⦏ Bleach (stylized as BLEACH) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. ⦐
⦏ To LOVE-Ru is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hisemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki, creator of Black Cat. ⦐
⦏ 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. ⦐
⦏ I only own what original characters will be introduced in this story, the first example being Masaki Inoue. ⦐
ー Disclaimer
⦏ Friday: June 13th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 7:03 a.m. ❳
Rito's closet swung open, the young man looking over in the direction of Rukia stepping out from it while looking around.
"What's up with you?"
He raised a brow as he fixed up his shirt, now dressed into the summer uniform. Finishing the buttons, he stopped as he noticed Rukia frantically searching through his room.
"H-hey! What're you digging around my stuff for!?"
"It's missing." Rukia quickly muttered.
"Missing?" Rito tilted his head, "What's missing?"
Rukia did not immediately answer. Instead surfing through the contents of his wardrobe before slamming it shut in frustration.
Letting out a growl, she finally turned back to answer, "My Memory Chikan. It's missing!"
"Wait, what!?" A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Rito's head, "What happens if that thing gets into the wrong person's hands!?"
"I'm not going to think about that. We should just find it!"
"Do you even have the first clue where it would be?" Rito dug into the matter, "If we're just searching around blindly, we might not end up finding it."
"Urgh..." Rukia frowned and turned away, "I suppose I had to replace it soon anyhow."
"I have a lot of questions for Mr. Kisuke anyhow." Rito rubbed his chin, "How long has he been involved with this Shinigami stuff..."
Rukia looked toward him with a frown, "If I'm honest, I would suggest avoiding that confrontation if you desire to return to a normal life after all this."
"Huh...?"
Rukia was about to walk out without elaboration. But a squeak and groan from below had stopped her in her tracks.
When she looked to the source of the sound, she would see that her foot had been stamped over the side of Kon's face.
Though, that was not what was most notable about him.
It was where he was looking.
"And a good morning to you, Rukia-tan~❤"
The lion gave a thumbs up, trying to play it off.
This earned him a swift beating from the girl, courtesy of subsequent and ruthless stomps. At the flurry of blows, Kon had let out cries of pain.
"AOGH! MY STUFFING...‼"
Behind them, Rito had a sweat roll down the back of his head as he watched.
"Rito? You up? I'm coming in!"
At the sound of Mikan's voice, the three had panicked.
With a click of the door, Mikan would step inside, apron fastened on.
"I thought you'd like to know that Lala said she would be- . . ."
Mikan took a pause when she noticed Rito had his body spread across his shut closet, sweating profusely.
She placed a hand on her hip as she pointed out his strange posture, "Are you up to something in here I should be worried about?"
"Wha- No! Why would you think that!?"
"You're sprawled over your closet like you're hiding something."
"Hiding something?" Rito shook his head, "N-no, I was just doing yoga. Yeah, yoga! I was getting into morning stretches and there was this one I needed to hold against somethin' to get just right!"
"Uh huh..." Mikan did not seem convinced, "Well, whenever you're done with your 'yoga', breakfast is done."
"R-right!"
When she left the room, the closet would pop open. Kon let out a yelp as he dropped out with a bounce against the ground.
"Yoga? Really?" Rukia teased.
"Shut up!" Rito snapped, "I couldn't think of a better excuse!"
The door bell to the Yukki Household rang. A lanky figure standing at the door.
A few seconds passed. Barely an answer.
So it rang again.
"Alright, alright. I'll get it, jeez." Rito's voice was muffled from the inside, "Be right there!"
After a few seconds, the door would pull open.
"Can I help..." Rito found himself dumbfounded at who was standing behind the door, "...you...?"
"I'VE COME TO INVITE YOU OUT FOR A DRIVE, MY NUMBER ONE PUPIL‼!" Don Kanonji called out, pulling the coat off his shoulders to fully reveal himself.
Rito stared at him for a minute. Soon after, he would slowly shut the door.
Don blinked as he awaited an actual answer...
Instead, he heard the click of the door's lock.
"WHY DID YOU LOCK THE DOOR, MY NUMBER ONE PUPIL‼?"
"WHY DO YOU THINK I DID!?" Rito yelled back behind the door, "HOW DID YOU FIND OUT WHERE I LIVE!? ARE YOU A PERVERT?! GO BACK TO WHEREVER YOU CAME FROM‼"
"Ohhh... How cruel..." As if on cue, Don would draw out a napkin and wipe his leaky eye, "I'm a big star now, and I thought it would cheer you up for me to come visit you incognito..."
Rito opened the door again, swinging his head in either direction. When he failed to notice anyone else watching, he shot a glare toward the celebrity.
"And how is this incognito!? Do you see what you're wearing!?"
"But this is my plainest suit..."
His plainest suit was a red high-necked tunic which looked as though he belonged in a red coat lineup.
Rito wondered if that was just a part of the celebrity life...
"After I went through the trouble of inviting your friend, too..."
As Don stepped to the side to showcase who he was talking about, his brow twitched violently as he saw Rukia popping up from the back of his ornate car holding lots of treats.
"L... Look, Rito! He brought me all of these top-quality red bean paste sweets from Hotei's store!"
When Rukia had said she was going to go ahead and head to the school for the day, he did not expect that she would come back after having told the enemy his location...
"Now, come on, Boy! I'll give you a lift to your school, My Number One Pupil!"
"DON'T COME TO ME CUZ YOU'RE BORED ON YOUR DAY OFF‼"
"Hmm? Who's at the door, Rito?"
Lala stepped out to look out the doorway, her green eyes meeting with those of Don's behind his glasses.
"Oh, it's the Bohahaha Guy ❤‼"
Don had clasped his hands together slowly as he stared at the girl. He looked to Rito as the boy slowly turned his way toward the pinkette himself. Then he looked back to the girl.
...who was nude.
"My Number One Pupil... I was unaware that you lived such a parlous lifestyle." Don Kanonji turned away, wiping his eye again, "While I would not condone, I must offer my congratulations. It seems you've become a man-"
"DON'T ASSUME THINGS, DAMMIT‼"
"But we're getting married..."
"MARRIED!?" Don felt his eyes pop out of their sockets from the shock.
Rito then turned Lala around and began to push her back into the house.
"I told you not to go blabbing about that kinda stuff!"
"My Number One Pupil, you were gonna hide this from me!?" Don clutched a fist, "We have to discuss the wedding plans. The location. The venue. Th-"
"NO THANK YOU!"
Lala looked to Rito with a pout, "But I wanted to see what you were doing..."
"I told you not to walk around the house naked!"
"She does that regularly...!?"
Don looked toward Rukia, who gave a nod.
"Oh my... It seems my Number One Pupil is quite the ladies' man..."
Rukia shrugged to the notion.
『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 8 | Ladies, Be Modest ~𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥'𝐬 𝐄𝐯𝐞~ 】
"Perhaps I was mistaken about Yukki Rito..."
Saki was in the midst of pondering. Her declared battle against Lala had a necessary component. Researching the apparent fiancé, Yukki Rito. And so far, he had been beyond her expectations. He looked like he could not handle a twig being thrown his way.
However, when looking into his scores all across the board: He was honestly impressive.
His academic scores were surprisingly above average, and he seemed to have a positive effect on his class despite his relationship with the Morals Committee.
His physical exam scores were... Enticing, to say the least.
It was like he were some kind of monster physically.
Perhaps this was the reason behind Lala's desire to marry him. Or perhaps the reason why it were arranged. No. She doubted that.
The information that Rin offered about his family suggested no nobility.
While she did wonder why Rin knew to the exact detail she had, Saki had no use wondering it at the moment. After all, it was time for the great Tenjoin Saki to claim him for herself.
After all, it would be useful to have an eye into the male student body.
❲ 1:13 p.m. ❳
"Rito, dude‼"
Rito's expression gave off nothing but disgust as Keigo was gripping against his shirt tightly.
The two of them were standing out in the courtyard in the midst of P.E. class. As of today, Rito had been the center of gossip in the school that day.
The reason...?
The manner of which he got there.
