The World Only the Girls Know: A Moonflower's Wish

Chapter 36: Interlude II: A Mother's Visit

Note: Characters from the Light Novel 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: This Story contains OCs and is on the same time-line as Blue Rose Paradox.

Author's Notes: Like mentioned earlier, school started! So it's like, Work + School = Less time. But updates will continue per normal for a while.

Thank you, AKAAkira for the beta-edits as always.

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To say that Katsuragi Mari was excited was an understatement; it was to be a first in many ways. Her first Parent-Teacher conference together with Elsi and Keima! She had missed out on last year's visit due to Keima reporting sick for that day, and she had looked forward to that for such a long time too!

But as her child wasn't able to make it, there wasn't a reason for Mari to be there as well... so this year, seeing that Elsi was going to be there, Keima had nary a choice but to be present as well.

Though that's what Keima admitted but Mari thought that he wanted to go nonetheless as he was on the phone for quite a while, a first for Keima never used his cellphone at all prior to this day.

There were times that Mari suspected that he really had a relationship with a girl like so many boys of his age and a year ago, it would have shocked her to death to think that Katsuragi Keima, her son, would be like any ordinary boy his age.

It would be a big relief and a huge load of her mind if he really did that. she wouldn't even mind if Keima married Elsi, as shocking as it might seem, for Mari had very big reservations as to how Keima would survive in the world once he graduated from high school.

She had aspirations and dreams that he would outgrow this phase, that this obsession with games would disappear with age but she had her hopes dashed too often to believe in that easily.

That was, until she met those three girls in his life, Kujyo Tsukiyo, Yoshino Asami and Fuse Aoba, both decent and normal school girls who had apparently had quite a good friendship with her son. Well, the last girl seemed to be a perfect fit for him, even if Mari had some reservations about her in particular. But Asami especially was quite attached to him indeed, seeing that she still dropped by often to walk Keima to school.

So her son was a player, just like how his father was. Like father like son huh?

Ordinarily Mari would be mad but she was just relieved that Keima had some hope left in him.

..

Back to the topic in question, this was the long awaited Parent-Teacher conference that had been scheduled at the start of the semester and just before the Mai-High Festival, something which the school organized to help the parent get a clearer picture of how their children were doing in school.

Grades wise, Keima gave Mari no worries at all, he was constantly at the top of his level, a genius son... if one minuses the games that he was playing all the time and his anti-social behaviour. She reckoned that she'll get plenty of that comments later on as she met with his teachers.

Elsi on the other hand... wasn't doing so well. She's barely above the passing grade, which wasn't that surprising considering how air-headed Elsi was at times. She was glad that Keima and Elsi stuck together; one day she'll be taken advantage of but Mari knew that her big brother was there to take care of her.

He might not look like it, but Keima was surprisingly very protective of Elsi; he would always know what she needed, be there to offer some advice in a cynical tone but advise nonetheless and more than anything else, Keima treated Elsi like family, never taking her for granted and paying attention even when he was not.

That was what made Mari felt that Keima still had some hope left in him just yet.

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'Oka-sama!'

Hearing her daughter call her, Mari hurried with the last brushes of her eyebrow pencil before calling her back from her room.

'Coming, Elsi-chan!'

It was odd, really, how she felt nervous meeting with his and Elsi's teachers, but Mari did her best to suppress her nervousness as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was perfect, so was her clothes, a blazer that she wore for special occasions... and her makeup wasn't too fancy for Keima to nag at her.

You would think that he'd be happy that she was going to meet his teachers! But he really wasn't...

Stepping out of the room with time to spare, Mari saw Elsi waiting for her eagerly outside the room with Keima nowhere in sight and she sighed. Figures... he's probably gaming somewhere right now.

'… We'll be late.'

His voice made her jump a little in surprise and she turned to see Keima leaning against the door to his room, PFP still in his hands though but looking up at her with a sense of... anxiety?

'… We're first in line to meet our sensei... we should be going now.'

He certainly was anxious... what was that about? Was he nervous too?

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'… You.. what?'

Looking at Elsi in disbelief, so shocked was he that he almost dropped his PFP in shock as Elsi repeated what she had said.

