Sharing Feelings ~A Day to Remember~
Author's Note :
This is the first of what I hope will eventually be many short stories I am writing that take place in the world of To Love-Ru. Each is meant to be a stand-alone story and they all take place after the end of the To Love-Ru Darkness manga series.
My intention is to create stories that feel as close to the original as possible, so if you are hoping for big changes you will likely be disappointed. However, if you are like me and just wanted to know what other shenanigans Lala and crew could get up to if given the chance, then I hope you have as much fun reading these as I had writing them.
Most of the ideas I used for these stories came from discussions on a To Love-Ru forum. The question posed for this episode was fairly wide open 'What do you want Lala to invent next and describe how it is going to malfunction.'
Start :
It is late at night. Momo sits alone in her room, watching the monitor on her desk attached to the spy cam in Rito's bedroom. On the screen, she sees Lala sitting quietly at the end of Rito's bed, watching him sleep.
"There's Onee-sama again." She thinks. "Ever since Rito-san and Haruna-san confessed their feelings, she has been sneaking in to his room again. But what is she doing? She never stays for long and just watches him." Momo leans closer to the monitor. "What are you thinking about, Onee-sama?"
In Rito's room, Lala sits holding the doll he won for her at the arcade when they first met. She is deep in thought as she watches Rito sleep. She recalls the time he asked her what she would think if other girls confessed that they loved him.
"If you set your mind to it, I'm sure you'll make everyone very happy."
Rito mumbles in his sleep, something about marshmallows and candy, while Lala speaks quietly with Peke.
"Oh Peke." Lala sighs.
"Is something bothering you, Lala-sama?"
"What should I do? I thought Haruna and I had made such good progress with Rito, but he's back to his same old self. As long as he's afraid to tell everyone how he feels we can never..." she trails off.
"Never what?"
"Well, Haruna really wants to start dating Rito, but he keeps avoiding me when I ask him about it."
"And what about you. Don't you want the same thing?"
"Well ya, of course I do! But..." she trails off once more. "If only he would be a bit more confident."
Suddenly Lala hops to her feet, shouting excitedly. "Peke, I know just the thing!" Rito sits up, startled awake by the noise.
"Lala, what are you doing here?" He asks in a panic. He quickly checks his clothing, and then seems to calm down when he realizes they are both fully dressed. "I didn't do anything in my sleep, did I?" He asks nervously.
"Nope! I just came to say goodnight Rito!" She replies in her usual happy tone. "Don't worry, everything is going to be OK!"
With that, she quickly runs out of the room, leaving a sleepy and confused Rito behind.
A loud noise is heard coming from Lala's lab, where she is hard at work.
"Lala-sama, is that a new invention?"
"Sort of, Peke. I made this a long time ago but never had a chance to use it." She shows Peke a small silver pin with a round disc on one end. "I call it the happy happy confession-kun. It gives the person wearing it a boost of confidence so they can do things they were scared to do before. I wanted to give it to Haruna so she would finally tell Rito how she feels, but she surprised me by doing it all on her own. Now it's Rito's turn!"
"But hasn't he already confessed his feelings to Haruna-san?" Peke asks.
"Yes, but that's not what's bugging him. He told me before that there are a lot of girls here in Sainan that also have feelings for him but he doesn't know what to do about it. With this, he can finally tell everyone how he feels and we can all be happy together!"
Lala finishes some final adjustments on the device. "All done!"
Rito wakes up early the next morning. As he rubs the sleep from his eyes he briefly sees a tail swish by his doorway. He looks to his dresser, where his school uniform sits but he doesn't notice the pin that has been attached beneath the collar.
Rito yawns loudly as he enters the kitchen, where he finds Mikan cleaning and preparing for breakfast.
"Wow, you're up earlier than usual, Rito." She turns to make a joke about him being lazy, but stops suddenly when she looks at him. A confused expression comes over her face.
"You OK, Mikan?" Rito asks in a worried tone. He steps closer, leaning in as if to check her temperature.
She steps back at first, confused by the emotions she is feeling, but then suddenly (and surprisingly to both of them) she steps forward and embraces him in a hug. "What is this?" She thinks to herself. "I never act like this around Rito. I mean sure we've hugged before, but this doesn't feel the same."
