Things are different between you and Lala after the call with her father. You exchange a look with her and see her expression shift as she fully processes the fact that you basically confessed to her.
And then she knocks you flat on your back as she shifts from grabbing your arm to tackling you with a hug, pinning you to the couch below her.
"You did it!" she cheers as she wraps her arms around you.
Not at all opposed to having Lala lie on top of you, you laugh and hug her back. "Well, not really," you admit. "He's still forcing you to get married."
"But now I can get married to you!" Lala insists. "And that's even better than not getting married!"
Your heart flutters at that. Your dream of a pink-haired harem is so close. You just need her to say it.
"Lala," you say in a quiet tone. She pushes herself up slightly, her chest still pressed against yours but her head above you, looking you in the face. "I meant what I said earlier, that I fell in love with you just a few hours after meeting you, and everything that's happened since then has only made me love you more."
Lala smiles sweetly. "I feel the same way," she admits. "You've been so nice and fun and have shown me things I've never seen before, and I really really love you."
There's no flash of light, no sense of power or rush of emotion that accompanies her words- nothing supernatural at least, your heart rate certainly increases. But you do feel a faint vibration in your pocket, where your phone is, and you're certain of it. You've captured Lala.
You feel the corners of your lips rise as you smile. You have a couple days of guaranteed safety, and the rest of the day off of school, and you plan on enjoying every moment.
"Well, as a suitor, I think I'd like to get to know you better," you say in a playful tone. "Since we have the rest of the day free, why don't we go on a date? I can show you what Earth has to offer."
Lala giggles. "I'd love to," she agrees before pushing herself up and then off of you. You don't feel sad about it though, taking comfort in the fact that she's undeniably yours now. You'll have plenty of chances to feel her body against yours, and there's no need to rush things now.
"Let me tell my mom what happened, then we'll get going," you say. Lala nods and talks to Peke, coordinating her outfit while you pull out your phone.
The first thing you do is confirm that Lala is considered captured and that you've received the credits for it. You have, but you've also received two more credits for capturing Peke as well, bringing you to 165 total. In your sheer focus on securing Lala, you completely forgot that Peke counted as her familiar. But you're not complaining about a free capture, or the free credits.
You itch to spend your newfound wealth immediately, but you refrain. This is by far the largest payout you'll get in a very long time. You can't afford to spend those credits without putting proper thought into how you use them. After all, you'll need them to capture the others in this world as well, and you have yet to come up with a plan for that.
So you close the Catalog and send a quick text to your mom.
You: Meeting went well, Lala is staying on Earth, no longer hiding. Taking her on a date, will explain everything tonight.
There. If you mentioned the fact that you are now engaged to Lala, she'd come running home and prevent your date. Besides, you want to see her reaction to the news in person.
You stand up. "Ready?" you ask Lala.
She nods, so you grab her hand and leave the house, locking the door behind you before starting to walk towards the center of town.
"Where are we going?" she asks.
"We're just going to walk through the town," you explain. "I'll give you a tour of all the important places, and we can stop by anywhere that catches your eye and spend some time there." You glance at her outfit. Peke has transformed into the same outfit she wore to blend in yesterday, though her shirt is now blue and her skirt is black. "Like somewhere that sells clothes, so Peke can learn more about Earth fashion."
"That sounds like fun!" Lala replies cheerfully.
"Thank you very much, Saitou-dono," Peke adds.
"Please, call me Akihito, or just Aki," you tell Peke.
"Very well, Akihito-dono."
Well, that'll do. The first place you bring Lala to is the main shopping area.
"This street and the two on either side of it are where you'll find most shops," you explain. "Groceries, clothes, appliances, street food, or anything else you'd commonly purchase. It's also on the path between home and my school."
"School?" Lala asks, a sudden tone of excitement in her voice. "So you do go? What's that like?"
"It's okay," you say. "On one hand, sitting through classes day in and day out and doing homework can be mind-numbingly boring. But I do get to see my friends there, and talk with them every day."
