Hello everyone!
I'm back as promised and on time for once!
There's one thing I want to say before we get into the chapter. One of the reviewers mentioned ShioriNomi getting closer. I'd like to use this opportunity to mention/announce something I'm not sure I have talked about, so I want to say it now, so there won't be misunderstandings later on.
Yes, ShioriNomi is getting closer and Shiori will be the next girl who'll have her chance with Keima...
...however, between KanonNomi and ShioriNomi I want to post one more story in the Nomi series. It will be a short story (a few chapters I think) and you might already be able to guess what this story will be about... if not, then I guess you'll have to wait to find out!
Anyway, onto the chapter!
(* * *)
Previously on The World Kanon Only Knows:
After Kanon and Eri are caught red-handed by Kanon's mom, Keima tries to explain the situation to Okada, his parents and Kanon's parents by telling them a fake story. However, Kanon stops that and after a fight she persuades Keima to tell the truth instead.
During a visit in Keima's house by 2-B pencils Chihiro finds lost and weary Keima in his room. Keima reveals that the relations between him, Eri and their parents have become weird. Chihiro reassures him it's just temporary. Keima is also surprised because he's not where he expected himself to be when dragged into the real. Chihiro theorizes he'd end up somewhere else than expected because of how unique person he is, before forcing him to pull himself together and face his family.
Keima also reveals Kanon's parents are angry and don't want him to date their daughter, but after Kanon talked to them, they decided to invite Keima and Kanon for dinner.
Later, Keima meets Kanon at her apartment and the idol apologizes for causing trouble for him, before they talk about their game projects as they walk to Kanon's parents' place.
So let's now find out how much of a disaster will the dinner with Kanon's parents be!
Enjoy!
(* * *)
Kanon was more than a little nervous about bringing Keima to her parents for dinner. Thanks to the game conversation she calmed down a little. However, now with her parents sitting across of them, the nervousness returned with vengeance.
This was especially true as Kanon was actually the only person that knew the whole truth. Keima didn't exactly tell all the little details of their relationship. And of course, Keima himself was not aware of the entire orb thing.
She squeezed his hand under the table.
"Thank you for accepting our invitation, Katsuragi-san," Mrs. Nakagawa said after a moment of awkward silence, "we're glad we could have you with us."
Keima wasn't so sure if the use of the family name and the suffix were any indications. It could very well mean that even Kanon's mother was not supporting their relationship. Keima's experience with fathers was pretty much limited to Ayumi's dad and that had been a very specific situation. Still, Keima was certain that Kanon's father's opinion on him was worse than his wife's.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Keima said, though he was sure the only reason he was invited was Kanon's pleading.
"Then let us eat," Mrs. Nakagawa said.
"Right, I'm famished," Kanon said, "can I ask for the salad?"
The said dish was close to Keima and he wanted to reach for it, but Mr. Nakagawa was faster.
"Here sweetie," those were the man's first words since he greeted Keima. Not a very good sign.
"Thanks, dad," Kanon said with a small smile, though Keima was almost certain she shot her father a look when she thought Keima wasn't paying attention.
"I really like this salad, it's one of mom's best," Kanon continued, "you should try it Keima-kun."
"I'm pretty sure it's nothing compared to what your mother can dish out, Katsuragi-san," Mrs. Nakagawa said as Keima took the salad from Kanon and dished up his plate.
"Actually, I don't think I've ever seen my mother make that kind of salad," Keima said, before taking a bite and swallowed before speaking again, "it's really good. You shouldn't show it to my mother though unless you want her to pester you for the recipe."
Mrs. Nakagawa remained silent for a second or two, seemingly unchanged, though Keima could swear he could see the older woman's lips twitch as if she was stopping herself from smiling.
Mr. Nakagawa coughed and soon all four of them were eating and it was quiet for a while, save for the sounds of cutlery.
"Thank you for the meal," Keima said after a while, though the table was far from empty. Either Kanon's family always ate this much or they packed the table full in hopes the eating part would never end, "it was very good."
"Oh, it was nothing," Mrs. Nakagawa said.
"Excuse me, but I disagree," Keima said, "actually, I feel kinda indebted. For the next dinner, I invite you over to my family house, I'm sure my mother-"
Kanon shot Keima a discreet glance, sensing the trap he was laying down and didn't have to wait long to see someone step into it.
