Disclaimer: I own nothing related to To-Love Ru, if I did, then the series would still be on-going.
Regular exposition text looks like this.
"Speech looks like this."
'Internal thoughts appear like this'.
"Mindscape discussions appear like this."
:=:
Summer. When you think of that word you imagine relentless heat, long days of travel under the sun as your body drowns itself in sweat. An experience most unlikeable. The chances of anyone enjoying this season are near zero.
That only holds true If you're not a high school student.
As Naoto listened to the ever-active gossip-mill of the class, the only topic of discussion he could hear was Summer and the upcoming Seaside School. Well, that and the galactic princess with pink hair, not that anyone but only a very select few knew about the galactic princess part.
'I wonder how nobody realizes something is odd when someone with a literal tail keeps coming to school. Maybe I should start my own gimmick if the students are so accepting. Perhaps a candlelight dinner set for lunch' mused Naoto, his sense of reality already in pieces after the recent events he'd faced in the prior few weeks.
"But I've heard there's a typhoon headed towards Japan. Would the seaside school be canceled?" Naoto overheard one of the classmates mention. Indeed, there was a significant typhoon predicted to headed towards Japan. Alas, nature cares not for the dreams of high schoolers.
"Don't worry Kempachi-san! Our belief in the summer dream will vanish the storm!" Class president excitedly proclaimed. His eyes shining, quite literally so, with his trust in the power of belief.
'If only natural phenomenon could be vanished through human belief, would have been handy' Naoto considered, as he packed up for the way back home. He intended to recover his sanity this summer, with the seaside school no longer a factor for consideration.
"I'm going to study and catch up on some material I had been planning to read" he told Mikan, who he ran into on the way back home.
"I'll get so many chores finished with this time I now have!" he promised, as he sat down to have dinner in the quiet of his home.
"I hate this world" he murmured as the news reported the typhoon turning away from Japan, as if blown away.
Naoto had forgotten that logic and reason were not on a streak of good fortune in the recent weeks.
:=:
'What a disaster' Naoto sighed, now on route to the Seaside school that nearly everyone had been so excited for. The plan was of a three-day seaside experience, though the exact details had not been disclosed to the students.
While Naoto appreciated nature like anyone else who had lived too long in the city would have, what he was not looking forward to, was a concern clear to any spectator.
"The girls must be taking a bath right now; it is our duty to peek!" The ever so consistent class president proclaimed, presenting said concerning behavior to the others in the male dorm of the seaside inn. Unfortunately for Naoto, that concerning behavior was naught but a duty the other believed they were born to fulfill.
As Naoto excused himself to go to the restroom, his prodigious reputation coming in handy as none of his classmates attempted to drag him alongside to a one-way road to punishment, he recalled the plan for the seaside school communicated yet far.
"A dare at the night for the first day, beach for the second and time to return on the third. Sounds innocent enough" he mumbled, but he was certain that these innocent events would somehow have perverse outcomes, one way or another.
His belief was proven true as screams of "Pervert" and "The principal is peeking!" were heard throughout the inn. His quest to survive the seaside experience had only just begun.
As he walked towards the place set for the dare for that night, he worried if he'd run into some real ghosts.
"If my luck remains as it has these few weeks, even the ghosts would be perverted" his sigh could not be heard by the students who were fueled by the desire of the dare, and the superstitious belief it promised.
:=:
Those who reach the goal together will become a real couple.
Sairenji Haruna could not get that thought out of her head as she walked to the place where lots would be drawn to pair students for the dare.
'If I were to be paired with Yuuki-kun…' she dreamed, sighing afterwards as the boy she liked was receiving the affection of another for the past few weeks.
'But Lala-san is too nice' Haruna considered as she looked towards the pink headed cheerful girl walking beside her. Haruna could not possibly dislike the pink-head, though it was unlikely that Haruna had the potential to dislike anyone else, given her kind nature.
'I'm still not sure about the tail however' She was sure that Lala's tail was growing directly out of her butt as she saw in the bath just a bit ago, but maybe as Mio had said it was simply a sophisticated accessory.
Her mind was still slightly lost as she drew the number deciding her pair, noticing she had drawn #5. Her eyes wandered towards Rito, as she talked with her friends Risa and Mio, discussing what number they had drawn and what they thought the dare would be like.