"YOU HAVE TO INTRODUCE ME TO DON KANONJI, MAN‼"
"And why do you assume that I'd be able to do tha-"
"DON'T BULLSHIT WITH ME, HE GAVE YOU A LIFT HERE‼" Keigo crawled up his shirt until he made eye contact a little too close for Rito's liking, "Come on, we're friends, aren't we!?"
Rito let out a groan. He knew agreeing to Don's offer would lead to something like this. He had to hear all about how he showed up to school through the entire day.
Unfortunately, they ended up taking a lot longer since a Hollow popped up on the way. He was left no choice but to take up Don's offer...
The guy having followed them there.
Definitely perverted on some level.
Dealing with that was secondary, though, in comparison to the annoyance that Keigo was being to him at the moment.
Raising his hands, he gripped onto either of Keigo's wrists. Pulling his hands off of him, his smile widened into a much darker expression.
"You can be a weirdo over there...!"
"But, but-"
"I guess I wasn't clear enough..."
Keigo whimpered at the tightened grip Rito gave. The boy's entire body jittering as the bone popped under his thumbs.
"OKAY, OKAY‼"
"Thank you."
Rito smiled as Keigo walked over to Saruyama to complain about Rito's refusal to cooperate.
He then sighed, raising a hand to rub his temple.
Thinking on Don Kanonji, he came to realize something. The amount of orders that started to come up were abnormal. He hoped it was not all of the Demi-Hollows the guy terrorized before that point.
It would be a grim reality, in that case.
Raising a hand, he came to let out a yawn.
Stepping over, Lala placed her hands behind her back.
"What's up, Rito?" The girl pursed her lips, "You look sleepy."
"Huh? Yeah..." Rito rubbed his eyes, "Yesterday was just order after order. Hell, Rukia's pretty sure the amount overloaded her detector thing."
"Oh yeah, Rukia's stuff. She said she lost her memory thingy, right?"
"Yep." Rito sighed, beginning to whisper, "Now we gotta be more careful about the whole Shinigami thing. If somebody happens to see us, we can't wipe their memories anymore."
Lala seemed to turn away her gaze at that, before glancing back at him.
"Well, why don't we just focus on the class, then?"
"Good idea..."
Rito nodded. Placing his hands on either hip, he rolled his neck in either direction as he looked to Kagine explaining the class plan.
"Running a marathon with the girls today, huh?" His face soured, "I don't feel like it..."
Upon hearing this, a lightbulb went off in Lala's head behind her. A smile running over her face as she drew forth her D-Dial.
Rito recognized that beeping...
He swung his body around in her direction and marched over. Raising a hand to point toward the phone, his eyebrow began to twitch.
"Lala, what are you about to do...?"
"Oh, don't ask questions, silly~❤"
After the combination was put in, a device was summoned into Lala's hands. Crouching down, she began to fasten them onto Rito...
"Just try these on~!"
Rito blinked as he looked down to what she had put on him. They were a pair of shoes covered with plating fashioned in a way similar to Zastin's boots.
Though, before he could make any real note of them, he felt his feet beginning to move involuntarily. With a whirring from below, Rito found himself rocketing forward in rapidly increasing speeds.
"Tada~❤ It's my Easy Easy Runner-Kun!" Lala raised a finger, "With those on, you can run a marathon evil while you're asleep, Rito~❤"
"...Lala-sama, Rito has already vanished."
. . .
"A marathon, huh?" Tatsuki huffed, beginning to stretch her legs, "I'd rather it have been one big race. That way, I can beat out the competition!"
"Tatsuki, it's not always about beating others..." Haruna chastised.
"What're ya talkin' about?"
Standing up from her position, Tatsuki placed a hand on either hip. A wide grin slowly crawled over her features.
"I'm gonna be the woman holding the medal of the world someday. And in order to do that, I gotta make sure I don't get beat out by anybody."
"S... SOMEBODY STOP MEEEE‼"
The two paused as they looked behind them. To their shock, they would see Rito rapidly approaching.
Both of them yelping in fright, they leapt out of the way as he blurred by. They coughed between themselves, caught in the smoke cloud kicked up behind him.
"Was..." Haruna spoke up as she came to catch her breath, "Was that Yukki-kun?"
"Yeah, it was." Tatsuki got up from the ground, "Knowing him, he's about to get himself in some trouble."
Haruna would soon stand up next to her when the both of them heard a boom in the direction of where Rito rushed off to. With a glance to one another, they pursued the boy who crashed through.
When they had gotten inside, the both of them had their eyes wide.
On the ground was a surprised Saki. Thanks to how Rito had landed atop of her, she was in quite the position.
Rito had his arm wrapped around her right leg, his other hand pressed against her other. His body sprawled outward would result in her legs being spread out for her camel toe to be visible to the world in her shorts. Her breasts which held over them the number 11 from her jersey rested over his back. Rito's head was positioned between her legs at a point he could see within the crevice of her shorts...
Had he not been closing his eyes to avoid that exact outcome.
"Y...you've got some nerve...!" Saki began to mutter.
"Saki-sama‼"
Rin and Aya called from the side, both of them blushing furiously at the sight.
"I..." Haruna's face was beet red, "How did he even..."
Tatsuki however, let out a growl as she marched across the court.
"Damn it, Rito...!"
With a tight grip, she would swing his body up from the ground as though he were a sheet flapping against the wind.
"Heh-"
Before Rito could question, he would find himself thrown into the wall with enough force to cause it to crack. The teen letting out a yelp as his body made impact.
"QUIT BEING A PERV, DAMMIT‼"
As she watched Tatsuki and Rito argue about the intention behind the incident prior, Saki had gotten up from the ground. Her subordinates stood next to her and spoke to her in concern.
However, her mind was not quite focused on them.
Yukki Rito... That was embarrassing for her, sure. But, somewhere in the back of her mind...
❲ 4:00 p.m. ❳
"You're one lucky bastard..." Saruyama huffed while crossing his arms, "First ya get a ride from the big man Don Kanonji himself, then you're getting touchy feely with Tenjoin Saki!?"
"I'm telling you, that was an accident." Rito interjected.
"Your accidents are givin' you opportunities any other man would dream of!" Saruyama shot back.
Keigo turned back in his seat and gave a nod, "Dude, we meet some alien chick and next we see her, she's engaged to you. Ya know what happened when ya first met? Ya grabbed her-"
Rito practically jumped over to Keigo to slap his hands on his mouth. He looked around frantically with a sheepish chuckle as other students in the room looked over with interest.
"You can't just say things like that so casually...!" Rito hissed as he pulled his hands away from Keigo.
"What part? There isn't a person in this school who doesn't know about you and Lala..."
"THE PART YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY‼"
"Oh... That part..." Keigo turned his attention away, tears running down his face, "You want me to keep quiet so you can rub it in, huh..."
"NO!"
Lala hummed lightly as she approached the boys, her tail waving behind her as she beamed toward them.
"You guys sure are worked up, huh?"
"It's nothin', just Rito bein' stupid again." Saruyama dejected.
"What...!?" Rito had a tick mark appear on the side of his head.
Lala's smile remained on her face as she watched the three. Stepping over to Rito, she leaned her head in front of him to block Keigo from view.
"Hey, Rito, Tatsuki invited me out for shopping today, so I'll be going with her, okay~❤?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Sure." Rito dropped Keigo back into his chair as he gave a light nod, "Just don't cause any trouble for Tatsuki. I don't want her complaints coming as a punch to my face..."
"Okay~❤!" Lala skipped over to the door. When she had, she swung around and waved her hand, "Love you~❤"
"Ah-"
Rito was caught off guard by that. Lala gave a light giggle to his confused face as she scurried off to go find Tatsuki.
His jaw dropped in the silence. The both of Keigo and Saruyama gripping onto him from either side. In a joint effort, they would pull him back and forth in retaliation.
"DAMN YOU, YUKKI RITO‼"
"Will you two get off!" Rito threw his arms up, exasperated from the two.
"Yukki-kun, we have an errand to run." Rukia spoke up with her plated gold smile.
Rito's eye twitched, but he then sighed and gestured a hand.
"Right, right."
Rito followed Rukia out of the room, the two taking to run down the hallway.
Another order came up, huh? Well, Rito supposed that would help him take his mind off his current frustration.
