Hello everyone!
I'm finally back with the second chapter of KanonNomi! To tell you the truth, it was being written really slowly and the ideas that pushed the story forward came to me at complete accident. And I didn't really plan that much of the plot... mostly the stuff for the next chapter or two.
And I hope the next chapter will be out in 2 weeks, but we'll see...
As for this chapter, it's not exactly a breakthrough or anything and some of it my seems slow and similar to the prologue and I'm sorry for that.
Anyway (third paragraph in a row started with "A" xD), I want to thank you for that 40 favs/follows and 10 reviews from the prologue chapter as well as for all the views. I hope you'll all like how this story develops. Here are the replies to reviews:
Sir Sleeps-a-lot: Yup and thank you :). I wouldn't mind having my stories write themselves too xD. There's probably going to be more Chihiro than in MioNomi, but probably not as much as you'd like to. Yay, fro Apollo's speech xD. We'll see about the reference thing.
NiteyNite: Yup, it's about time and I see you're in fanboy mode :P.
ZelgadisGW: Hello, stranger :P. Yup, Kintaro seems popular, so… fanservice xD. Yup, Apollo being smart is just a glitch in the system. Don't expect it to happen again. Thanks :).
Leyknar: Yeah, time sure flies… but what can you do…
Dayin: Heh, people say that good things come to those who wait, so good for you, I guess :P. I also hope you'll like further chapters.
Guest: thanks :).
Fssmonik: So you are another Kanon fan. Damn, that some pressure on me :P. Thank you for your kind words :). Heh, portraying and understanding and over-analyzing characters is kinda my strong suit :). About the Keima thing… I'm not sure yet. And about Vulcan not telling Keima… I think doing it without his consent is less risky (works whether he'll agree or not) and also Vulcan might be angry about the goddesses being treated as parts of some bigger scheme, so she gets back at Keima that way or something like that :P. Whether Keima would be against the idea is unknown so far.
BlueBerry TeddyBear: Umm… okay. I'm always glad to inspire other KamiNomi writers, so you're welcome :).
Normality Is Key: Yay for more details towards the world building xD. Hm...I can totally see a scene where Chihiro ties Keima, so the orb can be used. Maybe I'll use it somewhere. P.S. Um, what do you mean "again"? I never said how I'm going to handle it and I'm not telling now :P.
Shawn Raven: Yes, "it's that simple!" :P #wallealmostquote. Yes, Keima's gaming senses are tingling :P. Yes, Chihiro is okay with it. Wow… that must be the shortest of my replies to your reviews ever and it's "3x yes" too xD. Still, thank you for your review :).
One more thing. I couldn't decide which image out of the 3 I have is the best for this fanfiction icon, so I decided to test all of them. Up till now you've seen the first. Kanon has nice pose there, but the picture is not that clear, especially at this size. Now, I've swapped it for the second picture (it should be updated in half an hour tops), so tell me what you think about it.
Okay, that's enough. Let's move onto the chapter!
Enjoy!
(* * *)
Kanon woke up a few hours later to the sound of her alarm clock. As usual the sleep-deprived idol turned off the alarm and continued to sleep. And, as usual, the second alarm went off two minutes later. The pink-haired girl groaned and slowly got up before heading to her bathroom. She splashed her face with water, washed and brushed her teeth. Then she fixed herself a small and very quick didn't bother to do anything else – her staff would take care of everything. She just checked her face in the mirror to see if she had a particularly annoying case of bed hair today, but fortunately she didn't.
After that she checked on Kintarō then put on her coat and grabbed her bag before opening her door and walking out.
"Ittekimasu" the girl uttered, closing the door.
On the street, her manager, Okada, was already waiting in a taxi.
"Good morning, Okada-san," the idol greeted as she entered the cab.
"Good morning, Kanon," Okada greeted back, "how are you feeling today?"
"Good," Kanon replied. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Is anything ever ordinary ina life of an idol?" Okada mused to herself and Kanon laughed nervously.
Obviously, Kanon's life was anything but normal, but Okada didn't know even half of the truth. Somehow her manager remained blissfully ignorant of the more unusual happenings in Kanon's life, including the existence of Apollo, all the fighting with the evil devils and, most importantly, Kanon's absence when she was wounded and unconscious.
However, there were some things that Okada knew, even if only a little. For example, she remembered that Kanon had been acting weird during the time Keima had been conquering her, often leaving in the breaks between jobs or even seemingly disappearing. She also hadn't failed to notice the change that happened after the conquest had ended – that strange surge of confidence and energy that Kanon seemed to exhibit ever since.
Truth be told, Okada had been worried. Kanon was sixteen and it was perfectly possible for her to have some romantic encounters, especially since Okada was sure any male Japanese teenager that was single (and quite a lot of those who weren't) had a crush on Kanon to some extent. Of course, Kanon having a boyfriend would be a big problem and for some time it had seemed like it was actually happening, but the issue seemed to dissolve shortly after it started.