"I bet there's gonna be some reeaaaal spooky ghosts in there" Momioka Risa one of her friends was scaring the other, Sawada Mio.
"I'm sure the teacher's have carefully checked the path we'll be taking, Mio" Haruna comforted Mio, though Risa had surely managed to instill a slight worry in Haruna as well. Surely having the person she liked by her side would remove all fear for the upcoming dare, she hoped.
Haruna's hopes however were for naught as she saw Rito draw #13, pairing up with Lala who had drawn the same number. 'Ahhh, Haruna you cannot give up just yet.' Sheconsoled herself, sighing as Risa and Mio were paired with others, with the boys now having finished their draws.
"Are you #5 Sairenji-san?" she was approached, just as she was wondering who she would be paired for, the upcoming dare looking increasingly dreadful.
"I'm Suzuki Naoto from 1-C" she was greeted by the school celebrity who had appeared in front of her, holding the same number she had drawn.
:=:
The night darkened as Haruna walked onwards on the path for the dare, the only light available being the lanterns held by her and Naoto.
"Aren't you scared of ghosts, Suzuki-san?" she asked the prodigy. His talent was famous in their school for having the highest scores within the entire state. He appeared calm as they walked in the dark, with four pairs of students having headed onwards before them.
"You know very well that ghosts do not exist Sairenji-san" he answered calmly. His pace was consistent as he walked slightly ahead of Haruna, as if leading the way, unconcerned of the dark.
'At least I wasn't paired with someone difficult' she found some solace in the fact that her dare was looking to be a smooth journey. 'But I feel like the dare has lost its purpose' she sighed recalling the walk yet far.
They had encountered a Samurai bleeding, shot with arrows. Haruna had been terrified, as she stood rooted on the spot, urging her feet to move so she could run away. As she looked towards Naoto for help, the help she received was not what she expected.
"Your laces are undone Setsu-san" Naoto had calmly pointed out to the Samurai, who he later told her he had recognized due to his shoes, which the inn worker had forgotten to switch.
While Haruna was no longer terrified after being thanked by the bloodied samurai, she felt like something important had been lost from the intent of the dare.
The terrifying task had been reduced to a stroll through the mountain. While the dark of the night was concerning, it was no longer scary.
"You're a bit too remarkable Suzuki-san" Haruna softly murmured, as Naoto looked back at her with an unamused expression.
"Would you have preferred to have an experience like theirs?" smiled Naoto as he gestured towards some of the previous pairs, running back towards them, scared out of their wits. "I don't know about you Sairenji-san but I would prefer a calm walk over an exhausting ordeal". He seemed to be distressed with the dare itself, and not the experience that the dare brought.
As the pair walked forward slowly, chatting about school and the upcoming study year, Haruna sighed inside, 'I wish I'd been paired with Yuuki-kun' she imagined Rito valiantly helping her through the dare, as they escaped the scares that the inn staff had planned for them.
Just a short while after they had seen Saruyama Kenichi, Rito's friend, run past them towards the wrong direction as if he seen a ghost, they heard a student shout from behind.
"Lala! Where did you go!" Haruna could hear Rito behind them, likely having been separated from Lala for some reason.
'Ah, Yuuki-kun is alone in this dark mountain!' She was suddenly concerned for the boy she liked, looking back towards the path she had Naoto had just walked through. Saddened yet again that she could not be with Rito for this dare, her expression was clearly downcast as her head hung low. Dream as she might, there was no longer any hope for it to come true.
"Sairenji-san, I have an idea if you're interested"
That was till Naoto gave her a ray of hope.
:=:
'That was a bullet, no, a ticking bomb dodged' Naoto considered, as he gazed at Haruna walking towards the direction of Rito's voice.
While he did not remember any dare or the outcome of it from the storyline he could recall, he was entirely certain that it did not involve him being paired with one of the main heroines of the story. Haruna was Rito's crush, and Rito was Haruna's, however both were unable to confess their feelings due to random circumstances occurring in an anime fashion. And Naoto refused to be the subject of one of those random instances.
His fear for the dare and the existence of real ghosts in this fictional world was entirely outclassed by his dread as soon as he realized he had been paired with Haruna. Every moment they walked on the path of the dare could have been a character developing moment for Haruna and Rito, if they had been destined to be paired together. Naoto did however believe that that was not how it was fated to be, since Rito had been paired with Lala.
