Apologies in advance for the long AN.
Connection 30: Enter Ikumi Yoshino
Wednesday
Joining the student council to raise flags and save heroines? Familiar territory for Keima Katsuragi who has been in that position about a hundred times before.
In games, that is.
He never would have thought in a million years that he would actually be at a student council welcoming party and get introduced to its varied cast of core members at some generic family restaurant in real life, but thanks to a rambunctious short haired runner he knew and helped, that was the life he was going to have to live for the foreseeable future.
He grimaced, even as he and Kanna Kagamine, the student council president, took their seats at a round table at a rice bowl joint, the other members having arrived before they did.
Keima knew the drill. He was going to have to introduce himself, the others would follow suit, then they'd have small talk over dinner, and then they'd go their separate ways. Such a scene in games would be full of interesting interactions with the beloved cast, but since this was real life, it would just be an awkward affair.
He humored himself by fantasizing about fishing out his PFP in front of them, but he had no doubt Kanna would confiscate it. If Keima were to try and defend himself, the teachers would side with Kanna and her goons ten times out of ten. A nice fantasy, but fantasy nonetheless.
Keima was brought back to earth by the blue haired student council president. "Apologies for being late. We double-checked with the athletics department to see if they've gotten word that Takahara-san's suspension has been lifted. Anyway, let's start with introductions."
She gave a pointed look to Keima. For a short second, he pondered whether or not to pretend to be a good little cog in the student council machine, but he didn't want to keep up the act for the rest of his high school life, so he decided to be himself. "Keima Katsuragi, class 2-B."
The introductions went in a clockwise fashion. "Succinct, I see. Well, I'll keep my introduction short too. As you already know, Keima-san, my name is Kanna Kagamine. Student council president. Oh, and class 3-A, the same class as your beloved Kasuga-chan."
Keima showed her a grimace.
Next was a similarly blued haired man of tall stature. He had sharp eyes that never seemed to leave Keima's. He didn't have to say a word for the Capturing God to get the message that this dude didn't trust him one bit. "Keitaro Kagamine. Vice president. Class 2-D."
"Yahallo, Katsuragi-kun! It's a pleasure to finally meet you," the brown haired girl next to the vice president cooed, forming a v with her fingers next to her left eye, a good four inches above where her bob cut ended. Her other hand was used to jot down notes, probably the minutes of the "meeting", with impressive speed, though her chicken scratch didn't seem like kanji. Stenography, perhaps? "The name's Secretary Hana Hibiki of class 3-D! But please don't call me Hibiki-senpai - that makes me feel old, y'know. Feel free to call me Hanarin like everyone else in the core council does."
One look at the grimaces in the group was all it took for Keima to surmise that literally no one called her that aside from the boy to her left who's face was flushed. As he ran a hand through his short locks of silver hair, he said, "A-ah, my name is Hayato Haruma of 1-A, the student council treasurer. I'll be in your care too, Katsuragi-senpai."
"It's good to finally meet you, Katsuragi-kun," the last member of the student council said, a bright smile on her face. "I'm 2-D's Ikumi Yoshino, the public relations officer of the student council. I hope my older sister hasn't caused you any trouble."
Yoshino. Where had he heard that name before? Oh well, if he had forgotten where, it must not have been very important. He shook his head to be civil, and that was enough to keep the smile on the dark-haired girl's face.
"Now that's out of the way, let's welcome our new staffer by ordering some food." She flagged a server and the group of six had their orders taken.
As he had predicted, as they waited for their food, the group devolved into small talk. Hana even put her notepad away. During this period Keima kept to himself, content with taking sips of the complementary cup of water in his grasp as he thought about what exactly he had gotten himself into. They seemed alright - classic mob characters, probably wouldn't have been of any note had he not been roped into working for them. The only people concerning him were the two Kagamine siblings (?). One hated his guts, while the other wanted to toy with him - neither were desirable.
His inner pondering was halted by the girl to his right. As the server slid a dish of curry in front of her, Ikumi said, "Ey, there are a lot of rumors surrounding you, Katsuragi-kun. Are any of them true?"
The small talk around the table subsided, and Keima grimaced as the spotlight was cast onto him once again. He could even see the evil eye the vice pres was giving him from the corner of his eye. Seemed like that was the main reason he wasn't fond of Keima, so perhaps he treated others more kindly. The bespectacled boy didn't know whether or not that made him lucky or unlucky.
