Hello, everyone!
I'm here.
I'm done preparing the chapter.
And I'm late...
...like super late. Seriously, this was probably the longest break we had in KamiNomiNai series since it had begun. I did write that Kusunoki one-shot in the meantime, but it's not an excuse. I had some other issue. Work. Hot weather. Laziness. Still not an excuse.
Finally, I seem to have a big trouble coming up with plot for this story. Like seriously, half of the ideas in this (or the next) chapter came to me out of a sudden while I was writing something else). Even when ideas came, I had great trouble writing anything.
I just hope that was a one-time thing and once we reach a certain threshold in the story it will be easier. I hope so...
Long story short is: I'm not dead or abandoning this story or anything. Maybe I should post progress updates on my profile... what do you think?
Anyway, as for the chapter itself... it was supposed to cover more plot, but i found a so-so place to cut and this chapter is some 7000–8000 words long anyway...
...the bad news is that because of the cut some things that I planned for this chapter were scheduled for the next one... so this chapter might feel like bit of a filler, but it isn't.
Another note. I searched for the ways to get rid of this annoying issue of words being glued together. The solution is a little bit annoying and doesn't make writing easier, but I hope it'll help. So if you see any obviously glued words, please let me know (no need to point every single one of them. Just let me know if they happen a lot and give an example).
Anyway, as always I want to thank for your support, including favs, follows and reviews. Here are the replies (written quite some time ago actually):
Leyknar: Thank you for the review. Yeah, any moves during the tutoring were unlikely :P.
Ghost man: Well, I wouldn't say "as always", 'cause Keima can be pretty oblivious at times. But yeah, he's a spy material. Punishment? Lol, I wonder... :P
Firefoxmonik: Heh, Kanon didn't have much reason to avoid Keima's gaze. Now though... :P Nope, I'm rather bad at chemistry. What I apply in my stories are bits of knowledge I've heard or read about, so they're most often just that – bits. Nonetheless, thank you for your kind words. Well, I guess I'm a bit like Keima. Except much less game loving, much less skilled at games. Well, at least I'm not slapped around by angry goddesses and jealous devils.
Sir Sleeps-a-lot: This review... just wow :). Not enough song references though... -.-' Yup, I like crowd scenes. Nooo! Don't tase Sir Sleeps-a-lot, Kanon! At least let her finish saying that! You know you want to :P. Yay, for Kanon asking for seconds! Well as for "Keima undermined his own philosophy"... yes... and no :P. I don't really agree about Keima and script changes. Such absurds aren't that absurd in a manga like this, so I don't see why fanfiction should be different :). Don't compare Keima to some Oreimo character – it was Keima who wrote that script and he wrote it in a chair. And we all know all grand schemes are written in a chair! xD Well, the math problem can be considered university level although I learned about such things in high school, as I was in math and physics "faculty". I still needed to look around to make sure I understood how to solve that one. :P
Normality Is Key: it's ok. Yeah, I'd like for every Nomi to be unique, though that's very hard to do as I like to reuse ideas and some things in-story have to be repeated. As for learning about the orb and a harem... I'm not really sure about any of those ideas... I guess I'd have to write a separate harem story sometime... not anytime soon though.
ZelgadisGW: Yup, you are :). Yay for Miyako! Yay for kissing scenes! Kanon-chan, ganbare! xD
Guest: *cough* *cough* Any similarities between drama plot and TWGOK is accidental *cough* *cough* But seriously, I was more aiming for a mix between Magical Star Kanon 100% and Sabrina the teenage witch (despite seeing next to none of those xD). But I guess there is some resemblance. Well, as they say, the more the merrier. xD
NiteyNite: This is Kanon Airship One. Bombs away! I repeat! Bombs away! Impact confirmed! xD.
Mid or feed: Yup, Miyako deserves more screen time. And a conquest arc :P. As for your question, Kanon was very reluctant to kiss Daisuke, but is very okay with kissing Keima and pretty much asks for more. For the rest of the crew this might look as "merely pointing to the quality of their acting", but Keima is not that stupid here. If this isn't enough, Keima directly calls her bluff and Kanon's facial expression probably betrays her. If you want any further explanation, please consult the chapter below ^^.
El Sarori69: Sigh... you clearly don't understand... They do go back (their "minds" are "pulled back"), but this happens only when their life ends (e.g. dying from old age)... or if the "game" fails (hasn't happened so far). About the boyfriend thing. I wasn't aware of the details, so I looked up some things and I have an answer to you, but it's in the chapter, as it is kinda plot relevant. I'll just say here the part that is not in the chapter: manga portrays Kanon as not that much concerned with meeting Keima even back when she wasn't in love with him, so it might not be as bad as you suggest. True, some of the fans act jealous/shocked etc., but we'll see about that as well. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out. Also, you can easily find reports of idols winning their rights to have a boyfriend in Japanese courts and Kanon's kinda special still. More in the chapter.
And as for the "rose-tinted glasses" it's an expression, meaning a person sees the target of his/her affection in an idealized way (e.g. doesn't sees her/his flaws), like love is a pair of (obviously pink) glasses that "filters" what one sees. So, Kanon tries to avoid this "rose glasses effect" (e.g. look at Keima objectively and clearly). The mention of her wearing glasses and having pink hair is just a pun suggesting she's naturally suited for such glasses :).
Ok, enough with this. On with the show!
(* * *)
"Kanon!" a woman in her forties exclaimed as she hugged the idol tightly, "welcome home, sweetie!"
"Hi, mom," the pink-haired girl replied somewhat clumsily. Meeting with her parents after a long separation was always a bit awkward, yet happy thing. "Hi, dad."
