Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own it

A/N: Hey ho~ Everyone! Rankin here! Sorry it's been a while again! I had a writer's block right after the wedding in my Fire Emblem fic, then I got busy looking for work. So thing will be slow for a while. Sorry about that.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I added Nikaido for, well, plot purposes. I can't really let her just disappear on me.

I edited the last chapter, but only really minor ones. There's no real need to look at them, but I did mention how Ayumi's 'attacks' on Keima feel different from Yui's attacks, and that's something I'll be swinging around in later chapters once I've rebuilt the bridge between them, hahaha.

I finally have a decent idea of where I'm taking this fic. As a Ayumi x Keima fan, they'll obviously end up together. However, the manga left A LOT of relationships broken with Keima and the rest of the girls so I'll be fixing those one at a time! That's right! We'll be going back to meet the goddess holders! And maybe other characters like Kusinoki since I REALLY fell in love with her character but then she would have graduated ;_; We'll also be looking a lot at Keima's growth!

Earl Cardinal

Eh. I'm not angry with Wakaki. I'm disappointed in his decision, but I'd still like to see more from him. In all honesty, an open ending would have been alright for the sole reason that Keima's character could pull it off. Unlike generic-Shonen character #346.

But still, thanks for the lengthy review! I appreciate the criticism. As for Keima's character regressing, that's plot purpose too. I'll reveal it totally soon enough, but you'll get a hint of it with this chapter. But yes, I'll tone it down. I just feel that since he'll be flustered with Ayumi the most due to the reason 1.) She is the first conquest 2.) He married her and she was serious and 3,) He went out with her best friend.

The interactions of Mel and Ayumi are so because they closer without having to hide from anyone anymore. That's the only reason they stayed dormant right? Though they do need reflections in order for it to work. I think it's more amusing if their interactions did away with that.

The devils? Hmm... I'm not utterly sure I can. I'll see where it can go right after chapter 3. Perhaps as a sequel, but this fic would focus more on Ayumi and Keima and everyone else from the goddess arc. Oh, I'll drop in his mom, Chihiro, and everyone else every now and then, but adding the devil with all the unfinished business feels like a tall order while I have my Fire emblem fic.

Again, thanks for the review. I appreciate it a lot!

Oh! I guess I'll be depending on you if the characters go OOC. We'll be depending on your keen mind!

Festus Flare

I KNOW RIGHT?! I mean, does this mean Elsi still has her god powers or did she relinquish it to be human? Even though Keima says something was odd for her to be in the capturing division, it was still too fast a reveal that she's this BIG SHOT of a devil! She was suppose to destroy the earth right? Then the only thing that stopped that was because she fell in love with earth life? All I can see from that is that she fell in love with fire trucks! The last chapters we're like roller coaster going so fast, you don't even realize it ended!

Katsuragi 'God' Keima

Still though, thanks for giving this fic your time! Hopefully I can persuade you to think that Aymui has a good chance with Keima.

Anyway, without further adieu, Chapter 2!

Horizon Dreamer

Sorry I took 2 days longer than I promise! I did finish it 2 days before, but I had to rewrite it. I wrote more about it on the end note.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 2

Getting Closer

On the second day, they met at the old theater again. Yesterday, Keima had walked her through starting up her 3DF and started her (currently) only game, Demon Hunter 3. At first, Ayumi kept asking question after question on how the system and game made no sense, but after a while, she learned to accept these as the "games logic". Keima got annoyed several times on why she couldn't get it, but he didn't really feel like starting up his PFP anyway so he stayed with Ayumi as she played her game. She once tried asking him to play with her but he only replied with:

"Ha! Games with no heroines do not interest me. Besides, Demon Hunter is more of a grind fest than its predecessor."

"Grind-fest?" Ayumi asked, as she played through the tutorial. She had created a female character which resembled her, and the avatar was now gathering herbs from bushes.

"Geh... I keep forgetting you aren't familiar with gaming terms." Keima complained, crossing his arms and settling further in his seat.

"So, what is it?" Ayumi asked again, "ah! I just hit a deer!" The said deer went down without much of a fight and now stars revolved around its head.

"It means that the player has to repeat a certain task a number of times before he or she can actually do any progress with the game." He said, fixing his glasses and turning his head upwards. "Honestly, not a lot of people like grinding, its cumbersome and time consuming! Once a player understands a certain task, the game should progress onwards with the story! Otherwise its just bad developing. And you're about to be attacked."

"Eh? Ahh! How'd you know?! You weren't even looking at the screen!" Ayumi complained, glaring at him as her avatar suddenly got flattened by a group of velociraptor.

Keima turned a flat gaze to her. "You underestimate the game, Ayumi. You can clearly hear the sound of danger through the speakers, and now you're not even looking at the screen now."

"Ah...!" Ayumi began, then turned to her screen "Oh no! There's too many!" The avatar was now surrounded by hungry looking velociraptors, roaring and screeching at Ayumi's avatar. "What do I do, what do I do?!"