"I leave it back in your hands, invisible powers beyond" he prayed to whatever cosmic entity ruled over the crazy world he was now a resident of, walking away towards the destination of the dare.
He was entirely certain that Rito, Haruna and most likely Lala would end up in some scenario that would further erode his remaining sanity.
Talking with Haruna, one of the prominent characters of the story, much more prominent than Mikan, had been interesting. While she appeared to be as kind as he recalled from the story he had once read, she was also quite attentive, having only been scared once while she did not realize that the ghosts were workers from the inn. All the scary folk they met afterwards had a diminishing effect on her, with her being able to identify a few by herself.
'Maybe it will be Rito who depends on her for the remaining route, instead of her depending on Rito' Naoto mused, lost in thought as he ignored a werewolf pouncing in his path. The inn workers were really dedicated to their craft.
As he reached the finish line, he was approached by an existence truly abhorrent, the likes of whom Naoto wondered if even aliens would be able to match, the principal.
"Congratulations! You are the first pair to reach the finish lin- wait, where is the girl you were paired with? We cannot consider this to be a success if you alone reach the finish line young man!" the creature said, as the women from the Inn were clapping behind him.
Naoto simply nodded along, ignoring the creature, as he took a token of success from the Inn workers and headed on his route back through the stairs to the side.
As he heard wild screams of multiple people screaming about real ghosts on his way down the stairs, coming from the path of the dare, he smiled to himself.
"Consistency is important, but speed truly is the key to success." His first day at the seaside school had thankfully been without any major incidents.
:=:
The human body was truly peculiar. Emotions experienced by the body were often impossible to entirely curb, even if undesired. For it was only due to teenage hormones that he could not move his gaze away from the girls playing on the beach. That is what Naoto consoled his mind with, as he relaxed under the shade, now on the second day of his seaside school experience.
'That, and the fact that every girl here is a top-class beauty' he admitted silently to himself. Perhaps due to the nature of the story, the girls of his school year could all attempt to become models and likely succeed at their task. Within these girls however one person stood out, a splash of pink hair unlikely to exist outside of cosplay, that belonged to the galactic princess, Lala Satalin Deviluke.
Even now Naoto found himself surprised on the reality of his existence within the world of To-love Ru. Seeing Lala in person simply drove the fact of this reality further, with any excuses Naoto could have made to rebuff that reality being reduced to atoms.
The beach day was thankfully much easier on his sanity than the day of the dare, with him having occupied a place of shade slightly away from the remaining boys who were salivating at the view in front of them. Naoto couldn't really blame them given that he too found himself looking from time to time, and the fact that internet did not exist in this world to provide an outlet to the boys' imagination.
He did blame the one whose imagination was running slightly too wild, as the scream of "Swimsuit thief!" was heard from the girls, many of them crouching down into the water to protect their modesty.
"Another calm day goes down to the drain" Naoto muttered as he stood up to walk towards the students who were grouping up to likely hunt whoever had stolen the swimsuits. How someone human was able to steal swimsuits away from the girls while they were in the sea was an entirely different topic.
'Maybe an alien is involved in this incident?' Naoto considered, now concerned if the alien was a potential risk to the safety of the students gathered to discuss the crimes committed. His concerns however were eased as he saw Lala and Rito group together to search for the thief, as everyone else also divided apart to search. If an alien was involved, it would gravitate naturally towards those two, keeping the others safe.
"We must find and punish the enviou- I mean horrible person who stole the swimsuits, Suzuki-san!" Class president was just as excited as always, as he grouped with Naoto for the search of the culprit. Naoto was however less than interested in truly searching for the culprit, as it seemed increasingly unlikely for a human to achieve this feat. It would be best if the resolution was left to Lala and Rito, and the rest of the main cast.
After some time spent looking pointlessly, wandering around the beach, Naoto realized that he had skipped critical information in his initial conjecture. There did exist a human who could achieve the feat of swiping the swimsuits from the girls while they were within the sea, and escape unseen. One who had the motivation to perform such task.
'But could this creature be called a human?' Naoto shook his head in disgust, calling out to the Class President, "Class president, I've found our thief", while pointing towards a pile of swimsuits being joyously enjoyed by a hideous being at one of the beaches shores.
As the class president rounded up the other students to apprehend the culprit, Naoto promised within, to not forget to consider this variable in any future incidents.
The creature known as the Principal of Sainan High could not be called Human.