Her father embraced her as well, "We've missed you."
Soon the entire family of three was seated by the table and Kanon was reminded of how family dinner felt like. Seriously, none of the restaurant or hastily prepared and hastily consumed food could ever compare to the quiet meal conjured by her mother. The only problem was that the idol was trying to eat and hold a conversation at the same time, telling her parents of all, well, most things that have been happening in her life recently.
Kanon's parents were fairly regular people, considering her daughter was a national idol. Mr. Nakagawa was your typical salaryman, a white-collar worker employed by a corporation. He wasn't on the lowest tier nor he was in the top brass. He was in the middle, although that was already fairly high in the hierarchy. The fact that he had a famous daughter was both an advantage – he certainly was more known than his colleagues – and a drawback – because people often would get interested once they've learned his name and would involve him into lengthy conversations.
Mrs. Nakagawa, on the other hand, was mostly a housewife, tending to the house. However, with Kanon away there wasn't really that much to take care of in a small apartment, so the woman also worked part-time in a local store. Fortunately, her family name wasn't shown on her name tag, so no-one outside the regulars knew she was mother of the Kanon Nakagawa.
"So, Kanon," her father started gently, but the idol already knew that particular tone like the back of her hand and she knew the question that was coming, "me and your mother both know how busy you are and you know we're very proud of you..."
Kanon nodded, using the opportunity that she didn't have to reply with words to get another mouthful of the food. Mom really outdid herself today...
"...but we're worried about your grades."
"I know," Kanon replied, knowing why their parents felt uneasy about her education. Her grades have dropped a bit when she had become an idol and her father had a talk with Okada to stop any further regress. Of course, it wasn't as if Kanon was stupid. Actually, during the last 10 years her view on school changed dramatically – before she thought it was boring, but now she really missed school, including regular homework and nagging teachers.
However, during her midterm tests here performance was far from stellar. Of course it was bad, but the thing that really bothered Kanon was that it was because of Vintage and that What's-her-name devil with a knife, yet it was Keima and Okada who had to take the blame for it. If only Kanon could tell her parents the truth... that Okada was innocent in this... alas she couldn't.
But at least she had some good news in that department.
"Actually," she put away her chopsticks, "my results came in today and all of the scores for the important subjects are in high 80s or lower 90s."
"R-really?" Mr. Nakagawa asked, clearly surprised by this development, "a-are you sure you didn't overwork yourself studying?" perhaps he felt guilty as well.
"Not really," Kanon said, "I joined a friends' tutoring group in school and there was a really wonderful student there. He helped me... understand a lot of stuff," this wasn't completely true, as Keima's tutoring method mostly worked by predicting exam questions and focusing on them, so it wasn't the best form of true education, but it certainly helped.
"How big that group was?" her mother asked casually.
"Around a dozen people or so," Kanon said, feeling that since their parents learned of her good results, the worst was behind her. Oh, how wrong she was!
Her parents both raised their eyebrows, but Kanon didn't notice it, busy putting more food on her plate.
"Isn't that like almost half of your class?" her mother noticed.
"Well... around half of them were from my class, but there were some people from class A and C. Oh... and there was someone from the third year and a girl from the middle school as well."
A few seconds have passed since Kanon realized the silence. She looked up to notice her parents weren't eating, looking at her with slightly surprised expressions.
"Umm... is something wrong?" the pink-haired girl asked.
"There were 12 people from 5 classes, 3 grades and 2 schools?" this time it was her father.
Kanon nodded, not understanding what was weird about that. I mean, it was weird if someone were there and knew about Keima's circumstances, but Kanon hadn't mentioned those...
"And all of them are your friends?"
Kanon finally understood her parents' surprise. She had complained to them over a year ago that she didn't have any friends at school and interacted mostly with Okada and her staff (and those were professional relations with people older than her). Most of the people her age she knew and interacted with at that time were other idols and singers and they were pretty much all her senpais and most of them wasn't very nice. So, it's no wonder her suddenly being friends with so diverse group of teenagers would seem as weird.
"Well, I don't know all of them that well," Kanon explained slowly, "but there were those 4 girls from the Light Music Club I've told you about and a boy from my class. I guess you could say they're my friends."
Mrs. Nakagawa was about to say something, but her husband beat her to it. "That's great, sweetie!"
Kanon smiled, before she remembered there actually was something she'd to discuss with her parents.
"Ano... there's one thing concerning my birthday that I haven't told you about," she said.
"Don't tell me something came up and you have to go back to work," her father mused.
"No, it's not that," Kanon assured him, "I've promised some of my friends that we'll meet each other to celebrate the day after tomorrow. You know, birthday, end of the the school kinda thing."
"Are you going to a club or something?" her father asked concerned. He wasn't worried about his daughter when he was surrounded with her staff, but clubbing with barely known friends...
"No, you know such things aren't for me, dad," Kanon shook her head, "no, it's just a meeting in one of my friends house... She's a sole daughter of a very prestigious family," she added when she saw that her explanation didn't help. "And I'll carry my stun guns, of course, just in case."
Mr. Nakagawa continued to look anxious for a moment, but then he nodded his head.
"All right," he said, "let's talk about something else. How's work?"
"Good," Kanon responded shortly, before she remembered that her parents didn't know about the kiss thing. They did follow all of her shows, but the latest 2 episodes hadn't aired yet. As embarrassing and complicated as this issue was, she'd better tell her parents about it before they'll learn it from TV, "anyway, you know the teen drama I'm starring in right now, right?"
"Which one?" Kanon's mother furrowed her brow, as if Kanon starred in dozens of such shows.
