AN: Hey, I was finally able to muster up the energy to write! This is the last chapter of the year, so I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you for the reviews. I'm trying to live up to the name, so it should give people the feels.

Please review so I know people like what I'm doing.

Beta:XenoTime39

Mikan Yuuki had a general routine to attend to while Rito and Lala were away from the house. It was only for a few days, but Mikan had strangely grown very anxious in her solitude. Sure, her friends kept her company and hanging out after school with them was fun, but it was weird for some normalcy to come back after Lala had blown her and Rito's world out of proportions.

"Hmm, I wonder what I'll do today," Mikan mused, having just gotten out of school and was heading home. "Maybe I'll clean," Mikan decided as she formulated a quick plan. But something or rather someone caught Mikan's eye.

There was a girl, a cute one seemingly, lurking around the front of the house. She seemed unsure of herself even with the stoic front trying to persuade otherwise. Given the strangely lewd outfit that was similar to cosplay and the overly cute hairstyle, Mikan came to a quick conclusion.

'This must be alien business,' Mikan figured before thinking on how to approach entering her house. 'Hmm, I guess I'll let her in and see what happens. She doesn't look dangerous, at least for now. I get the feeling that she's a little lonely, actually,' Mikan thought before approaching her house.

"Hey, you can come in if you want," Mikan said, approaching the blonde-haired girl from the back.

The girl quickly turned around, but her actual response took some time. "Is this the home of Rito Yuuki?" she asked.

'I knew it,' Mikan confirmed in her head before reacting out loud. "Yes it is. I assume you have some business with him. You can wait inside if you want," Mikan said, opening the door for her.

The blonde girl showed no reaction, but she nodded and followed her into the Yuki Residence.

"You can sit here," Mikan said, pointing to the couch in the living room as she multitasked to take care of the guest while putting up her backpack.

Brewing 2 cups of tea, Mikan handed one to the girl and asked, "So, what exactly do you want with my brother? Is it something to do with his engagement with Lala-san?"

The girl nodded silently offering no further bit of information. Mikan took no offense by her stoicism and instead aimed to make more conversation. "I apologize if he did something rude to you. As much as my brother wishes to smoothly grow into his role as Lala's fiance, I'm sure he's messed up somewhere already in doing so. As earthlings, we really don't know how people beyond us operate," Mikan said, taking a sip from her cup.

The girl tilted her head and then shook it. "I have not met Rito Yuuki."

Mikan blinked twice before saying, "That's a relief I guess. Well, Lala and Rito should be back any minute from their beach field trip. If you're interested, you could ask them about their trip. I'm sure they would have a lot to tell you, especially Lala-san."

The girl had a delayed response giving Mikan the impression that she was thinking heavily about her words. "Is the princess happy?" The girl finally said in a steady voice.

"Eh?" Mikan wondered. 'I guess she is. Lala seems happy all the time though. Am I missing something?' Mikan thought. "Uh, Lala-san is always happy I think, especially with Rito. I've never really seen Lala-san sad before, so I wouldn't really know, but I think she's enjoyed her time on Earth. It always seems like she's having a blast." Mikan said, recalling her behavior even in the early morning.

"I see," the girl replied, seemingly falling deeper into contemplation from her words. She took a sip from her cup and stood up to leave.

"Ah, you're leaving? You don't want to stay and wait for them?" Mikan asked. She had hoped that she would get to talk more to the mysterious stone-faced girl.

"Be back later," she said, heading to the door only to stop in her tracks at the turn of the door knob.

"We're baaack," Lala lazily called out.

Rito followed behind her saying, "We're home Mikan- oh, who are you?" Rito and Lala were slightly taken aback by the figure of the blonde girl in weird clothing.

"Oh?" Lala said, putting a hand to her mouth in surprise. "You're really cute, you know? What's your name?"

The girl gave a light bow. "Greetings princess and Rito Yuuki. My name is Golden Darkness and I have been given an assignment to kill you, Rito Yuuki!"

"Eh?" Rito and Mikan said, both surprised by the threat. 'Is she serious?' Rito thought.

"Do you have to complete your assignment?" Lala asked, surprisingly not phased by the declaration.

"And is there any way we can solve this without fighting?" Rito added as he put his guard up. It was really a surreal feeling for Rito to be threatened in his own home by a seemingly harmless girl.

"I never fail my missions, Rito Yuuki." Golden Darkness said, shaking her head. She was about to step forward only to be intercepted by an agitated Lala who opted to hold the assassin girl in a hug.

Mikan facepalmed, shaking her head in the process. "What did you do this time, Rito?" Rito could only shrug in response.

"Geez, you can't ditch your mission? Who put you up to hurting Rito anyway? They probably aren't a good person ya know?" Lala pouted.

