Disclaimer: I no own To Love Ru.

Nakajima wasn't one to admit that his friends were right. Over a year ago he may have been a bit obsessive, a bit compulsive, and likely to jump to conclusions, but what teenage boy who loved one of the school's Queen Bees, wouldn't once they learned who she lived with. They called him many things, a Beast, a Lecher, a Perverted Klutz, a Smooth Operator, the Innocent Pervert, the Shameless King, and the Panty Perv. To the rest of the world, he was known as Rito Yuuki, the third year high school student, who had a literal alien princess fawning over him, along with a majority of the third year female students who were the 'top of the crop' when it came to the school. To Nakajima, he was the one obstacle in his goal to attract Momo-sama's attention.

Nakajima was by no means a jock, or one of the most handsome members of the male student body at the school. Sure he was one of the few loners in his school, hardly any friends besides his best friend Sugimura, but he made up for it with his stellar grades and high test scores. Sugimura said he tended to let his imagination run away with him sometimes, especially when it concerned the the man who was considered to be on par with the pervert principal of their school, but Nakajima knew he was just an extremely passionate and loyal follower of Momo Belia Deviluke. He was worried that Rito had somehow tricked one of the sweetest, caring, funny, and most dignified women to ever attend Sainan High in their grade, into falling in love with him.

Over the past seven months, Nakajima's instincts toward tearing Rito apart have lessened, as he came to a realization. For once, Nakajima could understand Momo, and her obviously one-sided love towards the man who girl literally fell for. Once Nakajima had begun to observe the usually kind, somewhat shy, but always friendly side of the man he once called his rival, he noticed that his happiness had begun to plummet. Nakajima wasn't stupid, and he noticed that as time wore on, it began to affect even Rito's most closest of friends and comrades, Momo included. He would see Rito in passing, the older student still a klutz and occasionally falling onto a female student, yet it seemed like the smile he wore hid a pang of sorrow and regret behind it. It was that day that Nakajima noticed the purple haired girl that usually hung around him at odd hours, barring interruption by the head disciplinarian or Lala herself, had been gone for more than a month.

He had noticed that as time passed, Rito seemed to withdraw, not even attempting to talk to Momo as time went by, let alone even make time for his closer friends. He watched in silence, along with the other members of the Momo Venus Fanclub, as Momo went from a bubbling source of light to their lives, to a mere wisp of her former self. The fairy like aura, the untouchable force that kept men from approaching her out of respect, was slowly dimming, until it was like she was just another girl in the eyes of many of the men at school. It was such a day, four months ago, that Nakajima made a very personal decision.

Four Months Ago

The day was bright and sunny, which was very unusual for a crisp fall day. The wind wasn't too cold that day, but the days of winter would be approaching soon, and Nakajima took advantage of the weather to enjoy the sights of the last of the leaves clinging to their branches. He too watched Momo, as she walked from the Yuuki residence towards the high school, walking with her older sister Nana, after they both had woken up fairly late in their morning routine. Not that Nakajima was stalking them, or anything, but it was a precautionary measure for him to make, in case she ever had to walk with that wretched Rito, and he needed to swoop in and heroically save the defenseless princess! Smiling, Nakajima shakes his thoughts from slaying the monstrous Rito he conjured up, and focused back on the task at hand.

He noticed as they approached the school grounds, that Nana had yelled out upon seeing Mea-san cornering some poor schmuck outside the gate. When he took a second glance, he realized that Nana was pulling Mea off of a flustered Rito, and he glances out of the corner of his eye to see Momo's reaction. The change is almost immediate, as Momo visibly brightens up from a semi-sleepy boredom, into unconstrained happiness. Nakajima wished she would look like that whenever he tried talking to her, rather than the way she brushed him and the MVF off. He couldn't hear their conversation, but he watched as Momo chattered away, pulling at Rito's sleeves and trying to pull him along with her, but what he saw changed the way he thought of Rito. He forcibly had to remove her hands from his wrists, before turning around to pick up what looked to be his scattered belongings from his confrontation with Mea-san. He noticed as Rito walked away, Momo's attitude flipped like a switch.