"Ah! What the heck was that?!" Ayumi yelled.

"Watch your left! Its gonna attack!" Keima coached.

"I can't dodge in time!"

"Then block, woman!"

"Ah...! Phew... that was close. Potion, potion... where did I put my potions..." Ayumi said, calming down as she mashed the buttons on her 3DF.

And so they were at it again today. Keima watching over on how she played, and coaching less and less as Ayumi started getting the hang of the game and Ayumi getting surprised less and less, but grunting more and more.

Keima checked his watch. They had spent only a little time eating on their lunch break as Ayumi wanted to show him how far she had gone last night and spent the remaining time of their lunch trying to capture a dragon/saber tooth hybrid, besides surviving the ambush earlier. Ayumi managed to get away without using too much of her resources on the velociraptors, and finally managed to track down her target. Ayumi immediately asked for help once she noticed that despite the monster's size, which equaled two buses side-by-side, it moved faster than the small velociraptors from awhile ago. Keima didn't really do anything, just observed the targets' pattern then told Ayumi to lay pit traps here and there and blow up the monster with several bombs she had, then finally going to town on it with her giant great sword. With the plan set, Ayumi did as she was told, and were now at the last part of their plan where they lure into another pit trap them put it to sleep.

Unfortunately, they needed to get back to class.

"Hey Ayumi, we need to go." Keima said, standing up from his chair, hands in his pocket. "It's about time for class to start and we have a bit of walking to do."

"Eh!? But I'm so close!" Ayumi whined. She really was close.

"Just fold your 3DF, it'll pause the game automatically, then you can capture it later. Now come on, its Nikaido's class next. " he said, then moved towards the exit.

"Fine..." she said, with a sigh. She did as she was told then stood up, and jogged after Keima. "You know... I noticed you stiffen whenever you see Nikaido-sensei when you're outside of class" She remarked it, but she only noticed it once. But Keima's posture was so tense she felt that it happened more often than once with Nikaido-sensei. She wondered why, though she knew she was something like a devil, like what Eri used to be.

"Never mind it." He said with a sigh, shaking his head. "It doesn't really concern you."

"Eh?! Why not?!"

"Well, why DO you want to know?"

"Well first of, I hope you haven't forgotten that you haven't really explained to me what is up with all that business with the devils! Even Mel isn't fully aware of the situation so I can only ask you." Ayumi said, matter-of-factly. "Second of all..." She hesitates, then blushes a little. "I don't want to have any regrets!" She says proudly.

"W-what?" Keima said, raising an eye brow, a bit confused.

"Grrr! Look! Just tell me what is up with you and Nikaido and maybe I could help!" Ayumi said, hands to her hips, blushing quite a lot.

"Fine... It's a pain to explain, let's see..." Keima said, sighing. He reached for the theater door and opened it for Ayumi. They exited the old theater and started walking among the cherry tree path, side by side back towards the main school building. It was still a bright early afternoon, with lunch period not quite ending yet and a pleasant spring breeze blowing around them and rustling the trees. It caused a pleasant scene around the two but they were oblivious to it as Keima was just about to explain past events. "I met Nikaido sensei in that past when I time traveled. But at the time, she called herself Dokuro and... Well, one thing lead to another and-"

"Hey! Don't cut the story with 'one thing lead to another!" Ayumi yelled, curious as to what the 'one thing' was.

"Shut up! It's already annoying to explain the weird flags I raised in the past so just accept the fact that something happened!" Keima replied with equal fervor. "Anyway, One thing lead to another and I had to feed her, but being in a child's body, all I could do was get her home to my mom and have breakfast. And she was as clueless as a new born so I had to play the role 'onii-chan' in a family event flag. If you remember, Eri was also with me in traveling back to time and I couldn't let mom see her because that would just mess things up here in the present. But because she was excluded in the family event, she was pouting all the while we were there at my house."

"Ah. So you're worried that Eri might get jealous if Doku- Er... I mean Nikaido-sensei started acting all 'onii-chan! onii-chan!' with you huh?"

"So you get it? You know how troublesome it could lead?" Keima said, meeting Ayumi's gaze.

"Nope! Totally don't!" Ayumi didn't even bother opening her eyes as she walked forward, head up.

"W-What!?"

"Look. You're worrying over another point less thing. You don't have to worry about something like that!" Ayumi said, eyes still closed.

"How could I not?! In games, it's perfectly normal to activate a yandere flag with Eri and turn her into-" Keima was to say more but Ayumi smacked him on his arm. They stopped walking now."Ouch! What's with you, woman!"

"There you go again with again with your game logic! It helped when you were helping me with my Demon Huner, but it doesn't make sense to apply it here in the 'real' as you like to call it." Ayumi was looking at him now, annoyed. Then looked away again, averting his gaze. "But I'm telling you Keima. You've got nothing to be worried about with Eri and Dokuro-san."

"You didn't have to hit me!"

