Hello, everyone! I'm back yet again!
It took me longer than I wanted it to, but it's still weeks faster than the last time. I only hope that the updates will be faster now.
I don't really have anything to say here, maybe except that this chapter is shorter than my usual at 6000 words (plus author's notes). I think it also might be healthier than 9k+ chapters.
(* * *)
Previously on The World Kanon Only Knows:
The summer holiday ends and mid-term exams loom near. Predicting Eri could be decimated by them, Keima organizes for Jun, Haqa and Miyako to teach her. After returning to school Keima is ambushed by the school newspaper journalist and is surprised they're interested in him instead of his relationship with Kanon. Despite him refusing to share anything, the newspaper procudes an article based on rumors and info gathered from various sources (including Ayumi and Chihiro). To Keima's surprise, article claims he might have been misjudged and encourages people to try to see the truth. As a result, a classmate, a girl named Haruka, asks Keima to help her with her studies. Chihiro and Ayumi urge Keima to use this opportunity to be more social for Kanon's sake. Keima agrees to help Haruka and soon his reputations improves to the point that Mobuko Ikarino reluctantly admits she might've misjudged him. As peace offering, she asks Keima to help the busy third years in preparing for the Mai-High festival.
With this the festival promises to be very interesting, so let's see what came out of it! :)
For those who'll find the beginning of the chapter confusing, rest assured, this is still KanonNomi. Also sorry if jumping between flashbacks and the present thing is confusing as well.
Anyway, onto the chapter!
Enjoy!
(* * *)
"You seem really worn out," a voice shook Keima out of his thoughts and he turned his head to see that the owner of the dōjō entered the room. Keima surveyed her form. Her stern eyes fixated on him. Her arms crossed in front of her keikogi. Her bare feet and ankles which were being encircled and nuzzled by the cat who had come to welcome back his master.
Keima briefly wondered if now that she was out of high school, Kusunoki ever wore anything besides her training clothes.
"You have good eyes," he told her.
"It's not about what my eyes can see, it's more that your usual aura seems dimmed at the moment... Wait here," she said as she walked into another room, her cat following her.
"Oh and you can bring out your gaming device," Kusunoki spoke as her head poked from the door frame, "I won't smash it," she added before she disappeared again.
Keima didn't say anything, but inside he was glad as he took out his PFP and started up a game to work on his backlog a bit. When his save loaded he blinked: instead of one of the newly released games he saw an older idol galge he had completed before. He reset the device and started the correct game, noting that it wasn't the first time it happened.
He continued to game for 15 minutes before Kusunoki was back, carrying with her a tray full of rice balls, rice crackers, tea and more. Keima knew he was a guest, but still...
"You didn't have to-"
"Eat up!" Kusunoki told him, her tone not leaving place for any objections. Guest or not, Keima preferred his jaw intact, so he obeyed.
"So, to what do I owe this visit?" Kusunoki asked after a moment, stroking the cat who found its way onto her lap once she had sat in seiza position.
"You invited me, you know?" Keima told her, but whether to her intelligence or sheer instinct, the martial artist was not fooled at all.
"I extended the invitation a while back," Kusunoki said, "so why did you decide to appear now of all times, looking all weak?"
Keima smiled. "Am I not always weak?" he asked.
Kusunoki snorted in indignation.
"You're not weak," she told him, "normally you're full of belief, determination, hard work and willpower. Those qualities make bodies go through things they wouldn't be able to withstand otherwise," the look she gave him made it clear they weren't exactly on the same page when it came to worldview and life philosophy, but she still respected him. And then she frowned, "yet right now you look... deflated."
She was right. On multiple occasions he'd done things that shouldn't be possible with his stamina. His will as the God of Conquest was all he had needed. So what had changed?
He once had thought he was flying in the clouds, high above the lands of the Real and it was there where Chihiro had first reached him, proving he wasn't completely disconnected from the Real. He remembered when Yui had touched him while she had been in his body, his high tower of reasoning toppling over, swarmed by people of the real, which was even more true now with how many people surrounded him. He had noticed that and had some time to ponder about it and he had reached a possible conclusion.
As the God of Conquest he had never been able to turn down a game heroine in need and game heroines had been all he had cared for. Thus he had had no problem rejecting requests from the people of the Real. But now he had people he cared for in the Real as well and rejecting them was much harder now. They wanted him involved in their worlds. This was way outside of his comfort zone and he needed a considerable push and prodding to do this, but he did it and he didn't particularly hate it. It's just that...
