The World Only the Girls Know: Azalea Side

Chapter 50: The Second Confession

Author's Note: 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: Thank you, Kaiser dude for the beta-edit as always! I'm losing my drive a little due to work... But, happy chinese new year everyone!


Takahara Ayumi was unsure what she should do or feel at the situation right now as she looked at Katsuragi Keima in the eye in front of her. For one she was glad and happy that Keima was being so supportive and concerned for her to be speaking to her in private, almost demanding for the right to do so as well as he had voiced out that fact to the other girls.

It had made her embarrassed that he was angry at her for her well-being but indignant at how he did not do anything at all till it was too late.

Well, not totally too late... but the damage was done.

Yes, he was the one who made sure that it did not get any worse as well but in hindsight he was also partly responsible for this incident happening in the first place.

He was the one who said that it'll be okay to spend some time with the other boys, to learn something from them... so he should have made sure that it would be... safe if they were with them.

Yes, Ayumi learned something from that, but she would rather not have wanted to experience it first-hand in that way and it made her shiver again at how quickly her thoughts went back to that incident again.

It was supposed to be safe, they were with school mates of the same age, and they wouldn't have hurt them or... wanted to do something to them, right?

Apparently not... men were beasts and pigs!

Her mood and emotional state was stuck in a vicious cycle, repeating itself in an endless loop of shock, denial and finally reluctant acceptance before starting the cycle all over again, as if she was convincing herself that nothing really happened.

She tried to tell herself that it was all over and done with, that she was not taken advantage of and that she was safe now, with her friends and with Keima who will protect her.

Ayumi wanted Keima to reassure her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright and she lowered her eyes timidly as he spoke again to the nervous girl in front of her.

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'I would... want you to be safe, if you simply stop resisting it would only result in harm for you as well as everyone else. Ayumi... self-sacrifice might be noble, but there are limits to what you should... allow.'

Keima stopped suddenly as he realized what he was saying was wrong and would harm Ayumi more and he shook his head, correcting himself.

'No, there should not be any negotiations at all if you feel uncomfortable with anything, anything at all.'

Changing and hardening his stance upon seeing the traces of tears in Ayumi's eyes, Keima did an about turn to salvage what was remaining of Ayumi's pride.

'You should learn how to say 'no' and to refuse them if they are making you feel uncomfortable with their actions.'

'B-but he might have complained to his manager a-and then we... we... we we couldn't have been... a-able to-'

Keima cut her off before she could try and justify her actions and that was crucial as if he was to allow her to believe that what she was doing was right, there was no going back for her.

She might even think that it was expected of all of to give something precious to earn success in any field, which was what Keima was trying to avoid and to protect the girls from believing.

'DO NOT BE SILLY!'

Raising his voice for the first time to any of the girls, Keima was seething as he grabbed Ayumi roughly on her shoulders, ignoring the wince and cry of pain from the girl as she struggled a little, obviously upset and afraid of a man's touch as Keima held her firmly, making her look solely into his eyes and to nowhere else.

'Look at me, Ayumi... do not look away from me even form an instant and listen to my every word.'

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Ayumi's heart was pounding hard in her chest in being in such close contact with keima and doubly so because he wwanted to hold Ayumi in that fashion.

It was more than sufficient for all the blood to rush to her face, staining it a pinkish red and Ayumi simply looked at him, not even really listening to what he was saying, simply wishing that this moment would go on forever.

But listen she must and she shook her head to regain some of her higher mind functions as Keima started to speak once again.

'Do you remember what your wish was? The dream and aspiration that drove you to work hard for, to practise so hard, as well as the challenge that made motivated all of you to go against the unimaginable odds for you to be standing here?

Have you forgotten the tears and sweat that you have paid to earn the small recognition that you craved so much? Do you remember your promise to meet with Kanon on the Mai-High Festival?'

Asking her question after question, Keima allowed only a small time for the questions to sink into the girl's head before he started again, noting with satisfaction and relief as Ayumi did react to him mentioning Kanon.

As he had expected, the idol was the best candidate to help raise the fighting spirit of all of the girls as they viewed her as an important and the most difficult foe to overcome.

It was unheard of, a High School Band versus the Top Idol of their time, the ultimate David versus Goliath battle but as it was exactly that scenario was the end reward so tantalizing and meaningful to the girls.

'Do not forget that... hard work that all of you had played in... those memories are what shaped and defined you, the girl that is part of the 2B Pencils.

The dream that you shared along with the time that you spent together are what have brought you this far... do not destroy it in a single heartbeat because you saw an easy way out... do not give up your pride for something so trivial!'

Keima continued relentlessly even as Ayumi nodded in agreement to his words.

