Commandments of Capturing

Chapter 11 – Back to School

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.

Author's Notes: Thank you, bowpurity for the beta! And thank you all of you for your support! Really, I appreciate it. I hope I'll continue to do well!

..

Katsuragi Mari was part of a biker gang before, and even if it might be a stretch to imagine her like that now for she was the very image of a demure housewife that was in charge of a café, she showed signs of her past history especially when she was riding a bike.

She wasn't known as the 'Yuki-onna of the Mountain Pass' for a reason after all, and the stories of her legend still brings shivers to the younger and softer generation of bikers that frequent the mountain pass that she made her name in.

And with her glasses off, and her hair left down, Mari looked quite intimidating as she advanced towards Tobiichi Origami, whom for the most part seemed oblivious to the growing threat that Katsuragi Mari amounted to even as Keima remained mostly unconcerned as he was not in Mari's crosshairs this time.

..

He was however, expecting sparks to fly between Origami and Mari though, but he wondered what cards would Origami play in this situation. Mari had obviously overheard the two's conversations and Keima wondered what kind of conclusion she would have drawn from all this as, let's hope it wasn't something that would jeopardize the situation even more.

That said, Keima did wonder why Tobiichi Origami was here in the first place, was she worried for him? That would be a very serious cause of concern if that was the case, but Keima was confident that it was due to Tohka since Origami had immediately highlighted her as the immediate subject matter of their little discussion.

Tobiichi Origami, Keima did like that girl's nature and her style of dealing with things. Admittedly he had not paid much attention to her even as she was part of the AST, it was already established that she was an enemy after all, one that was on the other side.

So he regretted it just a little since he found out that Shido had went out with Origami just the day before, it was totally a miscalculation on his part. Then again, from the records that he had been able to observe, he should have seen it coming, it was right in front of him... perhaps he had just thought that Origami would make her move later on, but Shido totally seized the opportunity and went ahead with it anyway.

Shortest, capture, ever, Tobiichi Origami either had extremely very high love points at the get go, or she was simply desperate for Shido's attention, which basically meant the same thing as far as Keima was concerned.

To him, the Capturing God, the heroines were never at fault simply due to how they were only drawn to the protagonist due to some action that he had done, wittingly or unwittingly. From how Origami was referring to something that Shido was unaware of, he was sure it was the latter.

That said, he had once said before that it was the heroines themselves who choose him and it made for a very dangerous as well as difficult position for the protagonist as well.

One part of him was struggling to match up to the heroine's demands and requirements to finish their routes as a protagonist and on the other side, he was unable to blame the girls for falling in love with them.

Kind of how the real was like actually, it was almost never the guys fault, but Keima digressed, this was something that he wasn't about to debate or discuss at this point.

..

'We apologize, but I am afraid that you have outstayed your welcome, Keima-kun would you please see her to the door?'

Mari did not even wish to give her the time of day, something that Keima approved of but it was not to be as Origami had other ideas as she stood up before Keima could usher her away.

'Katsuragi Mari-san. I am afraid that it is her who had outstayed her outcome.'

Pointing at Tohka, Origami's eyes narrowed even as Mari raised one hand protectively over the other girl, who was now half using Mari as a shield even as Origami continued on unchallenged. It was a stark difference from how Tohka would have usually deal with individuals like Origami, the proud and confident Princess had her confidence and will to fight completely shattered by the chain of events by the AST and Keima. One have to note that Keima was the one who allowed her that as well.

'You have no idea what she and her kind has done, Katsuragi Mari-san. I came here to offer a word of warning to you as well as Katsuragi-san.'

Origami turned to give Keima a curt nod that Keima didn't even bother acknowledging for he knew what line Origami would be saying even before she voiced it. All hail the Capturing God indeed, but it really wasn't too hard for anyone to know what Origami was going to say, the warning already delivered the moment she stepped into their home. For there was only one reason for Tobiichi Origami to actually even find interest in Katsuragi Keima and his home.

'Do not trust that, she is not what she looks like. And if you continuing harbouring it, you are putting yourself in harm's way, not just from her but from us as well. We have our orders, and you will not be able to stop us from taking her away, by force if necessary.'

Before Mari could interrupt her again, Origami raised a hand to Tohka, certainly unwillingly but she offered Tohka the opportunity to go with her nonetheless.

