The World Only the Girls Know: A Sorrel's Teasing

Chapter 11: Subtle Feelings, Overflowing

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: Disclaimer: Do not Discuss Spoilers here!

Secondly, I know is screwing up recently. Hopefully it'll get better.

Lastly, Reward the Author, Review!

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The world is changing, everyone is changing, but it seems that in the face of so many changes, Ikoma Minami cannot change.

She was still a little clumsy, a little helpless and still a little clingy. Easily embarrassed as she was when she was praised by the Capturing God, who won the first round despite her leading him by the nose all this time, she sat by the swimming pool, her legs splashing about in the pool while Keima silently looked on beside her, not sitting down but kneeling, one hand on her shoulder while staring in the same direction as her.

The both of them stared at the setting sun, the sunset staining the sky red and orange, splashing it with colors as it too bathed them in that orangey hue.

It was almost the end of another day, a very important day for the both of them.

For Ikoma Minami, the day when her crush accompanied her to her club and the day where she 'showed' him off to her friends and club mates.

She has subtly added him into her life by 'showing' him to the others that she deemed as good and close friends.

For Katsuragi Keima, it was the day where the 'capturing' of him officially commenced. All the girls have declared war on him and he was not as genre savvy as he had imagined. But he was good enough to sense that, yes, he was at a very precarious position and he might, just possibly be actually vulnerable.

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It was a foreign feeling for the both of them, they had been so used to their comfort zone that this new experience made them unable to converse with each other properly.

But at the same time, it was probably a moment that they would remember, each for different reasons.

For Ikoma Minami, the experience of being in the spotlight for once, knowing that she had achieved what she wanted and was living her life with no regrets.

For Katsuragi Keima, the complementation that he had failed in many occasions to resist or to thwart the attempts of the various girls that had triggered 'flags' and 'events' all around him.

It was an uneasy and yet comfortable silence between them as neither of them wished to break the silence yet.

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But the one that broke the silence was the Capturing God, speaking softly to the girl beside him as he straightened his back and looked away from her, towards the pool that she had first seen him.

The place where her and his fate were intertwined together like a twist of fate. Call it the red thread of fate if you will, there is no other explanation for them being together other than that. For if Elsi have not approached Keima, Keima would not be chasing after Weiss in the first place. But if Minami had not had a gap in her heart for the Weiss to enter, they would not have needed to meet each other as well.

Thus, it can be said that the odds for them to meet is stacked against one another, and if we consider the fact that Minami had her memories returned, the odds of her mustering enough courage to confess to him, the chances of Keima accepting her and not ignoring her, the odds are substantially impossible.

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Thus, it was perhaps alright not to say anything at all… the two of them, knew that for them to be together, it could be called a Miracle, a miracle that even a God like him could not even create by himself alone. It needed her to participate as well.

One can't clap with just one hand after all, Ikoma Minami must do something for her to be rewarded with this chance to 'capture' the God.

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'Why did… you ask me out here, Minami-chan.'

Remembering that he called her in that fashion, Keima did not need to look down to know that she was blushing and she, out of breath from nervousness, stammered a reply.

'I wanted… Katsuragi-senpai to see that I am living well… and happily. I've never forgotten… how Katsuragi-senpai cheered my up during the Summer Matsur.'

She looked up and nervously grapped his hand and to her delight he did not push or reject her hold on him. It was another point in her favor and Minami continued with renewed vigor.

'I never… thanked Katsuragi-senpai too… but…'

She trailed off as she slipped into the pool, kicking out and putting distances between each other as she soaked in the cool and refreshing water. Swimming and being in water in general always soothed her and this was no exception, it made her calm down enough for her to think through her confused thoughts.

She has many, many things to tell Katsuragi Keima and now she could say it out loud to him in person without missing a beat.

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'I'm living my life well… I am happy that… I've went through that phase, I was upset and I was angry at myself for giving up so simply… but if I had not went through that period of unhappiness… I would never have met you, Katsuragi-senpai… would never have seen you swimming here by accident. So for that… I thank you… I thank you for being with me… even if it was selfish for me to try and take my mind off things by spying on you…'

Closing her eyes, Minami placed one hand on her chest while the Capturing God looked on at her, silent and judging her words as well as formulating his own.