Momo stood at the entrance, her back to the wall as she just stood there. He could tell she must be crying, as she went to wipe what must have been tears from her eyes with her sleeve. His heart almost broke, having to watch her deal with the pain of rejection that Rito gave her. He almost had half a mind to punch Rito in the face, if it wasn't for the fact that Rito obviously had been having a bad week, not acting like his usual self. Nakajima watched as Momo pulled herself back together, checked to see how her makeup looked, then bravely attempt to march inside. Until she slammed straight into one of the other second years Nakajima recognized from one of the other classes. When he saw the man apologize, he started to go inside, until he noticed the kid wasn't letting go of Momo's wrists, even though she was attempting to wriggle away.

That tore it for Nakajima, and for the next few seconds, all he can see is red. Quickly making his way over to Momo and the man assaulting her, he has half a mind to chew the guy out for invading her personal space. Just as he was about to reach Momo, something happened that caused him to rethink that she needed help. Suddenly Momo's tail snakes its way around her back and into the guys side, as she releases a nasty electric shock into the man's stomach. He can't help but feel a bit sorry for the guy, as Momo then breaks free from his grasp and forces him against the wall, with just a little bit too much strength behind it. Hearing the audible crack Momo suddenly lets go in surprise, and Nakajima quickly sets up to see if the guy is alright. He may not like the guy for trying to put the moves on Momo, but he didn't hesitate to make sure he was alive to regret his choice.

"Nakajima?" Momo states out loud, looking around to see if any of her otehr stalkers were around, "Were you watching me?" Nakajima merely chuckles in response, after confirming the worst injury the guy had would be his pride. Thankfully the knock against the wall only caused a scrape in his skin, the sound of the head knocking against the wall was just was just that. He wipes his hands on his knees as he gets up from the ground, bowing slightly to Momo as he does so.

"Not quite, Princess Momo, just a casual observer while coming to school," Nakajima states as cool as he can, hopping she wouldn't notice the lie, "When I saw this creep trying to restrain you, I had to defend your honor, so I was coming to give him a piece of my mind; of course, you already had the pleasure of making him feel the consequences of his actions." He smiles, and Momo looks like she almost doesn't believe his story. She then sighs, and puts a hand to her head in an attempt to get her thoughts straight.

"Whatever Nakajima, fine," she states, "Just, get this guy to Mikado-sensei, and leave me alone..." Nakajima nods, and he goes to get the injured kid to the nurses office. "And Nakajima..." Momo says, causing him to turn back to see Momo's serious expression, "Before you ever think I can't handle myself, try and remember I'm an alien princess with strength far surpassing any normal human; I don't need someone like you trying to fight my battles, and getting in my way..." Nakajima hesitates, curling his free hand into a fist, as he tightly smiles back at the woman who makes his days shine brighter. He bites his tongue, wanting to respond, but knows better than to anger her any further. With her response to his offer of help, it only cemented that what he was about to do today was necessary, not only for Momo, but for everyone involved.

Later That Day

"I'm officially disbanding the Venus Momo Fanclub," Nakajima states to the assembled group of twenty plus students, "Starting today, Momo Belia Deviluke is officially no longer the sole idol of our adoration." The murmuring that started up after stating this rocked through the whole classroom they were meeting in. Nakajima held up his hands to calm everyone, and direct their attention to him. "Today, while following my morning routine, I observed a non-affiliated male attempt to approach our formerly beloved Momo," Nakajima states, the whole room growing into an out roar at hearing that, "Quiet, everyone quiet!" The whole room falls silent as Sugimura stands up, holding a baseball bat in hand and beginning to repeatedly, softly beat the wooden object menacingly into his hand.