"Ah. Sorry." Ayumi apologized, realizing who she hit and doing that did the complete opposite of what she wants from him. "Let me try again." She coughed, stepping closer to him, gazed up into his eyes, and placed a hand on where she hit him. She kept her voice level, a little soft even. She smiled. "You don't have to worry about things like that here in reality. Trust me a little when in comes to 'the real' okay?"

Keima blushed. She was closer than she needed to be.

Then Ayumi realized how close she was. And she blushed too. "S-Sorry!" She said, stepping back and started walking back towards their class. "F-Forget I said anything."

Keima, still blushing, scratched his cheek a little, then jogged to catch up with Ayumi. Though they were side by side, they avoided each others gaze for a while. "... Ayumi." Keima finally spoke, turning to her. "Um... Thanks. I guess... I'll rely on you."

Ayumi turned back to face him. Then she smiled. "Sure thing!"

They walked through the cherry blossomed path in silence for a time after that. Ayumi liked the spring weather but could never sit still to enjoy it or move about in a slow mannered pace. She wanted to run around and sprint, but that wasn't an option right now due to her companion being the intrepid Katsuragi. She sighed, slightly bored. So she decided to at the very least talk about things that have no particular importance because, in truth, she was feeling awkward with the prolonged silence. She turned her head to look at Keima"So... How's Eri doing in her class? I had club meeting yesterday after class, so I haven't got the chance to talk to her yet." She asked Keima.

"Ah, well... She bugged me a lot when we were on our way home yesterday." He replied, cringing a little as he relieved the memory of walking home with Eri. It was an ordeal that looked like he would relive everyday until the end of the school year.

"Why? What'd you do? And how'd she do that?"

"You'd like to know that, wouldn't you..." Keima said, "Well, she was whining a lot about us not spending lunch together yesterday. Apparently, she didn't make much progress with her class, so she wanted to eat lunch with me... Even though we already spend breakfast and dinner together. She really gets on my nerves."

"I'm sure it's not that bad! At least she loves her older brothe- ah! I forget, I'm talking to the ever popular Keima Katsuragi..." She flattened her gazed and avoided meeting his eyes.

"I told you, it's not like that!"

"Yes, yes... So go on, what'd she do to annoy you on your way home?"

"Ugh..." Keima said, placing his hand over his glasses at the memory. "I didn't really want to pay attention to it. In fact, I don't remember it accurately but she wouldn't stop whining all the way home. It was just all just 'Nii-sama' this or 'Nii-sama' that or the ever popular, 'Nii-sama, you're so cruel to your little sister!'" He said in mocking tone of Eri. "Which got me in trouble with an old man on our way home! He gave me an earful as he waved his stick in the air." Keima hunched down and started waving an imaginary stick in the air. 'Why am I telling her all this?' 'Well she asked didn't she?' He argued with himself briefly.

Ayumi laughed at that, she could picture it quite clearly. "I'm sure you deserved it. Though wouldn't you normally just ignore him while playing with you PFP?"

"Ah, well... I haven't really been able to play in peace for some reason..."

"Oh no!" Ayumi said, mockingly. Covering her mouth with her free hand. "Are you feeling well? Do you have a fever? Want me to carry you again like last time?"

"I don't need you to patronize me!" Keima said, angrily at her, but more annoyed at his situation with Eri.

She just laughed it off. "Well, we even hid from her now right? Wouldn't it be the same as yesterday?"

"It's fine! She can handle being away from me. That's what we did all the time last year, remember? She'd more often hang around with you."

"Oh, that's right! It was like that huh... So why the sudden change?"

"Like I'd now what that she-devil is thinking!"

"Mmmm... Well, I'm sure it'll be fine." Ayumi said, while checking her watch to be sure they would make in on time. "Ah, we have to hurry! We won't make it if we just keep walking!" she said, taking hold of Keima's arm and getting into a sprinting position.

"H-hey! Wait! What are you doing?!" Keima protested, well aware of who is grabbing him and what she's about to do.

"It'll be fine! Come on, it'll be faster my way!" Ayumi smiled devilishly. "Here. We. Go~."

"N-no! W-wait! Help! Someone saaaaaaaaaa-"

Ayumi dashed off, cutting Keima's plea for help all the while dragging him along like a piece of cloth stuck on a speeding bullet. They passed by the cherry blossomed path in a blur, creating small whirlwinds that disturbed the fallen cherry blossom. It didn't take long to arrived at the main school building. But Ayumi didn't stop though. Taking the less traveled out door stair case, she dashed up all the way to the fourth floor where the Senior's classes take place, skipping three steps at a time. "We're here!" She announced proudly, as she slowed and stopped right in front of door that would take them into the hallway. The whole thing took barley 10 seconds, and Ayumi was barley winded. Keima on the other hand...

"Hey... You okay? You look like I ran you over..." Ayumi said, bending down to Keima who was sprawled on the ground, face up.

"I thought I was going to die..." he said exhausted and breathing heavily. "The... human body... shouldn't be able to withstand... such force..."

