[FanFic] The World I Only Know

[Z-ComiX]

Yeah... i decided to write a fanfic about Keima that looks at the story line if Keima never chose to Accept the Contract. I'm hoping to make it a darker version of the story with alternate capture sequences.

I know its not the best piece of writing so i am very VERY open to critiques and Flames alike to improve the story. any who, hope you enjoy, i'll post all chapters in this comment as more arrive!!

Chapter 1: The World I Only Know

The World I Only Know- TWGOK FanFiction
By: Z-ComiX
CHAPTER 1: The World I Only Know

My name is Keima Katsuragi. I was born June 6, at 11:29:35 and am currently 17 years old. I am 174 cm tall, 54 kg and have a blood type of B. My mother is Mari Katsuragi, an ex-biker and my father is Keiichi Katsuragi, a mad who travels the world as a part of his career. When I was young I wasn’t really interested in anything. I would float around in this world; do the necessary amount of work to be considered ‘normal’ and repeat the cycle day in and day out. This was my life… until I saw something amazing.

When I saw it I was in awe. Its glowing screen, the images it displayed and the stories it told to me. This beautiful device entranced my eyes and excited my mind and so naturally I started to play more I asked my mom what it was. She replied that it was a game console and told me how it worked. This is when I realized I wanted to be a gamer.

The more I played the more adept I became. I would 100 percent a game in a matter of weeks, a time interval I would surpass months later, and I would absorb the information as if I were a sponge. These games gave me more than a purpose; I genuinely enjoyed going out and exploring these worlds that were contained in my hands. I should also probably mention these events happened before I even entered Kindergarten.

It was only when I interacted with others that things got complicated. I enjoyed my little world; my reality was much more interesting than the one that I was born into. The characters seemed more alive in these worlds compared to the kids in my class. Ah, my classmates… when I first joined the class people would ask me about my games, they thought it was cool, since as a young kid they were socially acceptable.

“That’s so cool!”

“Oh I love that game!”

“Man, I can never pass that stage, but you did it in one go!?”

And why shouldn’t they have been in awe? I had been playing and completing these games faster than anyone they had ever seen. At first I thought it was okay to talk to them about my games; I thought they would be as involved in these games as I was. So I began to discuss all the information I had learnt over my short life. But when I talked about it with other kids my age they started to pull away.

“Oh…I didn’t know about that… It’s kinda weird you know that much…”

“Ummm… Keima I’ve never heard of that actually…”

“Hey listen, lets go play soccer… no?... oh okay… well I’ll see you around then…”

I went from being interesting to being weird in all the eyes of my classmates in a matter of days. They did not understand my passion and therefore shunned me; a common plot device that is based off the idea that humans fear what they do not understand. Even my teachers started to avoid me. At first they tried to assimilate me; they punished me for playing games, they did many things, but in the end they all gave up. But it was a non-issue to me because I was doing something I enjoyed. I did my work, I learnt the necessary, but I was not apart of there reality.

My reality was developing around me. My knowledge of gaming made me learn things younger kids would not know until high school. I would learn information, seek out information and retain the information I used for my conquests of games.

Information; it was my power. It was through this that I began to learn not only about the world around me, but of what was so flawed about it. These theories were proven the day my true passion was shown to me… and when it was exposed to fellow classmates.

Through research I learnt about a genre of games known as ‘galge games,’ or dating simulators. Of course, kids my age didn’t really play these games, but as a gamer I had to challenge myself to excel. So, I bought a few of these games from a store I frequented. Since my mom usually bought the games for me the cashier did not realize I was the intended player and there fore disregarded the ratings. As soon as I returned home I played the first game in the stack. A few minutes in I was hooked; I was entranced by the plotline and was captivated by the process of getting this girl to fall in love with me. I wanted to see her happy, I wanted to have her reach her ideal ending. As soon as I finished that game I immediately started the next game and then next one. Before I knew it I was heading off to school playing one of the games. This is when I was completely isolated.

It was time for lunch and so I pulled out my newest game and popped it into the portable. I disregarded the game case on my desk, focusing on my goal of saving the heroine from her plight. Soon a girl from my class passed by my desk and by some chance decided to look at the case. Her eyes must have widened as she saw the case and read the rating. All I noticed at the time was her talking to the teacher and pointing at me and whispering.

“Keima-kun? Is this your game?” said the teacher with a worried look on her face. I nodded not looking up at her, too busy with analyzing the dialogue on the screen.

“Keima… these games aren’t for you, there for older kids… I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to take it away from you.” I looked up at her with a blank look. I was too young to really understand what the problem was and even today have trouble with some parts of this reality.

“Why?” I asked. And then it all began. I calmly discussed with her why I should be allowed to play my games and the beauty of them. She started getting more and more worried and soon she went to get the principal. When they returned I continued to make eloquent arguments to their responses and as I spoke more and more of the kids started listening to me talk. It wasn’t long before I found myself in the principal’s office with my mom, but I continued to play my game either way. I knew I was in the right, but I could tell I was in for it later. Words like “BANNED” and “DIRTY” and “TABOO” were used. I couldn’t understand there views even after I had made such a great case for the games I so loved. I learnt that day that the real world will never accept my world.

“Hey look it’s that kid.”

“wasn’t he caught playing bad games?”

“Yeah, he so creepy! All he does is play games!”

“Eww!!”

“God! He such an Otamegane!”

Otamegane. A combination of otaku, my “geeky” nature and megane, a sign of my bespectacled face. That word branded and followed me forever. I was not apart of any crowd anymore. I was completely isolated from my class, the school, and most importantly reality. But this was of no concern to me; in fact it was better this way. They could not and would not understand or try to understand my way of life. They were intolerant of my world, and there world would never reach my ideals. It was an impassable rift that I was happy was there. So finally I was allowed to do what I liked; I could finally play my galge games in silence.

I was like my name said. I was a knight trying to save the girl in each one of my games. I would not rest until I set every one of them free. Over the years that knight would gain power and rise from this mortal playing field and become a god. A Fallen God of Conquest. The Otoshigami.

Currently I run a modest website where I record my trails and tribulations to aide those whom seek to follow in my footsteps. Through ads and donations on my site I am able to make enough money to buy games and then some. I surprising how many people seem to visit my site because my calculations say that if I were to use the money as it were now I would be able to survive off my website alone (and by survive I mean buy games, live in a cheap apartment and have one meal a day). Even if I did not do this my future is secured since I could always work for my mom’s café as a bar tender. I have become quite adept in brewing coffee as I have been working in Café Grandpa with my mom from time to time. My grades are fine as well, sans physical education since of course with my gamers’ physique I am not the most athletic student. Still I get by in life and toe the baseline of an ‘average’ student even if my social status is that of an exile.

Do not feel sorry for me, I enjoy this life. I chose this route since is gets me closer to my goal. I am the Otoshigami, I have no need for any of this bonds or reality… and yet I am cursed to jump its hurdles to continue. What irony. This is my life story and as long as there are not unexpected events I intend to proceed this way forever.

*-*

Keima Katsuragi sat at his usual spot at the top of the school tapping away at the keys on his PFP. He was reading the e-mails that the “lost lambs,” as he called them, had sent to him today. One message caught his eye in particular.

To The God of Conquest

I have heard rumors that you can conquer any girl you want. That is quite unbelievable, but if that is true, there is a girl I would like you to conquer. If you are confident you can do it, then press the “reply” button.

He though about pressing the button, but after much contemplation he came to a conclusion that this must be spam since he needed to click on an unknown link. He had had this happen before and ended up losing all his save data and having to get a new PFP to replay hours of work. With that he put the message in his “DEAL WITH LATER…” folder to incur wraith of god at a later date.

