Chapter 4: Left Out~The Girl and the Ghost~

The first thing I saw when I entered the room was Momo staring at her computer monitor while biting her tail. She saw me standing on the doorway.

Then Momo looked at me with a sinister look and said, "Leave. Now."

After the way she looked at me, I wouldn't even think of hanging around her room any longer. I didn't wanna cause any trouble, so I just left her room quietly.

"Phew... I though I was a goner back there..."

I went back downstairs to tell Mikan that I've finished checking on them.

"What? I asked you to call them down!" she said.

I don't recall her ever saying that, But after what I've been through I wouldn't even think of going back there.

"C-call them yourself! I'm not going back there!"

"Ugh... you're hopeless..." she replied.

It was the first time that Mikan called me hopeless. Then I suddenly felt like I was out-of-place.

It wasn't as it was before. Usually, Mikan, Rito and I would play together all day. But now, The Mikan I was talking to is always busy with housework and Rito is always playing video games with Celine. It was if I never existed.

Out of depression, I grabbed all of my stuff and left the house. Then as I was about to leave, Mikan called for my attention.

"Yume!" she said, "Aren't you gonna stay and have dinner with us?"

"Sorry... Not hungry... Bye..."

And I left, just like that.

I went back to Mikado's place. Mikado was too busy that she didn't notice me come in. I went to my room and took a nap on my bed.

I didn't know why I was feeling depressed. Usually, I wouldn't care and just go with the flow, But I was feeling left out. I'd never thought I'd see Rito lying on top of a girl (It was surprising that he'd have the guts to do that, and at a young age too), or see Mikan act more mature than before. Maybe I was feeling depressed because a lot had happened and I wasn't there to see it.

Then as I was thinking of these things, I heard a voice that interrupted my nap.

"Yume-kun..." it said.

I opened my eyes and saw the red-haired girl doing something to my hair while sitting on top of me. This time, she was wearing black clothes, with the color resembling a shadow.

"Oh, you're awake." She said.

I immediately jumped out of the bed and grabbed the lamp which was lying around, if ever she she was going to do something to me.

"Fufu... You weren't acting like this when we were at the bathtub." She said.

"Would you let that go already?!"

She left the bed and walked towards me.

"...You look very familiar..." she whispered as she inspected my face.

She was touching my cheeks and moved her face closer to mine. My heart was beating fast and I was shivering. I accidentally dropped the lamp.

"W-Why are you in my room...?" I asked her.

She kept her distance and said, "Master asked me to keep an eye on you!"

"...I don't get it..."

"Starting today, I'll be watching over you 24/7!" she said.

My face turned bright red. I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not.

"W-w-what?! I-is this a joke?! A-are you making fun of me?!"

"Nope." She answered, "I'm serious!"

Her stare was enough to prove that she wasn't kidding. She really was serious.

"B-but that would mean interfering with my privacy! You have no right to do that!"

"Earth laws don't apply to us." She said.

She was an alien. No ordinary human would call the laws as "Earth laws".

"Look... Mea, right? Earth laws might not apply to you, but galactic laws do, right?"

"No, they don't apply to us either." She answered.

"What are you? Outlaws?"

"Hmm... I guess you can say that!" she replied.

I couldn't stop but wonder why an outlaw would want to keep an eye on me.

"So, is there any particular reason why you wanna watch over me?"

"Master said that you might have greater darkness inside of you than Golden Darkness..." she said.

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I was curious to know.

"Who's this Master and Golden Darkness that you're referring to? And what do you mean by 'greater darkness'?"

"Everything will be revealed soon enough..." she said.

Then she suddenly disappeared. It was as if she was just an illusion. I just ignored it and left her as that: an illusion. Besides, no person would ever have any interest in me.

I decided to get some fresh air outside. I tried to open the door, but something was blocking the way. I pushed the door with all my strength and managed to open it.

"That's odd... was someone blocking the door?"

Then I noticed that I've stepped on something. I looked at the floor and saw a body of a girl wearing a nurse's outfit lying down on the floor with my shoe stepping on her leg.

I was panicking, "W-w-what should I do?"

I decided to carry the girl to Mikado's clinic. I interrupted Mikado and her patient and asked for her help.

"I-I think she's dead!"

Mikado chuckled a little and told me that the girl was fine. She told her patient that he was cured and asked him to leave.

After the patient left, Mikado told me about the girl.

"She's not dead, it's just an artificial body. I guess Oshizu got surprised again and left her body..." she said.

"Left her body?"

Then suddenly, a ghost that looked like the girl entered the room asking Mikado if she has seen her body.

"I saw a dog outside the window and panicked! The next thing I knew-"

She saw me carrying her body and began throwing random stuff at me using her poltergeist powers.

"Oshizu, calm down!" Mikado said to her.

The ghost calmed down and apologized to me.

"I'm sorry, you kinda looked like a dog and..." she said.

"How can you mistake me for a dog?!"

I hardly looked like a dog, but maybe she mistook the two standing parts on my hair as dog ears. It was supposed to look like cat ears, but maybe she mistook it for dog ears, I don't know. Maybe it was the result of Mea frolicking with my hair...?

Mikado placed Oshizu back to her body, then she explained everything to me, "You see, after you left, I've had a hard time at the clinic. Then I met Oshizu and decided to make her my assistant. Oshizu's been helping me ever since."

I figured that even Mikado didn't need me anymore since she already had another assistant.

"Guess you don't need me anymore..."

I ran outside and cried my eyes out. Nobody needed me anymore, maybe it would be better if I never existed...

Then as I was running, I saw some thugs surrounding a girl in a maid uniform. They were teasing her:

"Hey, you're cute. Wanna go out with me?";

"How 'bout you serve me instead?";

"I'm gonna do so many things with you...".

The girl was scared and she was shivering. I wanted to help her, but I was just a weakling. I wanted to ignore it, but I couldn't.

Then she screamed and shouted for help. "Please! Anyone! Help me!"

What happened next was something that helped me change my perspective with everything.

"Hey, Yume-kun!"

"What?"

"We're gonna be paired together! Aren't you excited?!"

"H-Huh?! Are you serious?!"

"Hehe! I'm just kidding!"

"Next time on To Love Ru Alternate: Promise ~First Date?~"

"Geez, I almost took that seriously..."

"So you are excited!"

"N-no I'm not!"