A/N: Here's the new chapter! Sorry it's been a while; I had some qualms about whether where I wanted to take the next couple chapters was really where I wanted to take the next couple chapters. It took me too long to decide that I did. But either way, new chapter now, and I hope you like it. P.S. I also am working on writing longer chapters. I agree that they have been too short.

Rito woke the next morning already in a slight panic, expecting Momo to finish what she started yesterday. Instead he found the bed once again empty aside from himself.

"Twice in a row?" Rito found it odd that Momo had stopped coming into his room. The last time she had refrained from sleeping with him was when Nemesis was inside of him.

Since he hadn't had the chance yesterday, he decided to simply lay back and think about recent events. In just the past few days four girls had announced their love for him, of which he only reciprocated to one. Yami, Nemesis, Haruna and Momo, Haruna being the one he responded to with his own feelings. And yet, it felt as if nothing was different. And nothing would likely ever be different if he didn't step up. Despite the fact that they had already confessed to each other, the thought made him turn red out of habit.

"Haruna…"

School was back on tomorrow, monday. His mind was made up.

Still in her bedroom, having barely slept, Momo was standing in front a display board with possible plans to rope in Mikan, each one farther out than the last.

Possibly due to the lack of sleep, but that's beside the point.

"Hhmmm!" Momo grunted in frustration. None of these far-fetched plans would logically work, much less on Mikan. Mikan was smart enough (perhaps too smart) to see right through these. She would need help, and as much as she hated to admit it, there was probably only one person who could help. She would just need to find her. Unfortunately, she would likely need to wait for her sister to return.

"For now, I'll head downstairs for breakfast. I'm starving."

"We're baaaaack!"

The cheerful voice of Lala invaded the relative silence. She and Nana walked in and closed the door behind them. Obviously their first move was to enter the kitchen, both because that was where the others would likely be and also that they were starving from their long voyage. In the kitchen, Mikan was cleaning up from cooking and Momo was eating hungrily. Rito, however, was nowhere in sight.

"Hello Mikan, Momo!" Lala happily greeted the two, bursting with excitement since she was able to return home. "And good morning!"

Nana, on the contrary, wasn't sure whether she wanted to grab some food or sleep, since she didn't get much of either on the ship.

"Welcome back Lala-san!" Mikan seemed to be able to keep up with Lala's cheerfulness.

"Welcome back Onee-sama! And welcome back Nana. Nana?" Momo tried addressing her twin sister, but Nana had ultimately decided that she wanted sleep more than food and silently stalked up the stairs to her room. Deciding that she would probably be out of commision for a while, Momo returned her attention to her other sister.

"So what did Father want with you, Onee-sama?" Momo inquired.

"Oh, I'll get into that in a little while. Where's Rito?" Lala countered.

Mikan spoke up, "I think he's still in his room. I was actually about to call him down."

She walked over to the base of the stairs, spatula in hand; her trademark.

"Rito! Your breakfast will get cold if you don't come down!" Mikan attempted to call him down from his room, to no avail. Up in his room, Rito simply called down, "I'll be down soon, Mikan!"

Knowing better, Mikan tried another approach.

"Lala is back!"

Silence for a moment, before rapid footsteps came down the hallway and Rito came speeding down the stairs.

"Where?"

Mikan simply pointed to the kitchen, prompting Rito to enter the kitchen quite fast. Mikan, astounded by his speed of coming downstairs after those three simple words, followed after him.

"Rito!" Lala lunged at Rito as soon as she saw him and hugged him. Rito, who had entered fast, was not ready for the sudden weight of another person on him and they both tumbled to the ground. Not surprisingly, Lala's breasts were right in Rito's face and his hands were squarely planted on her butt. Realizing this, Rito quickly got up and helped Lala up.

'Good thing Nana isn't in here." Were the only thoughts in Rito's head as he pulled Lala to her feet.

"My, my Rito-san." Momo decided to throw her own teasing into this exchange. "Onee-sama has just returned, and already you're all over her." She giggled quietly.

Rito instinctively turned red. "Hey, that was an accident!"

Lala also laughed. "It's okay Rito, I already know you love me."

Mikan, standing off to the side, simply watched and listened. 'He really has come a long way…' But she wasn't sad this time. She had already been through that. Instead she was happy for Rito.

"So Lala, what did your dad need you for?" Rito also asked.

"Oh, um, it was really nothing. He just needed my presence for some diplomatic affairs. I am the first princess after all." Lala spoke not only to Rito, but also to Momo and Mikan, hoping this answer would satisfy them.

"Oh okay, I just figured that maybe it was some kind of emergency or something, since you were gone for such a short time." Rito told her. "Anyway, I see you guys already started eating."

