Well, so much for being complete... This morning, I decided I just wasn't happy with my ending part, so I rewrote the entire end scene, which added another 1000 words... I really gotta learn where to stop.

In any case, here's Chapter 10... I'd say this may actually be one of the most crucial in terms of plot, coz by the end of this chapter, you should get exactly what Keima needs to fulfill by the end of this story.

In any case, here ya go. Sorry for the delay.

After the rush was over, and everyone had gone home, Keima was left at one of the booths, his PF Hio in his hands, but his brain refusing to turn off from the previous conversation, much to his annoyance… He wanted to see how Usagi's route would end, dammit!

Just, the fact that Tenri could use Diana's power… or that Chihiro actually had an inkling about it… it annoyed him. He was long done with everyone's routes, so why were they coming back?

"That went well…" Eri commented with a smile, plopping herself in one of the other seats around the table. Keima shot her a dirty look.

"What was so good about it?" he spoke irritably. How he saw it, the situation just got worse now, and it was almost guaranteed he'd be right back in the middle, just like all those years ago. Eri's head cocked to the side in confusion.

"Well… both Tenri-san and Chihiro-san aren't mad at you…" she shrugged, "isn't that what you wanted, Nii-sama?"

"Well… yeah…"Keima sighed. Eri did have a point, if he was actually thinking about his terms with them… but this new development… he didn't even know what the plot even was! The plot of his whole life was messed up in a span of three hours.

"I don't want this…" Keima melted onto the table, pathetically, "can't you deal with them…"

"Deal with whom?" a third voice inputted. Both young adults froze, their eyes going toward the source of the voice. Eri's eyes widened, while Keima's did the opposite.

"Nikaido-sensei!?" Eri exclaimed. With her purple eyes and short hair with one lock draped on her face, there was no mistaking it.

"Yo… Katsuragi… Katsuragi-Imouto… long time, no see," she caught eyes with the boy, whose head was still against the table. He frowned and looked away.

With Eri's jaw being level with the table and her brother sullenly avoiding her, Yuri Nikaido did the honours.

"Mind if I sit?" Eri composed herself to answer her former teacher's question with a nod. Keima shot a glare their way, but didn't say anything. Nikaido sat down, but as she expected, everyone was quiet…

"What, do I have to wait for you to reach a save point?" Nikaido joked, which got a laugh out of Eri. Keima, while disgruntled, lifted his console to show that it wasn't even on. Still, he lifted his head up slowly.

"I guess the Real won't leave till I address it," he mumbled, before speaking louder to address the new occupant at their table, "what brings you here, Dokuro?"

Yes, the lady had two names, as Keima discovered pretty late in his adventure… He'd just known her as Yuri Nikaido, the form head for 2-B in 2010, and his sadistic Japanese History teacher. Late that year, when Keima was sent back into his seven year old body, he met her again… or maybe for the first time? In any case, this teenager was significantly different… she was just like a newborn, without knowing how to use anything, and having no qualms about stripping in front of Keima… then there was the fact that Keima actually had to kiss her on multiple occasions.

Well, he didn't like to dwell into that… or rather; he hadn't had any need to, at least recently.

"Figured I'd pop in, seeing I had something I was hoping you'd do…" then she smiled softly, "and I missed you as well…" Keima's breath caught in his throat. He still wasn't very good at accepting affection from anyone.

"So…" he turned on his PF Hio to try and keep the deadpan face he usually had on, "what do you need me to do?"

Though Keima didn't particularly want to do anything for anyone…

"You're hoping to apologise to the Goddess Hosts, am I correct?"

One of Keima's eyebrows rose at the exact phrasing.

"Who told you?" he asked, confirming her suspicions. She smirked.

"Just something I suspected," she pulled a small box from her purse and placed it on the table, "in any case, I need you to give these to all those girls…"

Eri reached for the box, but Keima slapped the back of her palm.

"What's in there?" he asked, his eyes narrowed on the plain box. Dokuro may be human in this form, but that could easily be something from Hell.

What would they need the Goddesses now, anyway? If this was a plan to get the girls in more trouble, he would destroy that box himself sooner than open it.

Well, Nikaido saved him the trouble, because she removed the lid. It didn't shake or let out a lot of smoke, to Keima's relief. In fact, the box's contents were very normal. Eri tentatively pulled out something.

