Author's Note: I originally intended on making this chapter solely about Rito's workout. However, after the release of the latest To Love-Ru Darkness chapter (73), I felt inspired to put some of Rito harem issues into this chapter.
It's natural that Issei's ideas and Momo's ideas would converge at some point. In a sense, the idea of having all of Rito's girls sleeping in his bed on a regular basis is one of Momo's ultimate goals. Issei has already reached that goal after Volume 12, but Rito still has a long way to go.
I'm not really sure what more I can do with the third-party characters like the Floral Club girls. For now, they will remain as side characters.
Published 12/2/2016
Chapter 20:
The Day at the Park
"Wake up Rito. Rise and shine."
It is now the following weekend after the disastrous summoning request. Rito hasn't fully recovered yet, but his recovery has reached the point where he is able to remove all his bandages and casts. Rito takes a quick glance at the alarm clock and then goes back to bed.
"Leave me alone Issei. It's 5:30 AM and it's impolite to call someone up this early especially after a long week."
Issei pulls Rito's blanket away. "We need to get your body up to shape Rito. A novice devil like you should have been able to conquer that last summoning request. If I did the mission, I would not have allowed the criminal father to make it to the crime boss in the basement with that girl. Your failure indicates that I need to train your body more."
"Well, that summoning request wasn't appropriate for my skill level then. It involved too much work. Just let me go back to sleep for now." Rito tries to pull the blanket up again.
"That won't do Rito." Issei opens the blinds and lets the morning light shine into the bedroom. "Mornings are always the best time for us devils because devils do poorly under the intense sunlight at noon. You'll wear out quickly if you exercise during the bright sunny afternoon. As a result, you won't be able to obtain as much workout as you would in the morning."
Issei looks out at the window. The morning sky reminds Issei of something from before. "Don't forget Rito, you are being targeted as well. I'm sure Darkness will return once they discover your resurrection. Whether it's to fulfill a contract or simply being jealous of you, she and everyone around her seemed intent about keeping you dead. I was able to knock them far away that they didn't witness your revival. However, that cover may be blown at any point. You should be ready in case they strike again."
"I guess so." Rito gets out of bed ungratefully accepting Issei's request. As Rito gets dressed, he thinks to himself some thoughts from Issei.
"Issei keeps making big claims that I don't understand. What is it about devils being more powerful than humans? As a devil per Issei's claims, do I really have more strength than everyone else around me? Even the Devilukes? Am I really the big beast that Momo thinks I am? Issei believes that if I keep training under him through girls or dangerous missions, I will eventually unlock something extravagant. There's no way I have powers of that sort. I'm an ordinary human being and Issei's just mistaken."
Issei observes Rito being confused. He responds by handing Rito his photo album and equipping his left arm with the Boosted Gear. "Is there anything wrong Rito? What are you thinking about? If you still have doubts over your powers, take a look at my arm. I never knew this was inside my body all along before I became a devil. If you look in the photo album, you can see that I was born from a human father and a human mother."
"There goes Issei showing off his talent again." Rito is getting tired of Issei's story.
"What I mean is that everyone is different including devils." Issei reemphasizes his point. "There are devils of all breeds throughout this world and all the neighboring worlds. Some devils are naturally born with a special ability whether it's a sacred gear or some innate ability while some devils aren't. Some devils have powers that are readily active while some devils have powers that are dormant. Plus, don't think that having useable powers gives you an advantage. Asia's "Twilight Healing' ability turned her into a working slave. People only sought her for medical needs. When Asia healed Diodoras, a pureblood devil, she was labeled a heretic and thrown out of church."
"There are also devils like me who had dormant powers inside their body. It takes the right amount of strength and hope to activate it. In fact, I became a devil because of this power. A fallen angel named Raynare killed me knowing that I had such power inside of me. She was worried that this power would harm the fallen angels. Little did I know, the blessing from Rias was what brought this power to life."
"That still doesn't apply to me," Rito doesn't see how Issei's words apply to him. "What if I am not the choice you thought I was?"
Issei continues. "Then, there are the devils without any special abilities. One example is a pureblood devil named Sairaorg. He was scarred and neglected by his father for not inheriting his family's ability, the Power of Destruction. This power was said to have put the Bael clan at the top of the devil rankings. Without it, Lord Bael became concerned that their dominance of being the most powerful clan in the Underworld would come to end under Sairaorg. Even though he got kicked out of the family and banned from being allowed to inherit the clan, his mother believed that Sairaorg could still shine. Sairaorg did. He worked on pure strength and became incredible in strength that few devils could match. Even though you are not a pureblood Rito, you can train and become someone like Sairaorg. That is, if you end up not having any ability at all."