'Thank you for letting me know, letting me experience all that regret, all the sadness and that brief moment of happiness with you… before you left… but…'

She trailed off for a second time, waiting and building up the suspense, letting the Capturing God gain precious time to rethink his analysis of Ikoma Minami and her method of 'capturing' him.

It was so clique, but he must give her credit for pulling it well… it was natural and perhaps this style was most suited for her after all as no one would wish to interrupt such a heartfelt confession like hers.

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'I want to be in your life again, Katsuragi-sepai… even if you said you have to leave… even if you might have to leave some time in the future… I do not want to leave you all by yourself again.'

Brave words from such a shy and timid individual. Ikoma Minami is a girl who will never shine in her social circle and never have the spotlight shining down on her… even amongst her juniors she can be easily mistaken to be one of them as well.

But even a girl like her would want to say what really matters to them to a person that she really likes.

This girl, who is sharper than Keima could ever imagine, hit the hammer on the head and struck something that Elsi has always pinpointed and nagged at him for.

Keima is always alone, perhaps that is why he is always so unapproachable to the people around him. He is a step above the rest, a genius and that is why Fuse Aoba can emphasize with him and is the person who could most possibly read him like a book due to him having the same traits as him.

In that same example, they are fundamentally the same… but are different as well. They find each other amongst themselves and at the same time, find something different.

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Ikoma Minami is sharp as she, without a genius's brain was like Nagase Jun, able to perceive that Keima knew and understood that this 'world' has nothing for him and that if he had any expectations of this world, it would only let him down.

His way of coping with it, to defend himself is to escape into another world where he can be and will be called 'God', he understood this world perfectly after all.

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'So please… Katsuragi-senpai… please, would you…. Let me be a part of your life too?'

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Katsuragi Keima, the Capturing God was genre savvy enough not to totally fall into her trap. Her words would have probably shaken a weaker person to the core and allowed him to be easily 'captured'. However, he was the Capturing God and he wouldn't fall for this trap so easily. But he himself has a headache as well, this development was probably the worst scenario that he could imagine.

Normally you would be the one that is chasing the girl, not the other way around. But in this case, it is similar to an Otome-game, it would be the girl chasing after the boy. But, in all games there is one similarity. Unless the girl is a specific archetype, there would not be an event where the 'player', in this case Minami, confess to the other party within 2 days of the initial confession.

It was as if Minami had stolen his line and said:

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'I have already seen the ending!'

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Even if she was spot on in her analysis, even if she might have caught a glimpse of the ending with his eyes, he would not be captured.

He is the Capturing God after all, the one that was supposed to 'capture', not the other way around.

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Thus, he slowly shook his head and looked away, rejecting her plea with a small reply.

Even if it might trigger a 'bad end' route, even if she might really be a Yandere character below that exterior, even if it meant breaking her heart, just a little.

Even the Capturing God understood that broken hearts do heal, and sometimes, it just makes the girl stronger.

He knew that fact but he ignored it purposely as he was certain that Ikoma Minami would give in and stop being so 'direct' with her approach while still 'liking' him.

He was sure that a rejection would not deter Ikoma Minami, she would continue to pursue him despite of that fact.

But he was probably wrong, no, he did not put into consideration about how Minami herself felt.

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It was simply the reason that she confessed in the first place; the reason why she was so desperate, so eager and so determined to be the first girl to confess to him.

Perhaps all the girls knew subconsciously that others were targeting the same person and although they did not know who, each of them have their varying degree of pride and methods to deal and cope with the situation.

For Ikoma Minami, her decision as to go straight forward and to confess to him. Perhaps she wanted to tip the balance in her favor by that sudden action, to reveal her hand and to surprise him and all the girls into giving up the competition.

Ignoring her reputation, ignoring her pride… it could have worked, it should have worked. But Katsuragi Keima is the Capturing God. She had came close, so close… but the effect was dispelled by Haqua and Elsi soon enough for him to recover from that 'attack'.

It seemed like all the girls are trying to interfere with each other, which is quite possibly the only and best way to go about if they wish to 'capture' Keima for themselves.

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Ikoma Minami, was insecure about herself, knowing full well that she did not stand much of a chance as compared to the rest of the girls, she still decided to confess to Keima as would still wish to at least attempt a shot at him.