It hadn't been the end, however, as Kanon had once again started acting strange recently and the changes had been less than subtle. The idol had been absent minded sometimes and Okada had even noticed Kanon talking to herself in front of her mirror, though it hadn't been that weird, considering Kanon was just sixteen and crushed with so many expectation and responsibilities.
That hadn't been all though. Kanon had been kinda nervous and Okada had had the feeling it hadn't been just because of the midterm exams. It had gotten even stranger after that. For roughly a week Kanon had been acting beyond strange – she had complained more, performed worse, seemed much less intelligent during shows and even had gotten a fixation with firetrucks for some reason. And then all of that had ended as quickly as it had appeared.
And then there had been rumors. Of course, it was common for a number of magazines to look into the personal lives of celebrities or to try to dig up dirt on them. This time, it had been much worse, however, as the sheer number of rumors regarding Kanon and her supposed "lover" had been incredible.
Of course, thanks to New Hell's cleanup, Okada (and almost everyone else, for that matter) didn't know the real identity of Kanon's lover and the manager remained pretty much unaware of Keima's existence.
Still, even without Keima's name appearing anywhere,the rumors were still flooding the Internet, being the topics of everyday conversations, especially in high schools, and they also appeared during interviews where Kanon denied having a boyfriend to Okada's relief.
Not that Okada was fooled – Kanon might not have a secret boyfriend, but there was certainly something that the young idol wasn't telling her. Moreover, all that strange behavior – like tripping when singing about kissing and the rumors about a lover – had to come from somewhere and Okada was ready to bet her salary that Kanon had been in a relationship along the way or, at the very least, someone had stolen her heart.
Finally, there had been this one… incident, when someone had pulled a bomb call prank, disturbing an important several-hour recording! To top it off, Kanon had had used this and had left for over an hour and Okada started to suspect that Kanon herself had made the call, prompting the manager to have an important talk with the idol.
The result of the talk was a partial success. On one hand, Okada didn't manage to get any real info out of Kanon, aside from the fact that Kanon was rather determined to hide everything, strengthening Okada's suspicion that it was about some boy.
However, that didn't explain everything, so Okada also considered that Kanon was simply overworked and the strange behavior was result of stress. Thus, the manger had discreetly done some rescheduling, giving Kanon more time for breaks and sleep.
Finally, the strange happenings, bomb call included, had prompted Okada to personally pick and drop Kanon everyday, hence the reason why she was waiting in the taxi today.
Okada then proceeded to remind Kanon of the day's schedule, listing all the important events.
"I know I told you about this before, but all of those are happening either in Maijima or Narusawa… however," Okada pushed up her glasses, "now that your midterm tests are over we're going to do some traveling."
"I remember" Kanon said simply.
"This trip will also include a concert in Tōkyō," Okada continued, glancing at Kanon, "debuting your song 'Santa who has Fallen in Love'..."
Kanon nodded.
"...that will happen during Christmas."
"I know," the idol replied, "and I already informed my parents."
"They didn't have any objections?"
"Well, it'd be the first time I spend Christmas without them, but I'll manage and they've agreed," was Kanon's answer.
It was a little bit sad that she'll have to spend Christmas outside of Maijima, but Christmas was the perfect opportunity to spread her songs and love to thousand and thousands of her fans.
Kanon's attention was diverted for a moment, when the taxi driver turned up his radio and Kanon immediately recognized her own voice.
"Born in spring, I let this one-side love grow… It looks like something I know…"
It was one of the songs she had performed in a duet with another singer. Kanon had helped compose the lyrics, but at that time she hadn't known how true they would become.
One-sided live born in spring… and the feeling of suddenly starting to remember it… this sounded oddly similar to what had actually happened in Kanon's life, ever since she had met Keima. She let out an inaudible sigh.
"We're here," Okada said and sure enough, the car stopped, "It's time for work."
Kanon nodded and flipped her internal switch to "on", before walking out of the car with a smile, ready for another day in an idol's life.
(* * *)
The day was busy as usual as there were many events Kanon had to attend and next to none had her actually sing. The only singing and dancing performance she had today was during some charity party for a children's hospital. Besides that, there was mostly signing stuff, meet and greets(and those took a looong time) and interviews as she traveled between venues and then there was gravure for a magazine.
It was already well past noon when Kanon – wearing a dark skirt and matching tights, as well as pink sweater with a picture of two pears sewn right in the middle of it with a "pair" inscription underneath it and with her trademark yellow ribbon in her hair – got a calm hour to herself. Okada led her to what she used to call "relaxation room". There were TVs, gaming consoles and all other sorts of pastimes here, completed with a lunch waiting on her on the table.
