The World Only the Girls Know: A Sorrel's Teasing
Chapter 26: Personalities Part II
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 Note: Thanks to dongaro and his beta editing and editing again. Looking for Beta-readers! Oh, I think Sorrel's Teasing will end sooner than Azalea Side.. Lastly, Do my Poll!
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'Perhaps I was being too stubborn?'
A girl asked herself that question as she looked at herself in the mirror. The girl in question was the youngest out of all of the girls who were vying for Keima's attention, Ikoma Minami.
After yesterday's episode, she found herself reflecting on what she had done over the past few days. It was not that she regretted her actions, it was that she found herself losing track of her 'real' self.
'Was I… so desperate?'
Asking her reflection in the mirror, Ikoma Minami tried tying a ponytail with her hair. But as usual, it came to nought, and she sighed to herself before starting to wash her face again.
She did not know why she was in such a rush. Were her innate instincts telling her that she had to move fast before she lost Keima to another person?
Of course, she had been shocked by Haqua's sudden reveal of her identity; who wouldn't be surprised when one was introduced to another's fiancée out of the blue?
What made it even worse was that it happened when Minami felt that she had made some progress, and she felt that feeling compounded when she chanced upon another girl, this time a girl from Katsuragi-senpai's class, with him during lunch.
All in all, this had been quite a day for Ikoma Minami, and it showed as she had found herself restless about everything.
Nothing seemed to be able to rouse the poor girl back up; even her close friends had no clue as to what was going on.
And Minami intended for it to stay this way, letting her friends know about her crush on Katsuragi-senpai would do more harm than good.
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So she had to deal with this situation by herself. She was herself, her one and only ally in this dog eat dog world, and Minami sighed again.
It was really difficult; as she had no idea that it would be so difficult, being in love is difficult after all… It distracted her, gave her strength as well as sap her of it. Every moment with him was like heaven and every moment without him was like hell.
No one had told her being in love was so hard. Was it really worth the effort to get his attention?
Resting her head on the mirror, Ikoma Minami closed her eyes as she was tired, really tired and she tried to recall what made her try so hard in the first place.
To remember the tender and joyful feeling that she had when she was with him, when she realized what the odd and new feeling inside her was.
Why did she begin to pursue him in the first place? Why did she want to know about him and why was she willing to believe in him despite being in a life and death situation?
What was Katsuragi Keima to her? Minami Ikoma wanted so dearly to know and she ran through her memory to find the answer.
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There must be something, something he said to her, something that he helped her with, that she treasured very much.
Only after a long while did she realize why she came up with a blank. She remembered the promise that he made of looking after her.
But the reason she was able to continue swimming, to pursue her dream was due to her own self…
The belief in his words held firm, that despite everything that had happened… it was that same thing that gave her strength.
Just like how she had no particular reason to really like Katsuragi-senpai…
It was not about his reputation, or about his looks or his actions… or what she thought of him.
It was about all of it, the experience that she was able to gain from meeting him, from finding about him, and spending time with him.
All of them were reasons for her to try harder, to not give up.
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Just like how it was a lesson then, just like how it gave her strength to dare to dream again… this new task, to find out how to get him to look at her, would surely give her strength to move on, regardless of the results.
If she did not try, Minami knew that she would regret it for the rest of her life.
So she would continue fighting, even if it might be hopeless, even if it might not happen, even if it was a lost cause.
Because of all these reasons would she be able to once again move forward… to be strong, just like how Katsuragi-Senpai would want her to be.
'Wait for me, Katsuragi-senpai… I won't forget what you said to me.'
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Finding a break at long last, Katsuragi Keima returned to his seat in the classroom while playing on his PFP. His mind however, was not focused on his game and he absentmindedly read the dialogues while thinking about the situation that he had just witnessed.
So, Shinomiya Shiori probably had her memory modified again, this time by Nikaido Yuri; and from what he could gather from Elsi, Nikaido Yuri definitely had links to New Hell and was frighteningly powerful.
It was a pity, but Keima decided not to confront Nikaido Yuri about that fact and instead let sleeping dogs lie. However, it did answer a question about her that he had filed away previously.
She had looked terrified about him previously and Keima was convinced that was not an act. After all it was almost impossible for a sadist like her to be afraid of him, especially so when she did derive satisfaction from torturing him when she could.
If she had some affiliation with New Hell, the next question would be: 'What did she see in him that Elsi and Haqua both missed?'
There could be many things that could fill in the blanks, for example she could have seen traces of someone's mark on him…
Keima reasoned that whoever undid the memory modification would be someone that was out of Elsi and Haqua's league in terms of power and that he/she probably had a grudge against him.