"Haha, sorry! Sorry! But hey! We got here before the bell didn't we? So here... Let me help you." Ayumi said, blushing a bit reaching down to help Keima up. He took her hand and as he stood, dusting himself off, making sure his glasses and PFP were still in good condition. "No harm done, right?" She smiled apologetically and actually meant it. She didn't want to be late, but she also didn't mean to make Keima look like he was shot out of a canon.

Keima sighed, taking his glasses off to wipe off some dirt that got on it. She seemed genuine enough to him. "Whatever. Let's just get to class."

Ayumi blushed, and looked away from him. She hadn't seen Keima without his glasses in a long time and for some reason, it made her heart skip a beat. Then she remembered when Keima cheered her on for the track-meet, spouting some nonsense that she already placed first in his heart. She should get angry at that, she knew she should. After all, it turned out to be a total lie. But what came was a mix of happiness, then a sense of loss, and finally, relief. She didn't get it. It made her confused. The only thing that's a solid fact to her right now was that her heart skipped a beat. "W-Well... I'll go in first. I need to go to the bathroom... S-See you in class." And with that, she opened the door and jogged off towards the nearest bathroom as the door closed behind her.

Keima didn't miss seeing Ayumi blush. He also remembers the time when he took off his glasses for her. What settled in his heart was a big lump of regret. He wished he could take it all back. It was one thing to be hated or looked down upon for your choice of life. It was whole other matter to be hated because you gave them a reason to hate you. And in Ayumi's case, as well as all the other girls, he played with their hearts. Sure, some of them forgot about it and live better lives than when they had a gap in their hearts, such as Mio, Kusunoki, or Minami. But the business with the goddesses left their memories intact. He shouldn't care. He should turn on his PFP and lose himself among his galge like he used too.

'But you're just be running away from YOUR problems.' said a voice in his head. No, it wasn't his conscience. It was Chihiro's. She told him that in their short time together.

And she was right. He was running.

Then the bell finally rang. He sighed then thought 'The real is such a bother...'. He opened the door (it felt heavier than it should) and made his way back to his classroom.

Keima made his way to his classroom and noticed he got there before Ayumi. He took his seat and waited for everyone else to settle down. It didn't take long for Ayumi to come to class, followed closely by Nikaido. Things proceeded normally. For the class at least. Nikaido started up her lesson on Japanese history, sometimes writing on the board, more often dictating things from a textbook she brought with her, and explaining in finer detail every now and then. The students got out their note books and scribbled down their notes, some faster than others. Keima never took notes. He'd always just play games. But today, he just looked bored, resting his head on his hand and the other silently drumming on the table. He stared emptily at the lesson in front of him. He looked positively normal.

And on that note, Nikaido's interest was piqued. Normally, she'd harass her onii-chan either physically or verbally, to keep up appearance to their former lives of course. But when you have a close relationship with someone, you can tell when something is wrong. She didn't want to call out Keima just to satisfy her curiosity, so she tried getting their eyes to meet as she taught the class their lesson by moving around in front of the class. She finally met his gaze and she raised a small eye brow.

'Is something wrong, onii-chan?' She silently conveyed.

And a simple shake of Keima's head dismissed her efforts. 'No. It's nothing.' He replied.

Nikaido sighed, then recovered herself quickly as she remembered she was still in class, and started writing some notes on the blackboard.

'I guess my mood is apparent to you, huh Dokuro?' Keima guessed. Then he heard a familiar sound that made his hair rise. It was the sound of game starting. It was small enough to hear, that people further than him would think nothing of it. But the problem was, he didn't start his PFP. He turned his head towards Ayumi, who was continuing from where she left off at the theater.

"Hey, hey hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Keima whispered as small as he could.

"Eh? I'm just finishing up the quest..." Ayumi replied in the same whisper.

"Are you stupid?! You'll get caught!" Keima made a quick glance at Nikaido. Sure enough, she was still at the board writing more notes for them to take down.

"It's fine! Nikaido-sensei has her back turned to us."

"I-idiot! You're underestimating her skills! You'll definitely get in trouble! Just close the 3DF and-"

"Oh...? And here I was thinking something was wrong with you Katsuragi..." Nikaido said, suddenly already halfway across the classroom from the duo, and getting closer. "So, you're still playing games even though... huh?" She stopped and looked at Keima's face, which looked like he was caught red-handed and very guilt. The Otamegane never looked guilty. Then she heard the tell tale sign of a handheld being snapped closed, and it came from under Ayumi's desk. "Ta... kahara... san?" She said slowly, turning her head towards Ayumi

"Ah ha ha ha... Well... This is... Um..." Ayumi started, trying to come up with an excuse. She was finding it hard to swallow the lump in her throat. She couldn't believe she got caught red handed so easily.

"She tried telling me to stop playing games in your class and she took my handheld, sensei." Keima said, quickly. Covering for Ayumi.

"Ho...?" Nikaido said, musing.

"Don't lie." Ayumi said as she looked at Keima. 'You don't have to carry my worries.' "Sensei, I was the one playing. Keima... Tried to stop me." Ayumi said truthfully.