Issei then brings out his stopwatch. "Say Rito, let's start shall we? I want to see what kind of strength you have."
Rito nods. As they walk outside, Issei is surprised to find many students awake at this hour. There are some students doing morning exercises. Some students are also reading books in the sun. However, there is one event attracting lots of people.
"Good morning everyone! Today's super-sweet special for the Sweets Park Café is this wonderful Green Tea cake. It is the purest cake you'll even find within 100 miles. It's made with pride at this place using only natural ingredients and zero sugar additives."
"Ooh!" Issei watches the crowd cheer in excitement. He sidetracks and continues to listen.
"Without further ado, let me introduce to you to the person who created this dish: Mitsuru Suou-san."
"This is the deal! This is the deal, I can't wait!" Upon closer examination of the event, Issei notices that many students from the Photography Club are in the crowd. They have their cameras ready for pictures of Mitsuru. Issei then looks back and finds Rito slowly drifting away.
"Is this crowd making you uncomfortable? I just wanted to know what this excitement is about. Many of our classmates are in the mix if you're interested." Issei addresses Rito.
"Uhh.. It's just that I remember seeing the girl from somewhere. She's most likely one of the Floral Club girls." Seeing a Floral Girl reminds Rito of the incident with Minamo regarding the 'lap pillow'. Even though a couple of weeks have passed by, he is pretty sure everyone including Issei remembers the event. Plus, the Photography Club members don't enjoy RIto's company and will try to distort Rito's image again if he gets near another Floral Club girl.
Issei continues to listen to Mitsuru's testimony about the special cake. "This treat is perfect to share with your special person. Once they take their first bite, they will quickly taste the warmth created by our secret formula of spices. The person will almost feel as if you are holding hands or embracing each other. Sigh. I wish my special person was here to try this out in front of everyone here. Since he is not here, how about I pick someone from this crowd as the demonstrator instead?"
Instantly, echoes of "pick me" can be heard. Rito moves farther away from the crowd hoping not to be spotted. Rito suspects that he is the 'special person' Mitsuru is talking about, showing himself to the unfavorable Photography Club. Instead, a strong muscular man comes to the front and offers himself to be demonstrator.
"I am Kendo Rowan, president of the Photography Club. As one of the top-achieving 3rd-year student academically, athletically, and socially, I believe it is best if you pick me to be your demonstrator. My presence as your demonstrator will naturally become a strong endorsement for your product. I also have many fans and VIP members that will follow my footsteps and help promote your product."
"Well, if it will generate more revenue for her shop, then I guess I'll choose you." Mitsuru reluctantly accepts Kendo's offer. As Kendo takes his first bite, the Photography Club quickly takes numerous pictures of him. After his first bite, Issei and Rito could hear a boisterous crowd cheering for Kendo. As Kendo takes more bites and receives subsequent shoots, Kendo goes overboard with his fame.
"Oh! I feel so warm and fuzzy from this cake that I'm going to take the creator out on date." Kendo quickly hugs Mitsuru, creating a golden opportunity for more shoots from The Photography Club. Mitsuru responds with loud screaming following by punches and kicks. As Mitsuru tries to break herself free, Issei could hear Kendo say harsh words such as "Stand still!", "The picture needs to look good!", and "You'll embarrass yourself when the next newspaper gets published." The other Floral Club girls come out to help Mitsuru, but they are easily outnumbered by the population of the Photography Club. The crowd eventually loses control with arguments, fights, and destruction of property. One of the cameras flies away from the crowd and breaks right in front of Issei.
"Wait! My pictures! My ¥100,000 camera! I'll be yelled at again for lateness too." One guy from the Photography Club goes to retrieve the camera fragments.
Issei watches the unfolding violence in disgust. "Wow! I didn't know pleasant events could suddenly turn sour. But I have to admit that Mitsuru looks cute from here. If I was in Kendo's position, I would be tempted to do something like that." Issei then snaps back into action. "Wait! I am supposed to be training Rito. I can worry about this later."
Rito and Issei move to a large park far away from the Sweets Park Café. Here, everyone is peacefully enjoying the environment surrounding them. One person is walking his dog while a few girls are doing yoga exercises on the lawn. Issei is watching Rito on his bicycle as he jogs along the bike path. As Rito jogs past the jungle gym, Issei notices something interesting about Rito.
"Say Rito, it looks like you're moving quite well. That's incredible for a new devil like you."
"You think so?" Rito asks Issei.
"Of course! You look energetic after a big lap around this park. How about 3 more laps for me?"
