All Dressed Up ~Family Trouble~
Author's Note :
Taking another break from my longer story. While doing some research for story material I found that I wasn't the only one who wished they had done a chapter / episode where we would get to see Rito visit planet Deviluke.
Start :
Rito is awakened by the sound of shuffling feet. He doesn't immediately open his eyes. There is nothing alarming about this. It's actually quite rare for him to wake up alone lately, with either a Deviluke sister sneaking in or out of his bed, or Mikan coming to wake him up because he overslept. But something seems different this time.
"Why does it sound like there is an entire army marching around in my room." He thinks to himself as he sits up and rubs his eyes. As he glances around the room he quickly discovers the cause. A full dozen Deviluke guards stand in a semi-circle around his desk chair, which has been pulled out into the centre of the room. Sitting in that chair, staring hard at Rito, is Gid Deviluke.
When he finally takes in his surroundings, Rito nearly jumps out of his skin. Gid waves a hand in the air in a calming motion. "Relax, Yuuki Rito." He says. "I'm just here to talk."
"How long has he been here?" Rito wonders. "Does everyone in this family enjoy watching me sleep?" When he realizes that Gid is waiting for some sort of response he chokes out a quick. "Sorry, uh, your Majesty."
Gid stands up and begins to pace about the room. Not knowing what the proper etiquette is, Rito quickly stands up as well, feeling quite foolish standing at attention in the middle of his room wearing only his boxer shorts.
"I'm sure you have heard from Lala that there are many noble families throughout the galaxy." Gid stops and turns to regard Rito again. "I had tried for years to get Lala to accept a proposal from one of the eligible men from these families, but..." He waves a hand again in Rito's direction. "...here we are."
"I have been telling some of my fellow nobles about you for the past few months, since many of them have been asking why Lala is no longer available to court." He pauses again. "Some of them have been making jokes about whether you actually exist or not."
Rito chuckles at this but immediately regrets it when he sees the look in Gid's eyes. "I don't like jokes." He says flatly. He snaps his fingers and one of the attendants quickly hands him a document. "This is a formal invitation to the palace." He says, placing the paper on Rito's desk. "I expect you to accompany Lala to a banquet we will be hosting in two days. You will meet and greet many of the nobles who help run this galaxy you live in." He locks Rito with another cold stare. "And you will impress them, otherwise I will choose one of them to replace you and that bright shiny sun of yours will have another asteroid belt orbiting it. Understood?" He grins as he says the last part, but there is no warmth in his eyes.
Rito hears Lala before he sees her, bounding down the hallway and yelling "Rito, Rito, Rito!" She runs into the room wearing her usual morning attire, a towel. All the guards nervously avert their eyes while Gid simply shakes his head. "Did you hear the news?" She asks, then she suddenly realizes they are not alone. "Oh, hi Papa!" She says cheerily. She runs over to give him a hug and Rito sees his angry demeanor soften for once.
Gid accepts the hug for a few moments, then quickly extracts himself, motioning to his guards. "We will wait for you downstairs, Yuuki Rito." When Rito gives him a questioning glance he explains. "The journey will take almost a full day, and you will require some time to get used to the environment on Deviluke before the party. We leave in one hour, so start packing!" Gid is the last to leave the room and as he looks back to see his eldest daughter excitedly telling Rito about all the things they will get to do on her home planet, he finally lets a true smile cross his face, if only for a moment.
"Are you sure I don't need more clothes?" Rito asks Lala as they carry their bags downstairs.
"Don't worry Rito!" She says. "We can go shopping when we get to Deviluke and find you an outfit that will help you fit in. Just like you did for me when I first came to Earth."
Rito bumps into Mikan at the bottom of the stairs, nearly causing them both to tumble over. There are even more guards down here. Mikan looks tired, and is carrying a tray half filled with empty tea cups. She has been trying to serve them all refreshments, but simply can not keep up. "There are so many of them, Rito." She says, wiping her brow. "What's going on?"
"Don't worry Mikan, they'll be leaving soon." He explains. "Lala is taking me to Deviluke for a few days."
"Oh!" Lala suddenly says, grabbing Mikan by the shoulders and nearly spilling the tray. "You should come too, Mikan! We can show you the palace. I'm sure Papa won't mind." Mikan's eyes light up.
"Sounds like all of us are going then." Nana says from behind them. Rito turns to see Nana and Momo standing on the stairs, carrying their own luggage.
"Why all of us?" Rito asks.
"Well, this one insisted." Nana says, pointing a thumb at Momo. "And if you think I'm going to be the only one left out then you can-"
"Alright!" Gid shouts, causing everyone to jump. "The shuttle is leaving in five minutes." All the guards start rushing around and the room clears out quickly.
