Through Heart and Soul: To Love-Ru (改訂版)

by The Red Infinity

(A rewrite with DRASTIC changes.) Sainan Town is a small city on the outskirts of Japan which is known to be a peaceful and quiet town. One of the residents, Yuuki Rito lives a quiet life there with living and spiritual alike. That is, until the greater worlds of both the spiritual realms and outer space collide and it falls into Rito's hands to help rework the balance of it all.

4. Space Invader!

⦏ Bleach (stylized as BLEACH) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. It was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from August 2001 to August 2016, with its chapters collected into 74 tankoban volumes. The series has spawned a media franchise that includes an anime television series adaptation that was produced by Tokyo-based Studio Perrot from 2004 to 2012, two original video animation (OVA) episodes, four animated feature films, ten stage musicals, and numerous video games, as well as many types of Bleach-related merchandise. A Japanese live-action film adaptation produced by Warner Bros. was released in 2018. ⦐
⦏ To LOVE-Ru is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hisemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat. The manga was serialized in Shuiesha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from April 2006 to August 2009, and the chapters collected into 18 tankoban volumes. From that manga was spawned an anime series produced by Xebex and directed by Takao Kato with a sequel named Motto To LOVE-Ru, three original video animation (OVA) episodes, and numerous video games. ⦐
⦏ As shown above, I do not own the characters introduced or alluded to within either series but am simply a writer telling of a fanfiction that's aim is to meld their stories together. . . Possibly. ⦐
ー Disclaimer

---

⦏ Monday: May 5th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 12:16 p.m. ❳

"PRINCIPAL, THIS IS ABSURD!"

Slamming against a desk were Kotegawa's hands as she stared directly into the obscured eyes of a round man who wore a maroon suit with a lavender tie. Over his eyes were a pair of black tinted sunglasses as the hair over his head was hair styled into a pair of bull horns. Short in stature compared to Yui, he certainly seemed miniscule in his chair.

"What is absurd, Yui-chwan?"

He spoke in a cutesy tone, though his voice certainly seemed on the raspier side for pulling such tricks with it.

Kotegawa seemed desensitized to this. Sliding her hand into her skirt pocket, she drew from it her phone. On it was a picture of Lala which she was sent directly from one of her fellow Public Morals Committee members who was investigating the source of new rumors surging around the school.

"Do you not recall my report to you that this is the exact person I told you was an intruder last week?!"

Adjusting his bifocals, the man leaned forward in his chair to examine the photo. As he looked closer, a coy grin adorned his features. His cheeks flushed with a light pink color as he suddenly leaned back in his chair, his chest lumping out of proportion in a heart shape. Clasping his hands together, he swayed to either side as his body's invisible aura came to evaporate into tiny hearts.

"Oh~ You mean the cutey, Lala-swan~ Of course I let her in, she was just too adorable to say no to~!"

Kotegawa watched the principal swoon over a girl she explicitly warned him could pose danger to the student body. After all, just a small dog was capable of nearly tearing her uniform to shreds. Just imagining what she could have at her disposal.

Principal hopped out of his chair and spun around the room. Leaping around, he spoke random nonsense about the amount of cute girls in the student body.

Kotegawa's lips curled into a frown as her brows furrowed at his actions. Perhaps the thing that was absurd is that this person was the one who was in charge of this institution. Rubbing her temple, she decided it was for the best to not press the matter any further. Turning away, she took her leave.

Her point seemed even further proven by the fact Principal was too focused on leaping back and forth across his office to even notice her leave.

---

⦗ BGM Cue ー youthful lunch ⦅ Shoji Meguro ⦆ ⦘

"What were you thinking, Lala?!"

Rito's voice echoed through the air above them as he, Lala, and Rukia were gathered on the roof.

Scratching the back of his head, the boy rattled his mind over this sudden turn of events. Pacing back and forth, he could practically smell the confused tilt of the head Lala gave in response. Spinning on his heel, he frowned at her with his arms crossed.

"Kotegawa's probably put a target on your back for what happened last week. Now you transfer in a week later and place the eyes of the entire school on you."

"Well-"

"Defending you became a hassle when I found out you told people we were living together too!"

Rito rubbed his temple with a long-winded sigh. Turning away from the girl, he began to ponder over how to deal with this predicament the princess has given him. As he did, Lala behind him placed her hands behind her back with a pout.

"But, Rito~ I did it so we could be together all the time~"

Lala placed a hand on either cheek. Her cheeks flushing with a light pink color. As she glanced in Rito's direction with a thoughtful gaze, she gave a smile when she made eye contact with the boy. Rito found himself choking on his rebuttal as his hand wrinkled and clutched into a fist as his face was covered in a similar flush.

"W-Well.. The excuse that you're a distant relative seems to be working for now."

Clearing his throat, Rito gave a deep inhale to quell the blood rushing to his face. Exhaling, he closed his eyes as he let his previously rattled thoughts gather together as they were meant to. Allowing them to align into their proper form, he gave a huff before turning back toward Lala again.

"How did you even take care of the transferring procedure?"

"Oh, that?"

Lala tapped a finger against her chin, pondering over it. After a moment's thought, a spark of inspiration ran through her on what could be the answer. Pointing towards the sky, she gave a giggle as she recalled the interaction more clearly now.

"That's right! It was super easy~ I made a request to some guy called Principal, and he said You're cute, so sure! or something along those lines."

The deadpan expression Rito gave in response was so prevalent the color drained out of his body and leaked out to the world beside him as small waves to represent his disappointment. Of course the principal would give such a response. Now all of his questions that may have seemed critical before now proved trivial. This school was built on a principal beyond reason. It was part of the reason the girl to boy ratio in the student body was so out of proportion, after all. In fact, he could only count off of two hands any major names of males in the 3rd Year class this year, much less the 2nd. In fact, his own graduating class will be the first in 10 years since the principal took over the mantle that the male population was higher than the female.

He supposed that was why the Public Morals Committee was much harder on his class. Or, more accurately, on the boys. He supposed he could not prove that there was absolutely no possibility that there would be a megalo-maniac pervert amongst the male populous, but even the girls find their overly cautious procedures to be annoying.

As he thought over that, his mind eventually went to his inevitable landing point: Kotegawa.

"Well, now that that's settled.."

Lala and Rito both turned to Rukia, who was fiddling their hands around a small object in her hands. Her brow flittering to either side as it furrowed in her attempts, she gave a final huff. Presenting the item to the two of them, it was revealed to be a small orange juice box with a small rabbit wearing a basketball jersey holding a strawberry.

"How do I drink this?"

"Uh- The straw..? It's pretty obvious."

"Straw?"

Rukia tilted her head, a question mark appearing over her head as she examined the box closer. Twirling it in her head, she finally uncovered the straw attached the to the back of the box. Pulling it off, she only found herself even more confused.

Rito sighed, rubbing his temple as Lala skipped over to look at the object Rukia was struggling with. Brought out of his thoughts by a whistle breaking the silence, he looked to see Mizuiro carrying in his left hand a water bottle and a lunch box in his right.

"Wow~ I thought I'd find you guys together up here."

Rito's mouth flickered a bit as he saw his friend approaching. Offering a small salute, the two exchanged their greetings. Lala and Rukia both shot a glance to Mizuiro, who smiled to them.

"Am I really that predictable..? Damn, guess I'll try harder next time."

"Y'know, you've been spending so much time with the transfer students. Rumors are going around. I know you're pretty dense about those kinds of things, but c'mon, man-"

The four then took to seat themselves against the railing. Lala bounced on her knees over to Rito's side as she looked to Mizuiro with a bright face.

"Oh! Oh! I remember you! You're.. Mizumi?"

"That's close," Mizuiro added on a small laughter, "It's Mizuiro."

"Kojima-kun, right?" Rukia chimed in, pointing the straw in her hand toward her classmate.

"Oh, wow, Kuchiki-san! You remembered even though we never properly introduced ourselves!" Mizuiro beamed, giving a peace sign, "It's nice to properly meet you! My hobbies include-"

"Womanizing." Rito quickly spat, snickering as he rested his head upon his chin.

"R-Rito! Don't say something like that! You're making me sound horrible!"

Mizuiro gave a pout as he shot his gaze to the auburn. When he saw it, Rito turned his attention to Rukia, jabbing a thumb in Mizuiro's direction.

"That's the face ya gotta watch out for the most. When the ladies see that one, he's already got them wrapped around his fingers."

"Hey, Rito, quit that." Mizuiro frowned, "You may not care about your reputation, but I care about mine. Besides, I'm into older girls."

"Yeah. That's why I warned her-" Rito more said that to himself than to Mizuiro.

"Wait, huh?"

Of course, Rito did not expect Mizuiro to understand what the former meant by what he said. While she may look like she's even younger than either of the two are, she's actually over a tenfold their age. Rukia, however, was not paying attention to their conversation as her focus lied on the juice box and the secret to accessing what was inside.

Rito began to drink from his own juice box as he looked over to a figure approaching from the distance. As the figure reached the group, they looked around with a brow quipped.

"Something wrong, Keigo?"

"Nah. I was just surprised that Saruyama isn't here."

Keigo gave a soft scratch to his cheek. Rito offered a shrug as Lala looked to Mizuiro. Hugging onto Rito's arm, her tail wag as she offered him a smile.

"Well, when it comes to guys, I'm just fine with Rito~!"

Rito kept his grumbles on the matter to himself. At the back of his mind, there was a sting whenever she insinuated a romance between the two of them. It was likely because she revealed it to be a means to an end. An escape from the endless hordes of men who lined up at every corner for her hand in marriage.

. . .

When he thought about it that way, he found himself unable to be angered by the subject any further. If he were in such a position, he would want to escape such a fate by any means necessary as well.

Turning his gaze to Rukia, his eyes softened as he applied such thoughts to her. Would he prove to be a means of escape for Rukia as well? If that were the case, it certainly made him feel like a birdbrain. He has not done much outside of helping her other than complain about helping her.

"Oh?! I can't believe I completely missed the two transfer beauties: Lala Satalin Deviluke-chan and Kuchiki Rukia-swan~! What are you two doing here?"

"Rito's why~!" Lala cheered.

"Rito asked them out." Mizuiro jabbed a thumb in Rito's direction, who raised his hands to make an "X".

"You don't even know what you're talking about, idiot-"

Before Rito could refute Mizuiro's claim, his attention was brought to his hands as he saw Keigo clasp one his own around them. Rito quipped a brow as he looked to Keigo directly, who gave a tearful thumbs up and toothy grin.

"Great job!"

"Uh- Thanks?"

Rito found himself perplexed by Keigo's reaction. He never understood how random things such as this could possibly make Keigo so happy he would be crying. Although, a smile soon cracked through to his face as he conceded that perhaps it was the charm to Keigo's person.