"Baseless rumors don't deserve a response," Keima said, hoping to cut the conversation short, especially since his beef bowl had just arrived and he could feel the rumbling in his stomach. Curse reality for its hunger meter.
He saw a spark in Kanna's eye. Keima gulped.
The blue haired girl said, "How about the rumor that you're a... what did they say you called yourself? A 'God of Gaming'?"
Er, close enough. "What about it?"
"I'm well aware of your video game prowess, but do your skills extend to other types of games? Like checkers?"
He could tell that this was just bait for something bigger, but since he had to work for them anyway, he had no reason to lie. Besides, his pride as the Otoshigami wouldn't allow him to downplay his skill. "When it comes to video games, board games, card games - any game that doesn't require stamina, I have yet to lose."
"Interesting." Kanna smirked as Hana pulled out her notepad. Seemed like this chit chat was turning into business real quickly. "You see, there's going to be a shogi tournament in a week or so, but our shogi club is, for a lack of a better term, lacking. I've watched them play myself, and while it's not a crime to be bad at a game, I'd rather avoid embarrassing the school. I don't think half those dolts even know the names of all the pieces. This is why your next task is to assemble a competent group of four Mai-High students to compete."
He leaned back into his chair, his expression as calm as ever. Inside, he had a shit eating grin. If he could save Ayumi's terrible grades with a single tutoring lesson, he could definitely beat game theory into the heads of those shoji dorks as long as they weren't hopeless.
The only issue he had was that it was a huge waste of time. He'd have to catch bad habits early on, so he couldn't just do a one-hour lecture and leave. He'd actually have to spend time with the shoji members, and the other people in his life have already made his gaming schedule nearly non-existent.
Still, this was definitely worth saving Ayumi.
Keima had one crucial clarification. "If I train four of them, I don't have to go and participate in the competition myself, correct?"
"I suppose that would be the perfect motivator for a man like you, Keima-kun. Any questions?"
"How long do I have?"
"You have until next week Friday. When Friday comes, I'll send someone to test your team's mettle. If any of them fail, well, let's just say you should make your Saturday afternoon free. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
Ayumi Takahara had never eaten at a family restaurant alone before. Sure, she'd go to one with her friends, but without them, she'd hit up a shake joint for a protein shake and just eat at home. It felt oddly empty sitting alone at a table meant for two, but she didn't feel comfortable with camping outside the restaurant, so she had little choice.
After all, she wanted to keep an eye on him.
Keima.
She had managed to pick a table offset from theirs, so she had a decent view of their table with no risk of being seen by the bespectacled boy. As she flagged down a server to order something light - the lap she ran tired her but she didn't want to bulk up right before the track meet - they were in the middle of introducing themselves to Keima if Ayumi's ears could be trusted, and aside from that blue-haired dude with the glasses, they seemed to welcome her nerd with open arms.
She couldn't get a good look at Keima, though. She couldn't see the frustration he had at being forced to be civil with a bunch of "NPCs" as he would put it. She couldn't see if he was happy with the situation Ayumi put him in.
This sort of guilt flowed through her system, and the only way to get rid of it was to talk to Keima. She didn't really know what she'd say to him. Sorry? I'll help you out with your student council tasks? She hadn't gotten that far. The only thing she really thought of was that she wanted to do was walk home with him once again, a desire that awoke within her over the course of her short suspension.
The server slid her a poke bowl. No oil, no artificial sugar, no problem with her coach, she hoped. She stopped paying attention to Keima's table and started digging in. Ah, calories sure did taste better after exercising. That reminded her - she actually had an excuse to restock her secret stash of calories again. Maybe she'd drop by the grocery store after her talk with Keima.
Keima.
She looked again. Their bowls looked empty and their hungers satiated. It was time to go. Ayumi made sure to polish off the rest of her poke bowl, leaving not a single cube of diced raw salmon unconsumed. Afterwards, she managed to discretely take her receipt to the cashier to pay for her stuff without Keima noticing, though that meant losing sight of them for a split second.
Didn't matter. Her legs would close the distance between them, no matter how large.