"And what if we don't want to come over to you for dinner?" Mr. Nakagawa asked.
Kanon and her mother opened their mouths, but Keima beat them to it.
"I see," Keima said, his tone mostly neutral and even on the polite side, except for the sheer confidence it contained, "I'd be just Kanon then."
"Enough!" Mr. Nakagawa stood up. "You won't be seeing my daughter!"
"Dad!" Kanon also stood up.
"Manabu!" Mrs. Nakagawa said, turning to her husband. "You-".
"No, Hotaru! This boy won't-"
"And how would you do that?" Keima said quietly, making three pairs of lips stop and three pairs of eyes look at him.
What did you say?" Mr. Nakagawa asked after a moment of silence.
Keima didn't sigh or smile or blink. He remained completely motionless except for his lips when he spoke.
"How do you plan on preventing Kanon from seeing me?"
"Don't joke with me boy!"
At this Keima laughed, shaking his head at something only he understood, making everyone present even more confused. Kanon started to panic, something that didn't really happen often.
"Do you think this is funny?" Mr. Nakagawa asked. "Do you-"
"Do you know how it is to have a current generated by thousands of volts run through your body and have something precious of yours fried?" Keima asked as he looked up and Kanon saw his eyes and her breath hitched. "Do you know how it is to get confessed in the middle of class by the most famous teenager in Japan and have dozens of death threats send your way? And I'm talking only about death threats. Do you know how it is to know your classmate was in a coma and could die because of the mistake you've made? Kanon doesn't know that," he indicated to the pink-haired girl, "sure, she might have access to my memories, but knowledge isn't feeling. She can know my pain or guilt, but she can't feel them. I can. And if want to know how it is to feel those things Nakagawa-san, then I'll be here to tell you all about it."
Kanon could feel it. Not the pain or guilt. She could feel something radiating off Keima. Something even more ridiculous for a human being to have than pink hair. Her father slowly sat back down, his wife's hand not leaving his shoulder.
"I surely cannot get inside your head and fully know what you're feeling right now," Keima continued, "but I sure can understand your concerns."
"You're glad," Mrs. Nakagawa said, her eyes fixed on Keima, "you're glad we're concerned about you dating Kanon..."
Keima snorted. "Of course I'm glad, you're concerned," he said, "Kanon had a lot of issues and she carries a stun gun for a reason. She's a strong girl, but that doesn't mean she can do everything alone. She needs a lot of support, including her own family. Of course, I'm glad her parents are not a pair of idiots who'd accept someone like me without question or even after questions."
"You think we shouldn't accept you as Kanon's boyfriend?" Mrs. Nakagawa asked.
"What does it matter what I want?" Keima said. "I ask you again: how exactly do you plan on preventing Kanon from seeing me?"
When the answer didn't come, Keima continued.
"Kanon started her show business career and started to live on her own very early. Somehow, I'm certain you didn't want her to do that, yet here she is: the top idol of Japan. How was that possible with her parents being concerned like that? The answer is simple: Kanon convinced you. She is well-behaved, polite and gentle when she has what she wants, but she can be a pretty stubborn and determined girl when she wants to get it."
"What that has to do with Kanon and you going out?" Mr. Nakagawa asked.
"Everything," Keima said, "I understand your concerns, but I think you're trying to convince the wrong person. Even if I didn't want to have anything to do with Kanon, it's useless to threaten me. No matter what you say, Kanon did talk you into giving me and her a chance. The fact that the four of us are sitting here is the proof of that. It's Kanon you need to convince to stop seeing me and I don't see it happening. Besides," he took off his glasses, "I tried to talk her out of it a few months ago. I didn't want any girlfriend, I'm not someone you can just sway easily like that and I remembered all too well how difficult being around Kanon was sometimes. Now, I understand your concern: you're worried I have the sway over her. Yet, despite all of that swat and my arguments, Kanon tried to convince me to give us a chance and she has succeeded. If I couldn't talk her out if it, then I'm sorry, but you're not talking any of us out of it. And trying to prevent her from seeing me with force would be a bad idea either. Trust me, I've seen what teenage girls could do when someone tried to rein them in. One has left home and gone to America for a few years. Another walked the streets in a cosplay, acting as if she were crazy. Some started to cross-dress one even developed a horror called sweet rāmen. You don't want your daughter to end up like that."