Kanon felt her stomach rumble fiercely. She was a bit famished. She didn't eat anything after coming back home yesterday and today she only got small breakfast and some sugar-rich snack to keep her energized.
She quickly sat by the table, put on her earpieces, put on some music clapped her hands together.
"Itadakimasu!" she chanted, before she started to eat.
She was done with her large portion in record time.
She was just browsing through a magazine while nibbling on some fruit, when there was a voice all of a sudden.
"Kanon!"
The said idol didn't even budge – the music in her earpieces being quite loud. She looked at her phone to change the song… and almost fell out of the chair when she saw Apollo's face on her screen.
"Apollo! Don't scare me like that!" Kanon scolded the goddess in a hushed voice as she looked around."And I told you to not show yourself when I'm at work!"
"It's alright!" Apollo said cheerfully, thought it sounded out of place for some reason. "Besides, you're not working, but having a break, right?"
Kanon sighed and watched as the goddess' reflection disappeared from her cell phone and relocated to the nearby mirror.
"So," Kanon said after a moment, "why did you come out?"
"Why do you think?" Apollo asked back. "You got into this world, so what's the next step?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kanon looked confused.
"Umm… heellooo!" Apollo drawled in a loud voice, making Kanon hush her. "Did you hit your head today or something?" the goddess inquired. "Vul-nee. Orb. Katsuragi. Game. Conquest. Remember?"
Kanon remained silent for a second or two. And then it hit her.
"Aaah!" she cried out, holding her head in her hand with a shocked expression on her face. "I completely forgot about that!"
"Seriously?" Apollo asked, clearly not amused. "How can you forget a thing like that?"
"I guess, I'm kinda in an auto-pilot mode when I wake up on most days," Kanon rubbed the back of her head.
"Yeah," Apollo agreed, "and when you get to after that" the goddess indicated to the left with both of her hands, "and after that", she indicated to the right before bringing her hands above her head, "seriously, you're on auto-pilot like half-the time when you're not on stage!"
Kanon smiled sheepishly. It was a little bad, but without that she wouldn't be able to cope with all the work.
"You make me sound like a zombie" the idol accused.
"No, your fans are zombies! Seriously, I can totally see them worshiping you like a bunch of mindless puppets" to help imagine it, Apollo put her hands in front of her and went blank-eyed.
"Kaaaanoon… Kaaaanoon…" she chanted, doing a good-enough impersonation of mindless zombie.
"Hey, don't make fun of my fans like that!" Kanon objected.
"Anyway, let's go back to the topic at hand!" Apollo suggested, sensing Kanon's anger. "So what are you going about Katsuragi now?" the goddess grinned. "How about you organize a concert in Maijima and 'accidentally' bump into Katsuragi, then drag him 'behind the scenes' with just the two of you and…"
"Apollo!" Kanon berated the goddess before she could say anymore. "That would be unprofessional, not to mention useless. Frontal attack are no good, at least for now."
"Hmm… so what's the plan then?"
"For now I think it'll be best to wait," Kanon replied.
"Wait?" Apollo repeated, confused. "Isn't that what we've been doing till now? Waiting. You have waited as you looked at your precious Keima-kun from afar, you waited while you were wounded. We've waited enough. Now's the time to act!"
"No," Kanon said simply.
Apollo just looked at the idol blanky.
"Okay, I'm dumbstruck!" Apollo said. "Could you explain it?" Kanon nodded. "Good. Then do it and make your explanation as simple as possible."
"Honestly, at the moment I think nothing I could do would have any positive effect on Keima-kun," Kanon admitted. "It's better to let him be for now. Besides,winter is not the best of seasons for things like that."
"Hold on," Apollo said, "you want to wait till the end of winter?"
Kanon shook her head.
"More like till the end of spring."
"What?!" Apollo all but shouted, making Kanon put her hands to the mirror, trying to quiet the goddess. "You can't wait that long!"
"But I have my idol job to do," Kanon reasoned, "I need time to organize stuff and I won't have to worry about school during summer break."
"I've got a better idea," Apollo said, ignoring Kanon's look of disbelief, "how about you quit being an idol?"
"That's absolutely out of the question!" Kanon objected firmly, her expression hardening in determination. "Being an idol is my passion and dream. It's my life!"
"At the cost of your love life?" Apollo made a point. "Look, this point of this entire thing is to not have any regrets, right? So let's go for Katsuragi now! You can be an idol all you want after this game is over!"
Kanon shook her head.
"I'm sorry if this'll make you angry, but I won't do that. Orb or not, I'm still me," Kanon put her hands over her heart for emphasis and smiled. "My beliefs, my skills… Everything that makes me… me is still here" she looked up at Apollo. "If I quit my job and dream now I would regret it and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," she paused for a moment. "And I think Keima-kun would disapprove of a… heroine forsaking her world view like that."