Nikaido was sure something was up. With both of them. Whether that something was related to each of them, she'd like to know. Or at the very least, her onii-chans'. "On a first name basis with him now, Takahara-san?"

"W-well... That is-"

Nikaido sighed. The classroom wasn't the place for this. But still, she was a teacher and she had to stay by the rules. She placed a hand on her hip and the other one reached out towards Ayumi. "Handheld." She commanded with regret in her voice. Ayumi complied silently. "I'd like to see you after class. Both of you." Nikaido said, pointing to both Ayumi and Keima one after the other, then she turned around, placed Ayumi's 3DF on her desk and continued the lesson.

'*Yawn* You sure this will work, Ayumi? I mean, we spent a lot of money on that device...' Mel said.

'Hmm... Well, it's the only way I can think of for them to be all in one place... Besides, Nikaido-sensei will probably let me off the hook.' Ayumi thought, sighing in the real. 'Probably.'

'I still don't like all this sneaking around it. You're a very direct person after all.'

'Come on Mel! We've discussed this at the bathroom!'

'Let me put it like this then. When you, as the Mai-High's missile, race competitively, don't you just forgo everything and smash into the goal?'

'Won't work.' Ayumi argued. 'Yui did it. Kanon-san did it. I did it. If I do it again, I'll just end up with the same results.'

Mel sighed. 'You do have a point there. Still... That man sure carries a lot of burdens on his shoulders.'

'Yeah... But I guess that's one of the reason why I like him...' Ayumi mused, sighing as well.

'What a troublesome man.' Ayumi and Mel said in unison.

The last bell finally rang and students rose up cheerfully with class finally ended and some of the students were free to do what they wished for the rest if the day. Some were clamoring to go out for Karaoke, others planned to go out and shop in the malls. Talks of walking home together we're abundant and so were declination to go as others had club practices to go to. Luckily for Ayumi, she didn't have track practice today so she packed her things neatly in her back pack and slung it over her shoulder. She was ready to meet with Nikaido-sensei. She looked at her companion then and noticed he was staring emptily out the window, notebooks, pencils, and PFP still unpacked. Other students were also still in the room, mingling about with their close friends, filling the classroom with chatter. "Hey, Keima. Class is over. We need to go meet with Nikaido-sensei now." She said as she took a step towards him and touched his shoulder.

Keima jerked at the touch, reeling back into reality. He turned towards her, still in his seat. "W-what?"

Ayumi sighed, then placed her hands on her hips. "Geez. I said class is over now. Nikaido-sensei asked us to meet up with her remember?"

"Ah. Right..." Keima started fixing his things at that.

"Really! What's with you... are you feeling sic-" That was all Ayumi could say before a loud call came from outside the classroom.

"NIIIIII-SAMA!"

"Chee! I forgot about her!" Keima grunted.

The loud sound of Eri's call could be heard just right outside of the classroom. She opened the door quickly and rushed in, not even bothering to check who was still in the room. "Onii-sama! Let's go home together!" Eri said, rushing to Keima, eyes closed. As she opened her eyes at the last minute, she noticed Ayumi standing right next to her older brother. Her smile grew even wider at the sight of her and she made for a leap towards Ayumi.

"AYUMI! I'VE MISSED YOU!" Eri squealed, embracing Ayumi as she crashed right into her.

"H-Hey Eri! Watch it! You almost knocked me over! Geez..." Ayumi said as she caught Eri, barley able to keep herself standing from Eri's sudden tackle, but returning her embrace all the same.

"Hey, the track team doesn't have a meeting right? Let's walk home together!" Eri said with great enthusiasm. The others in the class really didn't mind the eccentric entrance and continued to mingle amongst themselves but some were also already leaving.

"I'm happy you'd like to walk home with me, but aren't you a little excited about this? I mean, we've done it before, right?" Ayumi said, taking a step back from Eri so that they were at arms length now. Keima was just about to finish packing up.

"Yeah! But we haven't done it this year yet! So come on! Walk home with us! She can, right onii-sama?" Eri asked her brother, who was now done pack and now standing up, placing his shoulder bag across his chest.

"Well, we have to talk with Dokuro- I mean, Nikaido first. She wants to see us. Geez, what's with you devils and changing your names." Keima said, exasperated.

"Oh that's okay! I can wait for you." Eri said happily. Placing her hands behind her back.

"Geez... Do what you want... Just don't be a bother." Keima replied moving towards the exit.

Eri smiled at Ayumi, took her hand and said "Come on! Nii-sama really has habit of leaving me behind so he really might do that to us!" The girls jogged right after him. He walked slowly so he didn't get that far. Eri released Ayumi's hand to walk beside her brother and Ayumi walked right up to Keima's other side as well. They walked towards the stairs, going down to the teachers lounge.

As she walked beside them, Eri started talking about what's been going on with her in her new class and the new friends she's been able to make despite it being only the second day. As Eri was happily talking the short minutes away, Keima gradually grew more and more irritated, making snide remarks here and there and saying he doesn't care at all, Ayumi noticed. Then she laughed out loud.

