Katsuragi Keima, the ‘Capturing God’ dragged his feet and walked around on the street. His body was tilted forward, his shoulders were slumped, and he looked very listless.
“Haa.”
Keima sighed while still in his school uniform.
After school, he came out without even changing his clothes. Beside him, Elsie was also in school uniform as she walked beside him.
“…There’s no response. Right now.”
Elsie muttered as she touched the skull hairpiece,
“I tried looking around yesterday, but Tooru-san seemed to have escaped outside my detection range.”
After saying that, she watched Keima in an apologetic manner. Keima said with a listless expression.
“It’s alright. One characteristic of a ‘Denpakei’ is that it’s rare to meet them.”
“Is, is that so?”
“Un, basically, we don’t know her residence and background, and there are also cases when we don’t know whether it’s a real name or not. One of the biggest reasons why the Denpakei is so troublesome is that we can only walk around randomly on the streets and hope.”
Just when he just finished saying that.
Dorodorodorodorodoro.
Elsie’s runaway spirit sensor suddenly had a reaction.
Both Elsie and Keima were stunned.
“It’s here!”
Elsie said.
(That’s too fast…)
Keima muttered deep inside. Elsie pointed her finger and said,
“That way.”
Both of them looked over. At the entrance near a shopping street, a girl was walking slowly in a horizontal manner at the arcade.
Then,
“Who’s that?”
“Eh?”
Both of them were stunned. That person,
Wasn’t Amami Tooru.
To actually,
“Ee?”
“Ha?”
To think that it was a completely different girl from Amami Tooru!
“WA! WA! WHAT’S GOING ON!?”
“Calm down!”
Keima chided.
“It’s alright. That’s just another girl with a runaway spirit.”
“But, but. How did it happen! Eh?”
Just when Elsie was panicking, another change happened.
Dorodorodorodorodoro.
The runaway spirit detector again reacted. This time, it was in a completely opposite direction. Elsie and Keima instinctively turned around.
“Uu.”
Keima couldn’t help but bemoan.
“WA~ WA~! It’s Tooru-san this time…”
Elsie looked lost as she said that. In the corner on the opposite side, at a place directly opposite from where the girl was, Amami Tooru was walking alone.
She didn’t seem to realize what was going on here.
“WA~ WA~! THEY’RE BOTH WALKING AWAY!”
Elsie flailed her arms about.
She looked up at Keima and waited for his decision.
“…”
Keima quickly made his decision, and immediately after thinking, instructed Elsie.
“Elsie! Go chase after Amami Tooru! I’ll go chase after that new girl!”
“Bu, but!”
“Just go already! Catch up and try to delay Amami Tooru! You hear me!? And as for contacting…no, just bring her to my house if possible!”
After saying that, Keima ran away to chase after that unknown again.
Elsie didn’t hesitate too.
“I, I got it! I’ll do my best!”
And thus, she ran off in the opposite direction.
Keima’s judgement was simple. One simple point; Amami Tooru and Elsie knew each other. In other words, Elsie could get Amami Tooru to stop even after chasing after her.
However, in contrast, Keima had no information on this unknown girl he was facing, and he could only check her situation out personally. Only Keima could say hello to her or call her. Thus, Keima let Elsie chase after Amami Tooru, and he went to chase after the other girl.
Luckily, the girl was walking in a rather casual piece, and even Keima could catch up successfully. (Even so, Keima was already panting hard).
“!”
Soon after, Keima saw her back and frowned.
“Eh?”
Keima was shocked.
“Is it from…our school?”
The girl was wearing the uniform of Maijima Private High School where Keima was studying at, and also,
“…”
The girl who heard Keima’s footsteps, and what she said when she turned around stunned Keima.
“Arre? Katsuragi-kun?”
Keima was shocked, and stopped.
She,
Was a girl in the same class as Keima…
Keima would hardly interact with other people at school. Whether it was during break time or lessons (and even PE lessons!), he would always be holding his handheld games and playing his bishoujo games, so he became a weirdo to the rest.
Keima himself wouldn’t talk to girls in real life who he thought were imperfect existences, and the girls would tease him as an Otomegane who only knew how to play games from day to night, and no one would try to interact with him actively.
Thus, instead of saying that Keima himself won’t remember these girls names…
(I remember…)
Keima thought.
(Yoshino Asami, that’s her name…)
That wasn’t the case. Katsuragi Keima had an exceptional memory. Keima could still remember these girls name if there was a chance where he would do duty together with someone or when someone was called by the teacher to do something.
Keima also remembered the other personal particulars of this girl.
(Member of the Tea Ceremony Club. Sits at the back row of the classroom. Would often read books alone. Extremely quiet.)
The fragments of information.
Keima knew all these, but.
(A person who’s not special per say.)
“…Keima-kun too.”
