feared.
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'I had thought it would be Clair-chan instead.'
'That is up to debate... but Kanon, how do you feel about it. About... Rise's feelings.'
Keima was as direct as always and his question made Kanon pause for a moment, just a moment though before she sighed and said that regardless of how she feels, it already happened.
'I suppose it's my fault, I didn't fend them off aggressively enough from Keima, ehe~'
Kanon joked with a small smile, but she sighed again as Keima simply looked at her patiently, one hand grasping his canned drink without even taking a sip from it.
'But, it's Rise-chan's feelings. I can't deny them, nor do I want to deny them... I just hope she doesn't get hurt from liking you, Keima-kun.'
Kanon looked at Keima, and was relieved to see Keima nodding his head.
'That is a very mature statement to make, Kanon.'
Keima remarked while relaxing, and he took a sip from his drink as Kanon stuck her tongue cutely out at him.
'I would want to say that this is my first time, but... I've made a lot of girls in school mad too... I mean...'
'You're Kanon, after all.'
Keima nodded his head again in agreement and Kanon was glad to see that he understood. It would be utterly embarrassing, not only humiliating actually to admit how many boys had confessed to her ever since she became an idol.
Or how many boyfriends she had supposedly stolen away from girls as well. It's better not to dwell too much into it, or it might actually affect Kanon more than she wished to admit.
'That's mean, Keima-kun... but yes, I... guess I know their pain now? Wait... that didn't sound right...'
Kanon's brows furrowed but they straightened when Keima gave her a small smile in response.
'You are taking this better than I would have thought, Kanon. I'm relieved.'
'Keima-kun, I'm not... that possessive... am I?'
Kanon pouted cutely at Keima, but she did feel a little disconcerted that Keima avoided the question by changing the subject.
'What do you want me to do then? Should I reject her now?'
'You are really sure that Clair-chan really has a crush on you, Keima-kun? It's been barely three days since the two of you met.'
'I am certain. And, rejecting them earlier is much simpler than rejecting them when they confess.'
Kanon was put off by Keima's blunt words, a part of her was wondering why did she fall in love with a person like him. A blunt, pointed and unforgiving person who did not consider those who were rejected. Another part of her, she noted in dismay, was actually quite excited at seeing Keima display such traits. It reminded of how he had ruthlessly gone against everything and everyone, for her and all of her friends.
'And... Rise-chan will definitely do that?'
'It depends on what your actions, Kanon. The ball is in your court and hers. Rise looks up to you, perhaps a little lesser than what Clair does, but for all essences, she looks up to you. Both as her cousin and sister, but also in the real. She might not try to emulate you, but there is no doubt that the two of them are trying hard to follow in your footsteps.'
Kanon was glad that Keima didn't know how right, literally, he was.
'So it all depends on me... You're mean, pushing the responsibility back to the girl, Keima-kun.'
Kanon gave a long suffering sigh, but laughed as well before she turned her back on Keima, and said that they should be going back now.
'Leave it to me, Keima-kun. I'll do whatever I can.'
Kanon just hoped it was going to be enough.
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'Good morning, Keima-kun.'
Kanon smiled as she greeted Keima while being flanked by not only Mari, but Clair and Rise as well. The three of them had dropped by in the morning to accompany Keima to school.
Even if Mari had been became used to the situation, she still took the liberty to tease the two of them when they set off from school. Breakfast had been lively, thanks to Clair and Mari's exchanges. Rise had looked a little down in the morning, and she had looked away the moment Keima met eye contact with her.
Keima was worried about causing a strain in the relationship between Rise and Kanon, but it was too early to tell. Keima reminded himself to take a closer look into the situation a little later on.
Back to the topic however, there would still be a week before the exchange program ended, and until then, Kanon was going to milk this opportunity as best as she could.
'Listen, listen, Katsuragi-kun! Kanon-nee said that she'll be able to come with us after school!'
