Author's Note: Chapter 7 is filler. I feel like the events were rushed a little bit too quickly in Chapter 6 so I am slowing it down yet again. However, this chapter contains some little elements that will be important in the later chapters.
This Chapter also sums up the typical nature of boys in both DxD and To Love-Ru (as well as some other anime/manga/light novel titles). If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch DxD New Episode 8.
Published 4/25/2015
Chapter 7:
A Confused Rito
"Huh? How did I get here? The paper with that circle is gone too. What's going on?"
The next morning, Rito finds himself back in the room of his dormitory. He is surprised that he somehow survived knowing the fatal slash he got from Darkness last night. He looks around and sees Saruyama's posters and magazines, confirming his location. Then, something else shocks him.
"Shit! I already missed my morning class. I'm going to be late for Chemistry too."
Rito runs to class and takes a seat in the lecture hall. As he sits down, something else begins to bother him. A man passes by him and takes a glance at him.
"Wait; was that guy staring at me? Why do I feel it?"
Rito ignores the feeling as he takes out his materials for class. As he prepares to open his notebook, something else interrupts him. Rito looks up and finds two female students. Rito remembers one of the girls.
"This is the one. This is the Rito Yuuki that visited our club booth yesterday."
The other girl begins to talk to Rito. "Hello Rito, my name is Kanae. I heard that you stopped at our club booth but ran away before we could explain about our club. Is there something wrong?"
"Uhh…" Rito thinks to himself. "I knew it. This has something to do with Momo. They're luring me in for Momo."
"Rito, we're worried about you. We saw that incident yesterday. You went to that remote club booth and then a big explosion happened over there. Momo told us that you went to fraudulent club booth and was nearly killed by the receptionist."
"Wait! You know about the incident? Can you tell me more about it?" Rito is surprised that the Floral Club observed him after he left.
Ayane, the other girl, answers. "Momo told us that her big sister saw you at a remote club booth. That club booth gave everyone a strange aura so nobody went there. Then there was this huge explosion and Momo and her sisters rushed in. You were nearly killed by the receptionist if it wasn't for that red dragon."
Kanae responds. "Why don't you join us Rito? On behalf of Momo, we'll protect you in case that receptionist returns. She warned us that this may happen again."
"Um…" Rito is still concerned about the Floral Club having connections Momo. However, Momo is right that Nemesis and Darkness will return, especially if they find out Rito was revived. They may also return to murder more innocent people if a murder contract is issued against them.
Before Rito could reply, two males approach Rito. "Yo! You must be Rito Yuuki, right? I am Kaito, the president of the Animal Assistance Club. We heard from Nana that you are targeted by an assassin. She lured you towards a fake club to kill you."
"Huh? Nana? How do you know about her?" There's another club on campus associated with one of the Deviluke sisters.
"That's simple." John, the other member of the Animal Assistance Club, answers. "We work at a non-profit organization training animals to help disabled people. One day, one of our dogs went astray. He was later found by Nana. Nana also told us about the dog's feelings and why he wanted to run. We were hesitant at first thinking it was a fantasy but later decided to give in. The dog is now so friendly towards us. We are so grateful of Nana that we let her work with our animals on a regular basis."
Kaito then asks Rito. "Say Rito, we hear that you're uncomfortable with girls. You panic and faint when girls get too close to you. That's alright; why don't you join us instead? We're all guys so you don't have to worry about girls in our club. Since we're men, we're also better at protecting you from future dangers than those Floral Club Girls. So, sign up for our club instead."
"Umm," Rito thinks more. "Well, if it's Nana, it might be a safer choice. But then again, I'm not that interested in animals compared to plants." Rito remembers when he turned into a dog and had to go through torturous events from Maron, Haruna's dog. While Rito is in deep thought, Kanae speaks out at Kaito.
"Hey wait! You can't just come in here and take Rito away. He hadn't even finished talking to us yet. Learn your manners, guys."
"You girls are the ones who started it. You snuck up on him and gave him the sign-up sheet."