The man blurring over to face Rukia, he gave her a salute.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced! I'm Asano Keigo! Allow me to welcome you to this land of men! And of course, welcome to you too, Lala-chan~!"

"Don't say anything weird, Keigo-"

"Alright, then! It's time to party~!"

"Party?!" Lala's eyes became stars.

"Yeah! A party!"

"What part of don't say anything weird don't you get?!" Rito's jaw came unhinged as he screamed at his friend.

He was inevitably ignored as Mizuiro and Keigo broke into a precision dance as they both cheered. Lala smiling widely as she drew from her pocket her D-Dial. Rito looked to her with wide eyes as he grasped the phone quickly to try and stop her from calling forth what wacky invention she intended to.

Remaining oblivious from their circumstances, Rukia's attention remained prone to her own. Internally, she bemoaned the length of the small straw she had on her. She felt it was rather small for consuming the contents locked within the box. When was she going to be blessed with the ability to drink the nectar within?

Rito let out a huff, his thumb subconsciously pressing onto the enter button. His eye moving to the corner of his eye when a bright light suddenly shot out from it, he winced at its radiance. Shifting his body to bring the phone forward, he noticed particles beginning to collect into the form of a mechanical orb with a pair of large bug-like eyes and a devilish grin.

"Oh, good job, Rito~! You picked the one I was looking for!"

"...oh no." Rito grimaced.

"What's that, Lala-chan?" Keigo broke from the formation to look at the object Lala grabbed before Rito could swipe it.

"This is the Deru-Deru Vision-kun~!" Lala presented it to Keigo with a wide grin.

"Deru-Deru Vision-kun?" Keigo tilted his head.

"It can make projections! I use it a lot for parties! Now, I've just gotta put in the settings.."

As Lala swiped her finger along the back of the orb, Rito retreated over to Rukia's side. Sitting down next to her, he watched as Mizuiro and Keigo were thunderstruck by the group of party horns projecting out from the small machine. Soon enough, they returned to precision dancing, with Lala even joining in the middle.

Looking to Rukia in her struggle, he leaned over and softly grasped the box from her hands. Sticking the straw in for her, he returned it to her once it was prepared to be drunk from. Rukia's eyes became stars when she witnessed the object, clamping her lips onto the end of the straw to draw out the contents for herself to enjoy.

Rito sat back and watched all of what was unfolding before him. Looking over to Lala and the two boys, he found himself laughing on the inside as he saw Lala's machine come up short. Soon, the projection emitting from the machine convulsed, producing a mass of tiny explosions that threw both girls to the ground.

"Ooh, this is good..."

"Enjoy."

⦗ BGM END ⦘

---

『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 4 | The Troubles Begin ~𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫!~ 】

---

⦗ BGM Cue ー Signs of Love ⦅ Shihoko Hirata ⦆ ⦘

"Rito, stop laughing at your friends' suffering!"

Keigo chastised as the group walked back into the classroom from lunch. His cries landed on deaf ears though, as Rito showed no signs of stopping any time soon. For once it was finally not him having to deal with the consequences of Lala's wacky inventions. It was quite the spectacle to see. Mizuiro and Keigo both came walking in with exponentially disappointed expressions, swaying to either side before they slumped into their seats.

"I'm so sorry, guys.. I haven't gotten to test Vision-kun in a long while." Lala clasped her hands together, tilting her head softly as she looked at the two boys.

Rito calmed his laughter down to a chuckle as he watched them from afar. Behind him, Rukia made her way to her own seat. The Shinigami got her end of the bargain with this occasion. Thinking that conclusion was enough to suffice, Rito let the topic rest there and turned toward the chalkboard.

"That's right, I didn't check who was on cleaning duty this morning."

There he saw two names he did not expect to see paired together: Lala Satalin Deviluke and..

"Sairenji Haruna..?"

Rito's eyes distended. How was that supposed to work exactly? He could not imagine Haruna and Lala getting along if he really tried to consider it. They were practically polar opposites. Then again, he still failed to reason how Haruna and Tatsuki got along. With that, he gave a shrug and turned to take his seat.

This all came to a halt when he found himself frozen stiff.

"Oh my~ Lala-chan, was it~? You have such an incredible body, ya know~?"

Soft, slender fingers made their way along Lala's clothing. They softly rubbed her body as though rubbing against an intricate sculpture, Lala's eyes shooting wide when they made their way to her tail. They were even more careful with the tail, giving it a gentle yet assertive touch that showed their intrigue in the appendage.

The culprit behind such an inspection was a young girl while also wearing the same uniform as Lala. Her hair was a brown which bordered charcoal which was tied into pigtails with pink hair ties. Behind her blue half rimmed glasses were a pair of light brown eyes that raced along Lala's form.

"Sawada.. You can let go of her now."

Rito placed a hand on his hip as he looked toward the girl holding Lala with a puffed cheek. The girl let out a giggle as she pulled off of Lala, giving a light tilt to her head and tapping it softly.

"Oh, sorry, Yukki~ I didn't know you already got dibs on her~"

"I never said that!"

"Then my dibs on you still applies~!"

Before Rito could question, he felt a soft cushion pressing against his back as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck. Looking behind him, he saw a smiling face staring at him with desire lingering within her eyes.

The girl's face was somehow the sole exception of her head that was not obscured by her dirty blonde locks of hair that folded against her shoulders and open collar. Deep amber eyes swam in the sea of her sclera that traced over Rito's facial features. Her blazer was unfastened, giving way for her shirt to be opened at the bosom to give a view of her cleavage.

Pulling her arms back as Rito turned around to face her, she clasped her hands together upon seeing the change in his usual manner of wearing his uniform.

"Oh, Darling~ You kept your blazer open~ If it's getting hot, then why don't you let me take off more for you~?"

Rito quipped a brow while looking down to his blazer. Admittedly, he did forget to button his blazer on the way to school that morning. He was barely awake considering his work as a Surrogate Shinigami. He felt no difference with how he wore his blazer but did feel a lot less constricted wearing it this way. Now that he thought about it, he was considerably more relaxed today than usual. That was probably more from having slept through the first four periods rather than his attire.

"You called me Darling again, Momioka. I thought I told ya to quit that.." Averting his gaze, Rito softly scratched a finger against his pink cheek.

"Aw, but Darling~"

"Hey, hey, what's this darling thing?" Lala walked over with a bright smile on her face as she hugged onto Rito's arm.

Risa gave the girl a once-over before resting her hands upon either hip. They had some time before Mr. Honekawa returned to give lecture. He often took a few minutes extra to get the best quality coffee from the lounge. This proved to be advantageous. She'd weigh this girl out. Momioka Risa certainly refused to lose to any pushover.

"Darling is something you call somebody who's your beloved."

"What? Why's she calling you that? I'm the one who's marrying you~!" Lala gave a pout as she glanced at Risa, who gave an impish grin in response.

"Aw, you're getting with transfer students now..? Am I not enough for you anymore, Darling~?"

"Rito, what is she talking about?"

Raising a finger, Risa drug her hand along her cleavage. Rito's blood made a hustle to his skull when he saw them beginning to unbutton. The boy quickly pushed out of Lala's grasp to grab at Risa's wrists. Pulling her arms apart gently to keep her from completing the task she was meaning to do. Letting out a huff as she looked at him with a pout, he gave her his full attention.

"Momioka. What are you doing?"

"What~? I thought you loved getting a free glimpse of me~?"

"What are you talking about?!"

Rito let go of Risa's wrists and stepped back with wide eyes. Looking around, he noticed the ambiguous students around beginning to murmur amongst themselves at the wake of Risa's claims.

Rito let down his shoulders and calmed his breathing. Getting riled up is exactly what Risa was after. He needed to make a difference in his approach, perhaps that would prove enough to get her to give up on her antics. Looking away with a thoughtful gaze, he pondered how he would accomplish such a thing. If he knew her as well as he did, any reaction would be satisfying to her.

A rise and fall of his shoulders. This was the catalyst for the return of Rito's attention to Risa.

If it were possible to extend his jaw any further, it would be striking the floor below him.

"Oh my~ You really do have an exquisite body~"

"I told ya~!"

Rito was now witness to a double-team fondling session enacted by Risa and Sawada on Lala. He lowered his head softly as his bangs overshadowed his eyes. Raising a hand softly, he covered over his face with his hands as he let out one long-winded groan.

"I'm being cursed by Ise, aren't I...?" Rito said this only to himself, but it carried a tone with enough daggers to practically be thrown at anyone who may have heard.

In the back of the classroom, Haruna watched the group's actions with a frown.

As the antics continued, Mr. Honekawa stepped into the room with his trademark book in hand. Walking towards the desk, his eyes landed upon the scene going on with Risa and Sawada regarding Lala. Straightening his glasses for a moment, he turned away with a light chuckle.

"Ah, it's so good to be young."

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO STOP THEM?!" The nameless figures in the class all cried out.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

---

⦏ Monday: May 5th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 3:15 p.m. ❳

The sound of the final bell rang loudly throughout the halls of the school which echoed through the wooden doors into the room. Rising from his seat, Rito scuffled his personal items into his bag. As he let out a huff, his attention turned back to Rukia's seat. As he would have expected, the girl mysteriously disappeared without giving any signs of her leave.

A small sigh escaped from his lips as he peered back to his bag. Pulling it up, he swung an arm back to hoist the bag over his shoulder.

"Yo, Rito! I heard there's a new Zombie Powder DVD on sale at Super Vegeta. You wanna come shoppin' with us?"

Rito placed his free hand into his pocket, shaking his head softly. "Sorry Keigo, not this time." He softly waved his arm, "I've got an important meeting of some kind to go to."

Keigo paused, turning back toward him to think on it. After a few seconds of thinking, he snapped his fingers as a sign of his realization. Pointing toward the auburn, a bright smile emerged on his face.

"Ri~ght! Alright then, we'll be sure ta get something for them too."

Rito responded with a scoff and salute. Watching as his friend left, his attention moved behind him as Lala bounced with every step as she came up next to him. Seeing the bright smile on her face, his brows lowered.

"Rito~! Let's walk home together~!"

"Uh, Lala? You've gotta stay behind today."

"Huh? Why~?!"

Behind them, Haruna clasped a book to her chest and frowned in their direction. Looking away, the girl softly inhaled. She was hoping to get an opportunity to talk with Rito about how she saw him running along rooftops with Lala in tow. She feared that there was something going on between the two of them. The day they hung out, it was clear that most of Lala's attention was on Rito. Now she transfers into their school and tells everyone in the school that not only are they fiancées, but they are also living together.

