Flag 5.1

The next morning, it poured.

Clouds filled the sky outside the window when I woke, with tiny rain drops scuttling down. The wind rocked the ocean waves until the whole beach looked as if it was going to fall apart – a scene quite rare in this tropical paradise especially in the midst of a warm summer.

I spent the rest of the morning lying in bed mostly because I had nothing else to do. My PFP was held captive by Azuka which made every part of this week a total misery.

By the time noon rolled out, I was dead bored. I lay upside down on the bed gazing intently on the window. Minutes later, Elsie came in.

"Kami-niisama, what are you doing?" She said as she noticed the current state I was in.

"Nothing." I simply muttered.

"That's odd." She said "These are usually the days that I would find you gaming to your heart's extent. What happened?"

"It doesn't matter," I answered. "Go away."

She was thoughtful for a long moment. "Could it be that you are giving up gaming?" She cried. "I'm so proud of you Kami-niisama!"

Stupid Elsie. There is no way I'm giving up gaming, I thought as I pulled my eyebrows together in a frown and thought of a way to explain everything to this airhead.

"Look," I explained slowly. "I am not giving up gaming and I never will. Someone took my PFP away from me."

"Who was that person?" She chimed in.

"That doesn't matter."

"Why would this person want your PFP?"

"I don't know."

"Why aren't you doing anything to get it back?"

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. It's none of your business so stop asking."

"You are stubborn, nii-sama," she sighed.

I ignored her and turned around to face the window-wall. The rain poured more heavily now. I sighed in assent.

"The rain is the most beautiful thing in the world, ne?" Elsie suddenly said. She was looking through the window-wall as well. "It's even more beautiful than fire trucks."

I shrugged. "It's only beautiful to normal people."

She looked at me with a confused look. "What's more beautiful than the rain?"

"Girls are more beautiful, of course." I answered without hesitation.

"But I thought- ah. It's the girls from your games," she mused.

I don't get it. They say that the rain is the best thing in the world. They say that the feeling of raindrops on your skin feels very comforting. But the rain makes me grumpy, and I don't know why. For sure, nothing will convince me that it will be the most beautiful thing in the world. For me, it will forever be the 2D Girls.

"Kami-niisama, where did this shirt come from?"

Elsie called out all of a sudden, breaking me out of my reverie. In her hands, she held the paint splattered t-shirt Azuka lended me yesterday. Then suddenly I remembered that I forgot to return it yesterday.

I took the shirt from Elsie's hands.

"Where are you going?" She asked me as I located my shoes.

"I'm going to return this shirt," I replied as I dashed to the door.

"To whom?" She called after me.

"It doesn't matter," I called back as I shut the door behind me.

Flag 5.2

After much hard work locating Azuka's room, I stood in front of her doorstep- the t-shirt that she had lended to me slung onto one arm- and waited for the right time to knock.

Before I could even do anything, the knob turned and the door opened in front of me.

"Katsuragi-kun," she greeted. "It's a surprise to see you here."

"I came to return the t-shirt you lent, so here," I said, forgetting courtesy, as I handed her back the shirt hurriedly. I turned around immediately, glad that it's all over with.

"Wait a moment."

I stopped in my tracks. Azuka called after me. Now I was thinking, "What does she want?"

"Please come inside for a while," she said.

"I have other things to do," I lied. "Maybe some other time."

"It wouldn't take long. I promise," she pleaded.

After a long moment (and a lot more pleading), I gave up. I soon found myself being ushered into the room.

"Please sit," she requested.

I sat on the upholstered chair on one corner of the room. She sat at the couch opposite to me.

She ran to the kitchen, coming back with a cup of tea.

"Would you like some cookies?" She offered.

I simply refused. I just took the cup of brewing tea.

"Listen, thanks for coming," she said, breaking the air. "I was just about to go to your place. You coming here saved me a lot of effort."

"Why would you want to see me?" I asked.

She took a deep breath before she continued.

"I want to ask you a few questions."

I was getting confused. "About what?" I asked again.

"About a lot of things," she answered.

That made things even more confusing than it should be.

"Like what?" I asked yet again.

"Like-"her lips twitched more nervously now "-the basics. Where are you from? How old are you? How many siblings you have and etcetera."

Now what is all this sudden nonsense? And why does she look so nervous?

Nevertheless, I answered her questions.

"I am Katsuragi Keima from Majima City. I'm seventeen years old. I have one sister, if you call her that…"

"Elly-san isn't your sister?" She suddenly asked.

"It's complicated."

