Disclaimer: Disclaimed all ownership of To Love Ru

I am, truthfully, not sorry about how this chapter ends. Hate me, love me, leave a review for me...

There's a purpose for all my madness!

Four Months Ago

Haruna moves her hair out of her face, once again, having forgotten her hair clip in her locker between classes. She sighs, as she eats her lunch under the lone tree she found shade under, as she watches the other kids in Shurufuku High bunch together in their cliques and clubs. She hadn't successfully made a friend, yet, and everyone who learned she came from Sainan, acted like stuck up snobs and rich socialites when they heard she came from the backwater town known for its troublesome nature. So, she ate lunch alone and in silence, as her days passed by with little to no excitement in them.

At least back in Sainan she had friends who weren't that strange, and even Saki who was a rich girl, acted half as snobbish as the kids around here. Suddenly, she found a shadow over her head, and she looks up to see herself blinded by the sun, as an object suddenly impacts in front of her. Dust fly's up into her lunch, clods of earth and grass splatter against her white t-shirt, and Haruna screams out in shock and surprise. When the dust settles she finds a small looking ball, that reads ~7kg. She recognizes the offending instrument, as the school track teams shot put.

"Look out!" a mascular voice calls out, and Haruna looks up to see another shadowy form stand in front of her, her view blinded by the sun once more, "Haruna Sairenji?" When she blinks, and her eyes adjust to the light, she sees the familiar face of Ren Elsie Jewleria, the Memorzean Prince, who Haruna thought still went to Sainan High. "Wow, how odd to see you out here, I knew Ren was gloating about your mysterious disappearance, but to find you going to Shurufuku High?" Ren says, smiling, "Small world, isn't it; it's probably great to see another friendly face, I bet?" Haruna nods, as she just stares at the boy in his gym clothes. She sees he's dressed in a loose, sleeveless t-shirt, glistening with sweat, on a cold winters day. She partly wonders why he is dressed down so casually, as she figures that any sane person would be wearing something resembling winter clothing. He looks and realizes she was staring, before giving her an awkward smile.

"Sorry, I guess when I used the shot put, I put a little bit too much of my manly strength in it," Ren replies, bending down to retrieve the object embedded in the ground, "Earth's gravity is so much lighter, compared to Memoraze, I forget my own strength some time-" Ren stops as he begins to stand back up, realizing that Haruna's lunch was tossed to the ground, half covered by mud and grass, and Ren realized, so was Haruna. "Oh no, did I ruin your school uniform, and your lunch?" Ren was genuinely embarrassed at that, before picking off a stray clod of grass and dirt off of Haruna's shoulder, "Let's get you to the nurse, and get you a new set of clothes; I'll even by you some Pan to replace your lunch, because I think regular lunch time is over..." Haruna merely blushes, as she realizes that Ren is really close, and really, really hot. She moves her hand to his head, and realizes that he was incredibly warm, and clearly with fever.

"Ren, why are you out here in gym shorts and a t-shirt, playing around with a shot-put when it's clearly nine degrees Celsius out here?" Haruna states, grabbing the boy by the arm, "We're both going to the nurse, and you're getting changed into something warmer that those shorts and that ridiculous gym shirt!" Ren tries to pull away, but finds himself unable to do so, sighing as she pulls him along. When they make it to the nurses office, she manages to find some spare clothes in her size, stating she can wash them and return them as soon as she can, and has the Memorzean get into the bed so the Nurse could take his temperature. He obliged, grudgingly, but she found that his temperature was only a few degrees above normal, something the alien boy insisted was normal for him.

"I'm fine, Sairenji, Memorzean's are naturally cold-blooded, but just barely compared to a human," he states in his defense, "It's a desert planet, jsut becasue it's a little bit colder here in the winter, doesn't mean I'll get a c-c-ACHOO!" Suddenly caught sniffling, Haruna raises an eyebrow and hands him a box of tissues. "F-fine-" he states, "I may have woken up with a little bit of a fever, but when they wanted us to get ready for gym, I just felt so hot in sweatpants and the long-sleeved shirt, so I had to switch to my shorts and that t-shirt!" Haruna merely sighs, before shaking her head at the Memorzean.

