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Marui Yukie (54 year old single woman) was a saleswoman of the health drink Gokult.
Her main job was to sell fresh Gokult to houses that often order it in her designated area every day. In the morning, she would finish her housework and then head off to the distribution center. She would then change into her uniform, put the Gokult she had to deliver for the day itself into the cart and slowly deliver her goods through the path she decided on.
Also, one of her important jobs was to have new customers.
To promote her goods, she could decide to let people test a little bit of her products.
As Yukie was very confident in the products of her own company, she was often able to confidently hand the drinks over to customers who’d tasted it, and would never force them to buy it.
“Have some. It’s good. Nice and healthy.”
That’s her signature phrase.
What she focused on was a smile and honesty.
“Gokult’s good for the body. What I recommend can’t be wrong.”
And this belief.
Actually, Yukie herself used to be more impatient and would go around all over the place to increase the number of customers to promote her goods passionately. However, her body couldn’t take it now, and her methods have changed somewhat.
First, she would never force other people to buy.
The salary of a saleswoman was completely on commission, and her total salary would be decided through the number of Gokult delivered and the number of new customers. However, Yukie right now felt that money was just something she just needed enough of, and wasn’t really particular about her salary.
No, actually, that wasn’t just it. She would even request to shrink the area she was required to deliver to.
This was to spend even more time on each customer she had to handle and build more trust in them. Because of this, her sales numbers weren’t as impressive as when she was young (she was once chosen as the most outstanding Miss Gokult of the year thrice), but she still used her steady character and the sales technique she had trained over the years to get great ratings, and for 10 years, there weren’t any customers complaining, and neither were there any problems.
And also, the area she was in charge of gradually became smaller and smaller.
From this, one could tell how much her customers trusted her.
Thus, to Yukie.
“Sorry, Marui-san.”
The male Gokult supervisor, who was in charge of the distribution center, really trusted and doted on her.
“If it’s no problem, do you want to use this? Didn’t I request you to help out after work when some new workers came in to study? This is a reward for that. The main company gave me a few of these.”
“Oh my.”
Yukie supported her face.
“I’ll be really troubled~”
The supervisor handed a couple of tickets to a theme park to her.
“Goto-san always takes care of me.”
That was true.
As Yukie was enthusiastically managing and teaching other saleswoman, the supervisor would often give her some visible or invisible benefits.
“Hahaha.”
The supervisor scratched his somewhat balding head.
“Perhaps it may be troubling for Marui-san to accept this.”
Normally, for a woman like Yukie of this age, a couple of tickets to a theme park wouldn’t be really pleasing. However,
“…”
Yukie remained silent for a while and stared at the couple’s ticket.
“Can I really take this?”
“Ah, you’re willing to?”
“Yes.”
Yukie accepted the entrance ticket and smiled.
“I know who I can give this to.”
As for Haqua du Lot Herminium, a lot of people had comments about her.
“Haqua’s really amazing! She was always first in school, every single time! I’m really impressed—the scythe she has is the proof that she was the top from Devil Academy, the ‘Scythe of Testament’!”
Some were like Elsie, really impressed by her ability.
Or,
“Haq-chan’s really a good girl.”
They would praise her simply with one sentence, just like her partner Yukie.
“Pretty-looking, good figure (though the breasts are a little smaller), a model student with outstanding grades.”
That’s the basic impression everyone around her had.
Haqua herself was a little conceited somewhat.
But only Keima,
“…In many aspects, this person’s really a little bothersome.”
His glasses may shine, and his voice may have some form of a sigh as he lowered his shoulders.
Today, Haqua shall display that ‘a little bothersome in many aspects’ as much as she wanted…
“I have no other choice! I’m inviting you because I have no other choice!”
“Nya~”
“Don’t be mistaken, you know?”
“Nya?”
“Actually, I don’t want to head to such a childish place! But Yukie forced it onto me…eh? You’re saying that I should just throw the ticket away?”
“Nya.”
“Ho, how, how can this do…isn’t it too much of a waste?”
“Nya.”
“Tha, that’s right. Un, that’s it…are you going?”
“…”
“Y, yo, you, you’re not going?”
“…”
“Speak up! At least answer back!”
“Nya.”
“Tha, that’s right. I’m inviting you now. You’ll go, right?”
After a long while.
“…Are, are you happy? Well, you won’t feel irritated, right?”
Haqua continued to look at the kitten that was sitting on the plastic bin.
That cat.
“…”
After a long pause of silence,
“Nya.”
Cried out and turned around before leaping up the wall and vanished into the alley without turning back.
“…”
After watching the kitten leave, Haqua sighed.
“What am I doing? Getting to practice with a kitten…”
She was holding tightly onto two entrance tickets to the ‘Dean Land’…
It’s been an hour since Haqua stood in front of the Katsuragis’ house and decided to go in. The passers-by were all giving weird looks to Haqua, who was wearing strange clothing and wielding a scythe, but she didn’t seem to mind as she continued to look up at Keima’s house, the ‘Grandpa Café’.
With her hands behind her back, she continued to wander in front of the door meaninglessly.
“Uu~”
However, she couldn’t just remain at the door like this.
She made her decision and kicked the ground to float up before vanishing to the other end of the wall.
Her flight manner was a lot more graceful than Elsie, who was also a devil.
After entering the house, Haqua adjusted her breathing.
She placed her fingers on the collarbone above her chest and felt her heart quickening. However, since she came all the way here.
There’s no way back now.
In fact.
“At this moment, every fortnight, Elsie and Keima’s mother will be out shopping.”