Kanon didn't have any idea why, but she had to stop herself from laughing. From what she could see her mother had a similar reaction. Her father just looked at Keima, baffled.
"That's very good," Mrs. Nakagawa said after a moment, "but you didn't answer our question. Considering all you've said right now, do you think we should accept you?"
"In my opinion? Yes," Keima said.
"Do you want to be Kanon's boyfriend?" Mrs. Nakagawa asked.
"Yes."
The sheer lack of doubt in Keima's voice made Kanon look at him.
"Why?" Mr. Nakagawa asked this time.
"Because I like her."
Kanon's mouth opened and remained open for a few seconds until she spoke.
"C-could you repeat that, Keima-kun?"
Keima turned to Kanon and looked her in the eyes.
"I like you, Kanon."
Kanon just sat there for a moment, her face slowly turning a very attractive shade of red.
"That's why I'm asking for your blessings," Keima interlaced his fingers with Kanon's and put their joined hands on the table for both adults to see.
"I want to join that requests as well!" there was a sudden flash and Apollo materialized, her wings on full display, sending feather flying everywhere.
"This guy here," the goddess put her hand on Keima's shoulder, "is right. The heart wants what the heart wants and, believe me, I can feel Kanon's love overflowing inside of me right now. You won't be able to persuade her otherwise, so just let her be happy. And trust me, this guy is very much capable of making her happy, even if he's a jerk at times."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Keima said sarcastically, but Apollo only put her hands in his, a happy careless smile on her face, "I'll leave Kanon in your care then."
And with another flash, Kanon was back. The idol blinked, looked down at her hands still in Keima's, before she pulled them back, blushing heavily.
"W-well, that didn't go as I thought," Kanon said, before clearing her throat, "but Keima-kun and Apollo are right. I know a lot has happened, but Keima-kun is not an enemy. In fact, if there's anyone in the world, who both understands me and has the means to protect me from dangerous people and devils, it is Keima-kun. He is, and a lot of people can attest to that, the last person who'd want to go out with a real girl with the intention to harm her. Please, believe in us!"
"Believe in you?" Mr. Nakagawa asked, pointing at Keima. "This boy was ready to call us idiots right to our faces!"
"Only if you proved you were idiots, but, yeah," Keima admitted.
"You were the reason my daughter was attacked and her life was put in danger!" Mr. Nakagawa said.
"I never blamed Keima-kun for that!" Kanon said, her voice getting louder now. "Or for marking me as a goddess host for that matter! I'm grateful I could be useful after everything I've done to him!"
"Honey, you nee-" Mrs. Nakagawa started, but was interrupted.
"No! I won't calm down!" Kanon said. "Look, I know you worry about me and have my best interest in heart and I love you, mom, dad... and I'm sorry, but I'm not going to break up with Keima-kun! If that's all you have to say, then I and Keima-kun will just go."
Mr. and Mrs. Nakagawa looked at her daughter for a moment, before Mr. Nakagawa turned to Keima, looking angry.
"You see what you've done!? You turned our own daughter against us!" he said. "In that case, I have only one more thing to add," he looked Keima dead in the eye, "if you hurt our Kanon-chan or make her unhappy, we'll make you pay."
"Father! I won-wait, what?" Kanon asked, her eyes widened.
"That's impossible," Keima said without hesitation, "if I ever were to hurt Kanon-chan, a certain classmate of mine would find me and pulverize me. And she's like demon fast, you wouldn't be able to get to me before her, trust me."
"Wait," Kanon spoke, looking at her mother's face, which brightened slightly, and at her father, who leaned back and sighed, "do-does that mean."
"Yes, we approve," Mrs. Nakagawa said softly and her husband gave a small nod.
Slowly, Kanon lowered herself, sinking back into her seat, her brain feeling like mush.
"Thank you," Keima said, his hand going back into Kanon's, "we appreciate that."
"Be honest, Keima-kun," Mrs. Nakagawa said, her eyes trying to pierce him, "you predicted that outcome."