Clair declared suddenly as they made their way to school, and the news was accompanied by a small sigh from Rise before she rallied and said that they wanted to have a Karaoke session.
'Kanon-nee told us that she hasn't been to a karaoke session since middle-high. So we thought that we should go together, what do you think, Katsuragi-san?'
There was a sign of hesitation in Rise's voice, a slight tremor too that corrected itself as she continued on. Unfortunately, it was also punctuated with a very big blush as well. Still, it could be worse.
'I would not be singing though.'
Keima knew it was futile to resist, he wasn't proud of his voice, but he didn't hate it either. He just didn't like to sing, it was a waste of his strength for him. Unfortunately, the girls wasn't going to let him get away from it so easily and they started to try and persuade him to join in.
'I would really like to hear Keima-kun's singing voice. I'm sure that it'll be great! We'll all have fun! It's not fair if it's just us!'
'It's embarrassing only at the start! Only at the start, I promise!'
'We won't laugh, Katsuragi-san. But you have to promise not to laugh at us too.'
'If that is supposed to be reassuring, I'm afraid that it's failing.'
Keima deadpanned even as the girls continued to try and persuade him, without much success at all.
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'Mou, Katsuragi-kun is really stubborn, right, Rise-chan?'
Clair commented to her twin sister as they went their separate ways at the school gates. She had been looking forward to this too, but if Keima wasn't going to join in, it's going to take a lot of the fun out of the outing together.
'Mm mm...'
Clair had always known that she wasn't, how does she put it mildly, tactful or bright. She has always been the one who charges whole-heartedly into everything that she wanted to do.
But if there was one thing that she knew, it was her sister, Rise. Something was definitely bothering Rise ever since yesterday. She might have an inkling as to what was going on, but she was more concerned with what Kanon-nee had told Rise last night before they went to bed.
Clair had been too tired to really care, after washing up, she had jumped into bed and waited for Rise to join her and turn off the lights.
Unlike the norm, where it had only taken a few minutes before Rise returned, Clair had to wait for around 15 minutes before Rise reappeared, this time with Kanon-nee as she turned the lights off.
Was it regarding the secret that they had to keep? Either way, Rise wasn't her usual self today and Clair wanted to do something about it.
'C'mon, Rise-chan! Let's see who can get to class the fastest!'
'W-Wait, Clair-chan!'
Clair grabbed Rise's arms and took off, defeating the purpose of the race in the first place as they headed to class like the middle-school class-men that they were.
Even if there was a problem, she was sure that Rise could solve it if it took her some time. So, all Clair should do now was to be herself, so Rise could concentrate on her own thoughts better.
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'Gomen, Keima-kun.'
Kanon clapped her hands together in apology during lunch time. She knew instinctively that lunch time was actually the most dangerous part of the school for her. There were perhaps over a thousand individuals in school, in high school as well as middle school, and out of those thousand, she guessed that around 70% knew of Kanon's presence in the school.
Out of those 70%, she believed at least three quarters of them would be her fans. And around that pool of people, she was sure that around half would actually die to have a chance to interact with her.
The past week, thanks to Keima's presence and of course, her own fan club's members playing defensive measures. (Kanon had always been embarrassed and scandalized at having a fan club, but knowing the extent of their commitment to her, as well as the actions that they would do to make her happy, was enough for her to actually feel happy about it.)
Kanon had gotten her 'normal' school life as she had always dreamed of. But today was different, she had to meet a few individuals, and for various reasons, she didn't want Keima and the twins to know.
The twins, Clair and Rise, had already made themselves known outside the corridor, patiently waiting for them till the bell rang for lunch over their side.
The middle-schoolers always did have a slightly longer lunch break then them, and it worked out better for them too.
Kanon also noted that it was also futile to conceal Rise and Clair's relationship with her, even if they might believe that they might be nothing more than friends, it was perhaps better to just admit that they were her cousins.
'The two of you would be in your care then, Keima-kun. I'll be right back!'