"Thank you Sugimura," Nakajima states, before returning his attention to the assembled majority, "As I was saying, a fellow classmate attempted to approach Momo, and as a result he ended up in the Nurses office, with his pride as a man torn to shreds." The others begin to whisper, turning their heads towards each other as they murmured. "He 'accidentally' bumped into Momo at the school entrance, and attempted to restrain her as she walked away from him," Nakajima recounts, "In my own vain attempt to be her knight in shining armor, I proceeded to attempt to set the man straight, only for Momo to have beat me to the punch, quite literally." The others nod, rapt attention towards their de facto leader. "Momo proceeded to use her tail as a weapon, both cunningly and effectively, charging it up with electricity like any other girl would use a tazer, and proceeded to 'taze' him in the side," he states, adjusting his glasses so the light reflected his eyes, "She then pushed him against the wall in retaliation, subconsciously dominating hi in return, and causing a nasty scrape on his forward, but otherwise leaving the poor, unconscious fool unharmed."

The rest of the former VMF mutter among themselves, before Nakajima quiets them once more. "As you are all no doubt aware, ever since the beginning of the school year, Momo's very 'Queenly' presence has slowly diminished over these past, few months; and aura that, to any normal man, would keep them from foolishly coming to close to her," he states, "Now that air, the very barrier that kept her separate from the plebs of our lowly school, has all but vanished, allowing those both bold and foolish enough, to try and approach her." The others are shocked by this, but another scary gleam in Sugimura's eye's quiets them down. "As it appears to not be returning, due to 'external' factors I have become aware of, I have come to a decision," Nakajima announces to the assembled men, "I have decided to dissolve the VMF, the very organization dedicated to keep her separate and pure, because even we in our infinite adoration and non-romantic love for Momo will be tempted by this new phenomena, as Momo has become... a 'Killer Rabbit'."

Crickets could be heard in the classroom, as the others tried to understand just what Nakajima had said. A lone man stands up in the faceless crowd. "Are you saying you're dissolving the club, because we just might have a chance with Momo?" the boy states, "Forget that, I only joined this club because I could be close to Momo, I might as well try and get close to her if I have the chance..." Before anyone could react, the room was suddenly in a flurry of action, as the former VMF suddenly all decided to echo the sentiments of the lone comrade. Sugimara was already at the door, locking them all in, though he was sans his baseball bat, and a lot less intimidating to the others without it.

Just as they were all about to rush him, Nakajima coughed to garner their attention. The whole crowd stills, and all of the men in the room turn to the man at the front of the room, Nakajima now standing in front of a students desk and calmly staring at the group. He fondles the bat in his hand, staring at it for a moment before turning to the others in the room and smiling an all to eerie smile. "Did you think I wasn't prepared for all you traitors turning on me?" Nakajima states calmly, but icily, "As I wasn't finished yet, I'll tell you the rest: I have decided to become Momo's lone knight, the man who will keep all others from feeling HER wrath, I'll be the wall that keeps the world safe from Her..." In less than a second, Nakajima has raised the bat high in the air, and brought it down onto the student desk. Form the force of impact, the desk splits in half, with splinters of wood and plastic spraying sideways as the two halves fall to the floor. "Tell me straight," Nakajima states, "Do you feel lucky, punks?"

Present

After that day Nakajima was a lone wolf, the knight in shining armor who kept all the boys foolish enough to try and cross her path, from feeling the sting of her tail. All of the former VMF understood after that day not to try anything, though their were a couple Nakajima had to set straight, though afterwards it was mainly a few cocky First Years that he had to deal with after that. He tried not to stalk her after that, of course he knew he would need to set limits for his own sanity, but occasionally on days like today, Nakajima was happy to have been lurking outside the Yuuki household.

Having just watched Momo rush out of the Yuuki household, he couldn't help but hear her sobbing and the trail of tears she left in her wake. Knowing she was headed for the middle of the town, wherever it was her feet was taking her, Nakajima decided that he would make sure she was okay. Quickly running behind her, he was happy she must not have been thinking straight, or else she would have resorted to using her above normal speed, or even noticed him trailing her on a usual day.

