Author's Note: Whew. After many rewrites, I finally finished this chapter. One of the greatest mysteries in To Love-Ru is what Momo is really thinking of when she is trying to build a harem for Rito. It justifies why Rito is more concerned about her since she always likes to hide it under her covers. This chapter is what I assume Momo really means.

We also get a chance to see how Issei properly interacts with Momo. In the previous chapter, Momo simply sparked a fight with Issei. I also put the other Deviluke sisters and Mea in the mix as well.

I anticipate wrapping up this fanfic soon. There are a few more bits I want to write before I make Rito and Issei deal with the ultimate boss of this fanfic.

Published 4/27/2016

Chapter 18:

Deviluke Rage: Momo in the Spotlight

Rito, Issei, Lala, Momo, Nana, and Mea have a seat at the benches overlooking a water fountain. Momo is extremely disappointed that Lala and Nana decide not to fight Issei. She is sitting away from everyone else grinding her teeth.

Nana also cannot stop laughing at Momo. "Silly Momo. It was so ridiculous to fight with Rito's personal instructor. We saw the fight from the supermarket and decided to intervene after we finished shopping."

"Momo-chan is so brave," Mea does not make the situation better.

"Geez, Nana. Why didn't you immediately come when I called you?" Momo expresses her anger at Nana. "I was about to be killed. You could have taken out dragon-san with your animal friends. Same thing with you onee-sama and Mea-chan."

"I believed in him. I am confident that someday Rito will become an excellent man thanks to Issei. Even papa agrees." Lala speaks with optimism.

Nana answers by confronting Momo. "Why should I help you? You always teased me by showing off your body. 'Nana, look at this bra. Doesn't it fit me?' You would also tell everyone about how despite being the third and youngest princess of Deviluke, you are the most mature of us sisters. It was always 'I'm the better twin' and such. If you think you're better than me, handle this problem yourself."

"I am still the better twin," Momo smirks at Nana. "I came out and defended Rito-san unlike you who cowered away like a little chicken with everyone else at the supermarket and waited until everything was over before going over to Rito-san."

"Now now, Nana and Momo, let's not fight. Rito is safe and everything has gone back to normal," Lala cuts Nana and Momo off. Both of them turn away from each other with disgust.

Mea asks Momo, "Momo-chan, why would go this far to defend Rito-san? You even radioed the Deviluke forces for help. Were you trying to impress everyone as the third princess of Deviluke?"

"No I wasn't." Momo tries to come up with a reasonable answer to suppress Mea.

"Look at dragon-san over there." Momo points to Issei. "He took Rito-san away from all of us during the time when Darkness and Nemesis infiltrated the club recruitment fair. He's working with them to make Rito-san a test experiment. They may have even extracted Rito-san's DNA to create even more deadly monsters in their secret labs. Maybe this Rito-san is a clone. Snap out of it everyone. Don't be fooled by dragon-san's looks. He is working with Nemesis and Darkness to upset the peaceful universe and unleash an endless stream of wars."

"Hohoho… That sounds like one of your wild fantasies Momo. Even I have a hard time believing that. I am confident that this dragon is really training Rito to be a great man. If you see with your own eyes, Rito has become manlier than before. Would an enemy ever do that?"

Momo observes Rito for a moment. Even though Rito does look manlier, Momo does not want to believe it. "This is a clone of Rito-san. The real Rito-san is somewhere in Nemesis's headquarters."

"Well, my analysis confirms that this is the real Rito-san. Although his body has been modified with a chess piece, he is still the real Rito-san." Mea refutes Momo's claim by studying Rito's mind with her Psycho-Dive ability.

Momo knows that Issei is the person behind the chess piece. She suspects that chess piece is a mind-controlling device for Rito. "OK, I take back the fact that this Rito-san isn't the clone, but what is a chess piece doing inside? Don't trick me dragon-san; you must be hiding something from me. You are using that piece to track every movement of Rito-san, aren't you?"

Momo's question serves as a cue for Issei to start speaking. "Well Momo, I am Rito's master and that chess piece is my proof of ownership. Also, I don't understand why you keep linking me to Nemesis and Darkness after all those messages from your sisters? If you remember, I was the one who brought Rito back to life after he was killed by them. Remember when you called for help after Rito got stabbed? I was the one who answered it." Issei shows Momo one of his summoning cards.