Haqua already knew that they would use this time to buy the supplies the café used up. On a side note, she was very clear that Keima wouldn’t go out every Sunday and would stay at home to play games. That’s something she already knew every time she came over. The problem was that there was a very small chance that Keima would be out shopping for games.
“The games he bought last week probably aren’t completed yet, so he’s likely to be at home today.”
This was all in Haqua’s estimation too.
Katsuragi Keima should be at home, alone.
However…
Haqua looked around the Katsuragis’ house and tilted her head slightly.
“What’s this?”
She was really troubled. There were things like garlic, amulets and straw ropes all over the place. What was going on?
What happened during the time she wasn’t here to visit?
Haqua walked around. At this moment, a voice came from the living room.
(“Keima! Keima!”)
There was a really childish voice.
(Hm?)
Haqua looked troubled.
That sounded just like a girl.
And it should be an unknown girl to her, aged 4 or 5. Who could it be?
Keima shouldn’t have any little sisters.
Did any kids from his relatives come over to play?
In front of the living room,
“What is it, Tomomi?”
She could even hear Keima talking. Just when Haqua was about to grab onto the handle to the living room and was about to open it casually.
(“I want to kiss Keima~”)
PAK!
Haqua was stunned there.
(Ah? Eh? What did she just say?)
Haqua was rooted there, and it was unknown whether she was smiling or angry.
During this time, from the living room,
(“Eh? Keima. How about a kiss~?)
The girl’s fawning voice could be heard,
“Haa.”
And Keima’s sigh could be heard.
(That, that’s right…if she was just a kid that matured a little early, Keima would be comforting her…)
Just when Haqua was thinking on the other side of the door,
“Alright.”
Keima actually spoke in a tone of a flasher who doesn’t regret what he did.
“Let’s kiss, Tomomi. No one’s at home anyway.”
(!)
The next second, Haqua subconsciously took action.
“WAIT A SEC!”
She slammed the door open.
“NO WAY ARE YOU—!!”
And shouted out.
“—!“
In the living room.
Keima, who had the PFP handheld gaming console right at his face seemed to be shocked as he turned back to look.
It’s rare to see his eyes widen like that.
“Let me clarify something.”
Keima’s eyes sparkled.
“Tomomi may know very little vocabulary, but her actual age and appearance is about 17, 18. She got involved in an incident where she was abducted by a spaceship and ended up in cryo-stasis, so her mental age is rather backward.”
“…”
In contrast, Haqua.
“THESE~AREN’T IMPORTANT!”
Looked really unhappy as she folded her legs on the sofa and looked like she had a quarrel, as she scowled and narrowed her eyes.
“Let me explain more. Kissing is just tapping the face slightly.”
Keima was frantically explaining behind Haqua.
“This underhanded method of making use of the other party’s love is ethically and logically…”
“I said that it’s not important!”
Keima’s eyes flashed as he looked at Haqua through his glasses.
“I’m going to continue with my game then.”
Then, he raised his game console and brought his lips closer.
“Tomomi…”
Haqua let her body sink into the sofa, and then,
“OI! PLEASE~! DON’T YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF SHAME?”
She roared once she looked away.
“Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!”
She raised her white and slender finger and pointed at Keima.
Keima widened his eyes and looked at Haqua unhappily,
“Why are you here?”
He asked.
“Mu.”
Haqua was stumped for a moment.
In this game, the Comprehensive Hazard Observer (that’s the setting in the game for a person who could observe and predict asteroid orbits and anything that happen on the trading ships) Tomomi Maria Hart.
(“Ne, Keima, a kiss~?”)
It continued to prompt.
“Why are you here?”
Right now, it should be the hardest question for Haqua to answer.
“Uu.”
She shook.
“Uuu.”
She was obviously panicking. Even she knew that her heart was racing. It’s unknown whether it was just her imagination, but her head felt a little doozy.
“Well.”
At this moment, Keima’s eyes got sharper.
“you.”
Those clear eyes seemed to see through everything.
“Don’t tell me.”
“Sh, shut up! What? What now? What do you want to say?”
“No, nothing.”
He said that,
“Probably just me.”
Logically to himself.
“What are you trying to say! Really~!”
Haqua panicked for quite a while.
“We, well, isn’t Elsie at home?”
Even though she already knew the answer, she still forced the question out. Keima didn’t really respond,
“…Hm? I don’t know.”
He merely tilted his head.
“It’s quiet today, so I guess that she’s not at home…probably?”
“Oh please.”
Haqua felt a bit weak,
“I say, at least know where your partner is!”
Keima took the slip of paper on the table,
“‘To Kami nii-sama! I went to buy things with okaa-sama. There’s curry okaa-sama cooked in the microwave. Please have that for lunch.’…just like that.”
He recited.
“In other words, it seems that she’s not at home.”
Keima murmured and looked completely unconcerned. Haqua sighed lightly and said deliberately,
“Ah~that’ll be really troublesome.”
“…”
Keima continued to stare at Haqua intently.
“What should I do? The ticket that can only be used today will be wasted.”
She deliberately took the ticket out from her pocket and looked at it.
“I wanted to go over with Elsie, but she’s not around.”
She sounded rather stiff.
“Really, I wanted to go along with Elsie…there are two of these. It’s a waste for me to go alone.”
She secretly peered at Keima.
Keima continued to look at Haqua.
Haqua was panicking.
She rolled her eyeballs slightly,
She held the entrance ticket in front of her chest,
“How troublesome.”
Now that she stated things so plainly, Haqua thought that Keima would have some sort of a response,
“Tomomi…”
Unexpectedly, he continued to play his game.
On the PFP.
(“Keima!”)
Tomomi, who had been waiting patiently, spoke.