After Rito explained to Lala the importance of the daily chores, the small circle hairpin representing Peke contorted and shook around in retaliation. Lala then spoke out to Peke softly, which managed to convince them to stop. Rito was quick to notice the girl's acceptance, smiling to her once before taking his leave. Lala gave a giddy wave before twirling on her heel to look to Haruna, her fidgeting upon her gaze falling on her.

. . .

Humming ran across the classroom as Lala swayed her hand back and forth, an eraser clasped within it as it gave a swishing sound. Small traces of dust leapt off the wall as she was wiping the board. Her tail wagged to either side as each end of her lips curled upward.

"I believe you can understand why I'm concerned with you partaking in such peasantries. You are a princess, Lala-sama. Why should you be forced to clean the messes of your instructors?"

"Because. Peke. I'm on a new world now. This is a new life." Lala smiled as she continued, "I plan to do this one right. And I want to enjoy every aspect of it as I do. Even small things like this."

Haruna closed the locker in the back corner of the classroom, having gathered back all of the supplies within and returning them to their rightful place. She even went so far as to completely rearrange the locker so that all of the similar items were together on each shelf. These actions were because of her desperation to avoid communication with the princess across the room. Whenever she thought of doing so, she found her mind immediately going to her relationship with Rito.

After finishing with wiping the chalkboard, she spun around to face Haruna with a pumped fist.

"Alright~ Looks like we're done here! Where next, Haruna?"

At the call of her name, Haruna shot up from the ground. Stammering for a moment on the question, she began to ponder what the best spot to clean next was. She allowed the inner facets of her mind do their work and soon came up with the answer she required.

Lala tilted her head when she saw Haruna rush off towards the distance.

"Hm. Well, okay, don't answer then."

Lala shrugged, frowning a bit at the silent treatment she received. It was a bit vexing to be completely ignored by someone she thought of as one of her first friends on this planet. From the observations she had made of Rito and Mikan, she found Earthlings to be a kind and caring people. Surely Haruna was no exception?

After deciding to believe wholeheartedly in this line of thinking, she slapped either of her cheeks. This action proved sufficient to bring back her bright smile. With a call out to Haruna, she took to follow after with a light jog.

"Hold on, Haruna~!"

---

»𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲｡ «

---

⦏ Monday: May 5th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 3:41 p.m. ❳

"...and you wanted to talk about...?"

Rito trailed off, hoping for Zastin to fill the void in his statement. Normally he would be over at Mr. Bando's shop right about now, but Zastin insisted that this conversation would be one of the most important in the auburn's entire life. So far, this was seeming akin to a conversation he would have with Rukia.

"The Candidate Battle."

Well, there was one merit. Zastin was far less cryptic than Rukia was, that was for sure.

That did not make the soldier's response any less vague. It left him with more questions than any exegesis. Letting out a quiet pule at the thoughts running through his mind. They all obviously had something to do with Lala, and he never liked when something that sounded like a major circumstance all led to her.

"The details you're seeking will be answered through a direct message I was ordered to give you by King Deviluke himself!" Zastin fired in a triumphant tone.

This information inspired a question mark to leap out of Rito's head. Tilting it, head looked to Zastin with slightly narrowed eyes.

"King? As in Lala's dad?"

Affirmed by Zastin's nod, Rito pocketed both hands as the former pulled at a compartment of the armor at his side. Akin to Lala's Peke Dress, it extended at the beck of Zastin's fingers as it stretched out to make a long pocket. Reaching into the space, he pulled out a small skeletal designed capsule. Raising it outward, the capsule's eyes cast a red gleam over the two before floating into the air just before him.

As it shined, this light would come to move as a crystal hovered outward from within the capsule. Above the machine, the crystal shined over the world with streams. As these streams rose to point to the skies above, it lowered down to make a cone. From this cone evaporated small particles.

As Rito stared intensively at the machine, his head tilted more as it became brighter.

"..oh my~! Zastin, there was this planet I saw that's nearby the Milky Way! I was thinking of going there and trying to fight with the- OH! OH! Ohh..." The voice cleared their throat before speaking again, "Yukki Rito, I presume?"

"Yeah..?" Rito was unsure of how to feel about that first bit.

"I'm gonna assume that Zastin did good and that this is Yukki Rito. Yes! PERFECT! Er- I mean. That's good. Good. I've heard Zastin's story..."

The pause was long enough for Rito to decipher his depiction of the voice. It definitely belonged to a person in power. Did the person in power have the personality befitting of a ruler? So far, Rito was not sure of anything that could prove so.

"After carefully taking all of it into consideration, I've decided you were right to be fitted into the Candidate Battle! Except now that my darling daughter has decided that she wants you as her husband, the rules will be changing up a bit."

Why did Rito dread the sound of that?

"Being the King of Deviluke requires strength that could only be described as the strongest in the universe. Since you're the one who will be claiming such a title: whoever can bring you down and show they're a superior candidate to you will automatically be declared the next King of Deviluke in your stead."

Rito's brows furrowed as he heard the explanation. The responsibilities on his shoulders were starting to increase.

"I-"

"I hear that you Earthlings are a shabby species. But you are the first individual to win the favor of my first daughter. So, I'll be expecting a stellar show of your strength on this one." The voice followed up with a maniacal cackle, "Oh, you should probably know... All of the candidates know who you are and what planet you're based on. I wouldn't be surprised if candidates have already made their way to your planet or are already there. Remember that your goal is to protect Lala from these suitors and maintain your status as Successor."

Rito's shoulders lowered at this. Closing his eyes softly, he pondered over the information with a sigh. He already was genuinely expecting for a development like this when something out of the blue like marrying a princess that was not foreign in just the sense of being from a land far, far away, but in the literal sense of being from a galaxy far, far away.

"Be warned, Yukki Rito. If you lose this status, you lose everything. And I don't mean just your chance at a sweet life, ya know. What I mean is that I will personally come to that little world of yours and wring the life out of you and every single little speck of dust on that pathetic waste of space you call Earth and obliterate it with my own hands."

Rito gave a side bob of his head. A bit on the dramatic side. Even if somewhere deep down, part of him felt like staying clear of this Candidate Battle nonsense. It was already strenuous enough that he had Rukia's duties to uphold. His thoughts were even interrupted just then with the sudden need to yawn. Even so, the man in the driver's seat was not going to allow such thoughts to pave the road. If someone, anyone, came after Lala, he saw no issue with doing whatever he could to lend a hand.

Besides, now neither side of the debacle had any gravity on the matter. This King Deviluke person could have put a gun to his head and he would feel less pressure from his threat. Lala's safety was now being used as a lifeline for everyone he cared about. No. Everyone there was to care about.

If the Earth was gone, what would happen to those that die out...? Surely there was a reason for Soul Society operating the way it does rather than in Dragon Ball where there was just an endless waiting line for every soul. If the person dies, they stay where they die. If the Earth dies, there is no place for them to stay.

As his eyes sprung open, they shrunk as veins crackled against his sclera.

Oh shit. He was angered by this king. He begun to understand with just this little message alone how the way he does things is a problem.

"You should know that he is very serious."

The capsule returned to its original form as Zastin caught it before it dropped down. Returning it to his pocket, he softly turned back to face Rito.

"I recall a time when some poor fool acted impolitely in His Majesty's presence. Successfully having enraged him, His Majesty responded by obliterating both him and his world. If you choose to do the same, Rito-dono..."

His face became stark as his gaze lowered to the ground.

"I am afraid that not only you but your entire home world is in danger of being eradicated from this very universe."

Left eye twitched. Right fist balled tightly. Left foot tapped against the ground with an impatience akin to a hyperactive child. Every facet of his body shared something in common, though. The rage. Skyrocketing anger towards this man who took to treating his planet and the people who lived on it like they were some kind of game piece.

Now that he thought about it in that perspective, it made him sound like he was the balancer-type Rukia's job needs him to be.

Regardless. If ever saw that King Deviluke guy, he would grab him by the throat and drag him across the-

Rito took a deep inhalation, swiping what he could sample of the breeze passing him by. Stopped. The thoughts of potentially violently murdering a man related to a person he called a friend was stopped then and there. He needed to instead think about what he was going to do.

Looking to Zastin, Rito gave a nod.

"Zastin, do you have any information on any of these candidates?"

Zastin tilted his head to the question. Drawing into his pocket once more, he pulled out a thin stick-shaped device. Pressing his thumb against the diamond shape protruding from its center, a projection sheet shot out from it to form a screen. Scrolling his finger against the screen, he examined it with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Yes, yes. I do believe I have the list of those that have chosen to participate in the battle. Excluding you, of course, since you still have yet to be added to the database."

Rito shrugged. That was reasonable. After all, all technology had their limits. Walking over to take a look at what Zastin was, his eyes droned over the information attentively.

---

⦏ Monday: May 5th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 3:23 p.m. ❳

"There~"

Lala beamed as he placed a vase onto a windowsill. Looking to the vase, she lifted a hand softly to pull a small speckle off of the second leaf hanging off the root.

Doing so made her recall what her sister told her. Plants represented life itself. Every aspect of even the smallest flower breathed life into the world wherever it stood. Taking care of them was something she was clearly obligated to do. Rising from her squat, she scooted it a bit closer to the window and smiled back toward Haruna, who was wiping off a desk with a distant gaze.

"Haruna..? Are you alright?"

"...the flowers. Yukki-kun always took care of them in Junior High."

Lala tilted her head slightly. What could be making her think of Rito at this moment? It was just the two of them after all. If Haruna saw Rito passing by, she should have said something! Lala totally would have taken the chance to pester him. It would be a great pastime for her considering most of their work has been completed.

Her thought process was cut short when she saw a glimpse of Haruna's face. A brow quipped as Lala could have swore she saw the tiniest hint of pink beginning to appear over the regal's face.

Raising her head, the meeker girl continued.

"I've been curious all this time, Lala-san." Spinning on her heel, Haruna made to face Lala with a stern gaze, "What is your relationship with Yukki-kun? In all seriousness."

"Huh...?"

Lala tilted her head softly, a brow raising to the question. Seeing her confused expression, Haruna stepped forward.

"Is it true that you and he are betrothed? That you're..." Confidence marred by the thought, her demeanor wavered, and she averted her gaze, "...going to marry him?"

Lala lowered her hands from the back of her head as she harkened the question presented to her. Already beginning the process of articulating her response, her eyes remained focused on Haruna's body language. Her hand clutched at her chest tightly, threatening to crumple the entirety of it within its grip. The fabric was at the mercy of each finger that shook as it seized with deadening intensity. As she awaited the answer, what Lala could presume was a cold sweat rolled down the side of Haruna's temple.

Could it be she was asking this because either answer would have an effect on her in some way?

From what she has overheard of her from Rito, the two of them have not had too many interactions. Any private conversation they have had was very brief and ended with Rito disappointed with such length. Their prolonged discussions were partaken mostly in the midst of get-togethers between their friend groups where Tatsuki would be the one to initiate them.