Keima did not know that by throwing away this flag he had chosen to begin down a new route, a much darker and troublesome route than the world only we all know.

Chapter 2: The World a Runner Only Knows

The World I Only Know- TWGOK FanFiction
By: Z-ComiX
CHAPTER 2: The World a Runner Only Knows

Flag 2.1 Warming Up

CHAPTER 2: The World a Runner Only Knows
Flag 2.1 Warming up

I was a typical school day at Maijima Private High. The sun shone brightly overhead as the smell of bread being places for the lunch rush was in the air. It enticed all the students to come down and buy some as they sat in there classes in hunger… all expect for one student who had been playing his games all throughout the period. Quickly typing out commands, Keima rushed to the ending of his newest game enjoying every second of the drama unfolding before him. Although most humans would be hungry at this time Keima was no ordinary person for he only needed his games and the occasional dinner to get him through the day. Some would say that he was ignoring the world around him, however this was not so. He was always aware of his surroundings as he had to be able to game at the peak of his ability. Any form of distraction could cut down on time so he was ready to evade any issues reality might throw.

His ability kicked in as he heard the door to the classroom slide open. His ears perked up as three pairs of footsteps and the high-pitched girl’s voices flooded the room that had once been a cathedral of silence moments before. They of course were normal high school girls so Keima figured he was safe for now. They would not disturb-

“Ewww its Otamega! How gross; it doesn’t look like he even moved since this morning!” A normal reaction Keima had heard many times before. Disregarded.

“Forget it, he in his own little world, he won’t bother us. He probably doesn’t even know we’re here!” the girls giggled. Keima would have smiled at how ignorant they were of his power, but he was at a crucial point in the game and could not afford to lose focus.
“Hey, did you hear?”

“What?”

“You know Takahara Ayumi?”

“The track runner? I heard she’s the fastest newcomer this year!” Everyone seemed to have been talking about this Takahara Ayumi for weeks, but Keima did not see the appeal. He was an annoying, loud-mouthed and dimwitted Real, and therefore had no place in his mind.

“What happened?” asked one of the girls to the one who brought up Ayumi’s name.

“Turns out she tripped and hurt herself while practicing hurdles! They say it might have been a prank by the seniors.”

“How cruel!” The other agreed, but the one who brought forth the rumor just shook her head.

“Well, I don’t know… she might not have been that good at track to begin with.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… I head a rumor that she might have just been lucky… or even cheated during one of our Physical Education classes. Apparently she was recruited to the track team the day the coach planned to go scouting. I don’t know… it all seems a little too convenient…”

“Whoa, really? I never knew all that! I also heard she hasn’t improved at all since that day let alone match it… I just thought it was because it was hard for her to increase such a great time… kind of makes you think twice about people like that.”

“Well it doesn’t matter either way; she really hurt her leg so she won’t be able to compete at the next meet. If it’s too bad she might be out for the season…” The girls continued to babble about their stupid rumors for the rest of lunch while Keima processed the information he had been given… in the game. He filed the info on Ayumi in the back of his brain under “Non-essential Facts on Reality.”

The bell rang signaling the start of the next class and as Keima switched out games he caught a glance at Ayumi coming into the classroom. She had a crutch tucked under one arm and a cast on her injured foot. She had two of her friends helping her to her seat, where she struggled to get the foot positioned in a way that did not hurt her as she sat through class. Although her expression was a smile as she thanked her friends Keima thought he caught a glimpse of sadness… no not that, more like… regret. But this was again not his problem. This was not his Reality.

Class started as Nikaido Sensei stepped into the room. As they began with the normal class routines Keima continued to play his games, absorbing the data from two Realities at once. Near the end of the day Nikaido passed out the tests that were taken a few days prior. Dissapointedly the sadist teacher shoved the paper in Keima’s face, making him fumble to juggle his PFP and his paper, which Keima of course aced. On the other hand one girl with an injured leg could be heard groaning at her paper.

“Takahara,” stated Nikaido with her usual no-nonsense tone. “Your grades have been poor all year. If you wish to continue attending track you will have to pull up your grades with the next test.”

“Oh… Yes Sensei.” Said Ayumi in a tone that could be heard as “I will” to most, but to Keima’s trained ears, which was able to pick out emotion from the voice’s of the characters in his games, he heard the distinct feeling of half-heartedness. Nikaido seemed to detect it too.

“With the way you have been taking test I doubt that studying alone will help you at all. I cannot have one of my fastest students fail and lose her spot on the track team when I’m betting on your success this year in the teacher’s pool.” To this everyone got a sweat drop and a nervous laugh. To many this would be out of the ordinary, but everyone knew their Sensei by now and so this wasn’t as much of a shock as it would be. She continued. “Therefore I am assigning you to take one-on-one lessons with the class’s top student. From today onward, you will stay after class everyday and study with Katsuragi.”

“EEEHHH?!” Everyone, including one gamer and one runner, exclaimed.

“Sensei isn’t that too much of a punishment?!” stated Chihiro. “To be stuck in the same room as that perverted Otamegane… I don’t even want to think about it!!”

Keima stood up in anger. The sound of a PFP hitting the desk and a chair sliding as someone rushed to there feet was audible.

“HEY!! IT’S NO PARTY FOR ME EITHER!! Why do I need to be stuck here everyday with someone from The Real?! I need to complete my games!!” Nikaido did her famous sinister smile.

“Are you questioning my orders?” Everyone besides Keima went silent. IF there was one thing that the class could somewhat respect about Keima it was his immunity to their Sensei’s atmosphere that she projected. Although this respect was very, VERY minimal.

“You can’t force me to say after school to teach her.”

“Oh can’t I? I see only two choices Katsuragi… either you do this tiny task everyday and I ignore your gaming addiction or I can punish you by making you stay after school grading papers while I ‘accidentally’ drop coffee on your games.” Keima grew silent. She had him in a corner with the use of the carrot and stick method (or was it more of a stick and sharper stick method?).

“… Just until she can do it on her own, right?” Nikaido smiled at his meek response, denoting her victory.

“I knew you’d see it my way.” And with that normality returned to class for all expect Keima and Ayumi, who could visibly be seen as depressed. It would definitely be a long day for the two if them…

*-*

Ayumi and Keima sat opposite of each other at a desk. Ayumi put her hands behind her head, rocking her chair back and forth while Keima saved his game. He tucked his PFP away in his pocket waiting and looked up at Ayumi.

“Alright, let’s get this done quickly. What areas do you have problems in?” Keima said with a sigh. He just wanted this to end as quickly as he could; it was very unsettling to be stuck in the same room as a Real. Ayumi looked at her notebook and then back at Keima. His eyes when wide open as Ayumi rubbed the back of her head with a nervous grin. “ Oh god no… don’t tell me… ALL OF IT?!”

She tried to cover for herself.

“… W-well! I was very busy! With track and all, and then the injury…”

“That no excuse to not study!!”

“Like you can talk otamega!! You NEVER study!!” she looked away again in disgust. “Really… to be stuck here with you… just play your stupid games.”

Keima’s eyes filled with rage.

HONESTLY! THIS GIRL IS MPOSSIBLE! He pulled out his PFP and began to play. In the recesses of his mind he started to calculate the time it would take to even get through this hurdle Reality and thrown his way. Then his mind drifting to other things. Why isn’t she trying harder… doesn’t she want to go back to track?OR at least doesn’t she want to get away from me?… This is why Realities heroines cannot compete with that of the galge universes.