Kanon bowed to Keima apologetically before rushing off, leaving Keima confused along with the twins.
'Do the two of you know what is going on?'
Keima asked the two of them even as he quickly walked away, hoping to take away some of the heat from them. It was a futile effort, but it was the thoughts that counted, right?
'Nope, sorry!'
'Kanon-nee never told us anything.'
'Let's hope it isn't something troubling.'
Keima admitted while scratching his head, somehow he didn't think it would be that simple.
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'Please, sempai. Would you accept?'
Kasuga Kusonoki, currently in her third year of Mai-High, head of the female dojo club and the oldest member of the 'captured' girls that had their hearts stolen by Katsuragi Keima, simply stared in confusion at the person in front of her.
'Would you come with us after school?'
Her junior and major love rival, Nakagawa Kanon, was looking at her with puppy-eyes that had no doubt left many boys smitten with her. Kusonoki had no reason to accept her invitation, but at the same time, no reason to reject her either.
It wasn't lost on her, neither did she ignore how Kanon had blatantly taken advantage of the situation shamelessly. Kusonoki didn't fault her for that, if she could do the same, she would have.
What was left unsaid was how her reputation had made it extremely difficult for her to speak freely with Kanon as well, she had to literally pull her into class to get some privacy.
The essence of the problem on hand then was that, she couldn't do that. Kusonoki meant that literally. She had no idea how to take advantage of the situation for her own good. Deep inside her, if that other 'her' was still around, she would actually be glad to listen to he advice for a change.
And so, she had been resigned to patiently endure the growing unease and unhappiness at knowing Kanon was abusing this loophole to the fullest. Still, even if there was resentment, she didn't hate Kanon.
The 'truce' was over and that meant it was free for all, even if each and everyone of them had been polite about it.
'Kanon-chan, it is not that I am... about to reject you, I just find it curious that you would want to invite me in the first place.'
There, she said it and Kusonoki wasn't surprised to see Kanon look at her guilty. Here it comes, there was always a favor attached to it. There was no such thing as a free lunch indeed!
'Well, I would want to introduce you to my cousins, Clair and Rise! They'll be staying with me for a bit, and I thought it would be nice to introduce her to all of my friends. I'm going to invite Minami-chan too.'
Kanon's answer made Kusonoki pause again, this time for an even longer time as she just stared at her. To others it might seem like she was glaring, but in reality she was just too surprised.
'… Would you, sempai! Please? We'll be going to the Karaoke later on, and the more people the merrier! Keima-kun is going too.'
Kanon's words seem to shake Kusonoki back to life and she considered it for a moment before nodding her head.
'Alright then, I accept. Let us enjoy ourselves together.'
Kusonoki gave Kanon a hesitant smile, not really sure why she accepted Kanon's invitation but accepting it nonetheless. Her answer made Kanon smile happily again, this time even more brilliantly than before and she even mustered the courage to jump and hug her.
'Thank you, sempai! We'll see you after school then!'
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'Ah... So Minami-chan is in the same class as Clair-chan and Rise-chan?'
Kanon asked her junior in confusion when Ikoma Minami, shook her head in negative.
'Yes, Nakano-san sits at the front. It's that... it's rare to have transfer students... and twins too... so the whole level knows about them.'
Similar to how it was with Kusonoki-sempai, Kanon had difficulty in speaking with Minami in private. She was just so famous that just having her presence in the middle-school complex was enough to make a crowd follow her no matter where she went.
Minami, however, was inured to Kanon's status, simply because the two of them were friends and were quite close at that.
'Ahaha... Gomen neh, I should have told Minami-chan earlier... but it might be difficult... and I didn't want to make you be stressed due to that.'
Kanon clapped her hands together in apology while Minami just balked and hurriedly told her that it wasn't necessary.
'Sempai had your own reasons, I won't fault sempai for that... But to think that Nakano-san really was Kanon-sempai's cousins...'