'The five of you are finally going to show the world what you are capable of... they acknowledged all of you by your skill and hard work, not your looks or what other vulgar thoughts that they are associating with. Those that bow down to the stereotypes that they are branded with are cowards who are trading away their ideals!

Do not... do NOT do that, Ayumi! You should be proud of who you are, what you believe in... your beliefs are yours and not others... do not give concessions... you should not give up who you are, who you will be and what you will achieve!

Not... to be ashamed at yourself for trying to resist those advances that are tempting you to stray from your path. They are the ones that are at fault, not you.'

Pausing to get a breah of air, Keima watched as Ayumi looked down, her hands reaching up to slowly push Keimas hands away from her but he refused to let go, not just yet anyway as he did not want her to look away now, to break eye contact and to ignore her deep rooted instincts of self-preservation.

It was wrong and unethical for her to sell her body to gain benefits in the first place!

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'No one is perfect in the world; there will be those that give in to the temptation for an easy way out in exchange for... their own pride and dreams. You've heard of scandals that plagued different public servants, entertainers as well as normal white collared employees who do just that to get that small edge over others. However, I do not wish to see that happen to you.

You... I believe... no, I know that you deserve more, Ayumi... you really do.'

'T-then... K-k-keima-kun... w-wouldn't dislike me... f-for what... for... a-almost giving in? I... I didn't want to... to... b-b-but... I... I..!'

Stammering while confessing to Keima her feelings, Ayumi found herself overwhelmed by her own emotions and she hugged the Capturing God with all of her strength, squeezing him tight even as Keima replied with a curt and formal nod.

'I will never look down on you, Ayumi... never... y-you're special and unique to me... even amongst all of the girls... you are always... the first amongst all of them.'

It wasn't a true love confession, nor was it true love that was felt between the two of them. But it was close enough to make others and especially Ayumi mistaken his words for one.

Who in the right mind would say such embarrassing words with so much emotion unless they really felt something special for that certain some one?

'K-K-Keima-kun?'

Lost for words and unable to string even a word together coherently, Takahara Ayumi's thoughts were fully focused and dedicated to Katsuragi Keima in the light of his touching and emotional words.

She had been upset, demoralized and scandalized by what had happened and perhaps one of the reasons for the huge emotional trauma and scar that she suffered was that Ayumi was afraid that Keima would never look at her in the same way again.

That she would never be 'wanted' by Keima or anyone ever again as she was 'soiled' by the culprit.

Of course this was just an exaggeration but in the difficult emotional state that she was in, anything was possible to her.

By hearing Keima's words, his reassurance that she will forever be someone special to her made her worst fears be dispelled as easily as though they were never there.

The moment, time, atmosphere and mood was right, there could be no one who would fault her for not seizing the opportunity!

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'A-ano neh...'

Ayumi's voice broke slightly as she slowly pushed away from Keima, making the boy realized how close the two of them were together and his face flushed momentarily, a hint of red gracing his face as Ayumi leaned closer to him, tiptoeing as she pushed her face towards him, not letting him have a chance to retreat or to push her away as she advanced on her, seizing the chance that she had been granted unwillingly by the boy.

'I... I realy... do like you after all, K-keima-kun. So... p-please forgive me for being s-selfish...'

She managed to confess to him before kissing him softly on the lips, it was perhaps nothing as compared to the first kiss that they shared, lasting for only a few seconds as she made contact with him before she herself pulled away from him coyly and shyly.

Ayumi was perhaps embarrassed at her taking advantage of the situation like that as she moved away from him nervously, not once looking back at Keima's eyes, where one would see a mixture of emotions ranging from regret to resignation at her sudden confession.

But for that girl that had just confessed, it was something that she had not planned for in advance. In her mind, she wanted her confession to be in a better place and after a significant milestone had passed between the two of them, like after they passed the audition to play at the Mai-High Festival.

However she could not complain about the atmosphere as it was perfect, the two of them were... in a world of their own, their emotions running high with their thoughts filled with the other party.

There was nothing to fault with that and Ayumi was now glad... that horrible incident had happened as she could now hear first-hand what the boy felt for her.

It had been awkward at the start as it seemed to her that Keima had ignored or was trying to forget what had happened between the two of them.

The memories had been fuzzy, as if she herself had successfully forgotten about the time they spent together as well. It had seemed to take place in a totally different place or to a totally different person as Ayumi could not remember precisely... exactly how they had gotten close together in the first place... for the two of them to do 'that' together.

She could only know and feel that he had helped her lift and remove a tremendous load off her shoulders. At the same time however, after spending a long time with her she figured that he had always meant well... although his actions were crude and easy to misunderstand, that was what he always have been plagued with, misunderstanding.