Haqua inadvertently collapsed on the sofa.
“Oi!”
She nearly erupted in anger, but felt that it was all meaningless now and collapsed weakly, and the entrance ticket she got fell onto the sofa. In other words, this man never had any thoughts for her. She thoroughly felt that.
She was tired.
She felt really tired.
Keima looked at Haqua, who was looking back at him, and then looked at the entrance ticket in her hand.
He seemed to have considered something, and after a while,
“…Haqua.”
He spoke.
“What?”
Looking somewhat teary, Haqua rubbed her eyes slightly to prevent Keima from seeing her tears. Really~ I don’t want to be bothered with this guy.
She thought.
Thus,
Even though Keima asked in a really natural manner, Haqua still couldn’t understand.
“That entrance ticket is to the Museum theme park, right…can I go with you?”
EH?
EHHH?
Haqua’s mind immediately went blank. The next moment,
She, who was very proud and very defensive,
Actually forgot to act.
“Re, REALLY?”
She suddenly turned around, grabbed the back of the sofa, and couldn’t help but shout out…
She was extremely delighted.
The unhappy feeling that was in her immediately dissipated.
She couldn’t help but beam.
Thinking about everything in hindsight, Haqua felt very sorry for this.
So sorry that she couldn’t sleep that night…
A few hours later.
Both of them arrived in front of Dean Land, showed the ticket recipient the ticket and entered.
Just the two of them.
She was actually able to be alone with Katsuragi Keima.
Haqua felt that this was just like a dream.
Her body was feeling really hot, and she felt really anxious.
“I never thought that I would be in such a place with you…”
Even though I was the one who brought the ticket to him, this is way too weird.
As for Keima,
“…”
He glanced at Haqua,
“Are…you alright?’
He looked rather serious. Haqua tensed up,
“Sor, sort of. We can’t waste these entrance tickets anyway!”
And then, she spoke to hide her emotions. She seemed to have viewed Keima’s question,
“‘Is it really alright for me to come along? You wanted to come along with Elsie, right?’”
She seemed to have heard it this way.
On hearing Haqua’s answer, Keima’s expression seemed to show some thought.
“…I didn’t mean it like that.”
“S, speaking of which!”
Haqua forcefully changed the topic.
“This place is really strange…this is the first time I’m at a theme park. Are all of them like this?”
To put it properly, Dean Land was different from other theme parks. The large building had many entertainment facilities like bowling alleys, karaoke and LAN gaming. The most unique feature was the cosplay.
There were more than 300 kinds of costumes the counter would loan out. Besides uniforms like nurses and policemen, there would be traditional outfits, international ethnic clothing, clothing of gaming and mange characters, and even toy plushies.
Because of these, there were large-eared bunnies, superheroes, maids wearing mini-skirts and magicians walking around.
Of course, Haqua didn’t know that Keima and Elsie came here a little while back to conquer a certain girl. At that time, Keima cosplayed as a prince.
“Cosplay…where you wear all sorts of costumes and have fun?”
Haqua looked around and seemed to realize something as she nodded her head.
(Everyone really look happy…)
Should we be wearing those costumes?
“What do you think?”
She turned around,
“Hm?’
And frowned as Keima was nowhere to be seen.
Haqua hurriedly looked around, and then found Keima with his hands on his hips, SWOOSH, quickly running away from Haqua.
“Wait!”
Haqua hurriedly chased after him. Actually, Keima wasn’t running, but crossed over at an unbelievable speed as he easily climbed up the handrail staircase even though it was crowded.
“Eh?”
What’s going on?
Did his mind suddenly click?
“Wa, wait!”
However, Keima had no intention on turning around at all, but went up the second level, third level, all the way to the activity plaza on the roof.
“…I see.”
Haqua wiped away the sweat on her forehead and sighed hard as her shoulders collapsed.
She finally understood.
Why Keima came here.
Why Keima would accept Haqua’s invitation.
Because, over here,
“Galge game exhibition.”
There were these words plastered on a banner as crowds of people were moving towards this stall. At this moment, Keima had already slipped into the crowd like a fish into water.
“Oh! It’s the re-edition of <Nya~Nyan nyan>.”
Or,
“Hm…‘MassiveSoft’s customer service is still rather prompt.”
He muttered on the way as he swayed about between the stalls. It seemed that the distributors of galges have set up shop on this level.
The bag first appeared on Keima’s right hand, then the left, and then, soon, the games started to pile up. It was just like magic. Even though it wasn’t so bad that the eyes couldn’t catch up, but the way he was shopping so quickly and fluidly wasn’t something an ordinary person could do.
“…”
Haqua half-opened her eyes.
At first, she started to feel weak,
And then, somewhat angry.
However,
“Oh~!”
Or,
“Un.”
On seeing Keima’s eyes glitter as he ran about, the anger inside her subsided.
Haqua gave a wry smile.
And then, felt a bit relaxed for some reason.
(This guy.)
She actually felt that Keima was really stupid.
However—
It seemed that he really likes these things.
Keima would never hide,
This desire he was always loyal to.
In that case,
I might as well…
Haqua smiled.
“Fu!”
Keima finished buying his things (as it was really smooth, he spent less than 30 minutes), and looked really satisfied. At this moment, Haqua called him out.
She gave a mischievous look,
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself there.”
“Uu.”
It seemed that Keima, who left Haqua aside…and in a certain extent, even made use of her to come to this Dean Land, felt a little guilty.
Haqua said,
“In that case.”
She folded her arms and smirked,
“Now it’s your turn to have fun with me!”
Keima was so shocked that he widened his eyes.
Haqua was really bold to let herself loose completely. She left all the games Keima bought at the Dean Land’s storage cupboard.