This only made Nakajima more concerned, and so he followed her as long as he could. He lost her as she turned a corner into a blind alley, but he was reaching his limit as he huffed and tried to follow her. He peers around the corner and finds that she had stopped, equally looking out of breath and content to sit against a wall in the alleyway with cardboard flats underneath her. He's happy to see that she didn't seem to be sobbing as loudly as she had been, which he hoped meant that she wouldn't draw undue attention to herself. Sighing, Nakajima sat back against the corner he was peeking beyond, trying not to expose his presence to Momo, knowing she would get him to leave her alone, or worse.

Noticing the street was suddenly very empty, and that the sun would be setting soon, Nakajima knew that this was going to be a problem. He didn't have a car, nor did he likely have enough money for the both of them to hop a bus, once she was sufficiently calm enough to reason with, of course. He was hoping whatever it was that upset her didn't have to deal with Yuuki Rito, knowing very much that if it did, Nakajima's Berserker Button was going to be temptingly easy to activate. Suddenly he heard scuffling coming from the other end of the through alleyway, and Nakajima looks over to see two men standing at the opposite end of the alley. They didn't seem to be moving, of course, just standing there alongside the garbage cans piled high with trash, and tented with flats of cardboard. Momo either hadn't noticed, or likely didn't care, but to Nakajima it felt like something was wrong almost immediately.

Suddenly the two of them began walking in unison, and Nakajima decided right there and then that their steps were to in sync to be normal. He wasn't fast enough to reach Momo, though, as she suddenly found herself being attacked by two unfamiliar men. One of them grabbed at her shoulders, dragging her roughly up against the brick walls, while the other one socks her int eh stomach. It didn't take long for Nakajima to see red.

In three seconds Nakajima had spun the man punching Momo in the stomach around, and managed a nice punch to the gut that would have knocked down any normal man. Nakajima knew he had hit something, but it was like the hit didn't even phase him. Nakajima noticed the man was merely giving him a blank stare, too, until he raised his fist and tried to bring it down onto Nakajima's head. The man was acting like he was drunk, with his movements he wasn't sure if it was an act, but despite the hits Nakajima was landing, the man barely responded. Deciding to try and use the man's ineffective attacks against his comrade, he tries to bait him into accidentally attacking, before swerving out of the man's way. It worked, as the man who was holding Momo by the shoulders let her go, being tossed to the ground as the other man's attack pushed him away.

Nakajima almost smiled, until he felt the fist going against his face. It seemed the other man took him more seriously, unlike the man who attacked like a drunk, this man quickly recovered and savagely attacked Nakajima. He heard the other man scuffle with Momo, who cried out as he landed a kick into her leg. Nakajima looked at Momo, and saw she was clutching her leg in pain, as the man readied another kick, this time aimed at her jaw. Suddenly breaking away from his own attacker, he tackled the man into a pair of garbage cans, sending debris flying away as he lands in the struggle against the bigger man.

It isn't long before he feels the second man grab him from behind, and he hardly notices his lack of air, as the successive punches to the gut he receives barely allows him to take a breath. He struggles to get back to his feet, when the fist to his temple knocks him out for good. 'Momo' he desperately thinks, feeling his consciousness slip away, hearing the sharp cracks of ribs being kicked, 'I'm sorry princess... I've failed you...'

Unknown Spaceship
Lunar Orbit

Azenda the Tyrant was not a patient woman, nor could she be considered a woman who took her job lightly. She had been tasked with cornering any of the three Deviluke sisters, or someone close to Yuuki Rito in any way, and she had to be stuck with the plant lover. Azenda knew form experience this girl had a temper that matched her own, a fierce protectiveness towards Rito that bordered between love and possessiveness. She herself knew that that fine a line between the distinction was important, between truly loving someone, and loving them for what they could be made of use for. Much like how the men, the one drunk, and his sober companion, she had used to attack the princess had been only as useful as she could control their actions, and even then the mysterious boy who tried to come to her defense caused her to have to split her attention. They were little more than tools she could posses, a means to an end as it were.

