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

Chapter 29: Path Decided

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: So I decided to name my Muse Catherine and yep, thanks to dongaro and Kaiser Dude for the beta-read and the edit. DO MY POLL PLEASE!


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Shiomiya Shiori, Keima's third capture and in many aspects, the true dark horse of the race for his heart and even Keima admitted that Yoshino Asami had higher odds in attaining the impossible than Shiori.

But miracles do happen, and the miracle happened as Shiori matched Keima's criteria of the ideal girl.

The gap in Shiori's heart was due to her the fear of being misunderstood by her peers despite her wish of being heard by them. It must have been caused by some trauma in the past to cause Shiori to be unable to converse normally with other people and Keima can relate to that in a way.

He was always a person of few words and that was further compounded on his obsessions with his galgames. This was evident when he captured Shiori, and he did not believe that there was just only one way to communicate with other people.

Some people do it via messages, via IRC, via stories and his way was through his knowledge of galgames, to educate and guide his lost lambs to save the heroines that all of them desired to meet.

By helping her overcome her weakness through offering her courage. The courage to speak again, Katsuragi Keima was successful in 'capturing' Shiori and filling in the gap in her heart.

It takes courage for everything, from being different, to being yourself, to being able to face down the past… but Shiori stood out somehow by being the one that needed the littlest push.

She just needed some encouragement, some belief in herself and she would be able to move on, with or without him.

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In a way, Shiori was the most independent of the girls that he could classify under the same 'capture conditions'. These included Kosaka Chihiro, who simply needed someone who believed in her, and needed someone to help her out when she needed it and Ikoma Minami, who needed to believe that her past was all worth it and the courage to move on, as Shiori was the only individual who was no longer dependent Keima after her capture.

Yes, she had retained her feelings for Keima by trying hard to write that book but perhaps Shiori's love was most true after all, there was nothing she needed from Keima other than some time to understand him.

The significance was obvious when one considered their earlier meeting.

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Shiori mentioned that she would love to know more about his area of expertise in exchange of Keima reading some of her books as well. There was give and take in this situation, something different in all of the instances he spent with the girls as they all had ulterior motives(Wanting to be with him), but Shiori was on an entirely different track altogether.

She was not as innocent as she seemed, for Keima knew that the possibility of her harboring wishes for them to be together was possible, but at least wanted to know him more and not just about him, but his interests as well.

Even if it was only to humor him and to get close to him, Keima nonetheless liked the sentiment. This meant that he viewed Shiori favorably as well.

Being able to relate to her emotionally on some levels was just one thing; the two of them did acknowledge together the desire to read, to experience the endless possibilities of fiction. That also meant they shared similar hobbies and interests as well, another positive point.

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Another factor to note was that although one could not imagine Shiori being a person able to take stress, one has to remember that she clocked in more hours in the library than most girls her age. Not to mention the plucky endeavor she undertook to save her books in the library.

That showed that the character of Shiomiya Shiori had more depth than one would imagine and was another strong indication that although silent, Shiori could be quite capable in dealing with others who viewed her relationship with him as negative.

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One of the last factors influencing his decision was him admitting that it would be actually quite easy for others to accept Shiori as the girl that Keima had chosen out of all of the other girls as well. Remarkably easy, as upon reflection, Keima realized that she was the one whom he found was able to have a significantly intelligent discussion and conversation.

The other girls all were swayed or were influenced by their emotions most of the time but that did not ring true with Shiori on her second meeting with him, engaging him in the conversation about her favorite subject.

He could draw similarities to how he described his games to Elsi with Shiori describing her books; and he knew that she valued her preferred hobby of reading just as much as he did with his games and he was glad at her respect of his interest.

It would be easy to project the image of the two of them in a relationship, with him learning to understand her interest and him introducing his games to her as well…

And let us not forget the fact that Shiori was the first person to actually concretely and possibly form suspicions of him having relationships with other girls.

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All in all, Keima believed he made the right choice despite it being a very rushed one, but how would Shiori react?

If he had known that he would have made this decision before, he would have popped the question earlier… but would it be too soon as well?

It was not the end of the race for his heart, as Katsuragi Keima knew all too well, it was just the beginning. As there would be many loose ends to tie up if he had decided on Shiori as the girl who will be his love from now on.

Of course, to others it may seem like a rushed decision, and to the girls, it was a very unfair and wrong one. But Keima had judge that Shiori was indeed the ideal girl for him to begin a relationship with.