"We happen to be in the same class as Rito so we decided to take this chance to ask him. Plus, Rito is a fan of plants, a perfect match for our club. He's not interested in your animals."
"That's cheating! Just because you are in the same class as Rito doesn't give the right to do internal recruiting. Also, I'm sure if we expose him to more animals, he'll like animals more than plants. Animals move, speak, and even do tricks. Plants just sit there and wait to die."
"How shallow your minds are. You boys are all too short-sighted to realize the excellent nature of plants. Rito sees it too. That's why he's a better fit for us."
As the Floral Club and Animal Assistance Club continue to fight, Rito quietly moves a few seats away to evade the attention of both clubs. The club fights continue until a thunderous roar in the hallway could be heard in the hallway. Everyone glances out the entranceways and find a mob running towards the entrance of the neighboring lecture hall. One of the people in the mob, who also happen to be in the Animal Assistance Club, stops and explains what is going on.
"Hey Kaito and John, let's hurry to Biology. I hear there's a new hot professor that will be teaching the class for the rest of the semester."
"Really? Seriously? What happened to that old hag?"
"No one knows. Rumors say that the old hag got really sick and had to retire early. But who cares though, this new professor is the real deal. She's got shiny golden hair, really big breasts, and is such a klutz. The entire Photography Club is going to be filling up all those vacancies so if we don't hurry, there won't be any more seats for us."
"Well then, let's go. I can't miss this opportunity." Kaito then turns back at the Floral Club members. "You just got lucky you ladies, I'll be back to persuade Rito." Kaito and John head off to Biology to see the 'surprise' professor. Kanae and Ayane tried to approach Rito and continue their discussion until the Chemistry professor cuts them.
"Ladies, please take your seat. Class is now in session. You may continue your club recruitments after class."
As class is underway, Rito finds an empty seat next to him. Lala usually sits there. Rito looks around and finds the other girls present, giving Rito suspicions.
"Huh? That's strange. Lala is suddenly absent? Is it because of last night?"
Rito is unable to pay attention to class. He is still wondering how he instantly teleported from the club recruitment events to his dormitory. After class, Rito quickly approaches Haruna and asks her the same question he asked Saruyama. Knowing that Haruna is Lala's dormmate, she might have a clue.
"Hey Haruna, where's Lala? It's strange that she's absent today."
"Oh! Hello Yuuki-kun. I'm surprised that you were in class today. Lala-san told me that a dragon took you away and was going to make you his servant. Did the dragon change his mind and released you?"
Rito then thinks in his mind. "That's strange. How can a dragon appear? I thought dragons only existed in fantasies. It must be some alien tribe trying to kidnap Lala. Yes, that's right. Just in children's books, the dragon kidnaps the princess and guards her from being rescued. Then, a handsome prince defeats the dragon and the princess is rescued. If that's true, does that mean I'm supposed to be the prince? Maybe Gid-sama is trying to test me so he's faking a kidnapping incident."
Haruna, trying to not confuse Issei more, breaks Rito's thoughts. "Calm down Yuuki-kun. Don't think too much about it. I don't much about it either; the dragon and servant thing was mentioned by Lala-san. Just be glad that you're still here. Lala is attending an important meeting with her two sisters at her home in Deviluke. Apparently, that explosion also brought many other concerns so they are going to investigate it."
"Oh, Alright, I'll see you later."
"I'll see you later too Yuuki-kun. Don't forget that you can always come to me if you need help on your homework assignments."
Rito and Haruna part ways. As Rito heads to his next class, Introduction to Economics, he finds the same club recruitment event in front of the cafeteria. Apparently, the event is still ongoing. He could hear the loud recruitment speeches coming from the Photography Club.
"Hey everyone! We got new shots today. Here's a photo of the new Biology professor."
"Wow! She looks so hot."
"I want to be her assistant."
"No way! I have better grades than you so I should get the spot."