Her newlywed husband, on the other hand, was someone who was currently pushing her loving patience. He had insisted to meet the troublesome girl face to face, ready to gloat in front of her no doubt, and spill whatever edge they had over the girl. Then again, she was merely a means to an end in her own way. Princess Momo would be expendable the moment she was used to attract the attention of their real prize, and then Azenda's patience would pay off, as well as the longing need for revenge she had been feeling for the past few years. "You'll never get away with this Azenda," Momo repeated for the fourth time, "Whatever you think you're going to have accomplished by abducting me, you'll only earn the wrath of the Deviluke Empire, of my Father King Gid, ten times over, once he hears what you've done to me!" Azenda merely twirls a spare dagger she has in her hand, before launching it into a soft target set up just hair away from Momo's reach.

"Don't worry dear, I know that what I'm doing will incur your Father's wrath, but that won't matter," she gloats, "After we do what needs to be done, I'd willingly face death after having gotten my revenge against that insipid usurper, Golden Darkness." Azenda smiles, as the door to the ships dungeon opens, and her husband walks in to join them.

"Ah, Princess Momo, how lovely it is to see that you could join us up here," the mysterious new interloper states, "I must forgive the methods needed to procure your 'safe' arrival, after all Earth doesn't look to fondly on kidnappings, much less of foreign royalty." Momo stares in contempt at the little man in front of her, having recognized him from the descriptions Lala had given her, as well as the fact she had seen him in pictures once or twice. "I'm afraid I've had to remain aboard this ship in orbit of the dark side of Earth's moon, since I'm not exactly welcomed on Earth anymore," the purple lipped being states with a thin smile, "Bad experience with a erogama, I believe."

"Lacospo, isn't it?" she states, her lips frowning as she realizes that the man in front of her was Azenda's 'husband', though she knew from reputation that the green skinned toad was a man with his own harem, "Trying to ransom me off for Lala's hand in marriage, or trying to get Rito stuck in some kind of blackmailing scheme; well, you chose the wrong girl, because Rito asked me to reject my feelings for him, because he chose Lala!" Lacospo merely laughs at the girls insinuations.

"I'm afraid its nothing so benign, girl," Lacospo states, "I'm finishing up a plan I started the night I gave my precious Taoist's Pearl up, in that silly little auction that Tenjouin girl had." Momo is instantly aware at Lacospo's words. "Ah, that garner your attention hime-sama?" Lacospo taunts, wagging his finger at the girl, "My, my, how is Rito doing ever since he came in contact with Bladix?" Momo raises a brow at that. "Oh, have none of you noticed yet?" Lacosp states with a wicked smile, "Ah, well I guess it will take some time before that nasty little virus I planted within the nanites enslave the sword's consciousness towards my programming... has he used the sword much since he 'found' it left behind?" This time Momo smiled, realizing she had something against Lacospo.

"Wait, is Bladix supposed to be alive?" Momo asks, laughing as she does so, "Y-you mean you still think Bladix survived- t-that?" Lacospo's eyebrow twitched in irritation at Momo's laughter. "Did you really think its consciousness could survive a d-dark matter explosion?" Momo asks, in between peals of laughter, "That blade was lucky it was made of orichalcum, because its sentience is long gone!" Lacospo would slap have slapped the girl, if she wasn't integral to his plans.

"Lies will get you nowhere child, my virus will have infested the sword at it's molecular level, bonding with the sword's sentience and squeezing every drop of knowledge from that parasite, as it consumed its host," Lacospo states, "The virus was designed to psychically link with Rito Yuuki and take everything from him, his memories, his love, his family, until he became nothing but a husk that it would control at my bidding!" Lacospo slams his hand on the table Azenda and Momo sat, quite upset at what the girl was saying. " If there was an explosion of dark matter why should I believe you, since that would mean Rito Yuuki would be dead, when clearly this is not the case!" Lacospo states, "Even if what you say is true it would have already been too late, the sword had been bonded using the Taoist Pearl, my nanites would have survived within the sword's very molecules." Momo smiles, knowing that when Rito absorbed the energy from the Taoist nanites, he had more than likely threw Lacospo's plan out the window.

