AN: Another chapter! This one was harder to get out, but maybe I'm out of practice. Anyway, I wanted to address some things. Relationship progression will happen. That's kinda what I wanted out of the main series and I only somewhat got it, so I'm definitely doing my own take on it. Hopefully the pacing will reflect that. Another things is that despite the rating, there won't be lemons. My scene is really more fluff than that. It's M to be safe since describing To Love Ru stuff seems to take a turn a bit sexual. I'm all about the fluff!
Bro time with Zastin and Saruyama is being considered for a chapter. Such good bois. Poor Zastin last chapter.
Hope you enjoy the chapter! Please review to give me your thoughts! Anyway, on to the chapter!
Rito didn't know what to think of his situation. A random girl who transferred into his school suddenly tackling him was certainly not a situation one expects. Rito held back his embarrassment from the hug and instead focused on his surprise.
"U-uh, would you mind telling me what I did to deserve a hug?"
"Did you forget about me? Geez, and here I was all excited about meeting my savior." The green haired girl pouted.
A realization came to Rito. "Oh! You're the girl that I pushed out of the way of Jump-kun!"
"The weird frog thing? Yeah, you saved me from that monster!" Run gave a thankful smile which caught Rito off guard, causing his cheeks to stain pink slightly.
"A-ah, yeah, I guess." Rito said.
A voice interrupted the two's conversation. "Would you mind leaving any fun conversations amongst yourselves until after class? I'd certainly appreciate it."
Rito met eyes with the teacher who was exasperated, but being a good sport about the interruption. "Sure, Sensei. I'm sorry for any interruption caused here." Rito gave a shallow bow.
"That's quite alright. Now, Jewelria-san, your seat is in the back, behind Deviluke-san's seat. Deviluke-san, would you please raise your hand."
"Yes, sir!" peppily said Lala, looking extremely excited to see Run.
It could've been a trick of his ears, but Rito could swear that when Run took a look at who she was sitting behind, she clicked her tongue. Putting that aside, Rito wanted to go through class with a clear mind.
(-)
"So, she's your best friend?" Rito asked. After going through classes and finally getting to lunch, Rito was now able to get the whole run down of who Run is.
"Yes! She was my playmate and would be around regularly whenever I wanted to experiment with my inventions. Her help always made the experiments super fun!"
"Hmm, it sounds like you were quite the friend to Lala, Jewelria-san. Thanks for taking care of Lala," Rito said, looking beyond.
Run immediately shifted around at that comment, uncomfortable by it while saying, "It's no big deal. We just grew up together is all."
"How was that by the way," Rito asked, curious. "I wonder if a younger Lala is even more ditzy than an older one."
"Riiitooo," Lala groaned.
"Just teasing you Lala. I'm sure a younger you was the cutest little thing." Rito comforted the deflated Lala who just sunk into her chair as her form turned into a blob.
Run let out a light whisper at the sight of Rito and Lala's good chemistry. "Tch, how am I going to break these two apart?"
(-)
It was at the end of the PE period when Run decided to put a plan into action. She had somehow gotten ahold of a pie which she instantly thought to drop upon Lala to make her look ridiculous amongst her peers. This could potentially make Lala fed up with Earth and leave, allowing Run to have Rito to herself.
Run had just placed the pie above Lala's locker which was slightly opened so that the pie could be placed there. Run then ran back out to proceed with PE so that she can get away with this prank scot-free.
A little while later, the whole lot of girls came into the locker room to change back into their uniform.
"That was so much fun!" Lala exclaimed.
"You're unexpectedly strong Lala-chan." Haruna noted.
"Don't count yourself out Haruna! You're the ace of the Tennis team. You're pretty strong yourself!" Momioka said, grabbing Haruna's arm and caressing it.
"Risa, please stop grabbing me. We have to get changed."
"Fine," Risa said with mock tears in her eyes. "I'll just cry that we had to be separated."
Haruna sweatdropped at Risa's acting.
Lala laughed at their exchange, while starting to open her door. "You are pretty strong yourself though Haruna. They weren't lyi-" What cut off Lala's speech was the pie landing on top of her head.
Mio cried out, "How did a pie even get here!"
"And why was it over Lala's locker?" Risa questioned, looking to be seriously contemplating that question.
Meanwhile, Run was over at her locker thinking, 'Yes! My plan has worked! Finally, Lala is the one being humiliated!'