"Thus, I'm going to chase both after my career and my love. I'll win both or die trying… and don't even start talking about Chihiro-san," Kanon said before Apollo could open her mouth. "I know that waiting is a bit risky… but I can't afford anything right now..."
Apollo was quiet for a moment.
"Fiiine," she said finally, hands crossed over her chest and looking away, "have it your way. I guess that means all I can do in the meantime as a medium is pray for your luck… goddesses know you'll need every bit of it."
"Thank you very much for your support, Apollo-sama!" Kanon pressed her hands together and bowed.
"Yeah, yeah" Apollo waved, clearly embarrassed. "Just don't blame me when I say 'I told you so'."
Kanon smiled. "Got that… now let's end this conversation before Okada-san finds out."
(* * *)
And so Kanon, true to her belief and resolution, had continued her work during the next weeks and a large portion of it had been spent traveling. She had ended up performing in Tōkyō on Christmas. If there had been any popularity drop remaining from when Elsie had been substituting for Kanon, then that Christmas concert had brought Kanon's popularity back with interest.
In short, by the standards of the life Kanon had had several months earlier, everything had been going well. As well as any nationwide idol could hope for.
However, as determined to follow her plan as she was, Kanon wasn't impervious to doubts and swings of mood.
She missed Keima.
After Kanon's conquest and before she had been stabbed it was different. Yes, she had had feelings for him back then, but she had thought he had forgotten about her. Moreover, she hadn't approached him, convinced that they had to go separate ways.
But now it was not like that.
Kanon knew that her final goal was to get together with Keima. The path to that goal wasn't easy and in order to reach it she had decided to take a detour. She hadn't lost the sight of her goal and her resolution hadn't wavered.
It didn't mean that being away from him, unable to so much as see him, was easy though… especially while being in a world made for the purpose of the two of them being together.
And it wasn't just Keima Kanon had been missing.
She didn't have many friends here while she continued her days of work as an idol. Of course, there was Okada-san and she and Kanon were rather close, but in the end, Okada was her manager and supervisor and she was older. The rest of the staff were all friendly to her and appreciated her talent and hard work, but they were not her buddies or friends, but co-workers that were supposed to support her, forcing them to stay professional. Kind, but professional.
Aside from that, Kanon knew some other girls working in show business, but not many were her age or younger. For the other idols that Kanon did know, she mostly saw them singing and dancing on TV. Many were actually her rivals and even those who were friendly were never someone Kanon would consider close friends.
Kanon's parents contacted her from time to time and Kanon greatly appreciated that. Alas, it couldn't be a substitute for face-to-face meeting.
Then there were fans. Thousands of them. Kanon appreciated all of them and the fans did make Kanon happy and fulfilled to some extent, but, once again, they weren't people Kanon could meet regularly (even the most hardcore fans whom she'd meet several times), let alone talk to them privately.
Thus, one could say that Kanon was feeling a bit lonely as of late.
To think a person, loved by such masses of people, to the point of being able to rally up a crowd and be the center and purpose of it, could feel lonely.
Strange, ne?
That's why she hadn't had any friends at school the first time she had met Keima.
But now she had more people she knew personally and could consider her friends.
First, there were Keima and Elsie. The former was her love interest and the latter was her hardcore fan and had helped her a lot. Kanon hadn't interacted with them all that much, but they were still precious people to her and she would love to meet with them more often.
Then there were her classmates from 2-B class, the members of 2-B pencils and the other girls that were host of goddesses. The most important from those were probably Chihiro and Ayumi, then Yui, Tsukiyo, Shiori and Tenri and then Miyako.
And in contrast to most of her classmates, Kanon actually liked school and missed most of the teachers, including Nikaidō-sensei.
And then there were other people, mostly girls, Kanon had recently met – they the girls Keima had conquered, those strange devil girls as well as the old man Shiratori.
Kanon considered all of them important to her.
Yet, she spend a lot of her time outside of Maijima and as weeks passed by she sometimes couldn't help but feel tired and longing to spend more time with her friends.
Especially Keima.
Of course, the fact that Kanon hadn't been able to meet Keima didn't mean she was slacking. Quite the opposite – every second when she wasn't working, sleeping or resting she dedicated to figuring out her plan of action.
It wasn't easy. Right now, she understood Keima's opinion of her a little better, and she knew it wasn't the best of opinions... rightfully so, considering how she had treated shouldn't have been so self-centered. She shouldn't have attacked him with her stun guns. She should have offered to buy him two PFPs before she had started pestering him with requests.
On the other hand, Keima had taken it really hard when she had been stabbed. He had been very concerned, proving he cared for her to some extent, which was comforting.
Still, Kanon was not stupid enough to think that Keima liked her back at the moment. She had taken great care to not let her feelings cloud her reasoning. Keima could be her Prince Charming, but he wasn't one now, so she shouldn't think of him as one.