"...The client said that Rito Yuuki was a fiend who aimed to bring ruin to the Devilukeans and was holding you for ransom. I assume that's false?" the blonde asked stoically. The girl's gaze passed over Mikan as she recalled the conversation with her.

"Of course! Rito has been taking good care of me in my time here!" Lala exclaimed.

Rito stepped up, seeing the situation as calm for the time being. "It sounds like your client lied to you. Maybe you can't tell us your client's name, but doesn't that disqualify the arrangements for your mission?" Rito really didn't want to be looking over his shoulder more than he already is having to do with the other suitors.

Golden Darkness froze in thought at his words before shaking her head. "My duty is to complete every mission, false information or not." Breaking out of Lala's hold, she stepped forward towards Rito.

"WAIT!" exclaimed Mikan. Her words stopped Golden Darkness as everyone turned to her.

'Mikan better not get involved in this. She could get hurt,' Rito thought, worried about her actions.

"Can you take this outside? I don't want the house to get destroyed in your scuffle."

Rito almost tripped at her words. 'I-Is she not worried about me?' Rito thought before shaking his head, 'No, she probably thinks I can handle it… even if I'm just a normal guy facing an alien. She broke out of Lala's hold. I think that's enough for me to say I'm at a big disadvantage.'

"Fine," Golden Darkness said, walking past Rito, "Follow me," she said to Rito.

"I'll be back in time for dinner," Rito said before following her.

"I'm coming too!" Lala said. "I have to make sure Rito doesn't get hurt!"

Only Mikan was left in the house now. Mikan shook her head at the situation and rose to her feet. "I guess I'll set aside another server at the table," Mikan murmured as she gathered her thoughts. 'That Golden Darkness isn't a bad girl. Something tells me that everything will turn out alright.'

(-)

After following Golden Darkness to an empty park, Rito and Lala stared at the assassin before them and readied themselves.

The assassin in question was still, yet it was obvious that there was something powerful about the girl just about to burst out and show itself.

Rito saw her legs move suddenly. Looking up, Rito was amazed to see white feathery wings behind the girl, ready to take off towards him. Her long blonde hair was morphing itself into several fists while her left arm turned into a sword.

'She can make weapons out of her body?' Rito questioned as his mind raced to figure out his next actions.

The assassin's wings set off a burst of wind, signaling her flight. Rito racked his brain for an answer to fight back with.

'Do I have to be a hero?' Rito asked himself, thinking back to when he was a kid. It was a dream of his, like any kid who watched superheroes. 'But how?'

A figure took a step forward in front of him. "Don't worry, Rito. I'll protect you!" the bubbly voice of Lala chimed. "Peke, let's do this!" Lala said, quickly transforming for the benefit of her robots' abilities.

Golden Darkness charged forward in a burst of speed. Her blade arm shot forward as her arm-hair aimed to knock Lala out of the way.

"Blow Blow Bully-kun!" Lala called out, taking out a dome-like gun, firing off a blast of wind, pushing Golden Darkness back.

The assassin reformed her hair into a fan, blowing her own blast of wind. Lala quickly pocketed her gadget and flew above into the air as she pulled out another device. "Chomp-Munchy Eater-Kun, go!" Lala announced, throwing some sort of robotic dinosaur-like creation.

The robot flew through the air and started eating up the air being sent Lala's way. However, it was quickly overwhelmed by the air and was blown away. "Chomp-Munchy Eater-Kun!" Lala said in a surprised distress.

Golden Darkness didn't let her chance get away. Ignoring what invention Lala was attempting to unleash, she leapt forward in a burst of wind as she flew towards Rito.

"Lala, she's approaching me fast!" Rito said, getting Lala's attention.

"I can stop her! Sticky-Gooey Launcher-Kun, trap Golden Darkness-chan in place!" Powering up a cannon-like gun, Lala fired off odd projectiles that at a glance, looked like some sort of goo. Lala took up aim on Golden Darkness, narrowingly missing at a few instances. As the assassin approached closer though, Lala powered up the gun, firing off a larger goo, making it impossible to dodge at the speed and size it was flying at.

Golden Darkness' hair went from fists into various blades in an instant. Without hesitation, she charged forward into the goo.

Rito understood that she was not at all trapped by the invention, and so made a plan. "Lala, that's not going to hold her! Is there any invention I can use to defend myself?"

Lala's face brightened up at his suggestion. "Ooh! I made something the other day just for you! Take this," Lala said, throwing a small handheld ray gun to Rito. Rito caught it, fumbling it because of the design making it look dangerous. The ray gun was a shade of gray with black lines running all across the device. It certainly wasn't a kiddy design like most of Lala's devices.

"What does it do?" Rito asked in a hurried voice.