There was no clear indication that such would be the case.

Unless...

"Lala-sama..."

It seemed Peke came to the same epiphany as their creator. Moving her glance to her hairpin briefly, she sucked her teeth for a moment before finally responding.

"I originally came to this planet to get away from my life on Planet Deviluke." Lala calmly placed a hand on her chest, "When I met you guys, I was on the run from a couple of the Royal Guard members assigned to defending me specifically. Admittedly, when I asked you and Tatsuki for where Rito lived, it was because I needed to get them off of my trail. That didn't end up going all that well. So, Rito did what he could to save me."

A slight twitch from Haruna's brow. That was why she saw Rito running with Lala across rooftops a week ago. She brought trouble to his doorstep, perhaps literally. However, reacting too brashly was not good for her. It all worked out somehow in the end, and perhaps hearing her out would lead to how Lala has come to her school with claims of marrying her...

Friend.

"Ahahaha.." Lala gave a sheepish laugh, she was paying attention to Haruna's face. She could not exactly say her anger was not well placed, "Rito reacted the same way when he found out, too... But. Even so, he still did what he could to keep me from having to go back. He did what he could to convince Zastin that it wouldn't be right for me to be forced to do something I didn't want to." Averting her gaze, her hand over her chest squeezed ever so slightly on the clothing covering it, "...and everything changed for me. Absolutely everything. To the way I'm living my life. To the way I feel. My heart's always racing when I think about it."

Haruna's gaze softened on the princess. Both of them gave a silent look to one another.

The silence finally broke when Lala took a few steps forward to bring their faces just a hair apart.

"So? So? What's your relationship with Rito?"

"R-r-relationship?!" Haruna felt herself growing redder yet shrinking in her bewilderment all the same.

"Yeah! Yeah! I should be trying to know everything there is to know about my fiancée, ya know!"

"D-don't call him that!"

"Hehehe- Okay~! Rito, it is~!"

---

»𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡｡ «

---

"Rito-dono."

"Yes, Zastin?"

Rito was confused as to why Zastin was following him at this particular moment.

The two of them were walking down a path of crossroads that separated the various layers of houses that made up the neighborhood.

Following close behind them was the apparition of a man who was notably shirtless. Over his raven mopped head was a brown cowboy hat with a strand of red beads as the bow with a pair of blue faces, one happy the other enraged, atop. The strap of the hat hung below his neck and slipped into a circular patch of leather with a buffalo skull on its front. Around his neck was a similar necklace made of the same red beads as that of his hat. The only other major clothing on his body was a pair of black shorts held up by a half fastened brown belt with a red A plastered on the silver buckle.

"I am curious as to what we are doing?"

"I would ask you the same thing, honestly."

"I am simply ensuring the groom-to-be makes it home safely. Lala-sama asked I not follow her because she declared she wanted to live her life as normal as she could."

...so this was the compromise. It brought a sigh out of Rito's lips, but if that was what it was going to take for them to not argue over every little complaint Lala has about Zastin's way of doing things, then so be it.

"Well, what I'm doing is fulfilling a promise." He shot a glance to a small glass vase in his hand. "This has a new meaning to me now that I'm a Shinigami."

Zastin shrugged and continued to follow along. Surely enough, they were not long to meet their destination. They were standing at the streetlight Rito encountered the spirit girl at. Kneeling down to the vase standing against it, Rito carefully picked it up off the ground. Placing the vase he carried throughout his journey there in its place, he completed his mission.

Rising from the ground with a satisfied smile, he looked back to see a rather confused Zastin.

"Rito-dono. Why did you bring one of the flowers from your personal garden out here to the middle of the suburban?"

Rito turned toward Zastin with a hand on either hip. He sucked his teeth softly as he considered Zastin's perception of the matter. He supposed the man was not that adept with those of the dead. That observation alone could be drawn from how he was arguing with the apparition following them the entire time.

Looking to the vase from last week in his hand, he looked back to Zastin with a soft smile. Walking over, he grasped the hand of the soldier, placing the vase within it. Zastin tilted his head as he examined the vase. Seeing he was about to try and pour it out, Rito quickly turned his wrist back upright to stop him doing such a thing.

"Rito-dono. I am confused as to why you have placed this in my hand."

"Wow."

Zastin shot a brief glare in the direction of the ghost next to him, who simply gave a shrug and threw his hands up in defeat. Rito rolled his eyes at the interaction, giving a sharp sigh.

"Listen, Zastin. When people die, they leave an impact on people. This impact may be left on people they don't even know. Meaning that honoring their memory in a way honors the battles every person who is mourning their death goes through to face each and every day without them."

Rito tried to put it into terms Zastin may understood. His example would work because Zastin's a soldier, right? He was likely most adept in going to long, dramatic battles. So maybe talking in a language that would be spoken in such an environment would be most effective.

"As someone who can see the spirits of the people who have been lost it just feels like it's a responsibility of mine to do that by default." Rito scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "I know it's probably dorky for me to think like that, but-"

To Rito's surprise, he was met with Zastin holding the vase close to his face. Tears dripping from his eyes, he wiped over his wettened face with his glove.

"Not at all, Rito-dono. Lala was surely correct. You are the most reliable human being I have ever met!"

"You've not met many, right? I don't know exactly how much of a compliment I can take that as..."

---

⦗ BGM Cue ー Reasoning ⦅ Shoji Meguro ⦆ ⦘

"What do you think about that Lala girl, Ri-chan?"

Sawada and Risa were walking down the street, arms both overlayed with the handles of several bags filled with items they bought from the shopping district that day. Risa had a dire need to buy as many fresh items as possible.

The mention of the name ticked a brow from the girl. What did she think? She thought that the girl had absolutely no business being there. Rito's affection was a trophy she planned to win from Haruna and Kotegawa in one fell swoop. Why did bubblegum have to come and claim the prize for herself when she had no part in the competition to begin with?

Taking a breath, she plastered a wide smile over her face while looking to Sawada.

"Well, she's got a pretty nice bod. Honestly, I thought Kotegawa was the only one to be jealous of! Ha. I'd kill for my measurements to shoot up that high~"

Risa gave a foxy chuckle, raising a hand to her chest. Looking to where her hand was, the smile soon became a frown.

Why did this Lala chick get under her skin so much anyway? Haruna told her directly how she felt about Rito and she was absolutely unbothered by it. Hell, Risa was fully aware of how Rito felt about Haruna, and it had no effect on her. So why was it that when some random transfer student claims that she is betrothed to him, she just finds that she cannot stand it?

"Are you okay, Ri-chan?"

Risa was dragged out of her thoughts by the concern of her friend, drawing her immediate attention as her eyes moved to Sawada. Sawada straightened her glasses as she came to face her, head tilted slightly.

"We only go shopping for enough to fill up both of our arms when you're irritated." Sawada raised a finger and tapped it softly against her friend's nose, "Can't keep what's on your mind from me. So just tell me. Please?"

That was no lie. Sawada was Risa's best friend for a reason. She was practically a second version of herself. Of course, there were some features to her that were not in common with Risa herself. Sawada had no romantic feelings for Rito. Or, really, any feelings at all regarding him. She was not even sure that Sawada and Rito have ever even had a true conversation between one another.

Bringing her thoughts back to their main course, she looked back to her friend. She was right. Being honest with her was the only option Risa was going to consider. It was an inevitable conclusion that was better off resolved quickly.

Risa opened her mouth to respond-

"'Ey, boys! Look what we have ourselves here."

Risa and Sawada's attentions were both drawn to the sound of a rowdy voice as a group of students gathered around a scrawny middle schooler.

The former rolled her eyes and huffed as she took a step to begin toward the commotion. This action came to a stop when she saw someone was far ahead of her on that notion. Smiling softly as she saw the group leaving the middle schooler, she began to turn away. As her body rotated, her face made a final glance over the scenario.

That was when her eyes landed on the person who came to the rescue.

A sweat began to trinkle down from her brow. Her arms lowered down in such an abrupt fashion that the bags that clung to her skin barely held on as they slid down to clutter her wrists. Her soft breaths began to pick up in speed as she took in the features of the person.

"Ri-chan...?" Sawada naturally picked up on the change in her best friend's behavior.

"When did he-...?" Risa looked down, noticing that subconsciously she drew her phone and was preparing to text Rito. Snapping the device shut, she shuffled it back into her skirt pocket.

Taking a step backward, she quickly grasped Sawada's arm before pulling her along to evacuate from the scene.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

---

⦏ Monday: May 5th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 7:16 p.m. ❳

⦗ BGM Cue — Alright ⦅ Shoji Meguro ⦆ ⦘

"Wow~! This soup tastes good!"

Lala cheered as she took in mouthfuls of the dinner for the night. Mikan smiled to the compliment as she placed down her own portion. Her eyes scanned over the alien girl as she took her seat.

"It's a miso soup with corbiculae added in."

After putting down another shovel of the meal, she brought the bowl back to the surface of the table with a bright and curious smile over her face.

"Ooh~ So is it an Earth food thing to be this good?"

As Mikan sat down, she gave a few clicks of her tongues. Waving a finger to deny the hypothesis, Mikan lifted her spoon to her mouth. After consuming what was pooled over the silverware, she set down the item with a smile.

"It's not just an Earth thing. It all comes down to the skills of the cook!"

"Oh~? That's so cool~!"

Rito's gaze was distant. Displaced from where he was, Rito's mind could not help but wander to what he saw on his way out of the school. Perhaps he was just hallucinating from being tired and imagined what he saw at the soccer field. Yes. That was the answer he decided would be his ultimate choice.

Turning his head back to the other two he was dining with, his eyes met with Mikan's. The two shared this contact for a moment before Rito finally gave a sigh and an unamused look.

"What is it, Mikan?"

"Welllll~ I was just wondering when you planned on marrying Lala?"

Rito let out a groan, "Why are both you and Dad trying to use my life to get your way, huh..? I'm not marrying Lala anytime soon. I'm still a high school student, remember?"

"Does that mean you plan on marrying me at some point?!" Lala invited herself into the conversation in the form of a speech bubble containing a chibi version of herself with stars in her eyes.

"Er- I didn't mean it like that!" Rito pushed down the bubble with a frown, "What I did mean is that I'm nowhere near ready to get married."

"Aww. That's a boring answer." Mikan rolled her eyes, "Most of the time, it's just you and me. Since Lala's gotten here, this house has gotten so much more bright and cheerful. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Peachy." Rito quickly answered, frowning.

It was true that Mikan's mood certainly improved since his agreement with Lala to allow the latter to live at their home, there was absolutely no denying that. However, this all lied in the fact that the trouble Lala's very existence came to attract had no chance to hinder Mikan like it has Rito. A sweat trickled down the back of his head as he imagined the explosions Mikan would likely be caught in at every waking moment that one of Lala's inventions malfunctioned.