There was no one who wished to know who this person, Katsuragi Keima was like before her sister, Katsuragi Elsi had transferred into the school. Come to think of it, it was around the same time that she began to be interested in knowing more about him too.

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It was true that she had been confused about what she felt for him ever since he had joined them as their manager. At first she admitted that she was perhaps biased on what she felt for him before, the positive feelings and opinion that she had retained and had associated him with making it easy to acclimatize to his managing style and with each new and successful plan that he pulled off, her faith and feelings for him had grown by leaps and bounds.

Perhaps it was admiration or perhaps it was attraction, Katsuragi Keima could not do wrong in front of Takahara Ayumi and it was exactly that which had made her fall in love with him.

It was not just simply attraction or a passing crush that she felt between the two of them, it was genuine, heads-over-heels love. Ayumi wanted him to look at her only, to have him think of her solely even if that was selfish as she did not mind giving everything she had to him.

That was not an exaggeration and Ayumi felt as though she was on the top of the world, living on the feeling of bliss and satisfaction of being with him, in the little world of their own.

Perhaps it was bordering on obsession and as Ayumi stepped a few steps away from Keima, she asked him shyly.

'I... I... I understand that... it's sudden... suddenly telling Keima-kun that I liked you. B-but... I would really... it would really mean a lot to me... if you do go out with me, Keima-kun.'

The words were easy to say now as compared to what she had tried practising a few days ago, it had been difficult to say that out loud as though she really meant it, but now that she had, it was as though Ayumi really did not mind that at all if the whole world knew that she liked Katsuragi Keima.

In fact, she was certain that if Keima asked her to do that to get him to go out with her, she would do it over the broadcast system with pride and joy if she had to.

'No, it's not... it's a little early but it's right on schedule.'

Keima spoke something that she didn't quite understand as he cleared his throat and told her to forget what he just said.

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'Ayumi... so do you want an answer... now?'

Keima asked in a calm voice as he looked at Ayumi standing a few steps away from him, his face was still red but he seemed fully in control of his emotions, which was hardly what Ayumi was feeling right now as she was nervously waiting for a reply from Keima.

'C-can you r-really? I... If you could... I...'

She was obviously hoping for the best and assuming that Keima would not reject her, why would anyone reject her?

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For Katsuragi Keima, the situation was one of many that could have happened and truth be told he was a little surprised at Ayumi confessing in such a fashion.

On hindsight however, Keima had totally overlooked that the incident could be an 'event' and he had unwittingly triggered a very huge 'flag' in the Takahara Ayumi route by saving her from that sleazy individual and besides, Keima knew that he would have done so even if he was given an option to not save her.

He reacted without thinking when he realized what was happening and he was proud to do so, even if that might have led him to this current turn of events.

What did he feel for Takahara Ayumi? That was the question that was being popped to him and Keima could think of many things that he felt and thought about the girl in front of him right now.

However Keima refused to be baited into that question at all, the issue was not whether he 'liked' Ayumi, he did like her in some ways but perhaps not in THAT special way that Ayumi hoped for.

Or was it? Keima wasn't really sure what he felt for the girls now, as a group he knew he was obliged to help them while at the sae time proud of what they have achieved under his guidance.

They were his charges but at the same time, he felt a part of them as a group as well, a honour that was rarely, if ever given to anyone at all.

Still, Keima could not pinpoint what did he feel for them individually and this was Ayumi's question or challenge to him. One that he refused to scrutinize at this point of time as he knew that he would be swayed both by the atmosphere as well as his basest instincts. Even if she was definitely his type and one that he viewed to be special too.

'I can't give you an answer now.. but... you'll know my answer at the end of the Mai-high festival... that I promise you... It would be wise not to be biased for now and to play favorites so soon.'

Keima spoke softly while watching Ayumi lower her head in disappointment. It must be a shock or at least a surprise to the girl as she tried hard to keep a smiling face as she nodded to him in understanding and Keima took that as a good thing as the last thing that he wanted for the girls to start squabbling with each other over him after all the work he had put in to prevent exactly that from happening.

'I... I see... b-but, Keima-kun... d-do I even a chance? I... I mean... do... you even... like me... at all?'

A last desperate plea and question from the girl and this was one question that the Capturing God can answer easily with a straight face.

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'Of course... in many ways... I do appreciate you, Ayumi... and... I do... like you, in some ways.'

It was vague, very vague... but probably enough to appease and to anger Ayumi at the same time... but as Keima offered her a small hug, rubbing away the tears from her eyes and being oh so gentle with it, Ayumi let it slide...

Even if she has no hope left to cling on to, she would want to keep on believing.


Author's Notes: Here's your fluff guys. Sorta... just give me some reviews :D