“Let’s change too!”
And brought Keima to the counter. Keima followed silently,
“…Aren’t you disgusted by this or something?”
At this moment, he asked. And Haqua answered,
“This is called cosplay, right? To think that humans could come up with such a fun thing.”
“…The way you and Elsie dress up normally should be considered a form of this as well.”
Haqua didn’t listen to him at all,
“Here, go change into this.”
She pointed at a traditional thief’s outfit (a face towel, a fake board and a haversack cloth), and she herself,
“I want this!”
Pointed at the policewoman uniform.
“Ugh.”
Keima gave an unhappy look.
To think that the policewoman outfit would even have handcuffs. Haqua locked Keima tightly on the handcuffs and brought him around the mall.
Keima ended up being laughed at by many children.
As Keima left Haqua behind and only bothered about buying games, it seemed that she wanted to use this chance to have her revenge.
“Oi! You had enough already, right?”
On hearing Keima’s protest, and feeling that there was enough laughter, Haqua undid the handcuffs,
“Then let’s go play this thing called bowling!”
And strode off.
Keima sighed as he followed.
Both their scores almost matched. Though Haqua had great athleticism, this was the first time she bowled, so she couldn’t perform up to standard.
On the other hand, as this had nothing to do with conquering girls, Keima couldn’t utilize his full ability. No, rather, he didn’t want to, and they ended up with a win and a loss each respectively.
After Haqua enjoyed herself,
“Let go play something else!”
“Yes yes.”
Keima seemed to have given up. Since it was a rare chance, both of them went back to the counter and changed into other costumes. Haqua became a princess, and Keima was a knight (with armor that was of light materials).
It seemed that Haqua had a side where she’s like a normal girl.
She had luxurious clothing on and turned her head around lightly. Haqua already had a regal and elegant flavor to her, and the milky white dress really looked good on her.
“Let’s go!”
Haqua pointed forward and marched on.
“…”
Keima smiled slightly, placed his model sword in front of his chest and slightly bowed.
Keima’s expertise in arcade games really amazed Haqua. Then, she timidly went through the haunted house. During this time, both of them enjoyed themselves on grilled lamb sticks and buffet before changing into a jounin and a samurai and going to the divination area.
At this moment,
“That’s the one! I was always curious about this the moment I came in!”
Haqua ran towards the entrance of the roller-coaster. This roller coaster was the most famous facility of Dean Land, and the track looks like it goes through the entire building. The reason why a part of the building was empty was so as to let the roller coaster move through.
“Let’s go!”
Haqua excitedly strode off.
At this moment.
“…”
Keima, who only spoke occasionally, suddenly grabbed her hand silently from behind. Haqua was shocked.
“What is it?”
She looked completely taken aback as she looked behind.
And her face was flushed red.
“Eh? What is it? Or, Katsuragi?”
Keima seemed to be thinking about something and gradually raised Haqua’s white and slender hand to her own face.
“Kya! Yo, you can’t. Idiot!”
“Nope.”
“Did, didn’t I say no?”
At this moment, Keima’s other hand went close to Haqua’s face. Haqua couldn’t help,
“No, I, I say,”
She couldn’t help but close her eyes tightly.
She froze, waiting for the next thing to happen.
Then, Keima’s hand was placed on her forehead, and he spoke softly,
“I already knew that something wasn’t right. Looks like you got a fever. You can’t take the roller coaster like this. Let’s go home. I’ll get Elsie to take care of you.”
“Eh?”
Haqua widened her eyes.
At this moment.
“!”
Her feet became unsteady.
Haqua’s eyes immediately went dark, and her consciousness fade…
“Sor, ry…”
Haqua let Keima carry her on the back as she apologized dejectedly. At this point, both of them had already changed back into their own clothes and left Dean Land.
They will have to spend quite a bit of money, but they decided to take a taxi back to the Katsuragis’ house. While walking to the taxi stand, Keima really couldn’t stand seeing Haqua faltering and decided to carry her.
“Sorry, Katsuragi.”
Haqua continued to apologize in an abnormally gentle voice.
No matter how excited she was, the graceful and highly self-disciplined Haqua should have realized that she wasn’t feeling well.
And this time, she even brought trouble to Keima. She would be definitely hurt by this.
Keima sighed.
“The next time you apologize, I’m going to leave you here.”
“Sorry…”
“I did go to the exhibition, so it’s not a lost cause altogether. I’m not bothered by this.”
“…Un.”
However,
This guy was really amazing.
Haqua was somewhat impressed with him. He could even realize that she unconsciously held back her illness and was even worried for her.
“…He~heh.”
She said stubbornly,
“I really want to take the roller coaster.”
“…”
Keima didn’t really show an ugly expression, so he should have known how to answer this. He would often,
Understand the heart subconsciously.
Thus,
“Heheh, I really wanted to take the roller coaster.”
“u.”
“I really wanted to ride it.”
“Uu.”
“Ne, Katsuragi?”
And thus
“Well, if there are any sales of old memorabilia games, I might consider it.”
He said this in an indirect manner.
On hearing what Keima would say in his own style,
“…”
Haqua gently narrowed her eyes, and then,
“Un.”
Held onto Keima’s collar tightly, and leaned her body over with all the honesty she had never shown before,
“Thank you.”
Haqua rested for a while at the Katsuragis’ house, refused the worried-looking Elsie’s idea for her to stay overnight, and returned back to Yukie’s house that night.
Though she was really reluctant,
And that she really had a fever,
However, Haqua still went back,
To pass these same words to Yukie.
Those words were,
“Thank you.”
All this for the hard work Yukie put in to arrange this.