He was not even going to entertain the thought of her interacting with the Warp-kun. He was going to have some kind of peace of mind when it came to his home life. No force in the world was going to damn him the chance.

"How's school like, Lala?"

Rito turned his attention to heed the answer Mikan was looking for as well. It may have been abrupt, but Lala still did just transfer into his school. Her opinion on it would be a brand-new perspective on the place.

Would it be the same as everyone else's? Would she find the principal to be the vexing little demon that he is? Would she care to comment on Kotegawa and the Discipline Committee?

Either way, Rito wanted to hear.

"School is amazing~!" Throwing a fist into the air, Lala's tag wagged behind her as a wide grin covered her features, "Everybody's gathered up all together and they're having a great time! I'm so glad I came to Earth."

At the hearing of such an optimistic outlook, even Rito could not help but crack a smile for the girl. Mikan let out a giggle as she stood up from the table, taking it upon herself to gather up all of the dishes to be cleaned for the night.

"I'm glad you think that, Lala."

Rito gave a light bob of his head with the same consensus as he leaned back in his chair. From the overall vibe her dad gave off, his mind almost immediately went to the insinuation that she had a terrible childhood. He perished the thought soon after because it was not fair of him to assume. After all, if such was the case then how could Lala possibly be as bright and cheerful as she was?

It just lacked the foundation to keep together.

Lala abruptly hopped up from her chair, rushing down the hallway. When she returned, she had a towel around her neck as she rushed toward Rito. Clasping her arms around his neck, she let out an uproarious giggle to Rito's visible confusion.

"Now that dinner's all done, let's go take a bath together, Rito~!"

"A bath? Together?"

Rito's voice came out in a squeak, his composure coming to break as the thought occurred to him. His brows shot up as he took a deep inhale to quell the blood rushing up to his skull. Closing his eyes for a moment, he shook his head. Looking to her with a calm face, he placed a hand on her shoulder to nudge her off of him.

"Sorry, Lala. I, uh, can't do that."

"Aww~ Why not~!"

Lala pouted, bouncing on her feet like a child as she gave several hums in frustration at the rejection. Mikan turned away from the sink with a light giggle at the interaction. Turning around, she wiped her hands with his towel.

After having finished, she placed the towel down onto the counter. Looking back to the two, Mikan gave a mocking smile toward Rito.

"Sorry, Lala-san. Rito doesn't have the courage for such a thing."

"Aww.. That's no good.." Lala pouted more. Pounding her fist against her palm, a new idea came to her mind, "Well, how about you take a bath with me instead, Mikan~!"

"Huh- Me?!"

Mikan waved her finger back and forth between them. Her face was quickly cleansed of any previous emotion in favor of the disbelief sparked by Lala's request. Lala responded with a quick instance of three nods while clasping her hands around Mikan's hands.

Mikan giving a shrug in response, Lala beamed. Her tail extended her body's happiness by wiggling toward either side. Grasping onto Mikan's shoulders, she spun the younger girl around and began pushing her out into the hallway with a gleeful hum.

"I'm not very comfortable bathing by myself." Lala began her explanation, "Ever since I was a kid, I always had a bunch of maids with me whenever I'd take a bath. And.. . .. ."

The two's voices became increasingly quieter the further away they became. Rito watched the two slowly become silhouettes before vanishing into the shadows in the distance. When they finally were gone, Rito placed his hands in his pockets.

He supposed that was the reason that Lala felt absolutely no shame when she walked around other people in the nude. To him, it was just another example of how she came from a whole different world from Rito, in more ways than one.

---

» 𝐀 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞｡ «

---

⦏ Tuesday: May 6th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 11:09 a.m. ❳

⦗ BGM Change — Is It Boring? ⦅ Shoji Meguro ⦆ ⦘

Rukia crossed her arms. Her lips clammed over one another as she watched the girls crowd the track line.

It was Lala's turn to take a run. Today the girls were tasked with testing their running capabilities.

"I'm still not all that good when it comes to running, I suppose."

Haruna crouched down, letting out a few ragged breaths.

She was the last to run, and Haruna only made it 15 meters after a whole 3 and a half minute's time of jogging. Tatsuki stood next to her with her hands on either hip, guarding over her since she collapsed after finishing the run.

"Hey, that's fine, Haruna." Tatsuki spoke with a gentle cadence, "Just means we've gotta lot of work to do, yeah?"

After a few seconds of cogitating, Haruna looked to her friend with a light nod.

"Yeah."

The two sharing a smile between one another, Tatsuki offered a hand. Haruna grasped it with a clap and arose from the ground with a light nudge on Tatsuki's part. The two then spoke amongst themselves as they walked over to the crowd watching Lala's run.

Rukia gave a silent look of admiration towards the two. They were not discouraged despite both being disappointed in their scores. Rukia was surprised Tatsuki felt the same, her scores were rather notable considering she was just a human girl. The Shinigami lacked sight of much room for improvement when it came to that department.

As for Rukia's own personal score...?

...Rukia refused to think about them. This gigai was inferior to her needs. How exactly was she going to make Rito work as hard as she needed him to if she could not keep up with him as a human? Her benefactor was going to receive a piece of her mind later on.

"Ready...?!"

A call from the girl holding the timer caught the attention of every girl on the field. All eyes laid on Lala, who crouched down into a runner's stance. Clicking her finger against the trigger, the referee clicked the button of the stopwatch in hand when the starter gun roared.

With a quick huff, Lala's heel pushed off the ground. An explosion of dust being the only evidence of her ever being where she once was, all of the other students gawked as Lala seemingly disappeared.

Rukia, however, was able to clearly see how Lala was running across the track. Her speed. It was far beyond anything any regular human could achieve. This was to be expected from someone native to the Planet Deviluke, though.

After so long, Lala finally took a stop at the start of the track's curve with a skid. Dust picking up around her heels, she gave a small huff. Turning back towards the group, she wiped her forehead with her trademark wide smile.

"Well?! How did I do?!"

The referee's jaw would have struck the floor if not for her skeleton limiting its movement. As she looked back and forth between the stopwatch and Lala, she struggled to report on the latter's score.

"1... 100 meters.. I-in 10 seconds and 9 milliseconds..."

All of the girls erupted in shock, save for Rukia. The Shinigami walked over to the princess, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"I thought it was established that you are supposed to hold back to maintain secrecy of your identity?"

"Lala-sama, I must concur that the Shinigami is correct. You must not showcase your strength the way you do."

Lala's smile wavered when she saw Rukia. She knew the stuck-up Shinigami was going to be the one to find some way to criticize her very action. Pouting, she crossed her arm, averting her gaze. Her tail scrunched as if also disappointed at Rukia's appearance and quickly wrapped itself around Lala's waist as if to guard her as best it could.

"I was holding back!"

Over with Haruna and Tatsuki, the two approached Risa and Sawada. The latter gave the approaching two a small wave, Risa crossing her arms with a whistle.

"Jeez. That girl can really get goin', huh?"

"You're not kidding. With just that she has everybody in the class beat by a mile. Probably literally." Tatsuki smirked, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "If I'm the rock bottom, she's gotta be the actual dragon."

"Tatsuki, I don't think you should sell yourself short like that." Haruna commented.

"What?! I can't do things like that! Glad you believe in me, though."

Over on the boy's side of the field, they were in the midst of a soccer game. One where Rito was asserting his dominance over the opposing team.

Both of his feet struck the ball with swift taps as he ran. Dribbling the ball forward to keep the momentum moving forward while dodging the students who came to intercept his moves. The closest one that came was sent off the mark by Rito using his right leg to circle the ball around his left, bouncing it off his heel and against his knee while he jumped over the fallen opponent. Seeing the ball would not land before he, the auburn used his forehead to knock the ball back down toward the ground.

When he landed, he took to quickly kicking the ball forward. As he was rallied on by his teammates, he pushed onward to meet the ball again. As he did, he did a number of sidesteps and leaps to dodge opponents leaping toward him.

Reaching the ball once more, his eyes landed on the goalie who looked at him with growing determination. Matching this fiery gaze with one of his own, Rito made his move. With a strike of the ball with his foot, the sphere vanishing from its place with a singe of the ground below. Racing toward the goalie, the male raised his hands to guard against the coming blow.

Before he could catch the bullet, he was in shock to see it curve out of his reach toward the corner of the goal. Leaping toward it before it could reach the corner, the goalie's fingers came close to touching the orb.

This all came to his disappointment when the ball escaped from him. Dropping to the ground, they groaned in bemusement of being too slow to have stopped his team's defeat.

Rito gave a smirk as the classmates on his team cheered loudly for their victory. The supervising teacher, however, gave only a sigh and shake of his head.

"Hey, Yukki! C'mere!"

Rito turned his head toward the teacher, the boy quickly spun around and gave a light jog to move at the call.

The man the pear faced was a tall, muscular man with black hair framing his entire skull extending from his scalp all the way down to his jaw. Eyes colored a deep brown, with a pair of wide lips which overlapped either cheek. His top was covered by a red tank top with black outlining and white borders to bridge between the outline and main color. At the shirt's center read 確定, an orange flame lining over the text. The pants he wore seemed almost a deliberate match for the shirt as it offered an opposite color coding as the white and black showed most prominently as the former acted as the main color while the latter as lining down the seams, where the red was shown briefly in the fabric of the pockets. As per the nature of the school, his feet were slipped into a larger pair of the tennis shoes standardized by the school.

"You called, Coach Kagine?"

"Yukki. Your work out there was fantastic." Coach Kagine started off, "But that's the problem all the same. I only got to see your work out there today."

"Wait." Rito blinked, tilting his head softly, "I'm not sure I'm following what this is about-"

"Yukki, when you're playing sports out in the real world, you're playing in a team. You don't get the important victories out there without coordinating with your teammates. This is something you still can't manage to do." The instructor raised his head to look at the bench nearby the soccer field, "Until you learn that I'll be having you benched for the games during P.E. from here on out."

"Ah- What?! But, Coach-"

"I'm not going to hear any arguments, Yukki."

Coach raised a hand to quell any rebuttals Rito could have made in that situation. Slumping his shoulders and bowing his head in defeat, the boy gave a slow nod. Turning away, Kagine returned his attention to the greater census of the group.

Returning to the others, he was met with a pat on the shoulder from Keigo and smile from Mizuiro.

"Hey, you alright?"

Rito found himself met with a pair of worrisome expressions directed at him.

He could not place any blame on them for such a thing, though, considering how he was quite openly displeased with the decision Coach Kagine made for him. His passion for sports was always something made quite clear of his character, despite never having been part of any team since the little soccer team for Sainan First Elementary.