"Is that a… watch?"

Sure enough, the thin strap and plain face, it did appear to be a worn, old-fashioned watch. Keima pulled out one himself, inspecting the unmoving hands, both being at 12. There wasn't even a winding stem or button on the side…

His nails automatically went under the face, trying to pry off the back, but the smooth edges showed that putting in new batteries would probably be tough.

He rolled his eyes, tossing it by their weak leather, back into the box.

They seemed harmless enough… but kind of useless as well. Who'd even be bothered to find a screwdriver to put a battery in that boring looking watch?

"That isn't a proper watch, you know?" Nikaido remarked, "it's more of a power indicator…"

"A power indicator?" Eri repeated questioningly, placing it on her wrist, "how can it measure my power?"

"It measures Magic power, Katsuragi-Imouto…" the former teacher sighed, "so can I trust you to hand it over to all the girls?"

"Why do you even care how much power those girls have, Dokuro?" Keima asked, pulling the box in front of him. He'd seen quite a few magical objects before, but none quite as boring… or functional as this one.

Nikaido smiled widely.

"If all goes right, I'm going to free the Goddesses from their host, using those…" she nodded at the box.

Before anyone could speak in protest, the slightly older lady was on her feet.

"This is your final mission, Katsuragi… so will you help me free the Goddesses?"

Keima's face screwed in concentration at the new goal that had been placed in front of him. It had come from nowhere, that's for sure… what would the girls say to losing their Goddess? Or what would the Goddesses say to losing their hosts? He wasn't even sure all the girls still had their Goddesses, considering how he had only met Tenri… how would Tenri feel, losing the best friend that she'd been with for two-thirds of her life?

"I don't th-"

"If you're thinking of the hosts, don't!" Nikaido interrupted, "it's best the Goddesses leave before their hosts can inherit all their powers…" the who table occupants just sat with bewildered looks on their face. That was something the former-teacher was quite used to.

"You guys seriously know nothing?" they nodded blankly, which led the older lady to sigh and sit down.

"I had assumed the Goddesses had left their hosts pretty soon after we'd won against Satyr, because they weren't needed anymore… however, I only talked with Tenri-chan a few months ago when I discovered all of them were still here…" she paused a second as she chose her words, "actually, Tenri hadn't been certain, as the Goddesses weren't in contact… it was Diana who confirmed what a risk there was with a group of Goddesses joining a group of humans... while I'm not a hundred percent certain, the Goddesses need permission from their hosts to leave… so for the Jupiter sisters, all twelve of the people involved would need to be in favour in the Goddesses leaving…"

"The hosts are reasonable people… I'm sure the permission thing wouldn't be difficult…" Keima replied. Eri was too busy absorbing what Nikaido had sprung on them.

"It isn't…" Nikaido closed her eyes, as her head fell into her hand, "there was another more pressing issue… like you remember how you got all the Goddesses powerful enough that they could stop Vintage…"

Keima nodded.

"The Goddesses reached their peak then, and their powers started waning again…"

"Was it because there was no one for the hosts to love?"

"It wasn't that…" she sighed, "I'm not sure what it is, but it was almost as if the power in the Goddesses were breaking down before within themselves and transferring to their host…"

Suddenly, the image of Tenri with a flurry in her hands came to his mind… Could it be possible that Nikaido was referring to that? In any case, Nikaido continued.

"While I'm not certain what's causing the breakdown, I've seen cases where it continues till the Goddess loses all her powers to her host, ultimately leading to a powerless Goddess and a super-powered human with very little idea on how to control the magic within them… then, once it reaches that point, the Goddess disappears altogether, and a gap is left in the host's heart…"

Keima felt his heart sink at that thought. He could piece the unhappy ending together… there was no way that an overpowered human and a loose spirit could ever equate to anything good…

"H-has that ever happened before?" Eri stumbled out, her face showing the same amount of concern as her brother. Nikaido's face turned even graver.