Yes, Kanon was wearing glasses and yes, she was 'pink' thanks to her hair, but she didn't need rose-tainted glasses, thank you very much…
So far the results of her planning and research had been less than stellar.
Obviously, Kanon couldn't just avoid interacting with Keima forever. She was all too aware that him and Chihiro were still classmates and not completely indifferent to each other. Kanon needed to start actually doing something at some point. And to this end she was working more than necessary now in order to have more free time during spring.
Maybe she will even go on a vacation…
Kanon took her steaming cup of coffee and sighed as it made her think of Keima again.
Oh goddesses… she couldn't wait to see him again.
She was supposed to be on airplane right now, but it was delayed thanks to a nasty blizzard, so Kanon miraculously had some free time on her hands right now and the same was true for her staff. Even Okada had nothing to do at this time now, so she'd decided to rest. Goddesses knew she needed it.
Kanon sat down, put on her inseparable earpieces, turned on the music and took a folder out of her bag, intending to finally do the thing that she was supposed to have done a week ago.
The folder contained a script for the next season of the teen drama series Kanon was starring in, completed with changes by the director written on small yellow sticky post-its.
Kanon wasn't really that talented when it came to acting (especially compared to Keima) and didn't do it that often, so getting into a character required a lot of effort from her. Of course, being a famous idol, her recognizable face and fan base were more important for the movie makers than her acting skills. Still, Kanon tried to at least understand what her character was about and what plot she was surrounded with.
When she had been stabbed, Elsie had substituted for her and starred in a fantasy/sci-fi drama involving time travel (how ironic, Kanon thought), but this script was for an older TV series. It wasn't bad or anything, but it was nothing great at the time. The director possibly sensed the upcoming rise in Kanon's popularity (the drama's first season aired before Kanon got her newcomer idol award)and casted her as the main female character, hoping that the series would become popular.
And he was right – what started as one of the smaller dramas that didn't get that much attention and was predicted to be all but forgotten soon, quickly turned into a popular topic once Kanon become well-known in the show business industry.
Kanon opened the folder, expecting to see big changes from the previous season and she was quickly proved correct. The first difference was the cast that the director saw fit to include with the script. Before the show had third-class actors or amateurs like Kanon, but now there were more professionals.
As before, the story was set in the modern world and had many characters and several plot threads, resulting in a mix between a melodrama, some adventure and good deal of romance with a bit of paranormal events to boot.
Also as before, Kanon was the main protagonist with some connection to magic, which was the in-story reason for her bubble gum-colored hair, but was next to unaware of it and struggling with regular teenage life.
The rest of the original cast for the main characters remained in place as well... except for one. The main male protagonist (well, more like deuteragonist at best) was still there, but the beginning of the script quickly made it obvious that the character would disappear.
Argument with the protagonist. An accident that foreshadows more drama and danger. And the desire of the director to replace amateurs with professional actors. Kanon understood all that and thus she was not surprised when she saw that the main male character was now a guy she actually recognized from TV. Come to think of it, she vaguely remembered being invited and interviewed on the same show as him.
And the boy's name was Daisuke Nishihara.
Daisuke was a pretty common male given name, but Nishihara? Why of all the family names out there, it had to be the one Kanon was bitter about – she remembered all too well that one time someone had gotten her name wrong and wrote her name down as 'Kanon Nishihara'. This brought back memories of her earlier life when she would often get unnoticed or mistaken for someone else.
In short, she wasn't too happy about that boy being in the cast. It's not like she was afraid he would steal the show. Even if he did she wouldn't care all that much. It was still troublesome and as she continued to read the script her suspicions were confirmed.
Nishihara's character was in the main cast for rather obvious reason – he was supposed to serve as Kanon's character love interest. Kanon followed the script, looking for further developments. There were signs of the guy having connection to that one organization that had its sights on the protagonists, so maybe the guy would turn out to be a villain or something would happen to him.
Kanon continued to read for the next twenty minutes. The script was far from perfect in her eyes. There were some things Kanon would like to change, but it was manageable. She'll just play her part because it was her job.
At least that was what she had thought, until she reached past half of the script.
She stopped and narrowed her eyes, trying to focus. It was normal for her to confuse or not understand things sometimes when she was tired, so she read it again. And again. Then read the post-its left by the director about that particular scene and read them again.
She was seeing it right.
She stood up and went to find didn't want to interrupt her manager's resting time, but she had to.
(* * *)
"Okay," Okada said after she carefully read the part in the script Kanon was pointing at, "What's the problem then?"
Kanon waited a moment, trying to explain things calmly.
"This episode," she started, "has a kissing scene in it."
Okada also was quiet for a second.
"I still don't see a problem," the manager skimmed through the text, "something like that has happened before, hasn't it? In the previous season of that drama."