He was supposed to be in love with Haruna, right? He devoted every thought of every day to her before. He still felt that way even now. He still wanted to get together with Haruna.
So why was it now that he was so conflicted...? He only knew Lala for over a month, and yet he found himself unable to think of her as just a friend.
Rito felt his pace slowing down until he finally came to a stop, Rukia's own footsteps falling deaf on his ears.
Before now, he did not argue with the idea of marrying Lala for the sake of the planet. But now...? How did he really feel about it? It was an enigma to even himself.
"Hey, you!"
While Rito had been lost in his thoughts, he was approached by Tenjoin Saki. The girl flipped her hair with a proud smirk.
Given there was no Lala in sight, this had to be the perfect opportunity to enact her plan.
"Your little stunt earlier had caused a hit to my royal dignity." Saki placed a hand on her chest, lifting her head a bit higher, "So, as Queen of this school, I demand you make it up to me by taking me out on a d-"
"Yukki, what're you spacing out for, we gotta go!"
"Oh, you're right. Sorry!"
Saki's body turned to a statue in the shock. Rito had just run by as though she, the Queen of Sainan High, were not present at all.
Was he really going to ignore someone of her beauty...? That could not be. She has seen what her mere presence will do to people. Some of them (Keigo) even fall unconscious from nosebleeds at the mere thought of what could be underneath her clothing.
So why did Rito seem different? Did he not recognize her?
...no, that could not be it.
"Perhaps he's a shy boy..." Saki placed a finger on her bottom lip, "That's rather cute, actually."
As the pair of Rito and Rukia rushed by, a student passing by had given them a glance. His pink eyes briefly meeting with those of Rito before he raced off into the distance.
Watching as they left, he stared intently.
Only when their visages vanished into the distance did he finally continue onward with his walk.
» 𝐀 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐰。。。 «
"You dragged me out here for more training!?"
Rito looked down to a kendo sword in hand that he waved in either direction. His cheek puffed as the girl gave a confident nod.
"Of course." Rukia raised her own kendo sword, "We must be certain that your skills remain sharp even when there aren't any Hollows to be fighting."
"I thought that was the point of the pitching machine..." Rito sweatdropped.
"It was, but you've gotten to the point where you've mastered that level of training. So, it's time to hone your technique with the blade."
"But what I've been doing works well enough, doesn't it?"
"For now. However, that is only the case because you've been battling against relatively weak Hollows." Rukia explained, "For anyone stronger, you must have the skill necessary to keep up with them."
"By the way..." Rito raised his wooden sword toward her, "Why am I using a sword this thin? Isn't my Zanpakuto massive? Shouldn't I be using something similar to that to practice?"
Rukia shook her head lightly, "While it is true that you have a disproportionately large sword, that may lie in your ability to control yourself."
"Huh?" Rito raised a brow.
"Shinigami fundamentally use their Spiritual Pressure as a medium to shape their blade when the necessity arises." Rukia raised her blade toward him, "Part of this training is to allow you to acquire an affinity with a more desirable blade."
Rito looked to the sword in hand again, his eyes narrowing. His gaze soon lifted in her direction again after some thought.
"Say, Rukia."
"Hm?"
"The night we first met, you said that Hollows were attracted to my high Spiritual Pressure." Rito clutched his sword tightly, "How long has that... Been the case?"
Rukia hesitated upon the question being asked. Furrowing a brow, she raised her sword with a stern gaze.
"There's... No telling. It could honestly be quite some time before we even met." Her lips pursed, "How long have you been able to see Hollows...?"
"Ah... Hmm..." It was now Rito's turn to hesitate, his hand shaking slightly.
"...why do you ask, anyway?"
Rito gulped. His eyes began to shake.
The rain fell hard that day.
"Rito, wasn't I awesome today!?" A young voice spoke up.
"Yeah, you were. But you aren't beating me!" A younger Rito responded.
"What was that!? You tryin' to go!?"
"And what if I am!?"
Their heads butted under their umbrellas.
An older man's voice let out a chuckle, "Now, now. Don't fight..."
"Okay..." The smaller Rito puffed a cheek as he turned away.
"Sorry, Dad." The young boy on the opposite side of the sidewalk responded.
As a car rushed by, its back wheel shot up water from a puddle. This water striking at the boy on the other side of him.
When Rito saw it, he raised a finger and laughed at him. To this, the boy pulled at his eye and stuck out his tongue at the other.
"Come on, why don't you stand on the other side?" The boy's father suggested.
"Nuh uh!" He shook his head, "That's Rito's side. I'm gonna stay on my side!"
"Hmm... Well, fine." His father gave a soft smile, "But if you get wet, it's on you."
"Okay!" The boy then looked over to Rito with a grin, "I think the tryouts went good! How about you, Rito?"
No response from the brunette.
"...Rito?"
The boy was staring off onto the riverbank beside them. At the end of it there was a figure. No.
A girl. A girl that was standing out in the rain.
"Do you guys see her?"
"See who...?" The other's father questioned.
Meanwhile, the boy next to him raised a brow. "A-are you seeing ghosts again?"
"Wait here!"
Rito suddenly leapt over the railing.
"Huh-"
"Rito!?"
Rito rushed down the hill with all his might.
He had a raincoat, so he was fine. If it proved too much he could use Mr. Toyokawa's umbrella.
This girl had nothing.
She was going to get sick without one.
Rito then saw that she was beginning to lean forward. Beginning to drop down toward the water.
He raised out his arm as his eyes widened. She was going to get hurt if he did not stop.
He was almost there... He w-
"RITO, NO‼"
Rito gasped as a moss green washed over him.
"Rito?"
Rito snapped out of his thoughts. He looked up to Rukia with a light breath. She looked concerned. He could tell that much rather easily.
"Is something the matter?"
"No." Rito shook his head lightly, "A-anyways. There wasn't any reason in particular I was asking that. I was just curious."
Rukia did not seem convinced. Rito, however, ignored that, and took his stance.
With a blow of the wind, they both rushed forward. Wood clattered against one another. The wind whipped as their arms swung the blades.
Clash after clash.
Rito went for a low, upward swing. Parried by Rukia's side swipe. The backstep Rukia needed to take gave him the advantage to bring the sword around to her other side.
Rukia countered this by folding her arms to face down over her side to block the incoming blow. Rito grunted before his arm was thrown off by Rukia's backswing.
Rukia then took the initiative to swing forward at his shoulder. Rito winced at the strike, desperately swinging his arm upward again. Rukia hopped back to avoid the strike.
Rito was caught off guard by her quick slide forward underneath his defenses, the girl swiping at his leg to thrown him down on a knee. With that, she struck at his side to open him up for a hit straight for the neck.
Rito winced in pain, holding his neck as he got up from the ground to recover. Before he fully arose, he was struck over the head with a hard downward swing.
"GAH!"
Rito fell backward, hissing from the sting.
Slowly, he pushed himself up from the ground again. When he had, his blade would be pointed toward his sparring partner with his eyes narrowed.
"Damn it...!"
With a kick on the ground, he rushed back into the battle.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting!"
Lala ran across the street with a wave, stopping when she made it to be in front of the pair of Tatsuki and Haruna.
Haruna gave a light smile while Tatsuki shrugged.
"Don't worry about it, we were just deciding where we were gonna go."
"Hi there, Lala-san."
"Oh, Haruna's coming along too? That's perfect!"
"Perfect?" Haruna questioned.
"Whaddoya mean?"
. . .
"You want to know more about Yukki-kun?"
"Mhm, mhm!"
The trio were sitting at a table in Rob's Burger, them splitting off their food from a tray. Off to the side of Tatsuki and in the chair beside Lala were their bags from the shopping.
Lala slowly folded her hands against one another. A small frown came onto her features.
"Everything's nice. I know I love Rito, but..." She began to twiddle her thumbs, "We're not going anywhere, and it's starting to bother me..."
Sometimes, it felt that despite even though she declared him as hers... Nobody took it seriously.
On that thought, her mind somehow brought itself to the image of Yui, and she crunched her hands together again.
"Whenever I try to help him, he snaps at me." Lala sighed, "I want things to get better, but I just don't know where to go."