Mikan spoke up, returning to the counter where she had been previously.

"Maybe if you didn't take so long up in your room. What were you doing anyway?" She cast a side glance at him.

Rito was suddenly at a loss for words. "Oh, I was, um… thinking."

Everybody in the kitchen stared at him.

Mikan maintained her side stare before returning her attention to the dishes she was drying.

"Whatever you say, Rito."

"I was!"

"Just hurry and eat."

Rito, silenced, sat down and ate. Momo, slightly blushing from the conversation, knew that he was probably telling the truth, but his answer was still interesting. 'Thinking?'

That afternoon, Nana finally woke up and was even hungrier than she was when she first arrived. Going downstairs, she saw everyone around the house doing their daily activities. However, she once again disregarded everyone and went straight to the kitchen to make a snack. Finishing up, she could hear laughter from outside. Exiting into the backyard, she saw Lala and Rito playing with Celine. They seemed to be having a really fun time.

'He looks… almost fatherly." Nana thought to herself. 'Maybe he's not s-'

She was in the middle of her second thought when, almost in the blink of an eye, Rito, who had been running in front of her, tripped and fell right on top of her, his hands instantly slipping under her rather loose top and cupped her small breasts.

"Oh Nana, I'm so sorry!" Rito got up faster than he had run down the stairs that morning and tried helping Nana up.

"By the way, where have you b-" Rito wasn't able to finish his sentence before he received the signature uppercut from Nana.

"Don't call me flat!"

From inside, Momo called out to her twin, "Are you saying that you don't like when Rito-san does that Nana?"

It was Nana's turn to turn bright red. "What are you talking about Momo! I would never- with him…" Words were failing her.

A voice called out from somewhere above them. "You don't have to lie Nana-chan. We already know."

Nana was really flustered now. "You don't know what you're saying Mea!"

Mea came flying down from the roof of the house. "Of course I do, Nana-chan. Remember when-"

"ENOUGH" Nana broke into a run back into the house and upstairs.

Mea and Momo were both laughing gleefully at this point. Lala went inside as well, and Rito went after her. Mea wasn't quite sure where everyone was going, since she had just arrived. Momo remembered what she had decided earlier and quickly ran outside.

"Hey Mea!" Momo called out.

Mea turned to Momo. "Yes?"

"Have you seen Nemesis recently?"

Inside the house, Lala and Rito followed Nana, Lala mostly because Lala didn't know why Nana had run inside and Rito was following Lala because… reasons.

"Nana? Why did you run away like that?" Lala said, walking into her younger sister's room.

"Ane-ue? Um, It's just that- What is he doing in here!?" Nana started to explain, probably with a lie, when Rito finally entered the room, trying to keep up with Lala, causing Lala to turn around, since even she didn't know Rito was following her.

"Rito? Why are you in here?" Lala also asked.

Rito suddenly turned red. "Oh It's just that, um…" He had no reason, so he decided to try and change the subject. "Never mind that, what happened anyway, Nana?"

It was Nana's turn to turn red once again. "What does it matter to you, pervert!?" she said loudly before hiding her face in her pillow. Seeing that she had no way out, she also decided to change the subject.

"Ane-ue, did you tell Rito about it yet?" She took her face out of her pillow and looked straight at her sister, avoiding eye contact with Rito.

"Hmm? About what?" Lala seemed to genuinely not know what Nana was talking about, though Nana was being pretty vague.

"You know, the… thing. From the trip." Nana wasn't sure what to call it, and didn't want to give anything away if her sister were to say no.

Lala's mind clicked and she remembered the whole point of the trip. "Oh no, I haven't yet, but now is as good a time as any. Rito, I have something to show you from the trip."

Nana decided to excuse herself while this happened, even though they were still in her room.

"I'll just be downstairs."

They watched her leave silently. When she had gone downstairs, Lala turned back to Rito and pulled a small box from her pocket.

"While Nana and I were gone, I decided to invent something that you might like."

Lala opened the box and pulled out a small box no bigger than a quarter, but definitely thicker. It's design looked barren, save for a small piece in the middle which looked like a light.

"What is it, Lala?" Rito asked curiously. It didn't look like her other inventions, which were usually personified in some way, plus her trademark swirl symbol. This had neither, and it was much smaller than her other inventions.

"Well it's… just put it on and you'll find out, Rito." Lala told him.

"Put it on?" Rito didn't see anything on the device that indicated it was something to be worn. Turning it over, he saw only a small hole, but that was it.

"Oh yeah, I need to put in the anchor. Oh… the anchor…" Lala seemed to realize something, and a weird look appeared on her face, a mixture of realization and something along the lines of "oops". Needless to say, it in no way looked promising.

"What about it, Lala?"