"Mikan?!" Rito sputters, "What's wrong, you ARE feeling sick, aren't you?" Rito holds Mikan out at arm's length to get a better look at her. She is blushing, but otherwise seems fine.
"It's nothing you big dummy!" She says. "I just felt like a hug alright?" She pulls him back in, resting her head against his chest. "Hey, Rito?" She asks. "I was going to take a bath before calling everyone down for breakfast. You missed yours last night, right? Did you want me to wash your back for you?" She tries to say this last part with confidence but finds herself stumbling over her words.
"What's gotten in to me this morning?" She thinks again. "I've never been this bold with Rito before."
"Oh, um, I guess. But I'm already dressed for school." Rito replies.
"Come on, you can't be impressing Haruna-chan if you stink all day, can ya?" She says this in a cheery, joking fashion, but she is still blushing profusely while she shoves Rito towards the bathroom.
The bathroom is quickly filling with steam. Rito seems quite relaxed, but Mikan finds herself watching him more closely than usual.
"What am I doing?" She thinks to herself. In the next room, Rito's shirt hangs on a hook. Invisible waves of energy continue to radiate from it. Unknown to Mikan, they continue to affect her thoughts.
"Hey Rito?" She asks as she settles down in the tub. "Have you started thinking about what you plan to do after school yet?"
"What? After school?" He replies. "I don't have any activities today, so I'll probably just come straight home."
"Not after school today. I mean next year. You'll be a third year right? You should already be thinking about where you want to go. Just because you got a fiancé who can make you king of the galaxy doesn't mean Mom and Dad are going to let you be a lazy bum." She jokes. "Has anything happened with you two yet? Or with Haruna-chan?"
"What's with all the questions today Mikan?" Rito asks. He hesitates before continuing. "I mean, no, nothing else has happened yet. I still need to sort my feelings out, you know that."
"Rito, when you DO sort things out, whatever happens with you guys... you'll still need me around, right?"
While this conversation is happening, another tail swish past the doorway. Lala is standing just outside the door, listening. Momo encounters her in the hallway and Lala quickly motions for her to be quiet.
"Lala-sama." Peke interrupts. "I thought your invention was supposed to make him talk about HIS feelings. Did he give the pin to Mikan-san instead?"
"One of her inventions?!" Momo thinks to herself. "Ah, so that's what this is. And as usual it's not working properly. So it's making Mikan confess her feelings? Oh Onee-sama, why didn't you tell me you had something like this? Who would have thought she would do something so bold?!"
"What do you mean?" Rito is beginning to panic, realizing this conversation is suddenly getting more serious than he expected.
"Well, with Mom and Dad not around most of the time, you and I really rely on each other, right? So if you go off and marry Haruna, you're not just going to leave me behind, are you?" She has been gradually moving closer to Rito while saying this, and despite her face still being bright red, she seems to be getting bolder by the moment. She leans in and gives Rito a small kiss on the cheek. The breath catches in Rito's throat, and he hear his heart beating loudly. Before anything else can happen though, Mikan hears a noise come from the hallway outside and leaps back.
"Everyone must be waiting for breakfast by now!" She says. "We better get moving Rito." She gives him one more smile as she hops out of the tub. "Don't worry, you don't need to answer that. I KNOW you can't survive without your little sister around to take care of you, right?"
In the dining room, Nana, Celine and Mikan are eating breakfast at the table. Lala and Momo rush out the door, shouting back that they have to do something before school.
Rito is still looking a little out of it after such an odd conversation with Mikan. As he approaches the table, he notices Nana glaring at him intently. He tries to sit down at the furthest spot away from Nana, but catches his foot on the corner of the table. He stumbles and falls forward, planting both hands directly onto Nana's chest in the process.
"Oh no, now I've done it." He thinks to himself. Several memories of him getting clobbered flash through his mind as he awaits the inevitable.
"And just how long do you plan to keep touching me this time, beast?" Nana asks, in a surprisingly calm tone. "Jeez, you're lucky we're all used to your behaviour by now Rito." While she says this, Rito jumps back in a panic, begging for forgiveness. Mikan turns to Nana with a surprised look on her face, but says nothing.
They continue eating breakfast in silence, though Nana spends most of the time staring at him. Rito, assuming this is because she's mad at him, tries his best to avoid her gaze.