Momo analyzes the circle on the summoning card. "So, it was you who lured Rito-san to that death booth at the club recruitment fair? I recognize that symbol. You gave him this paper and it lured him over there. I knew it; if it wasn't for this, Rito-san would have easily become the man of the Floral Club."

"But he did join the Floral Club afterwards? You said so yourself," Mea replies to Momo.

"Shut up! Don't interrupt me."

Issei continues his discussion. "Momo, it seems like your story is going in circles." Issei shows the summoning card to Momo. "First, this summoning circle is a trademark to our household, the Gremory clan. I'm sure you didn't see Nemesis or Darkness walking around with this symbol before Rito entered college. They have stolen this symbol from us."

"Yeah, that's true." Momo thinks to herself. "Back in high school, I was in Yami-chan's class and met with Mikado-sensei and Tearju-sensei regularly. I don't recall any of them with that symbol. What was I thinking?"

"Momo, I also see that you're extremely possessive of Rito. I'm sure you already know that Rito is destined for your sister Lala, not you. You seem to be putting too much effort on a person who isn't going to be your wife in the future. Why are you so protective? Is it because you don't trust Lala?"

"No… that's not true. I just wanted to make sure Rito-san is ready to become the king of the universe. Onee-sama is sometimes too pure and childish to understand the qualities of being an excellent king. Without my assistant, Rito-san's legacy will fall apart and our universe will collapse." Momo then looks away from Issei. "I hate it when dragon-san is nosy. My progress with Rito-san and his harem went well until he showed up."

"Thank you for being concerned about my future Momo." Lala gives Momo a positive reply. "However, I think it is best that you focus on your duties. Don't forget, you're a third year student at Sainan High and you need to take care of Celine as well. As the future queen, I should be able to handle the succession issue myself."

Nana attacks Momo's claim. "Really Momo? Does sneaking into Rito's bed at 3 AM count as preparation? What about the time when you almost stripped him naked in an equipment shed during class? You also have that hidden stash of eroge visual novels in your closet. How are those lessons going to make Rito a better king?"

"Momo-chan wants to turn Rito-san into a beast too. That counts as preparation," Mea giggles.

"Well, it's training to ensure that Rito-san and onee-sama stay united forever," Momo justifies her actions and hopes to brush everyone's suspicions away.

"How about that harem you're trying to create for Rito? Won't that interfere with Rito and ane-ue's bond?" Nana points out an obvious weakness to Momo's justification.

"Harem?" Everyone looks at Momo. Mea, Rito, and Nana already know about it. Issei had a feeling when he first observed Rito. The only person surprised is Lala.

"Huh? Harem? Did you have something like that back in high school?" Lala questions Rito.

"I guess so," Rito is too embarrassed to give a proper reply.

Momo, attempting to hide the harem plan, denies it. "I am not working on any sort of harem plan for Rito-san. I am only training him to become an excellent king."

"Harem plan or not, I already see a bad habit from you Momo." Issei intervenes. "Your responses leave behind a trail of questions. It looks like you're trying to hide something very embarrassing from all of us. Also, based on my analysis, your type of training isn't normal for a king. An excellent king is honest, trustworthy, and can successfully handle many difficult situations. He will defend and protect all of his people from all enemy forces and establish and maintain peace in his kingdom."

Issei then relates the issue to Momo's lessons. He finds it similar to what Rias did to him before. "Someone who does all those activities is usually trying to get the person's attention and affection. They want the person to love her."

Momo continues to deny it. "It's true that I gave Rito-san that kind of lesson. However, it's just showing some affection as his future sister-in-law. Getting used to a new family member is important too."

"Just tell me Momo. What do you think about Rito? Do you love him?" Issei finally delivers the killer question. He sees Momo blushing as he continues asking questions.

"Uhh..." Momo wants to cover up her response. However, if she says no, Rito would take the answer for granted and the harem plan will fall apart. She looks at Rito with teary eyes, hoping that Rito won't reject her.

