Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or world of To Love Ru. All rights belong to Saki Hasemi and Kentaro Yabuki. I DO own the Spirit Blankets.
***TO LOVE RU: FUTURE TROUBLE ***
Chapter 2: Explanations and Feelings
Friday
Rito Yuuki had no idea how his younger sister had energy to do the things she did. As he fittled around with skillets and eggs, he thanked God that he had a sister like Mikan. He had promised to make breakfast that morning and Mikan make sure he stood true to that promise. She woke him up, made him get dressed, and booted him down to the kitchen, all with a beautiful smile on her face.
"Okay, now mix this in with the eggs," Rito read from a cookbook. His inexperience with cooking shamed him, but he knew he had to do it for Mikan. She had a hard enough job during the day with school and housework; why not give her a break? That's right; this was for Mikan! With his new attitude he concentrated hard on making a good breakfast for everyone . . . and soon sighed in defeat as he sat down in a chair.
"Boy oh boy, who knew that making breakfast would be this hard?" He had mastered barbeque a while back, but breakfast food was an entirely different ballgame to him. He heard faint laughter coming from outside the kitchen and looked towards the entrance way to see his sister giggling with joy.
"And what are you laughing about?"
"How you are having such a hard time with this. It's really not that hard."
"Says you. You try doing this."
"I do, every day."
"Oh yeah . . ." Mikan approached her brother and held her hand out, signaling that she wanted her apron. He took it off and gave it to her.
"Let me show you how a pro does it."
Rito would have called the Food Network to ask if they wanted a new show starring his little sister if he wasn't so tired. Watching her do the task that he struggled so hard to do with ease was an amazing sight to him.
"Well," she said after she was done. "That wasn't much of a break for me, now was it?" She placed some apple juice next to Rito.
"Heh heh, sorry," Rito drank some of his juice. "I promised that I would make breakfast and you ended up doing all the work."
"It's fine, I kind of knew you would fail." She chuckled.
He took another drink of his juice, and then looked at his sister. He began to think. Then he smiled and spoke words that Mikan did not see coming.
"Mikan."
"Hmm?"
"You're so amazing. The things you are able to do are beyond any normal girl's ability. And you do it with a smile."
She blushed. "W-Well, you know . . . I have to. Otherwise how will we survive in this house with me, you, three royal sisters and a plant-baby?"
He laughed. "Yeah, I know. I'm grateful that you do those things for us, Mikan. I don't think I say it enough to you, but . . . I love you, sis."
At that moment Mikan was taking a sip of her juice. Upon hearing his words, she spit out what she began to drink in surprise and turned red with embarrassment. Did he just say that . . . he loved her? Her heart raced faster than it ever had. She felt a combination of shock and happiness.
"W-W-What?" Those were the only words that she could muster.
"Mikan? You okay?"
"Y-Y-Yeah. Geez, Rito, you kinda caught me off guard with all of that!" Mikan smiled at her brother.
"Really? Well, sorry." Rito smiled back.
(To Love-Ru)
"How much longer until we get there?"
"You know, I don't think I can get used to this." Rito shifted Uindo on his back as she clung to him once again. After breakfast, Rito and the Deviluke sisters gathered their belongings and headed out the door to school like usual. Today, however, they had some extra luggage with them. Mikado was going to take the Spirit Blankets over to the crash site with the mechanic, but they had to meet at the school first. While Kasai, Yochi, and Mizu walked with the group, Uindo elected to ride piggyback on Rito, which to her was a fun experience but to the "piggy," it was completely uncomfortable.
"That's Uindo for you." Yochi sighed. "Be glad that we're not all on your back."
"Why in the world would I want to jump on his back?" Kasai snorted. "He'll probably reach back there and fill me up to my panties."
'Why does everyone think that I would do that?' Rito screamed in his head. In reality he just sighed and continued to walk to school.
"You guys are so cool!" Lala said. "I want a Spirit Blanket of my own! Is there a pink one?"
