Hello everyone, I present you my first KamiNomi fanficion. This chapter contains important (even if quite lengthy) author's notes. I cannot force you to read them, but I strongly recommend you do it. We'll start with the most important things first.

First, this fanfiction is based on manga instead of anime and contains major spoilers. You've been warned. Spoilers alone, reading this story without knowledge of the manga is kind of pointless, because you won't know what is going on.

Second, this story is very much intended for romance (or at least as much romance we can get with Keima being... well Keima), but the pairing will remain a mystery for now. I also recommend you to keep on reading no matter what pairing you support.

Third, connected with the second, I have this strange quality of being thorough, even if it entails a lengthy explanation (as you can see here). In short: I need some specific things to happen in the story and they require a lot of words/chapters, at least if you want them to be logical (some plot holes are likely, though). Just be patient with me. Also I have a specific style of writing, so expect a lot of calm thinking/talking instead of things going too fast... That doesn't mean there won't be any action though :)

Next, I have about 10 chapters already done and I will be posting them one per 2 or 3 days, but once I post all of them then the frequency of chapters will drop down, because I don't have that much time for writing. I hope it will be one chapter per week.

The rating stays as T for now, but changes are possible.

As for naming and language, I will probably use a lot of Japanese words, especially honorifics. I was tempted to use Japanese order of Surname and then Name, but I ultimately decided against it. I will also use Elsie/Elucia instead of other spellings, as well as Eri instead of Elly (even though the latter looks nice, I just didn't find any official prove for that spelling).

The last thing: tell me what you think! Reviews, including constructive critique, are always welcome!

Disclaimer: I don't own The World God Only Knows manga.

Okay, onto the story!

(* * *)

The day was sunny and quite warm, something you would consider unusual for the middle of November, even in Maijima, Eastern Japan. Of course, most of the inhabitants were happy about this and didn't even think about complaining. But some weren't fond of that particular brightness, especially if they wished to hide from the view. This was exactly why the inferior of the building was mostly covered in darkness – only one room was illuminated by several light bulbs that would be considered fairly normal if it weren't for the dim green light they emitted...

And the fact that they seemed to float in the air, as if by magic.

The only person present in the room seemed undisturbed by any of this. Actually, not much could be said about this person, because of the the black cloak draped around the person's body. The only reliable information that could be concluded was the person's gender – if the black hair spilling out of the hood and the smooth delicate-looking skin were any indication.

The person was sitting on a plain chair next to a dirty window, head propped on hand, elbow on the windowsill. Her face was unmoving save for red eyes, gazing through the small gap in the curtains.

The human world. A blink. And the Far East too. A wry smile. It seemed both different and similar to how her home looked like... A barely audible sigh.

Or to how it had looked like before the war.

The person remained like that for a few more minutes until her eyes finally stopped observing the outside world and shot in the direction of the wooden door. It was completely quiet for a second or two and then muffled footsteps could be heard. And then there was knocking.

"Come in" the figure by the windowsill said in a language no-one usually heard in this part of the world.

Or any part of the world for that matter...

The door, looking even older than the rest of the room, opened slowly, its creaking the loudest sound made so far. Another figure entered the room, as the first one it was wearing a cloak of sorts, the person's facial features completely concealed by a hood. This new person seemed rather plain and inconspicuous, stark contrast to the woman by the window, who was of a much higher status – it was obvious even in that situation.

The figure closed the door and then walked to the other one, knelt on one knee and then spoke.

"Greetings milady" the kneeling person was a woman as well, but it would be hard to guess it by her voice alone, which was rather low and not the most pleasant. "I'm sorry for being late. I have arrived as soon as I could."

"I'm sure you have" the sitting woman answered, her voice on the other hand was melodious and gentle, yet with underlying timbre of steel – reminiscent of a beautiful yet frosty winter morning. "Actually, I'm glad you managed to escape arrest and trial."

"Concealment and secrecy is my forte, so it's to be expected" the kneeling person stood up. "It wasn't easy though. Nor quick."