"WHAT?" Rito doesn't enjoy the added workload from Issei.
Next, Issei has Rito do a few pull-ups at a jungle gym nearby. He is impressed at Rito being able to do 20 pull-ups in a row without taking a break. "That's incredible; I never thought these exercises were easy for someone like you. Maybe your girl technique gave you this level of strength."
"Don't put it like that. It's not that I deliberately do it on my own will." Rito doesn't enjoy Issei's joke.
"How about you do 100 more pull-ups for me? Show me your true strength."
After a brutal workout, Issei hands Rito a can of cold cola from the vending machine.
"Say Rito, would you mind telling about your past? I am impressed with the amount of performance you were able to show me during your workout. To tell you the truth, even I wasn't able to do the things you were doing from the start. There must be something great that you have done in the past that you might have forgotten." Issei remembers how Kiba always outperformed him in the beginning. When they were carrying items up to Rias's vacation house in the mountains during the training camp for the rating game with Riser, Issei was struggling with his small load compared to Kiba whose load was 10 times larger in volume and weight.
"Umm…" Rito thinks for a moment. "I remember back in junior high school, I was a regular participant in many of the athletic events at school. There was this one medley relay where I somehow brought our class from last place to first place. During the beginning, our class was falling so far behind compared to other classes. By the time the baton was handed to me as the anchor, the other anchors were nearly halfway on their first lap. I tried my best and pushed myself knowing that I still had a chance to make a difference. When I passed the finish line, I had no idea that I won the race until the results were shown on the leader board. Everyone in the bleachers was shocked as we were handed the trophy."
Rito then remembers another event. "There was another event where I accidentally slipped on a sprint match. Despite the problem, I managed to get first place. I ran so fast that other people were pushing so hard to get to the finish line before me."
"Wow! That's sounds like an impressive history Rito. I would have liked to see that kind of Rito instead of one who is panicking everywhere with regards to women. Where did that Rito go? Did something happen in high school that caused you to change your mind?"
Rito doesn't know how to respond to that. He only remembered that his high school workload has caused him to turn away from his athletic participation. He also remembered how his father suddenly got busy with his manga work. After many years of creating manga, his father became filled with numerous ideas. He had to get them all out on paper before he forgot.
"Well, I guess it was just the increased workload in high school. There were so many assignments to do." Rito then questions Issei back. "I told about my past. What about you Issei? Do you have anything great to share with me?"
"Umm…" The question stumps Issei. Before he met Rias, he did not have anything meaningful to share. He and his friends Matsuada and Motohama often went on a perversion mission, seeking every opportunity to see images of nude women.
"Well, I always hung out with my friends. We enjoyed eating lunch together and even went to many video game arcades in the afternoon. There was even one time when we went to watch movies together."
"That movie was called "Don't Touch". You even have a DVD of it. Tell him the truth." Issei could hear Ddraig talk from his left arm. The moment Ddraig finishes, Issei quickly hides his left arm from Rito.
"Shh… Quiet. Plus, you weren't even active yet. Therefore, you know nothing about my middle school life. Don't give false facts about me to Rito."
"Don't Touch? I remember seeing that title somewhere." The name sounds familiar to Rito. "I remember Momo secretly hiding something like that underneath a bag of groceries for Mikan. She nearly made me watch it that one night on my own personal TV in the room. That Momo is sure sneaky."
"Don't listen to him! I had no desire to watch it. It's just that I was forced in by my friends." Rito watches Issei as he continues to downplay Ddraig's words. Ddraig is trying to keep Issei from hiding his weaknesses especially since Issei's perversion has brought unwanted nicknames for him. Suddenly, a slice of special Green Tea cake slides right in front of Rito.
"Good morning Rito-san. Here are some refreshments for your tough workout."
"Waahh!" Rito turns to the left and finds Momo smiling at him. "Why are you here Momo? Where did you come from?"
"I was just taking my usual morning walk. It's a great day to be outside where I am not monitored by Mikan-san. I'm also taking a tour of Sainan University since I will be attending this college next year. Isn't it exciting to have the wonderful me as your future classmate?"
"Umm… Not really…" Momo knows Rito would give a discouraging reply. Rito rarely shows excitement for anything remotely linked to Momo.
Rito then looks down at the plate. He realizes that the cake is similar to the one at the Sweets Park Café. "By the way, isn't this the same Green Tea cake from the Sweets Park Café? Why are you giving this to me?"
"Oh! I just thought it would be great for you to taste this cake. The Floral Club girls really put all their heart into making this. You should pay your respects and try some. Look at Nana-san over there. She's enjoying a slice of it without hesitation."