Based on intelligence gathered by Elsi and Haqua, other former 'hosts' were not affected and it seemed exclusive to the 'heroines' that Keima had 'captured'.
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Another theory was that Nikaido Yuri had probably seen something that might cause concern for New Hell. Did he himself have something to do with the Memory Modification… did he trigger something by accident without himself noticing after all?
If that was the case, this problem would be even more complex than he imagined… retracing his and Elsi's steps for summer would be futile as they had two different captures that took them in and out of their hometown.
'Tsk, this is endless…'
Slamming his fist on the table in frustration, Keima was interrupted when his classmate, Yoshino Asami, made an appearance by walking past his table and he looked up immediately to check on her condition with baited breath.
It would both be beneficial and harmful if she was to have her memory modified.
It was beneficial as she would not ask any more questions about his relationship with Shiori, to all of the girls he was neither attached nor attracted to any other girl besides the girls themselves.
If they knew Keima had relationships with other girls, even if it was a previous one, he would be labeled a player almost immediately, not to mention the amount of questions that he would have to answer.
Not only would it destroy the image of the Katsuragi Keima in their eyes; it would probably lead to them having the gap in their hearts reopened, and for them to be antagonistic against him and in the worst possible scenario, fighting amongst themselves.
It is like that one game where the protagonist had to climb a tower while living an affair in game! IT WOULD BE PURE MADNESS!
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Harmful, as it would mean that he would have lost a valuable lead in discovering the truth, perhaps with the right questions he could get to the end of the mystery by discovering how and why they remembered everything.
With that info it would be possible for him to end this madness after all, even if it was a very dangerous thing to do. One wrong move and he would have to have her memory re-modified again.
As Shiori had proven earlier, the threat was significant and real.
He was playing with fire here, one wrong move and he'd be burned badly...
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Meeting back with Aoba, Elsi found herself strangely unsettled by the change in Haqua's personality that showed she had changed just like how Aoba had said she had. Elsi had been skeptical at first, but now it looked like Aoba was right.
Things were moving quicker than Elsi had expected, so perhaps she should pick up the pace as well to help aid her best friend? According to Aoba, it had to be an external influence for Haqua's personality to do such a rapid turn around.
As Aoba had explained to Elsi, for a 'tsundere' character like Haqua to show so much affection for her crush would require Keima to have 'captured' her to get such a positive response.
A tsundere girl would normally conceal their affections for their significant other till the end, when they would be captured.
However, as Haqua who had a crush on Keima, displayed those traits so openly for all to see… it must mean that Keima had completed her 'route'!
Unfortunately, that was not true as from Elsi's testimony, Keima had not had any interaction with Haqua at all. There was the possibility of it happening while Elsi herself was in the dark, but it was unlikely at best.
However, Elsi had other ideas while briefing Aoba on what transpired between the two demon girls.
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Elsi had not noticed that Haqua had a crush on her Kami-Onii-sama at all, and it reflected on her badly when in hindsight, it was painfully obvious. Haqua liked praise, as she liked to be recognized for her hard work after all.
One method that Elsi discovered would help appease Haqua when she was mad; was to praise her about something, anything at all.
However, perfect as Haqua could be, she could get nervous when the pressure became too much for her. Unlike herself, Haqua did not handle pressure well, and careless mistakes tended to pop out more often when push came to the shove.
Also, Haqua was easily embarrassed as well, she did not like physical contact and she was very conscious of her image. Meaning she was actually very conscious of everything that she did and unlike Elsi, it was very difficult to rouse her spirits if she ever got down.
Praises would only hurt her when she failed, and it would take a certain tact to comfort her after failure, which Elsi managed somehow.
Her Kami-Onii-sama did not praise Haqua often and even when he did, would only do so if it warranted the praise, something that would make Haqua very happy about it.
He dealt with Haqua's depression in his own way, pointing out the flaws and teaching her the way to rectify them, something that Haqua would also have appreciated.
Lastly, Haqua had some… intimate encounters with Keima, similar to Elsi herself, and since Elsi herself had quite a crush on Kami-Onii-sama, it would be logical for Haqua to have the same.
Yes, a strange logic, but Elsi's logic wasn't really normal in the first place anyway. But her perception had been right a few times before… would this be one where she was accurate as well?
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'Perhaps my first move was flawed after all?'
Aoba fumed a little as she watched the replay that Elsi showed her. She had been quite surprised that Haqua had disliked her that much, and she was glad that she read the atmosphere of the situation accurately and beaten a hasty retreat.