"Fine, you got me dragon-san." Momo begins her story. "I was always lonely at the Deviluke palace. Being the third princess of Deviluke, I was often neglected and ignored. Onee-sama would always get the attention because she's the first princess and next in line to become the queen of the universe. We also didn't know many people outside the palace."

"Momo?" Lala responds.

"My special ability is also a curse. If you don't know, I could communicate with plants. Nana's ability lets her communicate with animals. It's normal to talk to animals, but it's weird to do the same thing to plants. The first person who doesn't find this weird is Rito-san. Rito-san also enjoys taking care of plants too. Whenever I go to sleep with him, I always feel and secure under his arms. However, like you said, he is destined for my sister. No matter how much I love Rito-san, there's no way I am allowed to take him."

"WHAT!?" Everyone is shocked at Momo's announcement. They could also see tears flowing from Momo's eyes.

"I thought I had a chance after Peke explained about the possibility of Rito-san having multiple wives. As the king of the universe, he will no longer be bound to the rules of earth. I thought it would be great chance to build a harem and have all of us girls to share our love with Rito-san. Therefore, I could have Rito-san as much as onee-sama does and Rito-san could notice me more. Now, that idea is ruined."

Everyone takes over a minute to think about what they just heard.

"Momo," Lala is the first to respond. "Thank you for telling me your feelings. However, as Deviluke sisters, we can all share Rito. We can add Haruna into the mix as well. Rito doesn't mind, right?" Lala looks at Rito who has been staying silent for this entire time.

"All three plus Haruna? That's too much for me to handle. It's better to stick with earth's laws and go with one."

"That's OK! I don't want to be married to a beast! I want a strong decisive man with great morale." Nana is happy with the rejection.

"Ohoho… Nana-chan. That's what you say when you're out in front. However, your story changes in private. Why don't you express your feelings just like what Momo-chan did?"

"I don't have to. I'm not as much into Rito as Momo is!" Nana makes her declaration.

Issei steps up and walks over to Momo. "Momo, I understand your situation. If you really want a successful harem with Rito, I can help you out. I have lots of experience myself."

"What do you know about harems?" Momo ungratefully asks Issei. "A man like you probably doesn't understand this at all. A woman's heart is too complex for someone like you to understand."

"I know a lot." Issei creates a small magic circle to his dorm room and pulls out a photo album. "I might not look like it, but I had problems with girls too. Just like Rito, I would constantly get beaten by my fellow female classmates."

Issei flips through a few more pages in the album looking for a photo of Rias. "However, through some bizarre circumstances, this girl ended up in my room one morning. Her name is Rias Gremory and she's a devil. Through circumstances, she made me one of her devil servants. It was scary at first because I didn't want to live a new life as a devil. Later, I started realizing that there were many more benefits as a devil. Earth's laws no longer apply to me anymore. Once I become a high-class devil like I am now, I could have any kind of servant I wanted. I could even build a harem if I wanted to."

Rito looks at himself and then asks Issei. "Wait, if I'm your servant, does that mean I'm part of your harem?"

"Nope! Well, I originally wanted to become a high-class devil as quick as possible so I could earn my peerage pieces and build up my harem. However, after seeing you fall, I realized it was better to help poor souls out. That's what my master Rias did with her peerage pieces. Also, since I already have her, I don't feel the urge like I used to any more. Rias is truly a gift that I won't find in other women. If Rias isn't enough, she has other girls in her group that I can have. I guess you can call that a perfect harem." Issei flips through album looking for a representative photo of his harem. He finds one in the dead center of the album and puts it in the middle of the table. "Here's a 'family shot' that we took before I headed off to college.

"Wow! There are so many girls in this photo." In the photo, Momo, Nana, Lala, Mea, and Rito see many girls crowding around Issei. In the back are Rias and Akeno. To the left of Issei is Irina and to the right is Xenovia. Asia is holding onto Issei's right thigh followed by Ravel on the left thigh. At the legs are Koneko and Gasper. Further to the right is Rossweisse and further to the left is Kiba. There is also Grayfia next to Rias and Ophis next to Akeno. Le Ray appears in the bottom left corner along with Kuroka in the bottom right corner.