He decided to shake it off for now, but still it was strange. He looked up to check on the girl only to be greeted by a sad faced Ayumi. The face was so surprising that Keima could not pull himself away from staring. Since people had ignored him all his life he hypothesized that Ayumi had just followed suit and forgotten he was there. Now she was showing her true emotions as she stared blankly at the track team training outside the window.

Keima had spent years trying to remove these emotions from girls in his games that it was beginning to irritate him that he was doing nothing. His hands fidgeted as he tried to select imaginary commands that would usually prompt at this point in time, but to no avail. And yet, he did not want to interact with Reality. He fought internally with the choice to interact or throw away the flag.

Don’t do it, don’t DO IT!

“H-hey… Your leg…” He awkwardly said never look in up from his screen.

“Hmm!” Ayumi was surprised at first and then quickly put her façade back up. “Y-yeah, it hurts a little but whatever, you know?”

The silence returned. Keima decided to continue probing since he had already chosen this route.

“So you think you’ll be able to run soon?”

“Maybe… it doesn’t matter anyway, tomorrow’s the big meet. I’ll probably be off the team after this…” Keima noted the tone. The comments from the girls before along with his previous assumptions were building into a profile of Ayumi’s problem in his mind. He decided to try a little more forceful in his approach.

“Is that what you want?” Ayumi face suddenly snapped towards Keima with angry eyes.

“WHAT?! OF COURSE NOT!! How could I…” Her eyes flickered in a direction that Keima knew meant that she was recalling information only she knew. “An otamega like you who has never even done a sport could never understand the pain I’m in right now! I worked hard to get to where I am! How could you even suggest that?”

“Well…” he said, adjusting his glasses. “I heard a rumor earlier that you might have only made the team due to cheating anyway.”
Keima instantly felt a stinging sensation that pulled his eyes away from the screen as Ayumi smacked him across the face. He moved a hand to his cheek, which only made the pain worst.

“IDIOT! THOSE ARE OBVIOUSLY LIES! I WOULD NEVER CHEAT!!” Ayumi’s eyes were watering as she fought back tears. Keima figured she had been hearing this rumor all day since the injury and now that she was hearing it from “the lowest of the low” only made it worst. Her fires of her anger burned down those as she stood up and looked away. “It doesn’t matter anyway… tomorrow my only chance to pursue my dream will be gone…”

Ayumi looked up at the school’s clock. She then looked out the window, just staring at the track as the setting sun bathed it in a golden orange.

“Time’s up. Just get out of here and leave me alone.” Keima silently did as he was told. As he slid the door shut he could faintly hear the pants of Ayumi as she slowly lost the battle to fight back her tears.

*-*

As Keima walked he analyze the information he had been presented. Ayumi did want to go back to track, that was apparent from her reaction to the cheating allegation… but then again she didn’t. Something was holding her back and it didn’t feel like it was her injury.

To many, these thoughts about Ayumi would make one think that Keima was trying to help her out of the kindness of his heart, but in actuality it benefitted him to proceed this way. If he could get Ayumi to like track again, she would be more motivated to study and in turn that would mean Reality would no longer have a hold on him. So, with that in mind Keima started to flip through his mental note cards of plot devices. Although there was a divide between the two worlds he knew, some choices may be transferable if he could find a scenario that was similar to Ayumi’s.

Keima decided that he might as well kill two birds with one stone at this point by getting through his latest game while trying to solve this problem. He reached for his pocket to get his PFP out when he realized he did not have it on him.

“… it must have fallen to the floor when Takahara-san slapped me…” and so with this in mind he headed back to the classroom to check. It was very late at this point, so everyone should have gone home by now. The sun and disappeared and the sound of his footsteps echoed in the halls. He reached for the door to side it and what he saw inside the classroom he couldn’t believe.

“Honestly! She could have cleaned the room before she left! Nikaido-Sensei would have blamed me for this if I hadn’t come back…” He started to clean the room when he saw his PFP on his desk. “Well, at least she did one good thing…”

He tucked it away safely in his pocket. In his peripheral vision he saw movement outside the window. Peering at the track he saw Ayumi at the starting line, track clothes on. She did not have her crutch or her cast. Keima silently watched what was about to unfold.

Ayumi had her had on a watch she wore for training and as soon as she clicked the button she took off. She did not stumble or show any sign of injury in her form, in fact, Keima noted, she was actually very graceful in how she glided around the track. She ran one lap at full speed then stopped her watch. She panted and smiled as she recovered from her burst, but when she looked at her wrist the smile was wiped away along with all the sweat on her brow. The only thing that remained was the tears that streamed down her face as she fell to her knees.

Keima sat in his seat; he crossed his leg and had his PFP on as he played in the dark. The only light was the moon dimly illuminating the room and the soft glow of the PFP upon his emotionless face. His only thought at this new flag was “I’ve seen something good…”

Flag 2.2 Cooling Down

Click to Jump to Post

Flag 2.3 Runner's High

Click to Jump to Post

[Muddy Biddy]

It's pretty good. It captures Keima's nature pretty well. There's only a couple of diction errors, but otherwise rather enjoyable.

Ideas: Since Keima has no idea about Hell, perhaps he'll see Kanon turn invisible and not have a clue about it or see the miasma coming from a girl.

Or Elsie could hound him to make a contract with her.... but what does he get in return?

[GreenMoriyama]

It's pretty good. It captures Keima's nature pretty well. There's only a couple of diction errors, but otherwise rather enjoyable.

Ideas: Since Keima has no idea about Hell, perhaps he'll see Kanon turn invisible and not have a clue about it or see the miasma coming from a girl.

Or Elsie could hound him to make a contract with her.... but what does he get in return?

He shouldn't be able to see the symptoms of the escape spirits unless he himself is signed in into the escape spirit squad contract.....

[the p-man 2]

He shouldn't be able to see the symptoms of the escape spirits unless he himself is signed in into the escape spirit squad contract.....

What Green said, Keima won't be able to see them unless he's with a new/old devil. (Perhaps its the choker)

[Rai-j]

It's amazing!! I could never do anything like that
Here,take this bag of potatos.

[Muddy Biddy]

However, Kanon does turn invisible and people cannot see her, Tsukiyo does shrink, Kusunoki's shade does save a cat. He might not see the miasma, but he'll definitely notice the physical properties of the girls.

Z can write what he wants XD

[Z-ComiX]

It's pretty good. It captures Keima's nature pretty well. There's only a couple of diction errors, but otherwise rather enjoyable.

Ideas: Since Keima has no idea about Hell, perhaps he'll see Kanon turn invisible and not have a clue about it or see the miasma coming from a girl.

Or Elsie could hound him to make a contract with her.... but what does he get in return?

Yeah... my grammar is horrible... sorry!

He shouldn't be able to see the symptoms of the escape spirits unless he himself is signed in into the escape spirit squad contract.....

What Green said, Keima won't be able to see them unless he's with a new/old devil. (Perhaps its the choker)

Yeah... imma try to keep him in the dark about alot of stuff like that, but there are things that he will of course be unavoidable like the shrinking girl.

It's amazing!! I could never do anything like that
Here,take this bag of potatos.

Thank dude! I hope to get it even better with every chapter!

[cheongzewei]

Yes. YES. YESSSSSSSSSSSS

PROCEED!

APPROVAL 10000000000%

[ShrikeRisen]

This is quite good. Keep it up. :3

[negima]

~heh like it! dud.....still keima`s personality but hhhmmmm parsley character dun speak

why not the style of ima keima(chapter 0)hahahhaa that would interesting.....

[Z-ComiX]

Yes. YES. YESSSSSSSSSSSS

PROCEED!

APPROVAL 10000000000%

I am glad i got your approval! chapter 2 is coming real soon!

