Night. Inside Katsuragi Keima's room.
Elsie was lying sprawled across the desk, her mouth stuffed with potato chips bought from the convenience store, her cheeks bulging like a hamster's. She chewed while staring wide-eyed at the cards in her hand.
"Kami-nii-sama! Kami-nii-sama!"
Katsuragi Keima leaned against the headboard, handheld in his grip, not looking up. "Mm."
"That Hirata today was seriously scary!" Elsie waved her arms around exaggeratedly. "A person who is usually so gentle actually turned into soone else when he got angry! Kami-nii-sama, were you scared at the ti?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I didn't feel anything. As I said, in my eyes, people like them are just celery."
Elsie blinked and leaned in a little closer. "Then, Kami-nii-sama, do you think Hirata will co looking for trouble again later? You shut him down so hard today; do you think he'll hold a grudge?"
Keima's fingers paused for a fraction of a second. Then he resud his inputs. "I don't know."
"You don't know? Aren't you worried?"
"No."
Elsie tilted her head, looking perplexed. "Why? What if he really hates you?"
"He's a male, isn't he?" Keima finally looked up and glanced at Elsie. His eyes remained perfectly still, devoid of any ripples.
"Uh... yeah."
"Is he a capture target?"
"No..."
"Does he have an affection ter?"
Elsie looked down at the cards in her hand and flipped through them. "..."
Keima pushed up his glasses. "Then that's that."
Elsie was stunned. "Just... just like that?"
"Just like that." Keima lowered his head again and continued his ga. "To , Hirata Yousuke is just a bystander NPC. Whether he's angry, sad, or resentful has nothing to do with . He is
not a capture target, he is not a female character I need to pay attention to, and his emotional changes will not affect any of my progress."
His tone was as flat as if he were reading an instruction manual.
"In a ga, would you care about the mood of a random mob that spawns on the side of the road?"
Elsie shook her head. "No."
"Exactly."
Elsie nodded thoughtfully. Then she rembered sothing else. "But Kami-nii-sama, when he was snapping at you today, you said a lot of things! Those words were really impressive! You left him completely speechless in an instant!"
Keima was silent for a second. "That's because he was being too loud while I was playing my ga.
Furthermore, what he said was affecting others." Keima added a rare extra sentence.
"When Sato Maya stood up to help , he yelled at her. Yelling at a girl is very impolite."
Elsie's eyes lit up. "So the Kami-nii-sama was standing up for Sato-san?"
Keima glanced at her. "No."
"Then why?"
"Simply stating facts."
Elsie stared at him for a few seconds. Then she smiled.
"Kami-nii-sama is really strange."
"How so?"
"You clearly say you aren't interested in the real world, but sotis you do things that are... very warm. Yet you go back to being so cold so quickly." Elsie watched him intently, seemingly trying to understand more about him. However, despite being together for so long, she still couldn't quite see through him.
Keima didn't answer. He continued his ga. On the screen, his character was interacting with a female character.
Elsie rested her chin on the desk, watching his profile. "Kami-nii-sama."
"Mm?"
"What do you think will happen to Hirata in the future?"
Keima was silent for a second. "I don't know."
"You answered that fast?"
"I don't want to know, either."
Elsie laughed. "Kami-nii-sama is definitely still Kami-nii-sama." She pouted her lips and stood up. "But Kami-nii-sama, there's one thing I don't quite understand."
"What?"
"Since you aren't interested in the real world, why do you still host the study group? Why help those people raise their grades?"
Keima's fingers stopped. The room was silent for a few seconds. Then he spoke.
"Because it's a mission."
"A mission?"
"For your mission! You're actually asking ?!" He pushed up his glasses. "If soone's grades are too poor and they get expelled, I won't be able to capture them in school! Wouldn't the world be destroyed then?"
Elsie blinked, stunned for a few seconds before the realization hit her. "Right, right! We have to save the world... I, I almost forgot! Hee-hee!"
"How can you forget sothing like that?!!!"