"Yes," Kanon admitted, "but that was a fake shot, filmed from behind. No real kissing. Now," she turned several pages to the earlier part of the script, "there is one 'fake' in the initial episodes as well with my character's old 'boyfriend', but," she got back to the troublesome part of the script again and showed Okada one particular post-it, "the director wants this kiss to be real."
"Alright, now I see your point," Okada furrowed her brow, "but I don't understand why it's the problem."
"Well, how about it being my first kiss?" Kanon knew she was lying, but mentioning Keima was out of the question, even if she were to omit all the paranormal stuff.
"I know that, Kanon," Okada replied, fixing her glasses, "it's just that I think there was a contract about this drama series and you agreed to the possibility of this."
Kanon bit her lip. Okada was right. Back then Kanon thought it was part of her job that would eventually happen, the fear of being unrecognized, ignored or forgotten stronger than any considerations of her future love life.
But now it was different. She didn't want to kiss other men!
And what would Keima-kun think if she saw her kissing someone on TV. He might not watch TV, but Eri was following everything Kanon was in for sure!
"Okada-san," Kanon started, "I know that this is a selfish request, but I'd like you to talk to the director and mak-try making him change his mind about this.
Okada was silent for a moment, her eyes piercing Kanon, watching her carefully. Now Kanon fully understood why Eri thought that Okada's personality was similar to Keima's.
It's nothing more than a woman's intuition, Okada thought to herself, but I don't think that would be Kanon's first kiss.
"Alright then," she said out loud, "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you very much, Okada-san," Kanon said, putting her hands together in relief.
"You'll thank me once I talk the director out of it," Okada replied, but she smiled, moving to exit the room,
Then Kanon remembered something.
"Aah… there's one more thing," she said, making Okada stop. "My birthday is coming up."
"Yes? What about it?"
"I know I have to perform for the fans," Kanon fiddled with her fingers, "and I know I have my exams… but could I get a few days off after the exams are over? I would like to celebrate both my birthday and the exams with my family… and friends."
Okada's look softened. "Of course," she said. It's not like Kanon didn't have any friends, but the sharp manager sensed there was something different about it this time. She also didn't miss the glint in Kanon's eye and the happy smile that followed.
The truth was that Kanon was planning to use her upcoming birthday to spend some time with people she knew. Eri, 2-B pencils, maybe some other girls and most importantly Keima, the thought of meeting him making her forget about the entire drama script kissing issue.
She couldn't wait to see him again!
(* * *)
Kanon's happy mood didn't last all that long, because in the second half of the February the drama shooting started. The beginning wasn't bad as it was mostly the same as the last season, except the budget was much bigger which brought changes to the costumes and filming locations.
The problem started when it turned out that Okada's efforts were in vain and the director refused to change his mind, so Kanon had to intervene personally.
"I don't understand," the director said after hearing Kanon's request, "we had a contract and you agreed to it, Kanon-chan. What made you change your mind?"
Falling in love with a nerdy classmate, near-death experience, heavenly intervention and world-saving, Kanon thought, but she didn't say any of it out loud of course.
"It's private…" she replied instead.
"I didn't think you had a boyfriend," the director noticed.
"I don't have one," Kanon said, trying to be calm and polite.
"Then is it about Daisuke-kun?" the director inquired further. "You don't like him?"
Kanon bit her lip. She had met Daisuke Nishihara some days ago. On one hand he didn't seem like a bad person. Yes, he was flamboyant and a little haughty, but that was nothing Kanon couldn't handle. However, he was certainly not her type and she refused to kiss him for real.
It was like she would be betraying Keima-kun!
The director waited for a moment and when Kanon didn't answer, her rubbed his brow.
"Look, I understand that it's not exactly how you envisioned it and there's a lot of pressure, but I got this much funding because of the script, so any changes now are…"
He said no more. It was obvious Kanon herself was another reason for the funding and the director didn't want to change the script or made Kanon resign from her role. Then again, if she resigned then she'd have to face the financial penalty and backlash from her fans.
"I'll think about it," Kanon promised, before walking away.
Her mood didn't improve by the end of the day when Kanon plopped down on the bed in her trailer she got to live in since the shooting took several days in a row, as they were shooting for more than one episode.
Kanon groaned, realizing she had no much choice in the matter. Even worse, the final exams were upon them and Kanon needed to study really hard this time, because she had done less than stellar on her last exams because she had been stabbed.
If this goes on even Eri would do better than her on the exams. She chuckled at the idea before her eyes widened as an idea struck her. She reached for her cell phone and chose one particular position from her short contact list. It was rude to call at such a late hour, but Kanon was desperate.
After two signals the other side picked up.
"Um… moshi moshi," the sleepy voice of Eri Katsuragi answered.
Kanon immediately felt guilty, but shrugged the feeling for now. There was a lot of ways she could pay Eri back later on.
"It's Kanon," the idol said and Eri immediately livened up.