This is quite good. Keep it up. :3

THanks mate!

~heh like it! dud.....still keima`s personality but hhhmmmm parsley character dun speak

why not the style of ima keima(chapter 0)hahahhaa that would interesting.....

... CRIZZLE!! i shoulda read chapter 0 again... god, that was a good one-shot...


OKAY REELZ IMPORTANT PEEPS SO I NEED YOU TO PAY ATTENTION!!

Chapter 2 is almost done BUT!! i'm counting the number of pages in Word and it totals over 11+ pages. just so you know, chapter 1 was about 3.

QUESTION!:

Should i break chapter 1, which is all Ayumi, into three parts or just slap it all down as a single chapter? up to you guys, its interesting either way.

[Rai-j]

It's okay....just use spoiler.
I want to read it in order...thus you can update new chap in the same thread
looking forward..

[Z-ComiX]

Chapter 1 flag 2.1 is finally up, enjoy! IT ONLY TOOK ME A FEW MONTHS!! (sorry, it isn't as dark as i wanted it to be..T-T)

2.2 and 2.3 are done, i just want to upload them weekly so i can start working on chapter 3. PS chapter 2 is 30 pages on word soooo...

[Rai-j]

It was great

IT ONLY TOOK ME A FEW MONTHS!!

Does this mean I have to wait for few more month
Anyway.....keep up to good work!!

[Z-ComiX]

hopefully note... but you never know... ^_^"

[Z-ComiX]

Couldn't fit flaf 2.2 on the first post, so here is the next part!! Enjoy!!

Flag 2.2 Cooling Down

Flag 2.2 Cooling Down

The next day dark clouds had covered the sky of Maijima and as rain pelted the window of 2-B two figures could be seen in the near empty room. Ayumi was obviously mad at Keima after yesterday’s events. She didn’t even open her eyes as Keima walked up to her. He sat down in his chair and placed books on her desk with a loud thump.

“You ready to work today?” he said coldly. To this Ayumi reacted.

“Hey why are you taking that tone with me? I should be the angry one since what you said to me yesterday!!” She stared at him with angered eyes, making an angry face to match, which was sort of cute in its own little way.

“Oh I’m sorry, let me rephrase that. Are you ready to study please?” the sarcasm could be heard even to the dimwitted Ayumi.

“What’s the deal Otamega, you wanna get hit again? I guess yesterday you cried all night not being able to talk to your e-girlfriend since you left you game console here!” Ayumi had a smirk on her face, thinking this was clever. To this Keima thought only that he had built up enough tension to make the payload he had effective. He looked only at the screen of his PFP and spoke with a very calm, almost sinister tone.

“Actually, I was able to get my PFP back yesterday… by they way I’m glad your mouth is as fast as your legs were yesterday, I hope your reading skills can keep up.” It took a moment for Ayumi to figure out what he was implying, but when she grasped it, it felt like she had been hit hard in the stomach. A boom of thunder could be heard in the background.

“W-what?” She said, stunned. Her face felt hot and her mind was swimming. Keima stopped clicking commands and looked up at Ayumi with piercing eyes. The looks sent a chill through Ayumi.

“I saw you running Ayumi; you aren’t actually injured at all. So that begs the question… why? You say you didn’t cheat, any yet you faked your own injury to get out of today’s meet…”

“I… I… No… It’s not…” Ayumi could not think straight, everything was starting go out of focus. Only Keima was in focus right now, with his eyes staring into hers. She could hear her blood flowing in her ears, her heart racing, her breath increasing. The whole room was spinning out of control, the rain seemed to fade away and Kiema’s voice began to echo and fade in her mind.

Keima grabbed Ayumi by her shoulders, holding on tightly, which snapped Ayumi back into reality. She was full of too many confusing emotions at once; she was close to breaking again.

“Takahara, talk to me! Tell me the truth; what is going on?” With this Ayumi completely broke down.

“I CAN’T DO IT! There are too many expectations, too many people looking towards me! All I can feel is the pressure from everyone around me!” She was bawling with every word. Keima felt really uncomfortable all of a sudden, but in order to keep on the route he persevered. “I used to love running! It was what I was good at! It was difficult, but enjoyed it! Now, I can’t get my time to go up I feel like everyone will be disappointed by me! I want to live up to their expectations, but I CAN’T! There are just too many people… to many expectations… to many…”

Ayumi was now full only crying. Keima now understood what was going on and how to continue from here on out to help this person. But first, he needed to comfort this girl. He grabbed Ayumi and pulled her close, which was a complete shock to Ayumi. She struggled to get free, but after a few moments she relaxed and let it all out. The stood there in an embrace, Ayumi silently crying into Keima’s shoulder as he thought about what steps he would need to take from here on out.

*-*

Shortly afterward, when she had calmed down, there was a moment of silence where the two were still in an embrace. Ayumi couldn’t help but think of how warm Keima was and blushed at the thought. But almost as quickly as she had thought that, the warmth was gone as Keima released her and sat down at his seat, legs and arms crossed and eyes shut.

“… Very well, I will not tell anyone about your ‘injury.’” Then he looked up at her with his powerful stare. “BUT! There are some things you must do in return. First of all, you need to be much more serious when we study together.”

Ayumi was a little taken back at how to the point he was and a little offended. Was this the whole reason he was doing this? Did his pervert do all this on purpose to blackmail her?

“Fine… whatever-”

“And secondly, starting tomorrow until next week, you will allow me to coach you in running every night until the next meet.” Ayumi was shocked at this.

“Wait… what?! What good will that do? The most important meet was today and I missed out on that!” Keima corrected the position of his glasses.

“Have you seen the weather? It will be rescheduled, and if my information is correct the rain date is a week from today. Therefore we have a week to do this.” She looked uncomfortable now, most likely the idea of working with the Otamegane was very weird to her. Plus he and seen her with her emotions on full blast. Keima decided to take a page out of Nikaido-Sensei’s playbook. “Listen, this is your best shot. You can either take my help or I can tell everyone about your injury and how you cried in my arms.”

Ayumi’s face turned red and her eyes filled with rage as she stared him down. Neither side gave an inch in the battle, but in the end a mere mortal can not face a god. Ayumi sighed in defeat.

“Fine, I’ll do it, but this doesn’t mean you’ve convinced me to participate in the meet. No matter what you do, there is no way I will be able to increase my time especially since you are by no means an athlete.” Ayumi sat down and looked at the clock. There was still a lot of time until today’s lesson was over. Ayumi put her hands behind her head and blushed a little thinking about how Keima had held her all of a sudden and now was offering to help her. “Well Otamega, teach me something then.”

Keima pulled out a notebook. Ayumi knew, much like everyone else, that Keima never took notes… well at least not about class. He then handed her the notebook and looked at her.

“Now we can make some progress.” Ayumi looked to the cover of the note book and read under the name label “AYUMI TAKAHARA.” Inside were clearly written and annotated notes about the class, the current reading assignments, page references, examples and even note about future sections to study for the tests. Ayumi was surprised; the whole thing was specifically crafted to be readable for her and was written from Keima’s memory entirely. And the way it was written… she could understand what was going on.

“How did you..?”

“How do you think I get perfect papers?”

“No I mean, I can understand what’s going on… how did you make it so easy to understand?”

“… I had to deal with a similar character… in a game…” he said the second part quieter than the first, but Ayumi still picked up on it. She smiled a little as she flipped through the pages. Keima cleared his throat and then picked up a teaching edition of a text book and began lecturing her about useful information. “Now first of all, if we look back in history at the first poets of Japan we can infer…”

*-*

The next day, after lessons, Keima waited out on the track for Ayumi. He looked up at the sky to be greeted by the moon, which lit up the track below. He had been waiting for 20 minutes for Ayumi and although he was playing a new game on his PFP the cold chill of night was in no way helping him in his conquest. Finally, he heard footsteps from behind.