"Hmm..." Haruna stared at her with a dejected expression.
Tatsuki noticed Haruna's face and gave a nervous laugh. She looked back to Lala and raised a hand gently, "I was wondering. Since you're an alien and all, what exactly attracts you to Rito of all people?"
"What attracts me to Rito?" Lala tilted her head softly.
"Yeah, I just can't see what ya like about him!" Tatsuki sat back in her chair, rolling her hand around to give emphasis, "He's such a wuss. He's bratty. He's perverted. He's ridiculously clumsy-"
"Tatsuki-san..." Haruna looked toward her best friend with a frown, "That's not true at all."
Tatsuki puffed a cheek when she turned toward Haruna, "Huh? What're you talkin' about?"
"Yukki-kun's always been a kind person..." Haruna looked down, her cheeks beginning to redden, "He's always stretching himself so thin to help whoever he can. And more than half the time I see him outside of the school, he's replacing the flowers for memorials around the neighborhood."
"Memorials?" Lala raised a brow.
"Ah, yeah." Tatsuki looked back toward Lala, "Rito's somebody who does everything he can to respect the dead. He even works at a flower shop that opened up a few years back so he can have flowers for his way back."
"Huh..."
Lala had noted that there were times Rito had gotten home later, but never questioned it before now. Was that why he was taking up the Shinigami job?
Her tail slowly began to wave in either direction.
"Hey, so..." Lala raised a finger to her chin, "How long has Rito been able to jump on rooftops?"
"What-" Tatsuki choked on her drink.
"On rooftops!?" Haruna stood up from her seat, her hands slamming down on the table, "W-what do you mean, Lala-san?"
"Lala-sama, perhaps you should have used a different example..."
"O-oh..." Lala sweatdropped, "U-um, I was exaggerating, ahaha! I meant, um, Rito's really good at anything in...vol...ving... Sports! Sports, yeah."
Haruna seemed unconvinced. Even still, she slowly sat back down again.
"Oh, that?" Tatsuki leaned back in her chair after having gotten the drink down, "I... Don't really know, to be honest. Back when we were doing karate together, he was a total wimp. One punch and he was down for the count."
Haruna looked to Tatsuki and listened intently. She had never known about Rito before he was incredible at sports.
"But then, when Junior High came around, the guy was practically on his own league." Tatsuki looked down to her hands with a nostalgic expression, "Inoue ended up bein' the only person to beat him in anything."
"From my observations, I don't believe it's normal for humans to possess such capabilities physically." Peke had a thoughtful expression, "But there doesn't seem to be any kind of enhancers affecting Rito-dono, either."
"Could he maybe be half-ali-"
"No." Haruna spoke up, a glance in Lala's direction, "B-both of Yukki-kun's parents are perfectly normal. I mean, if they weren't, wouldn't they show us that by now?"
"Hmm..." Lala rubbed her chin, "I guess you're right."
"Let's not think about that, anyway." Tatsuki raised her hands to rest upon the back of her head, "After all, you're supposed to be keeping that secret, aren't you?"
"Ehhh?" Lala pouted, "Rito said that, but it's really hard..."
Over by the corner of the establishment, an observant Aya would be watching from afar. Her identity kept concealed by a moss green ivy cap and facemask.
She was not paying attention to the major chunk of the conversation, given it was just speak on Yukki Rito. She had no interest in him, given he was merely an opportunity for Saki to triumph over the transfer.
Though, when something about Lala came up, she reached into her trench coat to draw forth a walkie talkie.
"This is Sparrow. Repeat. This is Sparrow. Come in, Eagle's Nest."
Over a hill, Saki had been standing next to Rin. There, they happened to be witness to the sparring match of Rukia and Rito.
She was not aware that he had taken an interest in kendo...
As far as she was aware, his sports favors leaned heavily toward soccer. Though, she supposed given his prowess, branching out would be for the best.
Blinking, she looked down to notice a voice coming from within her coat.
Ah. It was Aya...
...going by Sparrow.
"I thought we weren't going with codenames..." Saki's brow twitched.
"I have some intel for you." Aya carried on nonetheless, "I've been supervising her as you asked, and after some time, I've discovered that the Lala girl has some big secret she's hiding, over."
"Oh? Hiding a big secret, hm...?" Saki's lips curled into a grin, "Wonderful work as always, Aya. Please continue to observe her for the time being."
"Roger."
When the line had cut, Saki returned the walkie talkie to her coat. Her face remained amused all the while. When she straightened her coat, she crossed her arms as she continued to watch the two below.
"Saki-sama. Are we going to be regrouping with Aya soon?" Rin questioned.
Saki closed her eyes gently, "No, not quite yet. After all, if I am to swoon Yukki Rito from Lala, I must form a relationship first."
Flipping her hair, she let her hand rest against her chin.
"Once she's lost her fiancé by my hand, I'll have her grovel before me for ever daring to threaten my gorgeousness!" Saki declared, "OHHH~Hohoho!"
"Haa‼"
Rito called out, landing a decisive jab to Rukia's stomach. The blow knocked her onto her back with a bristle of the grass. The girl began to sit up from the ground with a smirk.
"That's good... You've made progress since we started. Again."
"Bull. You said I'd get a break once I knocked you on your ass!" Rito pointed his wooden sword toward her, "So I'm gonna take that if you don't mind."
Before he stepped over toward the table beside the tree, Rito found his leg struck with a swipe from Rukia's blade. The strike flipped him in the air.
When his body flopped against the ground, Rukia immediately rushed over and pressed a knee against his abdomen. Wooden blade against his neck.
"If you make a habit of letting your guard down like this, you'll end up dead in a heartbeat." Rukia advised, "This is meant to teach you to steel your mind for what may come your way as well."
"Yeah, real sagely..." Rito winced, "Now get off me!"
Rito pushed the girl off. When he went to pin her down by grabbing at the sword, he found find it already at his neck.
"You should take my advice. It may save your life one day."
"You've been like this all day..." Rito raised a brow, "Is something u-"
"My, my. You seem to be quite devoted in your training, Yukki Rito-kun."
Rito looked up to see Saki and a reluctant Rin behind approaching. Immediately, he would push himself off of the ground to stand a few feet away from Rukia.
Quickly, he jittered to place his hands at either side.
"T-Tenjoin-senpai! Hahaha...!" Rito's lip twitched, "Fancy seeing you here."
"What may you be training for, I wonder...?" Saki raised a hand, rubbing her chin as she looked between the two.
Rukia looked to Rito with a puzzled expression before getting up herself.
So, this was Kuchiki Rukia, the other transfer student. Rumors told of Rito being in some special relationship with her as well. If that were the case, she may prove an obstacle to Saki's plan of conquering him.
"O-oh, uhh..." Rito scrambled, searching for some kind of excuse, "Nothing really...?"
Saki did not seem convinced, but decided to keep the conversation moving, "Hello there, Kuchiki-san."
On being addressed, Rukia perked up.
"Why hello there, Fair Lady. . ." Rukia tried to play off her not being aware of this girl's existence.
Pulling Rito aside, she had looked to him for an explanation.
Rito, knowing what the look was for, merely sighed, "She's Tenjoin Saki. Her family's of nobility around here."
"Nobility?" Rukia raised a brow.
"Agh, nevermind that." Rito waved his hand, "More importantly, why are you greeting her like that?"
"I picked it up from your book."
"My manga?!"
"It had notation of a much more updated vocabulary."
"...still too far back for this century." Rito deadpanned.
"Ahem."
The pair looked back to Saki with blank expressions. Both gave a blink at the same time to Saki's expectant face.
"If it's swordplay you need practice in, then I know just who can provide as a partner." Saki raised a hand toward Rin, "My close attendant here is quite the swordswoman!"
"Saki-sama, you're just saying that..." Rin smiled to the gesture, averting her gaze.
"Hmmm... That actually sounds like a good idea." Rukia approved.
"Hold on!" Rito shot a glare toward Rukia, "I never agreed to this!"
"Oh, come on. It's not like you haven't called in friends before." Rukia noted, "After all, didn't you have Inoue help you with your first training?"
"Ah-" Rito paused, "Okay..."