"I'll grab my things, and some clothes for Celine." Mikan says excitedly, running up the stairs.
"Yay!" Lala cheers. "It's like a family vacation."
"And this..." Lala announces, pushing a giant set of doors open. "...is my room!"
Rito is shocked by the size of the place. The spaceship that carried them here was very large, but the palace is absolutely massive. Just this one bedroom seems to be nearly as big as the entire Yuuki house. The ceiling is at least 30 feet high and every inch of the room is decorated to some degree with fancy looking tapestries or wood carvings. By the time he turns back to Lala she has already leapt onto the bed. "Wow." Rito thinks. "Is she always this happy when she comes home?"
As Lala continues chattering about all the fun things she wants to do tomorrow, Rito circles the room, looking at all the decorations. Even here, he finds bits and pieces of many of Lala's inventions, discarded in all corners of the room. It seems the cleaning staff are too scared to move them. He finds a large dresser against one wall, its top crowded with framed pictures of all of Lala's Earth friends. At the centre is a large framed photo of Lala hugging him that someone else must have taken. He turns back to Lala when he realizes she has stopped talking.
"I don't spend a lot of time here anymore." Lala says quietly, blushing a bit when she sees what Rito is looking at. "I like to have those when I'm here. It reminds me of all the fun stuff waiting for me back on Earth... with you."
Rito starts blushing too, surprised that the conversation turned so serious all of a sudden. He looks at the large doors which closed silently on their own after they entered. "So... are we both spending the night in here then?" He asks, nervously.
"We would have offered you a guest room, but they're all full with the party going on tomorrow." Lala says. "Nana is letting Mikan bunk with her." She smiles at him. "Come on, Rito. We've slept in a much smaller bed together before. How is this any different?"
Rito looks at the bed. "She's right." He thinks. "The bed is so large that we are barely even sleeping together really. As long as I don't do anything weird in my sleep."
"You can get changed out here, I'll go use my dressing room." She says, moving towards a door in one corner of the room. She turns and laughs, making a face at him. "Don't worry, I'll wear some pajamas instead of sleeping naked."
He sighs as she leaves the room, turning bright red. "Jokes like that aren't helping, Lala." He says quietly. Just when he thinks he has finally calmed himself down, Lala returns wearing her 'pajamas', nothing more than a thin silk slip. "This is going to be difficult." He thinks, his head spinning.
As they both climb into bed, Rito keeps thinking to himself. "It's just Lala, it's just Lala, it's just…"
"Goodnight, Rito." Lala whispers. She reaches across the bed and gives him a quick peck on the cheek, then rolls over and falls fast asleep.
Rito sighs again, moving so there is as much empty bed between them as possible. "Behave." He tells himself.
Rito wakes up the next morning with a start, realizing someone is pressed up against him. He looks down to see that at some point in the night, Lala has moved over and latched on to his arm. To his relief, they are both still fully clothed. His relief is two-fold when he realizes they are not alone.
"Good morning, Rito-san." Sephie says, leaning over the bed.
"It really is the entire family." Rito thinks. He tries to sit up, but can't move very much without waking Lala.
Sephie smiles at this. "She looks so peaceful, doesn't she?". Sephie reaches down and shakes Lala's shoulder lightly, causing her to stir. "I hate disturbing her, but we have some duties to attend to this morning in preparation for the party.
"Aww… but-" Lala begins, pouting and trying to shrink back under the covers.
"You'll have plenty of time to show Rito-san around later." Sephie explains. "Now get dressed. Your sisters are waiting." She turns to Rito. "Mikan is already in the dining room having breakfast if you'd like to join her."
"Over here!" Mikan yells when she sees Rito wandering about.
"Finally." Rito says, sitting at the table next to her. "This place is huge. I thought I'd never find you." He is amazed by how quickly a plate of food suddenly appears in front of him, as the house staff rush about. He eyes the food suspiciously.
"Don't worry." Mikan laughs. "It's safe to eat. Momo told them to serve us Earth food to avoid any unexpected issues with Deviluke spices."
Rito continues to look around the room. They are sitting at a small table off to the side, while the rest of the room is quickly being cleared and decorated. It looks like the entire population of Sainan could gather here and still have room to move about. "When we came in last night they took us straight to the bedrooms." He says. "I didn't realize just how big this place was."
Rito looks down at his plate to discover nearly half it's contents are gone already. He looks across the table to see Celine happily munching down the stolen food. "Hey-" He begins, but before he can even say anything, another plate of food is placed before him. "Thanks." He says to the woman who is already walking quickly away from the table. She catches his attention for some reason that he can not place. Her skin has a slight blue tint to it, and she is wearing dark glasses that completely hide her eyes, but aside from that, she is dressed exactly like the rest of the house staff.