'You would not be hurting them if you come with us peacefully now. You would have our word that we would not lay a hand on the Katsuragi household. Otherwise, you would not only be hurting yourself, but them as well.'

So that was the card that Origami was trying to play, Keima however felt a little disappointed in the timing of this card, as well as the location. Obviously Origami hadn't thought this plan through at all before she implemented it.

If it was Keima, he would have waited a few days, perhaps a week for Tohka to warm up to the Katsuragi household, for her to start trusting them, to start liking them as much as she could.

He would also definitely not play this hand in front of all of them as well, he would have played this card when he was alone with Tohka to shake the girl's confidence for him to have full control of the situation throughout the entire exchange.

By playing her card so early, the effect was not as pronounced as it could have been a few days later. Even if Tohka obviously showed sighs of getting attached to Mari right now, that could change at any moment as Tohka was still trying to adjust to the new situation she had found herself in.

Furthermore, by playing her card in front of everyone else, Origami was not even in full control of the situation, as shown earlier when Mari was able to interrupt Origami's own attempt to persuade Keima to give Tohka up.

In short, the Capturing God was suspicious of Origami and her actions as it was too easy to actually poke holes in it, or perhaps Origami was just very, very bad when it comes to missions like this. Keima wouldn't be too surprised if that was indeed the truth of the matter, as there were individuals who were highly specialized in what they were doing, and if one pulled them out of their comfort zone, they were next to useless.

Tobiichi Origami had never been the eloquent type, even if she might be able to speak quite well, and of course being able to deliver words with no issues, the problem lies with her inherent inability to connect to her audience or herself emotionally. There was utterly no emotion in her voice or facial expressions when she spoke, save for the few times that Keima actually saw her blush in front of Shido. There was a reason for why Tobiichi was going out with Shido right now after all, seeing that she was able to express her feelings of affection to Shido even with her emotionally detached facial expressions.

It was a mistake asking Origami to be the one to carry out this mission, and so Keima reasoned that there was probably an ulterior motive for sending Origami at the first to bat, was it to keep them on their toes? Or perhaps to distract them from other avenues of attack? Or perhaps they hoped that Mari was not as accepting as Keima?

'That's enough, Tobiichi-san.'

Even as Tohka squirmed uncomfortably again, her wide and tearing eyes staring at Mari and Keima hesitantly, probably weighing her own options like a naïve child, Mari interrupted her again, just like what Keima expected her to do, pulling Tohka into a gentle hug that caused the Spirit to give a small gasp at the show of support. Tohka also started sniffling again, her hold on Mari getting stronger, perhaps a little too strong as Mari winced a little too at her strength.

'Please leave now. Tohka is nothing like what you said her to be, she's an adorable girl that is being bullied and maybe abused by you and wherever you came from. Leave now before I lose my temper. Keima-kun, please.'

Mari didn't just snap at Origami this time, she literally growled even as Keima reach out to grab Origami's shoulders a little firmer this time while slowly guiding her to the door. Surprisingly, Origami didn't seem to mind till she reached the door of the Katsuragi Household where she paused before turning back to look at Tohka again before muttering loud enough for everyone to see.

'You murderer.'

And just like that, Tobiichi Origami was gone, leaving the two women frozen where they were standing and a certain Capturing God silently applauding that last move by Origami. So she did know what she was doing after all, guess he had underestimated Origami just a little. That was actually quite a good move on her part!

..

'K-Keima...'

Tohka called softly and cutely from behind him even as he looked up from his PFP and turned back to witness another variant of Tohka's weapon grade cuteness. There was simply no other way to describe Tohka, who was dressed in a pair of adorable pink jammies that was too big for her, probably one of Mari's as Tohka was more developed than Elsi. Her hair wasn't fully dry from her earlier bath and so her hair stuck to the back of her pyjamas while the scent of the soap that she used struck Keima like a physical blow.

But that wasn't what made Tohka's cuteness a weapon of the highest calibre, that was achieved by how Keima could only barely see Tohka's large watering eyes peeking up from the large fluffy pillow that she was currently hugging against her protectively. Just like earlier, one could imagine large puppy ears forming on top of Tohka's head that was now lying flat cutely even as Tohka called Keima's name again.

'Keima... can I come in please?'

At least Tohka had manners and Keima nodded wordlessly even as he went back to his PFP till Tohka crawled onto his bed, where he immediately pay attention to her. Now the Capturing God was in no danger of losing control, he was a veteran of many similar encounters like this, only none of them had actually been so close and so 'dangerous' due to her naivety. Guess the real had it's own weapons as well and the effectiveness of their weapons were two fold!