Risa's serious face morphed into a sly grin as she said, "Well, whatever. I guess that just means that Lala is free for eating up!"
"I second that motion," added Mio.
'H-how did my plan turn out like this!' Run thought as she saw Risa, Mio, and even Haruna enjoying pieces of the pie from Lala's hair.
(-)
As everyone reunited into the classroom, Rito could smell something off about Lala's hair. "Hey Lala, did something happen to your hair. It smells kinda sugary?"
Lala giggled at Rito's assessment. "For some reason a pie was on top of my locker so when I opened it, it fell on me!"
"A… pie?" Rito questioned.
"Yes it was a pie and I have to say it was delicious," commented Risa, joining the conversation.
"You ate the pie from her hair?" Rito asked.
"Well, we weren't going to leave it to waste," Mio said.
"It was a decent snack I guess, even if most splattered to the floor," Lala said.
"Yuuki-kun, it's not good to waste food," Haruna scolded, even with her cheeks tinted with embarrassment at being called out for eating pie hair.
"Yeah, who doesn't want some hair food! In fact, I'm jealous the girls got some," laughed Saruyama.
Rito waved his arms in protest, "Hey! I wasn't denouncing hair food at all, least of all hair pie, but I think it'd be better to find out the flavor of the pie before eating it."
"Pie is pie, Yuuki-kun. No reason to discriminate." Mio said.
"I don't know about that, I think flavor matters a lot." Rito said. Turning to Run, Rito asked, "What do you think, Jewelria-san? Does the flavor of hair pie matter?" Rito was attempting to integrate Run into this wacky yet fun conversation.
Run was shocked at getting called out by Rito. Her nervousness showed as her hands nervously touched her skirt as she said, "U-um, I think that some pies are better to eat in pieces than others."
"Ah, so you took that stance, Run-chan," Lala said, looking to be very seriously weighing the opinions of everyone here.
"S-so what?" Run asked, nervous about Lala's words.
"Eh? I was just noting your more complicated opinion on this." Lala said, tilting her head in confusion.
"Ah," Run muttered before going to her desk. A strange feeling had invaded her heart. Why did she want to be more involved in their conversation!
(-)
The very next day a sling of events had befallen Rito and Lala, most of them being minor inconveniences. Lala had ended up slipping on a banana peel only to get caught by Rito. In another instance, Rito and Lala had both ended up in a crying mess as onion extract had fallen on them. They would've continued to cry if it wasn't more Lala blowing everything away, literally.
Needless to say, Rito and Lala were confused. They didn't know what to expect next. It was only until the next day that something was to happen.
It was a note, in Rito's shoebox to be exact. With only instructions to come alone to the roof after school.
While Rito was in class trying to pay attention to the teacher, his mind kept on going back to the note. 'Would one of Lala's suitors be challenging me to a duel of some kind?' Rito thought. He shook his head at that thought, 'I don't think it's correct to think that the aliens that want Lala are going to be that honorable. I mean, a note in a shoebox for that seems sort of silly, but who else could've put something in there.'
While Rito was racking his brain for an answer, Run sat in her chair, intent on branching out from her petty pranks. 'I had to do this for myself. If none of my traps can break them apart then I've got to go for a more direct approach, confessing.' Run thought.
While those two desperately were formulating their own plans, Lala was upright in her seat and paying attention to the teacher. 'Every day is so much fun. Even if recently there have been strange things taking place, it just brings more excitement to Rito's and my own life that makes me fall in love with him further. The thoughtfulness in his actions and the care in his words, are like a warm blanket. It's fun that Run ended up on earth and in our class! I always appreciated her friendship in our youth and I appreciate it now!'
Everyone else was woefully ignorant of the current happenings.
As class progressed, Rito's worry grew, but with it, his determination did as well. No matter what possible opponent Rito could think of that could be calling him out for a fight, Rito intended to show up.
The clock ticks got louder with each second.
Run looked up to check the time.
Rito tried to pay attention to the teacher's lecture.
Lala smiled along.
"Make sure to remember that. It'll be on the test! And given that class is nearly over, you're dismissed."
Run immediately ran off at the news of being dismissed.
Rito hesitated and then walked up to Lala.
"Hey, I'm going to be caught up in something, so you can go home without me." Rito said.
Lala put a finger to her chin to think and then said, "Hmmm, is it alright if I wait for you? I want to walk home from school together!"
A little embarrassed by Lala's declaration, but unsurprised, Rito said, "Sure, sounds good!"
