A/N: I've become the very thing I hate most.
I know it's been a while, and I apologize for the inactivity. Not long after the last chapter was posted there were some… difficulties, and it came time to move house. The move resulted in not having internet in the house for a much longer time than expected. Hopefully everything is clear now, and I can continue writing again. Thank you for waiting and (hopefully) not giving up on this fic. As always, I'm extremely thankful for all the follows, favs, and reviews.
"Hey Rito-san!"
Momo called from inside to Rito, who was back in the backyard watering the plants.
"Hmm? What is it Momo?"
"Do you want to walk with me to the store soon?" Momo asked.
"Uh… why that all of a sudden?" Rito didn't think Momo had ever asked him to accompany her somewhere before. Aside from the time he dubbed the "P.E. Storage Shed Incident", but that was different.
"No reason. I just wanted someone to walk with. Plus you can buy anything that you need while we're there. So will you?"
Rito wasn't about to say no anyway, so he says "Sure, I'll go get ready."
"Alright!" Momo smiled happily, walking upstairs to her room to get ready herself.
'Phase 1 is a go' Momo thought to herself. If Mea was correct…
(Earlier that day)
Momo remembered what she had decided earlier and quickly ran outside.
"Hey Mea-san!" Momo called out.
Mea turned to Momo. "Yes Momo-chan?"
"Have you seen Nemesis recently?"
Mea seemed a bit confused, given the person asking.
"Neme-chan? Why do you need her?" Mea inquired, wondering why Momo of all people would be asking for Nemesis.
"Oh, no reason, I just wanted to talk to her." Of all the experience she had with this type of thing, she couldn't think of any reason for purposefully seeking out Nemesis.
"Is this about the Harem Plan?" Mea eyes narrowed and a sly smile appeared on her face.
"Well, it's just-" Momo started, but before she could finish, the end of Mea's braid suddenly zipped around behind Momo and connected it to the back of her head, and disconnected just as fast.
"Cheater." Momo mumbled.
Mea smiled a genuine smile this time. "So that's how it is." Mea was astounded that Momo would actually go to Nemesis for help, with the Harem Plan no less.
"Not a word. This is for the harem" Momo said glaring at Mea. It was bad enough admitting it to herself, but now Mea knew of her plight as well.
"It can't be helped. Neme-chan is good at this in her own way." Mea said, knowing that the revelation was probably killing Momo.
"That's the reason I'm going to her." Momo said quietly to herself.
"What was that?" Mea asked teasingly, leaning forward with a grin on her face..
"Nothing!" Momo was now getting frustrated. "Do you know how to find her or not?"
Mea sighed. "That's the Momo-chan I know and love." She said giggling.
Momo paused. 'I guess I fell for her trick.' She thought. 'Manipulation is my job!'
Mea spoke again. "Anyway, I don't know where Neme-chan is, but you may be able to find her better than I can." Mea said mysteriously. "From what I hear Neme-chan is quite interested in you and Rito-senpai."
Something in Momo's head clicked. "You're right. Thanks Mea-san."
Mea smiled. "No problem, Momo-chan."
"Mea? Did you need something?" Nana suddenly walked outside. "Momo? What were you guys doing out here?"
"Nothing, Nana-chan, nothing. I was just leaving." Mea began walking the path to the front yard. Before she exited from sight, however, she turned her head to face Momo. She smiled warmly, and her eyes closed for a second. "I hope it goes well, Momo-chan." With that, she continued her walk and left.
Nana, with a puzzled expression on her face, turned to her twin.
"Odd. What was that about, Momo. Momo?" Momo wasn't paying attention. Instead she was watching the spot where Mea had exited.
'That Mea-san…' She thought to herself.
(Present)
'So me and Rito-san together might be enough to draw Nemesis out.' Momo actually thought this was a good plan, since Nemesis always had a tendency to show up when they were together. Even if it didn't work, she still would enjoy the time she would get to spend with Rito.
As Momo pulled on her shirt and began walking back out of her room, Nana walked in and blocked her path, arms crossed with a stern look on her face.
"I heard you outside. What are you planning on doing?" Nana spoke flatly.
Momo exhaled loudly. She thought she was alone when she asked Rito to accompany her. She put a sweet smile on her face and said "Why nothing, Nana. And I just need a couple things from the store."
Nana was not satisfied. "And why invite him?"
"I just wanted someone to walk with me, that's all." Momo did not waver.
Nana realized that this conversation would only go in circles. "Then how about I go with you too?"
Momo immediately called this as out of the question in her mind. She was going to be talking to Nemesis directly about the Harem, and she didn't need another person to distra- keep it from. Plus, if Nana was with them, Nemesis may not show herself in the first place.
Knowing that she couldn't outright decline Nana's "offer", she tried a different approach.