"Besides that, what are you even doing here?" Haruna asks, and the Memorzean turns to her with a look of confusion, "Shouldn't you and Run be finishing up your courses at Sainan High, with Lala-hime and Rito-san?" Ren merely sniffles, before going for another tissue and blowing his runny nose.

"I'm afraid I transferred into this school alone, two months ago, we just hadn't come across each other yet, I suppose," Ren states, "Run didn't even notice me leave, and I doubt she cared between her idol lifestyle and sole fascination with stealing Rito from Lala!" Haruna cocked her head at that, but let the boy continue on his rant at his sister. "That harpy can't sing a tune into a bucket at home, people just ogle her body, let me tell you!" he states, "She only became famous,, cause she hoped to attract Rito, and ever since we split, all she ever has done was ignore me when I'm at home, gush over what Rito did to her that day, or complain how some creepy fan stalked out her and Kyouko!" The Memorzean was red in the face, his anger flaring up, and Haruna quickly realized he was becoming delirious from his cold.

Suddenly Ren found a cool washcloth on his forehead, as Haruna quickly pushed him back down onto the bed, as gently as she could. She sighed as Ren tried to struggle, but a flick to his forehead stilled the anxious child. "You need to rest, Ren," Haruna states, "I'll come back to check in between classes, but you're acting up because of your head cold..." Ren sighs, but settles down as Haruna starts to leave.

"I did mean it though, about Run not even noticing that I left," he calls out, "I told her I wanted to get away from Lala, because she made her choice clear to me over the summer... my own sister just shrugged me off, and hasn't called me once since I moved here..." Haruna looks back, surprised at this last little outburst from Ren, and she smiles sadly at him in return.

"You know what, Ren, I think moving out from under your sister's shadow is a good thing," she says, pausing at the door, "You've always been a strong character, you have a good heart, and you always made your intentions clear, unlike Run; I think once she realizes you've become independent of her, she might just treat you with the respect you deserve!" Ren smiles a little bit at that, and he closes his eyes as Haruna walks out the door. Her cheeks are tinged pink, at saying something so bold about one of her former friends, but she smiles a bit. It had felt good, maybe she could talk with Ren a bit more, in the future.

Present Day

"So, after that, we slowly began to open up to each other," Haruna says, sitting next to Rito on his bed, "After a while, he began to tell me about his life on Memorze, his time with Lala, how his sister liked to sleep with cucumbers and a facial mask every night before a big gig, and I slowly told him about how lonely I was, how you hadn't even called me once, or made any move to visit me." She sighs, as she twirls a stray lock of hair from her head. "Now that I realize Momo never told you about me, it's a little bit more assuring to know you didn't forget about me," Haruna states, "But, then I started making friends with Ren, then some of the people he knew that weren't all rich or stuck up, and we found we had a lot in common between our lost love; eventually he and I just clicked, and he asked me to the school dance just last week, which is why I was shopping for a dress when I came across Yami-chan..."

Rito sighs, realizing with a happy smile that he had inadvertently pushed Haruna away, and into the arms of his once self proclaimed rival for Lala's affections. Perhaps it was just Rito's luck that he lost the girl of his dreams to the man who wanted nothing more than to prove he had more testosterone than a male bull. But Ren sounded like he had changed, and more than just in his affections for Lala, and this was enough to satisfy his curiosity. Truthfully, he hadn't even noticed Ren's absence, but then again he seemed to have become less and less important in Rito's wacky life, as Run trued to push herself more and more into Rito's field of vision. He would have to make it up to Ren, somehow, for making Haruna happy, but for now Rito realized he needed to make up his priorities.

"So, are you going after Momo?" Haruna asked, as if reading his mind, "She'll be hurt, and angry, but I think she'll eventually understand." Rito sighs, and nods, but shakes his head in response.

"No, I think you're right, I need to let Momo cool down," Rito says, "She's- she'll need time, Momo isn't one to take this lightly..." Rito sighs and puts a hand through his hair. "I've always tried to put her off, and she never took no for an answer," Rito continues, "I think I'll have to cool down, when I get a chance to talk to her." Haruna smiles sympathetically at him, putting her hand to his shoulder.