It was of course common knowledge that the more naïve the girl, the more dangerous they were in certain situations, this rule applies both to the ideal and the real, only Keima didn't think that the real would be able to pull off something like that at all.

'What's wrong, Tohka?'

Keima asked patiently even as he placed his PFP to the side to pay full attention to her. That alone seemed to reassure Tohka even more and she smiled hesitantly before placing the pillow down on her lap instead. Keima was thus greeted with the sight of Tohka's panamas fighting valiantly to keep Tohka's chest covered even as she hugged herself uncertainly, compounding to Keima's problems.

'Is... it really okay... for me to stay here?'

Keima fought the urge to facepalm at how they had exactly the same conversation, only in reverse when Keima was trying to get Tohka to not come to his home for almost exactly the same reason. Granted, he didn't vocalize the reasons for doing so to her then, so perhaps it was justifiable for her to ask that question here. So Keima asked a question back to Tohka instead.

'Do you wish to stay here, Tohka?'

'O-Of course I do! I want to stay by Keima's side!'

Tohka replied immediately, even pouting cutely as she did so, increasing the calibre of the weapon that was Tohka even as Keima shrugged and said that it was okay for her to stay then.

'Then why can't you stay here?'

'Because... I might cause trouble for Keima and Mari...'

Keima didn't blame Mari for freezing like that earlier, in fact if Mari had been able to take that statement and brush it off easily, Keima would have reason to believe that his mother's past wasn't as simple as he once thought.

But since Mari didn't, Keima felt that Mari's reactions was exactly what Origami had wanted to see and achieve, and it would have affected Tohka and her bonds with the Katsuragi Household sufficiently with or without her forming bonds with them in the first place.

As welcoming as Mari was, that statement would have changed things and even if Mari was still friendly, warm and welcoming to Tohka, the amount of trust that she had for Tohka would have been drastically reduced. And Tohka, this being a new environment and all, was still very sensitive to others around her, would have picked up on the change easily.

Well played, Tobiichi Origami, well played indeed. Instead of targeting Tohka directly, her plan was to attack the people around Tohka instead. Japan being a conservative country, it was a big deal to call and label someone a murderer, and one wouldn't do that unless there was some grain of truth within it. No smoke without fire after all, and from how Tohka hadn't rebutted Origami, there could definitely be smoke around Tohka. After all, the circumstances in which Tohka actually came to seek refuge in the Katsuragi Household was shady at best.

So Mari was more than justified to be a little more hesitant around Tohka than before, but Keima was still heartened to see that Mari was still quite protective over Tohka, she asking Tohka to sleep with her instead of Elsi showing that quite well.

Tohka had been twitchy since Origami's leaving, and Keima also chalked it up to a win that Tohka hadn't run off just yet to 'save' him and her family. His speech at how he wanted to save her must have stuck harder harder than he had thought it would. Just as planned then!

'You're no trouble at all... well, maybe be a little, but I expected that. Anything less would be a little worrying actually. So you're welcome to stay here for a while, Tohka, if you don't feel comfortable going back to Ratatoskr.'

Keima replied evenly even as Tohka blushed again, she trying her best to not clutch her pillow for comfort even as she blushed like a crushing school girl, which she totally was now.

'I... I would like to! That way, I can see Keima more, can't I?'

Tohka smiled happily even as Keima nodded his head in understanding, causing Tohka to break out in another one of her happy smiles before she lunged to hug Keima tightly, pressing her body against Keima happily even as he blushed at the physical contact.

'Thank you, Thank you Keima! I'll do my best to learn! And to get better on how I can live here too!'

Tohka's monologue was interrupted when naturally, Mari opened the door to ask how the two of them were doing. Of course as with all similar situations, it happened when Tohka had managed to press Keima on to his back on the bed, Tohka looking like she was straddling Keima when Mari opened the door to call her.

An awkward moment passed when Tohka realized what she was doing before she hurriedly separated from Keima, her face red and steam coming out of her ears even as Mari slowly retreated, even closing the door behind her after cupping a hand over her mouth.

However she couldn't help herself in the end and her muffled voice of: 'Please continue.' was not lost on Tohka, who ran out to chase after Mari, screaming: 'It's not what you think!' like an overused gimmick.