"The case I was using for research… it happened fifteen or sixteen years ago… with Urara's mother…"

By this point, Keima was certain all his internal organs were just sitting on the floor. Was this how things were going to end for the Jupiter sisters if they continued as they were? The Goddesses would gradually die… the hosts becoming possessed and devolving to Level 6 loose spirits that will kill and destroy everything, including their hosts…

Ayumi…

Kanon…

Shiori…

Tsukiyo…

Tenri…

Yui…

A piercing pain stabbed Keima's heart at the memory of him in Yui's body… he'd felt that heaviness… depression… just wanting to not move again… He'd seen with Hinoki Kasuga as well… the true destructive power of a Level 6 spirit… and those coupled with the power of the Goddess…

"I won't allow it," Keima sat up, his eyes narrowed determinedly, "how can I remove the Goddess without hurting their host?" Nikaido's eyes widened at the pained look in her former students eyes.

"Calm down, Katsuragi…" she smiled slightly at his passionate reaction, "the Goddesses lack the power to remove themselves, but there is a way to do it…"

"How?"

"As the Goddesses need the Hosts' permission to leave, having the Hosts using their borrowed power and the Goddesses using their original power, it should break the link between them without creating any gaps… Just, for this method to work, the powers have to be divided 50/50 between the host and the Goddess."

"So that's what the watches are for…" Keima mused, his eyes wandering to the plain white face of the one Eri was holding against her wrist.

"I've been told that only the small arm moves… whatever is on the left of the arm is the power the Goddess still holds, while the right shows what the host has…"

Keima imagined the arm moving, when the resemblance occurred to him.

"So this… is like a pie chart, right?" Nikaido nodded approvingly.

"Exactly… now, I need you to give these to all the girls and find out how the hosts gain their power…"

Keima nodded.

"Once you succeed, you need to get the small needle to 6…"

Keima nodded, a bit less enthusiastically. Nikaido got up again.

"Around then, you must get all of them to agree to give up their Goddess…"

He nodded again as she walked closer and closer to the café door.

"After that, you must bring all of them to the old theatre at Maijima Academy…"

Another jerk of his head followed.

"That is all… I'll give you two weeks to do this!" and with a zip, she disappeared out of the door with the kind of smile he'd have expected from teenaged Dokuro… Then her words absorbed into Keima's head…

So he had to find the Hosts… find out what influences the clock… convince them that giving up their Goddess, whom they've surely become close to, is for their best… then actually do whatever it takes to move the watch's needles… then bring them to the theatre… all that in fourteen days…

"Shit!" Keima dropped his head down, earning a loud crash sound as his head cracked against his forgotten PF Hio's screen.

"Ow ow ow…" Keima rubbed his sore head, when he noticed the new crack on his screen, "MY CONSOOOLE!" he shrieked, hugging the frozen game to his chest.

Eri rolled her eyes, wondering when her brother would notice the trickle of blood that was slowly flowing down his forehead.

Time flowed by, and soon enough, Eri was in front of the TV, the box of wrist watches balanced on her folded legs. Keima came strolling down, new console in hand and in pyjamas from his bath. Eri greeted him cheerfully, as he plopped onto the couch next to her, completely out of energy.

"Good work today, Nii-sama!" Eri spoke.

"Let me breathe, will you?" he groaned, pushing a few buttons in his game… Eri watched him in fascination as he first focussed, and his slouching form started sitting like a normal person… he was exactly like some of her classmates, while they drank coffee during the daily assembly. She laughed, which had him turn robotically towards her.

"You did every well today, Nii-sama…" Eri slapped him on the shoulder playfully, "everyone left happy, and now you can find everyone and apologize as well…"

Keima groaned… he'd forgotten his original purpose until Eri had mentioned it again…

How the hell is he gonna apologise then tell them he wanted to get rid of the Goddesses… the ones he'd gone through extreme lengths to awaken, and which he'd hurt the hosts for in the first place…

That was so ironic!

"Eri, do you have any recommenda…" the words trailed of as he noticed the look his sister was giving him, "that is one hell of a stare…" he commented.

"Nii-sama," Eri said, uncharacteristically seriously, "can you tell me what happened between you and Chihiro-san and Tenri-san?"

Keima sighed… he really would have preferred not to.

"Look, I'm sorry that the atmosphe-"

"I'm not asking about today," she replied firmly, "I want to know what happened while I was pretending to be Kanon-chan…" Keima looked down at his lap, "that was what made you leave, wasn't it?"