Her main job was to sell fresh Gokult to houses that often order it in her designated area every day. In the morning, she would finish her housework and then head off to the distribution center. She would then change into her uniform, put the Gokult she had to deliver for the day itself into the cart and slowly deliver her goods through the path she decided on.
Also, one of her important jobs was to have new customers.
To promote her goods, she could decide to let people test a little bit of her products.
As Yukie was very confident in the products of her own company, she was often able to confidently hand the drinks over to customers who’d tasted it, and would never force them to buy it.
“Have some. It’s good. Nice and healthy.”
That’s her signature phrase.
What she focused on was a smile and honesty.
“Gokult’s good for the body. What I recommend can’t be wrong.”
And this belief.
Actually, Yukie herself used to be more impatient and would go around all over the place to increase the number of customers to promote her goods passionately. However, her body couldn’t take it now, and her methods have changed somewhat.
First, she would never force other people to buy.
The salary of a saleswoman was completely on commission, and her total salary would be decided through the number of Gokult delivered and the number of new customers. However, Yukie right now felt that money was just something she just needed enough of, and wasn’t really particular about her salary.
No, actually, that wasn’t just it. She would even request to shrink the area she was required to deliver to.
This was to spend even more time on each customer she had to handle and build more trust in them. Because of this, her sales numbers weren’t as impressive as when she was young (she was once chosen as the most outstanding Miss Gokult of the year thrice), but she still used her steady character and the sales technique she had trained over the years to get great ratings, and for 10 years, there weren’t any customers complaining, and neither were there any problems.
And also, the area she was in charge of gradually became smaller and smaller.
From this, one could tell how much her customers trusted her.
Thus, to Yukie.
“Sorry, Marui-san.”
The male Gokult supervisor, who was in charge of the distribution center, really trusted and doted on her.
“If it’s no problem, do you want to use this? Didn’t I request you to help out after work when some new workers came in to study? This is a reward for that. The main company gave me a few of these.”
“Oh my.”
Yukie supported her face.
“I’ll be really troubled~”
The supervisor handed a couple of tickets to a theme park to her.
“Goto-san always takes care of me.”
That was true.
As Yukie was enthusiastically managing and teaching other saleswoman, the supervisor would often give her some visible or invisible benefits.
“Hahaha.”
The supervisor scratched his somewhat balding head.
“Perhaps it may be troubling for Marui-san to accept this.”
Normally, for a woman like Yukie of this age, a couple of tickets to a theme park wouldn’t be really pleasing. However,
“…”
Yukie remained silent for a while and stared at the couple’s ticket.
“Can I really take this?”
“Ah, you’re willing to?”
“Yes.”
Yukie accepted the entrance ticket and smiled.
“I know who I can give this to.”
As for Haqua du Lot Herminium, a lot of people had comments about her.
“Haqua’s really amazing! She was always first in school, every single time! I’m really impressed—the scythe she has is the proof that she was the top from Devil Academy, the ‘Scythe of Testament’!”
Some were like Elsie, really impressed by her ability.
Or,
“Haq-chan’s really a good girl.”
They would praise her simply with one sentence, just like her partner Yukie.
“Pretty-looking, good figure (though the breasts are a little smaller), a model student with outstanding grades.”
That’s the basic impression everyone around her had.
Haqua herself was a little conceited somewhat.
But only Keima,
“…In many aspects, this person’s really a little bothersome.”
His glasses may shine, and his voice may have some form of a sigh as he lowered his shoulders.
Today, Haqua shall display that ‘a little bothersome in many aspects’ as much as she wanted…
“I have no other choice! I’m inviting you because I have no other choice!”
“Nya~”
“Don’t be mistaken, you know?”
“Nya?”
“Actually, I don’t want to head to such a childish place! But Yukie forced it onto me…eh? You’re saying that I should just throw the ticket away?”
“Nya.”
“Ho, how, how can this do…isn’t it too much of a waste?”
“Nya.”
“Tha, that’s right. Un, that’s it…are you going?”
“…”
“Y, yo, you, you’re not going?”
“…”
“Speak up! At least answer back!”
“Nya.”
“Tha, that’s right. I’m inviting you now. You’ll go, right?”
After a long while.
“…Are, are you happy? Well, you won’t feel irritated, right?”
Haqua continued to look at the kitten that was sitting on the plastic bin.
That cat.
“…”
After a long pause of silence,
“Nya.”
Cried out and turned around before leaping up the wall and vanished into the alley without turning back.
“…”
After watching the kitten leave, Haqua sighed.
“What am I doing? Getting to practice with a kitten…”
She was holding tightly onto two entrance tickets to the ‘Dean Land’…
It’s been an hour since Haqua stood in front of the Katsuragis’ house and decided to go in. The passers-by were all giving weird looks to Haqua, who was wearing strange clothing and wielding a scythe, but she didn’t seem to mind as she continued to look up at Keima’s house, the ‘Grandpa Café’.
With her hands behind her back, she continued to wander in front of the door meaninglessly.
“Uu~”
However, she couldn’t just remain at the door like this.
She made her decision and kicked the ground to float up before vanishing to the other end of the wall.
Her flight manner was a lot more graceful than Elsie, who was also a devil.
After entering the house, Haqua adjusted her breathing.
She placed her fingers on the collarbone above her chest and felt her heart quickening. However, since she came all the way here.
There’s no way back now.
In fact.
“At this moment, every fortnight, Elsie and Keima’s mother will be out shopping.”
Haqua already knew that they would use this time to buy the supplies the café used up. On a side note, she was very clear that Keima wouldn’t go out every Sunday and would stay at home to play games. That’s something she already knew every time she came over. The problem was that there was a very small chance that Keima would be out shopping for games.