"I considered a scenario like this," Keima answered, "but I gave it around 30%."
"What scenario was the remaining 70%?"
"There were several other scenarios, though neither reached that high success rate."
"You knew!" Kanon said, punching her boyfriend on his shoulder. "You knew and you didn't tell me!"
"You see?" Keima pointed to his girlfriend while trying to intercept her arm. "This is what happens with all them girls, violence instead of a resolution with words."
"She certainly takes that from you," Mr. Nakagawa told his wife and a moment later both adults laughed, watching Kanon trying to wrench her hand out of Keima's grasp, but only resulting in getting her other arm captured as well.
"Though I have a condition," Mr. Nakagawa suddenly said, getting the attention of both teens, "Kanon's education is very important for us, so I want you to help her study and I don't mean stupid memorization of the test material."
"I'm not going into Tōdai, dad!" Kanon said. "I already have a lot on my plate!"
"Then let me help you out," Keima took Kanon's plate and placed it in front of him and started to eat.
"That's not funny!" Kanon said. "When I'm going to eat and sleep?"
Mrs. Nakagawa laughed and stood up, walking to another room. This was the first time Keima actually seemed surprised, especially as Kanon perked up.
"Wait, you mean..."
Keima raised her eyebrow at her, but Kanon didn't manage to answer, as Mrs. Nakagawa was back, carrying some flat box.
"Now, seeing how the dinner is done, I say we play our favorite game. You like games, right, Keima-kun?" she said as she placed a box of Monopoly on the table.
(* * *)
"Well, that went better than I expected," Keima said two hours later, before turning to Kanon, "are you sure it's okay for you to be here?"
"I'm only walking you to a bus stop," Kanon answered.
"But you'll have to walk back alone and it's late and your pare-"
"I'll be fine," Kanon interrupted.
Frankly, Keima didn't exactly understand. He doubted Kanon was sad or angry — partly because her hand was in his — but somehow he expected her to be much more... chirpy at the moment like this.
They arrived at the bus stop, which was, surprisingly, empty. Keima checked the timetable.
"Next bus will be here in 5 minutes," Keima said, "it's not a direct line and I'll have to walk after it," he turned to Kanon, "but that's okay-", he didn't say anymore, because Kanon suddenly hugged him.
Keima blinked, as Kanon buried her head in his chest.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his hands embracing her.
"Did you really mean it, back then?" Kanon asked, her voice muffled. "That you like me?"
Keima blushed slight pink.
"I did," he answered.
Kanon slowly looked up at him, her cheeks rosy, her eyes emotional, but determined.
"I love you, Keima-kun," she said.
Keima remembered this situation before: Kanon hugging him and confessing to him, right before she got stabbed by Vintage. However, unlike back then, this felt different. Even the way his face flushed in response was different right now.
In games, he was always touched by confessions. And as hard as it was to admit it to himself, he was never good at keeping calm when he was being confessed to in the real as well.
However, Kanon apparently didn't expect any verbal reply from him as she pressed her lips to his in a deep and passionate kiss, literally rendering him speechless. Well, Keima thought as he kissed her back, at least he got the answer to his previous question.
Apparently, nothing was wrong.
Finally, Kanon pulled back.
"Thank you, Keima-kun," the idol said, "yet again I dragged you into something and yet again you prove just how great a man you are... I just want you to know that you mean the world to me."
Keima opened his mouth, but Kanon put a finger to his lips.
"It's okay," Kanon said, smiling, "I have something for you," she retrieved something from her pocket.
It was a CD.
"The eighth song in this album is called 'Snow from my eyes'," the idol said, "the lyrics, the melody, the recording, I thought of you throughout making this song. Well, it's still my official song that I'll sing for everyone during concerts..." she leaned closer to him, her lips nearing his ear, "though I hope, someday I'll make a song that's only for your ears."
As if on cue, the bus rolled by them and Kanon let go, walking away a few steps, before turning back to him and blowing him a kiss.
"See you later, darling, baby!"
(* * *)
"Goodbye, Keima-kun," Kanon said as Keima got out of the car.
"Yeah, goodbye," the boy answered.