"Magical Star Maron," Kanon explained surprised. She was certain her parents would remember the name of her shows.
"Oh, now I remember," Kanon's mother said with a small smile, just as Kanon took a drink, "it's the one when you kiss that boy, right?"
Kanon did a marvelous spit-take.
"*cough* *cough* How do you know about that?"
"You wanted your manager to negotiate that we could get the early look on your songs, movies and such, remember?" Mr. Nakagawa said.
Kanon did remember that, but she didn't remember this thing being solved. She had to sign something for it to work, right? Kanon had been avoiding signing things when she was dead tired, but it had happened once or twice. Of course, Okada-san would ask if she got everything and, of course, Kanon would vigorously nod her head, even if she was half-asleep.
"Anyway, we've talked with your manager over phone," there was a glint in Kanon's mother's eyes when she said that, "she said you were really... passionate in that kissing scene."
Good thing Kanon had put away her drink.
"It's not like that!" she exclaimed. "I'm not in love with Daisuke Nishihara! I barely know the guy! No, actually, I dislike him!"
"Really?" Kanon's mother asked. "From what I've heard and seen it–"
"Give it a rest," Kanon's father chided his wife, "she's just sixteen. She should be worried about her education."
"She's no longer a child!" Kanon's mother protested. "She's more capable of taking care of herself than many girls after high school!"
"Ano, do you want to hear about my new song?" Kanon suggested, trying to change the topic. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to argue because of her lifestyle...
Fortunately, the new topic proved successful and the kissing was soon forgotten.
(* * *)
"Here it is," Kanon's mother said as she flipped the switch on, flooding the room with light.
It was Kanon's old room and despite not being used for quite a while, it looked really immaculate – not a speck of dirt or dust in sight and all things were in their proper places. Obviously, mom had cleaned her before I arrived, Kanon thought, as she sat down on the bed, smoothing out non-existent wrinkles on the comforter.
"I bet you're very tired, dear," the older woman remarked as she sat down on the bed as well, "but I want to talk to you before you go to sleep."
"Talk?" Kanon repeated. Didn't they just talk for hours in the living room? "About what?"
"Do you like this boy you kissed?" her mother asked.
"Why is everyone asking that?" the idol responded, her voice annoyed.
"So you don't like him?" her mother asked, furrowing her brow.
"Why would I?" Kanon asked. "He's a snob."
"But the kiss–"
"Mom, please," Kanon said in exasperation, "it was just acting."
"From what you're manager said–"
"Are you having Okada-san spy on me for you?" Kanon asked.
"But of course," the older woman admitted.
Kanon sighed. It's not like she could blame her parents...
"No, I don't like Daisuke Nishihara," Kanon confirmed, the very thought bringing back some troublesome recent events, "not one bit. I've already said that during dinner!"
"All right, all right, I believe you," her mother was quiet for a moment. "Then who is it?"
"Huh?" Kanon tilted her head in confusion, "Who's who?"
"The boy you're in love with."
It was suddenly quiet enough that one could hear the wall clock from the living room.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...
"Kanon?"
"I-I'm not in l-love with anyone!" Kanon suddenly replied with a smile. "W-what made you think that?"
Her mother raised an eyebrow.
Stuttering. Widened eyes. Pink cheeks. Panic hidden beneath 'show business poker face'.
Yup, the older woman thought, totally not in love...
"I'm sorry, honey, but it's useless to hide it," she said. "A mother always know."
Kanon remainded in her I-don't-know-what-you-mean pose for a two more seconds, before she hung her head.
"How long have you known?" the idol asked after a moment.
"I had my suspicions for the last few months, but only today I was able to make sure," Mrs. Nakagawa said, before noticing her daughter's sullen expression, "what's wrong?"
"It's not going how I'd like it to go," Kanon said vaguely.
Mrs. Nakagawa paused to think about it. Normally, having a boyfriend while being an idol would be next to impossible. Idols were practically guarded by their managers and had a distinct "no dating" rule in their contracts. Of course, this was to prevent the idol from ruining her image or the fantasies of her fans. That's how it was. Or at least that's how it had been in the past. Recently, the number of idols suing her managers for restricting their love life was similar or even greater to the number of managers suing idols for breaking the "no dating" rule.
In Kanon's case, the girl had such a clause in her contract before. Back then Kanon was part of Citron. She was too young to have a boyfriend, especially while working in show business and she accepted the contract simply because of the need to prove herself. The last contract was supposed to be the same (and Kanon would've agreed to it), but Mr. and Mrs. Nakagawa put her foot down. Of course, it wasn't a complete win and the higher-ups demanded a modified clause. Thus, if Kanon's image (read profit) were to be damaged due to a relationship with a boy, her pay would be reduced considerably and her idol career would be viewer as far less favorable.
Mrs. Nakagawa didn't see it as a problem though. By now Kanon was a unique phenomenon. Her songs resounded in hearts in people of all genders and ages. Young hormone-driven boys were far from being a majority and Mrs. Nakagawa was sure a lot of them would understand if Kanon were to enter relationship with a boy.
However, Kanon knew all that, so it obviously wasn't a crux of the problem.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Nakagawa asked.
"Well... it's kinda an unrequited love at the moment..." Kanon explained.
That comment surprised the older woman. That sounded as if Kanon had been already rejected. Now, Mrs. Nakagawa was far from thinking her daughter was perfect, but nonetheless she found a scenario where a young boy rejects her daughter quite impossible to imagine.
"Just who is that boy?" Mrs. Nakagawa wondered aloud, but Kanon didn't reply, making the older woman's thoughts wander. Maybe...