“The games he bought last week probably aren’t completed yet, so he’s likely to be at home today.”
This was all in Haqua’s estimation too.
Katsuragi Keima should be at home, alone.
However…
Haqua looked around the Katsuragis’ house and tilted her head slightly.
“What’s this?”
She was really troubled. There were things like garlic, amulets and straw ropes all over the place. What was going on?
What happened during the time she wasn’t here to visit?
Haqua walked around. At this moment, a voice came from the living room.
(“Keima! Keima!”)
There was a really childish voice.
(Hm?)
Haqua looked troubled.
That sounded just like a girl.
And it should be an unknown girl to her, aged 4 or 5. Who could it be?
Keima shouldn’t have any little sisters.
Did any kids from his relatives come over to play?
In front of the living room,
“What is it, Tomomi?”
She could even hear Keima talking. Just when Haqua was about to grab onto the handle to the living room and was about to open it casually.
(“I want to kiss Keima~”)
PAK!
Haqua was stunned there.
(Ah? Eh? What did she just say?)
Haqua was rooted there, and it was unknown whether she was smiling or angry.
During this time, from the living room,
(“Eh? Keima. How about a kiss~?)
The girl’s fawning voice could be heard,
“Haa.”
And Keima’s sigh could be heard.
(That, that’s right…if she was just a kid that matured a little early, Keima would be comforting her…)
Just when Haqua was thinking on the other side of the door,
“Alright.”
Keima actually spoke in a tone of a flasher who doesn’t regret what he did.
“Let’s kiss, Tomomi. No one’s at home anyway.”
(!)
The next second, Haqua subconsciously took action.
“WAIT A SEC!”
She slammed the door open.
“NO WAY ARE YOU—!!”
And shouted out.
“—!“
In the living room.
Keima, who had the PFP handheld gaming console right at his face seemed to be shocked as he turned back to look.
It’s rare to see his eyes widen like that.
“Let me clarify something.”
Keima’s eyes sparkled.
“Tomomi may know very little vocabulary, but her actual age and appearance is about 17, 18. She got involved in an incident where she was abducted by a spaceship and ended up in cryo-stasis, so her mental age is rather backward.”
“…”
In contrast, Haqua.
“THESE~AREN’T IMPORTANT!”
Looked really unhappy as she folded her legs on the sofa and looked like she had a quarrel, as she scowled and narrowed her eyes.
“Let me explain more. Kissing is just tapping the face slightly.”
Keima was frantically explaining behind Haqua.
“This underhanded method of making use of the other party’s love is ethically and logically…”
“I said that it’s not important!”
Keima’s eyes flashed as he looked at Haqua through his glasses.
“I’m going to continue with my game then.”
Then, he raised his game console and brought his lips closer.
“Tomomi…”
Haqua let her body sink into the sofa, and then,
“OI! PLEASE~! DON’T YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF SHAME?”
She roared once she looked away.
“Disgusting! Absolutely disgusting!”
She raised her white and slender finger and pointed at Keima.
Keima widened his eyes and looked at Haqua unhappily,
“Why are you here?”
He asked.
“Mu.”
Haqua was stumped for a moment.
In this game, the Comprehensive Hazard Observer (that’s the setting in the game for a person who could observe and predict asteroid orbits and anything that happen on the trading ships) Tomomi Maria Hart.
(“Ne, Keima, a kiss~?”)
It continued to prompt.
“Why are you here?”
Right now, it should be the hardest question for Haqua to answer.
“Uu.”
She shook.
“Uuu.”
She was obviously panicking. Even she knew that her heart was racing. It’s unknown whether it was just her imagination, but her head felt a little doozy.
“Well.”
At this moment, Keima’s eyes got sharper.
“you.”
Those clear eyes seemed to see through everything.
“Don’t tell me.”
“Sh, shut up! What? What now? What do you want to say?”
“No, nothing.”
He said that,
“Probably just me.”
Logically to himself.
“What are you trying to say! Really~!”
Haqua panicked for quite a while.
“We, well, isn’t Elsie at home?”
Even though she already knew the answer, she still forced the question out. Keima didn’t really respond,
“…Hm? I don’t know.”
He merely tilted his head.
“It’s quiet today, so I guess that she’s not at home…probably?”
“Oh please.”
Haqua felt a bit weak,
“I say, at least know where your partner is!”
Keima took the slip of paper on the table,
“‘To Kami nii-sama! I went to buy things with okaa-sama. There’s curry okaa-sama cooked in the microwave. Please have that for lunch.’…just like that.”
He recited.
“In other words, it seems that she’s not at home.”
Keima murmured and looked completely unconcerned. Haqua sighed lightly and said deliberately,
“Ah~that’ll be really troublesome.”
“…”
Keima continued to stare at Haqua intently.
“What should I do? The ticket that can only be used today will be wasted.”
She deliberately took the ticket out from her pocket and looked at it.
“I wanted to go over with Elsie, but she’s not around.”
She sounded rather stiff.
“Really, I wanted to go along with Elsie…there are two of these. It’s a waste for me to go alone.”
She secretly peered at Keima.
Keima continued to look at Haqua.
Haqua was panicking.
She rolled her eyeballs slightly,
She held the entrance ticket in front of her chest,
“How troublesome.”
Now that she stated things so plainly, Haqua thought that Keima would have some sort of a response,
“Tomomi…”
Unexpectedly, he continued to play his game.
On the PFP.
(“Keima!”)
Tomomi, who had been waiting patiently, spoke.
Haqua inadvertently collapsed on the sofa.
“Oi!”