"The last few weeks were... difficult," he said out loud.
"What do you mean?" Kusunoki asked as she picked up a rice cracker, though she had more than one idea what he could mean.
"Where do I start?" Keima asked himself, having a slight feeling of déjà vu. It reminded him of the 'reports' Tenri demanded once in a while. It felt like he was a patient on a couch and apparently his personal psychologist for today was Kusunoki. He wondered briefly who'd be next.
"How about the exams?" he said. Kusunoki nodded shortly and waited patiently, not a muscle moving outside of her eyelids or the hand that stroked the cat's fur. She might have not been breathing for all he could see.
"A lot of people asked for my help with studying for the midterms. I'm sure you remember how it was with your finals last year?" Kusunoki nodded. "Basically it was like that times ten... It was made even weirder because my mother now knows about stuff," he paused and looked at Kusunoki, "did you know about that?"
"I've heard about it," the martial artist said, "and your mother paid me a visit."
Keima raised his eyebrows and Kusunoki sighed.
"She was on her roaring motorcycle," she said, "scared all the birds as she arrived. We had a... conversation."
Keima furrowed his brow. It wasn't very surprising actually: Mari seemed eager to get to know all the girls in Keima's life (maybe except for Hinoki and Rieko). Sometimes it went well (like with Minami or Nanaka), but his mother didn't take too kindly to girls who harmed her son, insensitive alleged gamer casanova or not. He knew for a fact that his mother had talked to Ayumi. Kanon had also mentioned that Mari gave her a lecture on stun guns safety. He also remembered that one time when he woke up and walked downstairs only to see his mother talk to Haqua and Nora. How did Mari manage to arrange that, Keima didn't know.
The weirdest one, however, was one weekend in a family restaurant where he, his mother, Eri and Dokurō ate lunch together. It didn't start the greatest, after all his mother confronting Dokurō wasn't what Keima had been looking forward too, but after that it became pretty relaxed. From outside it looked like a typical friends meet-up, though from Keima's perspective it would make for a pretty surreal picture.
Keima decided he didn't need details of what his mother and Kusunoki talked about.
"The funny thing is," he said, "not even my mother could control a dozen girls craving for good grades."
"I could," Kusunoki said, authority taking over her voice, "you should've told me. Or use the devils or the goddesses... you didn't ask for anyone's help because you didn't want help. You wanted it to happen like that," she finished.
"It was very taxing, but it was a one-time thing," Keima said.
"Several-weeks thing you wanted to say," Kusunoki corrected, "and those are only midterms. There are still finals," she paused for a moment, "I'll be making sure you're not overworking yourself."
"You have the guts to tell me not to overwork myself," he said. When he arrived Kusunoki was in the middle of a rigorous training.
"I do what I love," she shrugged, "I'm sure you understand."
You didn't always love it, Keima thought but didn't say it. He wanted to ask about Hinoki, but it was perhaps better to finish the current topic first.
"Tell me everyone did well at least," Kusunoki continued and Keima nodded.
"It took a lot and my sister is avoiding Nagase and Haqua at the moment and she has a new-found admiration for Miyako, but even she did okay," Keima smiled, "and then the festival preparations came."
"Third years prepare rather little," Kusunoki noted, "they don't even participate in the sports festival much."
"Well, not exactly the way it happened this year," Keima said, "Ayumi, being the speed demon she is, gladly took part in the competition."
"Despite her need to study?" Kusunoki asked.
"Precisely because of the need to... unwind after studying," Keima said, "and it wasn't just her."
"What about you?" Kusunoki asked. "Did you participate?"
"I didn't really feel like it, but my mother had this begging look on her face," he said.
Kusunoki didn't speak at first, her expression stony, but Keima knew she won't be quiet for long.
"Did Kanon-chan wanted you to participate?" she asked finally, a smile that was unusual for her on her lips. Keima didn't miss the suffix. As much as the martial artist wasn't interested in songs and pop and the entire idol business, she definitely was drawn to Kanon's cuteness.
"What makes you think Kanon had the time to participate in the sports festival?" he asked.
"Oh, I know for a fact that she did participate," Kusunoki said.