"That's fine, concealment and secrecy is exactly why I expect from you now" the noble woman replied. "There is a task that needs to be done. It doesn't need to happen immediately, but once it happens it needs to be performed precisely and quickly. But before that I need you to recruit a few old devils."

"Recruit?"

"Yes. What we lack right now is manpower."

"With all due respect... replenishing our ranks after what happened is..."

"I'm not talking about any major or even minor replenishments. Forget about gathering an army or about recruiting some big names. We don't have time or need for those. What we need now are soldiers. Inconspicuous, reliable and loyal. And five would be enough, so you should be able to do it quickly."

"Five... that would mean there won't be even ten of us... What can we accomplish with such a number?"

"I have been wondering..." the person by the window said, as if ignoring the other one, her eyes already back to observing the outside world. "Why have we, a secret and powerful organization, failed? We had spies everywhere, people in the government, thousands of soldiers in Vintage. Yet we failed. Do you know why?"

The other person remained silent.

"We failed" the woman continued. "Because of some other organization."

"And that organization is?"

"I have no idea."

"I... beg your pardon?" the other person asked, clearly surprised. "How could there be an organization in New Hell as big as powerful as us that we don't know about?"

"Exactly, that is not possible" the woman answered. "There are only three possible explanations. That organization is not big. Or it's not from New Hell. Or both."

"Wait a moment..." for the first time a trace of disbelief could be heard in the other person's voice. "You're not suggesting that a handful of some pathetic humans managed to foil our plans, are you?"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting" the woman retorted, her voice held a hint of impatience as well. "And I forbid you from calling them pathetic humans. That way of thinking is exactly what brought as here" the woman gestured to the old moldy room. "Until this is done we need to be on our guard."

The other person remained quiet, as if expecting the woman to continue.

And she was right.

"I still have trouble believing it myself. We were too proud, we were expecting our enemies to strike us openly. Thus we prepared ourselves accordingly. The Runaway Spirit Squad... the Public Safety Department... We were even prepared for the intervention from the Heavens... yet in the end it seems we were brought down by a group of beings that were so insignificant we didn't even notice them swarming beneath our feet... We cannot make this mistake again."

"I see..." the other person said and then paused for a moment. "Forgive me for asking... but what do we hope to accomplish with so few people? Is there any chance?"

"There is... Obviously our plans will be delayed and we will probably never grow to our former strength, but we will survive... and the first thing we need is information. That will be your second task as soon as you complete the first one."

"I'm listening."

"The truth is" the woman pulled out a set of files from underneath her cloak. "We actually do have a list of names and profiles of a number of humans, a few buddies among them. And several devils" she handed the files to her comrade. "I managed to obtain it from the database before our headquarters were raided.

"That's a little more than several people" the other person studied the files for a moment. "There are twenty or so... but" a lengthy pause. "But that doesn't make any sense. Do you truly believe those are the humans we need? Most of them are kids, even by human standards!" he was quiet for a moment. "Maybe that's just a part of them. Maybe there's more."

"That's why we need to know exactly what happened. What did they know and what did they do. I suspect some of them are unrelated anyway, but we can't take any chances."

"So you want me to interrogate them?"

"Not in person. Standard questioning methods might be pointless. We will need some proper equipment, but let me worry about that. What I want you to do is bring them to me in one piece, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"We will use their own tactic against them" the woman continued, gazing into the distance. "They think they have won. They will lower their guard. And we we will be the ones that'll move unnoticed beneath their feet... we'll approach from the angle they won't anticipate. We'll take them by surprise. We will learn their secret... how their operate... what connections do they have with the New Hell. And after we have understood everything, we will remove them from our path" the woman took off her hood, two prominent horns adorning her head, red eyes shinning in the dark. "I swear it on my name, the name of Roudret Ruhm Lentrant!"

(* * *)

Thus, we start with a threatening secret conspiracy! I won't be keeping you in the dark for long, so I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. If you like it then drop me a review. See you next time!