Keima didn't give Eri enough points for how perceptive she was. Still, if he told her, she'd lose all respect for her Nii-sama…

Eri might be useless at strategizing, but she might have some suggestions with how to deal with the emotional consequences he still had trouble understanding…

He glanced up, his eyes noting the slight differences from before… he'd forgotten that she had grown older since that time, just like him…

She had changed a little… she wasn't that carefree demon that acted like a little kid nor was she the monster that Satyr had been trying to use her… it was the human heart that loved her friends, family, and the whole world she'd been living in, which was how she couldn't be corrupted… that was the reason why she gave up her immortality and being a devil…

Keima knew that his actions in the past would surely come to bite him, so maybe it was better to explain it all to her… just the fact that Eri felt like she was intruding in every conversation was proof enough that it did concern her.

"I guess…" he tried to smile, but it came out weak, "I approached the Goddess hunt much too brashly…"

Eri quickly tore her eyes off his face to turn down the sound on the TV. Keima felt his smile become a bit more real at watching that simple motion.

"Sorry, what was that, Nii-sama?" she smiled sheepishly, when he smacked her upside the head.

"Listen properly, you Bug Demon!"

XxXxX

By the time he'd finished his story, Eri had tears in her large eyes, and Keima was looking at her, completely creeped out.

"You know, just the fact Chihiro wasn't angry when she left means that there is hope…" Keima rubbed his sister's open hair affectionately, "it's hardly like we're fighting…"

"I know…" Eri said tearfully, "but she had such a weird look when she was leaving… did you say anything to her, Nii-sama?"

Keima's eyebrow rose up in confusion… he didn't say anything to her… she apologised about everything that had happened, and he accepted… then they'd talked about what happened at the theme park…

"I did ask her how she felt about what had happened at DesneySea?" he rubbed the tip of his PF Hio as if he was concentrating. Eri looked at him incredulously, which completely went over his head.

"So you basically asked if she got jealous of you and Tenri-san?" Eri replied, "what did she reply to that?"

"She… she told me she'd only answer if I told her who Tenri was talking about…" his hand moved, this time his knuckles brushing against his lips, "like which person did I like…"

Eri's eyes widened again. That was a bold reply!

"Did you tell her the truth, Nii-sama?" Keima felt himself turn a bit red, both at the question and the fact that Eri was in his personal space.

"I was going to… but Tenri ended up coming back at that point, so I didn't get them out..."

Eri groaned, falling chest first onto Keima's lap… if it was her being disappointed that the words hadn't reached Chihiro, or the fact that she was way too invested in a story that didn't even involve her… either way, Keima punted her to the floor.

Chihiro was in a weird place again… Well, not physically… she was at her apartment, popcorn popped, coke chilled on the table, DVD Player plugged into the TV, and Ayumi slouched on the couch, chattering excited about… something.

No, her weird place was truly mental… now that Ayumi was here, Chihiro had no clue whether to tell her about what had happened in her life recently… namely, Katsuragi being back in it… or what he said to her earlier today.

"Chihiro!" Ayumi waved her arm in exaggerated circles in front of her best friend, "you alright? You've had this dazed look on your face for the last two minutes…"

Chihiro snapped out of her internal argument, when her brain reminded her of a good point. Katsuragi had made it perfectly clear that he planned on coming into Ayumi's life too… the least Chihiro could do is give some fair warning. She took a deep breath, her hands curling around the couch seat, parallel to her knees.

"I'm fine…" Chihiro replied softly, "I do have something I should tell you."

"Oh, really?" Ayumi replied, her broad smile making it ambiguous on whether she heard her friend's reluctance or not, "I thought I'd need to drag it out of you… so what is it?"

Chihiro swallowed, hoping to wet her suddenly parched throat.

"Do you remember… Katsuragi… from when we were in high school?" Ayumi's eyes snapped up. Chihiro's face was an unreadable white.

For the runner, she knew exactly why Chihiro would act like this with bringing up his name. They both fell pretty hard for him while they were in their second year of high school. Once the truth had come out, they'd promised they wouldn't let it change anything in their friendship. Still, it didn't stop the awkwardness and uncertainty that surfaced every time they talked to each other…

It was sad… they'd been friends since they could talk, yet their friendship had devolved as if they'd only just met. Chihiro had hoped that Katsuragi transferring would have helped the situation, but it really hadn't. In fact, it was like it built a new wall.