"Tell me, is Yami-chan still around here?" Rito asks Haruna, changing the subject, "I think I'll try and tell her about all that's going on with me and Lala first, then I'll deal with Momo." Haruna nods, and follows Rito out of his room, as they travel down the stairs to the living room. He could hear yelling as they descended, and Rito was surprised to see a flustered Kotegawa, a sheepish Lala, a starry eyed Saruyama, a confused looking boy who Rito couldn't place, and a neutral looking Yami, standing or sitting around the living room.
"Rito!" Yui yells, upon seeing Rito walking down with Haruna, "What was that light, did you blow up again, what shameless thing were you doing with Sairenji in your room?" Yui shouts all of this at Rito, before pausing and turning to see Haruna. "Haruna-chan?" She states confused, "I thought you were supposed to have moved to Shurufuku?" She doesn't wait for an answer, though, as she whirls on Rito again. "And you, why did Momo suddenly rush out of the door as we were coming up?" She asks, "She looked like she just had her heart broken, by some perverted act you caused, no doubt!" Rito sucks in a breath through his teeth, and Yui suddenly opens her eyes at this. Haruna puts and arm on Rito's shoulder, but he brushes it off with a smile.
"Yeah, it was because of me, Yui," Rito states, gripping his hand just a little too tightly, "But I'm going to make it right, just... not now." Yui softens up, realizing she had pushed him just a bit to hard after seeing Haruna's wary gaze. "I think before I try, I need to speak to Yami," Rito states, looking in Yami's direction, before turning to the other's in the room, "Alone, if you please?" They look around at each other, Lala, Yui, and Saruyama, while Yami and the unknown kid start whispering to each other. Before Rito, or anyone, questions what was going on, Yami leans in and kisses the other man on the cheek, causing the young man to blush across his entire face.

"I'll be fine, Kuro," she states loud enough for the others to hear, "Join Lala-hime and the others in the Kitchen and help make dinner; Mikan will probably too shocked to make anything with everything that's happened tonight." Still blushing furiously, Rito watches this 'Kuro' character follow the others into the kitchen. Once they were gone, Yami turns to Rito with a quirked brow. "If you must speak to me alone, please be aware that you are still my target, Rito Yuuki, and I will not hesitate to retaliate if you try anything perverted," she states, and Rito just looks at her like she is crazy, "Don't give me that look, Rito Yuuki, your emotional imbalance causes heightened responses of unintentional, unwarranted, and frankly perverted, bodily contact." Rito merely closes his eyes at that, knowing that she was all too right.

Keeping his hands to himself, and slightly stepping back from Yami to give her distance, Rito clears his throat to begin speaking to her. "Yami-chan, I know that I am currently your 'target', but I wanted to inform you that I have been made aware of some 'issues' that I need to resolve, regarding myself and Lala," he begins, "As Lala is currently my Fiancee, I have been requested to inform all, potential, love interests of a requirement asked by King Gid." He coughs, trying ot cover up his nerves and the thoughts of Yami flaying him with her hair turned into swords, he finds his voice again. "I've been asked to break off all contact viewed in a romantic variety, and inform these women that it would be best for them to renounce their love for me, and reject any intentions they previously had towards me," he states, "As Devilukean rule permits, and under Gid's decree, any women who does not reject me can contend for Lala's position and life, and facing the consequences of loss, possible death or exile from all of Deviluke territory, to the Milky Way Galaxy itself." Yami nods at this, and Rito gulps.

"So far I've managed to dissuade anyone from contesting their love for me, except as you now know, Momo," Rito states, looking down at his feet, "I want you, please, to consider this a rejection of my feelings, as Lala's fiance, and if asked by King Gid, please provide testimony of your rejection of any feelings of love towards me!" Getting on his hands and knees, as if begging for his life, he waits for the blade to drop. When he peeks up out of one of his closed eyes, he finds Yami comfortably sitting down, crossing her legs and obscuring any indecent views from his position. He sighs and stands up, happy that she hadn't cut him to ribbons yet, but unable to tell by the look of her face what she was thinking.