"That sounds wonderful!" Lala exclaims. "Do you think I could go to school too?"
You think it over for a quick moment. Paper Trail is a perk that does exactly what it says and can provide any documents needed for any companion, or yourself, to have a legal background for your world…but it doesn't work for anyone native to this world. 'World' meaning the entire setting, not just the planet, in this context.
Still, it won't be a problem. The Principal is criminally lax so long as it's a cute girl, so you don't really need to worry about the legal stuff. Though you do need to worry about the Principal, the pervert that he is. Him turning his attention to your girls is unacceptable.
You make a mental note to figure something out for him later. For now, you'll take advantage of him to get Lala into the school. "Sure, that should be doable," you say to Lala with a smile. "I'd like having you with me instead of leaving you at home." Or you could just ditch school, it's not like you need the education. But Lala wants to experience high school, so that's not an option right now.
"Yay!" Lala replies with a large smile and a squeeze of your hand. She keeps that smile even as you bring her into a clothes store, one aimed entirely at women. The kind your average harem protagonist would panic at the sight of, but you are completely comfortable with. You're here with a pretty girl on a date after all, and you're looking forward to seeing Lala in different outfits.
The store doesn't have as much variety as you'd like, but Lala seems happy enough. She tries on a few different outfits, putting them on to see how they fit, showing them off to you, and then having Peke emulate them. Most of the clothes she chooses are casual wear but she also tries on a few formal outfits, some lingerie, and even some that are more akin to sexy cosplay than proper clothes.
As she tries on these different outfits you notice something. A tattoo-like mark on her lower stomach. It's not very big, only a few inches across, and it's in the shape of a heart. There are two hearts, actually. The center one is solid pink, matching her hair, and around it is a larger and more complicated heart made of what looks like stylized mechanical parts. You see gears, wires, metal plates, and more. It doesn't look messy at all though, and in fact, it looks like it's designed, with all the pieces fitting together in a way that makes mechanical sense on top of being aesthetically pleasing.
You recognize it as the Company supplied proof that you have made Lala's yours, entirely. As a Contractor, you have several options for Capturing companions. The most basic of which is the Stamp, which, when applied to a person, will grow into a magical tattoo that Binds them to you. That tattoo is so basic that it appears even if you capture them through other means, such as you did. It has a few protections on it to make sure it doesn't draw attention or seem suspicious, and it ensures that a companion will be loyal to you and become sexually attracted to you.
Higher Bindings will render the tattoo inert and invisible, as they are unneeded, but the Stamp is what you chose. Though you also chose to give up the physical stamp itself for some extra Credits, which means you have to capture them through other means. But once you do, the tattoo appears. So now that Lala has confessed to you, she's been captured and the tattoo has appeared on her, marking her as yours.
The center part, the pink heart, is your emblem. The part around it represents Lala herself. Both are quite fitting, in your opinion. And the sight of it on her stomach, over her womb, is a massive turn-on.
You also note it on Peke, but not in the way that you expected. The tattoo can be moved by you using a Company provided app on your phone. But with Peke, it seems to naturally move location depending on the outfit she has transformed into. You don't see it with every outfit, but you spot a mark of a pink heart with a needle to the left of it and a roll of cloth on the right, framing the heart, in different locations. On a tag near the hem of a dress, on the breast of a blouse, or even as a large design on the back of a graphic tee.
During one changing session you check on your phone to see if the app offers any insight into this phenomenon, and you find a note saying that shapeshifters, especially those who frequently change into non-humanoid forms, will by default have their mark moved to "an appropriate location," with no real definition beyond that. There's an option to force it to a more standardized spot, but you leave that box unchecked for now.
Before you two leave the shop, you convince Lala to allow you to buy a couple sets of clothes for her, explaining that it's good to have something on hand in case Peke needs a recharge, which she accepts. So you get her one casual outfit, one formal outfit, and one set of sexy lingerie, all of which she stores in her D-Dial so you don't have to worry about carrying the bags around.