Knowing that detail, he realized he had no right to complain over the privilege to play small-time during a class period. Besides, it would likely give him time to nap during P.E. Catching up on sleep would actually be quite favorable considering his current position.

With a light shrug and bob of his head, he gave the two some reassurance. A smile plastering the three of their faces, Keigo raised his arm to throw it around Rito's neck. Mizuiro simply walked beside the two.

"Hey, class is almost over." Keigo looked up thoughtfully, "You think Mrs. Ochi is gonna go easy on us in English today?"

"Mrs. Ochi going easy at all isn't likely." Rito deadpanned.

Receiving a dramatic and long-winded groan from his friend, Rito gave a sheepish chuckle.

Unbeknownst to them, a young man would be watching the three as they walked away. His attire blazing a logo for the school soccer club on his left pectoral. Taking in a soft breath, he turned away to the other club members. Though not before casting a glance over in the direction of Haruna.

Who was following a taller man towards the practice building...

"Inoue! You plan on trying out today or what!?"

"Ah, right. Sorry." The now-named Inoue would turn his attention back toward the club, jogging over to the crowd.

---

⦏ Tuesday: May 6th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 12:32 p.m. ❳

Rito puffed a cheek as he saw Keigo and Mishima going to leave on route to the cafeteria. Glancing toward his side, he would notice Rukia moving her gaze around the room with a frown.

"Hey, what's up with you? What, is there a Hollow?" He ensured to whisper the last part, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention.

"No, it's not that." Rukia stopped inspecting her surroundings to turn her gaze to Rito, "Has Haruna ever come back?"

"Sairenji?" Upon the question, Rito would then give it some thought. Now that she mentioned it, he could not have recalled seeing her in recent memory. "Agh! You're right!" Rito sat back in his chair, his eyes wide as he now took his turn to frantically look around.

Raising a brow, his ear twitched as it picked up on a conversation in the corner of the class.

"Haruna missed this last class, didn't she? Where'd she go?"

"Yeah, you're right. That's so weird. Normally she shows up to class first, right?"

A girl with long black hair and a mole under her left eye would walk over to the chatting pair with her lunchbox in hand.

"Oh, yeah. I remember her being called on by Sasuga-sensei. So maybe she's still helping him."

"Helping him? In what way?" A gasp escaped one of the others, "Do you think they're going out?"

"Come on, there's no way!"

Rukia and Rito exchanged a glance. Both of them having their own suspicions brewing, Rito made to turn out of his chair. Though, in his moment of tension, it would be cut into ribbons by a bubbly call.

"Riiiiiitooooo~‼ Let's eat together~!"

The duo would swing their heads backward as Lala swayed back in forth, presenting a lunchbox wrapped in a soft pink cloth.

"Mikan made me a lunch, too~!"

Rito's eyebrow twitched as he cursed the timing that Lala had. It just had to be when he was about to do something. Groaning, he would rub his temple before looking back to the pinkette.

"Look, Lala. Can't you just eat over at your own desk?"

"Awwww, whyyyyy? I wanted to eat with you~"

In the opposite of the room, two boys would snarl amongst themselves as they watched the scene.

"I can't believe this guy... That Yukki Rito. Lucky bastard..."

"Yeah. He gets to hang out with Ruki-swan and Lala-chan!"

Clutching their fists, they gave an exaggerated huff as steam shot out from their noses.

In the midst of Lala's rambling, Rito's attention was drawn to the door slamming shut just ahead. With a sudden burst of energy, Rito would slip past Lala and head straight out the door.

"Huh!? Rito, where are you going!?"

Before Rukia and Lala could pursue, they found themselves stopped by the two muttering to one another just before.

"Hey, you two~" The first grinned, running a hand through his hair with an exaggerated eyebrow raise.

"Forget about him, you can have lunch with us instead~" The other would shoot a wink toward the two, Lala being oblivious to it while Rukia huffed.

Rolling her eyes, Rukia glanced in the direction where Rito took off. What could have made him rush off like that...?

---

⦗ BGM Change — Head In The Clouds ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Tatsuki was stomping down the hallway, a glare pointed to her front as her hands balled into fists. The supply room. That was in the practice building, if she remembered correctly. That was her destination then. If something was happening to Haruna, then she would get to the bottom of it.

Someone like Haruna? Going after Sasuga? No. That was impossible. She knew the truth. There had to be something else going on, she just knew it!

"Tatsuki!"

Stopping in her tracks, the girl raised a brow as she turned back to see an approaching Rito. Giving a scoff, she began to turn around again to continue onward.

"Wait, Tatsuki!" Pushing forward some, Rito would reach forward and grab onto Tatsuki's shoulder.

Upon this, Tatsuki would twirl on her heel. Whipping her head in the direction of the boy, she would have directed a glare rather than a punch his way.

"What is it, Rito?"

"Look, I know exactly how you're feeling about Haruna right now. But you should calm down and think about it..." Rito spoke calmly, "If you go in guns blazing and there's nothing actually going wrong, you could end up getting yourself into deep trouble. Possibly even suspension."

Stepping back from Tatsuki, he lowered his arm. Waiting for any kind of response, she looked away thoughtfully. Then giving a huff.

"Agh- You...!" Tatsuki raised her arms, her fists shaking, before throwing them back down with a loud groan. "Why can't you just be a clumsy idiot all the time..."

"What-"

"Nothing." Tatsuki huffed, turning back toward him with a soft grin. "I'm gonna go ahead, though. I think I have some kinda idea where they'd be."

Before Rito could question, Tatsuki would take off toward the end of the hallway with blinding speeds.

"Tatsuki!? Where are you goi-"

"Yukki Rito!"

Rito nearly jumped at the booming voice behind him. Now he understood why Tatsuki took off... Turning around toward where the voice came from, he gave a frown.

"Kotegawa..."

"And where are you off to?"

Rito's lip twitched at the question. A bead of sweat dropping down the back of his head. Rubbing at it gently, he gave a low whistle as he thought of some excuse.

"Ahh... Just to the, uh, cafeteria! Yeah. I, uh, was just thinkin' I might be feeling a little more hungry than usual today."

"I see. Well, if that's the case..." Yui would give a soft sigh, presenting her own lunchbox forward. "You can share some of mine. I was hoping to learn from you something about that new transfer, Deviluke."

"About... Lala?" Rito raised a brow, confused as to how he prompted a huff in response from Yui.

"So you're on first name basis with her? Then you'll do perfect for an interrogation." Yui stepped forward, staring daggers into Rito's eyes, "You'll be coming with me, Yukki Rito."

"I should actually get going now..." Rito trailed off, beginning to turn away.

"Why are you trying to avoid me now?" Yui frowned, pulling back her arm with a frown, "Is there something going on with you again?"

"No, no. Not at all." Rito quickly denied the accusation, waving his hands gently. Lowering his hands, he puffed his cheek, "I... Uh, yeah! I promised I would eat lunch with Tatsuki and Haruna today! So, I've gotta go find where they went!"

Waving a hand, Rito would take off in a blur much faster than Yui could have grabbed him. The girl comically falling flat on the ground in the dust cloud he built up. Quickly, she would sit up and readjust her skirt.

Once that was done, she huffed loudly, screaming down the hall.

"Ugh... YUKKI RITOOOOOO‼"

⦗ BGM END ⦘

---

» 𝑨𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍-𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍｡ «

---

"HEY! No running in the halls!"

Tatsuki did not even hear the teacher calling out for her to stop. It was not an option to listen. It was not an option to focus on anything else. Anything other than the possibility that Haruna could be in danger. Anything other than the chance that she may need help and Tatsuki was not there for her. Anything other than the lie the gossip girls believed that Haruna could love anyone. Anyone other than...!

Clicking her teeth, she would push herself even further. Come on! The ace of the martial arts club had to reach her!

"Haruna...!"

As her resolve was strengthened, she looked ahead to see that she was quickly approaching the crossway to the practice building. Silently, she affirmed her gaze on it and picked up in speed.

---

Beeping would ring through a quiet, dark room. Sitting on a table was the taller man that Haruna had been following earlier. He wore a black and white tracksuit. His hair, blonde and shoulder length, framing his grinning face as he stared down at what was Haruna's phone.

Where was the girl? Well. She had been kept standing only by a plethora of mechanical tendrils which protruded from what looked to be a circular device attached to the ceiling. The binds slowly curling further and further.

"For someone whose supposed to be so dependable, he's taking his sweet, sweet time... Maybe I should just call him to give him some inspiration..."

The man spoke, gazing over the list of contacts. Lifting his gaze to the unconscious Haruna, he paused. Looking thoughtfully for a moment, he would stand from where he sat. Walking to her side, he would gently rub his chin as he accessed her figure.

"Now that I'm looking at it... This girl is just as ripe as Lala..."

The man chuckled a bit, raising his hand from his pocket. Within it was a key-shaped remote. Which he would press the top button with a slide of his thumb. Upon the command, the machine above would blink red as it projected more tendrils. These would wrap around Haruna's chest and waistline. Tightening just between her legs and around her breasts.

This would cause a light moan to escape from Haruna's lips, putting a wide grin on the man's face. Drool beginning to escape from it, he would let out his tongue to lick it up before it could go too far.

Just as he did, a wash of light would come over him. To his surprise, Tatsuki would slam the door open with a huff as she looked on in shock at what was going on before her eyes.

"S-Sasuga-sensei!? What... What is this!?"

⦗ BGM Cue — creeping shadows ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

"Huh...? Well. You're not him..." The now named Sasuga clicked his tongue in annoyance, "But I can assume you're here for Sairenji Haruna, yes...?"

"I asked you what the hell you're DOING!" Tatsuki immediately fired back.

Her fury rising as the only response she got was a snicker from Sasuga, she would rush forward with a roar. Her arm arched back, she prepared a punch to strike directly at his face with...

...until suddenly a powerful roar would escape from Sasuga's lips. His head would begin to shape into something much more reptilian. His hair receding back into his scalp as dark scales would begin to grow in their place. His eyes bulging as they spread apart slowly, his tongue becoming dramatically longer. Hands forming claws and his shoes bursting thanks to his now extended toes with sharp nails on each.

Tatsuki would step back upon sight of this, her body beginning to shake slightly.

"𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎..." Sasuga spoke up, grinning devilishly, "...𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚓𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍..."

Tatsuki's gaze moved to Haruna, her vulnerable state making Tatsuki lower her hands. Growling quietly, she glared back at Sasuga.

"Tch..."

"𝙺𝚎𝚔𝚎𝚔𝚎... 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛~" Raising his hand, he would flex his fingers some as he let out a chuckle, "𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑'𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚟𝚞𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚢."

"So. You're an alien, like Lala...?" Tatsuki asked, narrowing her eyes.