"Yuuki Rito, I would like to thank you for being honest with me, and for being honest with the other girls, too," Yami begins, and Rito looks to her as she speaks, "I have known from the first time I met you, and the fact that you offered me taiyaki, that you were a kind, gentle and generous boy; I will gladly provide testimony on your behalf, as my feelings for you have grown beyond infatuation." Rito smiles a bit at the happy memory, and feels a little bit better at Yami's praise and acceptance of the situation. "I also am aware from constant surveillance of your actions and attitude, as well as being a victim of your accidental perverse tendencies, that you are not being very true to yourself," she continues, and Rito's face falls, "If King Gid decreed that you were to marry Lala, would it not be out of mere duty that you do so?" Rito looks up at her, his face puzzled.

"Yami-chan, what are you saying?" he asks. The living weapon merely closes her eyes and puts her hands together in her lap. Rito doesn't know what she is doing, but then she begins to speak again.

"Yuuki Rito, you have been a constant companion to Lala Satalin Deviluke since the day I came to Earth, and the weeks prior to that," Yami replies, "In that time, it was only last year that you truly realized your feelings for both Haruna and Lala, in the months following that revelation, you were proven to still be indecisive and flaky in your conviction at best." Rito feels like he can't sink into the ground any lower, so he opts to take a seat on the nearest chair and will some alien to assassinate him. "Now, seven months ago you started into a long, spiraling depression regarding the mysterious absence of Haruna Sairenji, a woman you profess to have loved since Middle School, even if the feelings hadn't been returned until recently," Yami continues, "Now, you have been forced into a situation by the King of Deviluke, a man whose tested your seriousness towards Lala by threatening your home, your planet before, and it seems he is employing such tactics again, if not to satisfy his own selfish needs, then to supply his eldest daughter with the happiness he believes she deserves..."

Rito doesn't really know where the Living Weapon is going with this, but he continues to listen. "Rito, what I am trying to say is this, are you sure you truly love Lala?" Rito raises his eyes and sees Yami's leveled gaze towards him, "You're trying to make everyone happy, you're trying to please a King who could destroy your planet with his bare hands, you are trying to become a man worthy of Lala's seemingly boundless love..." Yami teeters off, sighing and looking into her hands as she does so. "Did you ever think you've convinced yourself you'd be happy, by making the wrong choices in life?" Yami states, "Lala originally suggested that you and Haruna could become happy by becoming King of Deviluke and allowing a polygamous marriage, Momo merely tried to expand it by adding in all the girls she thought you would be happy with, even if you professed to hate the idea..." Rito's heart is beating hast, anxiety starting to bubble in the pit of his stomach as he hears her words.

"Do you really think you'll be happy by doing what others say is best for your happiness?" Yami asks, "Did you ever wonder, despite your selfless and often martyr-like tendencies, that maybe you would be happier giving in, to your perverted nature, to the fact you really want Haruna, Lala, Momo, Nana, Me, and who knows who else-" At that Rito can't take it anymore, and he slams his fist onto the nearest object he could.

"I don't want that!" Rito yells, his fist shattering wood under impact due to his enhanced strength, "I've been called a pervert, a delinquent, and a weakling for far too long!" Rito stands, and pushes back his chair in the process. "Lala was a misunderstanding, she was a bothersome problem that wouldn't go away, sure, maybe because I once loved Haruna, but the frickin' world wouldn't ever let me get near the one- read it one- girl I had truly loved because she had defended my reputation!" Rito points a finger in a very angry gesture, "I tried confessing to Haruna for years, and then Lala shows up and throws herself all over me."

He runs his hand through his hair, and tries not to stress out too much. "and at first, I hated it, I didn't understand what she saw in the perverted loser, who couldn't even stop himself from accidentally groping girls and women in front of her," he states, belittling himself, "Not to mention- not to mention- her Chibi-father, who personally held that fact that he was King of the goddamn universe over my head, constantly reminding me he wanted nothing more than to steamroll earth into space dust, because his renegade daughter fell in love with a [B]weak loser!" Rito doesn't realize it, but the air around him is beginning to darken.