"Of course!" Uindo said. "We come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors! One day, I'll take you up to the home planet and show you!"
"What do you mean you? You can't even drive the damn ship." Kasai added.
As the group approached the school, Nana and Momo went their separate ways and Rito and Lala stopped at their lockers (with Uindo still clinging to Rito, of course).
"Okay, Uindo, it's time to get off." Rito said, praying to God that she would let go. "We gotta get you guys to Mikado-sensei's room immediately."
"Aw, but I liked riding on your back . . . it's comfy!" Uindo gave a childish smile. Despite her words, she kindly but grudgingly released her grasp on Rito, to which the boy gave an audible relief.
"You head on to class, Lala, I'll be right there."
"Okay! See ya!"
Lala happily skipped off while Rito and the Spirit Blankets went off to Mikado's room. On their way to the room they passed by a homeroom. Someone was walking out of the room the same time Rito was in front of the door, causing an impact that sent Rito and the person to the floor, him on top of the other. When Rito looked to see who it was, his eyes got wide.
"Yuuki Rito." A monotone voice spoke. "You're very daring, challenging me at the beginning of the day."
"N-N-No Yami! It was just an accident! We just bumped into each other!"
"Even if that is the truth . . ." Yami looked down at where Rito's hands were, which was, as expected, groping Yami's soft breasts. "I will not let you get away with your ecchi agenda."
"E-E-Ecchi agenda?" Rito could not question any further as a fist of hair knocked him off of the assassin and right at the Spirit Blankets' feet.
"I see you have new friends," Yami picked up her books and stared at them intensively. "If they are your bodyguards, I would have to congratulate you for taking precautions for our impending battle. I just hope they are strong enough to protect you. Later." She walked towards and past the stunned group without a word or glance to them.
"Rito Yuuki," Yochi said. "She is a scary woman."
"She hurt Rito Yuuki-kun! I don't like her!" Uindo's face got angry and stared at the back of Yami's head.
"She hurt him good, I like her." Kasai smiled.
"She . . . is scary . . ." Mizu suddenly said out of nowhere, causing Rito to wake up from his trance and stare at the blue-haired girl, who went back into the seclusion of her brother's back.
"She . . . She talks!" Rito said aloud.
(To Love-Ru)
"Thank you, Yuuki-kun, for dropping them off." Mikado said as she poured her some tea.
"It was no big deal, really," Rito said. "They were staying at my house, so it was only natural that I drop them off."
It was mid-day and the Spirit Blankets were long gone with the mechanic to see about the repairs for the ship. Rito had some free time so he decided to do a little background check on them. He had to admit, the Spirit Blankets had been intriguing him all the while he was in school. The incident yesterday got him wondering exactly who or what they were. He knew that Mikado was the best source for this information, so he elected to go to her office. She had just come back from seeing the crash site with the Blankets and the mechanic and she asked Oshizu to take care of any kids that came with an ailment.
"So, you want to know more about these aliens, do you?"
"Yes. Yesterday, when I met them, they showed me some sort of transformation power where they turned into blankets. That looked stupid, but the fight with that Chikara guy was intense. Real intense. There has to be something more to these guys that I can know."
"Well, you are right about that; there is knowledge on this species that you don't know." She pulled out her planet finder and started typing. A picture of the galaxy where Planet Deviluke showed up. "Their planet is in the same galaxy as Planet Deviluke, meaning they have close ties to the Devilukean people. In the Galactic Unification Wars, they were one of the first allies to the Devilukeans. Planet Blanketa itself is a natural wonderland compared to Earth. The beings called Blanketeans are not just the human form that you've seen. In the Wars, they were mainly used for defensive purposes."
"Defensive purposes?"
"Yes. They were used as shields and armors for soldiers of their allies."
Rito was taken aback. "They used actual people as armor?"