As he begins eating his food, Mikan leans over the table, grinning at him. "So..." She says, mischievously. "How was your night with Lala?"
Rito nearly chokes on his food. "Mikan!" He says, embarrassed. "It wasn't like that! We just slept." His face has turned red again.
"You should have heard Nana when she found out you were spending the night in Lala's room." Mikan continues. "I had to talk her down from storming in there and dragging you out." Seeing she won't get more response from Rito on this, Mikan changes the subject. "You know, if you ever decide to marry Lala, you're going to have to get used to stuff like this." She says, gesturing to the large room that is quickly filling up with more tables and decorations.
"Who's ready to go shopping!" A happy voice cries out from behind them. They turn to see Lala running into the room, Momo and Nana following behind.
"Don't you want to eat breakfast first?" Rito asks.
"No time!" Lala says, pulling him to his feet. "We're going to spend all night eating at the party. This is our only chance to show you around Deviluke."
Rito grabs a piece of toast, shoving it in his mouth as he is dragged towards the exit.
In an alcove off of the large kitchen area, the serving girl who Rito had noticed stops at a pantry door, looking about to make sure no one else is watching. She quickly opens the door and a large man steps out. His skin is similarly blue in color, and his eyes are also covered in dark glasses. The glasses fail to hide a large scar running the length of his right eye.
"Well?" The man asks, impatiently.
"We can't grab him now." She says. "The princesses have already returned. We likely won't get another chance until after the party has started."
The man growls and she steps back from him, worried he may strike out at her. Instead he pulls a small device from his pocket that looks like some sort of pistol. He hands it to her and she quickly conceals it. "You will know the signal when it happens." He says, stepping back into the dark pantry. "Don't screw this up."
Rito has the strangest feeling that he has somehow stepped into a new world that is stuck in some sort of time warp. The city around him looks like something out of a history book. Ancient stone castle walls surround the city, along with a moat and drawbridge. All the buildings are similarly built out of stone blocks and large timber posts probably cut from the forrest they passed through on the way here. However, signs of strange technology are evident everywhere.
He doesn't see a single car, or anything resembling one. There are several small huts that look like bus stops along the sides of the street. He watches as a group of people stand beneath one and step onto something resembling the device the Deviluke sisters use to get up to their rooms above his house. In an instant, the group vanishes, apparently being carried to another such platform somewhere else.
Lala continues to drag Rito by the arm, an arm she has refused to let go of since they left the palace. "Let's get you some clothes." She says, leading him towards what appears to be a store. He can not read the sign, but the picture beside it and the mannequins standing in front of the store make it clear what the purpose is. "You too Mikan!"
Nana grumbles at this. Momo chuckles and leans in to whisper to Rito. "Nana tried to lend Mikan one of her old dresses, but it wouldn't fit." She lowers her voice even more. "It was too tight in the chest."
"I heard that!" Nana snaps, glaring at Rito as if daring him to say something.
"It's about time you guys got back." Mikan says. Rito finds Mikan, Nana, and Momo standing out in front of the shop. He can't recall how many hours Lala has been making him try on different clothes.
He looks down at the outfit she finally picked out for him. "I feel like I'm about to be in a play or something." He says. "Are you sure I don't just look silly in this?"
The outfit is similar to the style of clothing he has seen King Gid wearing. A fur lined vest and matching cloak, dyed a dark blue. The vest is open at the chest and tied with a silk sash. The weather is warm enough for it, but despite several other men wandering the street in similar fashion, Rito feels silly.
"I think you look very handsome, Rito-san." Momo says excitedly. She can hardly contain herself. "Now he even has the look of a harem king." She thinks.
"I think they look great." Mikan says, twirling about to show off her new dress. "I can't wait to go back and show Yami." Her dress is almost identical to the ones Momo and Nana are wearing. If it weren't for the hair color and missing tail, she looks like she could be another Deviluke sister.
The three sisters continue showing the Yuuki family around the city for the rest of the afternoon. Although he is still hungry, Rito insists they avoid trying any strange Deviluke food, just in case.
By the time they return to the palace, the party appears to be in full swing.
"We're not late, are we?" Rito asks.
"Nah. We're the guests of honor. They don't expect us to show up till later." Nana says, smugly.
"You mean Rito-san is the guest of honor." Momo corrects. "You just tagged along to make sure no one has any fun."
As the twins begin fighting, Lala pulls Rito away from the group. "We better go find Papa." She says.