"Then, you show up, threaten me every day of my goddamn life, because I happen to see your panties, because I can't control the wind from flipping your, frankly, too short skirt up," he states, turning around away from Yami, "Then every day of my life following, somehow one of Lala's suitors, or other bounty hunters, show up and mess up the town, aim to kill me, or plan to kidnap Lala, my sister, you, in some generally outlandish and ridiculous way, that probably is normal in outer space, and I'm the one who ends up getting beat up day in and day out by my 'so called friends'." Rito is positively fuming as he speaks, and Yami waits patiently, her face neutral. "Then, not only does Gid want me to prove my worth to him, either by winning or forfeiting the Earth, I manage to win and prove myself worthy of the one woman who truly seems to have begun to understand me, only to be forced into an impromptu marriage at too young an age," he fumes, "I then get the most caring, inventive, most loving girl, wanting to woo me the way I wooed her, and she not only manages to screw up wiping everyone's memories in an attempt to start over, but manages to show me how far she was willing to go to prove her love for me!"

Lala is crying from the kitchen entryway, as Kuro holds back Nana and her form entering merely choosing to watch and see what the fuss was about. She had heard the negative things, when he blew up in frustration and pent up anger, she had assumed that some of it was her cause. Haruna, too was crying, but she recognized that in between Rito's complaints in his outburst, he was complimenting Lala, showing that even angry he didn't have much to say.

"Then Nana and Momo come into the picture, and they seem so sweet and nice, Lala's perfect younger sisters, who seem to just want to skip their royal duties and hang out with their runaway sister, but- but!" Rito turns, a crazed look in his face, as if laughing at his own joke, "They both begin to show their true natures, Nana is relatively competent, a bit naive about Earth culture, if not a bit prudish and overprotective, but then again they are both supposed to be sheltered princess', spoiled daughters; no, it's Momo, who is my main problem, who's been the instigator of who knows how many misunderstood situations, that frankly just compound onto my innumerous amount of insecurities and sexual frustrations, because she tries to throw me into explicit situations, including not only her, but almost every other girl I know!"

His hand seems to be smoking as he yells, though he pays no mind to it, as he continues on this massive rant. "Did you know, she once tried to hook me up with Mikan, my own sister, because her sexual fantasies are comparable to some NEET's adult visual novel, where fantasies blur with reality," he yells, "I didn't ask for her love, I didn't expect her to throw me a curve ball, stating that she loved me; I've since recognized it for the jealousy it was, she was envious that Lala found love with a simple loser, she just wants to use me, like all the people who want me dead, she just wanted to get in my pants, and in her own twisted way, find the same happiness with me that Lala did!" He puts his arms down, and the dark aura surrounding him seems to drain out of him, his anger seemingly dying.

"I'm just so much done with it, with her bull, she never loved me- Haruna once loved me, but because Momo kept her mouth shut, I never knew she was still interested, and she moved on..." Rito sinks to his knees as he talks, "I still don't get why Lala loves me, I don't see that kind, brave, gentle boy she did all those years ago, all I see is a messed up loser who people want either want to use and throw away, or step all over me and end my life, so they could get with Lala, the sweetest, most innocent, carefree, lovable, loyal, truly kind-" He stops talking, as he feels strong arms wrap comfortably around him. He feels hands wiping away at the tears staining his face, tears he didn't even know he had, for himself, for Lala.

"It's okay, Rito, it's okay," Lala states, hugging him gently, putting her lips to his neck and kissing him, "I love you, Rito, know that I don't want to lose you, everyone here cares for you, in their own way." Rito is just mute, but he hears the door open, and numbly hears Mikan speak to other people in the house. He doesn't hear specifics, though, because he's focusing on the soothing words that Lala is speaking in his ears. "Shhh, Rito, I don't care what you used to think, I don't care about who you used to love, I meant it when I said I loved you," she states softly, "You've sacrificed your happiness because of my father, you lost your love because of my sister, I'm sorry I can't make it up to you for them, but..." Rito hangs onto her every word, feeling the touch of her skin, like she was lightening the dark emotions he had been feeling with every kiss of her lips. "But I love you, Yuuki Rito, love like ours is true, and I'm sure you've recognized that by now as well," she continues, "Don't worry if you can't express it, because let me show you how much I love you!" She turns him around, grasping both of his hands in hers, and pulls him into a deep, tender kiss.