"It's the Photography Club again." Rito decides to skip Introduction to Economics and go the club recruitment event instead. He tries to remember where the booth for the fake 'Dark Magic Club' was located and heads over there. He's hoping he might find more clues about how he returned home and the dragon that the Deviluke sisters are talking about. Since dragons are large monsters, they should leave large footprints that will take many months to erase. Dragons also breathe large quantities of fire so they should leave many visible char marks around the area.
When Rito approaches the said area, he finds no evidence that anything happened here. There isn't even a table and chair or its footprints in the area. Rito then thinks to himself.
"Was that all a dream? No, it couldn't be. I remember it very clearly. However, it's strange that there's nothing here, just grass and trees. There's also people here doing their homework and reading their textbooks under the tree."
Rito then turns around and looks at the row of club booths behind him.
"This is the right place. I remember the footsteps I took to the fake club set up by Nemesis and Darkness. It's strange that everything here looks normal."
"What 'cha doing, Rito!" a voice suddenly shocks Rito.
"Don't scare me like that!" Rito turns around and finds Saruyama with his membership card.
"Wait! Is that the membership card for the Photography Club? You joined them?"
"Of course, Rito! There's a reason why they're the most popular club on campus. I'm sure that club has something good for you too."
"Err… No thanks." Rito doesn't like the sound of the Photography Club.
"Well, you better hurry Rito or you'll be left to dry. Look over there; even Yui is signing up right now."
Rito looks at Yui signing up for the Animals Assistance Club. Her love of cats brought her to that club.
"Oh this is great! We got our first female member. I knew there were girls who loved animals too."
"If only we can get that Rito in. We'll show the Floral Club the power of us men. All we need to do is to find a way to strip those wonderful ladies down to their underwear. Then, they'll scream like crybabies and run away. Rito will then be ours."
"What's even better is if we have the Photography Club blackmail them. Don't you see? All those girls over there are beauties of their own: huge breasts, slim waists, nice hips, and silky hair. Those pictures are really going to sell if we publish them."
"How about we steal their flowers and force them to follow our orders? We're guys after all and we have all the manpower."
"Quiet you boys!" Yui steps up. "I also joined this club to make sure you boys behave. You shameless perverts, as former president of the Morals Committee, such indecency will not be tolerated."
The Animal Assistance Club ignores Yui and continues their discussion. "Well, we do have a beauty right here. It's ironic that she's talking about all this indecency when she herself has a nice body. Let's convince her that a little bit of indecency is good for her."
"Ow! Wait! Stop it! Don't follow me with your lecherous eyes." Rito could only smile, remembering that Risa and Mio did the same thing to Yui back in high school. Then, another girl comes up to Rito.
"What are you doing, Rito? There's no club right here. There's only a tree." Rito turns around and finds Minamo standing right next to Saruyama with a smile.
"We've been looking for you. There was some disruption yesterday but it's all over. Don't go for any more of the strange clubs anymore and join us."
Rito, trying not to make Minamo cry, finally expresses his concerms. "You know, I appreciate your invitations. However, I don't feel safe whenever Momo is involved. She's always up to no good and ends up putting me through all sorts of troubles."
"Don't worry about that Rito. It's just an accident. We won't intentionally harm you. So, what do you say?"
Rito looks up and finds Kanae and Ayane looking at him as well. They are all hoping for a 'Yes'.
"Alright, but you better keep your promise. No Momo-esque events allowed"
"We promise. Let's go, Rito…" As the Floral Club girls escort Rito to the club booth, Saruyama cuts in with a request.
"Hey Floral Club president, I want to join too."
Minamo turns around. "Ewww… yuck, you stay away from me, future pervert. I see your membership card for that awful Photography Club. Those photography jerks have nothing better to do than to take and share disgusting photos of girls with everyone. I got blackmailed by them so many times. You like animals too so go join the Animal Assistance Club."
"Damn you, Rito! How come it's always you who gets the cute girls? Even in college!"
Saruyama later gets his revenge when he finds the Floral Club girls lifting Rito onto a stretcher.