Well, they had come a long way since then, but they knew the only way they could get their friendship on track was to ignore the elephant in the room till it disappeared. Now that Chihiro had called it by its name, she was worried she was just inviting those three painful weeks from November back into her life.

"What about him?" Ayumi asked, her voice falling a lot more than she'd like. She remembered that time just as well.

"H-he's back again…" Chihiro spoke in a small voice, wishing she hadn't brought it up, "he actually said he wanted to talk to you…"

"Oh…" Ayumi replied, turning over on the couch so she was facing Chihiro's seat. Chihiro had pulled her legs onto the couch and was hugging her legs awkwardly. Ayumi gritted her teeth at that sight.

They'd spent way too much time being awkward about this subject! They were adults now, weren't they?

"Chihiro…" the girl looked up, "if you're serious about him coming back, we can't continue being awkward every time every time his name is mentioned…"

A weird smile came on the normal girl's face.

"Easier said than done…" she sighed, "I'm just worried things will just become weird when we talk about it…"

Ayumi cringed… she actually remembered that particular moment…

During their performance near the end of the Mai High Festival, Chihiro started crying. Ayumi couldn't pinpoint when, but by the point Chihiro was supposed to thank the audience, her face was streaked with tears and she could barely talk. Ayumi did speak on her behalf, saying the words she'd seen Chihiro repeat many times in the mirror before the concert. Once the five of them were behind stage and Kanon began her song, the quiet ruckus began.

"Chihiro-san, what happened to you?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah, you were so excited for this, too…" Yui tucked her drumsticks into her blazer pocket. Oddly enough, it was Miyako who tried connecting the dots between the song content and what had happened.

"Was it the song?" Miyako muttered. Chihiro's already flushed face got darker, but that only made the tear tracks more obvious. Ayumi knew that Miyako had hit the nail on the head… Chihiro's first love… was the boy she'd gotten married to in the early hours of that day. Was she even over him?

The discussion fell flat after Chihiro washed his face and Kanon called Chihiro back onto stage. Ayumi watched from the sides as Kanon let Chihiro choose a favourite from the former's songs, and both of them performed together again.

Chihiro chose 'Happy Crescent', a somewhat ironic choice, considering her open declaration of confessing to the one you like. Even still, she looked a lot more cheerful on stage. From glancing at the audience, she could tell that Chihiro and Kanon were truly sharing the stage, considering the amount of people who were cheering on Chihiro as well.

On the walk home, Chihiro was in an amazingly good mood. She didn't even take of her outfit from the live, despite her previous complaints of the boots being a bit too tight. She skipped a little ahead of Ayumi, who was walking more solemnly, now back into her school uniform.

"Though seriously, how cute was Daisuke-kun!?" Chihiro gushed, her face shining, "I can't believe he actually asked me out!"

"I can't believe you actually said yes…" Ayumi replied. Chihiro paused a second, her broad smile falling.

"T-there's no need to hurt him if he's serious about it… I wanted to give him a chance." Chihiro replied, her fingers interweaving behind her back.

"But do you actually know anything about him? Other than the fact that he's cute…" Chihiro turned around suddenly, her ayes narrowed and angry. Ayumi froze.

"He likes me, okay!" Chihiro snapped back, "even if I know nothing now, I'll learn more once we actually go on a date…" and just like that, her cheerful face returned, "what's the harm with saying yes?"

As she started walking forward, Ayumi figured out what was bothering her… why she'd decided to walk Chihiro home, while the other girls, plus Kanon, had gone to a family restaurant to celebrate their successful concert…

Despite the happy face, there was no way Chihiro was alright… She was barely over the love who'd brutally broken her heart two nights ago, and now she's already planning to date some guy who just randomly confessed to her… if this guy truly liked Chihiro, where the hell was he now? Where the hell was he when Chihiro was suffering from a broken heart for the last two days?

"Chihiro…" the girl, who was a good two metres away stopped, "I think you should reconsider… about Daisuke-kun…"

"Why should I?" Chihiro asked innocently.