"No, no! That's what makes them special. The Blanketeans, when they transform, become like blankets, covering you either full body or on one part. When they are in this state, they become almost like a sponge to damage. Basically, if they were to cover your arm, any attack made on your arm would not damage you in the slightest. It would damage them. The good part is that the Blanketeans can withstand A LOT of damage, making them very effective armor for battle. Some credit the Blanketeans for winning some of the major battles of the Unification Wars."
"A super-armor, huh?"
"And that's not all. You know that each Blanketean has his or her own power. Most of the time it's based on the elements of the universe. A user of the Blanketean not only has access to arguably the best armor in the known universe, but can also harness their power and control and use it for battle."
"Really? So like, if Yochi was covering my arm, I could control Earth?"
"Exactly. A user can also control more than one element as long as the Spirit Blankets are attached to them in some way or another."
"Wow, that's pretty remarkable."
"You're telling me. I studied them quite a bit before I came to Earth. It also seems like they've taken a liking to you, Yuuki-kun."
"Me?"
"Yes. While we know about Uindo, you seem to have grown on the others, even by your short time with them. Mizu, even if she doesn't say much, stares you down something fierce, and Yochi has the utmost respect for you. Then again, he's a generally respectful guy."
"Well, yeah, but there's Kasai too. And she hates my guts for no reason." Rito sighed.
"I wouldn't say that. She's a tsundere type, Yuuki-kun. You know how tsunderes are; act like they hate you when they really do like you. Now, I don't know if she has feelings for you, but I can guarantee that she harbors some level of affection for you."
"I find that hard to believe."
"I find you having a harem with more than ten girls hard to believe too, but it's happening." Mikado laughed.
Rito froze dead in his tracks. 'That Momo . . .' "Did Momo tell you about that?"
"No. You just did. And besides, who can miss it? Observing you has been . . . humorous to say the least."
"You're not helping the situation, Mikado-sensei!"
As Mikado laughed some more, Oshizu popped her head into the conversation and requested, "Um . . . sorry to intrude Mikado-sensei, but where are the band-aids? A patient needs one right away."
"Really?" Mikado went to the patient and found that not only the patient was an alien, he had a huge gash in the side of his head. "Um . . . Oshizu-san . . . a band-aid might not cut it. Get the bandages and the wrap."
Rito sighed, thanked Mikado for the information, and walked out to his classroom.
(To Love-Ru)
While he was walking toward his class, Rito bumped into a familiar face who was seemingly struggling with a stack of papers she was carrying.
"Kotegawa? What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, Yuuki-kun, I'm delivering some papers to the teacher's lounge. What about you?"
"I went to see Mikado-sensei about the Spirit Blankets." Rito answered.
"Oh, that's right. Those aliens you told me about. I can't believe something like that actually happened."
"Heh, you're not the only one." Rito chuckled. He looked at Yui's arms and noticed that they were shaking a little. Instantly, he walked to Yui and picked up half of the papers from Yui's arm.
"W-What are you doing?"
"You looked like you were having a hard time with them, so I'll help you out."
Yui started to blush, but could not say anything else because Rito started walking. Kotegawa stood still for a bit, still blushing, when Rito called to her and signaled her to walk with him. She reluctantly followed.
"Y-You don't have to do this, you know, helping me and stuff." Yui said changing the subject. "And besides, shouldn't you be heading to class? I will not tolerate you being truant, Yuuki-kun!"
"I'm not being truant!" Rito defended. "I'm just being a helpful friend to you."
That set off something in her heart. Her blush got bigger. "W-W-Why do you have to say such weird things?" She elbowed him on his shoulder and turned her head away from him, half because she was surprised at his words and half because the blush on her face could rival a fire truck.
"Uh . . . sorry?" Rito would never understand girls, especially this one. Mikado's 'tsundere' comment came in his head and he looked over at Yui. He concluded that she had the tsun- part down packed, but was there a –dere side to her? If there was, he would never live to see it, he figured.
They reached their destination and dropped the papers off. As they walked back to class together, Yui could not believe what she was doing. She was having a real conversation with Rito Yuuki. While they have had conversations in the past ranging from school work to "indecent" acts, she still cherished the time she got to spend with him, even if it was just small talk.