"So she is just an adopted child?"

"Uhm… you can say that."

"Okay," she assented. "Do you have any hobbies? Sports? Interests?"

The answer was very simple. "It is playing games, playing games, and girls."

"Girls?" She cringed. "You perverted young man. That's…"

"…a misunderstanding you are making." I corrected her. "I didn't mean the real girls. I meant I like the girls from the 2D world."

"I don't get what you mean," she said.

"The girls from the 2D world are the ones I save in the games I play," I explained with much passion and with an air of authority and pride. "My goal is to capture all those timeless beauties and save them from the misery they are in. That is my mission. That is the purpose of my whole existence!"

"That is a funny way to spend one's life," Azuka mused.

"Don't underestimate my way of living," I warned her. "I'm sure if you look at it in a way a true gamer with the spirit of a warrior can see it, it could be an enlightening experience. We're both gamers here, right? I guess if you played some otome then I believe you wouldn't laugh."

"I have played once," she said. "But I don't see the 'enlightenment' in it as much as you do."

"That's too bad. Why don't you try playing again sometimes?" I suggested.

"Thanks but no thanks," she said. "I have a lot more better things to do."

"Oh," I sighed. I realized that there was no point in convincing her, anyway. She is just a lowly life form with no appreciation for 'true happiness.'

There was another long silence. I took a sip from the tea she offered me before I went on.

"I also have questions for you," I finally told her.

Azuka looked up to me with a confused look. "What is it about?" She said as she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

I shrugged. "Something about you, I guess."

She had a thoughtful look. "So okay, I'm Azuka Suuichi. I'm turning seventeen next month. I just transferred to Naha last month and my hobbies are playing video games, collecting stuff, and shopping. And I you ask, I'm not good at all with sports," she gladly told me. "Do you have any more questions?"

"No it didn't," I simply said.

"But that was your question," she insisted.

That wasn't my point. I had other questions in my mind.

I was thoughtful for a long moment. There was a lot I'd like to ask from her.

Why did she save me before? Why did she take care of me when we just met? Why did she take my PFP to blackmail me? Why, from all people, did she choose me to accompany her to the festival? Why did she want to go shopping with me? How was she able to guess where the stone was yesterday? What was on her mind when we were at the novelty store and at the beach? Why did she become nice all of a sudden and lent me the shirt? And why did she ask me to come here?

For once I thought maybe she had a loose spirit inside her. But if that was the case, Elsie should have known it. Plus, this girl doesn't seem to be emitting any strange auras or any signs of weakness.

Usually, I'd know everything. I am the God of Conquest, for crying out loud.

I don't like this feeling. This whole blindness is killing me. I should have been seeing everything clearer now. I should have seen the ending now.

But why do I come out empty?

'Keima-kun," Azuka suddenly said, breaking me out of my reverie. "What would you like to do when you grow up?"

I was almost caught off guard by the follow-up question. Luckily, it was an easy question.

"I'd like to play more galge. That is all," I answered.

"Eh? That's all? What a silly dream that is," she commented.

"Mock all you want, but that is my passion," I shot back. "I've already told you that right?"

"Don't you have other dreams?" She insisted. "Like… getting married or something?"

Getting married? Suddenly visions of me marrying someone as superficial as a real girl came into my head. Ayumi-chan, Kanon-chan, Minami-chan, Tenri-chan… Hakua-chan? I shuddered away the thought. I'd rather marry Yokkyun, instead.

But still, I responded her with a resonating no. For now, I'll stick to gaming.

"Oh, that's too bad," she said. "Besides being a singer, I'd like to be married soon, but-"she suddenly paused, completely abashed-"never mind."

I looked back at her and her head was tossed to the side. At first, I thought she was really embarrassed. But it was different. It was a wistful look. She was gazing at the window-wall.

I followed her gaze to the window-wall. Outside, warm summer rainfall plinked all over like music. No thunder raged with this storm, just a steady stream of gray and wet running down the glass, down the palm trees and to the ocean.

"You know what, Keima-kun," she suddenly said. "I say that rain is the most beautiful thing in the whole world. Don't you think so, too?"

Those were exactly the same words Elsie told me just a while before I left. But this time, I really saw it. Now, I had to admit that the sound of raindrops were rather comforting.

I stood up and made my way to the door. I had a lot to figure out, and this is not the place where I could think in peace.

"Wait, where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm going back to my room," I excused myself.

"Wait a minute, you haven't answered my last question yet," she yelled after me.

"Okay. I don't like the rain," I lied. "See you in two days."