When Rito opens his eyes, all he sees are the aquamarine pools of joy staring back, sparking from the electric kiss the two just passionately shared in front of onlookers. Feeling happiness and warmth from the kiss, he smiles dumbly and steps away from Lala to look around the room. "Sorry, everyone," he states to the no longer empty room, featuring Mikan, Nana, Kuro, and Yami, "I think I just needed to get everything off my chest; because I sure do feel better now!" Everyone isn't looking at him, though, as they point to Lala's hands. "What?" Rito asks, as he turns back to Lala, "Is there something wrong-" Rito opens his eyes wide, as he sees Lala staring at her hands. Sparking between her fingertips, is the very same energy that Rito gave off, before it begins to dim as Lala stares entranced by the Dark Matter energy. Rito almost recoils in shock, as Lala begins to lick her hand in pleasure, seemingly sucking the energy from her fingertips and gorging on it. Licking her fingers clean, she turns back to Rito, as if coming out of a daze.

"What?" she asks, "It looked so tasty?" Rito merely palms his face at her honesty. This was another strange mystery regarding Rito, it seemed, and he hoped it wasn't going to become a problem.

"Hmmn, could this day get any worse?" Rito asks no one in particular, "First Momo blows up in my face, then I confess my desire to break up with Haruna, and now this?" The others in the room don't know what to say, but Lala hugs him in response. "Yeah, thank you Lala, thank you Yami, for listening to me rant," Rito states, a bit disheartened at blowing up like that, disappointed that he let anger take over his mouth, "I hope you all can overlook what I said, I've just been stressed ever since I learned Gid was practically forcing me into this with Lala, I knew I was going to meet resistance from Momo- I just never thought-" At this Nana crosses her arms and speaks up, causing Rito to stop wallowing in self pity.

"That girl is stubborn like our father, she has a short temper like him too, sometimes worse than me," Nana retaliates, "She's a narcissistic, spoiled princess, and we're both still kids despite our attitudes." She sighs, and puts a hand to her forehead. "She's so thin skinned, she's so like Mom, when she can't take no for an answer; she just tries to force it on the object of her desire, which is why she was so insistent with you, Rito," Nana states, "Growing up on Deviluke we always got what we wanted, Daddy always made sure we got the best, and no one ever told us no; that's the difference between Royalty and Common folk, everything was yes with us, whereas you had to grow up making hard decisions, you learned how to take no for an answer." Lala nods as well, Rito can't help but sadly smile.

"It's ironic, I truly do want her to find happiness, don't get me wrong," he states, "I don't hate her, or anything remotely like that, but she does need to learn." Lala beams and hugs Rito tightly. "It's kind of ironic, really, when you think about all the trouble she caused me too," he states, "If she hadn't pushed me into all those uncomfortable circumstances and situations, I would probably be still passing out every time I managed to stumble upon a naked girl...which, uhm, wasn't very often..." Nana lightly punches him on the shoulder, with a smile.

"Maybe this will be a learning experience, Rito," Lala states, "You taught me a lot about Earth customs and ideas, maybe she can learn from your rejection the same way she taught you to become bolder." Rito nods, hoping that the youngest Deviluke sister could do that much.

Meanwhile

'Rito,' Momo thought, as she fought the encroaching darkness at the field of her vision, 'Help me!' She feels yet another kick to her ribs, as one of the two men assaulting her attacks again. 'Lala, Celine,' she thinks, struggling to think through her clouding thoughts, 'Mikan, Nana-' She tries to look over at the third man, the one who had tried to save her. He looked so beaten, and bloody, his eye was probably going to be black and swollen when he woke up, but the damage he inflicted on her two attackers had been evident as well. Suddenly the two men dropped like rag dolls, and Momo thought she was saved.

The silence was deafening, as the click of heels sounded through the side alley filled with rotten trash and piled high garbage cans, flats of cardboard heaped all around as well. "Well, that boy put up a valiant effort for you, Momo Belia Deviluke," the crisp voice states, an icy undertone laced to it, "Too bad these two were enhanced by my psychokinesis." The beautifully, cruel form of Azenda the Tyrant, kneels down to hover over Momo's bruised face, smiling viciously as she does so. "You weren't the one I was aiming for, sorry dear," Azenda states clearly, "But, you'll have to do." Grabbing Momo ruffly by the hair, Azenda's cruel laugh echoed through the chill of the night.