"Hey, Rito." Nana calls, surprising him as he was trying to sneak out the door. "I normally walk to school with Momo, but she ditched me this morning."
"So..." Rito begins, and then quickly silences himself as Nana's face begins to turn bright red.
"So, you big idiot! You got ditched too, why don't WE just walk to school together. We're going to the same place aren't we?"
"Oh no." Rito begins to think to himself. "She IS really angry isn't she? She's probably going to wait till we get to school and then make me apologize in front of everyone." Rito pictures himself on his knees in front of everyone in the school courtyard, while Nana and the rest of the 'School morals and decency' squad yell at him.
"I guess that would be OK." Rito says, quickly realizing he has no choice.
The day is bright and sunny. Nana walks along slowly, with Rito following a short distance behind.
After a while of walking in silence, seeming to struggle with something and muttering to herself under her breath, Nana finally turns to Rito. "So, Lala tells me you're dating now?"
Rito sputters, not knowing how to respond to that. "What? No, that was just a big misunderstanding! Lala thinks it's all simple and I can just..." Rito trails off, seeing a strange look in Nana's eyes.
"So you haven't made up your mind yet then?" They have completely stopped walking now. Nana is in front of Rito and has turned to face him.
"You know, I never really got a chance to properly say thank you. That time you cheered me up and convinced me to not give up on Mea." She clarifies as Rito gives her a puzzled look. "I mean I tried, but things kinda happened." While she is saying this, they both recall the time when Nana tried to sneak into his room and once again found Momo already there. "You know that was the first time anyone hugged me, besides my family."
"What? I've seen Mea hug you plenty of times." Rito replies. He's starting to panic again, not used to this kind of mood from Nana. "What is going on this morning?" He thinks to himself. "First Mikan, now Nana. Why is everyone so serious all of a sudden?"
"You know what I mean. You're the first boy to do it." Similar to the conversation earlier with Mikan, Nana has been slowly moving closer to Rito while they talk.
"I get it Nana." Rito says, calming down finally. "You want to make sure I didn't get the wrong idea. It didn't mean anything, right? Don't worry, I would never-"
"No you idiot! I'm trying to tell you the exact opposite!" Rito flinches and Nana just barely stops herself from hitting him. "Look, you're still a beast, and I don't understand why you can't just stop being so stupid and indecisive and weak, but I still sort of, kind of, maybe... like you... a bit." By this point she is standing directly in front of him and she suddenly leans forward and hugs him. Rito remembers when he hugged Nana back when she was upset, but this time he is the one caught off guard with his arms straight down at his sides while she wraps her arms around him.
Before Rito can react, she shoves him out to arms length and punches him in the shoulder, turning away as she does. "Don't let it go to your head, you damn playboy. You're still big sis's fiancé, whether you admit it or not." She says. "And if you do anything to hurt her, me liking you isn't going to save you." She seems to have returned to her normal self now. "I just wanted to clear that up!" She growls. She stomps on ahead, seemingly done with this conversation and leaving a completely stunned Rito to try and stutter a reply.
A short distance away, Lala and Momo are hiding behind some bushes, spying on them. Also, just around the next corner, Kotegawa Yui is standing, listening to the entire conversation. She stays hidden as they walk by, and only follows after they are far ahead.
"What was that?!" She asks herself. "And why didn't I say anything or stop it? I normally wouldn't allow that sort of behaviour, even if they're not at school yet. Was Nana being serious?" As she is thinking all this, more invisible waves of energy are radiating from the pin on Rito's collar.
As Kotegawa finally turns to continue on to school, she discovers both Lala and Momo standing in front of her.
"Yui?" Lala seems surprised to see her, but Momo just smiles.
"Spying on Rito-san again, were you? If you want him to notice you, you need to stop hiding first."
"I was not spying!" Yui replies indignantly. "Besides, they weren't exactly being quiet about it." She trails off, thinking about the conversation she just observed.
"She's not the only one, you know. Everyone is telling Rito-san how they really feel today."
"Not the only one?" Lala says to herself. "Oh! You meant Mi-"
Momo slaps a hand over Lala's mouth to silence her as she continues. "You don't want to be the only one he doesn't notice, right Kotegawa-san?"