Keima raised his eyebrows. "How do you-"
"What? I live in a dōjō in city outskirts, not in a hermitage on a far end of the world!" Kusunoki yelled. "I'm not some miko who spends her entire day in a shrine and doesn't know what civilization is!"
Before Keima could answer, there was commotion outside, a cry of "master" and a moment later a few of Kusunoki's disciples entered the room. Unlike before, not all of them were hulking brutes with torso girths twice or thrice of Kusunoki's. There were a few who looked more disciplined and nimble. Still, all of them were older than Kusunoki.
"You guys," the martial arts girl stood up. Her posture was proper as usual, but her temper was flaring a bit, "this is not a dōjō hall! Have you not heard of knocking!?"
The men stopped and their eyes slowly switched to Keima. Suddenly it was as if a dark aura appeared around them.
"Hey, you!" one of them said. "What are you doing with Kusunoki-sama!?"
"I think I've seen him before!" another said. "It was... wait, when it was again?"
Kusunoki clearly didn't need to hear more.
"Enough!" she moved fast, as if by pulling some afterimage technique straight from a shōnen manga and socked both of the front guys. The punches didn't look that strong (though Keima only saw them thanks to his eyes being used to to scanning text in games quickly), but either they were or they hit weak spots, because both guys clutched their stomachs and knelt down.
"What are you doing here?" Kusunoki asked and Keima thought he saw an image of six-armed Asura behind her. Or maybe he was really playing six games at once too much. "You're supposed to run up the mountain!"
"W-we did!" one of the disciples said, fear evident.
"Then get down the mountain and run up again!"
Heaven, Hell, the human world, no matter where you look there is violence it seems, Keima thought, as the crowd of disciples disappeared outside.
Kusunoki turned around and walked to him, her eyes indicating she wasn't playing games.
"Kanon-chan. Festival. Talk," she instructed as she sat down again.
Guest or not, Keima obeyed.
(* * *)
He started by telling Kusunoki about the festival preparations. As she had noticed, third years didn't have time to prepare anything big or fancy.
Normally.
Keima wasn't sure why he had promised Mobuko Ikarino to help with the festival preparations, but somehow Kanon had learned of it. Of course, she was surprised at the development but was nonetheless glad that Keima was taking part in school activities. Actually, everyone had been glad he was taking part in school activities. Even shut-ins like Shiori and Tsukiyo.
Hypocrites...
Putting that aside, Keima had expected the task would be tedious. Frankly, he had expected all of the work to be thrown onto his shoulders as the rest of the class studied or relaxed (and then be disappointed by the results of his work). First thing he hadn't expected was Mobuko actually showing up and not alone. She had brought "people that volunteered to help". There was this one classmate who seemed even more of a mob character than Mobuko. Then there was the girl called Hiroko Matsumiya, who arrived with Asami Yoshino. And, of course, there was Eri, Chihiro and Ayumi.
To Keima it had been a weird experience. They had had a brainstorm of sorts. Keima had been only a laborer here, so he had opted to listen, obviously not knowing how his classmates wanted to go about this.
And then that traitor Chihiro had asked for his input and any hope of ignoring this was abandoned, when Eri turned to him in expectation as well.
Half of his brain had been thinking up ideas to get back at them for this, while the other half searched through school-themed galges to actually answer the question.
Half of his suggestion had ended up being implemented.
On the same day, Keima had started to work... which had turned out to be mostly managing others' work. He had assigned tasks to people (he had felt like Okada), made sure they worked (he had felt like Dokurō), nagged them (he had felt like Nagase) and made sure Eri didn't cause too much damage (he had felt like city damage control department during an earthquake).
He knew why it had worked so well though. His gaming skill was basically predicting events and personalities based on limited data, so he could easily tell who should do what. He also could work relatively well with people like Ayumi or Chihiro, even if they sometimes complained about him shooting orders like a machine gun. The entire thing could be compared to a "carrot and stick" approach and if Keima had been mostly the "stick" then Mobuko had mostly been the "carrot. She knew everyone and was close to everyone. That didn't mean she couldn't be forceful once in a while too.
Perhaps the most surprising thing had been Asami, who had been rather quiet and withdrawn (especially when Keima was near) but it had turned out she understood the personalities of all of their classmates very well and had provided useful info.
And then the second day had come with a game changer in the form of Yui Goidō.