Rito finds Mea taking a bite out of Nana's slice of cake. "This is pretty good Nana-chan. It just needs a bit more sugar."
"Yeah, Mea with her sweet fetish." Nana looks at Mea with disgust before making a suggestion. "Maybe for part 2, they should create different flavors. I'm sure ane-ue would like a version with dark matter."
Momo then continues. "Say Rito-san. How have you been with Issei-san at your side? I'm sure you are doing quite well. I hear that Issei-san has lots of materials beneficial for your mind and soul. He even showed me some of his top favorites the other day."
"WHAT? Did you see it?" Rito clearly knows what Momo means by 'materials'. It is not surprising that Issei shared his unhealthy dose of 'materials' with Momo. Both people are constantly reminding him of his harem and how he should accept their feelings.
"While you were in Tearju-sensei's lab getting treatments, I learned a lot from Issei-san. Remember that picture we saw with Issei-san's girls? He introduced me to them and gave me some valuable insight that would be useful for you. You haven't forgotten my message regarding all of the girls around you, haven't you? Once their love reaches a certain point, they will want to be intimate with you. Issei-san naturally has many visitors sleeping with him on a nightly basis. I'm positive that such event will come to you eventually Rito-san. You should be prepared when that happens."
"Why are you talking about this Momo? This isn't the right place to be talking about this." Rito reminds Momo that they're outside.
"Oh is that so Rito-san?" The environment doesn't seem to bother Momo one bit. "I don't think anybody minds when you have all sort of girls at your side. I'm sure that 'special someone' Mitsuru-san was talking about when she was introducing this cake to a large group of people is you. It's rude to break someone's heart like that."
"Yeah, Momo's going off with her usual delusions again." Rito pretends that he listened to Momo.
"Say Rito-san. Let's go over to the Sweets Park Café afterwards. I'll have the Floral Club girls prepare a special treat for all of us. They've missed you a lot Rito-san. You haven't visited them ever since you accidentally pulled Minamo-san's skirt down."
"There's no way I would go there when the Photography Club is out there trying to attack me," Rito quickly responds.
"No worries Rito-san. These boys are easy to control. I'll just use a little bit of my magic and voila, they'll be restrained."
Rito can easily picture what will happen if they went to Sweets Park Café afterwards. The Floral Club girls will easily crowd around Rito with all their treats. Right behind them will be angry club members from the Photography Club.
"Rito-kun! Try this entrée out. I'm still working on it, but I hope it's good enough for you."
"How about you spend a night with us? We still have yet to give a tour of our place. Momo-san could lead the way as she's seen our place a couple of times."
"Damn you Rito! You're setting this up to make all of us look bad! You're just a bug that won't die no matter how many times we've step on you."
As Rito begins to panic from all the predictions, he hears a voice that rescues him.
"MOMO!" The familiar voice can be heard from behind.
"Oh crap! I got caught!" Momo knows what she did wrong. She turns her head and finds a furious Mikan standing behind her.
"So this is where you went! Geez, I thought with Rito in college, you two would get some space in between. I guess I need to double up on my surveillance."
"Well Mikan-san, I was just taking a morning walk and I happened to come across Rito-san. It's a coincidence, isn't it?" Momo tries to laugh it off.
"Cut that crap out Momo!" Mikan grabs Momo by tail. Rito could easily hear Momo scream in pain. "You promised me that you were going to wash the floor of the entire house. Instead, you snuck off. You've wasted my time as I had to go search for you."
"You can have Nana do it instead. She's always hanging out with Mea and not doing much housework." Momo shifts the blame to Nana.
"Don't blame me for it. I cleaned up ane-ue's living quarters yesterday and was given permission to go out with Mea today. You did nothing but play "Gold Star: The Awakening" all day yesterday. Now you have to make it up."
"That's right Momo. You're coming home with me. No more dilly-dallying with Rito!" Rito watches as Mikan drags Momo home. Nana and Mea follow behind. With those three girls out of the way, Rito watches Issei return from his little confrontation with Ddraig.
"Ehehe… I hope you didn't hear that Rito." Issei tries to act innocent.
"You mean 'Don't Touch'?"
"Oh no! You did hear it. Anyways, we should schedule sometime with Momo and watch 'Don't Touch' together. It is a pretty neat movie with a well-written script. Perhaps you can learn a thing or two from that movie. I'm sure it will help you understand a little more about Momo, Lala, and all of the other girls around you."
"As if a porn movie would help. I'll pass." Rito does not welcome Issei's idea.