"Whats with you? Have you gone crazy?" Keima asked, annoyed and glaring.

"It's nothing! I'm just glad to see you're back to your old self." Ayumi said happily. "You were being gloomy awhile ago, so I was worried! But its seems like I don't have to worry about anything. Right, Eri?" Then she giggled again.

Eri didn't fully understand but she but she giggled all the same. "Im glad you're not gloomy nii-sama!"

Keima glared at the both of them, "Gah! I don't understand you 'real' women at all!" He said loudly.

As they reach the ground floor. More and more students populated the hallway and filled the halls with chatter. Senpais mingling with their Kouhais, or others heading to see the bulletin boards. Teachers milled abojt with them, talking to groups of them.

The trio made their way towards the teachers lounge, three rooms down from the stairs. Keima was the one to knock and peek his head in as he'd already gotten in a lot of trouble with his gaming habits. "Excuse me, is Nikaido sensei here?" He asked the nearest teacher.

"Ah. Katsuragi. In trouble again? Nikaido-sensei is over at her desk. You can come in." Said the teacher.

"Thank you, sensei. Come on, Ayumi. Sorry for the intrusion." Keima said, then opened the door for Ayumi to let her in and followed behind her. He thank God Eri had enough sense not to follow them in. The two made their way through the rows of desk piled up with paper work of all sorts. From test papers to letters of warning to awards and such. The room was respectfully silent, despite the noise that was just eight outside its door. They found Nikaido at her desk, going through some papers. As they closer she noticed them.

"Ah. You two are here. Sorry, but let's have this discussion elsewhere. The roof would be fine. You still have the key onii-chan?" Nikaido let slip. No one was near enough to hear anyway. Keima nodded.
"Alright. Then let me just put this paperwork away and I'll meet you two up there. Sorry about this, Takahara-san."

"Ah...! No, its fine, sensei." Ayumi said.

Keima sighed. "Well then, we'll meet you upstairs Dokuro. Come on Ayumi." He turned around, grabbed Ayumi by her arm, and gently pulled her along.

As the two exited the teachers lounge they explained to Eri they're moving the place for their conversation. She decides to go with them, even with Keima's insistence she go on ahead first, saying it'll likely take a while.

'Hey, are you still worried Eri and Dokuro might not get along?' Ayumi asked Keima quietly.

"Er- Well..."

"Look! It'll be fine! Like I said, when in comes to 'the real' why don't you trust me every now and then. After all, I'm more experienced with it." Ayumi proclaimed, pointing to herself.

And any argument from Keima from that was silenced.

The trio made their way to the roof and found a spot where they could sit down. The schools roof, which is more like Krona's personal space as he holds the only spare key, was a large area much like a courtyard with shaded pathways going around and trees planted around benches. The place they chose was one of the trees near the railings so they had a good view of Maijima city and the coast. The girls sat down on the bench while Keima leaned over the nearby railing with the view to his back. Eri and Ayumi started talking with each other, and occasionally dragging Keima into the conversation. They talked about things of nothing in particular such as new bakery that opened near the station or the new programs on television. It didn't take long before Nikaido to finish her paper works and went up to the roof herself. As she opened the door, she already spotted the trio and they called her over.

"Sensei! Over here!" Ayumi waved Nikaido over.

"Thanks for coming to see me. It seems I've even dragged your sister here. My apologies. First things first. Takahara-san." Nikaido said as she reached inside her jackets pocket to bring out Ayumi's 3DF and handed it to her. "I'll let you off with just a warning this time because you have a clean record and our Mai-High Missile. Please don't make into a habit of copying Keima, Takahara-san."

"Ha ha ha... Sorry Sensei." Ayumi said, scratching her head as she took her 3DF then bowed politely.

"Second of all... Are you two alright?" Nikaido asked with genuine concern. She looked at both of them and studied their surprised faces only for a little while, then she shook her head and smiled. "No. You two probably are since I heard Keima screaming at the top his voice just now and Takahara-san laughing with Eri-chan."

"E-Eri... Chan?" The trio said.

"Ah! My tongue slipped." Nikaido said, embarassed with a blush slightly across her face. But she recovered herself quickly, revering back to her role as a teacher. "It seems being around Keima and Eri-san makes me feel nostalgic. Please forget it, I'm sure you'd prefer it if I just acted normally, right Keima?"

"That's...!" Ayumi started, standing up from the bench, then she turned to Keima. "Hey! Isn't this kind of unfair?"

"Even if you say that..." Keima said, not really moving from his spot.

"Argh! I get it! I get it! I'll do it myself." Ayumi said, annoyed.

"Hey, don't just decide things by yourself! What are you-" Keima started to ask, but Ayumi answered him right away. Determined to show him her way.

"I said I'll help you with 'the real' right? So trust me a little." Ayumi said, matter of factly. "Sense- No. Dokuro-san." Ayumi turned to Nikaido, meeting her gaze. "I know it's none of my business, but you still think of Keima as your 'onii-chan' right? And just now, you called Eri as Eri-chan. Like how an older sister would call her little sister."