The drummer had just arrived in the middle of their work to "help", which obviously translated to "get closer to Keima". Fortunately, Mobuko had needed Keima to be undisturbed and she had managed to drive Yui out of the room; Mobuko being capable of doing this and actually doing it had resulted in Keima's respect for her to jump an order of magnitude.
Keima had known this hadn't been the end of it, but he had been totally unprepared for what had happened next. Apparently, Yui's actions had been disturbing enough that Kanon had arrived in the school. Keima didn't know what excuse had Kanon used to make this possible, but he suspected Okada had figured that Keima and Kanon interacting during schoolwork could help increase the idol's popularity.
Keima had just hoped there hadn't been any camera crew around.
Of course, the arrival of Kanon had caused some commotion and Keima had been once again reminded of the darker corners of Kanon's psyche: she had been smiling and enjoying herself (must've been a relaxing task compared to her usual hectic schedule), but when any non-Eri girl (and frankly, their school had mostly girls) was getting a bit too close to Keima, Kanon's expression would take on that 'eyes closed' business smile Keima was sure Kaori Yūzaki would've been proud of.
However, even weirder things had followed.
Keima had expected some counter-attack from Yui but hadn't expected the way it happened. The drummer had apparently figured out that she could impress him by making 3-A prepare better for the festival than 3-B could.
Keima had at first disregarded that as useless real-life noise. A radio clutter he could just tune out. Both classes certainly had better things to do with their precious studying time than start a stupid inter-class competition.
Right?
Well, apparently no and before he could realize what was happening the students from both classes were already challenging each other and stoking up the competition. It hadn't been long before Tsukiyo, curious what all the fuss was about, had visited. Of course, Mobuko and others had scared her away, though Kanon, Chihiro and others who had known better had sent her an apologizing look. More importantly, Tsukiyo had come with Shiori. Keima, for the life of him, hadn't been able to figure how or why Shiori could've done it, but the fact remained.
Class 3-C was in the competition now as well.
(* * *)
"It seems that things always escalate when you are involved," Kusunoki said.
"I tried to stop it!" Keima objected. "It's not my fault people are insane!"
"But maybe that is why the festival looked so nice this year," Kusunoki mused.
"Oi, don't ignore what I'm saying!"
(* * *)
Keima surmised that the reason Kusunoki had enjoyed the festival the most this year was simple. It had been the first time she both wanted to attend and the first year she hadn't been busy studying.
And no annoying disciples following her.
Keima, on the other hand, had never wanted to attend before. Even now he didn't consider the festival to be interesting by itself. There were much better ways to spend his own time, even if class 3-C had made a dating sim booth, hosted by a blue-haired girl to boot.
However, the festival viewed by him alone was one thing. The same festival viewed as an event with a lot of people he knew, people with expectations, was a completely different matter. So he had attended and had seen pretty much everything interesting. And there had been a lot of things to see.
There had been Mio at a bread and pastry stand, stuffing Keima with bread.
There had been Sumire offering him 4 types of regular rāmen and twice that many kinds of sweet rāmen.
There had been Nanaka challenging Keima for a shōgi match.
There had been Shiori sitting quietly at her book and calligraphy stand, while Urara went into the crowd, fishing for customers for the bookworm.
Yui and Tsukiyo had allied themselves with the tea ceremony club to make their own parlor that smelled of tradition, elegance and delicious tea.
Then there had been Minami at a taiyaki stand. The moment she had seen Keima, she had run up to him and dragged him around some of the festival grounds.
And there had been Jun, fangirling over the results everyone's effort had produced.
And, of course, there had been the café prepared by 3-B.
They had served coffee (made by Keima), tea (made by Asami Yoshino) and cakes made by Eri with help of Mari. Tsukiyo had visited them and had rated the tea and coffee as "acceptable", probably due to the competitive atmosphere and her dislike for coffee in general. However, ever she couldn't stop herself from praising the cakes and the décor.
With that, the café had been a huge success. Part of that success had been because of the location: Nikaidō had once again negotiated (or forced) it well and she had been especially enthusiastic once she had heard that Keima would be participating. Another part of the success had been due to the quality of goods (the customers praised the cakes, tea and especially the coffee) and due to the waitresses.
After all, next to no-one could pass up the chance to have their tea served by the one and only Kanon Nakagawa.