By the time you finish clothes shopping it's a little past noon and the both of you are hungry, so you bring Lala to a nearby cafe with outside seating.
Lala's eyes look over the menu given to us by a waitress with excitement. "There are so many delicious-sounding foods!"
"Well, pick one for now, and we'll come back another time and you can try something else, deal?" you offer as you look over the menu yourself. It's filled with a mix of western cuisine, coffees and teas, and ornate desserts.
"Okay!" Lala agrees, humming cheerfully. Lala isn't hard to understand, she likes having fun. And a promise of more dates is a promise of more fun, putting her in a good mood.
"You two are adorable," the waitress comments, not having left after seating us. "Are you here on a date?"
"That's right!" Lala replies. "It's my first time on a date!"
The waitress smiles, charmed by Lala's positivity. "Oh, is that so?" She turns to you. "Well, I hope you can please her. A girl's first time is special." She gives you a wink.
But you're immune to her teasing and innuendos. "Of course," you reply smoothly. "I'll make sure it's an experience she cherishes forever."
The waitress chuckles. "Good. Now, what do you two want to order?"
You and Lala place your orders and she returns to the kitchen to put them in. "She was nice," Lala comments after she leaves.
"Sainan is a nice and quiet little town," you say in reply. "A lot of the people here are nice." Especially when you're as cute as Lala is.
"So where are we going after this?" Lala asks as she looks around, eyes latching onto signs and people walking by, soaking in the sights.
"There's an arcade nearby, we can go play some games there," you offer. She had a lot of fun last night with Mario Kart, so you're confident she'd enjoy an arcade experience.
"Arcade?" Lala asks, returning her attention to you.
"An establishment with a lot of video games you can play," you explain. You're a little surprised she doesn't know what an arcade is. Does the rest of the galaxy not have something like that? Or did Lala just never experience it due to being the princess? "They have dedicated machines for each game, with custom controls made for it. They can be a lot more creative when they don't have to design for a console, though most of them are designed instead to make you want to keep playing over and over again, spending your money."
"That does sound like fun!" Lala agrees.
You spend the rest of lunch chatting about various things, even as the waitress comes back with your food. Most of the conversation is Lala noticing signs for different shops and asking what they are, or noticing something about the people walking by and commenting on it. She's a smart girl, so you make sure to explain things clearly and she soaks the information up like a sponge.
As your plates grow almost empty, your waitress approaches the table carrying a large glass cup filled with ice cream and covered in toppings. "And here you go, dessert for the cute couple,"
Lala lights up at the sight of the sugary dessert, but you look at the waitress and raise an eyebrow. "It's on the house," the waitress explains with a small smile. "You two looked like you were having so much fun that I couldn't resist."
"Thank you very much," you reply, making sure to express your gratitude.
"No problem, you two enjoy the rest of your date!" she says, leaving the check on the table before heading back inside.
You ignore the check for now and instead join Lala in analyzing the dessert. It's clearly couples themed. Strawberry ice cream covered in chocolate syrup and sprinkles, two cherries carefully placed on top, and the rim is lined with multicolored candy hearts. Though the most notable thing about it is the two spoons stuck into the ice cream, clearly indicating that it's meant to be shared.
It looks a little excessive to you, but Lala's eyes are shining with delight, and at the end of the day that's the most important thing. So you give her a smile, trying to mirror her excitement. "Well then, let's dig in!"
Lala doesn't hesitate to grab a spoon and start eating. You go at a more sedate pace, enjoying Lala's happiness more than the dessert itself. The better her experience, the faster your relationship will develop.
"That was yummy!" Lala exclaims once the two of you finish eating it. "It was really nice of her to give it to us for free, too!"
"Like I said, this town is filled with nice people," you agree. You glance at the bill and put the cost on the table. "Now, let's hit up the arcade before the schools let out and it gets crowded."
"Okey dokey!" Lala agrees and the two of you stand up. The waitress waves and gives you a wink as you leave. You bow your head slightly, once again thanking her, and then take Lala's hand as the two of you start walking down the street again.