Yui doesn't reply, and simply stares down the road in the direction Rito was walking.
A loud bell rings out.
"Oh man!" Rito grumbles to himself. "I'm so late. How can this day get any more screwed up?"
As he rummages through his locker someone steps up behind the open locker door, but Rito doesn't noticed yet. He drops one of his books and bends over to pick it up. Finally noticing someone standing there, he looks up without thinking and ends up staring directly up Yui's skirt. Her face immediately turns bright red. As he panics and tries to stand back up, he hits his head on his locker and falls over, tumbling into Yui. She ends up on her back with Rito atop her. Before he can react, she folds her arms around his shoulders, similar to the time they were alone in his room together.
Rito glances around, realizing that they are alone in the locker room. "Everyone else must be in class." He thinks. "What is Kotegawa doing here? She's never late!"
"K.. Kotegawa?!" He sputters, trying to extract himself and stand up.
Yui has been staring into Rito's eyes this whole time, seemingly lost in her own world. She suddenly comes to her senses and releases him. He stands up and extends a hand to help her. She takes it, and slowly climes to her feet, but does not release his hand, instead grasping it in both of hers.
"Yuuki-kun." She says sternly, assuming her normal dignified pose. "I need to ask you a question."
"Can this wait Kotegawa? We're late for class."
"No it cannot." She is about to continue when she realizes that Rito has turned red and is staring at her hands. She looks down and sees that she is now holding his hand against her chest. In shock, she quickly releases him and steps back.
"Ahem." She clears her throat and tries again. "I heard you talking with Nana before." She pauses to see what Rito's reaction will be. He is glancing around as if looking for a way to escape. "I've seen the way you act with Lala and Sairenji, and now Nana too."
At this point Rito has dropped to his knees, thinking he is about to get another lecture about proper school behaviour.
"I'm not going to yell at you!" She yells, and then quickly quiets down. "I just want to ask you... what do you consider me, err.. us I mean?"
"Huh?" Rito looks confused for a moment, which only seems to make Yui angrier.
"You told me before that you consider me a friend, but that was a long time ago. I just want to know if you still feel that way."
"What? Of course Kotegawa. Why would we stop being friends? Our friendship is important to me!" These last words cause Yui to start.
"But... what if we wanted to be more than just friends?" Yui is struggling to look Rito in the eyes at this point.
"More than friends?"
"Kotegawa too?" He thinks. "After everything else this morning, I shouldn't be so surprised, but... Kotegawa?!"
"I mean, I guess I never really thought about it…" Rito is interrupted by another bell and the hallways begin to fill up with students heading to their next classes. Before Rito can finish, Yui ducks into the crowd and runs away.
"Something is going on. I'm not sure why but one thing is obvious, I need to avoid them all as much as possible for the rest of the day."
Rito goes about the rest of his day at school, attempting to avoid any more odd encounters with the girls. It doesn't take long for trouble to find him.
First, he exits the restroom to see all three of the Deviluke sisters walking down the hallway towards him. He quickly turns the opposite way and runs, colliding with the trio of Saki, Rin and Aya. He ends up on the floor with Saki sitting atop him.
"Yuuki Rito!" She screams as he quickly climbs to his feet and runs away.
Next, he is walking down a hallway when he sees Run coming out of a classroom ahead of him. Again, he turns to run and crashes into the same trio again. This time he becomes entangled with Rin. She ends up sitting against the wall, with Rito on top of her. Her bamboo sword has become tangled in both her bra and panties, leaving her exposed to Rito.
"Yuuki Rito!" Both her and Saki yell as he once again runs away.
A short while later, a tired and battered Rito stumbles towards the school infirmary. As he gets to the doorway, he sees Haruna and Oshizu inside chatting. Once more he panics and tries to run, with the same results. Now he ends up lying on the ground with Aya sitting on his head, looking dazed and confused.
"Yuuki Rito!" All three are screaming at him now and giving chase. He yells out a single "I'm sorry!" As he runs away for the third time.
Another bell rings as the school day end. Rito sits in a classroom, a glum look on his face.
"Oh man." He thinks to himself. "I can't believe I flunked another quiz. Of all the days to be stuck in an after school cram session."