It hadn't surprised Keima that Kanon had attended the festival proper. What had been more interesting was that Kanon hadn't attended he festival as an idol. She hadn't brought her own filming crew or any personnel with her, aside for some bodyguards. She hadn't been sitting at her own stand, doing autographs or shaking hands. Instead, she had been working at the café and, when her shift was over, she had taken Keima and had gone with him for a walk around the festival.
It had been an important event in high school life and it had seemed just for that day Kanon had been a normal teenager instead of a top star.
And Keima had thought she had really needed it.
Of course, it hadn't been as if no-one noticed Kanon: people had been making photos and the festival filming crew had taken a lot of interest as well. Also, Keima hadn't forgotten about the kidnapping that had happened some time ago, so he had made sure that Kanon had additional protection, so at least a few devils had been following them (of course invisible). Keima himself had made sure to always stay close to Kanon.
The idol hadn't minded in the least of course, as she had clasped his hand with hers and guided him from booth to booth. Keima had tried to remain calm, but it had been difficult when various strangers had been looking at them and making half-hushed comments.
And some of the non-strangers had gone even further. For once, Chihiro had whispered something to Kanon. Keima hadn't been able to hear everything, but he had heard bits like "kissing spots", "behind the library" and "rooftop", before the dark-haired girl stepped back and showed a thumb up to red-faced Kanon.
Also, when Minami had approached them Kanon had been calm on the outside — after all the younger girl had admired her almost as much as she had Keima — but it had been clear for Keima from the way she had tensed up a bit and the way she had been smiling that she had been a bit jealous of the attention Keima had been getting from the freshman girl.
Sumire had served them one rāmen bowl, saying they should "do the Lady and the tramp thing" while winking at them.
Even more embarrassing had been the eve of the festival the day before. Like last year, it had had a great bonfire and had been advertised as bringing "fiery love". Of course, the obvious result had been that seemingly everyone had been following them with their eyes, as if expecting for them to start kissing in plain view. Unfortunately, for all the nosy parkers and tabloids, not a single kiss outside of a peck on the cheek had been spotted by anyone.
The truth had been a little bit different though. Twice during the festival and thrice during the eve, Kanon had somehow pulled Keima into some corner or another, claiming it was time to "charge her batteries" before she had embraced him and kissed him squarely on the lips. One time she had even combined magic with standard disguises to stay out of everyone's radar for a while, which had allowed her to kiss Keima in public without anyone taking notice.
After every single "recharging time" Kanon would go back to the festival, her acting mask not letting anyone know something had happened, while also ignoring the shocked look Keima had been sending her.
Keima had to give it to her though: she could skillfully walk the line between innocent and scandalous, between gentle and passionate, between polite and scary. Despite their limited together time she had also gotten more experienced at kissing, making it more difficult for Keima to focus when the kissing started.
Outside of kissing it hadn't been simple either: Keima could now feel her hand in his. It was a feeling he had been very rarely able to experience before. He had kissed almost twenty girls, but touching a girl's hand hadn't been something he'd done often. And holding a girl's hand had been ever rarer. He had done it with Ayumi, Mio, Shiori, Chihiro, Tenri, Yui...
...and Kanon herself.
That's right, he had remembered that one time: back when she had confessed to him right before she had been stabbed.
Just like kissing, it had been weird at first: mainly because he had never expected to be doing that with a real girl. However, kissing had usually been brief: a second, a few seconds, a make-out session recently, but still limited by oxygen supply. Not to mention kissing had made his brain go blank at times, leaving no room for thinking.
Holding hands had been different though. It could be very short; a spark that traveled when the hands touched by mistake; but it could also be longer, lasting for minutes, even dozens of them. He could feel Kanon's skin. Her warm skin. It was smooth, yet it also had a distinct texture. It had been also clammy at times, either from the prolonged contact or from Kanon being nervous.
Or, if Keima had the courage to admit it, from him being nervous.
(* * *)
Of course, Keima didn't tell Kusunoki any of that. He barely told himself that. Instead, he listened as Kusunoki took over talking about the festival: about cute clothes ("did you what Kujō-san was wearing? She's so small and cute she really looks like a doll!"), cute girls ("I was torn who to vote for dring the Pri-Pri contest!") and cute things in general ("Did you see how cute was Kanon-chan on the stage?").