"Is it someone from your staff?" that was a good explanation. After all, Kanon's staff were people older than her. Even a relationship with a 20-year old was kinda bad and dating someone from the staff was worse by far!
However, Kanon shook her head and her mother was stumped.
"Is it someone from far away you've met on one of your tours?"
"No..."
Where else could Kanon meet a boy her age and...
Wait...
"Is he a boy from the school?" Mrs. Nakagawa asked.
Kanon didn't say anything, but she fidgeted visibly.
"Hold on a moment," the older woman remembered something, "today you said a boy tutored you for your exams..." Kanon gulped in response, "and I remember you've said something similar happened a year ago."
"You remember that?" Kanon asked surprised, but Mrs. Nakagawa ignored this question, which was obviously aimed at distracting her.
"I remember it was a boy from your class!" back then Mrs. Nakagawa had been certain the boy tutored Kanon because he had a crush on her, but apparently that wasn't a case.
"Yes," Kanon responded, "he was kinda my first friend in school... and he sometimes helped me with..." Kanon paused to think how to summarize the many consultations she had with Keima when he had been conquering her, "...stuff."
"Wait a moment," Mrs. Nakagawa tried to summarize it, "so he's a boy from your class," Kanon nodded, "who's your friend," another nod, "and who didn't want to date you?"
"Yes," Kanon admitted.
"Why?" the older woman just couldn't understand.
"It's complicated..."
"Is he... gay?"
"Noo!" Kanon replied before sighing, "he actually likes girls a lot..."
"So, he's a playboy?"
"No... though I guess he's popular in a way..." Kanon admitted, "but the thing is he's a gamer, who's kinda into dating sims and stuff..."
Mrs. Nakagawa didn't understand. Don't boys play that kind of games because they can't get a real girlfriend? Who would choose games when confessed to by the likes of her daughter... unless...
"Maybe he doesn't know that you like–"
"I'm really, really, sure he does," Kanon interjected, "and he kinda believes dating an idol would be troublesome..."
"He can't know that!" Mrs. Nakagawa objected.
"Actually, he kinda knows that," Kanon said, remembering the reaction of some fans to her class confession. She still felt bad that Keima had to suffer like that.
"Wait a moment," the older woman remembered another tidbit of information, "is he the one the rumors were all about?"
"There's a lot of rumors and they're all fabricated, pulled out of thin air, basically," Kanon said, but faltered under her mother's gaze. "I guess you could say some rumors have a grain of truth..."
Kanon was just glad the rumors were no longer that specific...
Mrs. Nakagawa observed her daughter. One part of her told her to encourage Kanon to move on. She had hundreds of thousands of fans, so plenty of fish in the sea. And not having a boyfriend could be a better solution after all...
...however, Mrs. Nakagawa could also see the look on her daughter's face which made it quite clear that it wasn't some childish crush. She had no idea just how handsome, cool and amazing this boy was, but he certainly wasn't nobody. It also didn't look as if it was something new or as if Kanon didn't give it a fair amount of thought. No, this was serious and that meant the one-side love like that was unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
It was really ironic... Kanon seemed to have all the population of male teens of Japan at her feet without even as much as trying, yet the one man her heart yearned for remained out of her reach so far.
"So... does that Romeo have a name?" Mrs. Nakagawa asked finally.
"Keima-kun," Kanon responded, clearly not eager to say more.
"Then... will Keima-kun be on that party the day after tomorrow you spoke about?"
"It's not exactly a party. Just a meeting with friends," Kanon explained, "but I guess Keima-kun should be there..."
"Then, it's always a chance, right?" Mrs. Nakagawa said, putting a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder, "I want to you to know, honey that whether it's your idol career or your love life, me and your father will always support whichever path you'll choose."
"Thanks," Kanon replied with a small smile, even though she knew things were never so simple when it came to Keima Katsuragi, "it means a lot to me."
Mrs. Nakagawa smiled before she stood up. "Now, off to bed you go, young lady," she said as she used to do when Kanon was younger, "we all know you could use a good night's sleep."
Kanon nodded and her mother left the room.
The idol started to undress herself clumsily, her thoughts still on what her mother said... on Keima... on that so-called party and the kiss thing.
The truth was that after that kiss there was a huge uproar, with the filming crew were acting all rowdy. Somehow, in this commotion Keima-Daisuke had disappeared, as if he vanished in thin air (and Kanon could bet that was exactly what happened). Kanon wanted to investigate, but Okada-san quickly took her away from the crowd and kept a watchful eye on her (and now Kanon knew why – Okada and Kanon's parents were certainly interested in seeing Kanon's reaction to the kiss), preventing the idol from searching for Keima. Thus, the gamer had successfully fled the scene
At first Kanon dreaded to see the reaction of the real Daisuke Nishihara. I mean, he couldn't possibly not realize that something weird occurred, right? However, then something weird happened. Daisuke Nishihara had been found unconscious. Someone said he had fallen from the stairs. However, the strangest thing was that Daisuke seemed to not remember the kiss ('what a surprise', Kanon though) and was clearly disappointed of that as he watched the filmed scene...
...however that apparent amnesia didn't stop the actor from feeling smug about what he thought he had done. Every time he saw Kanon, he tried to approach her and he seemed to be surprised by he glare. Of course, that episode with the kiss hadn't aired yet and there was no major leak, but the situation was still troublesome and Kanon dreaded what would happen when the episode will air and interviews will start. Sigh... she'd have to firmly deny every single rumor... and maybe tell the truth that she actually disliked the guy.