As he continues to dwell on his bad luck, the majority of the students around him are completing their work and getting ready to leave. Before long, Rito and Risa are the only two students left in the room.
"Planning to stay here all night Yuuki?" Risa asks sliding up into the desk next to him. As he looks up at her questioningly she indicates the blank paper in front of him. "You flunk the same quiz a second time and even I'll start making fun of your grades."
She suddenly seems to notice how nervous Rito has become. "What's got you all hot and bothered today? I haven't even started working my magic yet." She says this teasingly while playing with the collar of her shirt. Rito jumps clear of his desk and backs against the wall. "Wow, I was just joking before but you really are spooked, aren't you?"
"Strange, Momioka doesn't seem any different." Rito thinks. "I mean, she is teasing me, but that's normal for her."
"Well, you see…" He begins.
Rito and Risa are now sitting across a desk from each other. Rito has just finished explaining the strange day he has been having.
"Ah, I can see why a guy like you would be a little flustered by all that. You can't even talk to Haruna for more than two minutes without your head exploding." Risa pauses to consider Rito for a few seconds. "So, what are you going to do about it?"
"What do you mean 'what am I going to do about it?' I need to figure out why this is happening. I can't have every girl who knows me tripping over themselves to confess to me all day long. How do I even know these are their real feelings? What if this is some weird flu or something?"
"Oh, come on Yuuki. Were any of these confessions REALLY a surprise to you?" Risa leans forward. "You're so worried about figuring out what's wrong with them, when what you should be doing is giving them what they want."
"Giving them what they want?! I can't do that!" Rito hops back up from his chair and starts backing towards the wall again.
"Ha! You're precious. No one is asking you to marry them all, stupid! Maybe they just want you to pay attention to them for more than a few seconds out of your day. You know, acknowledge that they're WOMEN and that their feelings for you matter, and tripping into their panties doesn't count, by the way." She stands up and starts advancing towards Rito. "You know, my offer from before still stands. If you ever need someone to show you the ropes..."
"Momioka! This isn't the time to start teasing me again." Rito says, trying to back away further and running into the wall.
"Who ever said anything about teasing?" Risa replies. By now she has him backed into the corner of the room and has started unbuttoning her shirt. A noise at the door causes her to pause and turn, giving Rito his chance to escape. He can hear Risa laughing as he runs off into the hallway.
Rito is wandering the halls now. He has a haunted look on his face. "I just need to get home. Then I can sort this out."
As he approaches the end of the hall, he sees a shadow approaching from around the corner. It appears to be Yami. Thinking fast, Rito turns and dashes for the other end of the hall, but again as he approaches the end, a Yami shaped shadow is coming from the other direction.
"Wait, that's impossible!" He thinks as he backs away towards the stairs. He doesn't notice that Yami is actually standing in the stairway behind him.
"Yuuki Rito." She says at the last second, right before he collides with her and they both go tumbling down the stairs. When the dust settles, they are both on the floor together. Rito has Yami doubled over with her legs lifted up over her head, but she has her usual calm expression on her face. "Not bad." She says. "I know you didn't see me, so I doubt you could have planned that one."
She quickly transforms her hair into a giant fist as Rito closes his eyes, expecting the worst. However, rather than pounding him into the ground or the wall, the hand simply grabs him by his collar and lifts him up. Yami stands up and proceeds to climb the stairs, dragging Rito along behind.
On the roof of the school, Rito is being held aloft by Yami. "Sorry Yami!" He says. "I really didn't mean to-"
"You seem to be avoiding me today, Yuuki Rito." Yami says. "I know I told you I didn't require an answer, but..." She trails off.
Rito has been keeping his eyes closed up to this point, but now he looks at Yami to see a confused, hurt expression on her face.
"Is this your answer then? You just want me to leave you alone?" Her voice breaks slightly, something Rito has never heard before.
Rito suddenly recalls he conversation he just had with Risa. "Maybe they just want you to pay attention to them for more than a few seconds out of your day. You know, acknowledge that they are WOMEN and that their feelings for you matter!"
"I'm sorry Yami!" Rito says again. "That's not why I was avoiding you. I should have just told you instead of hiding!" He pauses to collect his thoughts. "It's just... today has been really weird. Everyone I run into keeps confessing their feelings to me. Kotegawa, Nana, even Mikan!"