Minami trailed off before blushing, telling her that there were rumors circulating about the two of them already.
'But no one really was sure, so it's okay, Sempai... Nakano-san really is very popular with everyone.'
Minami managed a shy smile even as Kanon breathed a sigh of relief, she remembered that there were problems in their old school. Something about jealous classmates, thankfully that didn't materialize here.
'Anyway, Minami-chan, do you have time after school today? Let's hang out together!'
Kanon got straight into the business after the conversation died down a little. Her offer made Minami blink in surprise before nodding her head slightly.
'Hang out with sempai? I didn't heard of anything from Kasuga-sempai or Fuse-sempai... I know Fuse-sempai and Shiomiya-sempai is in the exchange program... are we going to visit them?'
Minami tilted her head in confusion even as Kanon shook her head in negative.
'No, that's not it! I just want to go out and introduce my friends to Clair-chan and Rise-chan. Keima-kun is coming too! Won't you come too, Minami-chan?'
If Kanon noticed Minami freezing for a brief moment when she mentioned Keima, she ignored it. Probably for the best too as she looked down at her own hands briefly before forcing herself to smile again.
If this was Kanon-chan's attempt to deflate her spirit by showing how close she was to Keima, it was definitely working as Minami still couldn't get over the fact that Kanon had introduced her family, even if it's an extended family, to Keima!
That was like literally just one step closer towards getting him to meet the in-laws! Minami blamed and thanked Fuse-sempai for her lectures as Minami's imagination was running wild, too wild actually for her to actually focus on how she could actually find a way past Kanon's advantage.
Fortunately though, the same over-reactive imagination that gave born to those scenarios of hers was also her best critic and cynic, causing her to get control of her own emotions while she bought time for herself.
'I'll be glad to, sempai! I'll like to meet your cousins too if you'll let me... I'm not that close to them.'
Minami smiled and nodded her head, even if she was still a little confused at why Kanon-chan would invite her to hang out all of a sudden, but she'll take all the opportunities she could get to get close to Katsuragi-sempai, especially since this was a free pass for her to actually be with Katsuragi-sempai for quite a while.
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The little gathering with Kasuga-sempai and Mari-san at the Katsuragi household notwithstanding, it has been a while that she could spend time with him. She'll have to try harder to actually stay with Katsuragi-sempai this time though!
'Mm! I'll be glad if you could be friends with Rise and Clair, it's hard for the two of them to make many good friends in class as they always stick together.'
Kanon gave quite an exaggerated sigh of despair, but Minami thought that Kanon was being sincere as her eyes had a touch of worry in them even as she straightened her back to beam at her, and to even hold and shake her hand with her two hands when Minami said that she'll do her best.
'Please do, Minami-chan, it's so hard for the two of them to have friends of their same age... and I... don't really want them to stick so close to Keima-kun too.'
That was news to Minami and before she herself realized what she was doing, Minami had caught hold of Kanon's hands as well, causing the pink-hair idol to give her a sharp look that made Minami flinch away immediately. Kanon seemed to realized what she had done, probably hurting the younger girl's feelings as well as she hurriedly held Minami's hands again.
'O-Oh I'm so sorry Minami-chan!... Sometimes fans get a little rowdy and I... I just, I'm sorry, Minami-chan... it's no excuse but sometimes I just...'
..
Kanon was an idol, and as an idol whose main profession was to inspire others with their performances, to get others to like and support her, her image was one of the most important assets she could ever have. One of the reasons Kanon had became the top idol was because she personified the re-emergence of the high-school idol archetype, the revival of an era that was thought to be gone due to the numerous scandals as well as bad publicity over the years from similar girls of similar backgrounds.
The exception was the current Top Idol, Nakagawa Kanon, she had zero negative rumours, she was still juggling school as well as her career, was earnest and honest in her performances, and not to mention was a total rookie when she first started her career in the music industry with Citron.