"Kanon-chan!" she said excitedly. "Is it about the party? I think you'll need to contact Urara-san for that…"
"No, it's not about the party," Kanon kept the phone close to her ear and covered it with her hands to reduce any risk of someone eavesdropping.
"What is it then?" Eri asked curiously.
Kanon hesitated for a moment.
"I have a favor to ask."
(* * *)
So there's that. Some time skips, Kanon not being in a hurry (at least for now), some insight into her thinking process (as usual with my fics) and... a new season for a drama where Kanon has to kiss a boy for real! A boy not named Keima Katsuragi!
How is Kanon going to get out of this smoochy predicament? And what is the favor she asked of Eri?
Come to think of it, that's already the second time Kanon asked Eri for a favor: one time in-orb and one time outside of it (in the prologue)... and I didn't notice it until someone told me about it. I even used almost the same line both times! That's what you get when you write chapters with 3 weeks in between them...
Anyway, I think Kanon will continue to "use" Eri from time to time... but I wonder if everything will go according to Kanon's plan... and what that plan is in the first place?
Also, there's not much Keima in this chapter (wow, that's and understatement) and I want to apologize for that. I hope he will appear personally in the next chapter. After all, the popularity will drop if the protagonist/lead male character won't appear, right? :)
Moving on, I realized I suck at clothes description. I just can't imagine what a fashionable girl could wear and how to describe it, let alone in English. The credit for the clothes Kanon wears in this chapter (except for the pink sweater) goes to Sir Sleeps-a-lot and I want to thank her for that! *hands over a cookie* :)
Staying on the topic of clothes, I would be really grateful if you left some suggestion for description of clothes Kanon could wear in your reviews or over PMs. I guess from now on I'll be needing clothes for spring and stage performance and also casual indoor clothing.
Also this chapter references two songs of Kanon's. One is lyrics from "Pink Deco motion" (though it's not that hard to find where it is referenced) and the other is referenced directly by title and it's pretty obvious as well...
Curiously, this chapter references one of Chihiro's song as well :P.
Apollo is also in a reference mode. She references her own... gesture set, which even got its own meme. She also references "The Mummy" (1999).
As usual I kindly ask you to fav/follow the story and drop me a review. Constructive criticism is welcome!
See you next time!
Omake
Now's time for a little surprise. Finally, after a very long break, here's another KamiNomi pokemake, this time describing Nanaka's conquest (curiously it has the same number of lines as Sumire's pokemake). I think it came nice enough. Just don't expect another pokemake for the next several chapters :P. Enjoy.
The summer break is over! The second term begins!
Keima used Happy Hour. Keima is free to play games at school!
Elsie appears! Elsie used Helping Hand. Elsie asks Keima to join Chihiro's band!
Keima flinched! Keima tried to get away safely. Elsie used Hagoromo Bind. Keima is unable to escape!
Keima used Screech. Elsie used Pleading. Keima used Rage. Keima's attack rose! Keima ignored orders! Keima turned away!
Doro! Doro! Doro!
Huh? Keima and Elsie are confused! They looked around in their confusion!
? ? ? used Echoed Voice. ? ? ? said "keima". Hit 3 times! Keima and Elsie are confused!
Wild shōgi player conquest target Nanaka appears!
Nanaka used Detect. Nanaka is searching for keima. Keima and Elsie are confused!
Elsie points to Keima. Nanaka is confused! Nanaka got angry in her confusion!
Enemy shōgi club players appear! Enemy shōgi club players want to fight! Enemy shōgi club players sent out the club chief Tazaka!
Nanaka used Scratch. Nanaka used Checkmate. One-hit KO! Club chief Tazaka fainted! (literally)
Keima used Thief. Keima obtained Nanaka's keima piece!
(* * *)
Keima and Elsie arrived at Café Grandpa.
Wild goddess host Tenri appears!
Tenri used Minimize. Tenri shrinks behind café sign.
Keima used Echoed Voice. Tenri flinched! Tenri's defense sharply fell!
Wild Nanaka appears again!
Wild Nanaka wants to fight!
Nanaka used Chatter. Nanaka used Exposition. Nanaka is confused! Nanaka got frustrated in her confusion!
Jupiter Sister Diana appears! Diana used Exposition.
Tenri used Apologize... but it failed because Keima used Block and stopped Tenri in her tracks.
Galge player buddy Keima is now known as shōgi student Keima.
Shōgi student Keima wants to fight!
Nanaka used Rage. Nanaka's attack rose!
Keima used Nanaka's keima piece. Nanaka's defense fell!
Keima used Bestow. Nanaka got back her keima piece!
Nanaka wants to fight! Keima used (Glasses) Flash. Keima's confidence rose!
Tenri and Elsie got away safely!
(* * *)
Keima and Nanaka continue to play...
Nanaka used Chatter. It's super effective! Keima used Tearful Look. Keima is moved by Nanaka's story! Nanaka's defense fell!