Rin turned her gaze back in the direction of Rito, staring for a moment. Finally, she raised a hand just as Rukia tossed her a kendo sword.
Before he knew it, Rin would be charging toward him.
Quickly, he guarded against the swing that struck down at the sword. When they clashed, Rito leaned back in response to the force she was pushing onto him with.
"Have I... Done something... To you...!?" Rito struggled to get out.
Instead of an answer, Rin swung her sword to throw him back a few steps.
Rito grit his teeth as he swung to match the strike she went for.
Saki watched with some anticipation.
It was rather impressive that he was able to remain standing after engaging in a duel with Rin. Spar or not. After all, her study on the boy lead to no evidence of him having any prior experience in kendo.
Yet here he was going blow for blow with Rin.
Rito raised his guard in either direction to keep Rin's quick, consecutive strikes from hitting their mark. Though, immediately when he got comfortable, Rin jabbed at his core.
When he doubled over, Rin would then swing her sword down over his head with a hard smack.
"Ack-" Rito soothed his aching head.
No time for pondering over that, though, as Rin kept up the pressure. Rito found himself put on the defensive from what could be any decisive blow from her.
Turning his bokuto to backhand, he caught the strike at his side. Swinging it outward, he parried the immediate swing to his other. Unable to block her jab forward, he folded his body over to the side to avoid direct impact.
Rukia, watching from the side, crossed her arms.
"Hmhm... She acted as though she were going to protest, but look at her now." Saki shook her head lightly, but her smile still remained, "Now show me your skills, Yukki Rito~"
Rito grit his teeth as he clashed blades with Rin again. As he did, he tightened his grip on his own weapon. Narrowing his eyes, he figured in his mind that he would better take this seriously.
Otherwise, he would end up a beat stick for the swordswoman.
Taking in a breath, he narrowed his eyes as Rin began to rush toward him again. Pulling back his blade, he swung his arms upward. When he did, he was almost caught off guard by how quick his own swing was.
...it was lighter than the Zanpakuto, now that he swung at full force. But then again, he handled it as a Shinigami as though it were just as light.
Rin winced as she made to parry the strike. Though, when their blades clashed, Rito let out a grunt as he pushed further. He used his prior momentum to keep the swing in full motion as he threw the girl off balance.
This had caught even Saki off guard.
In the next moment, Rito took initiative to strike against her wrist. Holding his sword against her wrist, he swiped his arm down. A decisive blow to knock her off balance.
When the surprised Rin hit the ground on her back, he dropped down quickly to pin her down with his blade against her chest.
He was not Rukia or anything. He was not trying to give off the impression he was out for blood.
"Ah..."
Rito let out a laugh. A smile came onto his features.
He put her down!
Rukia raised a hand to her chin, pondering the situation. It appears it required someone of similar physical capability to push Rito. Even so... He learned to fight her at an astounding rate.
"It appears I was correct about you..."
Rito blinked when Rin spoke up. Looking to her, he noticed that her eyes were focused downward. So, his eyes moved to follow where her eyes were directed.
It was there that he saw his free hand was pressed against her chest to offer pressure. The way it applied that pressure, though, it was pressed firmly against her breast. The mound practically wrapped over his hand.
When he realized this, he quickly leapt off of her.
"I-I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I was just caught up in the moment and wasn't paying atten-"
He was silenced by a decisive strike over the head from Rin. The bonk had him falling down to the ground with a hard thud.
"You are a pervert." Rin concluded, turning back to her mistress with a huff.
"Oh my... That was quite the turnaround." Saki blinked, "But oh well! It appears we've done well!"
» 𝐈𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠。。。? «
"Urgh... She hit me pretty hard." Rito groaned as he approached the front porch of his house.
With a click, he stepped through the door and made to take his shoes off near the entrance.
"I'm home!"
"Welcome back!" He heard Mikan call out from the kitchen.
Rito raised a hand and scratched the back of his head.
He was never going to trust Rukia of all people with his afternoon again. That just led to him getting a beating from both her and Saki's subordinate.
He was going to make sure that Shinigami was paid back in full later o-
Rito stopped when he heard a breath.
He turned his head over to the living room to see that Lala was sitting on the couch. Well, sitting was not the word he would use to describe it per se. Moreso that he saw her struggling not to fall over as she was panting.
His eyes widened as he saw that she was sweating profusely. His bag hit the floor as he walked over to Lala.
"Lala? What's the matter?"
"I..." Lala spoke up between breaths, "I don't... Know..."
"She's been this way since she parted ways with Haruna and Tatsuki."
Rito's brows furrowed. His hands raised over her forehead.
"Damn, you definitely have a fever." Rito pulled his hand back. "But would any normal medicines actually work...? You aren't human..."
"It's okay... I'm fine..." Lala tried to laugh it off, "You don't have to..."
"I won't be having that." Rito crouched down, "Come on."
"Huh?"
Rito had turned around, his back facing toward Lala. The pinkette looked toward him with a blink as her head wobbled lightly.
"What are you...?"
"Get on my back, I'll go ahead and take you to your room." Rito looked back to her with a soft smile, "Come on."
Lala hesitated for a moment, her expression softening. Though, after some time, she slowly but surely crawled onto his back. Gently hugging onto him, Rito lifted her up and began to make way upstairs.
"Hey, Mikan, I'm gonna take Lala upstairs!" Rito looked over to the kitchen door.
"Wha- Oh, okay!"
"Alright..." Rito bounced Lala lightly to adjust his hold on her.
Lala looked to Rito from what side of his face she could see. Her head rested against his shoulder as she felt her body become so heavy. Yet even still, Rito was carrying her without issue.
It made it almost worth it, in a way. Her arms wrapped around Rito a little tighter.
After some time, they would step into the room the siblings picked out for Lala. Carefully stepping past some of the girl's machinery loitered around, he would gently set her down onto the bed.
As she sat there, she slumped a bit, her eyes darting each way in an attempt to keep focus.
Rito turned to face her quickly, his hands planting themselves on her shoulders. With a gentle tug, he would lay her down and pull the covers over her. Once they were comfortably placed over her, he pat the comforters lightly.
"Alright, there we go."
Rito would then raise his hand toward her hairpin. Pulling Peke off, Lala looked up at him with her eyes open slightly more than normal as her clothes had dissolved.
As the hairpin had reshaped itself into Peke proper, they looked to Rito with a puzzled expression.
"Rito-dono, what is th-"
"Can you adjust the temperature in here, Peke? I don't know her AC unit all that well and I don't wanna mess it up." He jabbed a thumb toward the open doorway, "While you do that, I'll get her some water.
Peke looked at Rito with a blink as the boy walked out of the room to do what he proclaimed. It was almost as though they were not looking at the same boy they met back in April.
Shaking their head lightly, they took to float over to the side of the wall where a console lied. With a few pushes of the touch screen, the room would come to warm up some.
After a few minutes passed, Rito would be seated on the office chair Lala had for her desk. He was by Lala's side, holding a bottle up to her lips as she slowly took sips from it.
"Nice and slow, there you go..." Rito spoke gently.
Once she took those few sips, he would close the cap on it and set it aside on the nightstand. Looking to Lala, he smiled gently and rubbed the back of his head softly.
"You should get some rest, okay?" He ordered, "If you have to, I'll cover for you tomorrow, so don't even worry about school."
"Rito..." Lala muttered as she looked up at him.
"You should probably get something in your stomach, though..." Rito rubbed his chin lightly, "I'll go ask Mikan to throw together a soup for you. It would probably turn out awful if I made it..."
Before he could leave, however, he felt Lala's hand grip onto his wrist. With what strength she had to manifest with it.
"Hold on..." Lala begged, "Stay..."
"Huh?" Rito's face softened.
"Stay with me... Please..." Her lips pursed, "At least... Until I fall asleep...?"
Rito hesitated for a moment, looking down to the hand that held his arm. After a second's thought, he gave a light nod and sat back down.
"Alright, I won't go anywhere then."
Lala beamed afterward, slowly pulling her hand back.
"Thank you..."
Rito shook his head lightly. When he gave her a smile again, she found herself staring at it for a while.
"Just focus on getting better."
"Mhm..."