Rito is amazed by the various aliens he sees wandering about the hall. Many are vaguely humanoid, and several are species that he has seen from time to time at Mikado-sensei's clinic. Others are completely new to him. He sees one that appears to be nearly identical to Nana's pet Meta-Q, only it is wearing what appears to be an eight legged tuxedo. Lala leads him through the crowd and out into a side hall, where they find Gid and Sephie surrounded by a number of guards.
Gid steps forward, adjusting the collar of Rito's cloak and looking unimpressed. "I guess this will do." He says. He turns to look at Lala. "You better go get dressed yourself. When he screws up, I want you to be presentable to your next suitor." Sephie digs an elbow into Gid's side at this, but his grin makes it unclear if it was a joke or not.
Lala gives Rito a quick hug and then runs off towards her room, leaving him alone with her parents. Rito tries to stand up straight, but he is clearly intimidated, and the large number of burly guards are not making it easier.
"Relax, Rito-san." Sephie says with a smile. "This party is for you, after all." She glares at Gid. "Don't let my husband's bad sense of humor upset you. All these people are here to support and celebrate with you, not judge you."
Gid waves her away. "Go on, Sephie. Make sure the rest of our daughters are behaving themselves. I'll make the rounds with Rito and ensure he doesn't insult anyone too badly." Gid stares at Rito, his tone turning serious. "And for your own safety, keep those damn hands to yourself! Some of the women I'll be introducing you to rule more planets that you even know about, and they're not going to fall for your charms like my daughters did."
Rito carefully folds his hands behind his back, making a mental note to be very careful as Gid leads him away.
"He's here." The serving girl turns to see who spoke, but the figure has already faded into the crowd. She turns towards the entry hall and sees that it is true. The successor known as Yuuki Rito has indeed just entered the dining room.
She reaches into one of her pockets to check that the weapon is still secured, nervously biting her lip. "I hope Keiz-sama knows what he's doing." She says.
It doesn't take long before Rito's head is spinning. There's no way he can possibly remember all the important names he's being told, or remember the faces of all the nobles he's shaking hands (and tentacles) with. Luckily he finds that Sephie was right, and the majority of those he meets seem very happy to make his acquaintance, and congratulate him on his upcoming marriage. A quick look from Gid convinces him not to correct them on the last point.
The only ones that seem to be giving him the cold shoulder are the various princes that would have been next in line to court Lala. Some of these glare daggers at Rito while he moves about the hall, but no one dares say anything against him with King Gid so close at hand.
Suddenly Rito realizes that many of those around him have stopped talking and turned their head towards the entryway. He does the same, and his jaw nearly drops open when he sees Lala walking towards him in her formal court dress.
Gid chuckles when he sees Rito's reaction. "She does make an impression, huh?" He says, slapping Rito on the back and giving him a shove towards her. "Go, say hello then."
"Wow." Rito thinks, looking at Lala again. "I've seen her dressed up before, but nothing like this." The dress is cut low and she is wearing her hair up unlike usual. Her bare shoulders and neck definitely create a sight to take his breath away, and Rito struggles to keep his gaze from drifting down. "Uh… hi, Lala." He says as she steps before him. "You look really great." He mumbles, embarrassed.
"Wow, such a way with words." Nana says under her breath. She stands back from the crowd surrounding Rito and Lala, frowning at them.
"I've heard from your sister that there have been times when his words caught YOU by surprise." Sephie says, suddenly appearing behind Nana. She jumps at the sound of the voice as Sephie continues. "You know, you never did say why you decided to come along today."
"Huh?" Nana asks, turning to look at her mother.
"Well, Rito-san and Lala were required to be here, and I know Momo wouldn't dare let him out of her sight for long." She pauses. "But I can't quite figure out why you're here, Nana. You normally hate these things, with all the talking and having to be nice to a bunch of strangers."
Nana scoffs. "Someone needs to make sure Rito doesn't do anything stupid." She says. "And I don't trust Momo following them on her own." Her eyes suddenly go wide. "Wait, you know about Momo and Rito?!"
Sephie chuckles. "Of course I do. I've talked to her several times about her feelings for him." Nana looks shocked at this, but Sephie just smiles. "Did you expect me to tell her to stay away from him?"
"Yes!" Nana practically yells, turning a few heads.
"And do you think that would make her stop?" Sephie asks, leading Nana away towards a quiet corner. When Nana doesn't respond, she continues. "Love is a complicated thing, Nana. Some day, Rito-san will make a decision, one that Lala and Momo... and you, will need to accept and deal with." She sighs as she looks back across the room at her other two daughters. Both of them are looking at Rito as he crosses the room towards the back of the hall, their feelings obvious in their expressions. "Until that day, you need to be sure not to hide your-"
Sephie's words are cut off as a loud explosion shakes the entire hall.