“Finally, it took you long enough.”

“Sorry, I had trouble changing in the dark…” she laughed nervously. Keima told her to go through her normal routine and then do 200 meter hurdles. Ayumi ran a mile to warm up and then proceeded to stretch before lining up. Keima mentally noted her running style, and compared it to some of the other runners he had seen (in games of course). When she was ready, Keima started her and she took off like a rocket. Too many, Ayumi’s raw speed would be impressive, but Keima just watched silently as she raised her legs over and over jumping the hurdles. When she returned she was sweating profusely.

“What’d… you… think..?” She panted out looking to Keima. When she saw he was playing his PFP she got very angry. What was the point in doing that if he wasn’t even watching?

“Hmm... do it again.” He commanded.

“What?” And he had the audacity to tell her to do it again? Why did he offer to help her train if he was just going to ignore her?

“Just do it.” She was going to argue, but gave up on the notion figuring there was no point. And so she lined up and ran the course again. And again. And again. Keima never looked at her, just played his PFP.

“Hey, I though you were gonna help me! If you’re just gonna make me do drills over and over, I might as well do it by myself!” Keima just nodded and told her to do it again. This continued for two more tries, but by now Ayumi had stopped caring about what Keima was thinking and just let off all her aggression on the track. When Ayumi finished the second time she was so tired. This time though she was taken by surprise when she found Keima standing at the ending with a bottle of water and a towel.

“Good job, you got faster by .5 seconds that time.” He was actually looking at her this time. She took cautiously took the towel and water.

“... How did I improve? I’ve been doing the same thing a usually do and you did nothing.”

“Exactly.” He said with an ‘of course you did’ tone. Ayumi was perplexed and, being the obvious girl she was, Keima picked up on this very quickly and explained. “There are two reasons why you have been doing poorly lately. Today I got rid of the first problem; you were getting crushed under the expectations The Real set on you. Therefore, by making you uncaring in how you preformed today you were less self-conscious and therefore preformed better.”

“Wait, what?”

“You said you felt pressured to do better by your team. Even when you trained on your own you only thought about the team’s expectations. But here, you only ran because I told you to, and then when you saw I didn’t care there was no pressure on you.” He took her hand and helped her up. “Basically you had the runner’s version of ‘stage fright.’”

As Ayumi was being pulled up by Keima, she thought. She now knew why he had ignored her was shock by how much thought he put into this. He actually listened to her problems and tried to help her for real. Of all the times she saw him as callous and cold, this was the first time she had seem him so caring for anyone. And what more, it was for her. She got a little red in the face thinking about it, but shook it off.

“Anyway, it’s late. Let’s clean up and go home.” said Keima letting go of her hand. Ayumi quickly agreed, maybe a little too quickly and ran to change. Keima didn’t see it, but she held the hand he and grasped in the other, feeling its warmth. That concluded the first day of training.

*-*

“Hey, hey Katsuragi,” said Ayumi. “What does this mean?”

Without looking away from his screen Katsuragi spoke.

“It’s a line that speaks of how the princess pretended to be injured in order to avoid marrying her best friend. Kind of like what you did with track. Honestly, I can’t figure out how you of all people wouldn’t understand that.”

“Honestly Katsuragi… bringing that up again...” She said pouting a little. Keima just continued to tap away, which peeved Ayumi. “You know, you’ll get bigger glasses from staring at a small screen all day.”

Unfazed, Keima kept playing. Smiling sinisterly, Ayumi grabbed the PFP from him.
“HEY!” Said Keima, but Ayumi held it out of reach.

“Nope! You can have it back after class. Now help me understand this… this…”

“… Stanza…?” Keima said, filling in the blank. He sighed as he looked at the page. “Honestly… how did you make it this far?”

Ayumi just smiled as she received a lecture from the game-obsessed boy.

*-*

Ayumi finished another repetition. She was completely out of breath, and fell to the floor. She was going to lie down, but she was then her face was covered with a towel. She followed the trajectory back to Keima’s hand.

“You were slower that time by .27 seconds.”

“Really? I thought I did better…” she said taking a sip of water. Ayumi sprung back up. “OKAY~! Once more.”

She was going to the starting line when Keima said something to her.

“Try staring on you other foot. You usually land on the same foot, but your lunge pattern is not right for that foot. If you start with the other foot, you should be able to make your landings flow into a faster run.” Ayumi paused for a minute then smiled and nodded.

“Alright Katsuragi-Sensei.” And with that she tried again. She was .47 seconds faster.

*-*

Class was as dull as ever for both Keima and Ayumi. When the lunch bell rang everyone cleared out, except our secret training buddies. Ayumi noticed Keima wasn’t leaving and so she approached him. She grabbed his eyes from behind, which made him squeal like a girl.

“Guess who~!”

“GAHH! TAKAHARA! I CAN’T SEE MY GAAAAAMMMMEEE!!” he pleaded for her to let go. This game had an auto-text scroll so he could not afford to miss a second.

“Hmmm… I don’t like that name…” if Keima could see her face he would notice the red cheeks forming on her face. “C-call me Ayumi…”

“FINE FINE!! AYUMI! AYUMI!”

“See? Was that so hard?” She let go with a smile. She looked to see if Keima had a bento he was going to eat, but she found none. “Hey, aren’t you gonna eat?”

“Don’t need to, my games are enough.” Keima replied in his usual monotone voice. Ayumi sighed and stared at him.

“Really? That bad for you, you know? I’ll go buy both of us some Yakisoba Pan! I be right back, don’t move!” She ran for the door, but instead of heading into the hall she ran straight into her three seniors. There were two followers and one very large and imposing girl in the middle. The middle one did not talk, but Keima knew from prior data that she was the captain of the track team.

“Hey Ayumi, how’s the leg?” Jeered one of them.

“It’s… it’s getting better… I might be able to be at the meet this week…”

“Why would we want YOU there?” Said the other.

“Yeah, you should just quit while you’re injured. Just stay down.” And with that they pushed Ayumi to the floor. The thud of a human and a crutch both hitting the floor could be heard echoing through the room. Ayumi felt the pain of the impact rush through her body.

“Just leave Ayumi. A cheater like you never belonged on our track team.” The two talkative ones walked away, but the tall upperclassmen just stared at her with an unreadable expression. She was not someone you wanted to play poker with. And with that the seniors left. Ayumi was still on the floor, recovering from their words. Keima could see her resolve slipping so he went to help her get up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to a standing position. He could she her embarrassment, and for some reason he felt embarrass too.

“Thank you…” There was a pause. Keima was about to say something when Ayumi cut him off. “I… I’ll go get the Yakisoba!”

She got on her crutches quickly and fumbled out of the room. Keima was once again left in the room alone, but for the first time some reason it bothered him. Usually he would just return to his game, but now it felt like something was wrong, something was missing, something that his games could not fix.

“…Must be my stomach. If only my body in The Real didn’t need resources to survive…” and with that he dismissed the feeling and went back to conquering the sprinter in his game.

*-*

“That was better...” commented Keima to Ayumi as she finished another drill. She shimmered as the sweat on her brow reflected the moonlight. “Let’s try to one more time.”

“Alright, I’ll show you I can do better Katsuragi-Sensei!” She smiled jokingly making a bicep-flexing pose. Ever since Katsuragi had been pushing her to be better she had started having fun trying to get faster. Plus, she always knew she was doing better when he looked up at her. She would try her hardest every time to see those eyes staring back at her, as if they were saying that she had done well, confirming her achievements. And even if she didn’t improve Keima would tell her how to improve her form.