But Kanon was first and foremost, a human and as a human, it was difficult to expect Kanon to be as perfect as her image showed her to be. She tries her best, but there were times when that perfect image does fall apart and this was one of those times when her personal fear of betrayal overwrote her own innate response and condition to maintain her image.
It might surprise some of the 'captured' girls, but Kanon really cherished the friendship that she had forged with all of them. They were not the first group of friends that she had in the same level, she had other friends that was studying in another school, but due to her career she had slowly drifted apart from them.
So Kanon really liked the friends that she had made within the ranks of the 'captured' girls as well, especially those in her class, 2B like Ayumi, Chihiro and Asami. For her to be accepted as one of them, as an equal and not as an idol was a huge relief. It also helped that there was friendly rivalry and yet true friendship within the group as well. With wise friends like Aoba-san who thought Kanon a lot about relationships, to caring seniors like Kasuga-sempai who would always do their best to help them with their homework and to offer advise on other matters that she had no one to turn to. Not to mention individuals like Kujyo-san who treats her like a friendly rival and yet discusses eagerly with her about the latest gossips that was going around in their level together.
Kanon really liked all of them and she tries to believe that despite her different status, as an idol, as well as one who was a little closer to Keima and subsequently earning some ire from the girls, she was very close to all of them.
So to have Minami react in that fashion was enough to trigger the deep and hidden fear inside Kanon where she feared that the 'captured' girls would all foresake her if she was successful in her attempt to win Keima's heart.
The victory would come as bitter sweet for Kanon, for she would be achieving her goals but at the same time doing so at the expense of her friends and their hopes and dreams. Kanon always thought that she'd be prepared, or rather used to climbing over the dreams of others, that's what she was doing everyday after all, being the winner of the Idol Competition and quitting Citron.
She had lost contact with her two former team mates and friends, Lime and Yuri, and even if it there hadn't been any bad blood between the two of them and they had parted amicably, that didn't mean that she was able to block the painful feeling that there was something terribly wrong with her and not them.
Could she really achieve her dreams as well as everyone's else with her songs and voice?
But back to topic, Kanon wouldn't know what to do if the 'captured' girls really abandoned her and severed all ties with her if she did succeed, would that really happen? It almost happened that time when Aoba-san declared the end of the truce between all of them, things had been quite awkward for a while but it had recovered almost to what it had been like before after the Eru-fiasco had blew over and life had went on per normal.
Perhaps they were even bonding now at the school trip as well! Who would ever know?
But yes, Kanon continued to apologize profusely at what she had done to Minami, that was unwarranted and it was definitely her fault for doing so in the first place! She shouldn't distrust Minami, she was her friend! And friends, don't betray each other!
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'Would you forgive me, Minami-chan?'
Kanon asked in worry even as Minami felt both overwhelmed as well as confused at the rapid change in Kanon's reaction. To the younger girl, she probably hadn't put as much thought into the situation as Kanon, causing her to be confused at what was going on.
'O-Of course, it's not sempai's fault! It's my fault for being surprised... is Nakano-san trying to get close to Katsuragi-sempai... as well?'
Minami's voice was shaking, and if she wasn't aware, Kanon certainly felt that Minami was severely shaken by the entry of two more new love rivals. Kanon felt the same and she tried her best to calm her down and to tell her that wasn't true, not yet anyway. It was a very complicated situation indeed! That said, her plea of asking for forgiveness from Minami seemed even more appropriate now. Kanon suddenly realized that if she knew that having her cousins over for such a short time was going to be such a hassle, she would never have agreed to have the two of them over in the first place!
But now that she had, she'll have to deal with the fallout of everything that Clair and Rise was causing, perhaps it was not a good idea to let Minami meet with the two of them after all?
'I-It's not like that! You know that the two of them can't make lots of friends, right? So... they started spending time with Keima-kun and they got a little attached to him... that's all!'
Somehow Kanon herself didn't sound too convinced herself and she found herself sighing as she said it was complicated.
Author's Notes: Complicated indeed.