Well, it really was like that in any rate.

..

'Good morning everyone, this is Yatogami Tohka, a new transfer student to our class.'

Okamine Tamae beamed at her class even as Tohka walked into the room from the corridor. It didn't surprise Keima in the least to see her appear in Raizen High School, he had suspected as much when early in the morning Reine had insisted that Tohka come with them as she drove the three of them to school. When he meant drove, it actually meant Fraxinus teleporting him to school while Reine stayed back to assist Tohka in some 'arrangements', Apparently one of those arrangements was to get her to be transferred to school. It was also a forgone conclusion that it would happen, but for it to happen so soon was something that caused even Keima to be a little surprised.

Perhaps it was to protect the Katsuragi household more than anything else, seeing Tohka was still a target for AST and by leaving her alone with Mari could be a recipe for disaster that was begging to happen. Who knows what tricks AST would pull when he was away. By having Tohka away from the Katsuragi household, AST would leave them alone while focusing on Tohka elsewhere instead.

Hiding her in plain sight was brilliant as always and having her in the exact same class as Tobiichi Origami was pure genius as well, for that meant that the two of them would be forced to have a cease fire without blowing their covers together. It was a good plan, and it not only reduced risk of Tohka, but for Keima as well. AST would be unable to act on Tohka without risking the lives of others, and that meant that even if Tobiichi Origami got a clear shot, she couldn't take it due to her proximity to the students.

They were basically forcing AST to take a wait and see approach for now, which would buy time for Kotori to actually help find a way to convince the higher-ups to allow Tohka to continue labelling her as a non-threat, which would kinda be a stretch if it wasn't for Keima's presence.

But not if Keima had something to do with it. Even if it might appear that she was his heroine right now, that was further from the truth then it was supposed to be.

Tohka was his, not his... as vague as it might be, Keima hoped that Shido realized that as well. The other party involved had been unsurprisingly quite cool towards him, greeting him normally but clearly avoiding him even as he continued with his usual habits of PFP gaming.

Naturally Haqua was present as well, even if she had a very long day and wasn't able to rest as much as she liked. Keima did promise that he would end it today as well, as to end what exactly, Haqua wasn't sure, but Keima had that look in his eyes that made Haqua aware that no matter what she did at this point, Keima's mind was made up.

'I'm Yatogami Tohka... Nice to meet all of you.'

Tohka bowed to them, all flustered and adorable even as Keima veiled his amusement at seeing Shido turning just as red as all of the boys in class at how Tohka looked like. She was simply, utterly, unmistakably too cute for words, what with the oversized ribbon of hers seemingly taking a life of it's own as it bobbed up and down behind her even as she introduced herself. The look of pure happiness when Tohka finished writing her name was enough to even cause a few boys to hide their nosebleeds at how cute Tohka was.

Only Keima remained unaffected, or as unaffected as one could be as he covered his eyes slightly to hide himself from Tohka's weapon grade cuteness. It was getting unfair at this point.

'Welcome to our class, Tohka-chan! Tohka-chan is a relation of Murasame sensei, our school nurse and due to family issues, transferred to our class today. Let's all welcome her, everyone!'

The class's roar of approval made Tohka jump and she hid behind Tamae-sensei even as she scolded the boys for being too rowdy and loud, while the girls themselves looked a little lost at how adorable Tohka was, similar to an animal as she looked around anxiously before beaming at Keima.

At least she didn't call out his name immediately, but Keima felt that it was a foregone conclusion that it would happen eventually, soon too!

'Ah, it's Keima! Keima!'

True to his expectations, Tohka waved at Keima excitedly even as Keima nodded back in response, raising a hand in acknowledgement, causing many of the class to look at her in disbelief before going back to the still-gaming Keima.

'Good morning, Tohka.'

Keima replied even as Tohka beamed in reply, allowing Tamae-sensei to continue her introduction by trying to assign her a seat.

'Beside me sensei! Here!' 'No, ME!' 'Sensei, here please!'

The guys were fighting tooth and nail to get a chance to speak to the perfect beauty that was Tohka, with the exception of Keima and Shido, the latter being more confused and shocked. Keima also noted how Tobiichi Origami had narrowed her eyes and was digging her nails into her flesh in frustration at the situation. It was also the first time that Keima could visually judge Origami's emotions, no doubt this was something she wasn't prepared for. Looks like his schedule of events hadn't been affected too much by this sudden change in plans, that's good, that's very good in fact, he'll be able to stay ahead of both Ratatoskr as well as AST then.