"O-older sister?" Eri stuttered. Kind of embarrassed.

Dokuro too blushed a little. "Well that's... I mean, I would just be a bother to onii-chan and Eri-c-chan..."

Ayumi shook her head at that. "I'm sure that's not true. Hey, Eri!" She turned to meet Eri, who was still sitting down on the bench and having a little blush. "What do you think of Dokuro-san?"

"W-What I think?" Eri said, now realizing everyone's looking at her. She turned to look at Dokuro, then to her feet. "U-um... I think... She's kind of scary sometimes. Especially when she was talking to onii-sama as Nikaido-sensei." She stopped. Leaving an awkward air around them. "But... I also think she's kind of cool... Like when she fought against Satyr." Eri looked up now, looking at Dokuro. "I... I also think Dokuro-san is really kind, like she always helps out her students, though they don't really notice it." Eri was smiling now. She closed her eyes and tried to think of more things to recall. "Last year, during the sports festival, she was really competitive with the other teachers, and the way she talk to the students was kind of scary again but it reminded me so much of the Chief. Back in the past, I was kind of jealous of her, since she was so much a better at helping onii-sama. Even fitting well as she ate breakfast with Mom and onii-sama. But I didn't want to get rid of her, or anything. Instead, I wanted to ask onii-sama if I could join in because it looked really fun!" Eri opened her eyes again. Meeting Dokuro's gaze, she blushed a little. She stood up from the bench and walked closer towards Dokuro. "W-w-well... Dokuro-san... I-I mean, if you wouldn't mind... C-can I... CAN I CALL YOU ONEE-SAMA?"

Ayumi smiled. Keima was slack jawed. Dokuro was surprised.

"E... Eri-chan..." Dokuro simply at a loss for words, but smiling now.

Eri smiled fully, then she leaped, intending to hug her new big sister around her neck. "Onee-sama!" Eri laughed with pure joy.

Ayumi moved to the railings and joined Keima as they watched the new new sisters. "See! I told you! Trust me a little bit."

Keima recovered a bit, remembering to close his mouth. "Why did you do something so unnecessary?"

"I wonder why. But with this, everyone's happy. And I think thats better than with someone sacrificing their own happiness for others sake." She turned and met his gaze, smiling. "Don't you think so?"

After a while, Eri finally was able to calm down enough. They agreed that they would still call her Nikaido-sensei infront of everyone else but when it was just them, they were free to call her Dokuro once more. Dokuro on the other hand was glad to be able to smile freely again and laugh with Eri. Though she only experienced living with a family once, Eri was determined to make it all up with Dokuro. None knew what Eri had in mind, but she assured them she wouldn't cause too much trouble, and that she, Dokuro, and Keima would make lots of memories as siblings. Eri also made it a point to tell Dokuro that she was free to laugh and smile on her own as a teacher among her students. Mentioning the fact that the business with Hell was over and that she, as a human, should laugh and smile like any other and now have to worry about the future so much that she doesn't enjoy the present with her new little sister. Surprisingly, Keima was dragged into the conversations, though Eri and Ayumi had to try several times. They even managed to convince him not to turn on his PFP as they talked about gossip(Keima wasn't pleased with that.), how Dokuro's rack got so big(Keima was didn't want to hear a word about it.), of the latest cafes and cakerys(Keima declared he absolutely hated sweets.) and other trivial things Dokuro never got to normally enjoy.

The sky was in it's vermilion hue as the sun was setting for the day before they eventually all decided it was time to go home. Dokuro was first to seperate from the group as she lived in the other direction of the trio and they said their goodbye's. The trio made their way through the Maijima City-scape and arrived at the suburbs. Less people we're on the streets now, having most students already inside their home earlier. The noise of cars could still be heard in the distance, but the barks of dogs, calls of crows, or sometimes the odd singing neighborhood dominated the area. Eri and Ayumi were the ones mostly in a conversation as they walked through the streets with Keima behind them, finally able to restart his PFP for that day. He complained a lot about the lost of times and that his list of games was growing longer and longer as he didn't get to play them as they forced him into their little chit-chat on the roof.

"Aw, come on onii-sama!"Eri complained. "Onee-sama and I barley even know anything about you besides your games. At least we know what you don't like now!"

"Maybe you should make a list of things he likes, Eri. I'm sure that would be shorter." Ayumi joked. They both laughed.

"Laugh all you want!" Keima said, annoyed. "This is why the real is so bothersome!"

"Mmm... Well, this is where we part ways you two." Ayumi said, jogging a little bit forward before she turned around to face them.

"Hey onii-sama! You shouldn't let a girl walk home alone when it's this late!" Eri piped in.

"Why do I have to? And even if I do, you're much more defenseless than Ayumi!" Keima complained.

"I-It's fine, Eri!" Ayumi said, smiling though she was a bit hurt. "It's not that far anyway."