Rito walked on, leaving behind Lala to the curiosity of Haruna.
"Are you not going home together today?" Haruna asked.
"We are! He just has to finish something up. Why? Do you want to walk home with us?"
Haruna put her hands up to refuse. "No, no, I wouldn't want to intrude in between you two."
Lala grabbed her hands, "You wouldn't be intruding anything. It'll be fun!"
Haruna looked uncertain by Lala's assurances but after a deep breath, she said, "F-fine."
(-)
Rito was climbing the stairs for the roof entrance. He had already decided that he would walk in with no hesitation, no matter who or what was behind the door!
With a cautious thought behind it, he opened the door fully, revealing Run on the far side of the roof.
"Run? What are you doing here?"
"What else? I'm the one who called you here." She said, turning around to face Rito.
Rito's mind went into overdrive with this information. Was she going to fight me? She was Lala's friend, so why not involve Lala in all this?
Run bowed fully and said, "I fell in love with you at first sight, please go out with me!"
Rito's mind shut down.
"Uh, excuse me?"
Run's face turned red. "Don't make me say it again! You heard me. Go out with me?"
Rito's face burned a little at her declaration. "Uh, doesn't the whole galaxy know that I'm Lala's fiance?"
Run's face turned angry. "And? Who cares about her?"
"Huh?" Rito was bewildered by her reaction. "I thought you were best friends."
"I was Lala's playmate. Maybe Lala sees me as her best friend, but if you had to go through what I did, you wouldn't consider Lala your best friend either."
Rito worried about those words. He knew that Lala was a good person, albeit a little airheaded. So, what actions as a child could an airheaded Lala do to Run? "Uh, if you don't mind, would you fill me in on what exactly you had to go through?"
"I was her test dummy!"
'Ah, that makes sense,' Rito thought.
"Lala was full of invention ideas, so anytime I was over, she would make an invention on the spot and then use it on me! I'll have you know one time I had slime running out of my ears for weeks!"
A shiver ran down Rito's spine at that noise. 'I don't exactly know the circumstances, but I can guess with Lala's eccentricities, she was interested in a lot of things as a child.'
"Anyway, enough about her!" Run pushed Rito down and then sat on him. "Will you give me an answer?"
Rito couldn't look at the determined Run as he mumbled, "Well, as much as you are very pretty, it's been too soon and I don't really know you…"
"I bet that's not what you said to Lala!" retorted Run.
Rito knew he was being a hypocrite, but what was he supposed to do? Abandoned Lala? Not happening. "You may be right that I didn't say that to Lala, but given her circumstances, that's what I had to do."
"Well, what if I was in the same circumstances?"
Rito's alertness rose. "Are you?"
"No," Run's figure deflated saying that. "I know that I can make you forget Lala!" Run said with a smirk. "All I have to do is give you a kiss." Run whispered, her head growing closer to Rito's as she braced herself for her actions.
But something poked Run's nose. "Ah, ah!" Run said, trying to hold it in.
'My hair tickled her nose?' Rito wondered.
"Ah. ah. ACHOO!" And with a single sneeze, Run's figure disappeared and in its place was
"A guy?!" Rito said.
"Yeah, I am one you bastard. Now give Lala back!"
"What?"
"You heard me! You must've tricked Lala to ever be considered her fiance. Give it up or else I'll punch you to the ground!"
Rito felt as if he was ambushed here. He had expected a suitor trying to fight him earlier, but it turned out to be Run confessing her love. Now Run has somehow turned into a guy and is declaring his love for Lala? How confusing. "I won't give up being Lala's fiance. Anyway, tell me, uhhh Run?"
The guy scoffed. "My name is Ren. Run is my other half. I'm a Memorzorian so usually every month Run and I switch. Turns out though that your planet's magnetic fields make Run and I switch at a sneeze."
Rito blinked twice. "Right. Anyway, Ren, tell me, do you love Lala?"
"Of course! What kind of question is that?"
"An important one. I'd imagine most of the galaxy isn't going to be so nice about this, but I think that you would if you truly love Lala."
"And what do you think that I'll supposedly do right?"
"Take Lala's feelings into account."
Ren felt as if he had been run over by a train. "What are you trying to say?"