She was surprised how knowledgeable he was about running, yet he was the slowest runner in there class. Maybe he studied all about running just for her? The thought made her heart race in a way different to when she was running, and she enjoyed the feeling.

“Let’s take a break. Here, I got some water for you.”

Ayumi graciously accepted the drink, quickly gulping it down, refueling her body of precious liquids. There was silence as Ayumi caught her breath and Keima played his game. Ayumi’s mind drifted and began to think about what Keima said to her the first time they practiced.

“Hey Katsuragi?”

“Hmm…” he acknowledged to her question.

“You said I had two problems that I needed to overcome to get better. What was the second?” Keima put his PFP down for a second and looked up at the moon. The light seemed to bathe him in a glow giving him a godly atmosphere which made Ayumi for the first time noticed how attractive he actually was.

“The second thing… well, that would be a reason to continue. You currently have no drive because you have nothing that keeps you going. We need to find you something to can believe in. it can be a dream, a goal or even a person you want to see you succeed, just something that drives you to do better. It’s a common plot device in sports-related dating-sims.” Ayumi chose to ignore the last sentence.

“Someone I want to see me improve…” Ayumi blushed and looked down at her feet. “I think I have someone like that…”

Ayumi sat in silence as Keima continued to play is PFP. Even though he was ignoring her, she felt at ease here with him. She felt that she had gotten closer to Keima and started to maybe even… Before she could finish the thought Keima suddenly stood up.

“That’s enough for today; I need to go home to switch games.” Ayumi sighed as Keima delivered another one of his usual game-related lines. And yet, she wasn’t annoyed by it at all, well at least not as much. They both got up and began to pack, when Ayumi turned to Keima.

“Hey Katsuragi, for tomorrow’s lesson let’s go somewhere else to study.” Keima turned around in surprise.

“What? Why?”

“Well, it’s really boring sitting in school all day, so I thought a change of venues might be better!” Keima just stared at her in disbelief. This seemed highly-impractical.

“If we were to do this we would need to walk all they way to the location then, all the way back to the school. This route will only add time to reaching any sort of practical ending for this scenario.” Ayumi gave an annoyed stare to Keima in response.

“It’s not that far from here, and supposedly it has good ramen and not a lot of people go there so people won’t see us if your worried about that.” Seeing that Keima was still seemed unable to accept the idea, Ayumi turned away from him and pouted a little. “Plus, if we don’t go, I might not want to study anymore.”

“What?! Hey, don’t and any unnecessary plot-choices!” What was she trying to pull? Keima wanted to interact with The Real as little as possible, but this would add more work for him and less time to play games. He pondered the choices, but ended up going with Ayumi’s idea since it was the only choice that would allow for her to stop needing his help in less time. “… Fine.”

He was angry, but Ayumi was smiling at her victory. Keima rolled his eyes and went back to playing his PFP as Ayumi followed him to the school’s gym.

*-*

The next day Keima waited for Ayumi on the roof. Ayumi said she would be late due to some things she needed to do before leaving so Keima was left all alone to his games for an extra 30 minutes. After a while Ayumi did show up, but something was off; she didn’t look like he usual self.

“Hey are you alright Ayumi?” Keima could see her beginning to forcing a smile on her face.

“Of course!” She said in a chipper tone. “C’mon, let go already!”

And with that she dragged Keima to the restaurant by his hand as she ran at full speed out of the school. He was flung into many walls in the process so by the time they got out to the street he was already regretting agreeing to such an event. When they both finally arrived at the ramen shop Keima was surprised at how small it was. Compared to other shops this one seemed to fade into the background.

“Uemoto-ya..? This place looks a little run down…” Keima said in a speculative tone.

“Trust me, this place may not look like much, but it has some of the best ramen… so I’ve heard.” Not waiting of a response Ayumi pulled Keima inside and pushed him into a seat. When the waitress came about Ayumi ordered two ramen for the both of them while Keima got the study material out. When the food came Keima eyed it with a bit of displeasure. To him it seemed to plain, how could it be good at all?

“You won’t know until you try Keima!” And with that Ayumi dug in. Keima’s disgust shifted from his food to Ayumi’s eating habits. It was like she was a human vacuum; where did she put it all? He sighed as he pinched a few of the noodles and warily moved his chop sticks into his mouth. But what greeted him was not disgust; no, it was quite the opposite.

“This is actually decent…” He thought he caught the server wearing a proud expression on her face as she walked back to the kitchen. After finishing their food the pair started to begin studying the material that Ayumi needed to know. However, today Ayumi wasn’t as motivated to learn; she kept drifting off and would pretend to shake it off happily when Keima scolded her. Something was wrong. Keima was worried that if it continued this way it would affect the ending. Even so, he had no information to use at this point and probing would only yield fruitless responses so he would continue to turn a blind eye to it all.

So he chose to remain ignorant. He had to bide his time until he got some sort of lead.

*-*

“Time.” Said Keima as Ayumi passed the line. “Your getting slower.”

“Sorry, I guess I at too much!” Ayumi laughed, patting the back of her head. Keima knew she was faking it. Whatever happened to Ayumi was not good; it was only making getting to the ending harder. Keima looked down at her feet and saw she was not wearing her usual spikes, in fact they were not spikes at all; they were normal running shoes.

“Where are your spikes?”

“Oh… um! I’m getting them repaired so… yeah.” Keima wondered what happened and why she was so defensive. This really was worrying since the race was in two days. He decided to see if she was ready to rejoin the team.

“The meet is in two days. Are you going to participate?” Ayumi looked down at her feet, and then snapped back up with a forced smile.

“Y-you know, I think I might need to train more before the race…” She ran to the starting line and Keima watched her. This was not good.

[lucky777]

Oh wow. What a brilliant read. I couldn't wipe of my grin i had throughout the whole story. The characters were in tune, you displayed their emotions accurately and to top it of you made the story flow really well. I'm definitely looking forward to your next chapter.

[Z-ComiX]

Here's Flag 2.3

i don't know hoe long it will take for chapter 3 cus i got a job now, but here's hoping it doesn't take as long... :c

Chapter 2.3: Runner's High

Flag 2.3 Runners High

The next day Keima walked into the classroom early in the morning. Other kids would never come to school so early, but to him it was normal to come at this time as it allowed him to become situated for optimal gaming. He set up his PFP and game cartridges and started to play. Time passed, but to him it was nothing as he was in a world where it did not matter what time it was in The Real (excluding games that use a real-time clocking system, a tedious genre that made progressing though games much slower.) As he sped to the ending in his game he heard the voices of the girls in his class outside the room. Once again they were gossiping, and just as before it was about Ayumi. Keima tuned in, hoping to find out something that might fix the problem of Ayumi’s lost focus. He hit the jackpot.

“Did you hear?”

“What, tell me?”

“Over the past few days Ayumi has been getting hazed by someone.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Someone snuck into her locker and cut up her track shoes! And also someone’s been taking her stuff and all sorts of other pranks.”

“No way, how cruel!”

“Actually, she might have deserved it…”

“What makes you say something so horrible?”

“I heard this rumor that she faked her injury! Someone who knows the nurse there said that something with her injury seemed off and so it makes it really likely that she faked it just so that she wouldn’t get caught for cheating when she got scouted.”

“Oh… I never heard that story… Is that why so many girls are shunning her right now?”