Issei continues his story. "At first, my only intent was to help these girls out. Even Rias had problems too. She was under a planned engagement with Riser and was desperate to break it. It was quite sad to see her in pain so I had to do something about it. Despite Riser having many advantages such as being a pure-blood devil with rating game experience, I defeated him in a solo match. After that, Rias started moving closer to me and we ended up as a true couple. The same thing happened with the other girls, Akeno with her father, Asia with Diodoras, and even Rossweisse."

"Interesting," Momo analyzes Issei's approach. She jots down a series of notes in her notebook that she uses for her eroge games. "If Rito-san acts more heroic, he'll get more girls."

"So you see Momo," Issei addresses Momo directly, "It takes more than a carnivorous beast and seduction to make this harem plan a reality. Hiding it from everyone isn't going to help either. All these girls in the picture know each other very well. Sooner or later, Rito's harem will experience the same."

Momo thinks for a moment. "Your approach makes sense. However, the girls in your harem are not human and don't mind sharing you around. What about human girls? Like Rito-san, they only abide by the rules of the earth: one man marries exactly one woman. If all those girls found out about my plan, they would break up with him and my whole plan would fall apart. Most of these girls have growing feelings for Rito-san and probably want all to them self. The only possible way to make this harem plan work is to make Rito-san a carnivorous beast. As the king of the universe, he will use his brawny powers to drag every girl he can into his harem. The girls would have no chance to escape and be forced to bow down to the almighty Rito-san."

Issei finds Momo's logic strange. "That technique sounds more like kidnapping instead of love. Even though Rito has the authority to do so as the king, he won't have peaceful harem. Without true love, these girls in Rito's harem will try to escape instead."

Issei analyzes Momo's current situation. "It's great that many girls already have some kind of affection towards Rito. That at least covers most of the steps to build a harem. Focus on the remaining steps. How can you establish love between Rito and the girl? What's missing? Just like you, they may need some encouragement to move forward. Maybe there's something stopping them. Is it because they refuse to share Rito with someone else? Maybe Rito is the problem. He's probably resistant to these confessions or he might be doing something that is slowing down the progress. Those slip, grope, and molest accidents come into mind."

"That makes sense. I think there's somewhere with that problem." Momo then gives a wink at Nana.

"What are you looking at Momo? It doesn't apply to me!" Nana denies Momo's suspicions.

"Is that so, Nana? You're probably hiding it too. You bragged about Rito-san comforting you when you nearly broke up with Mea. …and you would often worry about his poor sleeping and dieting habits. You snuck into Rito-san's bed too."

"Shut up! That didn't happen."

"It looks like Nana has some affection towards Rito too. Even her cheeks are red," Issei carelessly replies. "Well Momo, it looks like your sister is a good place for you to start; she fits the description of someone who needs some guidance."

"That's correct," Momo makes an evil smile at Nana. "See, even you can't hide from dragon-san's sense. At least I revealed mine. Now, who is the better twin?"

"I'm older than you and that's what counts," Nana makes a childish reply.

"Oh the way, I forgot to tell you. My name is Issei Hyoudou. You can call me Issei." Issei forgot to introduce himself to Momo and everyone else.

"Issei-san it is." Momo shakes hands with Issei and she walks over to Rito.

"Rito-san, you heard what Issei-san said. There are many girls waiting for you and it is important that you return the feelings of all those girls. You know it's rude to leave Haruna-san, Yui-san, Rin-san, and all those other girls behind. Even Issei-san agrees that you can have as many girls you want."

"I want just one girl," says Rito.

"Why have one when you can have them all? We can all be your wives." Lala supports Momo and Issei's plan.

"Gulp! I thought Issei promised that we could put the harem plan aside for now." Rito miscalculated.

"You'll have to face it eventually," Issei answers Rito. "Don't forget that part of my training is to make you feel more comfortable about the privileges and abilities that devils have but not humans. One of these privileges is to live above earth's law. You don't seem to realize how many girls you have attracted during your high school years, do you? Man, your resistance against multiple lovers is strong. Even this Momo problem is a result of your own resistance and denial. See? She isn't dangerous as you thought."

"How come no one understands how I feel? Why is it always ladies first?"