Leaving aside Daisuke himself, Kanon thought as she climbed into her bed, she'd like to understand about Keima. Why did he did what he did? Where did that leave them? What was she supposed to do now?
She didn't get to wonder about any of that, because as soon as her head hit the pillow she fell asleep.
(* * *)
Kanon wouldn't be able to say when was the last time she slept for 10 hours straight like that. Of course, when she woke up she immediately proceeded to get ready and only realized she wasn't in her usual apartment when she almost walked in a wall where the doors should be. Right, this was her day... days off. No interviews, no phone calls.
Nothing.
This should've made the idol happy, but it didn't. It wasn't as she hated her job after all – she loved to reach into people hearts with her songs. The reason for her sullenness was different.
Kanon went to the bathroom where the strangeness of the day off continued – after she brushed her teeth and washing her face she realized there's nothing more to do. There was no need to apply any make-up or style her hair and there was no-one to do it for her either. The only thing was that her hair were a bit disheveled, but nothing a regular comb couldn't handle. A few brushes later it was all done. It wasn't perfect, but Kanon didn't have any need for 'perfect' at the moment.
When she was looking into the mirror it suddenly flashed revealing Apollo wearing less than happy facial expression. It was silent for a moment.
"All right, all right," Kanon said quietly, when she was sure the door to the bathroom were closed, "just say it."
"I've told you so!" Apollo replied a little louder, but she didn't look pleased at all. "What are we going to do now? And I might be wrong, but were you supposed to tell your mother that much?"
"I haven't said anything bad and talking with mom did make me feel a little better," she paused for a moment, "it's obvious what I have to do now. I need to talk with Keima-kun."
"Finally!" Apollo seemed to be pleased. "Then how about calling him right now?"
Kanon sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea..."
"Why not?" the ditzy goddess asked.
"That is much too important to talk over the phone and I have the feeling Keima-kun won't want to talk to me unless I face him," Kanon sighed again, "besides, Keima-kun probably doesn't think too fond of me emailing him... not after all the mountain of mails I've sent him back then..."
"Oookay, then let me think" Apollo uttered the dreaded words and was quiet for several seconds, "the way I see it, the game is up, so you need to go on a frontal attack! All ahead! Let the ship sail!"
Kanon groaned.
"And you could really rent a blimp and convey the power of your feelings that way!"
"No way!" Kanon got closer to the mirror. "Everyone else mustn't know about this! Keima-kun knowing is already bad enough!"
"Why?" Apollo asked confused.
"Well, he can reveal everything!"
"Wouldn't that be kinda bad for him?"
"Yeah, but it would also cause a lot of problems for me!"
"Then maybe–"
"Kanon, honey, are you done?" Mr. Nakagawa's voice sounded from outside the room. "I need to use the bathroom."
"Yeah, I'm going out in a sec," Kanon shouted and then whispered to Apollo, "we'll talk about it later."
(* * *)
After that the day went fairly good – there was a proper cake and everything Kanon excepted. The nice family atmosphere managed to calm Kanon down. Still, the idol could see her mother tossing her passing glances every now and then. She just hoped her mother wouldn't tell anything to her father. The only downside was that the family couldn't really celebrate outdoors – without a heavy coat and a beret to hid her pink bangs, there was no way Kanon could venture outside and have a blast in a theme park or even go to a family restaurant.
Still, all in all it was a very nice day and only when the evening approached Kanon remembered about tomorrow and she started to get nervous. How should she approach the situation? How should she talk with Keima? Would he even let her talk to him?
Kanon sighed.
She just didn't have enough information and calling Keima was not an option. If only there was some other way to get some intel.
Wait... there was such a way!
Kanon pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was quite late, but it was her only option, so she went to her contact list and chose one of the most used ones.
She just hoped that Eri was already in her room by herself.
"Moshi, moshi! Ka–"
"Shhh!" the idol hushed the dark-haired girl before she could reveal who was calling. "It's me. I'm very sorry for calling so late," Kanon started politely, "can you talk now? Is Keima-kun nearby?"
"Nii-sama? No, he's probably gaming," Eri replied. "Is something wrong?"
So this time she didn't ask if this was related to the meeting tomorrow. No matter, it'd be better not to talk for too long, so Kanon immediately got to the point.
"Has Keima-kun been acting strange recently?"
"Strange?" Kanon could picture Eri tilting her brow in an adorable way. "How so?"
"I don't know," the pink-haired girl said vaguely, before becoming more specific, "did he do something aside from playing games? Did he... contact the devils... talk about the party tomorrow or... rehearse lines?"
"I didn't see nii-sama do any of those," Eri said, "but he does reply when I talk about the party."
"Really?" Kanon asked. That sounded surprisingly... tame. Was the situation better than she thought. Well, she didn't really learn much, but no news is good news, right?
"Is something wrong?" Eri asked again. "Is nii-sama supposed to be doing something?"
"Not really," Kanon denied, taking care not to tell a blatant lie. She didn't want to deceive her greatest fan, after all, "anyway, I want to ask you something... Could you... not tell Keima-kun that I called?"
"Not tell nii-sama?" Eri repeated, apparently mulling the idea over, "but nii-sama can be really scary."
"What that has to do with it," Kanon questioned, before sighing, "listen, Eri. It's probably nothing, so it's ok. Keima-kun won't ask anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard to do it."
"I'll try," Eri agreed. Kanon couldn't talk anymore because she heard some movement outside of her room and then there was silence as if someone was listening. "Gotta go, bye, Eri!"
Kanon terminated the call and plopped down on her bed, before she put covered her face with her hand and groaned quietly.