Despite the lack of 'development' with her from the 'start' of the race and the premature end of this competition, it did not truly mean that it was really the 'end' so to speak.

There had been instances that a supposed 'ending' was a fake one and it turned into a 'Bad End' for the hero. This was due to the feeling of guilt towards another girl that had been sidelined due to the relationship with the current girl.

Of course, if he was to avoid that situation it would be ideal, but it was certainly a possibility that some of the girls could explore, using guilt or other means to persuade him to give up on Shiori.

Endless possibilities remain, but he would have to stand firm, assuming Shiori accepted him after all.

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For all his preparation and his fancy lines that he could use to ask Shiori out, Keima decided on the simplest approach as sometimes, the simplest approach was the best after all.

Shiomiya Shiori probably read a wide range of books about Romance and although it might be romantic for him to recite a line straight out of one of Shiori's favorite books to describe his feelings towards her, he sadly did not have the relevant information to use that 'scene' in his favor. In addition he'll be damned to try his luck in picking a random line from a random book as well…

Shiori would only feel upset at him for quoting something that he obviously did not know about and that would only serve to make him look like a fool.

No, the simplest and direct approach would be something that would catch Shiori by surprise.

From his analysis of her behavior and the way she drew him into the particular conversation, Shiori had quite an intellectual mind and was someone who was quite intelligent in various fields.

She was not a genius per see, but she might be a person whom might read more carefully into the underlying meaning of things as well as being quite stubborn in proving her point; the latter meaning it would be quite a feat for anyone to get away with any half-assed argument or answer with her.

Thus keeping it simple and offering all the terms that she would want would ensure that Shiori would be able to get the message clearly without any doubts and of course, she would not suspect him of having a 'catch' as many fictional stories might have.

Not to mention that her first trait would actually work in Keima's favor as she would expect him to veil his intent to some degree.


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'What do you think of me, Shiomiya? Do you look at me in a favorable light?'

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'Y-you're… you are… p-pulling my… my leg, right, Katsuragi-san? T-this is such a surprise… K-katsuragi-san… to ask me that question all of a sudden… is unfair…'

Knowing that even if she thought her face was burning, the reality had to be even worse; and Shiomiya Shiori desperately tried to return the shade her face to normal by coughing discreetly and shaking her head slowly.

'O-of course this is just a…. simple question… desho? It would be mean of you to dash my wildest expectations… but it is very difficult to phrase my true feelings, if you do not clarify yourself…. And state clearly what you meant to ask me.'

Trying to confuse Keima, and to a certain degree, herself as well, by her words, Shiori shook her head to try and clear her head as Keima seemed a little bemused at her words.

There could be many ways to interpret his words; and the best possible scenario was like a dream come true and the worst possible scenario would simply break her heart… and of course, the middle ground of the two scenarios would simply crush her heart as well.

There was only one possible way for it to end well and Shiori wished so much that it would be the one that fulfilled her wildest wish.

Shiori herself was not convinced that she would get Keima to respond to her advances or to fall in love with her just like how she had fallen for him.

She had no experience in this field and nothing to go on to catch his interest but the simple plan to know more about his favorite things and to share her own views on it.

But was that thing sufficient enough to capture his heart? Shiori knew that it wouldn't be enough… and a tiny part of her wondered if Keima's little confession was just a lie and that it was just part of a greater scheme of things that she did not know about.

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Shiori had heard about the rumors of Keima 'living it up' with many other girls but she had faith and trust in him to dismiss those rumors as exaggerated accounts of his time spend with other girls. Her image of Keima was different from the majority of people and thus, she reasoned that the true interpretation of what happened was different as well.

Of course, the term: 'No Smoke Without Fire' still made her a little doubtful of his character.

But from her interaction with him, Shiori found Keima to be sincere with his words and not to mention the fact that her image of him was totally intact.

For Shiori, Katsuragi Keima was someone who poked his nose into another person's business because he cared about her as well as being an misunderstood person who was living his life the way he wished to be, despite all the setbacks reality was throwing at him and Shiori found that to be a strangely attractive part about him as well.

For as she, Shiomiya Shiori was living in a world that was her quiet sanctuary of the library she loved so much, Katsuragi Keima, the boy she had a crush with, was living in a totally different world.

In a world which declared his existence as taboo, a world which rejected him and refused him the peace and ideal that he wished for despite his pleas.

It excited Shiori to be able to share her world with someone who longed for such a sanctuary, a person who had his feet firmly rooted to the world's perception of an 'obedient girl' to a 'delinquent' who challenged the world around him and Shiori found herself answering Keima in a heartbeat after he clarified himself.