Of course, Keima had seen that. Like last year, there had been a stage and 2-B pencils ("It's too late to change our name now, isn't it?") had given a concert, but without Kanon. Instead of joining the 2-B pencils, the idol had sung her own song on the stage. Two songs to be exact. And of course both had been dedicated to Keima. The first had been "Youth Paradise", which had made Keima think about kissing and holding hands again, while Kanon had sung and danced lively...
...and then the second song had been "Romantic Love". If the TV crews, reporters and the student body had been disappointed by lack of any public display of affection and other juicy bits between the couple, then the crowd almost erupted, when Kanon had sung "I've fallen in love with you" with deep voice and half-lidded eyes directed at Keima. Her voice had been strong and full of passion, doing the song more justice than had been necessary at the moment, and she had been flowing on the stage, her legs making slow steps, her body swinging and turning, but her eyes had never left Keima's.
Strangely enough, that moment had reminded Keima of something else: that time year and a half ago, when he had conquered Kanon. The normal ending for a galge with route like Kanon's would have Keima become the lasitng inspiration for the girl, a single fan she could focus on. However, Keima had had chosen a different ending pattern back then: the one where Kanon had stood by herself and he had let her go, letting her be independent and sing for everyone. Of course, it had been the only possible choice back then: if Kanon had lost her memory with her support built only on him, she'd have collapsed. Now, it was different though: she had her fans and her confidence. She hadn't abandoned anyone else, in truth she had got even more people around her. Still, even with all that, she had made it clear that Keima had been, was and would continue to be her most important fan and the person who could increase the way she shined tenfold.
While he had listened to her song, Keima had felt a wave of some feeling wash over him. Sure, there had been pride, a bit of embarrassment, some shock, admiration, and happiness, but that hadn't been all and the God of Conquest had listened, his mind in deep thought, as the pink-haired pop star had sung for him and him only.
(* * *)
Keima left the Kasuga dōjō, but not before Kusunoki forced into him tonkatsu complete with miso soup and rice. His regular intake of calories increased as well, since his mother had claimed that he needed more energy during this busy time. Not only that but sometimes Ayumi would give him a sandwich, stating that "she has bought too much and didn't have anyone else to give it to" (yeah, right, it's not like she knew a dozen other people). Combined with what he had eaten during the festival, one could say his weight gain was going well. At least, he'll have an excuse to play dancing-mat dating sims now.
He walked down the hill and went towards the nearest bus stop. The festival might've been over, but life went on and he was still on schedule. Two hours, three bus rides and four galge shops later he arrived at his destination, in front of a familiar apartment building. A while ago he'd press the button on the intercom and wait as the voice on the other side came to life. Now it was different though, as instead of pressing one button, he inputted a sequence and the door opened.
The elevator was tempting, but he knew he had tonkatsu and several rice balls calories to burn, so he opted for stairs. Six floors and one short corridor later, he finally arrived in front of the door. He rang the doorbell once. Then twice. There was no answer again, so Keima sighed and fished a key chain and unlocked the door.
The door opened with a small creak and Keima entered the apartment. As expected, it was dark. The blinds were shut and the lights were turned off except for the bedroom, where one bedside light and the lamp in the turtle terrarium cast a dim light. On the bed there were tossed several magazines, song CDs, game walkthroughs and notes. In the middle of that, there was Kanon, her eyes closed, snoring lightly despite the music that was playing from the earpieces she had on.
Keima smiled lightly. The two of them had agreed to meet today to work on the corrections concerning their game (naturally in addition to other, less professional activities). The game draft had come back from the company, along with the art samples and a list of several issues. Kanon and Okada wanted to speed up the game release date and Keima knew better than to resist, though he also knew it would end up like that.
Studying, festival preparations and doing idol job prior to all that in order to have her schedule open for the first two was obviously too much for Kanon. Keima made a mental note to have her work less. He knew she loved her job and her popularity was important, but she was his responsibility now too and he'd be damned before he let her overwork herself to that extent.
It was still fairly early and he had his games with him, so there was no point in waking Kanon up yet, especially when she had clearly fallen asleep without meaning to. He turned down the music, pretty certain Kanon's ears would thank him, but not too much or too fast or he'd wake her up. He then retrieved one of his new games from his bag and laid on the back and started up his PFP.
'God does not play dice'. Keima thought of that famous quote by Albert Einstein when he saw the title of the game. He picked the box at random, yet he ended up choosing an idol-themed galge.