“Yeah. I think you should ignore her too. We don’t need someone like her in our lives.” The girls went on and on about this while Keima sat there, thinking about this new information. Like a puzzle with many pivotal pieces missing, Ayumi’s problem up until now seemed to have chunks that did not fit together. But now, Keima had found the pieces and could finally link the picture together. It was time to finally see the bigger picture.

*-*

Ayumi and Keima sat silently at there usual spot in the ramen shop. There was a pile of notes around Ayumi, but for a while not a single page had been turned. Ayumi was not reading the words on the page, just staring into space. Keima could see her motivation was almost gone. He needed to take action now or he would be tutoring her forever… but would that be so bad? Of course it would! What was he thinking? Keima stood up and put the money on the table.

“Let’s go.” He said as he packed up the study materials. Hearing Keima’s voice, Ayumi popped back into reality. “You obviously are not interested in studying today, so we’ll cut this session short.”

She nodded in agreement and they walked out of the restaurant. To there surprise it had started raining since they had gone for there meal. This was actually good for Keima, as it created a good situation for the route he was going to attempt to follow.

“It’s going to be too wet to train. Besides tomorrow is the meet, you’ll need to rest your body for tomorrow Ayumi.” She just nodded in agreement. They both went to rummage through their bags for an umbrella to use. Of course, as a gamer Keima had an umbrella as to keep his games from getting wet, but Ayumi, being the forgetful type, had forgotten to take one. She sighed as she chose between waiting there alone, and getting wet running home. As she decided she suddenly felt a tug as a long and slender hand pulled her under an umbrella. Her face immediately turned red as she was now shoulder to shoulder with Keima.

“K-kie-” She stammered

“You’ll get wet if you walk in the rain and it is supposed to rain until midnight. This route is the most beneficial for your health and your running.” And with that short response they walked home together. Ayumi was silent as she listened to the pitter-patter of the rain on the umbrella and felt the warmth of being so close to Keima. She felt as if she could stay like this forever; she felt like she could be next to Keima forever.

“Ayumi.”

“Eh?” She snapped back to reality, her face blushing.

“Have you decided on what you will do tomorrow?”

“Oh… yeah… I… I don’t think I can participate in the meet…”

“Why not?” Keima asked coolly, not revealing his hand and the cards he held.

“Well… You know, I don’t think I’m ready to join the team. Besides, I can always just run on my own.” Keima suddenly stopped walking, which made Ayumi look up into his entrancing eyes.

“Is this really your decision… or is it the decision others want you to make.”

“Wh-what?” But she already knew. There was no way anyone would know by now about her situation. Still, she had hoped he wouldn’t hear about it.

“Ayumi, you letting these people from the Real decide your path for you. You are allowing there pressure on you push you down a route you think will please them.”

“But… but it’s true, I did fake my injury… I lied to them all and now no one trusts me. I am a social outcast…”

“And now you’re letting that dictates your movements? People consider me to be a social outcast because I am too good at what I do, but I don’t let them pressure me into stopping. I keep going because it’s what I’m good at. It’s my goal to be the best, like it is yours to be the best runner. You got on the track team because of your efforts, something no one else could achieve. The coach chose you because she saw something in you! You don’t need to please anyone but yourself!” Keima looked deep into her eyes, and Ayumi looked back into his. She could feel his intensity and it comforted her. Those eyes of his… she felt she could fall in love with them.

“I won’t tell you to join the track meet, I never have. But I will be there watching. Even if everyone else thinks poorly of you, even if no one cheers for you, I will always be on you side. Even if you come in last place, you’ll always be number one in my heart.” Keima had gotten so in the mood of the scenario, the last words had slipped out of his mouth without him realizing. He saw the intensity in Ayumi’s eyes and new he had gone too far. He looked away quickly and pointed to the left.

“Y-your house...” He said fumbling as he tried to throw away the flag as quickly as possible.

“Huh?” said Ayumi as she snapped back to reality. She could see the redness of his face, and could feel the same with hers. Suddenly, they both looked in the opposite direction of each other.

“We’re here…”

“Oh.. oh yeah.”

“I- I got to go…”

“Oh! Oh, Yeah… well I don’t want to keep you, I’ll see you later…”

“Y-yeah…” There was a pause as they just stood. Then they said good bye as the both ran to there homes. Ayumi locked the door behind her and as she put her bag of notes down she saw a present wrapped up inside. A note attacked read “In case you decide to run tomorrow~ Keima.” She opened it quickly and without hesitation and found there was a new pair of spikes just for her. They even looked like the original one that had been torn to shreds.

Her back against the door, she slid down to the floor hugging the present to her chest and thinking about all the things Keima has done for her. Her hear raced as she realized something… She realized she was completely and utterly in love.

*-*

Keima was completely depressed. He looked at his bag that he had been carrying only to find all the games and consoles inside completely soaked from the rain. He hadn’t said anything, but he had to leave his shoulder outside of the umbrella since it could not fit them both. He did not realize that on the same side was his bag and so now he was distraught.

“I swear Ayumi… if you don’t run tomorrow…”

*-*

The day of the meet was perfect running weather. The rain had dried up, the track was ready and the temperature was perfect. You couldn’t ask for better conditions. The coach stood in the girl’s locker room reading off names and times for when events would be taking place. After everyone knew when and where to be, she told the group to go run a mile warm up.

As they filed out the door the coach stopped one girl.

“You sure you’re all healed up Takahara?” Ayumi turned around and gave truly a bright and confident smile.

“You know I am coach!” And with that she ran outside to the track the coach watched her leave for the track and smiled to herself. This was the person she saw the day she chose Ayumi; this was the person was the true Ayumi.

Ayumi ran down the long corridor that led to the meet. She felt so light right now; she felt like she could take on the world. She was about to exit the building to the track when she saw three figures blocking her path. As she got closer she immediately recognized the faces and tensed up, losing her light feeling. It was the seniors and they did not look happy at all, sans the leader who was as unreadable as ever.

“So you chose to participate?”

“Didn’t we tell you our team has no place for cheaters?”

“Just get out of here.” Ayumi felt her mind losing faith in herself. She almost let it take her over again, but then a voice in her head came to her rescue and reminded her why she was here.

“You don’t need to please anyone but yourself!” Keima’s voice echoed in her head. She smiled to herself and mouthed the words ‘thank you’ as she took a deep breath. Looking into the leaders eyes she spoke her mind.

“It true, I did fake my injury. I tried to get out of running. There is no excuse for my actions and the strain I put on the team for not improving my time. But even so… Even so…” Ayumi took a deep breath. She then made a deep bow as she said loudly, “I WANT TO BE THE BEST RUNNER IN THE WORLD!”

The other seniors were shocked at her resolve, but the leader just stared at her. Then, with an intense stare, she looked deep into the eyes of the captain.

“I don’t care what you do to me, what you say about me, what anyone thinks about me. I just want to go out there today and run for my goals, not for the goals of others! I want to run my way! I got this far by my own strength, so please, step aside and let me go!”

The two talkative seniors protested her resolve to run.

“Like Captain would even think to-” But before they could finish the leader of the group grabbed them by she shoulder and stopped them. She walked up to the frightened, but steadfast Ayumi and looked her in the eyes. Then, after what felt like ages she took of one of her flair pins and put it on Ayumi’s warm-up and walked away. Startled by this act, Ayumi and the two seniors were stunned. But after regaining their wits, the seniors ran to follow there captain.

Ayumi took a moment to collect her self. She rested against the wall of the hallway, releasing the breath she was holding in her lungs. She smiling to herself, she popped back up with determination as she set out for the track. She pushed open the doors to the outside and was greeted by a cheering crowd and the overwhelming sight of events going on all over.