"It-" Lala was interrupted by the sound of Golden Darkness slicing her way out of the sticky goo. Lots of goo were knocked around, one portion even hitting Lala, stiffening up her arms towards her chest, the place of impact. "Ah! Sticky-Gooey-kun, get off!"

'Lala can't help now. I'm going to have to use this without knowing what it does!' Rito thought as the assassin out for his life rushed towards him. "Here it goes!" Rito said, pulling the trigger. The black lines spiraled towards the center as a light flowed over them. A beam of light flowed from the gadget, expanding outward and taking form as a pink, octopus-like creature appeared.

"Ah, I'm glad Fluffu-Fluffu Grab-Kun worked." Lala said, floating above still trapped.

'I-Is this a stuffed animal monster?' Rito thought as he took a closer look at the design of the creature.

"You should just give up this farce, Rito Yuuki," Golden Darkness said, taking a look at the creature and changing her body into an assortment of weapons and, weirdly enough, scissors. In a burst of speed Golden Darkness flew through the air… past the mega monster and instead aiming directly for Rito.

Rito's eyes widened, "The stuffed animal monster did nothing! Lala, you gotta do something!" Rito attempted to run away but fear took a hold of him.

Was he really going to die here?

Golden Darkness thrusted with her sword arm only to get pushed back?

Rito looked up at the figure in front of him. A familiar cape billowed over tough armor.

"I am the commander of the planet Deviluke royal family bodyguards AND the assistant chief/model of Studio Saibai. My name is Zastin and I will be your opponent now, Golden Darkness!"

"Eh? Zastin? What are you doing here?" Lala asked, now out of her gooey trap.

'When did you become assistant chief and a model under my dad?' Rito asked, deadpanning at his declaration. 'Nevertheless, I'm glad to see Zastin here. Maybe he can turn the tide!'

"Hmph, it makes no difference who I'm fighting. I will fulfill my mission," Golden Darkness murmured. Her hair shifted into various forms of weapons as she and Zastin clashed.

Rito could barely keep up with the fight. Zastin's swordsmanship may not have been very fast, but each slash of his sword was power incarnate. Meanwhile, Golden Darkness' strikes were numerous, fast, and maybe matching in power. Sword arms backed up by dragon hair backed up spring-powered feet.

Zastin matched it all with mere swordsmanship alone. "Give it up, Golden Darkness. You will not harm Rito-dono while I am around!" Zastin declared.

Golden Darkness simply rebutted that with "Begone."

"What nonsense are you say-" Zastin was interrupted as he got slapped far into the air with a giant hand out of her golden hair.

"Well, there goes Zastin," Rito said, hoping that Zastin wasn't the only thing in between him and Golden Darkness.

"Don't worry, Rito. I won't let you get hurt," Lala said, flying down in front of Rito, facing Golden Darkness.

'Y'know, I wish it was me with the power to protect her,' Rito thought, smiling wryly at the situation.

Golden Darkness stared at Lala menacingly as she whispered out, "You're next then."

A bright light caught everyone's attention as a scratchy small voice yelled out, "Why're you trying to hurt Lala-tan!" All of this came from an obviously alien round spacecraft.

"So, this is your client?" Rito asked, knowing the answer.

Lala, seemingly recognizing the voice, responded in disbelief. "It was Lacospo?"

A ray of light shone from the bottom of the spacecraft as a short green ornately dressed alien floated down to the ground with a large smirk over his face. "Lala-tan, it's time for us to get married. Your recent fiance is almost certainly going to die. Mwahaha!" A disgusting laugh rang through the air.

"I won't be marrying you and Rito isn't going to die. I won't allow it!" Lala said, protectively.

Lacospo shrank back at her words.

"There is something I need to know if I'm going to fulfill my mission, Lacospo." Golden Darkness murmured, a hint of anger behind those words.

Lacospo shrank back further at her words. Lacospo responded by yelling, "I already told you everything necessary, Golden Darkness. Now finish the job and kill Rito Yuuki!" Lacospo's eyes then shifted towards Lala. "No worries my sweet. Your opinion won't matter in the end because you'll grow to love being my wife."

Rito's face scrunched up at the alien pipsqueaks words. 'Is this really what Lala had to go through before meeting me?' Rito thought.

Golden Darkness spoke up, "You lied in the information given about the target, Lacospo. Do you think inaccurate information will somehow be helpful?"

"I-Inaccurate information?" Lacospo repeated in disbelief. Getting angry, he stomped his feet as he yelled, "Rito Yuuki has deceived Lala-tan. There's no reason why you should be talking back to your employer like this, Golden Darkness!"

Golden Darkness glared at Lacospo saying, "Purposefully inaccurate information is grounds for termination, Lacospo."

"Bwah, you can't say that to me? I hired you, so no matter what, it's your job to make the hit!" Lacospo blubbered, "But if you want to play it that way… Gama-tan, finish the job"

A ray of light blasted down onto Lacospo's location. In his place stood a giant toad with strange antennas. Lacospo sat on top of the creature.