"𝚈𝚎𝚜, 𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝." Sasuga nodded sagely, closing his eyes. Then, when they opened again, his irises were enlarged, "𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚐𝚊 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖. 𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙼𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚌𝚛𝚢." Wiping a metaphorical sweat off his brow, he turned away with a frown, "𝙱𝚞𝚝, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐."

"So you're not actually Sasuga."

Well, Tatsuki was relieved to find out that Haruna's Tennis Coach was not actually a perverted alien creep. Though, for now, she had to focus on the person who was a perverted alien creep.

"Who are you, then!?"

"𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖, 𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙼𝚢 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙶𝚑𝚒 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚎." The alien then rubbed his chin gently as he retracted his tongue, "𝚂𝚊𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚈𝚞𝚔𝚔𝚒 𝚁𝚒𝚝𝚘, 𝚗𝚘?"

"What does Rito have to do with this?" Tatsuki raised a brow, confused by the inquiry.

"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎!" Ghi Bree clapped his hands together, pointing toward Tatsuki with a furrowed brow, "𝚃𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚈𝚞𝚔𝚔𝚒 𝚁𝚒𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎."

"Hah...?" Tatsuki double-took from this.

Rito was... Marrying Lala...? Since when? Was that why she clung to him ever since she transferred!? But. If he did that, then what was Haruna supposed to do...? What about her...? What about...

Tatsuki gave a loud stomp of her foot, her eyes arising from the ground to glare in Ghi Bree's direction. "...if I refuse?"

"𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚂𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚒 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜. 𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔." Ghi Bree walked over to Haruna's side, running his finger along her chin. "𝙴𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚍𝚘𝚖."

Tatsuki frowned. So this was about obtaining the political power Lala held... This guy was a perverted alien politician creep. Even worse.

⦗ BGM PAUSE ⦘

---

"Do you even know where to begin looking?" Rukia stared up at Lala, who stood atop of the water tower on the practice building roof. Sipping from her juicebox, the girl had a deadpan expression as the pinkette ignored her to continue looking around.

"I dunno, but I am gonna find him." Lala shot back, glancing in her direction with a pout before looking back into the great unknown, "RIIIIIIITOOOOOOOO~! WHERE'D YOU GOOOOOOOOOOO⁈‼"

Literally on her head, Peke gave an exasperated sigh. "Lala-sama. I would suggest we just leave that boy alone." Lala paused in her shouting to look up toward her hairpin, "I can't fathom what must be going through that human's brain to not fall in love with you."

Rukia rolled her eyes at this comment from the machine. Of course, the Devilukes were so proud of themselves that they thought all others should be utterly obsessed with them.

"We just met not too long ago, Peke..." Lala giggled, straightening her posture as she placed her hands behind her back, "It'll just take a little more time for us to get to know one another."

"Huh?"

Rukia paused, glancing in Lala's direction once more.

"If we get to know each other properly... Then I'm sure that we'll find out we're a good match! ❤"

"I... See."

Rukia blinked, caught off guard by this heart-to-heart the creator and machine had. It turned out that Lala was far more realistic than she expected... Maybe she was not as bad as she thought.

"Anyways~ I gotta find Rito!"

Reaching into her skirt pocket, she drew forth her D-Dial. Inputting a new code, she would wait for the phone to project its usual pink flash of light that would collect and shape into what looked to be a mechanical puppy. Its most notable feature being its big red nose.

"And I'll do just that with... Kun Kun Trace-kun!"

Rukia was about to question, but was stunned to silence as she saw Lala suddenly whip out a pair of boxers... Wait. Were those-

"Are you ready? Look for the person with this scent, please~! "

"Lala-sama! Do not hold such an indecent thing so casually!" Peke screamed out from her head, to the point the hairpin bulged out to make their full original head shape.

"Roger, desu!" Trace-kun would bark in agreement to the order, leaning forward to sniff the pair of boxers. After a few seconds, it would suddenly take off in the opposite direction, charging down the steps into the building. "This way, desu!"

"Let's go, Peke~!" Balling up the pair of boxers, Lala would rush after the dog with a wide smile.

Rukia, who was just standing there in such shock she could not even take another sip from her juicebox, would blink after the two were gone. Shaking her head in frustration, she would soon follow after.

"Nevermind... This one is worse."

---

⦗ BGM RESUME ⦘

Tatsuki's brow twitched as she stared at what was going on before her eyes, she glared in Ghi Bree's direction. A small bead of sweat began to trickle down the back of her head. Staring at Ghi Bree, who pocketed his hand.

"You...! Leave Haruna out of this! She's got nothin' to do with Lala!"

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?" Ghi Bree snickered, tilting his head slightly, "𝙷𝚖𝚖𝚖. 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜? 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚒 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗?"

"W-what!?" Tatsuki blinked, cringing a bit. After a second, her face welled up with rage. "Screw that! I'll beat the hell out of you!"

"𝙾𝚑, 𝚛𝚎𝚊~𝚕𝚕𝚢?"

A click sounding from Ghi Bree's pocket, the machine attached to the ceiling would whir to life. With a violent tear, the tendrils would rip apart Haruna's shirt with such force that her bra would snap and hang slightly.

Seeing this made Tatsuki's eyes widen, the girl letting out a cry of shock at the horrific sight.

"H-Haruna!"

A snicker would escape from Ghi Bree's lips as he saw the fear in Tatsuki's eyes. Pulling the item toward the side of his head, we wiggled it in either direction.

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎, 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚌𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚕..."

Tatsuki's arms began to lower some as she began to grasp how hopeless the situation was beginning to become. Seeing this put a wider grin on the alien's face as he stepped closer. cackling as he flipped the switch in hand.

"𝙽𝚘𝚠..." Reaching forward, Tatsuki's eyes would widen as she felt Ghi Bree grip onto her blazer. "𝙻𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊-"

Before Ghi Bree could finish, he suddenly felt his grip on Tatsuki cease. His eyes going wide as he felt his footing fade as well. The reasoning for so was beyond him, though. This was until his eyes would catch onto various flickers around the room. Particles of light rushing around him alongside black liquids, all toppled with a burning smell.

It was not until darkness took hold that Ghi Bree had even realized that he was in immense pain. Not to mention his head was... Stuck. Why was that? He knew it was not the fault of the woman. She was not going to make any moves, the threat was far too effective. So... What did him in?

"...Ri...to...?"

Upon hearing the name, Ghi Bree felt nothing but fury.

---

Rukia had a deadpan expression on her face as she was following behind Lala. A bead of sweat ran down the back of her head as she watched the pup run them in various directions. As they kept going...

She started to wonder if they were actually looking for Rito.

"Oi, Deviluke."

"Hmm?"

"Do you even know where you're going!?"

"Ah?" Lala stopped, rubbing her chin gently, "I dunno, actually."

"Ugh!" Rukia clicked her tongue, glancing in the direction where the robot dog went, "He's not leading us anywhere! Look!"

"Ah- Trace-Kun?" Gasping, Lala would skip after the pup and turn into the doorway, a wide smile on her face, "So, Rito's here!?"

"KYAAAAAHHHH! WHAT IS THIS THING!?"

Lala had a blank expression on her face as she saw that what instead of Rito was a multitude of girls trying to change back into their school uniforms, interrupted by Trace-Kun leaping in and aggressively making each and every attempt possible to sniff af their bodies.

"It smells so wonderful in here, desu~!"

"Trace-Kun! You're supposed to be looking for Rito‼ ꐦ"

A loud whimper escaped from the room as pink light flashed. Rukia would slowly approach as Lala left from there, shutting the door behind her with a huff.

"So much for that." Rukia shrugged lightly.

Lala turned toward Rukia with a pout, "You have any better ideas?"

"Actually, as a matter of fact, I do." Rukia smirked, raising her finger, "I can sense Rito's Spiritual Pressure."

"Oho, I see..." Lala blinked, nodding gently. Then, a tick mark appeared on the side of her head, "...if you could do that, why didn't you just DO THAT FROM THE START!?"

---

» 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑳𝒂𝒍𝒂'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓? «

---

⦏ Tuesday: May 6th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 12:47 p.m. ❳

Rito's breaths were beginning to pick up in pace some. He just had the innate feeling that he was getting closer. His eyes narrowing as he kept onward.

If his intuitions were right about Tatsuki, then-

"Leave Haruna out of this! She's got nothin' to do with Lala!"

That was just ahead down the hall. Rito would step toward the door, reaching up toward the handle. Though, he stopped as he heard them discussing further.

His lips trembled some when Haruna's captor brought up his "courtship" with Lala. How he desired for Rito to cut it off.

Even though he knew his immediate response, there was still a selfish part of him that reflected on the choice.

It would make his life easier. After all, he already had to deal with Rukia's Shinigami business. It only made it more difficult to have to deal with this battle for Lala's hand in marriage against what seemed to be the entire galaxy.

It would make it all easier for him to figure it out for himself.

But...

"Be warned, Yukki Rito. If you lose this status, you lose everything."

He remembered those words vividly. The image of the Earth exploding running through his mind as he steeled his resolve.

With a swing of his arm, the door would slam open. But Rito would not be standing at the opposite end of it as a blur rushed forward in his place.

Before Ghi Bree could click the trigger, a slam would sound. Haruna's body would fall from the machine that kept her suspended. Said machine was broken apart thanks to Ghi Bree's own body slamming through it.

When Ghi Bree had fallen over on the opposite side of the destroyed mechanism, the young man responsible dropped onto the ground. Standing up straight to stare down toward the alien before them.

"Ri...to...?"

"I don't care about what you want with Lala." Rito's brows furrowed, "But you dragging Sairenji and Tatsuki into this crosses the line."

Ghi Bree sat up from the ground, shaking his head violently. Throwing his head up toward the boy, his teeth grind against one another.

"𝙷-𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞!" Ghi Bree got up from the ground slowly, snarling toward him, "𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚋𝚎!"

"What...?" Rito raised a brow to this, "What do you mean by that?"

Behind them, Rukia and Lala would arrive to see what was going on behind the door.

Noticing their arrival, Ghi Bree would let out a cackle. This cackle soon erupting into uproarious laughter.

"𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎." Ghi Bree raised a hand, his tongue wrapping around his finger, "𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢'𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚌𝚌𝚞𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚞𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝙼𝚄𝙲𝙷 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚌𝚎."

"Political... Then you're...?"

"𝙸𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚍. 𝙸, 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚈 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎, 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚗." Ghi Bree raised a hand, clutching it tightly as his grin widened some more, "𝙱𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚡𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙰𝙻𝚂𝙾 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎!"

"That's all that matters to you?" Rito frowned, "You don't want any kind of genuine love from Lala!?"

"𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎!?" He laughed again, throwing his head back as he lowered his arms, "𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎."

Tatsuki rushed over to Haruna's side, pulling her into her arms as she glared up at the alien man.

"𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊'𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏." Ghi Bree let out a gentle breath as his lips curled into a grin, "𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚎𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎."

Lala's eyes remained trained on the situation. Rukia cast a quick glance in her direction before stepping forward.

"So, Lala and Haruna were both just tools for you to get what you wanted."

Ghi Bree paused, placing a hand on his chest as he let out a light chuckle, "𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎. 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙸𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙸'𝙼 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚢."

After a moment of pause, Rito snarled before glaring toward the larger man. "Bad guy? No. YOU'RE THE WORST‼"

When Rito made this exclamation, Ghi Bree would pause. His eyes shooting wide as if he had seen a ghost while looking toward Rito.

Rukia shot a glance in Rito's direction as well, but only for a moment.

Ghi Bree shook his head, clutching his fist toward the two.

"𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙴! 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝙲𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚁!"

"That's bogus!" Lala stepped forward herself, leaning over Rukia to stick her tongue out toward Ghi Bree. "I already told you that I hate you so many times!"

Clicking his teeth, Ghi Bree would lift his head up, letting out a breath.

"Tatsuki, get Haruna out of here." Rito quickly directed.

Tatsuki looked to him with a confused expression, but one quick glance to Haruna made her resolve on the decision. The girl picking her friend up properly and carrying her out of the room, on route to the infirmary.

"𝚂𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚎..." Ghi Bree grit his teeth, leaning forward. Raising out his arms, his body would begin violently swelling, "𝚂𝚑𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝚞𝚙, 𝙻𝙰𝙻𝙰‼"

"What's going on with him...?" Rito raised a brow.

Lala blinked, giving a curious expression. Under her breasts, Rukia began to growl. She was unable to see what was ongoing, so she raised her arms to push them up a bit off of him.

"𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎..." Ghi Bree's body was exploding with steam, this smoke leaving his shifting figure a silhouette underneath its ferocity, "𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙰𝙱𝚂𝙾𝙻𝚄𝚃𝙴 𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝚘𝚏 𝙶𝚑𝚒 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚎-𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚊'𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖‼"

Before any of them could react, the steam would pour over them when Ghi Bree let out a howl.

Rukia, about to draw out the glove, her face was covered over by a shrap of Sasuga's jacket. This caused her to again growl in frustration.

⦗ BGM Cue — On the Precipice of Defeat ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

When the steam had cleared, the figure of Ghi Bree had been massively changed.

His body was now so muscular that along several parts of his body were pulsing with veins. Piercing through various joints were spikes. Now that the only article of Sasuga's clothing that remained was his pants, shredded to seem like shorts, it was revealed that his abdomen had a layer of purple skin under the dark scales.

Ghi Bree's lips slowly curled into a devilish grin.

"𝙵𝚞𝚞𝚞𝚞𝚞..."

A slow breath escaped through his lips, a puff of haze escaping from it as he stepped forward. The floorboard crunching beneath its weight.

"𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊... 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚢..." His enlarged hand pointed toward the pink haired girl, "𝙶𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚎, 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕."

"Wha- Are you threatening Lala-sama!?"

Lala's face became stern at the face of this threat.

"𝚂𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝙼𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙿𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝." Raising a finger forward, he grinned widely, "𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜... 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚍."

"What? We got Haruna ou-"

"𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚞𝚙 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎?" Ghi Bree let out a small cackle, gesturing toward his hand having a remote in hand, "𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜, 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞?"

"What are you doing this for, Ghi Bree!?" Lala shouted as she got off of Rukia, "Haruna doesn't have anything to do with this, does she!?"

Rukia slowly placed her glove over her hand. It may become necessary for Rito to-

An arm raised up in front of the both of them. That arm belonging to Rito, who raised his gaze toward Ghi Bree.

"You won't be putting your hands on her. Or Sairenji. Or anyone."

"Rito...?" Lala looked to Rito, her eyes widening some.

Both Ghi Bree and Rukia's eyes had widened. They had both come to notice something that Lala had not.

"I'll..." When Rito raised his head a bit more, it could be seen that there was a particular gleam in his hazel eye, "Send him flying!"

'Rito... His Spiritual Pressure is rising...?' Rukia looked down to her hand for a moment, 'But... He hasn't become a Shinigami...'

"𝙷-𝚑𝚎𝚢. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛-𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞?" Ghi Bree gave a nervous chuckle, before clearing his throat, "𝙸'𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞! 𝙸 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝟷𝟶𝟶 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏!"

Rito's gaze did not waver as he began to walk closer.

"𝙴-𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎!" Ghi Bree threw his arm to the side, "𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚊𝚕𝚊'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍!"

Noticing that Rito was not stopping.

"𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙!? 𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜!?"

Rito was still approaching, which caused Ghi Bree to loudly roar. His body steaming once more as it became far more muscular and spiked.

"𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙽! 𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙶𝚑𝚒 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚎-𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚊'𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚍𝚎!" When he saw Rito stop upon his further transformation, "𝙷𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚑𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝! 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜‼"

Rito took in a deep breath. With a step, he leapt forward and threw his arm back.

"𝚆𝚑𝚊-"

Ghi Bree found his face curling around Rito's fist that was launched forward. The fist riddled with small traces of blue particles, that only Rukia and Ghi Bree came to notice.

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPP‼"

The mass of muscle flung into the air, it would crash into the shelves in the back of the room.

"Woah...!"

When Rito walked over to see Ghi Bree and check on him, his eyes widened when he saw what laid in the mess. It was...

Ghi Bree, but. Practically a toy. His limbs all small as sticks and his body barely larger than Rito's own hand.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

"Huh!?" Rito exclaimed in confusion, his jaw dropping.

Rukia and Lala ran over, the former having a similar expression when she saw Ghi Bree out cold on the ground. Lala raised his hand gently to his chin, rubbing it softly.

"Is this... Ghi Bree's real form?"

"Getting a good look at him now, I have a visual match. It appears that he is a a Balkean." The three paused, looking toward Lala as Peke began to explain, "Despite having an excellent mimicking ability, their physical capabilities are exceptionally delicate."

"I see."

'Tsk... This is all so absurd...' Rukia let out a groan.

"That was all just a bluff...?" Rito felt himself deflate, he could not believe that he got so worked up over what was ultimately a lie.

"Lala-sama, what should we do to him?"

The pink haired girl would softly raise a hand to her chin, pondering what she was going to do.

"Oh, I know!"

Drawing out her D-Dial, she input a new code before a new silhouette appeared on the screen. When she clicked on the button: a light emerged from the phone before materializing in the shape of... A toilet. One that was modeled after the head of a duck.

"Slosh Slosh Warp-Kun~❤"

"And what is that...?" Rukia asked in a dry tone, her face deadpan.

Lala gave a small giggle as she reached forward and picked up the tiny Ghi Bree from the ground, "With this, I can flush him down and deport him from Earth."

"And you're sure it'll work?" Rukia raised a brow.

"Of course~! Slosh Slosh Warp-Kun has been tested!"

"And the rest haven't!?" Rukia stepped back a bit from the machine as Lala dropped the small alien in.

Flushing the toilet, the swirling puddle would puff with blue light as it banished Ghi Bree from the area. With another push of her button, she would dismiss her invention.

As the two girls began to bicker over Lala's invention, Rito turned away with a frown.

He was honestly expecting to feel bad about this whole candidate battle. He figured it would be made up of people who knew Lala far longer and cared about her to an extent beyond himself.

But... Ghi Bree did not even consider her whatsoever when it came to marrying her. She was just a means to an end.

Did all of them feel that way...?

"What are you zoning out for, Rito? We need to go and check on Haruna."

"Ah..." Rito paused, looking to Lala with a thoughtful face, "Actually... You guys go on without me."

"Huh, why?" Lala tilted her head softly.

Rito pocketed his hands gently as he took a soft breath, "There's no need to make it all complicated. We'll just say she collapsed from anemia or something. No Ghi Bree. No me."

"Okay, but why wouldn't you come with us?" Lala blinked, "You're the one who saved her."

"Saved her? No. That was Tatsuki..." Rito turned away, not facing Lala and Rukia as he began to walk out, "I didn't really do anything special, anyway."

Lala tilted her head softly as he walked away. Rukia quietly watched as he left with a hand on her hip.

"I don't think that's true at all..." Lala quietly muttered once he was out of sight.

---

⦏ Tuesday: May 6th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 1:30 p.m. ❳

"Ngh..."

At the nurse's office, Haruna's eyes would slowly come to open. Looking around, she would come to notice Tatsuki staring out the window beside the bed. To her right was-

"Are you awake, Haruna?"

"Lala-san...?"

Slowly, she lift her gaze toward the ceiling. Trying to recall what would have brought her here, she drew a blank.

"I... What happened...?"

"You collapsed near the Tennis Club's room." Lala began, "They said it's anemia."

"Anemia...?"

Haruna slowly began to sit up from her bed. Raising her hand, she placed it against her chest. Why did it feel...

"Either way!"

"Wha-"

In an instant, Haruna would find herself in the clutches of Lala's arms as she hugged onto the girl.

"I'm so glad that you're safe, Haruna‼"

"L-Lala-san!?"

Haruna was caught off guard by the show of affection, a gentle blush on his face. Turning her gaze toward her, she looked to the both of them.

"Did... One of you find me...?"

"Err, well, about tha-" Lala tried to draw from the excuse Rito fed her.

"It was Rito." Tatsuki spoke softly as her gaze did not move, her eyes softening.

When Haruna heard this, her eyes slowly widened as her gentle blush became a red.

"Yukki-kun did..."

---

⦏ Tuesday: May 6th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 3:00 p.m. ❳

"Hmmm..." Zastin leaned back, enjoying a bath in the large washroom of his ship. "Taking a bath while looking at the Earth is actually quite relaxing."

About to close his eyes, he looked around as the water below him began to bubble. About to get up from his seat, he found himself leaping out when suddenly a tied up Ghi Bree would emerge from the water.

The both of them simultaneously crying out in terror.

"SOMETHING WEIRD JUST CAME OUT OF THE BATHTUB—‼"

Just outside of the room, his two assistants would look in the direction of the cries with a brow raised.

"What is Commander Zastin screaming about?"

"Your guess is better than mine."

---

⦓ THS #04 ⦔
❱ END ❰

---

⦏ There we go. So sorry for the stupidly long wait. You've reached the end of Chapter 4. As always, hope you enjoyed. ⦐
⦏ The goal with this chapter was to establish the bond that Lala and Haruna have, while also introducing the Candidate Battle. I was originally going to go an original direction with this having Saruyama be the captor of Ghi Bree while also having him turn into someone else other than the Tennis Captain. But, it was massively difficult to carry the motivation for it as every second I thought of making the guy Ghi Bree turned into relevant was making less and less sense as the months went by. This ended up taking massively longer than I thought. Again, apologies for the long wait. Hopefully the next will not take anywhere near as long. ⦐
ー Red