This is where she belonged; this was her home. No one could take this moment, this feeling from her.

*-*

But they tried. The students from Maijima yelled all sorts of slanders and tried to break her resolve. They used all sorts of methods, she could hear people calling her a cheater and a coward, but she pushed through. She remembered this was her time, her goal not there’s.

The event was about to begin as Ayumi got to her position on the track. She took the proper position that Keima told her would work for her. Her mind flashed to Keima, thinking of all the things they had done together in the past week. For some reason it felt like longer. She got ready to run. She could feel the eyes on her. Feel all the glares, all the pressures, all the anger and hatred.

But she did not let it rule her. She listened for the sound of the gun.

Ba-Bump. Ba-Bump. Ba-Bump.

Her heart-rate was rising; she tried to calm it down.

Ba-Bump. Ba-Bump. Ba-Bump.

She raised her from, readying to launch forward.

Ba-Bump. Ba-Bump. Ba-BANG!

They all took off, all running to the same goal. Ayumi had a clean break; she jumped over the hurdles before her just like how she had practiced before. She could feel they eyes watching her, judging her.

She fell to second. She fell to third. She could feel the eyes drilling into her. Her heart was beating faster. Faster. Her legs felt heavy, her breathing was accelerated.

She tried. She was failing. Everyone would see her fail. She jumped over a hurdle, almost missing the landing. She could see second place pulling away. She was going to lose.

I couldn’t do it.

…
…
…

Then she saw it. Those piercing eyes. Those firm eyes. Those willful eyes. Those lovely eyes.

She could see Keima. After all the work he put into her. After all the time they spent together, getting closer. She didn’t want him to see her lose. She wanted to see that approving stare as she crossed the finish line.

200 meters. A 100 meter curve then a 100 meter straight-away to the finish. She could do this. She began to close the gap. She was right behind second. Past second. 20 meters from First. Jump. 10 meters. Jump. She was on the straight away. They were neck and neck. Jump. 75 meters. Jump. 50 meters. She put in all her energy.

She no longer saw anyone. No runners. No crowd. Nothing but the finish. Nothing but the finish and Keima waiting at the end. She ran. Her heart was beating faster, but it wasn’t from the running. It was that feeling she got when she was around him. That wonderful feeling. That-

She could hear cheering. Everyone was cheering. Why?

She looked behind her. The girl she was racing down the straight away was just crossing the finish line. What? How could she have beaten her by so much? She looked at the time; it was a win by 2.37 seconds. She had done this? She looked at the time on the clock again. Her time… it was the new record for the meet. She beat a record that stood for 10 years? She-

She was surrounded by a crowd instantly. Not only was it her team, it was those from the crowd. They were chanting her name.

“AY-U-MI! AY-U-MI! AY-U-MI!” They all screamed. She would later find out that she had not only won the race, but her points had lead to them winning the meet. She had essentially scored the winning point for her team. News reports were questioning her, people were apologizing, but she didn’t care.

She looked at the crowd in the stands. Searched for his face… and she saw it. Keima was looking at her with his approving eyes. She was happy; she passed out from all the running as the crowd carried her to the locker room to celebrate.

*-*

It was dark as Ayumi left the party that the team was holding for her. The night air was chilly as she stepped out into the almost empty street. Well, almost. Standing against a wall across the street was a boy whose face was lit in blue by his PFP.

“Hey…” She said as she walked up to him.

“Good job winning the meet.” He replied calmly.

“… I was all thanks to you.”

“I just told you want you needed to hear, nothing more. This was the most beneficial route for me.” There he went again talking about routes. Couldn’t he read the mood? They started to walk towards Ayumi’s house.

“Thanks to you, everyone at school trusts me again. The captain took her two senior goons who were hazing me and punished them. They’re going to have to clean up after each meet until they graduate.”

“I see.” He replied, never looking away from his PFP.

“… So I guess this means we won’t be training together anymore.” She was trying to hard to get him to talk.

“Yes, this is correct.”

“And we probably won’t need to study together for too much longer.”

“This is also correct.”

This man! How did this man help her get to where she was now? And yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about him… They rounded the corner and arrived at her house.

“Well… I guess I’ll see you at school?”

“Probably.” He began to walk away.

“… Don’t you have anything to say to me?” Keima was trying to figure out what she was talking about.

“…Good night…?” At this she got furious and slapped him across the face. “Ow! What was that fo-”

“You’re cold, uncaring, selfish and a total otamegane!... but you’re also kind… and sweet… and you even helped me in my time of need…. And… and…” She started to blush. Keima started to figure out what was going on. His eyes went wide as he knew were this dialogue was headed.

“Hey… HEY WAI-” it was too late. She grabbed him and as her soft lips came into contact with his. His body seemed to react without his mind giving permission to act on the kiss. His head felt hot and dizzy and it felt as though some sort of pressure was being released around him… wait a second, this feeling of pressure being released was real. He could feel something blowing around him as the kiss continued. He thought he saw someone with black hair and a purple dress flying around in his peripheral vision, but this would be impossible, right?

When Ayumi and Keima release there was an awkward silence. Keima was still trying to gather himself after the forceful attack on his person. Ayumi finally looked up and smiled. She tilted her head and closed her eyes.

“And I think I love you.” And with that short sentence she ran into her house, yelled good night quickly and closed the door. Keima just stood there trying to figure out what when wrong. He had caused a Real to fall in love with him? Impossible, something like that is not possible. Besides, he loved games and rejected this word. How could this happen?

*-*

The next day, Keima nervously waited for Ayumi to arrive at the classroom so they could study. He spent all night trying to form the perfect route to end this travesty, but most of his gaming knowledge pertained to capturing hearts not breaking up. he messed up his hair in frustration as he thought about what Ayumi had said.

“And I think I love you.”

“And I think I love you.”

“I love you.”

“You.”

“GAAAAHH!!” he screamed in frustration. How could this happen! He calmed himself as he went over the possible routes to make this as painless as possible for Ayumi and quick so he could get back to gaming. But what made this so hard was they still needed to study together. He needed to keep it from getting awkward so that this scenario could end quickly.

Just then Ayumi ran into the classroom. Since she was now doing actual track practice she was allowed to take these tutoring lessons later than usual, which for Keima meant he had to wait at school for longer. She smiled as she walked into the room, looking at him.

“Alright Katsuragi, ready to chow down and study?” said Ayumi cheerfully. Keima was shocked at how calm she could be after confessing to him yesterday. This is why he didn’t understand Reals; their thought processes were illogical. She kept talking about all sorts of nonsense as she got ready to leave for the ramen shop. Keima decided now was the best point to open a dialogue between her.

“Hey… about yesterday…” he started.

“Oh yeah, I guess you might not have known about happened yesterday at the track meet. Guess what, I won the track meet!” She was beaming now, holding up her medal in her grip. But when Ayumi looked at Keima all she could see was confusion. “What wrong Katsuragi, you forget something? Come on, let’s go get some food!”

[Z-ComiX]

ignore this post

[Muddy Biddy]

ignore this post

Where did 2.1 go? XD

[Z-ComiX]

Where did 2.1 go? XD

check the first post, i had to put 2.2 and 2.3 on separate post due to size.

[Rai-j]

check the first post, i had to put 2.2 and 2.3 on separate post due to size.

Oh..so there is words limit

[dragonlord]

It was awesome and i love it. It was very enjoyable to read. Good luck with chapter3

[cheongzewei]

Just read this an hour ago.

Of course, questions

WHy does keima keep his memory? Since he's not 'immune' by the contract signature, why isn't he 'normal'?

When will you update? :P

[conanbdetective]

when will this be updated?