Elsie gave a silly laugh. She had beco so accustod to staying here that she'd forgotten. After all, this "capture" was completely different from other demons catching loose souls; she didn't actually have to do anything herself.
This left Keima in a direct silence.
"Um, Kami-nii-sama, so in the future, you won't take the initiative to deal with Hirata's business?" Elsie tilted her head, making an incredibly awkward subject change.
"Mm."
"Kami-nii-sama, you really are... so cold."
Keima said nothing. Elsie laughed again. "But I know, the Kami-nii-sama isn't actually cold."
"Then what is it?"
"Focus," Elsie said. "You only focus on the things you care about. Everything else doesn't even enter your sight."
Keima looked at her, thoughtful. Then he lowered his head and resud his ga.
"You're overthinking it."
"Am not!" Elsie skipped back to the desk. "I've been observing for a long ti! Even though the Kami-nii-sama says he's not interested in reality, he's actually been very concerned about the people around him!"
"..."
"Look at Kushida, you know when she's coming over. Look at Kei-chan, you know exactly where her grades are weak. Look at Airi—you keep saying you don't like sweets, but you finished every single cookie she brought over."
Keima didn't answer. Elsie continued. "So Kami-nii-sama isn't cold, he just... pays attention in his own way."
The room grew quiet. Only the occasional click of the handheld's buttons could be heard. After a long ti, Keima spoke.
"Finished?"
"Finished," Elsie said cheerfully.
"Then go back to sleep."
"Okay~"
Elsie stood up and walked toward the door. At the threshold, she stopped and turned back. "Kami-nii-sama."
"Mm?"
"Goodnight."
Keima glanced at her. "...Goodnight."
Elsie smiled, pushed open the door, and left. The room fell silent. Keima leaned against the headboard, looking at the screen. On it, his character stood at a crossroads.
Advance, or retreat? He chose to advance. As always.
He thought about what Elsie said. "Paying attention in your own way." He pushed up his glasses.
Overthinking it. He was just moving at his own pace. The real world was boring; Katsuragi Keima didn't want to pay attention to it at all.
But... it seed he really had started paying attention without realizing it. During the study sessions, he only needed to put in a little effort to ensure they didn't fail. Instead, he had expended quite a bit of extra energy. He shouldn't be that kind of person.
Perhaps it was because... this world was a bit more interesting than he had imagined. It was true; this was completely different from a normal school. Even the students' hair colors were different. It had a very strong "Galge" feel to it.
What would happen to him later? If he... one day actually "cleared" this world, would he leave?
For so reason, the hand pushing the joystick gradually slowed down. When he first arrived here, Keima couldn't wait to leave. But now, he had already gotten used to life in this world.
'It must be because there are so many gas in this world I haven't played yet!'
Keima told himself this in his heart. He picked up the cards Elsie had left scattered on the bed; almost everyone's affection levels were rising.
.
.
.
Unknowingly, a month had passed since the storm of Yamauchi Haruki's expulsion, and the atmosphere in the classroom had gradually returned to normal. The empty seat had been cleaned up, as if no one had ever sat there. The deduction of 100 Class Points ant that the monthly Private Points in everyone's hands had decreased, but life had to go on.
Hirata Yousuke had now effectively isolated himself from the class, refusing to interact with anyone. Even when people tried to talk to him, it was useless.
Gradually, everyone got used to it.
Sato Maya sat slumped over her desk, poking her textbook with a pen, her eyes wandering. She was spacing out. To be precise, she was thinking about soone.
That person was currently sitting in the corner of the classroom, head down, holding a handheld, his fingers dancing flexibly over the buttons. Sunlight spilled through the window, landing on him and tracing his silhouette in a pale gold outline. It was a very ordinary scene.
But Sato Maya's heart skipped a beat for so reason. At this mont, in Sato Maya's eyes, Katsuragi Keima was glowing.
"Maya?" Karuizawa Kei's voice rang out beside her. "What are you dazing off for?"
Sato Maya snapped back to reality. "Huh? N-nothing!" She quickly looked down, pretending to read. But the blush on her face betrayed her. Her gaze also involuntarily drifted back to that corner. He was still playing his ga. Just like every other day.