"Mikan?" This last name seems to surprise Yami.
"I'm worried that you may not be acting like yourself today, and I don't want you to say or do anything you'll regret. That's why I was hiding."
Yami seems to consider all this for a few moments, and then the giant hand holding Rito begins to move. It brings him in close and drops him to his feet in front of her. The giant hand then splits into two smaller hands that grab Rito's arms and force him to wrap them around Yami in a hug. "I forgive you." She says in a low voice, resting her head against his chest.
Rito begins to relax as the hands holding him disperse. Yami looks up at him and he suddenly realizes just how close their faces are to each other. They seem to be slowing drifting closer together but Rito can't tell if he is leaning down or if Yami is pulling him closer.
At the last second, the doorway to the school bangs open and Run and Haruna come walking out. "We found you Rito-kyun!" Run yells advancing towards Rito.
"Yuuki-kun." Haruna says. "What's going on?"
At the same time, Lala and Momo touch down on the roof of the school, having seen the commotion from the courtyard below. "Wow." Lala exclaims. "I didn't realize my invention was this powerful. It's pulling the girls in from all over the school."
"This is bad Onee-sama." Momo whispers to her. "All the girls here have already confessed to Rito before. Bringing us all together like this is going to make him more nervous, not help him figure out his feelings."
"You're right... wait, Momo? Did you say ALL the girls here?" Lala looks questioningly at Momo.
Thinking fast, Momo points to Rito. "What's happening to his collar?" she says. At this point, smoke has begun to curl out from beneath Rito's shirt collar.
"Oh no!" Lala exclaims. "My invention was intended to work on only one person. So many people being here and being affected must be overheating it. Rito! Take your shirt off!"
Everyone on the roof turns at once to look at Lala, not understanding what she means. Run suddenly gets an excited look on her face. "Yes, take it off Rito! I'll help!" However, before anyone else can react, the pin reaches its breaking point and explodes in a flash of smoke.
Rito wakes up in Dr. Mikado's clinic. He sits up and rubs his head. "What happened?" He says. He remembers waking up and getting ready for school. He feels a sharp pain in the back of his head as the faces of everyone he has talked to today flash through his mind. "I feel like something important happened, but I can't seem to remember what." He thinks.
"Sounds like someone had a busy day." Dr Mikado is standing beside his bed, looking at a chart in her hands. "Don't worry, it was only a small concussion. Pretty lucky actually, considering." She motions toward the chair next to his bed where the tattered remains of his school shirt sit. "You should be fine to walk home, as long as someone accompanies you. Looks like you've got a few to choose from."
She motions towards the window and Rido sees the scene outside the clinic where ALL the girls are waiting and talking among themselves. "You're a fair bit more popular than I remember you being when we first met, Yuuki. Make sure you enjoy your youth, but don't enjoy it so hard that I see you back here too often, alright?" She chuckles to herself as he puts his tattered clothes on and leaves the clinic.
Everyone quiets down as Rito exits the clinic. Lala and Haruna both run up to him. Lala wraps him in a hug while Haruna places a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you OK, Yuuki-kun?" Haruna asks. Rito smiles at her.
Rito extracts himself from Lala, assuring her that he is fine. "I'm not sure what happened today, or what I did, but I have the feeling I owe a bunch of you an apology for some reason." He begins.
"Wait, you can't remember any of what happened today?" Nana asks.
"No. I can't remember anything after getting up this morning."
Nana looks like she is about to explode but Momo holds her back. Risa bursts out laughing. "Ha, that's just like you Yuuki. Good work Lala, we'll let you clear things up for him, alright?"
With that, everyone except for Lala and Haruna turn to leave. They each seem to have their own issues to deal with.
Risa is poking fun at Yui as they both walk away.
Momo is smiling ear to ear as she walks beside Nana who is angrily stomping away.
Yami whispers quietly to Mikan as they walk off. "Mikan, we should have another sleepover."
Finally Rito is left standing with Lala and Haruna. "What did Momioka mean?" Rito asks Lala. He remembers again the morning when he woke up, but this time he distinctly remembers Lala rushing out of the room.
"He he." Lala laughs nervously while holding out the charred remains of her invention.
"Lala! What did you do!" Rito screams.
End.