It was several days after the dinner with Kanon's parents and the summer break was nearly done. Keima and Kanon divided their together-time between studying sessions, game designing sessions and actual dating. Moreover, due to the idol's hectic schedule, Kanon was constantly overstressed and the dates and the free time she got to spend with Keima were what she needed to charge her batteries.
Of course, the dates were not happening often, but they followed a two-stage pattern. The first stage (Keima liked to call it "mobile") usually consisted of several ordinary activities, like shopping, movies or dinner (at fast food or family restaurants), usually accompanied by a lot of talking. Then, when the evening came, the second stage ("stationary"), was centered on one spot. It could be watching a sunset in a park bench or, more commonly, a trip back to Kanon's apartment. Regardless of the place, the stage was spent relatively quiet and when lips were used, it was for something else than talking. Granted, the bench scenario was mostly Kanon snuggling (and sometimes falling asleep), but the apartment had Kanon becoming more persistent and physical.
While Keima was never swayed for the "cute yellow ribbon idol" image that had Elsie captured on sight, he did have to admit: Kanon was a very honest, hard-working and earnest girl, even if a little attention-hungry. This was weird as during the "mobile" stage it was clear that Kanon wanted to visit many places and was quite persistent in getting where she wanted and it could be more than a little tiring. However, during "stationary" Kanon was relatively easy to please. Yes, the rarity of their meetings meant that the pink-haired girl would be far from satisfied with one hug or kiss, but it still didn't require much effort.
Maybe it meant Keima was just a genius when it came to figuring how to hold and kiss a girl...
...or maybe Kanon was just happy with however he held and kissed her as long as it came from him?
He wasn't sure what he thought about the second possibility. Superficially, it didn't seem like a challenge that'd satisfy the God of Conquest. In that case, why didn't it feel dull? Why did it-
"Katsuragi-kun," Keima was brought back from his thought by Okada talking to him from the driver's seat, "if you were ever interested in working with us-"
"Okada-san!" Kanon berated her manager. "We've talked about it before!"
"It's just a casual offer," Okada shrugged, "you should keep that in mind."
And with that the idol and her manager drove off, leaving Keima at his house gate.
Keima continued to look at the car for a moment, before taking out his PFP and walking towards the front door. "Tadaima," he said quietly as he entered the house and took off his shoes, without looking away from his console. He was already heading for the stairs when the door to the living room opened.
"You're finally home," Mari Katsuragi's face popped out from the doorway before she beckoned to him, her face determined, "now come here," she said, disappearing back into the living room.
Keima blinked. He remembered that day when Chihiro had forced him and his family to meet over the living room table, which had also included all of the 2-B pencils except Miyako. Keima was a bit lost how it all had happened, but the fact remained that Mari had cried that day, apologized and said that she "was misguided about her brilliant son" and that she "had the best daughter in the world". Keima could never forget the way Ayumi, Chihiro, and Yui looked throughout the exchange – their expressions ranging from teasing, smirking and holding laughter to deep emotion and tears. Eri, of course, had her face barely recognizable through her own tears.
After that day the relations between Keima, Eri and their parents improved dramatically and Mari, while strict at times, looked really proud of her son, her greatest problem that she couldn't boast about it to neighbors in detail. Of course, it didn't mean Keima could suddenly lock himself in his room and play games for weeks on end: Ayumi and Chihiro made sure of that by assuring Mari Keima would be a good boy before he could as much as speak a word.
Not that Keima had a problem with that, as he still got a considerable amount of time for gaming.
However, the bottom line was that Keima's mother didn't look at him with that biker gaze for weeks now and his danger sense starting to tingle a bit when he walked into the living room.
He pretty much expected to see Eri and his father there for something he thought was a family meeting, but it was just his mother. Her, him and a table with some papers. Some looked like bills and others were hand-written and strangely reminded him of his own conquests notes.
"Sit down", Mari told him.
"What's this about?" Keima asked, having no idea has to classify this event.
"I've been doing some calculations," Mari started after both of them were seated, "specifically the ones regarding our home budget," she rummaged through her notes, before retrieving one particular piece of paper and showing it to Keima.
"Do you know how much we spend on electricity and your games?" Mari asked him.
Keima expected that question, but it still surprised him somehow and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't like his contract with Dokurō Skull described any kind of reward. It wasn't as if Keima wanted to be hailed as the world savior and expected to be exempted from bills or taxes. It actually made sense: if his mother thought he was living more in the real, then she'd also expect for him to game less.