"Lala is… content with me. I won't lie, if Lala wanted to break up with me, I wouldn't have any problems with it. My heart would be broken, sure, but say she fell in love with someone else. I would feel much worse keeping her in a relationship with me than if she broke up with me to go be with someone else. At the very least, she would be happy, which is what you hope for your loved ones." Rito took a deep breath. "Now, shouldn't you respect Lala's decision to be my fiance if that's what makes her happy since you love her?"
Ren clocked his tongue at Rito. 'This guy is putting his heart on the line, but even if some of those points seem honorable, they aren't practical.' "Lala is a very kindhearted person who is prone to trickery. You may be genuine in your feelings for Lala although I hate to admit it, but with Lala's kindness, you failed to take into account something very important."
Rito was confused by his declaration. "And what did I miss?"
"Lala said that if I became manly that she would marry me!"
Rito deadpanned, "And how recent was this?"
Ren proudly declared, "It was a childhood promise, alas, but an important one nevertheless. I've become manly for Lala, so even if she's engaged with you, she'll fall in love with the new and improved yours truly."
"Would she even recognize you?"
"O-of course! Lala must've been thinking about our promise all the time. Her engagement to you was merely a mistake on her part."
At that moment, Lala bursted through the door to the roof, followed by Haruna. "Rito, we got tired of waiting, let's go home."
"What?"
Haruna cleared her throat. "Ehem, Lala-chan suggested that we go home together."
"Ah, that seems fun. Sure, let's go."
The three walked to the door of the roof. Before Rito shut the door, he eyed Ren and said, "Oh, by the way. I still mean what I said earlier, but it'd be easier to take you seriously if you weren't wearing a skirt." Ren solidified into stone and then broke apart at that news.
'D-damn it. I forgot that I was still wearing Run's uniform!'
(-)
Rito, Lala, and Haruna were casually walking on back. Somehow it had turned out that Rito was walking in the middle while Lala was on his left and Haruna was on his right.
"D-did you understand everything in class, Lala-chan? You are a foreigner and everything, right?" Haruna decided to start the conversation.
"Other than Japanese and English, everything is going well! I'm going super speed in my studying for them, but they can be hard to put into practice." Lala's hand movements while she talked really showed her expressiveness.
Rito put a hand on Lala's head and ruffled her hair as he said, "I've been taking care of this one's studying, but she can be prone to getting distracted."
"Oh, you're tutoring her Yuuki-kun? That must be helpful, Lala-chan. Yuuki-kun is a great student."
"Not compared to you Sairenji-chan. You're giving me too much credit by calling me a great student. I just stay on top of things."
Lala thought about Rito's words and said, "Well, how about we do some sort of study group some time? I could get tutored by both of you super smart people!"
Rito scoffed at that. 'Says the genius inventor. It isn't me being humble to say that out of the three of us here, I'm the least book smart.' "I mean, I'm not against it if Mikan agrees. I'd rather not trouble her too much. Other than that, I'm game!"
Haruna's face slowly turned red as she thought about those implications. 'If I were to go to this study group, I'd be in Yuuki-kun's house. I wonder if that would somehow lead me to going into his room…'
"Haruna? Haruna!" yelled Lala.
"U-uh, what?"
"You were spacing out. You'd come to the study group, right?"
Remembering her thoughts, she said, "I-I think that I could find some time."
Lala brightened up. "Great! We'll have to ask the others, but it's exciting even with just the three of us if it turns out the way!"
"Is that so?" Haruna almost whispered.
"Lala, I think it'd be beneficial if others showed up. Saruyama desperately needs help with math. He's atrocious with numbers." Rito said.
"Hahaha! That seems just like him! It'll be fun with the others. I was just wondering."
Neither Rito or Haruna decided to ask what exactly she was wondering. Rito himself didn't know what Lala's angle was. He was distracted anyway thinking about Ren and Run.
'So not only does Run have feelings for me, her counterpart, Ren, has feelings for Lala. This can't be some love square nonsense going on or else I'm going to get a headache. Thinking of this more rationally, I think it'd be an apt decision for Ren to actually get closer to Lala, so that he can figure out her feelings for himself. This might be cocky to say, but I feel… secured in my relationship with her. And even if she left me for Ren-'
'I can't finish that thought. It hurts to even suggest. I said all that stuff out loud, but would I even be able to follow through with my own words? Who knows?'
Lala looked over at Rito and Haruna, wondering why they were both silent. It appeared to her that the two of them were both deep in thought. A stray thought passed through her, but she shook her head, ridding her mind of the thought. She was going to make sure to keep every day full of fun for her and Rito!