Again.
He continued to play the game, the front of his brain focused on following the plot and the flags of the game idol heroine, while the remaining brain power was used to think about the real idol girl sleeping next to him.
Keima and Kanon were rather busy people, dedicated to what they loved, be it gaming or singing on the stage. Due to this, they didn't have a lot of time to meet. Actually, Keima was spending more time with other girls than with his girlfriend. And yet...
His analytical eyes switched to Kanon.
...and yet it was Kanon who had affected him the most.
She had made him step in during her drama crisis. And her swimming crisis. She made him reveal the truth to their parents. She had made him help her with her game design.
It was because of her, at least partially, that Keima had created a channel on Yuutube. A let's-play video here, a game-review video there and he was starting to get subscribers. Far too few to be profitable, but he knew it'd be a while before that was a thing.
Hell, Kanon had even made him interact with his classmates and participate in the Mai-High festival of all things!
And she had made him go out with a real girl and made him care for her.
She had made him care for her enough to have him pay attention to what people thought of him.
She had made him care enough for her to actually change.
Why, Keima asked himself. It wasn't because he was scared of her stun guns. It wasn't because he worshiped her music either. He also knew it wasn't because of the danger she had found herself because of him before. He knew it wasn't because of her looks, though he had to admit it was more relevant than he'd want to admit.
The grace of her moves, her cheerful disposition, the shining smile, striking pink eyes. Her short, yet very fitting hair combed to the side with two sticking antennas that just made him want to reach for them and run his hands through the pink strands.
Her attractive (perhaps the hundreds of thousand of real people weren't wrong) face and pink lips, parted slightly as she slept.
Keima cared for all of his past conquest targets. From Mio, through Jun and Hinoki to Rimyuel. From Chihiro, through Shiori and Yui to Kaori. Hell, he even cared for Nora, Ryō, and Yanagi.
Of course, he was much closer to the girls whose hearts he had had to conquer once, but still, Kanon was different. He spent an hour analyzing that, comparing his view on Kanon with how he viewed other girls.
As expected of the real, his game logic failed him.
He moved closer to Kanon, hovering above her and leaning closer before he even understood what he was doing. He'd have kissed her in her sleep if his brain didn't flash him a similar memory.
The memory of Haqua almost kissing him once in a similar setting.
He stopped abruptly, brows furrowing as he thought what that meant, his lips stopped mere millimeters from Kanon's. He stayed like that for a moment, when Kanon suddenly stirred in her sleep. She rolled over, her lips brushing Keima's. When the gamer's brain caught up with everything Kanon was already snuggling against him, her back to him, as she continued to snore lightly.
Keima sighed again. As expected, real was beyond him and his ability to understand things. Perhaps it was okay though, he mused as he allowed his instincts to take over his thoughts. He leaned closer, his lips hovering above Kanon's ear as he whispered quietly the words he could not think.
After that he got comfortable on her bed, intending to get some sleep as well. Kanon hadn't the only one tired nowadays.
He quickly dozed off, not aware that when Kanon has stirred and snuggled up to him it hadn't been actually Kanon. When she heard the second source of snoring, the ditsy goddess inside of the idol's body inwardly congratulated herself.
Maybe she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but this had been her most ingenious idea ever!
(* * *)
Okay, that's the chapter. As you see it's something between a regular chapter and a timeskip and we're in the second part of November yet again.
As for why Kusunoki appears like that, I wanted to do the report thing Keima does with Tenri, but I thought that it'd portray Keima being overworked recently if I made him visit Kusunoki in an attempt to disappear from the girls' radars, so he could get a breather.
Of course, it also allow me to put more girls in this chapter, then again with the festival it wasn't hard to mention a lot of girls and I hope you like the interactions here, especially the ones between Keima and Kanon. Keima continues to change and notices these changes happen because of Kanon. This train of thought leads him to conclusion he cannot fathom, yet cannot have them bottled up, so he chooses to let the words out instead of pondering about them. It's progress nonetheless. Too bad we didn't get to hear what Keima have said. Any ideas? :P
What will all that lead the couple to next? I guess we'll have to wait for the next chapter. Hopefully, it'll be way before September. :)
Also, the scene where Mari arranged for Dokurō/Nikaidō to eat lunch with her, Keima and Eri was actually inspired by a certain fanart. I'd like to applaud the author for the idea and execution. Unfortunately, I cannot find this fanart on the net anymore :(.