The girl,
Yoshino Asami said with a calm tone,
“Are you going in this direction too?”
“Eh?”
“Home?”
“Ah, ahh.”
Keima’s response lagged for several moments, but was extremely quick.
“No, I just had something to do, so I came over here.”
He shook his head. He continued to observe Yoshino Asami, and was perplexed. It was tough, there was no clues at all.
She had a nice face, and her body profile was also rather good. However,
There was nothing that gave her the ‘beauty’ impression like Amami Tooru. It wasn’t like ‘cute’ or ‘active’, but even so, she did have a mouth, and she’s not expressionless.
She was smiling,
There were a lot of girls who made fun of Keima, so it’s rare to see someone like her take the initiative to talk.
But it wasn’t like she had feelings for Keima, and it wasn’t out of loving compassion.
Her voice was normal.
Her expression was normal.
Her dress attire was normal too. Everything was normal, everything was plain.
“…?”
As Keima was suddenly silent, she frowned slightly as she didn’t understand. However,
“…Ehh, if possible, can we walk together for a while?”
After Keima asked that,
“Sure.”
She smiled and nodded her head.
However,
This expression was normal too.
She wasn’t a sportsgirl, and he never heard that she was rich. She looked like she liked to read books, but it’s not like this literature girl didn’t have a mouth. She wasn’t a fighter, and yet not an idol. She didn’t avoid Keima, but wasn’t especially close to him.
She was just plain.
Plain, the sort of feeling when she would talk to a classmate when she’s on the way home. Keima felt extremely troubled as he was walking beside Yoshino Asami.
Up till now, the experiences he had showed that those with a runaway spirit would have obvious traits, either good or bad. For example, being very eccentric or being very aggressive. Then , he would take on these traits, find a gap and tackle them.
But this Yoshino Asami was way too ordinary.
A shocking contrast from the ‘Denpakei’ Amami Tooru Elsie should be chasing now.
“…Today.”
Keima asked.
“There’s no club activities?”
“None.”
Yoshino Asami answered as she walked.
“If I remember correctly,”
Keima then asked,
“It’s the Tea Ceremony Club, right?”
Keima really needed clues urgently, no matter what it was or how little it was. On facing these questions, Yoshino Asami was slightly surprised,
“Arrea? You’re really sure about that, Katsuragi-kun.”
“One of the notes on the class noticeboard is a review of clubs, right? That one where we see who join which club. I did that on my duty day, so I remembered.”
“Oh~”
On hearing that answer, Yoshino Asami looked amazed,
“Katsuragi-kun’s memory’s really good.”
She smiled.
Keima felt anxious.
All these were too plain. To Keima, it might be better if she tried to avoid him or even feel disgusted by him.
What is this girl?
Keima thought.
Thus, he tried a little jab in his words.
“As for you, Yoshino-san.”
He deliberately made a mischievous expression.
“…You would actually remember my name. The name of an Otamegane who only knows how to play games.”
“…”
Yoshino Asami didn’t really have any special response.
And then,
“Because,”
She smiled calmly,
“You’re very famous, Katsuragi-kun very famous. Definitely more famous than what you imagine.”
She answered in an extremely ordinary manner.
Keima was troubled.
It felt that there’s a wall between him and Yoshino Asami, but he wasn’t clear about what this thin wall was about. This wall that gave an ‘extremely normal response’ was a troublesome one.
Soon after.
“Ah, Katsuragi-kun, I’ve arrived at my house.”
Yoshino Asami smiled as she said and waved her hand.
“See you at school tomorrow.”
She sounded so calm even at the end. She walked into a bungalow that was opposite.
“Eh…un, see you tomorrow.”
Seeing her like this, Keima couldn’t help but think,
(Even the house looks so normal!)
It was really a standard bungalow amongst standards.
--
“It can’t be helped.”
After looking at this bungalow that didn’t have any unique feel to it, Keima could only shake his head. It doesn’t feel like there would be any benefit for him to continue looking at Yoshino Asami’s house.
Anyway, the girl with a runaway spirit was Keima’s classmate, and he confirmed her residence. It was fruitful as compared to Amami Tooru, who he didn’t know anything of. Now he should met up with Amami Tooru and Elsie first.
As he made this decision and was about to step forward, Keima suddenly realized something.
(Speaking of which,)
Yoshino Asami should be in school today. However, Elsie’s spirit detector didn’t have any response to it.
In other words…
(Maybe a runaway spirit went in when she went home. I better check with Elsie tomorrow just to be safe.)
He nodded his head.
And then,
“Oh?”
He suddenly stopped in his tracks. As he was talking with Yoshino Asami up till now, he didn’t realize that there was a small old bookstore beside her house.
A small shop.
The type where they were placed like a wagon sale.
Keima’s eyes than sharply noticed a few magazines that were placed on the shelves of the wagon.