The arcade is only a short distance away and isn't very crowded at this time of day. Most of the people there look your age or older, but there aren't many of them at all. You load up a couple cards with money so the two of you can play games and then start touring the center, trying out all the different kinds of games.
No matter what type of game the two of you play, Lala kicks ass at it. You're pretty sure she has some level of superhuman reflexes, or something similar to that. But more importantly, it's obvious she has a lot of gaming experience. Shooters, racing games, fighting games, mecha simulators, and more are all conquered by Lala. She puts her name near the top of most leaderboards on her second or third attempt, if she doesn't just straight up get the new high score.
You feel like you learn a bit more just by playing alongside and against Lala or even just watching her. And you're not the only one. Lala's performance draws a small crowd of onlookers, though most of them are more focused on watching the pretty girl than her gameplay.
You put those ones in their place by wrapping an arm around Lala's waist as she plays one game, pressing up against her. She briefly looks away from her game to smile at you before going back to focusing on it. When she does, you look over your shoulder at the crowd and give them a smug smirk.
You get more than a few jealous glares, but the message is received and none of them dare approach. Most of them wander off after that, going back to playing their own games rather than entertaining ideas of pursuing Lala.
A fact you're glad of when Lala spots a certain set of machines. "What's that game?" Lala asks.
You look at where her finger is pointed and hold back a groan. "That's DDR, Dance Dance Revolution. It's a dancing game, kind of like the rhythm ones we played earlier but you use those pads and your feet."
"That sounds so fun!" Lala says as she drags you over. "And look, there's two right next to each other, so we can play together!"
"Actually, I think I'm gonna sit this one out," you say.
Lala turns to you with a frown. "You don't wanna play with me?"
…
Dammit, you can't say no when she puts it like that.
You sigh and mentally prepare yourself. "Okay, okay, I'll play with you," you agree.
"Yay!" She scans her card on the machine and you do the same, both of you choosing Versus mode. You let Lala choose the song- it'll turn out the same way for you no matter what.
You concentrate, not wanting to make a fool of yourself as the music starts and arrows travel up the screen. You manage to hit the first few, but you miss the fourth. You get back into the rhythm of things right as the song picks up steam, and then all thoughts leave your mind as you focus entirely on trying to hit the notes.
You can already feel yourself tiring as you stomp on the pad, your legs feeling heavy and you start panting. Due to your fatigue, you start missing notes and falling behind. You try to catch up, but you overcompensate and now you're too early. And as the Misses start piling up, you panic more and more, worsening your performance.
About halfway through the song, your screen goes dark and the words "Fail" appear. You hardly care though, just glad to be free as you lean back on the bar behind the dance pad and struggle to catch your breath. Your heart feels like a jackhammer in your chest and you can feel yourself starting to sweat. You can hardly believe that people do this for fun because you feel terrible.
Though Lala is proof of the opposite. You look over at her screen and she's still going strong. She doesn't miss a single beat, and in fact, is getting a lot of Perfects. You shift your attention to her. She doesn't seem to have noticed that you failed, but there's a big smile on her face as she enjoys moving her body. You have to admit, you enjoy watching her move her body as well, especially the way her boobs are bouncing, and the way her skirt lifts up almost enough to show her panties but not quite.
Though you don't want anyone else to see them. You look around, and no one is in line of sight, the DDR machines not being very visible from most of the rest of the arcade. Good. Lala's sexy figure is for you and you alone. Unless you're showing her off on purpose.
The song comes to an end a few minutes later and Lala finally comes to a stop. She glances at your screen and then at you, a hint of concern showing on her usually upbeat expression.
You give her a reassuring smile. "Sorry, I'm no good at games like this," you say, still slightly out of breath. "I'm not very athletic."
"Hehe, sorry for dragging you to a game like this then," she says. She's smiling, but there's a hint of guilt there as well. "What kind of game do you want to play?"
You look around the arcade. By this point you've hit up most of the machines, never sticking to one for more than a few games. But there is one section you haven't gone to yet.