Speaking of inspiration, the the last scene was actually inspired by an unpublished drabble by Sir Sleeps-a-lot. Of course, I had to modify the idea to fit my setting, but still I think it needs a shout-out, so thank you! :)
Speaking of thanks, as usual I'd like to thank very much to all people who have read, favorited, followed and reviewed the last chapter. You guys are great. Thank you for all the support! Below are responses to the latest reviews:
DarkDrawerJ: Thank you very much for your reviews. I agree about Tenri, she's such a sweet and understanding girl :). Also, that Kan-quest thing is genius! The (con)quest for Kanon is Kan-quest! :)
Red Glasses: Whoa, that's a long review! I have to admit I'm not sure, because you first called the chapter weak, but later it doesn't seem the case. Also, I cannot possibly answer everything here, but thank you for taking the time to write that long review, I appreciate it a lot. :)
Ghost Man: A lot of people are drunk apparently :P. Makes me wonder how good Kanon would be at hiding the truth... or the bodies :P. Gossiping Chihiro is gossiping :P. Yup, no bias whatsoever *serious face*. Chapters without main characters aren't a problem if the chapters are coming fast enough and are cohesive enough, which is a bit of a problem in this series. But I hear you. Thank you for your support. :)
UzumeofGamindustri: thank you and I'm sorry for me being late. Fortunately, this chapter had Kanon, though mostly through other people's eyes. I hope it's enough. Sorry about your writing, I hope you'll get to write.
Big Bad Beowolf: Haruka is my own OC, though Keima's class has 9 "official" students we know: Keima, Eri, Chihiro, Ayumi, Kanon, Asami, Miykako, Mobuko and Hiroko. Glad you liked the chapter so much. :)
El Sasori69: Lol, OtoshiigamiTV :D. As for the other rumor, I was at first sure it was among the rumors that Minami's friends told Minami when speaking of Keima, but I have re-checked and apparently it wasn't. I 90% sure it appeared somewhere though. Anyway, Keima's seen as creep who plays dating seems and some probably think it's 'cause he can't get a girl, so it's not that far-fetched that kinda rumor would appear. After all, it only takes one person to start. Thank you for the review. :)
ZelgadisGW: It's ok :P. Keima would talk Master into put his resources into creating a galge company in the post-nuclear world xD. Glad you liked the hugging :). Hehe, I'm not journalist... then again maybe that entitles me to the journalist work better :P. Normally I have Keima be more in touch with the real, but mostly with the girls and maybe people he'll meet later on, not with his classmates. So this kinda setting is certainly new, though probably not the last time I'm using it. It's also true Kanon has the most effect on Keima here. Anyway, thank you for both reviews :).
Sir Sleeps-a-lot: Don't worry, unfortunately, I know how life can get in the way of writing and such all too well... *gasp* Keima has an unwanted harem! Or is it unwanted? :P I guess Keima isn't exactly attracted to contact with peers, but he can do it and he doesn't hate is as much now. I'm glad you're supporting Keima now :P. I'm glad my article and article-passing banter was seen as funny as I intended :). Thank you for your support and understanding. I just know this story should be over by now, so I need to pick up my pace. It's true the story has reached some balance, though I suppose Kanon will always lean on Keima just a bit. Then again, Keima is also kinda dependent on others to show him the ropes in the real life. This includes Tenri, Kusunoki and, of course, Kanon can help with the more... intimate parts of it :P. Please survive, I need more of your reviews :P. Also, Kanon should admit it, I already read about her thinking about s-*gets fried to a crisp too*
Bone Crushing Dawg fss: heh, as you can see the chapter was way before October. Let's hope the story will be finished by October too. So many puns can be made with Kanon's name :). That Alec Baldwin quote is great :D. Heh, Kanon, Eri, Chihiro, Mari, Tsukiyo and Rimyuel are all good anti-Keima weapons, though the best weapon is the real world itself :P. Lol, flat-earthers is a very long topic, so better let's not start it :P. Though what do you mean by putting Keima down in an argument easily? Like Keima is easily convinced or silenced by others? Anyway, thank for your review. :)
Okay, that's everything for now! Stay tuned for the next chapter of The World Kanon Only Knows! We're slowly getting closer to the ending!
See you next time!