Keima and Nanaka continue to play...
Keima used Checkmate. Critical hit! Nanaka fainted! Nanaka's defense sharply fell! Nanaka used Cry! Nanaka is crying!
Keima got away safely!
(* * *)
Tenri and Elsie appear again!
Keima used Request. Keima wants to fight Tenri!
Diana appears! Diana used Substitute. Diana will fight instead of Tenri!
Bing! Bong! Nanaka appears!
Elsie used Happy Hour. Elsie used Blabber. Elsie blabbed about kissing to Diana! Critical hit! Diana flinched!
Diana used Glare. Diana used Encore. Elsie is forced to repeat herself.
Diana used Mega Punch. Critical hit! Keima fainted!
Diana used Rage. Diana's attack rose! Keima used Protect. Keima explained himself! Nanaka is confused!
Diana used It Was My First Kiss. Diana's defense fell!
Diana wants to fight! Diana used Taunt!
Keima used Glare. Keima wants to fight!
Keima used Calm Mind. Keima used Spotlight. Keima used Flash. Keima's special attack and special defense rose!
Diana used Foresight. Diana used Nasty Plot. Diana used Dragon Rage.
Keima used Counter. Keima used Guardian Bishop. Diana flinched!
Diana used Shōgi Move Barrage. Hit 3 times! Keima is pushed back! Keima's defense fell! Diana used Glare.
Diana used Judgement. Diana used Checkmate. It's super effective! Critical hit! Keima fainted!
Diana got away safely.
Nanaka's defense fell! Nanaka used Psych Up. Nanaka's defense rose!
Keima used Cry. Keima used Helping Hand. Keima is now helping Nanaka!
(* * *)
Keima wants to fight! Keima wins! Nanaka gets 1000 experience points! Nanaka's defense sharply fell!
Keima wants to fight! Keima wins! Nanaka gets 1000 experience points! Nanaka's defense sharply fell!
(* * *)
Elsie used Transform. Elsie looks like Tenri! Nanaka used Psych Up. Nanaka used Rage. Nanaka's attack rose!
(* * *)
Keima wants to fight! Keima wins! Nanaka gets 1000 experience points! Nanaka's defense fell!
(* * *)
Keima wants to fight! Keima wins! Nanaka gets 1000 experience points!
Keima and Nanaka didn't sleep for 3 days! Keima's and Nanaka's sanity greatly fell!
(* * *)
Keima wants to fight! Keima wins! Nanaka gets 1000 experience points!
Keima and Nanaka didn't sleep for 4 days! Keima's and Nanaka's sanity won't go any lower!
Nanaka used Shōgi Move... but it failed! Nanaka fell asleep!
Keima used Blanket. Keima covered Nanaka.
Keima used Play Galge... but it failed! Keima fell asleep!
Nanaka and Keima are fast asleep.
Elsie used Admiration.
(* * *)
Keima wants to fight! Nanaka wins! Nanaka gets 500 experience points! Keima is confused! Nanaka's defense greatly rose!
Nanaka used Chatter. Nanaka used Pac-Man reference. Keima is confused!
Nanaka used Flirt. Nanaka used Night Shade. Keima and Nanaka continue to train during the all-nighters!
(* * *)
Tenri appears!
Exhausted Keima appears! Tenri flinched!
Keima used Chatter. Keima used Nasty Plot.
Keima used Question. Tenri flinched!
Keima and Tenri used Chatter. Keima wonders about the gaps. Tenri used Chatter.
Nanaka used Sleep Talk.
(* * *)
Nanaka wants to fight!
Diana used Shōgi Move. It's super effective! Diana is dominating!
Diana used Shōgi Move. It's super effective! Nanaka's defense fell!
Keima used Cheer Up.
Diana used Shōgi Move. It's super effective! Nanaka's king is in a tight spot! Nanaka's defense fell!
Nanaka used Counter. Nanaka used Double Hit. Nanaka's both attacking and defending! It's not very effective...
Diana used Shōgi Move. It's super effective!
Nanaka's used Hold Hands. Nanaka's holding Keima's hand! Diana's concentration fell!
Keima used Shout. Keima used Cheer Up. Nanaka's is confused! She blushed in her confusion! Nanaka's love points rose! Nanaka's attack and defense greatly rose!
Diana used Irritation. Nanaka used Check. It's super effective! Diana flinched!
Nanaka used Checkmate. Nanaka wins!
Nanaka used Victory Dance. Nanaka used Wrap. Nanaka held onto Keima! Nanaka used Celebration Rollout.
(* * *)
Nanaka used Happy Hour. Nanaka used Ginger Ale. Nanaka seemingly got drunk!
Nanaka used Three Keimas. Nanaka blushed! Nanaka is confused!
Nanaka used Lunge Kiss.
The loose soul appears! Elsie used Imprison. Loose soul in custody!