<<Bishoujo Game Guide>>
And also,
<<From Tsundere to Yandere~ a certain game developers own words~>>
It was selling books that looked like they were about to move his heart
“Mu.”
Keima really couldn’t ignore them.
“Ummmm.”
He took a few books that were lined up with a heavy expression and started browsing.
Even if he wanted to buy them, he had to check their contents.
--
After about 10 minutes later,
“I’m going then~”
A lively voice came from next door, and a girl jumped out. Keima suddenly lifted his head.
This voice,
He couldn’t be mistaken.
It was Yoshino Asami!
The girl then stopped.
“?”
And after realizing that Keima was behind her, she showed a surprised look.
“…Katsuragi, kun?”
Perhaps bothered that the person she just left was still here, Yoshino Asami frowned and looked at Keima, and Keima was thinking,
“Ah, arre?”
For some reason,
(There was a huge change in her expression…)
The girl saw Keima holding the <<Bishoujo game Guide>>,
“As expected.”
She smiled as she said that.
“You’re Katsuragi-kun, aren’t you?”
“Ah, ahh.”
“That’s so like you~”
“Eh?”
“Reading game books like this.”
“Un? Ahh…well, Yoshino?”
“What is it?”
Having changed into casual clothes, Yoshino Asami casually tied the hair behind her head and smiled at Keima. She didn’t show any real concern about Keima like just now, but now, it’s rather…
“Are…are you really Yoshino?”
Yoshino Asami was stunned for a while.
And then she smiled,
“Ahahaha, really! I’m Yoshino!”
And then she showed a mischievous smile.
“I’m Yoshino, Yoshino Asami!”
Keima was shocked. As for way,
The impression Yoshino Asami gave others had a huge change.
Was it because she was wearing plainclothes?
Or was it because she had makeup on.
Unlike before, she looked really energetic. Just 10 minutes ago, as she entered her own house, it felt like she was wearing clothing of ‘equal value’ which gave an impression of not have any special characteristics.
But now, she was giving off a vibrant and energetic vibe.
From head to toe, he could feel that she was full of self-confidence and delight, and what was more unbelievable was the way she was talking lively,
“Hey, Katsuragi-kun.”
Yoshino Asami lifted her eyes slightly and said with an impish-like sweet voice.
“…You look very bored. How about you go for a drink with me?”
She became a really cute, really charming girl.
Keima really couldn’t understand.
This girl.
Was a complete mystery!
Before he even knew it, he was sitting down at a nearby sweets shop and having tea with Yoshino Asami. The first floor was of a wooden open deck, and there was a blue umbrella covering them from above. The table and chairs were of the more delicate kind, and it was a cafeteria with quite the sense.
The shop attendants uniforms were cute too.
They were at this tea shop,
“…And then, I watched this TV program the last time.”
Yoshino Asami said some pointless things.
Keima stared at her blankly,
(I see…so it’s ‘dual personalities’.)
Once he recovered, he continued to observe the girl.
It wasn’t dual personalities.
But dual characters.
Characters. Basically, he’s taking down girls in a galge manner, so to Keima, it wasn’t about ‘personalities’, but ‘character’.
Dual characters would mean that the girl had two different ‘characters’.
Like how she would look proud in front of others and yet look so humble when it’s two people. Or when the girl’s normally capable, but would act like a bumbling onee-san in front of the protagonist in a mero mero manner.
The biggest characteristic girl with such dual characters would be that they would have completely different responses and actions in a fixed situation.
(This girl’s situation…)
Keima’s eyes flashed.
(So the switch’s inside and outside of school, right?)
But it was too early to conclude that.
The girl with a runaway spirit definitely had some problem.
This problem is related to the girl’s actions and words. This was what he understood greatly after conquering a few girls.
If,
Like what Keima deduced, that this Yoshino Asami has dual characters, this trait of hers would have a direct relation to her problem.
“Hey.”
Suddenly, Yoshino Asami waved her hand in front of Keima and asked,
“Were you listening there, Keima-kun?”
“Eh? Ah, ahh.”
Keima recovered and looked at Yoshino Asami.
“Sorry…where were we?”
“Really~”
And Yoshino Asami puffed her cheeks.
“I said that it’s troublesome that the tea ceremony club couldn’t draw people in.”
“Really? Sorry then.”
Yoshino Asami smiled.
“It’s alright.”
And then said jokingly,
“So how about you treat this one?”
After saying that, she continued drinking her iced coffee from the straw as she gave a mischievous expression. Keima smiled.
His eyes were giving off a warm light.
“I’ll be happy to do so.”
“!”
Yoshino Asami’s face went a little red.
Keima’s looks were really primp and proper, and the girl’s heart seemed to be moved by it as she frantically said,
“Really~ really~ I was joking…Katsuragi-kun, you’re unexpectedly serious.”