'I submitted our names for the Parent-Teacher conference this Friday.'

'W-WHAT?! ELSI!'

Raising his voice, Keima looked as though he was about to whack her on her head but stopped himself when faced with the disapproving looks of Asami Yoshino as well as Takahara Ayumi, the two classmates and 'friends' of the two of them looking as though they would intervene, physically too if Keima dared lay a hand on Elsi.

Not that he would ever do so as he shook his head, crossed his arms and just huffed angrily while Elsi just looked at Ayumi and Asami in confusion. Funny, she didn't even seem scared now... was she no longer intimidated by him? Or had she finally gotten a measure of how he really felt? That scared Keima for some reason.

'Did I do something wrong?'

The younger demon smiled when Ayumi and Asami both reassured her that she was not in the wrong and the person that was in the wrong was Keima, causing him to snarl a little at getting involved in someone else's problems.

'Yes... it wasn't mandatory... so why did you even do that? You know what Nikaido has to say about me... not to mention I'm sure that she has a lot to say about your grades, Elsi.'

Keima smirked a little when Elsi paled as she realized that. When Asami started giggling a little the two of them looked surprised so she made a comment as she ran her hands through her hair.

'… Gomen, but I... I never realized that the two of you were so close until now... Well... It is a little rude to say that... but I guess the two of you, are really family, neh? I wouldn't have believed it on the first day Elsi transferred to class!'

'Mm! I agree with Asami! Keima is usually so aloof and in his own world that we felt bad for Elsi-chan... but that's not the case neh?'

'Mm... I guess we were just worried for nothing.'

They were smiling as Elsi just blushed and shook her head, telling them that they did get along well together.

'Like how I helped Kami-Onii-sama wash his bac-'

'That's enough, thank you for your explanation, Elsi.'

Interrupting her as the two girls raised an eyebrow at what Elsi had almost said out loud, Keima gave a sigh of relief as the two girls dropped it in the end.

'Well... I guess that means that... I can see Keima's mother too then!'

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'!?'

As Keima was drinking some water, he had to fight hard not to choke on his drink as Ayumi mentioned with a bright smile.

'My family is coming by too! They want to see my coach, so it's a great opportunity for our family to be acquainted!'

Ayumi was being very daring today, her face was covered with a red hue but she still managed to make it sound natural as she smiled slyly at Asami, challenging the other girl as she just turned red at the implications.

'A-Ah... Ah...'

As expected, she wasn't able to make any headway into the conversation even as Ayumi counted her blessings while Keima counted his misfortune.

'… Tsk...'

He knew that it was just one of those days indeed. Elsi could have surprised him at home but instead she dropped this news down on him just like that! How was he going to go through this without making everything even more complicated? It was a challenge even for him, seeing that his mother has the tendencies to... be like a mother.

'… Kami-Onii-sama? Is something wrong?'

There was so many things wrong with the situation that Keima didn't know where to start but he would be just nitpicking if he say that now.

'… I hope you're happy, Elsi.'

'Mm... I am, Kami-Onii-sama! Now I can get Oka-sama to meet everyone too!'

TSK! If she doesn't get what's wrong, how was he going to get out of this situation?!

The Capturing God, Katsuragi Keima sensed a mass disturbance in the force, something that he cannot stop at all.

'… Such... misfortune.'

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'Ah, gomen, gomen... It has been a while since I've gone out with the two of you so...'

Mari smiled happily even as Elsi nodded her head in agreement at that. The last time the three of them had gone out together was during their visit to Keima's grandparents' home during the middle of summer break and ever since then, the three of them had not gone out together at all.

Of course, it's not like they were unable to eat together, one of Mari's rules was that all of them had to be present for dinner together unless they called back to say they couldn't make it for some reason.

So it really was nothing special so to speak, but it was really the first time that the three of them had gone to school together, a place where they were familiar with and Mari was estranged with.

A place where they spent the majority of their days in, a second home away from home if one can call it and Mari was lying if she said that she wasn't looking forward to perhaps meet with a few of their friends as well.