"You know, I think this is probably the longest conversation we've ever had. I like it." Rito smiled at her, and Yui had to hide her face again to repel a blush.
"Yeah, me . . . too." Yui mustered up the courage to say. Why was she always so weird around him? The answer was obvious, but the girl did not want to admit the reason.
"Hey Kotegawa, we don't really hang out much like going to events or whatnot. I think we should hang out more often." Yui's eyes enlarged. "Of course Lala would want to come and I can't hold the Spirit Blankets back if they wanted to tag along, especially Uindo, but I would enjoy it if we hung out more."
Now Yuuki did not intend to make his statement sound romantic or flirty in any way, but Kotegawa's heart was practically pumping out of her well-endowed chest as he finished his sentence. This boy certainly has a way with words, her heart told her and they were super effective on any girl who had the luck to hear them from his sweet mouth. Wait, did she just call his mouth sweet? She was really blushing now. It was a wonder why she was not sweating beneath her uniform.
"Y-Y-Y" All she could do was stammer now. "S-S-S-Sure . . . t-t-that would be. . ."
She would never finish her sentence, and part of her did not want to. She saw the open door to the classroom and immediately bolted inside the room, leaving Rito in her dust. Rito scratched his head, "What's wrong with her? Did I say something bad?"
(To Love-Ru)
"Rito-kun!" Run shouted as she approached her crush. School had just been let out and Run ran at fast speeds to get to Rito's locker before he left and before Lala or any other girl spoiled her chance at some quality time with the boy.
"Oh, Run, what's up- Hey!" Rito was taken aback when she jumped on him and gave him a near-bear hug. He blushed at the sign of affection. "R-Run!"
"I finally get to talk to you after school! I missed you throughout the day!" She let go of him and looked into the orange eyes she longed to stare at forever. "All through the class your image was swirling around in my head. . ."
'Well that's good to hear.' Rito thought. He talked with Run some more and afterwards, he made his way home. Surprisingly (or probably not surprisingly) Run was following him close behind.
"Uh, Run?" Rito said when they passed an intersection. "Isn't your house back that way?"
"I'll follow you wherever you go, Rito-kun!" She latched on to his arm. "Whatever you do, whoever you become, I'll always be right there by your side!"
This sudden statement jolted Rito a few steps forward. Run always had that surprise effect on Rito, but this time it was much different. His blush was very visible to the idol and she smiled at the reaction. Run only spoke the truth, however. She truly loved the boy and she was not afraid to show it, even amongst public eye. Saying this bold statement served two purposes which Run hoped would be fulfilled: to plant a seed of love in Rito's heart for her and to help kill the strong feelings he had for Lala.
Rito could not respond to the statement so he did what he normally does: babble like an idiot while blushing madly.
(To Love-Ru)
"Rito!" Mikan called from the kitchen. "Someone's at the door! Can you get it?"
"Sure!" Rito yelled back. He was back home now and he left his task of playing with Celine to see who was at the door. He opened the door and saw Mikado's car outside. At the gate the dark space doctor was there, waiting patiently.
"Hello, Yuuki-kun!" Mikado smiled and waved at him when she saw him.
"Mikado-sensei?" He stepped outside and came to the gate. He opened it and stepped off the premises. "What are you doing here? Is the ship done?"
"Sadly, no. The ship was pretty banged up. Definitely can't be done in a day. But with the speed of the mechanic, it should be fixed within the week."
"Oh, well that's good. But is that the only reason you came here?"
"Ha ha, no. I came to drop off your friends."
"Friends?" Before Rito could say anything else, the rear car door burst open and out popped Uindo, running to Yuuki.
"Rito Yuuki-kun!" She latched on to his neck and hugged him like a child hugs their parents.
Yochi, Kasai, and Mizu came out of the car after their ecstatic sister. "Hello, Rito Yuuki. Glad to see you again." Yochi bowed.
"Speak for yourself." Kasai snorted and crossed her arms.