"There was something you didn't account for, something we hadn't even realized that had happened to Rito," Momo taunts from her chair, where she sat bound by chain, "Rito Yuuki was the host of the Trans Weapon known as Nemesis, a Dark Matter Entity that could fuse with a host and take control..." Momo smiles at Lacospo's confusion, as well as the look Azenda was giving her on hearing the name 'Nemesis'. "Not only at one point did Rito willingly offer himself to be Nemesis' host, after she was hurt in battle with my Father Gid, not even Nemesis knew he had been changed by the experience," Momo states, ready to lay her last trump card against Lacospo, "When Rito Yuuki picked up the sword, which was loaded with your nanites powered by Taoist energy, one of the purest forms of energy in the known universe, they interacted with Rito Yuuki and activated dormant genes he picked up from his cohabitation with Nemesis."

She smiles viciously, ready to lay out the truth to the now quivering man in front of her. "Not only did you end up giving Rito Yuuki one of the most powerful blades in existence, but you supercharged him into becoming a Living Weapon that utilized Dark Matter to become faster, stronger, and equipped to utilize highly energized, dark matter as a weapon," Momo states, laughing at Lacospo's blunder, "You not only that, but you made the mistake of crossing Golden Darkness, Lala Satalin Deviluke, my sister Nana, and myself in the process, including the whole Deviluke armada and King Gid..." Azenda moves to slap the girl, and in return Momo takes it with a look of glee. "Face it Lacospo, Azenda, you people thought about getting revenge, and all you did was dig your graves," Momo laughs, "No matter what you do now, this galaxy, the known universe, will hunt you down for the rest of your days!" She laughs still, as she watches Lacospo break down into a tantrum right before her very eyes.

"Quiet, quiet you mockery of a princess," he shouts back at her, his eyes bulging from their sockets, "You're acting like some caged animal, lashing out at me with bluff and bluster, and expecting me to be scratched by your words?" He slams his hands onto the table, which causes both Momo and Azenda to startle at the sound those small arms made. "A.D.A.M. will have survived, Rito Yuuki will become my puppet, and Lala Satalin Deiluke, WILL. BECOME. MY. BRIDE." he shouts at Momo, "Not only will I become King of Deviluke, my Adaptive Dependant Artificial Manifestation will drain every scrap of knowledge from that sword, then it will take everything from Rito Yuuki, and I will have had the last laugh!" Lacospo leaves the room in a huff, and Azenda follows suit shortly, having taken back her weapons she was using for target practice.

As they left the room, the lights went out and Momo was left in the darkness of the ship. It was once she was sure she was alone, when the adrenaline and feeling of satisfaction and driving Lacospo to anger, that she gave way to the tears. She wasn't sure how she would survive this, how this unholy union between the universes former Assassin Queen, and Lala's most insane Marriage Candidate, could be turned for her benefit. For once she was the one who would have to wait, praying for her father, her sisters, for Rito, to come and save her. She didn't know what else they had planned, but she knew with these two working together, Earth, Sainan itself, would become the target of their anger, once the truth of Momo's words was realized. She just hoped that Lala, Nana, the others, and especially Rito, would be prepared for the final battle.

Yuuki Household

It was dark now, and Rito Yuuk, along with Mikan, Nana, Lala, and Celine, were all worried by the absence of Momo. Normally she would have returned, or at least called to let them know where she was, but no one could even reach her Dedial, like it was turned off. "That's not possible," Lala had said, "They work on sub spatial frequencies, that's how we normally have access to my inventions, and both Nana and Momo's cyber spaces!" With that clarified, it left the grim sense of concern in all of their stomachs.

Finally there was a knock on the door, and everyone practically rushed to the door to answer it. Rito was happy Momo had decided to come home... When they opened the door, they found someone who they hadn't been expecting. Bruises lined his face, his left eye swollen shut and covered with dirt and specks of blood. Nakajima, the well known stalker and self-proclaimed defender of Momo's purity, stood in front of them like he had been hit by a car. "Momo- s been taken," he wheezes out, clutching his ribs, and stumbling forward, pitching himself into Rito's arms, "M'sorry Ri-to, La-la, 'ur sis- been taken..." Collapsing under his own weight, Rito tried to lay the bruised and bloody man down, trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"Get the medical supplies," Rito shouts to Mikan, who complies, "Damn it Nakajima, what did you get yourself into?" He tells Nana to get Celine out of there, and asks Lala to help him bring Nakajima to the couch. "I think we need to get Mikado-sensei's help," he tells Lala, "We need to figure out what he saw,so we can find out where Momo is..." Lala nods, as she begins to help Rito remove Nakajima's shirt and clean up his face.