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'As expected from Shiomiya…'

Running a hand through his hair, Katsuragi Keima pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose while Shiori looked on with baited breath as he asked her again.

'I like you, Shiomiya. Do you like me as well?'

It was a question that she could answer without hesitation and she answered the Capturing God with the same words that she first graced him with so long ago.

'S-stupid! O-of course I do…'


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Breathing a sigh of relief that Shiori did accept his confession in the end; Keima was nervous throughout the entire encounter as for the first time, he did not have all the cards to guarantee a capture and he knew that he had been lucky in his prediction game to get this capture in the bag.

Of course, he had ran every possibility through his head before deciding on this simple and straightforward option, but even he had to smile in exasperation at how Shiori stuttered and tried to distract him with her mumbled words.

He had little doubt that he was going to fail in his capture; as Shiori was just trying to clarify his intentions before moving forward but that spoke volumes for his unease.

He was not simply 100% sure and but he was very relieved that she did express the same feelings towards him. Another feeling surged through him as well and he was pleased to note that he too felt that same tickling feeling in his heart that he could relate to as feelings one felt when in love.

'Would you… go out with me then? I understand that you might feel that this is a sudden question, but the truth was that I wanted to ask you that quite some time ago.'

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Using his best and most devastating weapon, the Capturing God smiled at the poor girl and even from the distance he could visibly see her legs wobble slightly at his sudden confession. He had the poor girl like putty in his hands and he raised a hand dramatically in her direction.

'I was worried that you would not forgive me for leaving things unresolved between the two of us, but there were circumstances out of my control that caused all of that. If you would give me the chance to explain it to you, I would clear all your doubts.'

He had many plausible, if vague answers for Shiori and for many of the girls but with Haqua's presence looming all over him and the girls; he could use that to turn back the tide as well.

Of course, all he needed was Shiori giving him that chance, it all laid in her hands now, the Capturing God had played all his cards in front of her.


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Hearing him say those words that seemed straight out of a fairy tale made Shiori's pulse race, and she indeed felt like she was in heaven after hearing him say those words to her. But, as always, there was always a catch, and she struggled to make sense of the faux de pass that Keima had thrown up to avoid more questions from her.

Of course she was upset that Keima had left her without explaining why and she was upset at herself for not pursuing the issue further as well. She wanted answers from Keima, good ones and not any lame excuses.

'Katsuragi-san… if you were really sincere about that, would you please explain your actions to me now?'

Crossing her arms, Shiomiya Shiori showed the same stubbornness that Keima had been afraid of and she took one small step but psychologically important step forward to prove her point.

She was not going to take any more excuses from the Capturing God, she wanted answers and she wanted them now!

However, Shiori did not know that her memory itself was modified extensively by Nikaido Yuri, something that neither Keima nor the alliance of girls realized.

Shiori's memory had many differences with the other girl's memories as Nikaido Yuri had ensured that the discrepancies in her memory from the time she was captured till now was 'corrected' and there were no 'gaps' that had Shiori 'forgetting' about Keima.

Instead, the gap of time that she spent before he returned to her life was depicted as Keima avoiding Shiori and the reason for her being able to write about Keima in her novel was that the issue was too painful for her to touch about.

Even now, after 'remembering' Keima's name and picking up her pen anew to write her novel, Shiori had some difficulty writing about the times she spent with the 'love interest' in her story and had pretty much abandoned it again.

Nikaido Yuri had done her job masterfully, rewriting and fixing those memories by making them into undesired and hurtful ones that Shiori would not wish to remember, hence making it all the easier for her to pretend they never existed.

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The change was so subtle that neither Shiori nor Keima himself realized that there was a change, but it did explain why Shiori was so adamant that Keima explain himself. Like he had explained before, for Shiori to be stubborn on a particular issue means it was something very important to her.

And finding the reason for Keima's 'disappearance' warranted such importance for the quiet girl that she just had to stand up for it.

Was all the odds stacked against the Capturing God once again for such a development to happen just before his attempted 'capture' on the Librarian, would he be able to escape unscathed once again?

Meanwhile, what will our intrepid duo of Heroines discover behind the scenes?

Finally, will another DYNAMIC ENTRY be sufficient to warrant Haqua's presence as the Main Heroine?

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Find out all this and more… IN OUR NEXT CHAPTER!


Author's Notes: Catherine died on me in the last part. R&R please, FOR I WILL KEEP THE CLIFFHANGERS!