What was that... She was in such rush to learn something, anything and instead she ended up with next to nothing... it almost felt as if she was stalking Keima instead...
Since when did she act like this? Was her control over her feelings that bad? Could she really control her feelings in the first place? It was strange and scary what being in love could do to a person.
Now that she had some free time on her hands she couldn't help but... imagine things – likely scenarios, possible scenarios and even the most absurd ones – letting this warm and fuzzy feeling embrace her and cloud her senses...
No, Kanon thought, shaking her head, getting ahead of herself like that wasn't good. She had to stay focused and keep her eyes on her goal... especially now when her situation was unstable and frankly, not looking good.
Calm down, idol told herself, don't think about distant future. Think about here and now. Think about tomorrow. How are you going to face Keima-kun.
However, here Kanon was alone. Unlike during her work, where she had a trusty stuff to plan her day and took care of most of the small and big hurdles, here she was alone. At this very moment she couldn't really count on anyone. No-one she could be completely honest with and no-one who could help her in any way.
Not her parents, not Eri and not Apollo.
Now she was alone, her only company being her lovesick heart. Alone... without Keima-kun...
"I knew it!" Kanon mumbled trying to stop the hot tears from trailing down her cheeks. "I can't do it, after all!"
She was a maiden in love. She couldn't do what Keima told her to do. She couldn't keep her emotions on a leash or prevent them from gushing.
Love was strong and scary thing... and unrequited love sure sucked...
That was the first day in a long while when it took her over an hour to fall asleep.
(* * *)
"Thank you very much," Kanon said as she got out of the cab after paying for her ride. The taxi driver didn't say anything about the lock of pick hair that was visible from under her beret. Nor did he comment on the fact that the idol destination was the Shiratori household. Looking back on it, it might've been better to tell the taxi driver to drop her somewhere nearby the main gate and then climb the hill herself. It was also a bit surprising that they managed to get past the gate without any problems. Obviously, guests were expected today.
"Excuse me," someone spoke and Kanon turned to see a woman near her thirties who she recognized. Her name was Yanagi, right?
"Good day," the idol said and bowed, after taking off her beret and exposing her distinctive pink hair, "my name is Kanon Nakagawa. I believe I have an appointment for today," she hesitated for a moment, "though I'm a bit early."
"Of course," the other woman said. "Please follow me."
Kanon obeyed and the two of them headed towards the main building as the taxi drove off. From the look on Yanagi's face and personal experience Kanon had a feeling she'd end up giving her autograph before they went indoors and she was right.
Soon after that Kanon left her suffocating coat and beret, revealing the clothes underneath – a simple white T-shirt with a picture of an apple wrapped in a ribbon with a matching "Apple Ribbon" text underneath and a knee-length pleated skirt. It was a really plain look compared to her usual stage appearance, but this was exactly the point. Today she wasn't a national idol with perfect (even if delicate) make-up and fancy clothes, singing for the crowds. Today she was just a teenage bespectacled girl (who just happens to have a pink hair), having a meeting with her new-found friends.
Finally, they entered one of the smaller rooms, which was still rather big. The first thing Kanon noticed (before she even stepped into the room) were the sounds that were coming from a small radio or music player placed on one of the cupboards. It was "Door of Miracles" – one of the songs Kanon performed with some other singers some time ago.
"Kanon-chan?" someone voice brought the idol back to reality. She had expected to see Urara and sure the other girl was the one who spoke, but she wasn't alone as Kanon had expected.
"Yui-san? Aoyama-san?" Kanon exclaimed when she saw the cross-dresser wearing obviously male pants and the short blonde in a rather short skirt, before she remembered abut her manners and turned to Urara, who was wearing a pink camisole, bowing slightly, "good day, Shiratori-san."
"Good day. And 'Urara' is fine," the Shiratori heiress replied, "anyway, you're quite early, aren't you? We haven't expected anyone for at least another half an hour."
"I wanted to help with the preparations..."
"Nonsense," Urara stopped her, "you're one of the people this party is for, so why should you help? Helping is their job," Urara pointed at Mio and Yui, "right?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mio replied and Yui just smiled. Kanon wanted to oppose further, but Mio whispered 'just give it a rest' as she passed by her, so she gave up.
"Just relax and we'll get this hen party ready," Yui promised.
"Hen party?" the remaining 3 girls questioned.
"What about Keima-kun?" Kanon asked, panic lacing her words. Did... did he decide not to come here today because of what happened, "he isn't coming today?"
"Of course he is!" Yui replied, "he can participate in a hen party as long as he wears a dress-OUCH!" the cross-dresser complained when Mio hit her on the head with a metal tray. "What was that for? Urara-chan, did you see that?"
"Good girl," Urara patted Mio on the head affectionately, before walking off.
"Nooo, Urara-chan you traitor!" Yui exclaimed, nursing the bump on her head.
"Hey, don't do that!" Mio said as she brushed her hair, as if trying to smoothen what Urara has messed up, but there was a hint of pink on her cheeks.
Those three are weird, Kanon concluded.
(* * *)
Some time after that people started to gather. First were Ayumi and Chiihro, followed by Tsukiyo and Shiori and then...
"Kanon-chan!" it was the excited voice of Eri, who came with Keima (Kanon's heart skipped a beat) and... Tenri? Well, her and Keima were neighbors, so it was natural... sort of...
Her thoughts were interrupted, 'cause Eri was next to her and literally a step away from jumping on her and embracing her.
"Hello, Eri," Kanon told Eri with a smile, before she turned to the other two. "Hello, Keima-kun, Tenri-chan."