"See! Ayumi sais-"

"Just go onii-sama! Our house is just around the corner from here." Eri said, interrupting Keima and pushing him to walk besides Ayumi.

"H-Hey!"

"Do it, or I'll tell onee-sama to start confiscating your games!"

"That's black mail!" Keima said. He couldn't believe his sister would resort to black mail.

"Yes, yes! Go on! You're wasting time!" Eri said, then she turned to Ayumi with a smile and waved. "See you tomorrow, Ayumi!"

"Yeah. See you." Ayumi replied, waving a little.

Eri then locked gazes with Keima, even glaring a little. Then she turned around and ran home.

"What's up with her?!" Keima asked.

"Beats me." Ayumi shrugged. "You're the older brother. You don't really need to, but I'm guessing she'll get angry if you go home now. Come on."

They walked side by side in silence again, this time through another quiet suburb neighborhood. It was getting darker and street lights started to turn themselves on with the cooling temperatures, though the sky was still bright enough to be able to see. Keima was back on his PFP but this time, Ayumi didn't mind. She glanced at him every now and then with a big smile on her face that she didn't really notice. But Keima noticed it.

"You have really stupid grin while staring at me. What is it? Do I have something on my face?" He asked.

"Oh! Am I smiling?" Ayumi said, touching her cheeks. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare. It's just that... I'm glad you're back to your usual self."

"What's with you? You really have gone crazy haven't you?"

Ayumi shrugged. "Maybe. But I'm glad you're playing again."

"... Ah. Right. Speaking of playing, what happened to the quest?" Keiam asked, putting his game down.

"Oh. I captured it before Dokuro took my 3DF, so don't worry about it. Here, take a look." Ayumi took off her back pack and rummaged for her 3DF, opened it, and showed it to Keima.

"Hmm? Ayumi, you have a new quest."

"Eh? Ah so I do..." Ayumi said, pressing some buttons to accept the quest. "EHH!?"

"What now?" Keima said, annoyed.

"The new quest... They want me to go fight three of them now." Ayumi said, defeated before the battle even began. Just one of the monsters cost her a lot of in-game resources and a lot of real world time to prepare. Fighting three of them would make it even worse. "My poor character... She's going to get eaten."

Keiam sighed. "Look, it'll be fine. I'll help you think up a plan tomorrow."

"Really?!" Ayumi said, excited. "At lunch time again, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just get plenty of traps and bombs for tomorrow. You still suck at fighting, so you should start making combo's tonight too."

Ayumi sighed. "I guess that's the only point around it. Oh, I can see my house now" She snapped her 3DF close and placed it back into her bag.

"Mmmm... Ayumi?" Keima called, stopping.

"Mm? What is it?"

"You know you're plan failed right? And you still want to play with your 3DF? Why?" Keima asked, wondering at why she does still continue to play. She hardly used the handheld, so she could probably still sell it and get her money back.

"Oh, well that's it's because its fun!" Ayumi said simply. "I still get attacked a lot, and use too many potions, but its still fun. But I really do hope you help me more! I'm still a newbie after all, hahaha."

Keima was suspicious. He wondered if that really was Ayumi's plan, or if this is her intended out come. He couldn't read her at all. But regardless, he was having fun too. And she did help him out with Dokuro. Which reminds him he hasn't actually thanked her for it. "Hey. Ayumi. Thanks. For helping me and Eri with Dokuro."

Ayumi just broadened her smile. "You're welcome, Keima. Let's help each other more tomorrow, okay?" She waved him off. He waved back and turned around. She watched him walk away for a time, forgetting that his PFP was still on. "HEY! KEIMA!" She called out.

He looked back.

"Don't burden yourself with the whole worlds' problem! You're not always the main character! Rely on me a bit!" She yelled, then she turned around and ran home.

Keima stood still, processing what she just said. He smiled, despite himself. "Then I'll be relying on you, Ayumi." He said quietly. Then he went back to playing his PFP and started walking home himself.

Author's Note: Augh! This is harder than last time!

The words didn't fit well in my mouth. Jumping to and fro from each characters' POV messes up the part of my head to writes. I've noticed when i write, I tend to only have one POV at a time. So I tried being omniscient on this one and it's harder than I thought. Keima's worries would often wander into my Ayumi thoughts, or Nikaido being too Eri/Elsie.

But I needed to switch around a lot on this! I'm sorry it took so long.

And a friend of mine was thinking of committing suicide the other day and I had to stop that. But you guys don't need to worry about that huh?

Then when I did finish it two days ago, I found that plenty of what I wrote did make sense! It was like I was writing about nothing and everything at the same time! I didn't have an end goal! So it took another two days to rewrite where I thought I wasn't making sense. And even then, I worried Nikaido was getting OOC because at one point, I made her way too cute, so instead of looking a big sister, she looked like the little one.

In any case, I'm getting an idea of where I'm going with this. Next chapter, I'll wind the clock a week forward and we'll see some progress with Ayumi and Keima's relationship!