"Get Rito Yuuki, Gama-tannn!" Lacospo screamed. A stream of mucus flowed in a spit-like movement towards Rito. Incidentally, Golden Darkness had to dodge the attack as well as did Lala. Rito cleanly dodged the attack, rolling out of the way, but Lala and Golden Darkness both got splashed with a small amount of mucus.

The effects of the mucus decayed the clothes, showing their skin underneath. Lala immediately repaired the hole with Peke's ability, saying, "Of course stupid Lacospo has something pervy like that."

Golden Darkness was not as calm at that bit of information. "How dare you target me with such a lewd attack." Golden Darkness' eyes glared like daggers at Lacospo who flinched back in response.

"I won't be bullied by you anymore! Go, undress them, Gama-tan," Lacospo said, prompting his animal to fire off more mucus.

The flurry of mucus was sent out towards Lala and Golden Darkness, Rito being all but forgotten.

'Uh, Maybe I can do something while he's occupied with them?' Rito thought, sneakily getting out of the line of fire. 'Even with just my level of power, I'll do my best to defend Lala!'

While Rito was trying to execute his plan, Lala steadily approached from one side while Golden Darkness flew towards Gama-tan on the other side.

"Gah, I- Shoot them both Gama-tan, quick!" Lacospo snarled. Since the alien toad was being flanked from both sides, he was very very confused on how to act.

"You won't be shooting anyone anymore," a voice from behind Lacospo.

"Who said that- Rito Yuuki? How did you get up here?" Lacospo cried.

"You seemed to have forgotten about me when you were so insistent on undressing my fiance. You will never get a glimpse of my fiance's body ever!" Rito kicked Lacospo off Gama-tan momentarily distracting Gama-tan from shooting his mucus.

Seeing what's to come, Rito jumped off Gama-tan, giving Lala the opportunity to punt Gama-tan into the next galaxy with one strike of her fist.

"Get outta here!" Lala cried out, punching Gama-tan into space with ease.

"Now it's your turn, Lacospo," Golden Darkness said, her hair turning into many fists as they punched the fallen Lacospo away, knocking him into space. Comedically it seems whoever was on the ship followed to pick up the fallen alien prince.

Cooling off from the intense situation, Rito walked up to Golden Darkness about to say something to her only for a force of nature to get to him first.

"Ritooooo, you were so cool!" Lala said, enveloping him into a hug. "Don't you agree?" Lala asked Golden Darkness.

"He did well… for an earthling," Golden Darkness deadpanned before attempting to turn around to leave.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Rito asked.

"Leaving. The mission was terminated due to the client's false information. You're not my target now," Golden Darkness stated.

"Ahhh, but Yami-chan, you should at least stick around for dinner! I'd love to spend more time with you!" Lala said, her enthusiasm evident.

"Yeah, Mikan has probably already planned for you to attend dinner anyway. It'd be a waste if you didn't go, Yami-chan." Rito added, not minding the new nickname Lala gave the assassin.

"Yami-chan?" the assassin repeated, not minding the name, but confused by it. "Isn't it weird to have someone who was trying to kill you over for dinner?"

"Maybe it is," Rito admitted, "But situations we've been in haven't been normal for a while now so why not?"

"Plus, you're cute, Yami-chan! I wanna talk to you more about stuff!"

"Hmph, well I hope I don't disappoint you, princess. Please treat me well, Rito Yuuki, princess." Yami said with a shallow bow.

Rito let out a small laugh. "You can just call me Rito. Rito Yuuki is a bit of a mouthful, right? Keep on calling Lala princess though. It's not often Lala gets addressed that way."

"Geez, Rito. Why can't I be called Lala? Yami-chan, don't listen to him and call me Lala, ok? Rito is being silly."

Yami shook her head. "That won't do princess. I can't disregard your position. Rito is right."

"Hey, that's not very nice, Yami-chan!" Lala said in mock anger. Rito laughed at the situation, finding it hilarious.

"Let's get back. Mikan is probably waiting on us," Rito said, leading the way back to his house.

Lala quickly followed behind him, but took a hold of Yami's hand, ensuring that she'll follow. "Let's get some food, Yami-chan!"

"Mmm," Yami-chan nodded, a small smile gracing her face. Lala's own smile got only bigger seeing this.

Rito was content with today. Despite being very tired from just having gotten back from Seaside Summer School and immediately being confronted by a cute assassin, something told him that today was a very special day.

'Am I forgetting something?' Rito asked himself. For some reason, he felt that way. Ultimately, he shook his head, thinking, 'Nah, nevermind, probably nothing.'

It was a surprise for the police later that day to see a damaged park with an unconscious cosplayer lying nearby.