She thanked the cashier and bolted, ending up on the streets. To the left of Ayumi was the student council minus Keima, walking at a leisurely pace towards the station. Ayumi let out a sigh of relief. Since she had the feeling that their talk was going to be emotional to say the least, She didn't know if she would have had the guts to approach Keima if he had someone walking with him. She looked to the other side. No one there. He must have rounded a corner, heading deeper into the shopping center. Made sense since he lived above a cafe.
Trying her best to recall the way to Keima's house, she dusted off her skirt, made sure her laces were done, and then got into a running stance.
Three.
Two.
One.
Go.
Once the student council was out of sight, Keima pulled out his PFP and walked at a steady pace towards his home. He crunched the numbers. If he got home in a few minutes, he'd have enough time to full clear the game Kanon had bought him yesterday without having to lose sleep. He had to keep his mental faculties at top notch if he was planning to survive under Kanna's reign.
He started playing. True to the reviews, even though the backgrounds were exquisite, the heroines were in monochrome. As he made a few choices at the start of the game, some of the girls had a small tinge of hue return to their cheeks, while the other girls remained black and white. He surmised that it was an elegant way to display love points, but the music really was horrendous. There was all this erratic tapping, as if they had recorded the dialogue while they were walking to the studio. Keima decided to save himself the trouble and mute the audio.
He could still hear the footsteps-esque sound. Weird.
He looked up. The sound wasn't coming from his PFP. It was coming from in front of him.
Keima couldn't help but raise a brow as he saw someone round the corner around fifty meters in front of him. This short haired girl who had donned the Mai-High uniform came bounding towards him, her footsteps echoing across the otherwise empty sidewalk. He only had enough time to pocket his PFP before she stopped on a dime right in front of him, her breathing slightly ragged.
Ayumi Takahara in the flesh. The first time they've met since she was released from her suspension.
Keima certainly didn't expect this event so early. He had thought she'd intercept him before class in the morning, but of course Ayumi would react faster than he would have thought.
She quickly bent at the waist, saying, "You've saved my track meet dream not once but twice already. Thank you so much! I don't know how to repay you, Keima-kun."
Keima, unsurprised by the spy, wanted to say "it was nothing." That's what a protagonist would tell a heroine. But was she a heroine? That was the main reason why he even bothered to interact with her, after all. Now that the frantic rush of juggling all these events slowed down for a bit, he had a good amount of time to re-evaluate Ayumi. If she were a heroine, after watching her compete and win on Saturday, cue curtain call, and that would be it. That didn't sit well with Keima for some reason. There was more to Ayumi than this event; it didn't feel right for the credits to roll now. What did that make her? She definitely wasn't a side character - she had changed the status quo too much for her to be some exposition spouting NPC. Was there something beyond the heroine? It left Keima with more questions than answers.
Brining himself back to the girl in front of him, the Capturing God said, "Lift your head."
He watched Ayumi rise to her normal height once again, her lips pursed as if she were trying to read his expression.
In the end, he decided not to care about saying the right line, analyze the projected route direction, or calculate the propinquity points. He was just going to let the event play out. He said, "I sure do hope you're grateful. Thanks to you, I have to work for those dull quest giving NPCs in the student council, not even counting the extra club paperwork I have to file thanks to Kujou."
Ayumi's smile faltered.
Keima looked to the side, taking off his glasses with a wistful smile on his face. "Still... I will never regret helping you."
Suddenly he gasped for breath as Ayumi closed the distance and wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt his soul escape his body for a bit as she squeezed with all her might, crushing him with her glee. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't wast this chance, Keima-kun. I'll win this Saturday for sure! And when I do, it'll be my turn to treat you to yakiniku."
Ayumi pulled back, but she lingered a bit, her arms still encircling his neck. Their faces were just a foot apart. They were close enough for Keima to be able to see his own reflection in her eyes. His mind flashed back to the other night where he had gotten even closer with that idol. His face flushed, his breathing growing shallower. He was once again at the mercy of a Real girl.
Ayumi's smile straightened out, her cheeks striking the same shade of red. Their eyes remained locked. Her gaze would periodically lower to his lips before returning to his stare, as if she was trying to suggest something. He ignored it, instead noticing his hands had found their way onto her waist. The dumb part of his brain told him it was small. The rest of his brain told it to shut up. After a moment that felt like a year, she bit her lip, pulled his head towards her, and-
-their noses bumped. He grunted as Ayumi backed away, returning to that twelve inch distance like before. Good grief. The separation made him aware of the heart that was trying to burst out of his chest. He had done this a handful of times before. Why were his hands clammy? Why were his knees threatening to buckle underneath his weight? He needed to get rid of the chemicals surging through his Real body, and the best way to do so was to just turn his head to the side and-
Bump. She had the same idea in mind, so they both tilted their heads. Their noses got in the way yet again. He felt Ayumi's hands leave the small of his neck only for them to cup his cheeks and pull.