It all started a few weeks ago.
That day after school, Sato Maya attended the study session as usual. She hadn't been in the study group for long, but she'd already gotten used to the atmosphere—Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi with their heads down doing problems, Kushida Kikyo smiling as she flipped through books, Horikita Suzune explaining things expressionlessly, and Hasabe Haruka
munching on potato chips. Even Shiina Hiyori from Class C would co over to help explain things.
And Katsuragi Keima sat in the corner playing gas.
But sothing happened that day. There was a math problem she just couldn't solve. She asked Karuizawa Kei, who scratched her head; she asked Sakura Airi, which was a lost cause. She asked Kushida Kikyo, who thought for a long ti but couldn't find the simplest solution.
Finally, she plucked up the courage and walked up to Katsuragi Keima.
"Keima-kun, this problem... could you take a look for ?"
Keima looked up. He glanced at her. Then he took the workbook and scanned the problem.
"Draw the auxiliary line here." He casually drew two lines. Then he went back to his ga.
Sato Maya took the workbook back to her seat. Following the lines he drew, it only took her two minutes to solve the problem. At that mont, she was stunned. Not because the problem was solved, but because of the way he had looked at her.
Those eyes were as calm as a pool of water. But for so reason, her heart rate accelerated. At such close range, Sato Maya was even more certain that Katsuragi Keima's looks were quite handso. He was definitely in the top tier of the class!
From then on, she began to notice him. During class, she would secretly watch his profile as he played gas. After class, she would notice who he spoke to. During study sessions, she would sit as close to him as possible. The more she watched him, the more special she felt he was. It wasn't the kind of "handso" found in idol dramas, but a sort of indescribable, reassuring feeling.
A young girl's liking will brew in her heart until one day it overflows.
"Could it be that I..." Sato Maya whispered. She shook her head. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
But the heart doesn't lie.
"What's wrong?" Karuizawa Kei noticed Sato Maya seed a bit absent-minded and quickly asked.
"Nothing!" Sato Maya said hurriedly.
However, Karuizawa Kei caught it—the direction Sato Maya's gaze was projecting was the sa as her own.
Lunchti arrived soon. Sato Maya and a few of her close friends agreed to go to the cafeteria together. But today's atmosphere was different from usual. Sato Maya picked at her food absent-mindedly, her eyes frequently drifting toward the crowd.
Katsuragi Keima had arrived at the cafeteria earlier than them, then packed his food to head back to his dorm, planning to eat while playing his ga.
"Maya, what's with you today?" Karuizawa Kei said, biting her chopsticks. "You've been dazing off since this morning."
"N-nothing..." Sato Maya quickly retracted her gaze.
Next to them, another long-haired girl—one of the mutual close friends of both her and Kei, Matsushita Chiaki—narrowed her eyes.
"Oh~ I know." Everyone looked at her. "You know what?"
Matsushita Chiaki looked at Sato Maya aningfully. "Maya, do you have soone you like?"
Sato Maya's face turned red instantly. "I... I don't!"
"Really?" Matsushita Chiaki tilted her head. "Then why were you constantly looking at a certain person in the classroom?"
Sato Maya's face turned even redder. "I-I wasn't constantly looking at Keima-kun!"
"Eh~ I never said who you were looking at." Matsushita Chiaki drew out her words. "I counted; you looked at him seventeen tis during lunch break."
Everyone was stunned. Karuizawa Kei's expression beca subtle. "Chiaki, don't talk nonsense..." Sato Maya said in a small voice.
"I'm not talking nonsense." Matsushita Chiaki shrugged and said with a laugh, "If you like him, you like him. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Sato Maya fell silent. She lowered her head, holding her tray with both hands, silent for several seconds. Then she took a deep breath, looked up, and her eyes seed to flash with light.
"Fine, I admit it."
The air froze.
"I think I've fallen for Keima-kun."
The chopsticks in Karuizawa Kei's hand almost fell.
Read ahead and finish this fanfictionby supporting on buyacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
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