"Are you even over Katsuragi yet!?" Ayumi snapped, "You'll just hurt yourself if you jump into a relationship…" the normal girl's eyebrows knitted again.

"Some of us don't get the luxury of marrying the one we love…" Chihiro frowned.

"What makes you think I got married to him!?" Ayumi retorted back, despite the fact that Chihiro had seen the wedding dress that was stuffed inside her bag.

"I was there, you know…" Chihiro sighed, "I know you heard my voice…"

Ayumi felt her stomach sink. She'd definitely heard her voice, and felt that push on her back. She definitely didn't see Chihiro there at the time.

"Oh really?" Ayumi's voice turned sceptical, "if you were there, what did you see?"

"Katsuragi telling you that he adored you, then Nora-san bringing those wedding bells out of nowhere, then you two kissed…" Chihiro said, her voice completely flat to not betray how she had felt watching that scene. Ayumi's mouth clamped shut. Chihiro actually knew more than she did…

"You were with Katsuragi the entire time…" Ayumi confirmed. Chihiro nodded.

So Chihiro heard her bear her heart out to Katsuragi… seen her put her heart into the only kiss she knew she would get… Ayumi felt herself getting a little annoyed.

"Though I have to say, kudos on slapping him into shape…" Chihiro laughed, "that was the most entertaining wedding I've ever been to…"

"How did you feel about that?" Ayumi asked. Chihiro smiled sadly.

"You two made a good couple… even if I hadn't decided to not interfere by then, I definitely backed off after that…"

So that's why Chihiro was willing to date a near stranger… she just didn't want to interfere in a relationship that Ayumi was near 100 percent certain wasn't going to happen… Katsuragi didn't even want to tell her what had happened the day before… yet he told Chihiro…

And even if we were talking confessions, she was dead certain that Chihiro's was better received. Maybe she hadn't had the guts to step into Katsuragi's room, but the dead serious tone and the blush that sprung to his face… she wished she could have taken a look at his face when Chihiro was playing her song for him…

Even when Ayumi found herself on the school roof, against her better judgement, she had viewed a very precious, if not somewhat awkward, side to Chihiro which she never let out normally… and even when Chihiro kissed him, the feeling behind it were so pure and strong that even Ayumi could feel her own heart leap…

So why did it have to be Chihiro who had to give up on her feelings?

"You don't need to give up on him, Chihiro…" Ayumi spoke softly. Chihiro had to step closer to catch her barely audible voice.

"That's no good," Chihiro replied, the same fake happy tone she was using before, "I've given up on him already… Besides, you're his lovely wifey anyway…"

And there it was again… that smile that Chihiro was trying too hard to keep up.

Ayumi was about to protest, when Chihiro put up her hand.

"Let's just not talk about him… I'm going to give Daisuke-kun a chance, and that's the end of it…"

"Honestly, no one won after that… you were perfectly right in thinking that was bad idea for me to date Daisuke-kun so soon… I probably avoided talking to you because I had too much pride to admit that you were right… Then Katsuragi disappeared after taking a couple of sick days didn't help much either…" Chihiro spoke.

Ayumi laughed.

"See, remembering a worse time did help make talking about him a little bit easier now…" she chomped on the popcorn that had somehow made itself onto her lap during the duration of the conversation. Chihiro frowned, her eyes narrowing.

"First you intrude on my private conversations, and then you eat all the popcorn that we had for the movie…"

Ayumi glanced down… indeed she'd eaten a significant part of the bowl. She pushed the rest to Chihiro, whose single eyebrow rose to the roof.

"That's the part of the sentence you decide to pay attention to…" Chihiro retorted.

Ayumi shrugged, licking of the salt off her fingers.

"I'm sorry I was there… but from an outsider's perspective, you guys really had a good mood going on…" Ayumi grinned cheekily, "I was actually more worried it was going to go further than a kiss…"

Chihiro blushed at the implication, but she racked her brain for something to counter back.

"You're the one who got married to him, ya know… I was worried that I'd have to see the wedding night festivities as well…" Ayumi just smirked, which defeated the purpose of the teasing.

"Nice try, Chi…" she shot a thumbs up, "let's just chalk it that circumstances throwing us into each other's love stories."

Chihiro groaned.