Lala continued to watch as Rito took to chat with Peke while he sat beside her. She could not hear what they were talking about. She was caught up in her own world.
What was in that world...?
Well, Lala certainly was about to find out. The dreamscape pulled her into the darkness.
⦏ Saturday: June 14th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 7:00 a.m. ❳
Rito opened his eyes slowly with a groan. He had a weird dream over the last night. When he had, he glanced to his left to see Kon staring at up at his closet door.
...probably got himself kicked out after being touchy feely on Rukia. Oh well.
Now that he thought about it, he had better check up on Lala! When he made to push himself up, he felt he could not move. He wondered why that could be...
"Achoo..."
Moving his eyes to the left, he found his answer.
"L-Lala...!?" Rito spoke up.
To his call, he noticed that the girl was slowly waking up. As she had, her hand raised over her face to rub the tiredness from her eyes.
"I told you that you should sleep in your own room. Did you forget how sick you were last night!?"
Lala had not been paying attention to what he was saying. Moreso, she was paying attention to the fact that save for the blanket, her body was completely exposed.
Quickly, she wrapped the blanket over her body.
"Lala?" Rito raised a brow when the girl's face flushed.
"KYAAAAAAAA‼"
Rito could only stare. He was dumbfounded at the reaction that Lala gave. Jumping from the bed, the girl rushed out of the room. The door slammed behind her.
"She... Seemed better?"
His closet door came to open to a confused Rukia, who gave him an expectant glance.
Rito could only shrug. He was just as confused, if not more.
. . .
Rito picked up a grain of rice from his bowl, eating it slowly as he watched Lala walk into the kitchen. She was actually in uniform today.
Was he mistaken about something? He was pretty sure that the night before she was barely able to move thanks to her high fever. But now she just seemed... Normal.
Almost alarmingly so.
"Hey, Lal-"
"Say, Mikan." Lala cut him off as she took her seat on the table next to him, "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind teaching me how to cook sometime."
Mikan blinked as she herself took her own seat across from Rito. A gentle smile crossed her features soon after, though.
"Sure, I would love to."
"Thanks!" Lala beamed, "I'm looking forward to it."
When she glanced in the corner of her eye to notice that Rito was gazing in her direction, she turned away. A blush flared up on her cheeks again.
Once again, Rito found this to be weird.
. . .
"Okay, can you please tell me what I did wrong?" Rito spoke up after a while, "What did I do to make you mad?"
"I'm not mad, Rito..."
The pair were on their way to school.
Lala's demeanor had a completely different aura to it than it ever had before. After almost two months, he would like to say he had an accurate read of her day-to-day self by now.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. It's just..."
"Just...?"
Lala hesitated, her face beginning to redden once more. Raising her hands, she gently pressed her fingers against one another. She gave a glance toward Rito, but gasped when their eyes made contact. Directing her attention forward, her blush enlarged somewhat.
"It was just... Embarrassing... Is all..."
"...huh?" Rito's jaw could not have dropped further, "You? Embarrassed?"
Today was not going to be an ordinary day. He could just tell that much.
"Heeeeeey~!"
The two looked ahead to see that at the crosswalk stood the trio of Risa, Mio, and Haruna. Rito gave an internal sigh of relief. Seeing Haruna was always enough to revitalize him for the morning.
"Good morning~❤" Risa winked his way, Rito sweatdropping.
"Morning, Momioka."
"Good morning."
Rito was about to greet Haruna, but he found himself looking in Lala's direction when the pinkette suddenly... Bowed? Okay, this was strange.
"Sairenji-san. Momioka-san. Sawada-san."
The three that were addressed all looked to Lala with surprise as Lala raised her head to smile toward them. Haruna glanced in Rito's direction, deciding against questioning when she saw that he seemed puzzled as well.
As they all stared in silence at the girl, she gave a light giggle.
"Shall we go, then? We wouldn't want to be late for school."
Lala's tail wagged behind her as she walked ahead of the group.
"...sure..." Risa blinked as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Was she like that... Before?" Mio questioned.
The awkward silence amongst them certainly answered her question. Before long, the group of students would follow behind her.
"Riiiiiiiiiiitooooooooo‼"
The pair paused as Keigo came running across the school toward the male of the two. As he rushed down the hallway and sprung into a leap toward his friend...
He was met with knuckles digging into his face and throwing him down onto the ground.
"AGH!"
Rolling backward from the blow, he would spring back onto his feet. With a rub of his hands, he soothed the knuckle imprint on his forehead.
"Well, if Rito doesn't want some morning appreciation from a friend..."
He would slide over toward Lala, sparkles emanating from his physical form. Had one given the perspective, they could possibly see Keigo's form changing to be like a bishoujo character.
Raising his hands gently, he placed his hands over Lala's own.
"Lala-san, a good morning to you. The beauty who came falling from the heavens!" Keigo cheered, "A beauty unmatched by any in this universe!"
Rito huffed as he pocketed his hands.
Keigo was certainly in a good mood. Did Mizuiro promise him something...? That was usually the cause. Even so, it gave him no excuse to bug Lala like that.
He wondered how she would react in her current sta-
Lala raised her bag over her face as a blush came over it. With a swift motion, she orbited behind Rito and clung onto him. There, she hid from the shocked Keigo.
"Lala-san!?"
"Please... No more..." Lala begged with a soft voice, "I-I just can't handle it. It's too embarrassing...!"
Keigo looked as though he was shot in the chest by an arrow, his body leaning backward. With a flick of his body as though it were rubber, he would bow his head in apology several times before fleeing into the distance.
"I'm so sorry‼"
Rito was stunned into silence. How was he even supposed to note that?
One thing was certain. Lala was definitely not her normal self.
Rito turned toward her and placed a hand on her shoulder, grabbing her attention almost literally.
"Hey, can we talk for a sec?"
"Huh...?"
She tilted her head as he grasped her hand. As she was pulled up the stairs, she would place a hand over her lips as she stared at their joined hands.
Her thumb rubbed over his lightly as they walked along.
. . .
Now they were on the roof. There, Lala stood over by the railing. She stared at Rito, who seemed to be lost in thought.
"So... You wanted to talk with me, Rito?"
"Uh... Y-yeah."
Rito gave a light response, but went back into the face. Lala raised a hand toward her lips as she gazed upon it.
"You're making a scary face, Rito... It's making me nervous."
"Oh, uh, sorry!"
Rito slapped his hands against either cheek. Afterward, he clapped his hands together. With a deep breath, he took to explain himself.
"I can't help but notice that you seem to not be yourself today."
Before Lala could speak out, she was met with the surprise of her skirt being upraised by the passing winds. Her undergarments having been given full view to Rito.
The boy's face came to match the pink color he witnessed.
Lala quickly threw her hands down to cover the open spot and looked at Rito with a pout.
"Did you see...?"
When she asked, Rito found himself stammering.
"E-erm... Uh... No, I mean-"
Why did Rito's chest start pounding...? He came up here to try and get some clarification, but instead he only ended up with more questions. Possibly even conflicting feelings!
"My..." Lala placed her hands over her cheeks as she averted her gaze, "Rito's such a pervert..."
"W-wha...!?"
Rito now understood what Keigo had felt before. His chest locking up on him as though an electric shock ran through his entire body.
As he saw her cover her face in reaction to his shocked response, he found himself only able to note it as one thing: Cute. Dangerously so.
There was something about her that he could not help but find attractive. A girly Lala like this was just so... If she were to remain like this, then he...
He slapped himself with a hard pop.
Idiot!
He had to get his head back in the game. There was something wrong with Lala and he had to get to the bottom of it!
"Rito...?"
"You aren't normal today." Rito approached closer, "Is there something going on with you?"
"I don't know what you mean by that..." Lala looked genuinely puzzled, "Aren't I the same as I've always been...?"
"No, you're not." Rito began to raise his hand, "I told you that you should stay home today because you were so sick yesterday. Here, let me check if your fever's gotten any better..."
When he placed his hand against her forehead, his eyes widened.
"Woah, what the...! Lala, your fever's gotten worse!"
"Is it really...?"
Lala waited for when Rito lowered his hand. When he had, she placed her forehead against his. This caught the boy off guard as he stared into her emerald eyes.