"Momo's a big girl, Rito, she can protect herself," Lala says, not very confidently, "She'll hold out until we find out whoever did this to her, to him... and make them feel pain." Lala, a very kind and gentle person normally, could not stand to see something like this happen to her friends, her family. Rito was right there with her, clutching his fist in anger, as he begins to feel increasingly angry at whoever did this, at himself for letting this happen.

'Rito,' a voice says in the back of his head, 'You have the power to fix this.' Rito ignores the voice in his head, knowing very well that unnecessary anger would just lead to too much pain. 'But isn't it worth it, if you know you could save her,' it says, 'I know you Rito Yuuki, you would do anything to save those you cared about...' The voice trails off, and Rito looks around in concern. He wasn't very certain that his own subconscious would refer to himself in third person, and that was when Rito realized he needed to sit down. It wouldn't be right to go crazy right now, after all. 'Why not?' the voice asked, and Rito realizes the voice is not his own, 'Why not take revenge, on those who would harm your loved ones?' Rito knew it wasn't right, to lord power over those weaker than themselves, just because it suited them to abuse their power. Rito knew that to be strong, sometimes you had to be weak, and know that mercy should sometimes beget the need for revenge.

'How interesting,' the voice states within his mind, and Rito realizes that the childish voice is actually echoing out from a specific direction, 'That's right, Yuuki Rito, it is, look around.' Looking towards the sword in disbelief, Rito isn't sure how he could be hearing it right now, except then he notices the wrap didn't cover the blade all the way. Lala watches as he seemed to lose his train of thought, before turning his attention to the sword. She raised her brow in curiosity, but then focused on fixing Nakajima up when Mikan came with the medical supplies. Rito merely stared at the sword, wondering if he was wrong, and that Bladix had not, in fact, sacrificed all of his sentience. 'He did, but not before he passed some on to me,' the blade hums in his head, and Rito realizes he is finally going crazy, 'No, you aren't Yuuki Rito, but I'm glad I finally built up enough strength to talk to you.'

"Who are you?" Rito asks, which causes both Lala and Mikan to stare at him, realizing he is talking to the sword, "What are you doing in my head?" The sword hums in laughter, a childlike tinkle that Rito almost would mistake for a giggle.

'I want to learn, silly, I was born to take in knowledge,' the voice of the sword states, 'I was reborn, along with you Yuuki Rito, and Bladix passed on his sentience to me, a gift that was my choice to use or not, much like yours is.' Rito puts his hand to the handle, and feels the thrum of life in the sword once more, hot, yet cool to the touch, unlike the dead husk he had picked up in the study a month ago. 'Teach me, Yuuki Rito, as Bladix taught you,' the sword sings in his head, 'I want to take everything from you, Yuuki Rito, if you'll allow me to!' The innocent candor, the soothing assurances of letting all of it slip away...sounded so good.

"Rito, don't listen to the sword, you are in control," Lala states, suddenly appearing behind Rito and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Whatever he is saying, remember that he cannot control you, not if you don't let him." Rito jumps back in shock, letting go of the hilt as he does so, causing the sword to fall and unwrap itself a bit. He looks back to the sword and feels the cold splash of reality hit him in the face.

'Now, now, Rito, I wouldn't do that...I'm your sword after all; Bladix bound me to you, and we are forever linked now,' the voice of the sword states, 'Maybe we should start with introductions: hello Yuuki Rito, I'm the new consciousness of your sword, my name is Adam; Bladix told me I live to help you grow stronger, and to help you channel your powers!'