"H-Hello." Mizu spoke softly.
"W-Wait a minute, why are they here?" Rito said, trying to pry Uindo off of him.
"Well, aliens need a place to stay too, right?" Mikado started to walk back towards her car.
"Wait! Why can't they stay with you?"
"Oh I would love to keep them for the week but unfortunately I do not have enough room in my house to accommodate them. Besides, they would be happier here with you." Mikado opened her car door and prepared to get in. "Well, good bye and good luck, Yuuki-kun!" She got in the front seat and drove off, leaving Rito in the dust.
"WAIT! MIKADO-SENSEI!" Rito shouted to no avail.
"So, where's our room, Rito Yuuki-kun?" Uindo ran to the door of the Yuuki house.
"I think I need a shower after being in those woods for so long," Yochi told Mizu. "What about you?"
Mizu just nodded and walked with Yochi and Kasai in the house.
"A certain pervert better not sneak into my bed or I'm killing him." Kasai said loud enough to make sure Rito heard her.
As they made their way inside the gate and to the door, he looked at his new guests over. Supporting four more alien mouths in his already cramped home?
'Mikan's gonna be pissed.'
(Future Trouble)
"The next time we go shopping, don't bring any inventions with you." Rito said in Lala's room. He had not been in Lala's bedroom much, and was surprised that a room of such size could fit into the space Lala built. It was a larger-than-average room, and Rito could see why, with all of the inventions stored there. Multiple tools, machines, and boxes could be identified in the room and some machines even moved, working on the task the Princess gave it.
"Sorry," Lala laughed and rubbed her head. "My bad."
"Mikan really chewed my ear out tonight. And she's probably going to make me wake up early again." He sighed. "Why do I have so much trouble in my life?"
"If you ask me, I like living like this!" Rito looked at her. He was amazed at the completely optimistic outlook Lala always had. "It's fun and we get to meet new people! Plus . . . Rito gets to visit my room, so I'm happy."
Rito never saw Lala as a shy type, but the pink-haired girl had her moments when she could act a little shy. This was one of those times and he had to admit, she was gorgeous. He turned away from her so she wouldn't see his blush and looked around the room.
'She's a hard worker, I'll give her that.' He thought to himself. Hundreds of inventions, finished and unfinished, were on display on the walls and more were in cabinets, closets, and on the floor. Lala was sitting on her bed currently, tinkering with a small invention. Peke was walking around, handing the tools her master needed when she called for them.
He continued to look around the room and saw a big invention that stood out above the others. It was a lanky, pink machine with lights on top of it. It had a single door that could easily accommodate a person in the middle of it and a panel with buttons, numbers, and a flat screen engraved in the machine.
"Lala?" Rito asked. "What's this?" He pointed to the machine.
"Oh! That's a secret." Lala told him.
"A secret?"
"Yep! It's a special invention for everyone! So I can't tell you what it is just yet."
'A special . . .invention?' Rito examined the machine again. He was somehow very curious about the machine and Lala's secrecy only heightened his desire to know.
Rito decided not to delve in to the subject tonight and, after a few more moments with Lala, chose to retire for the night. He put on his pajamas and closed his door. He enjoyed the privacy he had, even though he knew that that privacy might be invaded in the middle of the night by one of the Devilukean sisters, or, even worse, Uindo.
Either way, he was glad to get under his sheets and snuggle on the futon. The day's events were truly unique and wild, and he wondered what tomorrow brought. He found himself wondering that ever since Lala came into his life.
As he drifted off to sleep, a scream startled him.
"GOOD NIGHT RITO YUUKI-KUN!"
Rito knew that shout; Uindo. She was becoming more like Lala and Run. He would have trouble with that one, he was sure. He groaned, and smashed a pillow over his ears to force himself to go to sleep.
End
Check the profile for updates on the story, polls, and more. A review would be appreciated. I know the future part has not taken place yet, but it will soon . . . in fact the next chapter.
Until next time. . .
-Goboy007