"Mines was a circumstance… yours was plain old stalking…"

"Po-ta-to po-taa-to… we can agree that neither of us won Katsuragi's heart, so next time he comes, we won't need to worry about it being awkward…"

Chihiro's eyes broke off contact with Ayumi's as fast as possible following that statement.

"Oi, what was with that? I thought we were having a heart to heart…" Ayumi burst out. Chihiro firmly kept her gaze on the TV.

"C'mon, let's see the movie already! Didn't you say it'd change my life?"

"But what fun is a movie without popcorn… and since when have you been so gung-ho about romance films?" Ayumi moved herself in between Chihiro and the TV, and as she suspected, the girl's face was flushed and her eyes bright and flitting in any direction Ayumi wasn't in. Chihiro was definitely hiding something.

Though Chihiro would be on guard right now. Ayumi shrugged and turned on the TV. The moment when she could ambush her friend would come soon enough...

Some minutes later, Chihiro's phone started buzzing on the table with the snacks. Chihiro jumped to pick it up, which only heightened Ayumi's reflexes, and despite Chihiro being closer, it was Ayumi who grabbed it first.

"That's mines!" Chihiro called, but the higher pitch and the frantic attempts at grabbing made it clear that something was suspicious. She glanced at the screen, when a familiar name flashed on it.

[Otamega]

The shock was enough that Chihiro snatched it out of Ayumi's hand and declined the call, hand shaking and blood pounding against her ears.

"S-sorry... you could have answered though..."

Chihiro took a deep breath as she calmed herself. Ayumi expected that she may have pissed Chihiro off, but that wasn't the case. She wouldn't have answered it even if she'd been alone...

What could she even say to him, when the closest answer she has is to reject him...

That was the second call of his she'd rejected today.

Honestly, I can't begin to apologize for the break I've been taking from writing... I truly am trying, but other stuff keeps getting in the way... I really will try harder, but in the end, please bear with me, and send me reviews. While I only visit this site a couple of times a month, reviews reach me all the time, and I'm always up to any recommendations or hearing whatever you may think.

Alright, review time!

Ryuumaru Kara: Yo yo! It's nice to see you reviewing, but it's an honor to have you reading, and hopefully enjoying, my stories. I'm glad you liked Tetsurou, and hopefully, the later part of this chapter elaborated a bit on how Chihiro feels about going out with other guys.

Traveller: That is a pretty cool name. I hope that the next review I get from you is from an account.

Ok, I'm hoping that passionate reaction is a good sign... in any case, Keima managed to deal with both Tenri and Chihiro in a mostly decent way... though he did kinda tell Chihiro he liked her... I wonder how she'll take that tidbit of information.

Also, use whatever couple name you like... as long as it's Keima and Chihiro you're shipping, you are in the right place.

xellos540: Actually, I'm a little curious... Is there any meaning behind the number in your name?

I like that analysis that you gave behind my characterisation, and you're right... Keima is calming down a little bit, while Tenri is growing her backbone... and Chihiro... honestly, I'm just hoping that this look into how she felt after that whole ordeal makes her a bit more sympathetic as well. I know she is a bit much, but I don't want her to become completely crazy to the point where the readers want Keima to just ask out Tenri and be done with this shit.

Shawn Raven: Haha, here's my twenty days... plus seventy more... man, I feel ashamed.

I'm glad you appreciated the humanness behind everyone's thoughts... In the end, all the characters all have flaws and strengths and feelings, which is why they can justify their actions and words, even if the other characters don't take it the same way. Human nature is pretty cool like that.

In any case, I think the tone of the last two chapters is... honestly, I don't know. Things are gonna get better, but both bad and good things are coming.

EXPERIMENT 2.0: Oooh, fresh meat *licks lips*

Nah, just kidding, but thanks for reviewing on all the chapters that are out. Here's two more chapters for you.

Though I understand how weird it is to imagine everyone being older. I've actually been trying to draw the cover picture, and Chihiro has a ponytail and Keima has stubble... that is a pretty odd picture to imagine.

Guest: Hmm to you to?

Aika 3 3: Here ya go. I hope you like them.

Qruis: Honestly, it was your review which motivated me to start writing... so thanks.

With any luck, I won't abandon this story... I already have the ending planned out and everything.