Another thing to note was that Aoba found herself wondering how Katsuragi Keima, the Capturing God, would have reacted in this scenario. Was she really worthy to be the one to take up his mission?
It was remarkably difficult to translate the knowledge that she gained from the games to real life, and she wondered how he would have dealt and coped with the situation then.
She had to thank Elsi for the swift transition into the current situation, as she had done a great job minimizing the initial impact and giving her enough time to accept the situation as the truth.
From what she learnt from Elsi, Keima had been thrust into this situation with no prior warning whatsoever, compounded with his life on the balance, the stress of the situation would have made even the strongest man collapse.
So she found herself gaining more respect for the Capturing God and his abilities, as he had held out for so long.
Under such unbelievable odds and stress, it was a wonder he was so successful and did not fail in the first place.
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'Ano, did… Aoba-san really said that to Haqua?'
Sounding a little judgmental and upset at Aoba, she found herself looking at a more assertive Elsi and to her surprise, she found herself happy about the development in Elsi's character.
Elsi was her partner and this development meant that she would be more independent, enabling Elsi to make difficult calls without seeking Aoba's advice.
But she would have to deal with the backlash of her statement at the moment, and she slowly explained to Elsi what she meant.
'At that time, I was desperate.. I had my memories returned to…'
She blinked when she realized that she was being silly, there was the clue she had been waiting for such a long time, and she slapped her own face in disgust.
'I… am such an idiot!'
'Huh? W-wait… A-aoba-chan you… you had your memories returned so you… you should remember…'
The two girls had seemingly forgotten about that, and the two of them sat down in a hurry, not caring that they were would have to be content with sitting on the floor.
It was so obvious, the clues were in front of them and they had totally forgotten about that.
She, Aoba Fuse was one of the heroines that had her memories returned, and by retracing her own steps, she could find out the truth by herself!
'I… I apologize, this is a first even for me… to think that the solution was so close to me and I did not realize it. I have no excuse for missing this clue in the first place.'
Lowering her head and looking very embarrassed at that mistake, Aoba felt relieved when Elsi rested one hand on her shoulder for comfort.
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'Daijobu, at least Aoba-chan realized it now… I didn't realize it myself. That means we can find out the truth quickly right?'
As optimistic as ever, Elsi cheered Aoba up, as she pulled the other girl up to her feet.
'Now that we know that Aoba-chan knew what happened… let's go and find the culprit!'
Nodding, Fuse Aoba tried to recall what had happened then. It had been only a few days but it seemed like she was trying to peer through a foggy window, as she could not remember the finer details.
'I… It was at the game shop! It definitely was at the game shop… I met someone there… but, who?'
Adding to the mystery of the situation was that the voice, as far as she could recall, was bisexual in nature and it could be a man or a woman's voice.
It tilted slight towards the female side though and if she was not mistaken, the voice belonged to someone similar to her in age.
'…'
It seemed likely that it was someone near to them that was the culprit if her suspicions were accurate.
'Let's go now, Elsi! We might find some clues in the shop itself!'
Nodding to Aoba, Elsi held her hand the two girls leapt from the rooftop and headed towards the scene of the crime. School be damned, this was something more important than some silly lessons after all!
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From one of the classrooms, a second pair of eyes was observing at their exit, the owner of the eyes' brows furrowed as she closed the book she was reading with a sigh.
'It is about time.'
Smiling despite herself, the figure turned back to her book while wondering how far would they go for the truth. Would they turn New Hell upside down in their search? Or would they unearth the right clues early on?
Either way, she had decided not to interfere with this little façade by the culprit. She quite liked this little game, and it might shed more light on the tenacity and the skills of the boy and the girls that he was surrounded by.
'This is more than just a test, this time… if you fail, you die.'
She muttered absentmindedly while considering her own options, the girls were all awakening from their seemingly forced sleep and they would start asking questions soon.
For the Capturing God it would only mean disaster.
'Well, let us see… how he deals with the situation.'
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Arriving at their destination in a matter of minutes, Elsi and Fuse rushed into the store, and Aoba immediately headed to the shelves where she had met with that mysterious person.
'Elsi, can you replay the events of this shop for the past few days? I was here only a few days ago after all… if you can, the answer is waiting for us here!'
Closing her eyes, Aoba tried not to be too optimistic about their chances but this was their best and most reliable lead so far.
'I can try… but please do not expect so much from me…'
Even Elsi was trembling as she activated her raiment, praying for the best ending possible.
'Okay… here goes!'
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Author's Notes: CLIFF HAAANGEEER! Oh right, it'll be Sorrel Teasing for the next few Updates as My muse says so.