'Hmm.. how about a seat beside Itsuka-kun? There's an empty seat there, right?'

Shido did startle this time as Tamae-sensei spotted the only true empty seat of the class, one that was beside Shido that he had Haqua thoughtfully prepare when everyone was distracted by Tohka. Shido's eyes widened in panic when he noticed that it was the seat beside Tobiichi Origami too, that was simply too much of a coincidence. If Origami was suspicious at how a table and chair would materialize suddenly beside the two of them, she didn't comment, for Ratatoskr was possible of the most impossible of tasks as well, it certainly was child's play to get a table and chair beside the two of them. The question would be why? Certainly it was to keep a tighter lid on Tobiichi Origami, but why would Keima choose that seat for Tohka in the first place?

Eventually someone was going to notice that there was something different about Keima, how things mysteriously happen around him for no good reason.

Okay, scratch that, things happened around Keima without any explanation. Everything, happened for a reason, and the reason for Keima deciding where Tohka should seat was simple, it was another step towards the goal he was aiming for.

Besides, Keima was curious about the supernatural ability that Shido was hinted to have. There has to be a reason that Shido was chosen for this task, especially since Keima didn't believe for a moment that Itsuka Kotori would allow her darling Onii-chan to have another girlfriend if she could help it, that wasn't how a sister was supposed to do!

A sister character might help one of the heroines to get a happy ending, but they would never actively encourage their brothers to start dating, much less actually 'introduce' girls for them to meet. Even if some sisters do so accidentally, the keyword was 'accidentally', they would never actively introduce their girlfriends to their brothers. There was probably a rule on that, similar to how one should never date one's best friend's sister. Sadly, that rule has been broken so many times that Keima had lost count, meaning that it was technically possible for Kotori to do just that.

..

Sadly however, Keima reasoned that wasn't the case. To Kotori, this was a 'mission', something that was a necessity and had to be carried out regardless of what she felt about it personally. That was why Kotori had a different 'persona' when she was the captain of the Fraxinus after all. It was a stretch, but at least Keima was more comfortable with this theory than believing Kotori would willingly accept Shido making other girls fall in love with him.

Ironically, Keima didn't or refused to acknowledge how Elsi was doing close to exactly the same thing, that was the pride of the Capturing God working against him, but he digressed.

Back to the topic however, Keima wanted to know exactly what was Shido's powers that made him the person selected to make the Spirits fall in love with him, like he had proven before, if it was just to get the spirits to be more docile while in love, someone like him would be a much better choice. Heck, Keima was certain that the crew of the Fraxinus would be able to help Shido capture Tohka without having a confrontation with AST if they really wanted to, so the question was: 'Why Shido?'

For all he knew, Shido was an ordinary high school boy who had a very close encounter with a spacequake a few years back, but that was all. It was an incident that wasn't too uncommon, in that same district there were numerous individuals who had the same experience. Kotori too was a witness as well, and the new hell's raiment couldn't really find out anything interesting about Shido's past. Perhaps it had something to do with his physical body, that would be the next avenue of checks. Haqua was definitely not going to like this.

..

As the boys in the class protested, some of them even whispering conspiratorially that it wasn't fair for Shido to have yet another girl beside him when he already had Origami, Tohka too seemed a little disappointed as she shot a longing look at Keima. Keima, for his part remained impassive, wondering how long it took for Tohka to burst out asking to seat beside him.

Surprisingly she didn't, perhaps Reine had briefed and lectured her on the proper manners, or perhaps she had been given a ear piece similar to Shido and he, allowing her to consult with the crew of Fraxinus to aid her on her quest to get acclimatized to the human world in general.

Breakfast in the Katsuragi Household had an addition of Tohka after all and seeing how Mari had pulled Tohka to the kitchen to teach her the basics of cooking without even Tohka asking, perhaps Tohka had the right idea when she insisted in staying with Keima for a while. The Katsuragi Household would be just as good as Fraxinus for Tohka to learn some common sense, and to rein in her strength a little as well. The events of last night seemed forgotten and Tohka seemed more attached to Mari than ever when Reine called out to her, which caused quite a scene till he was able to persuade Tohka to come along anyway.

It was going to be an interesting day in class, Keima could feel it inside him.

Author's Notes: Thank you for your support. Really!