Their lips met. Soft, sent a jolt up his spine. The way she moaned into his mouth betrayed how much she was enjoying this.
A second later, she pulled away, her hands resting on his shoulders as she nuzzled her face into his cravat. His hands have yet to leave her waist.
She looked up into his eyes. "I love you Keima. Be my boyfriend."
Thanks to the kiss, he had gained enough control over himself to say, "No."
"Tch." He winced a bit as her grip on his shoulders grew. She ground her nose into his cravat. "It's those 2D girls, right? I'll shine brighter than all of them! I'll prove it to you!"
Before Keima could reply, his phone vibrated. Since they were so close, Ayumi could feel it too. This knocked some self awareness into the two, causing the two of them to pull away as the bespectacled boy fished out his cell.
Tsukiyo: "Don't forget the game recommendations."
Keima quickly shot a reply, glad to have a bit of respite to let his temperature drop a bit.
Keima: "I'll bring a few tomorrow."
Another buzz. Keima risked a glance at the girl in front of him. Ayumi had her arms crossed. She looked as fiery as hell itself.
Shiori: "Let's watch a movie tomorrow."
Easy response.
He said: "Consuming other forms of media? Refreshing, but I have plans tomorrow."
Shiori: "Doubtful"
Keima: "It is what it is."
Shiori: "When are you free then?"
Keima: "Only God knows."
"I almost forgot I have 3D competition too," Ayumi said, puffing out her cheeks. "Mou, why did I have to fall in love with a playboy?"
"Ngh!" Keima said as Ayumi's hand darted for his chin, bringing it away from his cell and towards her.
"Since I know you like bets so much," she squeezed, causing him to wince, "let's have a bet. If I don't bring home the gold this Saturday, I'll help you with your student council assignment. If I do, I'll still help you, but I want your Sunday. Your entire Sunday. You will be mine from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep. No running off to eat ramen with Kusunoki-senpai. No bonding with Shiori-chan over books. No magic tricks with Tenri-san. Am I clear?"
Keima's cheeks flushed again as he choked down a complaint. "Crystal"
Apologies for the hiatus. Last year at uni was hectic especially thanks to current events. I am safe for the time being, and I hope you all are doing fine too. Please follow the guidelines set by your local and/or federal government. (Unless you live in Florida. Sorry, Floridians, but this is so not the time for hitting the beach. Don't be like your governor. Stay at home.)
Ok, back to the chapter. I bit the bullet - I'm going to try using honorifics from now on. Forgive me if I've forgotten them in some lines (the "love you Keima" has no honorific on purpose).
Also, I decided to at least name the student council members, but don't worry, they'll only appear whenever relevant. I will definitely focus on the canon cast of characters.
Speaking of canon cast, enter Ikumi Yoshino. I couldn't resist adding yet another girl to this colorful cast. If you have an old copy of ch17 (or you're here before I managed to edit it), you can see that the name of the PRO is Ichika. I realized that this was probably the best way to insert Asami's more sociable younger sister. I do not have a great grasp on the light novels, so I'll probably have to lean on xellos' expertise in order to keep her in character if he's still free. 頑張らなきゃですね。
By the way, I've seen a suggestion. Just gonna say that I really, really like Elsie and Haqua; they're great characters. Odds aren't in their favor, though your suggestion regarding Keiichi was funny, albeit kinda mean XD. Still, it is interesting. I won't rule it out in the future, but of course, we'll see which way the wind blows. As for the goddesses, I'm prob gonna have to say no. I like em - even managed to find a way to shoehorn in Diana since she's so important to the Tenri dynamic imo - but it's a little too much. Maybe I'll start looking into the other goddesses once Rieko's in the story jk.
This AN is already getting long, but I also have to address this: we'll be having alternate ending chapters. I'm sure you can guess which alternate ending we'll have first. It won't be soon, but it'll be soon, and I am excited to write it.