"My, Nana. Do you want to spend time with Rito-san that much?" Momo cocked her head and grinned at Nana. "Maybe I should stay behind and you two can-"
"I would never try and be alone with that beast!" Nana activated her self-defense mechanism and left the room in a hurry, playing right into Momo's expectations.
'Too easy.' Momo thought. Sometimes she was too great at this for her own good.
Not.
She hurried downstairs and found Rito already near the door, waiting.
"Are you ready to go, Rito-san?"
Rito turned to her, startled, having been messing around on his phone while waiting.
"Oh, yeah I am."
"Hmm, maybe I'll take these, too."
Mea was inspecting a bag of chocolates before adding them to her basket. She was currently shopping at her favorite supermarket, "Super Vegeta". After checking out, she began walking back home when she noticed a familiar figure sitting at a dango stand, petting the same cat that she had scared off not long ago. Mea walked up to her.
"Neme-chan?"
"Hmm?" Nemesis looked up, wondering who had said her name. "Ah, Mea. What brings you here?"
"Just doing some shopping." Mea replied. She felt something in the back of her mind, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Then it clicked.
"Hey, Neme-chan, I just remembered. Momo-chan was looking for you earlier."
"Momo-hime?" This was the furthest thing from correct that Nemesis could imagine. In this case, at least. 'Why could she possibly be looking for me…?'
"Neme-chan?" Mea tried to gain Nemesis' attention. Nemesis wasn't often perplexed to the point of spacing out like this, but this situation was downright weird.
"Thank you for letting me know, Mea. I'll be going now." And with that, Nemesis walked briskly down the sidewalk, still clutching her food in her hands.
Having taken to the rooftops after getting out of sight, Nemesis neared the Yuuki house while still thinking about the odd situation. 'Momo-hime seeking me out? Whatever cou-'. Nemesis stopped mid-thought at the sight of Rito and Momo themselves walking down the street.
'Hmm…' She thought. 'For Momo-hime to openly ask for me, and then to walk about with that Rito…'. Something wasn't right about it. Maybe she wanted her to show herself? 'I think I'll follow them and see where they go.' Surprisingly enough, the two only went to the local 7-Twelve, and began walking back towards home. At one point, however, Momo happened to look up to the rooftops and thought she saw a dark shadow disappearing into thin air. 'Trick of the light, maybe?' Momo thought to herself. On the rooftop, a black cat sat below the ledge of the rooftop. 'Have to be more careful about that…' Nemesis thought to herself.
Momo had almost completely lost hope in the plan that seemed to have such a high chance of success, but there was no mistaking the figure she had seen, on the rooftops, nonetheless, Nemesis' domain. 'Does she know what I'm trying to do?'
After getting back home, Rito and Momo parted ways, the latter heading for her room. Rito, however, headed for the kitchen. It was beginning to get dark by now, and he wanted to see if Mikan needed any help with dinner. Instead, he found the sight of not only Mikan, but Yami also working at the counter.
"Y- Yami! H- Hi!" He was caught off guard at her being here, as he usually was, and was not completely over her confession during the incident with Kuro.
"H- Hello, Yuuki Rito." she said, slightly blushing. She was obviously not completely over it, either.
Mikan tried to find a way to break the tension. "Er… What did you need, Rito?"
Rito responded quickly, perhaps a little too quickly. "Oh I just came to see if you needed a hand with dinner but I see you already have help so I'll just-"
"Actually, Rito, I could use some help." She replied, cutting him off. "Could you chop the carrots for me?"
"Um, sure." Rito told her, and proceeded to the counter quietly, working right next to Yami.
The next few minutes passed in an uneasy silence, aside from the few requests or directions from Mikan. After what seemed like an eternity to Rito, Mikan tapped his shoulder and said "That's all for now. Thanks for the help."
"No problem." He replied, and thankfully began walking out of the kitchen, and away from Mikan who seemed to be thinking about something. Before Rito could make his way out of the doorway, Mikan called to him.
"Hey Rito!" He turned around, but didn't say anything. "Yami-san will be spending the night tonight. Just wanted to let you know. This is to make up for missing our taiyaki hangout." Mikan added that last part with a slight raised eyebrow. Yami turned her head slightly toward them, only for a moment, before returning to her current action: stirring the miso soup that was tonight's main course, minus the taiyaki this time.
Rito turned red again, partly from the idea of Yami sleeping over and another part from remembering the reason Mikan missed her plans with Yami in the first place, but managed to keep an otherwise non-flustered reaction, and simply said "Ok" before continuing out of the kitchen.
Unfortunately, keeping such a thing from appearing on the outside results in a surplus on the inside, and Rito's mind was flooded with the implications of yet another "Yami sleepover".
'At least the soup didn't have taiyaki in it this time' Rito picked up on this fact as well. Not that it was really that easy to forget.