"Show me..."
As the two sat in silence for a moment, Lala's lips curled into a smile. Her tail began to wave behind her.
Rito just looked at her for a moment as he tried to return his grasp of the situation.
Her fever was worse. She should have stayed home, but she did not. She did not seem any different beside her obvious change in demeanor.
Lala looked down, slowly reaching for Rito's hand. As she had, her tail would begin to make its way around his leg.
Before it could however, Rito would suddenly raise his arms and place his hands on her shoulders. The girl was startled by this and looked to him with a light gasp.
"Come on, let's get you to the nurse's office!"
» 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥。。。? «
In the nurse's office, the light click of glass could be heard.
Within sat a well endowed woman with a lab coat, a pink top which gave clear view of her cleavage that was held together by a belt on her waist and a black skirt.
Slowly, she took a sip of the coffee in hand as a knocking came on the door behind her.
When it slid open, the Principal would reveal himself.
"Eeeexcuse me, Ms. Mikado!"
When she heard the voice, a smile came onto her face. Setting down her cup onto its coaster, she greeted him with a caring expression.
"Oh, if it isn't the Principal! Please, come in!"
Stepping inside, Principal raised his hand to reveal the index finger of his left hand was practically blinking red.
"Yui-chwan slammed the door on me when I tried to get a p- I mean, I accidentally slammed it into a drawer!" He elaborated on his injury, sucking on it for a moment to emphasize his motivations, "I was hoping that you could suck the pain right out of it for me!"
"Aww, you poor thing." Mikado giggled, "Come here, I'll fix it."
. . .
After a few minutes, Mikado held up his hand. She had been in the middle of wrapping a bandage around his finger.
All the while, the Principal struggled to keep himself in check. Gulping down what his brain immediately thought to say, he averted his gaze as he thought of something more courteous.
"So... How... Are things for you?" Yes. That would work. "Have you gotten used to this school yet?"
"Why, yes. It's a very nice place."
He had to lift his gaze. He had to be respectful of his employee. She was tending to his wound. She was tending to his...
It was too late.
His eyes locked onto her exposed cleavage. His body broke out into a sweat as he struggled desperately to keep himself contained.
Be professional.
Be professional.
Be. . .
He could not handle it any longer. He needed to experience what that body could give him! He needed it now!
"MS. MIKADOOOOOO‼"
The nurse perfectly dodged out of the way from the principal as he leapt toward her in a dive. With a loud cry in defeat, he struck the wall hard.
Sprawled against the wall, he cried against it in shame of his inability to cop a feel.
The nurse on the other hand, smiled toward him as she rested her hands against her lap.
"It's good to see you're so full of energy."
"My one good trait... That doesn't lead me anywhere..." He muttered as he slumped to the floor.
Another knock at the door caught Mikado's attention.
"Come in!"
The door opened soon after. Her next guest had come to be a stern Rito, who stood next to Lala. The latter of the two bowing her head lightly as they stepped inside.
"Oh, well if it isn't Yukki Rito. You're one student I've yet to see."
Casting a glance to Lala, she smiled gently when she noticed her tail behind her.
"Hi there, Ms. Mikado. I think something's wrong with my friend Lala here."
"Just friend...?" Lala muttered to herself with a pout, one that went unnoticed by the male.
"I see, well, come on over here, I'll have her."
. . .
Rito sat awaiting the results of Mikado's checkup.
Why did he bring her here...? Lala was an alien. There was no guarantee the medical capabilities of Earth can suffice for the girl.
He rubbed his thumb into his forehead.
No, it was the right thing to do. Even if it lead to no answers, bringing her to a professional was far better than trying to figure it out on his own. He lowered his hand to rest against his lap.
He heard the chair turn from behind the curtain.
"It seems to me that our Lala here has come down with the Korotto Flu."
"...uh..." Rito ran the term through his brain, "...never heard of that before."
"It's a contagious respiratory illness that usually ends up with a slight fever and causes a person to behave with a totally different personality." Mikado elaborated.
"I didn't know something like that could exist..."
"It's far more common out in space." Mikado continued, "There are several species, Earthlings included, that have a natural immunity to it, so you don't have to worry about catching it."
"I gotcha." Rito nodded lightly.
He supposed it made sense that it had to be something foreign to this world. But illnesses that warp the personality of a person? It was a bit hard to grasp, in his opinion.
...but there was something else that needed to be addressed in this moment.
"Hold on, how do you know about diseases in space!?" Rito shot a glance in the direction of Mikado's side of the curtain, "Do you know about...?"
"Well, of course I do." Mikado giggled, "There's only one species that has tails like this. She's Devilukean, no?"
"If you know about her, then does that mean you're an alien, too?"
"Mhm." Peaking her head out from the curtain, the woman pushed her hair back to showcase that her ears were pointed, almost like she were an elf, "It's not that unusual to see extraterrestrials here. Earth's a good spot to be in, most have learned to integrate themselves into humanity so well that they aren't even noticed."
"For real!?"
Aliens being a regular was not something he thought he was going to learn today. Though, for now, he figured he would focus on more important matters.
"So, in your expert opinion..." Rito spoke up, "How should this Korotto Flu be treated?"
"Well, there is a vaccine I can order." He heard the creaking of the chair from Mikado leaning back, "But that would take a while."
Rito's expression softened upon hearing that: "Will she be okay...?"
"Oh, don't worry so much." Mikado giggled, "I'm sure she'll be better by the time it gets here. It's not life threatening or anything. And she won't suffer while inflicted by it either."
Lala stepped out from the curtain.
"Rito..."
"Yeah?" Rito got up from his seat, pocketing his hands.
Lala simpered his way, "Ms. Mikado says it's not a problem, so let's go back to class."
Rito's lips twitched as a light blush appeared on his cheeks.
"Yeah... Sure."
Mikado, who had been observing beside them, covered her lips as she watched: "Oh my~"
"Definitely a weird fever." Tatsuki pulled her hands back after having checked Lala's forehead. "Explains you bein' so quiet today."
"I thought I was the same as always?"
"Are you sure you don't want to go home early?" Haruna spoke up from beside her, a look of concern on her face.
"Yes."
Risa, leaning against a desk, did not like how the pair of Haruna and Lala were starting to look uncanny at the moment.
"Well, uh, I guess I don't mind Lala being all shy."
Over to the side, Rukia had pulled Rito aside.
"What is going on with Lala?"
"Dunno, some space flu?" Rito answered in a whisper, "Earthlings can't catch it, but she'll be like this until it goes away."
"I see..."
The pair glanced back toward Lala... Who was now surrounded by the other guys in the classroom.
"Hey, you wanna go to an amusement park!?"
"Or a movie?"
"Oh, I know a really good cake shop!"
Lala placed her hands over her face as they came to approach closer. To the point Haruna and Risa were swallowed into the crowd. When it seemed the crowd was not moving away and only getting larger, Lala waved her hands frantically.
"I-I'll have to say I must politely decline! I'm more than happy with Rito!"
Upon his name being mentioned, the boys would turn toward him with a venom in their eyes.
"I dunno why but..."
Keigo slowly turned toward Rito himself, Saruyama beside him.
"BUT I'M REALLY FRICKIN' JEALOUS‼"
From behind the door, Aya would lower her binoculars before retreating from the scene.
"AGH!"
Rito, after a short while, had broken free from the males swarming him. When he had, he stormed out of the room soon after with a growl in frustration.
Haruna watched with a frown as the door slammed behind him.
"Jeez..."
Rito rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned his head against the door he had just slammed. He just could not take it anymore.
It was beginning to become irritating. He understood that Lala was beautiful. He got that more than anybody, all things considered.
But at this point, it was his mere coexistence with her that was causing him trouble lately. They just picked him as the thing to project their loneliness on, damn it!
Rito let out a huff and began to start walking off. He had better get going before either Kotegawa or Mr. Honekawa noticed him. He was not in the mood to deal with either interrogating him on his intentions.
At least Lala would not be there in the next class today to cause him more trouble. The girls were going to be in swimming class today. That gave him some time free of her antics at least for a little while.