Except it didn't sit well with him.
"I know," he stated, "but it's not like my spending has increased, so why-"
"Your gaming market might be booming, but the rest of Japan is not faring so perfectly," Mari told him, "the costs of water, electricity, hell, even waste removal had increased. The only thing that is getting cheaper is real estate, though not fast enough," Keima opened his mouth, but Mari continued without letting him speak, "this also means increased costs of running the café. I've been avoiding this for a long time, but I'll need to increase the prices myself and I don't know if I'll be able to even afford the investments I planned."
Keima barely blinked on the outside, but on the inside he wasn't so composed. He took some papers from the table and started to analyze them. It took him less than a minute, but he could already see Mari's point. If they were lucky this could be just a false alarm, but they could also be looking at increasing inflation rates.
And, there was one more thing that was much more obvious. The Katsuragi family was now four people, not three and he very much doubted Eri's reality-warping had accounted for her own expenses.
In other words, Mari was right.
"Okay, I see your point," Keima admitted, feeling tired. Was it from the date or from what he expected to hear in a moment? "So what are your conclusions? Do you want me to stop buying games or using my 6 screens?"
Frankly, he expected "and" instead of "or".
"What I want is for you to contribute," Mari told him, "your games are not a problem as long as you can afford them."
Well, this wasn't as bad as he expected, though far from perfect. "I see."
"Why do you sound as if was sending you to work in a quarry or something," Mari said.
"I'm sorry," Keima said, "I have schoolwork, my games, girls visiting me almost daily, an idol girlfriend, her manager wanting to hire me as a miracle-working slaving horse, and I have some... additional stuff with Kanon."
"What additional stuff?" Mari asked, her eyes narrowing, "don't tell me you and her-"
"Before you jump to any conclusions," Keima interrupted, deciding it was better to spill the beans than let his mother insinuate new stuff, "Kanon wanted to make a galge with her songs and I'm helping with the design."
Mari was quiet for a moment, looking at her son with a weird expression.
"Excellent," she said after a moment.
"Yes, so... wait, what?" Keima asked, surprised.
"That might work perfectly with my idea."
"Wait, you want me to go find a part-time job, right?" Keima asked. "How does that work perfectly with me helping Kanon?"
Mari didn't come up some outrageous idea, right? Like making him marry Kanon and leech of her income or something?
"Well, in a way I want you to work part-time or at the very least bring some money home, but it certainly wouldn't be working in a quarry," Mari paused for a moment, "though knowing you, you'd actually put more effort into it than many laborers do."
"Are you remotely close to the point?" Keima asked, his confusion fueling his impatience. He didn't like knowing or understanding less than his mother. "What is that idea of yours!?"
Mari smiled "I'm glad you asked," she pulled out another set of notes, looking less messy, like final drafts of some grand scheme.
"Well, the truth is I found several ways for you to earn money through your hobby."
Keima looked at her, his eyes widened.
"First, you could use your 'Fallen God' website," Mari looked at the first note, "like have a subscribing system or restricted access to some games walkthroughs."
"My website is for all the lost lambs," Keima said, already not liking the idea, "it should be free for everyone."
"Not a problem," Mari turned over the note, "in that case you could establish a donation system, where you'll update when a certain amount of money is paid. It doesn't matter if it's paid by everyone visiting or just one person – that way even if someone doesn't pay they might still be able to view the site."
"But someone still has to pay," Keima said. His voice was calm, masking his surprise. He was surprised that his mother had thought about this enough to be prepared if he refused the first scenario. He glanced at the untouched notes still on the table.
"Then you can make a completely voluntary donation system," Mari said, not looking fazed at all by his objections, "if no-one will pay then that's that... but I'm pretty sure a lot of your lambs would want to support you!"
Keima was silent for a moment. Then he decided on a probing event.
"And if I don't want to do that?"
"Then I have other ideas," Mari grabbed another piece of paper, "you could record and post your gaming sessions and let's plays on Yuutube."
Keima blinked. Since when does his mother know what a "let's play" was?
"Actually, instead of doing offline let's plays, you could stream your gaming. You have several computers already, so you'd have the hardware part out of the way without any additional investments."