Lala seemed unsure whether to continue talking or not. "Well, the design of the invention requires an anchor in order to stay on the body of the person who wears it. Otherwise there is no way for the device to stay connected."

"So?"

"Well, um… the thing about the anchor is that it needs to be, um, injected into the body for maximum efficiency." Lala seemed to wince as the words left her mouth. Maybe he wouldn't react as bad as she thought he would.

"WHAT?"

Incorrect. Darn.

"It's the only way, Rito!"

"You know how your inventions usually turn out, right? And you want to inject this one into my body!?" Rito recalled the countless inventions that exploded or otherwise put him and others at risk, and those weren't even inside his body.

"There are no explosive parts in this one though!" Lala tried in vain to reassure Rito, but also said quietly, "Not on the inside at least…"

"What was that?" Rito said, knowing full well what she said.

"Please Rito. Just try." Lala began pleading. She didn't want to have to reveal the real reason she invented it, but she may have to.

Rito sighed and tried to calm himself. "Where does the anchor go, Lala?"

Lala cautiously turned herself around to show him and pointed to the back of her neck.

"Umm… right here."

"Oh so pretty much one of the riskiest spots! Wonderful." Rito's attempts to calm himself were becoming reversed.

"That's where it needs to be in order for it to have full access to your body, Rito. Please trust me on this one. I just need you to sit still so I can inject the anchor and the main device will take it from there." Lala put on her best puppy dog face, the same she had used countless times, some on accident and some on purpose.

This time, however, it did not have the desired effect. Rito remained firm.

"I don't know Lala. I don't really want to inject some unknown device into my body when I don't even know completely what it is or what it does."

Before Lala could reply, another voice shook the whole house.

"HE WHAT?!"

Thunderous footsteps made their way upstairs and a fuming Nana bolted into the room. She immediately put Rito into her other signature move, the chokehold.

"I go downstairs and talk to Mikan and she tells me that you were doing perverted things to Momo yesterday!" Nana tightened her hold on Rito. Mikan, who had tried her best to keep up with Nana's speed, appeared in the doorway. Momo, who had been hiding in her room, having finished her conversation with Mea outside and totally not listening to the entire conversation between Lala and Rito, also came out and entered the room.

Mikan began yelling to Nana, "That's not what I said at all! I said that I walked into Rito's room and Momo was on top of him!"

Nana angrily turned to Momo, inadvertently tightening her hold on Rito even more. Rito was barely conscious at this point.

"Is that true, Momo? Was it you who did it?"

Momo winked and flashed her "lover" sign with her hand.

Nana grunted and let Rito out of her hold, the latter of whom immediately gasped for air.

"Let this be a warning, beast." Nana said threateningly.

"Yeah… I got it." Rito said in a hoarse voice, still breathing deeply. He then suddenly laid back, deciding to just stay there for a while. Everyone funneled back downstairs and resumed what they were doing. Lala, however stayed behind with Rito.

"Are you okay, Rito?" Lala asked him.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He replied. They both sat in silence for a while, even though they were still in Nana's room. After a while he spoke up again.

"Go ahead and do it, Lala."

"Hmm? Do what?" She seemed to have already partly forgotten about their prior conversation.

"Inject the… thing. Whatever it was."

"But I thought you didn't-"

"Just do it. I just really hope you know what you're doing, Lala." He said softly.

Lala smiled. "Of course Rito. Let me grab the injector out of my room."

While she was gone, he took the time to inspect the device even more. Upon closer inspection, he saw two small switches on the side of the device that he decided he had better not touch lest this invention end up like the rest. He waited in silence for Lala to return.

"I got it, Rito. Just sit still, and it will only sting for a second."

Rito said nothing, and waited for the sting. When Lala put the injector to his neck and pulled the trigger, he winced from the sting of the needle, but remained still as he had been asked.

"It's done Rito. Thank you for trusting me." She smiled at him warmly.

"Of course I trust you, Lala. You're very important to me." the words seemed to pour out of his mouth. Even he didn't quite realize what he said until he had said it. Lala's eyes slightly widened at this, before they began to tear up and she pulled him into a tight hug.

"I love you Rito." After those four words, Lala pulled back and kissed Rito on the cheek, as she had done once before. Now it was Rito's eyes who went wide, and he was speechless as Lala walked out of the room. Still stunned, he sat for a while before getting up and going downstairs.

Momo, the master eavesdropper, had been watching in silence from outside.

"Onee-sama…"

She decided to come out of hiding once again and followed Rito downstairs.

A/N: Oh boy! I originally had more planned for this chapter but it ran long so I decided to hold off until the next chapter. I apologize once again if I took too long to update, but it shouldn't happen again. As always reviews are welcome and thanks for reading!