On the contrary, she would have one of the highest chances to actually 'capture' the Capturing God by that hand that she showed to him.

Thus, the two different mindsets by the two individuals led to a simple conclusion.

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'…am I… am I not good enough?'

Looking down towards the pool, Minami averted her eyes when Keima showed traces of being surprised by his words. His words, prompt and without hesitation ahs shattered that girl's fragile heart.

If he had just seemed a little hesitant while saying so, she would probably have still found some courage to soldier on despite the difficulties.

But it was the tone, the way that he rejected her without any hesitation or doubt, that made her give up on almost all her hope.

Or did she?

The Capturing God did not know. For the moment where he tried to make up for that mistake, she slapped his hands away, choosing to drift further and further away from him, as if symbolizing the now rapidly growing gap between the two of them that was created by no one else but him.

'Minami-chan!'

He called out to her as she kicked out further to the deeper end of the pool, her head slung low as she kept on repeating to herself.

'Am I… really not good enough for you, Katsuragi-senpai? I… I really tried my best… is that why you left me? Is that why… you cooked up that lie? S-so… they were right after all… You cooked up that lie to explain why you ignored me for so long, Katsuragi-senpai?'

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That scream surprised even her and after recovering, she glared back at Keima, causing him to be stunned by the amount of distrust and dislike in her eyes.

A moment ago those eyes were filled with hope, adoration and trust for him. But now all of it was replaced and she shrunk back from his approach, as if not wishing him to even get close to her.

'Minami-chan!'

'D-don't call me that! D-don't imagine… that I do not know what is going on… that I do not know that you were with Fuse-senpai!'

Saying a name that surprised him, Keima visibly shrunk back and Minami pounced on that retreat without hesitation and continued to question him, all the while drifting further and further away.

'It's not just Fuse-Senpai… you were with Yoshino-senpai from your class during lunch… a-aand that transfer student… K-Katsuragi-senapi… I- I thought I was mistaken about you… b-but… but!'

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He should not have been surprised, Ikoma Minami is the girl who was brave enough to spy on him during her 'capture'. It would not be impossible to imagine her continuing doing that when it is his turn to be 'captured' by him.

She had seen everything, or at least heard about it from morning till the afternoon. If she had not been spying in person, at the least she had tapped onto the rumors and gossips from her friends.

The Otamegane being with a girl was something impossible, and that meant that news would travel fast…

One should never underestimate the power of gossips, especially amongst young high-school girls.

As Keima had asked Elsi to wipe and modify all the memories of the students with the exception of the 'captured girls' in school about the different 'events' and 'flags', he had neglected to take into account the impact of those rumors if it had reached the girls before they could be erased or modified.

It is common in galges for 'event's to be mutually exclusive with the main storyline and for them not to have any significant impact in the story line. But this is real life! It does not work that way!

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'Minami, listen to me!'

Trying to salvage the situation as he realized that this a 'Bad End' route has probably been triggered and Ikoma Minami was in possible danger of relapsing and being a potential host for a Weiss, Katsuragi Keima's eyes widened when Minami said that she would not trust him any further.

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'Y-you're just trying to cover up! I… I wanted to trust you, Katsuragi-senpai! I.. I really do! You remembered our promise.. and.. yet.. and yet you still.. what am I to you, Katsuragi-senpai? Am I just another girl in your harem? (Author's Notes: Oh… breaking the 4th wall!) I..can live my life without your help! … w-what you thought me… is just.. Is just a… a…'

'Don't say that, Minami! Aren't you stronger because of that? D-don't don't go back to regretting what you did not do then just because of-'

Both of them were unable to finish their sentences, Keima as he could not tell her the truth and Minami because she could not, would not and should not wish to give up what was most precious to her.

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Her heart ached and his head hurts… but the stalemate was suddenly broken when he suddenly saw her panicking, thrashing about in the water as she clutched her chest tightly, her entire body stiffening up with a stricken look on her face.

'Minami!'

Something was definitely wrong! Was… was that a Weiss returning to her so quickly?

Did the gap in her heart that he filled up, became bigger because of him?

Author's Notes: The more I read reviews, the better I can write. Though I would still not discuss spoilers with the readers... So please pardon me.