"Hello," Tenri said meekly, her shyness second only to Shiori, but Kanon was more interested in Keima's reaction, though a bit scared to make eye contact. She never learned of his reaction. however, the reason being Yui.
"Keima-kun," the drummer said cheerfully, waving a dress. Keima certainly reacted to that – he blinked before turning around and walking away.
"She's joking!" Urara caught Keima's arm and dragged him back. "Yui's just joking!"
"Let go off me!" Keima paled, seemingly more concerned with Urara than Yui.
"Keima-kun looks cuter in a dress though," Yui complained.
"I'd like to see that if that's true," Chihiro teased with a smirk, earning a glare from Keima
"What's wrong with you, reals?!" the gamer exclaimed, red in the face, Tenri trying to calm him down. Was it just Kanon or was the raven-haired girl a bit too close to Keima?
Finally, the last two people – Kusunoki and Minami – arrived and it was hard to say which one looked more flustered. The two of them, along with Kanon, were the main guests, after all.
(* * *)
"So, now that everyone is here I want to welcome all of you," Urara said, holding a folded newspaper to her face like a microphone. "Especially, I would like to welcome our two successful graduates," she pointed to Minami and Kusunoki, who were seated at the top of the table. The martial artist was somehow used to formal atmosphere, but Minami certainly couldn't deal with the attention and seemed to shrink into her chair, "let's congratulate them with a round of applause!"
Applause followed and Kanon noticed that Minami turned even redder when she noticed Keima gave her a small smile. Her thoughts were interrupted by Urara.
"Finally, I'd like to welcome our birthday girl," the girl pointed to Kanon "which means it's time for a song!"
Everyone stood up and a chorus of voices sang "Happy birthday to you!" and Kanon felt touched. It was weird how 10 people could made her feel the same like a dome holding thousands of her fans. In the meantime, Urara quickly fetched a really big birthday cake, completed with 17 candles. And it would be a second cake in two days for Kanon. Considering this and the amount of food on the table, she might need to go for a looong run after this party was over.
"Now, make a wish!"
Kanon didn't have any problem with that part.
"All right!" Urara apparently felt good in the role of the hostess. She certainly didn't seem as lady-like as Kanon remembered her from Keima's memories. Then again, she was a small kid back then. "Now it's time for presents!"
"Aaah..." Kanon started nervously, "I've told you you don't have to give me any presents..."
"Aaah... my bad" Urara said in theatrical voice, "don't worry. I told everyone to not prepare anything big... but I can't guarantee that everyone listened," she winked, "anyway, here's a present from me and Tsukiyo," she finished, retrieving a rather large package from under the table.
"You said it wasn't anything big," Kanon said. And where had it come from? It was empty under the table a moment before? Was it Vulcan's magic?
"It isn't really," Tsukiyo chimed in, "well, how about you open it?"
Kanon reluctantly did so and found out... a set of clothes. Fancy, hella cute and very idol-y clothes.
"We thought you could wear them on stage sometimes," Urara explained, "I helped with the materials. And Tsukiyo came up with design. She's really a designer's daughter."
Tsukiyo shook her head. Probably because her relationship with her mother wasn't the greatest.
"It looks really nice," Kanon bowed, "thank you very much."
"No time for that," the ever fast Ayumi said, turning to Chihiro, "it's time for 2-B pencils present, though Miyako kinda doesn't know it's really a thing," the runner turned to Chihiro, "come one."
However, the band leader seemed uncertain to say the least.
"I don't know," Chihiro glanced at the clothes Urara and Tsukiyo had gotten. "You know what, I actually think it's a bad idea-"
"Nonsense," Yui said cheerfully, taking a small package from Chihiro's hand and tossing it over to Kanon, "here."
Kanon unpacked the thing while Ayumi and Yui stopped Chihiro from taking it away.
"A CD case?" Kanon said puzzled, before her eyes widened, "are those your new songs? You're making an album?"
"No, it's too early for that," Ayumi said, not needing to hold back Chihiro anymore, as the other girl was looking away, red-faced and sweating bullets, "it's covers of all of your songs made by our band!"
"Really?" Kanon said enthusiastically before proceeding to hug each and ever band member present. "Thank you so much! I'm sure it's great!"
"You're acting way too familiar," Chihiro mumbled, "next thing we know you're going to give us backstage invitations."
"Hehe, anytime you want," Kanon said, smiling went Chihiro went red again and Ayumi and Eri had to fan her to prevent her from fainting.
Next was time for Kusunoki.
"Well, my and aneue's gift is more practical," the martial artist started, "I mean aneue did suggest some other practical gift but... anyway here," Kusunoki handed the idol a small package while blushing for some reason.
"Is it a stun gun?" Kanon wondered when she opened the box, "but it's small and I already have plenty-"
"Oh, aneue assured me that this is not just a mere stun gun, but a newest model of the highest quality," Kusunoki explained, "it has several additional functions and it is easy to carry and employ. And do not let its small size deceive you – it is rather powerful too."
Kanon thanked for the present and turned to the next pair. However, neither Shiori nor Minami seemed to work the courage to speak properly.
"Here... this," Shiori finally managed holding a middle-sized package to Kanon, making visible care not to impose or even touch Kanon, as if a riff-raff like her was not worthy of being so close to the famous idol.
"Oh, so it's a book," Kanon said as she unpacked it, but stopped when she got a better look.
It was a book, but it was kinda weird. Like unique and hand-made, certainly not something mass-printed. And the authors were 'Shiori Shiomiya' and 'Minami Ikoma'.
"You wrote a book for me?" Kanon asked in surprise.
"Aah... it's just a collection of poets... I-I mean poems," Shiori stuttered out before shutting up in shame.