"You know? I'm feeling pretty lucky," you say, pushing yourself off of the DDR bar and stepping off the pad. Lala follows, grabbing your hand again, as you lead her to a nearby crane game.
Crane games are scams, everyone knows this. They're rigged to make it extremely difficult, more difficult than it looks, to win prizes. But it's not impossible, and you have an ace up your sleeve.
"This is a crane game," you explain to Lala as you swipe your arcade pass. The machine comes to life, lights turning on and a quiet jingle playing. "I use this joystick here to control the claw at the top. I get one chance to position it above a prize I want and try to grab it." You turn to her with a grin. "So, choose a prize, and I'll go for it."
You picked this machine in particular for a reason. Not because it's easier than the others, you have no idea how the machines compare to each other. No, you picked it because it's filled with stuffed animals perfect for the kind of date you are on with Lala.
"Hmm," Lala muses as she gazes into the glass case. "That one!" She points at a medium-sized purple plush of a dog. It's positioned decently enough for an attempt to grab it, so you start carefully maneuvering the claw.
When you're certain you have it positioned as best as possible, you hit the button to make the claw descend. You watch as it slowly lowers toward the doll you are aiming for and you're a little surprised when it actually clamps firmly around the midsection of the dog, between the legs.
Lala cheers and claps as the plush puppy is lifted up and slowly brought to the prize chute. You grin, glad you didn't even have to use the trick of using your Technomancy to convince the claw machine to help you win. Nothing outright cheating, just asking it to grip a little tighter or move a little faster.
But you didn't need that, getting lucky on your first try. You grab the doll from where it was deposited and present it to Lala. "For you, something to remember our first date," you say.
Her face lights up and she carefully grabs the toy from you, hugging it to her chest. "She's so cute!" she exclaims.
You smile back, glad she likes it. Then you feel a buzz in your pocket, so you pull out your phone and check the text message there.
Mom: Hurry up home, I'm waiting and want to hear how things went.
You suppose it is a little later than you expected. But you're not ready to call the date over yet, you have one more goal.
You put your phone away and look up at Lala. "It's getting kinda late, but there's one more place I want to show you."
"Okay, let's go!" Lala says. "What kind of place is it?"
"A surprise," you say as you take her hand and walk out of the arcade. She holds the doll close to her chest with her other hand rather than store it in her D-Dial. As you leave you notice that a lot of people in your school uniform are entering. School must have just let out. A few stare at Lala as you leave, but none of them recognize you so you don't pay them any mind.
Lala talks a lot about the different games the two of you played as you head towards your destination. You're glad she enjoyed the arcade so much and that you decided to take her into town as your first date. It worked out well.
After almost ten minutes of walking, you pull Lala into a tall building. "A mall?" Lala asks, looking at the different shops.
"A specific place here at the mall, actually," you explain, pulling Lala to the elevator. "The stores here are okay, but you can find most of what they sell here in other places." You press the button for the top floor and the elevator doors silently shut.
Once you're at the top floor you take Lala up a set of stairs leading to the roof, which is open to guests. You exit the stairwell and are immediately greeted by a gust of wind and the large blue sky above you with only a few clouds in sight.
The rooftop itself is clearly designed as a recreational area. There are benches, tables, and vending machines scattered across it, all connected by a stone path. There are even flower beds and shrubbery to liven it up a bit.
But the most important feature is the view. One edge has only a short fence installed a couple feet from the edge of the roof, and beyond it is a beautiful view of Sainan. And it's this view you pull Lala towards.
"Wow!" she says as she takes in the view.
The mall is one of the tallest buildings in town, so the entirety of Sainen town glitters below you, the slowly sinking sun reflecting on the glass windows of all the buildings. And beyond the town was a forest filled with trees, surrounding it in a barrier of nature.
It's one of the most picturesque sights available in town. And it's perfect for setting up the mood you want to end this date on.
"This is my favorite spot," you say, looking out over the town. "I like to come up here whenever something important happens or I need to make a big decision, and just put everything into perspective. The town below us is just a small town in a small country on a small planet in a big galaxy. But to me, it's been the only home I've ever known. Seeing it like this helps me think clearly about things."