Rito stumbles as the room shakes. He had just left Lala and the others to fetch some drinks when one of the windows on the back wall exploded outwards. As he turns to see what is going on, he feels something hard press up against his back and a nervous voice behind him says. "Don't move."
Rito tries to hold still, but the ground is still shaking from the blast and another panicked guest suddenly bumps into him. He falls backwards, turning as he does and for a moment he recognizes the girl that caught his eye at breakfast that morning, she is holding some sort of weapon. Before he can catch himself, he falls directly into her, sending the gun flying and burying his face into her chest, carrying them both to the floor. Unsurprisingly (for Rito) both of his hands end up inside her dress.
Her mind reels. She can't even remember what she was trying to do at this point. As Rito tries to stand up, she moans and bites her lip. Rito realizes where one of his hands was pushing when he was trying to lift himself up and he gets even more flustered. He finally manages to extract himself and stand up, when he hears a booming voice call out.
"Nobody move!" Rito looks across the room and sees a massive figure standing behind Lala, holding her aloft by her wrists. She appears to be unconscious. The man standing next to him is the one talking, and he looks familiar to Rito. He is also holding another weapon, pointed at Lala.
"If anyone tries to stop us, your princess and her groom-to-be are toast." He says. He turns towards Gid, who looks surprisingly calm in this situation. "Your Majesty." The man says, mockingly. "You think you can just lock me and my brothers up and pretend this is all over?" He beats a fist against his chest. "Solgem will never be conquered by the likes of you."
Gid laughs, and laughs even harder when the man turns the gun towards him. "You will release all members of Solgem that are currently being held in your galactic prison. NOW!"
Upon hearing the name of the group a second time, Rito suddenly remembers. "These are the bastards that kidnapped Haruna and Kotegawa." He growls. He ducks his head and runs straight at the leader, not even thinking about the possible consequences.
Keiz turns towards the sound of someone yelling, seeing Rito running towards him. He sighs, realizing he now has no choice. "So long, Earthling." He says, as he takes aim and pulls the trigger.
At the same moment that he fires, Gid, still unimpressed by the whole situation, shoots his arm out to the side, towards Rito. A giant wave of energy flies out towards him, launching Rito, the bullet, Keiz, all the furniture, and anyone else unlucky enough to be standing on that side of the room back towards the far wall, where they all collapse in a heap.
Lala, regaining her senses after the initial attack, spins about and growls at the giant holding her. "You jerks!" She screams. "You are ruining. Rito's. PARTY!" On the last word, she sinks her foot deeply into the man's crotch, causing him to drop to his knees in pain. As soon as her feet touch the ground, Lala grabs him by the wrist and spins about, throwing him towards the hole in the wall that they entered from. She misses, but the body just makes another hole next to that one as he slams through and lands half way across the palace lawn.
Rito wakes up a few moments later, this time finding ALL of the Devilukes watching him. The humor of that escapes him as he remembers what was happening. "Is everyone alright?" He asks in a panic.
"Oh, Rito-san! You're alright!" Momo sighs in relief as both her and Lala wrap him in a hug.
Nana rolls her eyes. "Bah, we've seen him take bigger hits than that." She says. "Heck, I've hit him harder than that before."
As Rito climbs to his feet, Gid wraps an arm around his shoulder helping him along as they walk. He notices that most of the guests have already cleared out, and the party is pretty much over. "That was a very stupid thing to do, Yuuki Rito." He says. Rito's head slumps, figuring he is about to get a lecture. "Very stupid, and very brave. And I know it's not the first time you've done something very stupid to try and save one of my daughters."
Gid helps him into a chair, and then slaps him on the shoulder. "But I must say, you sure did make an impression on all the guests." He smiles. "I guess you pass… for now anyways." He walks away towards where Zastin is waiting, along with the house guard and the three new prisoners. The serving girl smiles at Rito as the guards lead her away.
"Well, I think that's enough excitement for the night." Sephie says, turning to Rito and Mikan. "Let's get our guests to bed. I'll make arrangements for a ship to take you all home tomorrow morning."
Rito sighs in relief, smiling at Sephie. Those were the words he was hoping to hear. They all begin walking slowly towards the exit, Lala assisting Rito who is still a little shaken.
"You know." Sephie says, causing him to turn back. "Maybe we should have another party soon. We can invite your parents next time, right, Rito-san?"
Rito looks at Lala, whose eyes are already shining at the thought. "Oh no." He thinks. "This can't possibly end well."
End.