Especially Keima's friends as Mari had heard a lot about Elsi's friends, especially those in her band, the 2B Pencils. Those girls, Takahara Ayumi, Kosaka Chihiro, Terada Miyako and Guido Yui seemed liked nice girls and it would be a pleasure to meet them for the first time.

There were times that Mari asked if she would be willing to bring them over before remembering that Keima was home as well. It... wasn't that she was embarrassed about Keima but she knew that it wasn't a very conducive location at all to practise if he was around and since Elsi never seemed to bring that up, despite being on several slumber parties with the others, Mari left it at that.

..

Not that she would ever give up on that dream, mind you!

There was another thing to note and that was a small promise that she had made with a particular acquaintance of her son, the girl named Kujyo Tsukiyo.

The delicate, petite and so adorable girl was a common guest in the café as Mari had the tendency to allow her to try one of her newer creations or to join her in a spot of tea.

She was a unique one as she was the first person of the opposite sex that was officially introduced as a friend of Keima's and Mari treated her like a priceless treasure.

Sure, Keima didn't exchange many words with her and compared to Asami, who came by every day to walk with him to school. But Keima did have a cup of tea with Tsukiyo willingly whenever he did spot her in the café.

She was a regular too, occupying the same booth so often that she was practically living there and was part of the scenery now.

In a way, Keima visiting Tsukiyo after school was like a tradition except on some days where she wouldn't be around. Mari really didn't really know what to make of their relationship, were they more than just friends? Did they share a relationship together?

At least, Mari didn't think that was possible as they were cool about their relationship, speaking softly and perhaps about nothing in particular when she tried to eavesdrop, discreetly of course!

It was odd... but if the two of them were happy that way, she wasn't going to complain at all, mind!

That said, Mari knew that Tsukiyo was at least a little interested in Keima as the cute girl did perk up quite a bit whenever she saw Keima heading over to her.

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But this wasn't about Keima and her, it was about a small promise made between Mari and Tsukiyo herself...

She had asked her about the Parent-Teacher conference after knowing about it from Elsi and to her surprise, Tsukiyo had been quite evasive about it, in stark contrast to her usual calm and composed manner in which she replied Mari's questions.

'… I haven't spoken to them about it yet...'

Mari had to visibly fight the urge to hug Tsukiyo, who was very adorable when she was flustered and unsure of herself but she was an adult after all and adults had the right to care about someone younger than them, especially someone who was so cute as Tsukiyo and she had asked her why that was so.

'I-It's none of your business.'

Tsukiyo blurted out in reflex but judging from how she blushed while fidgeting in her seat, Tsukiyo was upset at herself for being so rude as she apologized soon after that too.

But It was going to take more than that to drive Katsuragi Mari away now that she was curious and she finally coaxed Tsukiyo to be frank with her.

To be honest, Mari wasn't that surprised to know that Tsukiyo wasn't close with her parents at all.

What with her spending the whole day and evening in the café, alone and aloof with no one else besides Mari, Keima and Elsi. Tsukiyo looked and was the part and poster child of a lonely child without family or friends to reply on.

Again, that was Mari's speculation and it turned out that she was mostly right. Whatever Tsukiyo's relationship with her family was, Tsukiyo's parents wasn't going to the Parent-Teacher conference at all.

That was when Mari suggested something ridiculous; that she didn't mind attending the conference on their behalf.

It was really ridiculous as they were not related at all, friends at most and had the slimmest of ties and most importantly... weren't that close to each other.

Or so she thought..

'I... I-If you... want to...'

For some reason, Tsukiyo blushed hard and nodded her head in agreement to that suggestion that Mari just raised as a joke and the surprising turn of events was so that she couldn't reply negatively as well, only nodding numbly as Tsukiyo smiled sweetly back at her in delight.

Did her presence really mean so much to her?

Mari might be missing out on some symbolism here as Tsukiyo kept smiling, blushing all the while as she told Mari that she promised her that she would go.

'A-Ah... if Tsukiyo-chan wants to, I really don't mind.'

That was another thing that she would have to fulfil when visiting Mai-High, an important part of her children's life.

Author's Notes: I think that Keima is a little too emotional here. But definitely one of the silliest things I wrote so far.

Right, a new poll is up! Please do it!