She nearly erupted in anger, but felt that it was all meaningless now and collapsed weakly, and the entrance ticket she got fell onto the sofa. In other words, this man never had any thoughts for her. She thoroughly felt that.
She was tired.
She felt really tired.
Keima looked at Haqua, who was looking back at him, and then looked at the entrance ticket in her hand.
He seemed to have considered something, and after a while,
“…Haqua.”
He spoke.
“What?”
Looking somewhat teary, Haqua rubbed her eyes slightly to prevent Keima from seeing her tears. Really~ I don’t want to be bothered with this guy.
She thought.
Thus,
Even though Keima asked in a really natural manner, Haqua still couldn’t understand.
“That entrance ticket is to the Museum theme park, right…can I go with you?”
EH?
EHHH?
Haqua’s mind immediately went blank. The next moment,
She, who was very proud and very defensive,
Actually forgot to act.
“Re, REALLY?”
She suddenly turned around, grabbed the back of the sofa, and couldn’t help but shout out…
She was extremely delighted.
The unhappy feeling that was in her immediately dissipated.
She couldn’t help but beam.
Thinking about everything in hindsight, Haqua felt very sorry for this.
So sorry that she couldn’t sleep that night…
A few hours later.
Both of them arrived in front of Dean Land, showed the ticket recipient the ticket and entered.
Just the two of them.
She was actually able to be alone with Katsuragi Keima.
Haqua felt that this was just like a dream.
Her body was feeling really hot, and she felt really anxious.
“I never thought that I would be in such a place with you…”
Even though I was the one who brought the ticket to him, this is way too weird.
As for Keima,
“…”
He glanced at Haqua,
“Are…you alright?’
He looked rather serious. Haqua tensed up,
“Sor, sort of. We can’t waste these entrance tickets anyway!”
And then, she spoke to hide her emotions. She seemed to have viewed Keima’s question,
“‘Is it really alright for me to come along? You wanted to come along with Elsie, right?’”
She seemed to have heard it this way.
On hearing Haqua’s answer, Keima’s expression seemed to show some thought.
“…I didn’t mean it like that.”
“S, speaking of which!”
Haqua forcefully changed the topic.
“This place is really strange…this is the first time I’m at a theme park. Are all of them like this?”
To put it properly, Dean Land was different from other theme parks. The large building had many entertainment facilities like bowling alleys, karaoke and LAN gaming. The most unique feature was the cosplay.
There were more than 300 kinds of costumes the counter would loan out. Besides uniforms like nurses and policemen, there would be traditional outfits, international ethnic clothing, clothing of gaming and mange characters, and even toy plushies.
Because of these, there were large-eared bunnies, superheroes, maids wearing mini-skirts and magicians walking around.
Of course, Haqua didn’t know that Keima and Elsie came here a little while back to conquer a certain girl. At that time, Keima cosplayed as a prince.
“Cosplay…where you wear all sorts of costumes and have fun?”
Haqua looked around and seemed to realize something as she nodded her head.
(Everyone really look happy…)
Should we be wearing those costumes?
“What do you think?”
She turned around,
“Hm?’
And frowned as Keima was nowhere to be seen.
Haqua hurriedly looked around, and then found Keima with his hands on his hips, SWOOSH, quickly running away from Haqua.
“Wait!”
Haqua hurriedly chased after him. Actually, Keima wasn’t running, but crossed over at an unbelievable speed as he easily climbed up the handrail staircase even though it was crowded.
“Eh?”
What’s going on?
Did his mind suddenly click?
“Wa, wait!”
However, Keima had no intention on turning around at all, but went up the second level, third level, all the way to the activity plaza on the roof.
“…I see.”
Haqua wiped away the sweat on her forehead and sighed hard as her shoulders collapsed.
She finally understood.
Why Keima came here.
Why Keima would accept Haqua’s invitation.
Because, over here,
“Galge game exhibition.”
There were these words plastered on a banner as crowds of people were moving towards this stall. At this moment, Keima had already slipped into the crowd like a fish into water.
“Oh! It’s the re-edition of <Nya~Nyan nyan>.”
Or,
“Hm…‘MassiveSoft’s customer service is still rather prompt.”
He muttered on the way as he swayed about between the stalls. It seemed that the distributors of galges have set up shop on this level.
The bag first appeared on Keima’s right hand, then the left, and then, soon, the games started to pile up. It was just like magic. Even though it wasn’t so bad that the eyes couldn’t catch up, but the way he was shopping so quickly and fluidly wasn’t something an ordinary person could do.
“…”
Haqua half-opened her eyes.
At first, she started to feel weak,
And then, somewhat angry.
However,
“Oh~!”
Or,
“Un.”
On seeing Keima’s eyes glitter as he ran about, the anger inside her subsided.
Haqua gave a wry smile.
And then, felt a bit relaxed for some reason.
(This guy.)
She actually felt that Keima was really stupid.
However—
It seemed that he really likes these things.
Keima would never hide,
This desire he was always loyal to.
In that case,
I might as well…
Haqua smiled.
“Fu!”
Keima finished buying his things (as it was really smooth, he spent less than 30 minutes), and looked really satisfied. At this moment, Haqua called him out.
She gave a mischievous look,
“You looked like you were enjoying yourself there.”
“Uu.”
It seemed that Keima, who left Haqua aside…and in a certain extent, even made use of her to come to this Dean Land, felt a little guilty.
Haqua said,
“In that case.”
She folded her arms and smirked,
“Now it’s your turn to have fun with me!”
Keima was so shocked that he widened his eyes.
Haqua was really bold to let herself loose completely. She left all the games Keima bought at the Dean Land’s storage cupboard.