Lala doesn't reply immediately, but you see her glance at you out of the corner of your eyes, her expression far more muted than usual. "Things like this morning?" she asks, her voice quiet.
You nod. "Exactly. You don't exactly get bigger than asking to marry the princess of the Galaxy. Which means I'll be Emperor one day. That's…" you trail off before shaking your head.
"Two days ago I was just a teenage boy coasting through life," you pick back up. "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be with, or what my future will look like. Now?" You turn to Lala. She looks a little unsure, so you give her a reassuring smile. "Now I have a goal, and I've fallen in love with an amazing girl that I want to spend the rest of my days with."
Yes, you're being a little over the top. But that's fine, because it's Lala you're talking to, and you can see immediately that it works. The worry disappears from her face, replaced with a smile of joy, her eyes shining as she tears up a little.
She throws herself at you, wrapping you in an enthusiastic hug. "I'm so glad! I'm the same way. I knew I was going to take the throne someday…but everything else was a mystery. I constantly worried about who my husband would be, and if I would get along with them. But, if it's you, I don't have to worry. I know I'll be happy."
You return the hug, squeezing her tight. By any normal standards, the two of you developed a relationship absurdly fast. But you are someone who has two lifetimes' worth of memories of yearning for a specific type of girl and an ability and willingness to manipulate others, and she's a very affectionate girl who wears her heart on her sleeve… and is now having her affection reinforced through mind control.
So, it's not a normal relationship at all, really.
But you're not content to leave it here. Strictly speaking, thanks to the tattoo, you could probably pull her into a secluded area and finally unleash your pent-up desires by fucking her for the next three hours. And the temptation to do so is strong.
But you want to savor things, you want to savor her. There's a proper order to things, a series of escalating events you wish to experience before the main course. And this entire date was engineered to set up the next one.
You pull back slightly from the hug. Not letting her go, you just pull your head back. "Lala," you say, the words and your motion prompting her to pull her head back as well so she can look you in the face. There are only a few inches of space between you as you look her in the eyes, which are filled with gratitude and love.
"I love you," you say before leaning down and kissing her.
It's obvious that Lala is caught off guard and isn't sure how to respond at first, but she quickly melts into your touch, relaxing and letting you guide her. You feel more than hear the small hum of contentment as you kiss her soft and supple lips. You feel her tail wrap around your waist as she pulls you even closer to her.
You resist the urge to escalate, to slip your tongue past her lips and turn this romantic kiss into a full-blown make-out session. And eventually, it comes to an end, your lips separating from each other as the two of you catch your breath.
"What… was that?" Lala asks, hesitant and confused.
You blink. You knew she was innocent, but surely she had seen a kiss at some point, right? But now, now that you're thinking about it, there was a small plot line about Momo teaching her what kissing is, wasn't there?
"That was a kiss," you explain with a smile, not allowing any of your surprise to show through. Lala not knowing basic things like that means you can shape her perception of them. Though, in this case, you'll be sticking to the truth, more or less. "It's a sign of affection, something done between two people who are really close. Family members might kiss each other on the forehead or cheek, and lovers will kiss each other on the lips."
"It felt really good," she says. "Can we do it some more?"
"Any time," you say. "Though we should probably start heading home now."
"Aww," she pouts, tightening her grip on you.
You chuckle. "Now now, don't worry, we'll have plenty of time for kissing. But it's getting close to dinner time, and we still haven't told my mother the good news." Or contacted Zastin, now that you think about it, but you can worry about that later tonight.
Lala's eyes light up. "Dinner? Will you be making it?"
"I make dinner every night."
"Then let's go!" she says, letting you go and jumping up excitedly.
You smile at her antics but take her hand once more in yours as you head back into the mall and into the elevator so you can head back home.
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This is the story-only edit of a Quest I run over on Questionable Questing! If you'd like to participate in the Quest and vote on decisions the character makes, head there!