Keima didn't speak.
"There are so many ways to go about this," Mari continued, not even noticing the lack of response, "you could make game reviews, set world records for speedruns, accept official challenges. You can probably come up with more ideas than me. My point is simple: the family could use your contribution to the home budget and I'm suggesting you contribute by doing what you love and what you're the best at," Mari smiled.
Keima still didn't answer, trying to wrap his head around the idea of his mother praising him and calling his gaming skill the best in the world.
Frankly, even he thought that maybe, just maybe she was overestimating him.
"And the thing you said about helping Kanon-chan in game designing," Mari said, "it doesn't have to be much, but I want you to be paid for your contribution and be credited for it."
"I'm surprised you didn't just have my work at the café..." Keima said after a few moments.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but that particular job opening is already taken," Mari said.
"By who?" Keima asked though he had a very good idea.
"By your dear sister," Mari said smiling, "I talked to her earlier today... so what do you think?"
Keima thought for a moment.
"Well, monetizing some of my gaming shouldn't be too difficult," he said finally, "I'll need a day or two to think about it. Though don't expect too much," he added when he saw a beaming smile on his mother's face.
"I understand," Mari said, "now, I think you should take a bath and go to sleep my son, you must be tired."
(* * *)
Keima was lying in his bed, one hand behind his head, staring at the ceiling and thinking where life had led him to.
He was the God of Conquest, unrivaled in the art of conquering girls in games, which accounted for the great majority of his life. Then he had become affiliated with Hell. Then a number of people had learned about more than he ever thought they could learn and those people were now his friends and a significant part of his life.
Then he'd gotten a real girlfriend, who had convinced him to reveal the truth to their parents. Her parents wanted him to help her study and his mother wanted him to earn money from his hobby.
He realized Chihiro was right. This was so different from himself from several years back and also completely not what he had expected to become if he gave to the real. If he was no longer the former, not really becoming the latter, then what was he now?
He turned to his nightstand and picked two objects from there: in his right hand was his trusty PFP and in his left was the CD Kanon gave him. His perfect virtual world and the imperfect real world.
He had always seen them as contradictions: he couldn't stay in one world without sacrificing something from the other. But maybe, with enough effort... with the right attitude and right people around him... maybe, maybe he'd be able to live in both.
He put the console and the CD away, turned off the light and closed his eyes.
He had a lot to do tomorrow.
(* * *)
As you can see, some important things happened here and I hope you're glad of those developments.
So first, we have the dreadful dinner, which turns into a salad-filled battlefield, but Keima stands his ground, saying that if he can't convince Kanon to not date him, they the parents can't either. The most important part of the dinner, however, is Keima admitting he likes Kanon. After that we have parents agreeing for Keima to date Kanon, as long as he helps her study and the deal is sealed with a game of Monopoly (and I do think Keima managed to collect all the money in this one :P).
Then we have Kanon walking Keima to the bus stop, where she gets emotional, thanks him and confesses her love (not really a surprise at this point) and also gives Keima CD with "Snow from my eyes" inspired by him. From the Kanon's songs I haven't referenced yet (and which aren't planned for other parts of the story) this one seemed like the one which is the best suited: indirectly mentions Keima, is slow compared to normally lively Kanon songs and just speaks of Kanon kinda recovering her memories, so it's nice. I also want to thank Sir Sleeps-a-lot for helping me to make the song choice. You're the best. :)
Then, the worst part of the chapter comes, which is a fairly short, but jarring time skip. Nonetheless, it brings us to the second very important part of the chapter, where Mari confronts Keima about home/gaming expenses and suggests Keima starts to somehow earn money through his hobby. Let's see what Keima's response to that will be in the next chapter. :P
Also: "Yuutube" was spelled like that on purpose.
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, if so then please drop a review. If you didn't like it, please tell me why. Also I want to thank everyone who supported my by reading, faving, following or reviewing. You guys are great. :)
Here are responses to the latest reviews:
UzumeofGamindustri: thank you very much, glad you like the chapter! I laughed at the idea of Apollo helping with the show and screwing up xD.