"W-we... heard you like poems," Minami managed barely above a whisper, "those are mostly based on your songs."
In response Kanon hugged both girls at once. "Thank you! I'll be sure to read through it all with great care!"
Finally, Kanon turned to the last group of people. It seemed Keima prepared a gift together with Tenri (which irked Kanon for some unexplainable reason). Not to mention that Kanon had a feeling that Keima had been observing her closely all this time, even though right now he was looking at his sister... who was also standing near. Did Eri also prepare that gift? But she was part of 2-B pencils, so she had already given Kanon a gift, right?
"Here, Kanon-chan!" Eri said happily as she handed her another middle-sized package. Was it another book? "Me, nii-sama and Tenri-san worked really hard on it."
Keima mumbled something that sounded deceptively similar to 'most of the work was preventing you from messing it up' and Tenri let out a small giggle.
Kanon unpacked the present and it was indeed some book. It was titled "Kanon Nakagawa, the shining star". Kanon had an idea what it could be.
"What is it?" Yui as usual didn't give pay much attention to personal space and looked over Kanon's shoulder. Others followed her example and gathered to look. Even Kusunoki discretly craned her neck to see better.
The book was a photo album of sorts or an illustrated biography of Kanon's career, obviously put together using Eri's love, Tenri's hard work and Keima's skill. The pages were detailing her songs, concerts, travels, dramas and all important career milestones. It would be a fairly regular home-made photo album, except...
"Whoa!" Chihiro exclaimed. "Is it just me..."
"or are the pictures... moving?" Ayumi finished her best friend's thought.
Indeed, while the text stayed put as one would expect it to, the pictures didn't. Instead, they were constantly changing, playing scenes relevant to each album entry. It was as if someone made a website with a lot of embedded videos and displayed it on a tablet... except it wasn't a tablet.
"I've seen something like that," Urara said in excited voice.
"Where?" Tsukiyo asked, curious.
"In a western movie about wizards and magic," the Shiratori heiress explained, "they had this big castle and the people in the pictures would move all the time!"
"Magic?" Kanon repeated before it clicked. "Of course, Diana-san helped to make it!"
Tenri nodded, smiling.
"Magic and moving pictures in a book?" Shiori mused out aloud, not sure whether she should consider that a book desecration or not... well, she could still flip pages... and smell the paper... so it was... ok, she guessed?
Kanon's opinion was less critical.
"This, is great," the idol said, while flipping the pages. She stopped on one portraying Kanon singing a cover of "Full of Memories". And the very first line of lyrics for that song was...
'Many memories hidden inside an old album.'
Yes, this album might not be old, but it sure is full of many hidden memories, some of them more hidden than others, Kanon thought, as she watched at the video after her concert at the dome, the one right after she had kissed Keima. And then there were pages describing some activities where Kanon was acting... weird. That was certainly from the time Eri substituted for her. Oh, how thankful she was for that, Kanon thought feeling tears start to form in the corner of her eyes.
This gift... all of those gifts... were all very personal and literally moved her to tears.
Finally, she got to the last page... and instantly slammed the book shut, her face going red in panic a bit.
"Kanon-chan?" Eri titled her head. "Is something wrong?"
"No," the idol replied weakly, before bowing, "thank you very much, all of you. I'll be sure to study that album later at home!"
"Well, said," Urara said, before smiling and clasping her hands together. "So... who's hungry?"
A chorus of "me!" followed and everyone went in the direction of the table. Kanon was smiling on the outside, but on the inside she was nervous.
It didn't help that the last "video" in the album was a scene from her drama series: a scene of Maron and Hayate kissing.
That episode hasn't aired yet, but that wasn't all what was troubling Kanon.
What was troubling her was that the video wasn't like the one Kanon saw on tape. It wasn't Daisuke who was kissing her there.
It was Keima.
And on top of that Kanon could feel a pricking sensation on the skin of her nape.
She was being watched...
(* * *)
So here you have it. Kanon spends some time with her parents and then there comes the party... and the chapter is cut before it can start for real... As I said before, this chapter was supposed to have more events, but I cut it short. In result, not everything had been explained and some things about Keima-Kanon-Daisuke "triangle" are still hanging in the air.
As for Kanon's parents... well, I had to introduce them, but at the same time I didn't want to come up with too much. Here I came up with their occupations and such, but there's a lot that's still a lot of things that are still blank. Like their names. So... I have a request of sorts. If you have any suggestions about Kanon's parents (especially their names), than please leave them in a review or PM.
And then there are presents for Kanon. Seriously, while I'm happy with what I came up with, it took me a lot of time to come up with those ideas. Long story short: the next birthday party I'll probably just say "all presents were awesome". Wait... next one will be ShioriNomi, so all presents will be books xD. Anyway, tell me what you think of those presents. :)
In this chapter Apollo is referred to as "ditzy". I was like 'is it really a good word here? Do I even remember what it means?"... so I checked the definition of 'ditzy' in the dictionary. It said: "silly and not reliable". Yup, that's Apollo...
I had to rewrite Yanagi and Kanon scene after I realized that they already know each other from the time in the manga when Yanagi drove Kanon and Yui to Shiratori household.
As a side note, I was doing research on character clothes and is it just me or a lot of girls (like Ayumi, Chihiro, Mio, Kusunoki) wear really short skirts at school. This is particularly weird for Mio and Kusunoki.
Maybe you've noticed, but I'm playing with anxiety/jealousy side of Kanon here. If this goes south we might even see some slight yandere in the near future.
Well, I think it's everything for now.
See you next time!