As he was heading down the upstairs hallway, Lala materialized in the portal to her room. Unluckily for Rito, he had been right in front of the portal when she appeared and, having both been caught off guard, they tumbled to the ground with Rito's head buried in Lala's chest.
"L- Lala! I Um…" The redness had already set in, as had the stuttering. Rito quickly scrambled to get up, but in his haste fell backwards on accident
Lala simply laughed and began getting up as well. "That's twice today Rito."
Rito was still recovering. "I- It's not on purpose. I just…"
"You don't have to explain it to me." She said, smiling at him. She grabbed his hand and helped him up.
"Thanks."
A few moments passed with them standing there until Lala broke the silence.
"So how does your neck feel now, Rito? Does that spot still hurt?" She asked in a concerned tone.
He reached up behind his head and felt the small bump on the back of his neck. It was bigger than a normal bump after a shot, but not so much as to bother him.
"It feels a lot better, and it doesn't really hurt anymore. That bump will go away, right?" He asked.
"Hmm…" She thought for a moment. "It should go away eventually as long as the anchor settles correctly. It may gravitate a little lower on your spine. But that might actually be a good thing, since the device itself will be easier to conceal. Maybe let me know if it doesn't, though?"
He smiled at her, slightly relieved. "Will do. I'm going to head to my room for a while, but I'll see you at dinner."
She smiled sweetly back. "Ok, Rito." And with that, Rito continued his walk to his room.
In her room, Momo was literally back to the drawing board, the same position she had been in this morning, except now with the added stress of including Nemesis into the equation.
"Why do I need her to rope in Mikan anyway!?" Momo said a little too loudly to no one in particular. "I've gotten this far.."
Someone had indeed heard however, and decided to jump in.
"Because she will be a very tough one to crack."
Momo jumped as she was startled by another voice, and turned toward her computer desk to see Nemesis lounging in the chair.
"How did you get in here?" Momo asked in her commanding voice.
"You don't exactly have a door to this area, do you?" Nemesis replied, unphased.
Momo looked out her open door and into the "living room" of their quarters, and at the portal that gave access to and from the main house. She gave out a grunt of affirmation.
"So this is what you were seeking me out for?" Nemesis inquired, now standing in front of Momo's planning board.
"Yes…" Momo muttered quietly, not quite ready for the gloating words that would inevitably come out of Nemesis' mouth.
"So, Momo-hime, you're finally ready to admit you're not as good at this as you think?"
There it was.
"And that you need my help after the strides that I took not a few days ago?"
Seriously…
Momo simply glared. "Are you done?"
"We'll see." Nemesis replied with a smirk
Momo sighed. "Yes, I need your help. And yes you did make a big addition to the Plan a few days ago. So much so that it even caused me to confess to Rito-san. But you obviously knew that already, given your intrusion and your explanation of your 'true' plans. But it's like I told you: the Plan will not go away, and I will become Rito-san's best girl."
'That's all I needed to hear' Nemesis thought to herself. "Very well then, Momo-hime. I'll help the real you."
Momo was on a roll. "And don't think that you're taking the reins now either. Even if I've asked for your help, I won't submit to you."
Nemesis had to hold back a smirk. "I see. Lead the way then, princess."
Momo also had to hold back a death glare, and instead began briefing Nemesis on her most recently conceived plan.
"Rito! Dinner is ready!" Mikan called up the stairs, prompting Rito to start going down. Dinner passed by uneventful, aside from some uncomfortable banter about how it was once again mating season in the cyber safari that nearly resulted in both Yami and Nana going off on Rito, who had been trying to stay out of the conversation.
After thanking Mikan for the food, Rito went up to his room to grab a change of clothes and then made his way to the bathroom for a shower. However, when he (gently) opened the door, he was met with a sight he was not expecting.
He had walked in on Yami changing. Again. With her arms raised over her head he had a clear view of her bare chest. Despite her breast size, Rito knew already that she could transform them to different sizes. This did not distract him enough to stop him turning an impossibly bright shade of red as he quickly looked away, but the damage had been done. They both stood stunned for a second, before Yami lowered her head, causing her hair to obscure her eyes, and the rest of her hair transformed into her signature blades.
As Rito began his stream of panicked excuses, Yami made no effort to attack Rito, but instead stood for a moment, unmoving, before raising her head again and returning the blades to her normal hair. All the while Rito was on his knees practically begging her not to hurt him. Yami turned a small lock of hair into a hand and covered his mouth, stunning Rito into silence. She transformed more of her hair into a bigger hand and pushed him out the door, while saying: "Wait outside, but don't leave." Rito simply nodded his head, before Yami moved the hand away from his mouth and used it to close the bathroom door.
After she finished changing she opened the door and began walking down the hallway. Halfway through, she turned her head back to Rito.
"Follow me."