DarkZeta: I seriously cannot thank you enough for your review, thought and opinion. I'm honored. I'll keep writing and at the same time I want to encourage you, and everyone else for that matter, to support the fandom as well with reviews, favs and follows. Also, be sure to check some other authors in the KamiNomi fanfiction, there are some very good authors, both recently and formerly active.
Ghost Man: you're welcome, the preamble is something I should've added ages ago. I'm very happy you liked the chapter. Yes, the first time mom (or moms actually) found out. Yup, Keima's mouth is to be feared :P. Heh, Kanon ws definitely something in that chapter, but Keima was nothing to sneeze at either. Keima Katsuragi has just accepted reality, the world will self-destruct in 3... 2... 1... BOOM! :P Oh, yes, I totally plan for Haqua to have her own story in this :). Yup, Mari has to come to terms that she's just a simple former-biker cafe owner, while her son has Hell and Heaven at his (limited) disposal. Though he also gets hit more often than her :P. Yup, no idea where life is going to take Keima, but he can end up high. If he wants, that is :P.
ZelgadisGW: Shishishishi! yup, status quo is gone, bye bye! :D I'm also happy of this development, though I'm very unsure about KanonNomi rising to the level of MioNomi, at least in my opinion. We'll see, I guess. As for Chihiro, I don't think it's that she's good at figuring people. I think it's more that Chihiro, being a regular person, is able to notice what's unusual and unique about Keima, what he's not fully able to see himself (at least not in that context). Chihiro also knows the mundane parts life more, so she has more expertise with dealing with the real. Anyway, thank you for your review. :)
El Sasori69: heh, I take it you're not fully happy with what happened. It's true the New Hell could erase the parents' memories, but let's hope that won't happen :P. As for Mari, everyone can have their own headcanon, but in my opinion Eri is not a fake daughter. She didn't just change people's memories, she altered the reality and herself to really be Mari's daughter. Mari just learned that there was a reality when they weren't family and also Mari learned the true origin of Eri. Though, as you know by now, having read the above chapter, the family is okay now and Mari accepted the facts, even sending Eri to help with the home budget by working in the cafe. I hope this and next chapters will be more enjoyable for you. I'm always glad to read your reviews, so don't hesitate to state your opinion, even if you're criticizing me.
Red Glasses: I'm happy you like my portrayal of Kanon so much! I didn't think it'd be viewed as the most compelling route. Honestly, I personally don't think this chapter was more well-written than usual. Maybe the previous chapters weren't as good, because writing Kanon is problematic for me and this chapter just clicked more. This is especially, 'cause it took me long to write this and, as usual, I improvised here and there and had to stitch things together, so it's kinda miracle the dialogue is good. I hope you also liked this chapter. As for Shiori, I touched upon that at the top author's note. Sorry if this disappoints you, but we will get to ShioriNomi.
Big Bad Beowolf: thank you very, very much for your compliments! Kanon can be very persuasive, can't she? :P Lol, just imagined "Ayukawa & Kosaka therapy company" xD. I hope you enjoyed the chapter with the parents as well. :)
fss The Red Devil: thank you very much for your thoughts. I've sent you a detailed response in PM, here's just a short version. I do agree with your points to some extent and I'll think of alternate approaches for the future. Unfortunately, KanonNomi is going as it is, mostly due to difficulty with writing Keima, difficulty with writing Kanon and the fact that I improvise a lot. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this story anyway. Be sure o share your thoughts on this chapter too!
Sir Sleeps-a-lot: thank you very much, your reviews are always a joy to read :). Now that you mention it, it's really interesting that Kanon and Eri messed up, Keima warned them and now he's the one who has to help them out xD. You're right, re-explaining the known stuff would've been tedious and I just didn't want to write that, so I left it for the readers imaginations. Too bad you lost the immediate reactions of the parents though :P. Well, I think Keima did emphasize he was forced to do stuff and there might be worse stalkers Kanon had to deal before, so maybe it's not that much shock to her parents. Laughing at Kanon being triggered (get it? :P) by you calling Chihiro best girl xD. Yup, status quo is gone and it'll probably be worse become it'll get better, but Kanon and Keima will manage. I hope. Loved the ending joke. You should watch yourself during the next review ;).
That's it for now, my dear readers! Stay tuned for the next chapter and please remember to support the fandom!
See you next time!