“Let’s change too!”
And brought Keima to the counter. Keima followed silently,
“…Aren’t you disgusted by this or something?”
At this moment, he asked. And Haqua answered,
“This is called cosplay, right? To think that humans could come up with such a fun thing.”
“…The way you and Elsie dress up normally should be considered a form of this as well.”
Haqua didn’t listen to him at all,
“Here, go change into this.”
She pointed at a traditional thief’s outfit (a face towel, a fake board and a haversack cloth), and she herself,
“I want this!”
Pointed at the policewoman uniform.
“Ugh.”
Keima gave an unhappy look.
To think that the policewoman outfit would even have handcuffs. Haqua locked Keima tightly on the handcuffs and brought him around the mall.
Keima ended up being laughed at by many children.
As Keima left Haqua behind and only bothered about buying games, it seemed that she wanted to use this chance to have her revenge.
“Oi! You had enough already, right?”
On hearing Keima’s protest, and feeling that there was enough laughter, Haqua undid the handcuffs,
“Then let’s go play this thing called bowling!”
And strode off.
Keima sighed as he followed.
Both their scores almost matched. Though Haqua had great athleticism, this was the first time she bowled, so she couldn’t perform up to standard.
On the other hand, as this had nothing to do with conquering girls, Keima couldn’t utilize his full ability. No, rather, he didn’t want to, and they ended up with a win and a loss each respectively.
After Haqua enjoyed herself,
“Let go play something else!”
“Yes yes.”
Keima seemed to have given up. Since it was a rare chance, both of them went back to the counter and changed into other costumes. Haqua became a princess, and Keima was a knight (with armor that was of light materials).
It seemed that Haqua had a side where she’s like a normal girl.
She had luxurious clothing on and turned her head around lightly. Haqua already had a regal and elegant flavor to her, and the milky white dress really looked good on her.
“Let’s go!”
Haqua pointed forward and marched on.
“…”
Keima smiled slightly, placed his model sword in front of his chest and slightly bowed.
Keima’s expertise in arcade games really amazed Haqua. Then, she timidly went through the haunted house. During this time, both of them enjoyed themselves on grilled lamb sticks and buffet before changing into a jounin and a samurai and going to the divination area.
At this moment,
“That’s the one! I was always curious about this the moment I came in!”
Haqua ran towards the entrance of the roller-coaster. This roller coaster was the most famous facility of Dean Land, and the track looks like it goes through the entire building. The reason why a part of the building was empty was so as to let the roller coaster move through.
“Let’s go!”
Haqua excitedly strode off.
At this moment.
“…”
Keima, who only spoke occasionally, suddenly grabbed her hand silently from behind. Haqua was shocked.
“What is it?”
She looked completely taken aback as she looked behind.
And her face was flushed red.
“Eh? What is it? Or, Katsuragi?”
Keima seemed to be thinking about something and gradually raised Haqua’s white and slender hand to her own face.
“Kya! Yo, you can’t. Idiot!”
“Nope.”
“Did, didn’t I say no?”
At this moment, Keima’s other hand went close to Haqua’s face. Haqua couldn’t help,
“No, I, I say,”
She couldn’t help but close her eyes tightly.
She froze, waiting for the next thing to happen.
Then, Keima’s hand was placed on her forehead, and he spoke softly,
“I already knew that something wasn’t right. Looks like you got a fever. You can’t take the roller coaster like this. Let’s go home. I’ll get Elsie to take care of you.”
“Eh?”
Haqua widened her eyes.
At this moment.
“!”
Her feet became unsteady.
Haqua’s eyes immediately went dark, and her consciousness fade…
“Sor, ry…”
Haqua let Keima carry her on the back as she apologized dejectedly. At this point, both of them had already changed back into their own clothes and left Dean Land.
They will have to spend quite a bit of money, but they decided to take a taxi back to the Katsuragis’ house. While walking to the taxi stand, Keima really couldn’t stand seeing Haqua faltering and decided to carry her.
“Sorry, Katsuragi.”
Haqua continued to apologize in an abnormally gentle voice.
No matter how excited she was, the graceful and highly self-disciplined Haqua should have realized that she wasn’t feeling well.
And this time, she even brought trouble to Keima. She would be definitely hurt by this.
Keima sighed.
“The next time you apologize, I’m going to leave you here.”
“Sorry…”
“I did go to the exhibition, so it’s not a lost cause altogether. I’m not bothered by this.”
“…Un.”
However,
This guy was really amazing.
Haqua was somewhat impressed with him. He could even realize that she unconsciously held back her illness and was even worried for her.
“…He~heh.”
She said stubbornly,
“I really want to take the roller coaster.”
“…”
Keima didn’t really show an ugly expression, so he should have known how to answer this. He would often,
Understand the heart subconsciously.
Thus,
“Heheh, I really wanted to take the roller coaster.”
“u.”
“I really wanted to ride it.”
“Uu.”
“Ne, Katsuragi?”
And thus
“Well, if there are any sales of old memorabilia games, I might consider it.”
He said this in an indirect manner.
On hearing what Keima would say in his own style,
“…”
Haqua gently narrowed her eyes, and then,
“Un.”
Held onto Keima’s collar tightly, and leaned her body over with all the honesty she had never shown before,
“Thank you.”
Haqua rested for a while at the Katsuragis’ house, refused the worried-looking Elsie’s idea for her to stay overnight, and returned back to Yukie’s house that night.
Though she was really reluctant,
And that she really had a fever,
However, Haqua still went back,
To pass these same words to Yukie.
Those words were,
“Thank you.”
All this for the hard work Yukie put in to arrange this.
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