“…”
“Speaking of which, Katsuragi-kun…it may be a little rude of me to say this.”
“?”
“Lo, looking at you closely, are, aren’t you quite handsome?”
Keima frowned. He wasn’t unhappy, just a little shocked.
“Ahahaha! It’s very different from what I hea…heard from the other girls. Aren’t you called otamegane?”
“A few of them do…”
“But, you’re quite a looker, right?”
She grinned and narrowed her eyes.
“You have a girlfriend already, right? You’re a playboy, right?”
“…”
Keima didn’t know what to answer.
The most important thing was that he felt,
What was this girl worrying about?
Yoshino Asami was so carefree, so worry-free. The strange wall he experienced when they went back home together disappeared completely.
(In other words.)
Keima’s eyes shone.
(The dual character problem was in school, isn’t it?)
In this situation, the key would be that he had to meet her again in school. As Keima was thinking about this,
“Ah, arre?”
A soft voice came from beside him.
“Are you…prince?”
On hearing this voice, his heart pounded wildly.
(Do, don’t tell me!)
It shouldn’t be like this.
It couldn’t be like this.
It mustn’t be like this.
This situation…
(eh!?)
As he turned around, he thought.
(What were you doing, Elsie!?)
Standing over there was,
“…Good afternoon, prince.”
The ‘Denpakei’ girl Amami Tooru…
In bishoujo games, there were often situations where the girls that were being conquered at the same time would appear at the same time to create a ‘Shuraba’ event.
Based on the event, there would be a likelihood that the protagonist could create jealousy in the girls and move in further. However, if he ended up losing the trust of both parties, it would be a direct Bad Ending.
It was an event which required very deli~cate decision making.
Keima quickly looked at the expressions of the two girls.
First, Yoshino Asami.
“Fuu~n.”
She made such a sound as she narrowed her eyes, putting her arms on the table as she smiled at Keima in a very interested manner. On the other side, Amami Tooru,
She,
“…”
Was looking at Keima sadly.
“Ah, no, this isn’t,”
Keima hurriedly answered.
This, this is bad!
His heart was thinking that this was bad, that this couldn’t do, but he didn’t know what to say.
Speaking of which, why was Amami Tooru here?
“…I went over there.”
Amami Tooru pointed at the street opposite the tea shop.
“And I saw a familiar back profile, prince.”
Guwaa~
It’s already hard for them to have an encounter, but she appeared here in such a scary moment.
That’s why ‘Denpakei’ were hard to handle!
“Well.”
At this moment, Yoshino Asami casually took out a notebook from her bag, ripped a piece of paper out and wrote a series of numbers with a pen she brought out.
“That’s my mail.”
She smiled and said,
“You must send mail to me, pri-nce♪”
She blinked an eye lightly and stood up.
“Ah.”
Keima immediately tried to stop her without thinking as he stood up, but at this moment.
“…”
Amami Tooru turned around wordlessly.
“Wa, wait a minute!”
To Keima, this reaction was way too awkward, but it couldn’t be helped.
That super-precise of his,
(It’s hard to meet Amami Tooru, so it seems that she had some misunderstanding between Yoshino Asami and me, so I should call out to stop Amami Tooru, but in this case, I’ll end up moving away from Yoshino Asami, who I managed to get closer with. Also, Amami Tooru’s response really puzzles me. It may be better to let her misunderstand…but the opposite effect may happen too!)
Was spinning at high speeds.
Yoshino Asami and Amami Tooru. Who should he talk to?
Who should he explain things to?
Who should he call out to?
Facing this fated question,
“It’s practically 50-50!”
No.
(There won’t be any good outcome no matter who I call!)
He got this conclusion.
“Ah, that’s right!”
Facing
“How about you treat then? Thanks for the ice coffee♪”
Yoshino Asami waved her hand and left with light steps, and,
“…”
Amami Tooru gave an icy expression that could scare Keima as she again wordlessly glanced at him. Keima couldn’t make an effective move before they left the terrace. Whether it’s Yoshino Asami or Amami Tooru, both of them left Keima alone at the tea shop.
“Wha, what’s going on…”
At this moment, Keima didn’t have any clue.
This was completely unexpected.
Or rather.
“Elsie…”
If she had kept Amami Tooru busy well, this ridiculous event wouldn’t have happened.
At this moment.
“Ka, kami-sama~!”
Dededededede. The person who caused this event to happened came running over. She looked like she was going to cry and said,
“I, I’m really sorry~ I lost sight of Tooru-san!”
“You,”
Keima said this, and then,
“YOU IDIOT!!! SHE WAS HERE JUST A WHILE AGO!!!”
In response to Elsie’s mistake,
Keima couldn’t help but hug his head and scream out…
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