He let out a sigh. He was sure he could trust Rukia with her, but he could not help but feel concerned on the subject. A flu that caused her personality to change...
Rito raised his arms up for a stretch.
Maybe he would go to the roof. At least there he could get some fresh air. Nobody would bother him th-
Flash.
"Fufufufu。。。"
Rito's eye twitched at the sound of a strange laugh behind him.
Was the principal paying his class a visit for some reason!? If so, for what purpose?
Something completely depraved, he would bet.
Rito could only imagine what kind of trouble that revelation could pose. It made his entire frame shiver. After all, he was completely unsure what lengths that bastard would go to to get what he wants.
When he spun on his heels to face the source of the laughter...
"Eh?"
Rito's eyes were peering into a void.
A void which kept him from seeing the eyes of the man standing before him. In a black tracksuit and hood, a facemask even hiding his mouth to further conceal what identifying details he could make out.
What Rito did pick up on, though, was a black camera in his hand.
The stranger went silent for a moment. The both of them taking the time to process one another's existences.
Then, when that moment passed? Immediately, he took off. To Rito's dismay.
"HEY‼"
Rito immediately gave chase.
Whoever this person was, they were definitely peeping just now. The thought of him peeping on Haruna, or Lala in her current state...
Anyhow. He had to catch up.
» 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝-𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐳𝐢。。。? «
"Huh...?"
Lala's head turned slowly back toward the door.
She could have sworn she had just heard Rito's voice... She had hoped that he was not too frustrated. After all, it would be indirectly her fault in that case.
The thought that she caused him to be sad made her chest tighten.
"Where did you go, Rito...?"
"I'm sure he's fine." Risa dusted herself off, moving toward her chair. "Probably went to get some air."
"You think he's going somewhere to meet with Masaki?" Mio perked up.
"I-I don't like what your line of thinking could be there..." Haruna frowned.
Lala, meanwhile, was not entirely sure. But even so, she decided she may as well trust in Rito. After all, he was dependable.
"I WON'T LET YOU GET AWAY‼"
Mr. Honekawa found himself spinning in place like a sign spun by the rushing blurs that were the masked man and Rito passing by. When the old man caught himself, he had to readjust his glasses and collar. The both of which were ruffled by the sheer whip of wind they carried in their run.
"My... Was that Yukki just now...?" He looked back with a frown, "I don't think my lecture's going to be boring today..."
The masked man looked back toward Rito, who was rapidly closing in on him.
"Tch! What a persistent dude...!"
As he approached the stairs, he looked up to see an opportunity.
A larger student was walking down the stairs, rubbing his neck with a handkerchief.
"Ugh... It's so hot today..."
His travel downward was disrupted, however, when the masked man purposely bumped his shoulder into him. His feet twirled off their footing.
Soon enough, he would be dropping downward.
Oh no. Was this where he was going to die...?
He could never survive the fall...
"HUH!?"
A voice called out before the crash.
The student found their vision clouded in darkness as his body hit the floor.
"Urgh..."
With some groans, he had began to push himself off of the ground. He was alive!
Up the stairs, the masked individual would snicker down from the sight of his work before running off again.
The large student looked down to see that something... No, someone had broken his fall. Truly, his hero!
Reaching forward, he grasped onto his shoulders. He shook the boy back and forth as tears ran down his cheeks.
"T-thank you so much‼ You protected me by risking your life‼"
Rito, on the other end of the exchange, was practically smoking from the head from the crash. That bastard dropped a boulder on him...
"Yukki-kun still hasn't come back yet..."
Class had passed, but there was still no Rito. The pair of Haruna and Lala were standing beside one another as they stared down the hallway for a moment. The last place they saw him go before he vanished suddenly.
Lala turned back toward the classroom to see Rukia had still been inside. It was no Shinigami matter...
What could be keeping him?
"Yo, Haruna. Let's get going, eh?" Tatsuki stepped out from the classroom, raising her bag.
"Ah..." Haruna took one glance down the other side of the hallway before nodding to her friend, "Okay!" She smiled as she turned toward Lala, "Why don't we get going, Lala-san?"
Lala thought about it for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "Yes. We'll be swimming next period, right?"
On the other side of the school, Rito let out a sigh as he pocketed his hands.
"Shit... I totally lost him."
Rito groaned. After getting away from the student who crashed into him, he was unable to catch up behind him. He raised his hand lightly to rub at his temple.
He wondered who that could be. Was it perhaps another one of those marriage candidates? After how weird the Ghi Bree guy was, he definitely did not doubt it.
If that were the case, then everyone could be in danger again. He refused to let it come to that...
"Where did that bastard get off to..."
"Fufufufu。。。"
Rito stopped when he once again heard strange laughter.
"She sure is an amazing woman..."
His brow raised as he slowly turned his head toward the door next to him. As he came to approach, he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"My heart skips just by looking at her..."
Her? Was he referring to Lala...? If that were the case, then it must have meant that he was after her...!
"Then he's in here!?"
When he swung the door open, he glared into the open path. He expected to find his culprit ready to make some kind of wild declaration of how he was going to marry Lala and take her away from him or something like that.
Instead, he found himself making eye contact with the Principal... Who had been in the midst of reading through, from what he could tell, a raunchy magazine.
"Heh?"
A light blush appeared on the man's face as he broke eye contact to look at what was in his hands. He then looked back to Rito, whose eye had been twitching.
Again, he returned his attention to the magazine. Then back to Rito, who's head was practically steaming from rage.
"Oh no~❤"
"DON'T YOU DARE 'OH NO~❤' ME‼!"
. . .
"God, what a freakin' pervert of a principal!" Rito's fist shook, "Can't believe that guy's in charge of the place."
As he walked away from the room, he could hear the light groans of the principal within. He decided to take a page out of Tatsuki's book and brutally beat the hell out of the principal.
"But then—"
Rito found his attention captured by a pair of students to the side.
"Did you see that dude with sunglasses?"
"Yeah, I did. I wonder how that guy can even wear an outfit like that in this weather."
Rito immediately approached them, his brows furrowed.
"You guys saw a guy with sunglasses!?" They both looked toward him, a bit confused, "Where did he go!?"
"Eh?"
The both of them looked toward one another.
"Ah... I'm pretty sure I saw him near the gym..."
"Thanks!"
Immediately, Rito took off in the direction of the gym as directed...
...only to be heading outward when he did not find who he was looking for.
"Shit. The bastard ain't there!"
Perhaps somewhere around the courtyard...
Taking in a soft breath, he glanced around. As he walked around, his eyes picked up on an open door to the side of him...
Wait, was that the pool...?
Rito's eyes widened. Quickly, he rushed over to peak his head into the doorway.
Inside, he saw him. The hooded individual who was shuffling his hands over to the pool. Rito could not see exactly, but he was sure that he was putting something in...
"Fufufu... I'm well prepared." A chuckling escaped his lips, "I just have to wait for Lala to be in this swimming pool..."
So he was waiting for Lala... Was he a candidate after all!?
"HEY!" Rito stepped out from his hiding spot, glaring toward him, "Who the hell are you!?"
Seeing he was spotted, the stranger jumped up and kicked at the basket of baseballs. When it hit the ground, the balls began to roll in Rito's direction.
As Rito began to rush after him, he tried to skit to a halt when the balls rushed toward him. Though, it was too late.
One of the balls hit his foot when he stopped. His foot pushing against it, he was thrown to the ground face first.
"Hahahaha!"
Rito got up with a grumble as he heard his Gary Stu running off with a victorious laughter.
"Hey, get back here bastard!"
When he got up, he was about to immediately chase after him. Though, he found himself quickly coming to a stop. After all... Chasing him would distract from the main point.
Lala and the others were having swimming class soon. So if there was some chance that whatever he put in proved dangerous, Rito refused to take the chance...!
» 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬。。。? «
Rukia let out a sigh. At least there was no troubles that seemed to pop up today.
It was honestly a strangely peaceful day.
"Kuchiki-san!"
Rukia paused, almost shivering at how Lala's voice was directed at her. He was not quite used to her being so polite. She looked toward her with a skeptical expression. Though, she put on a smile soon afterward.
"Oh, Lala-san! I see you've already changed."
Lala nodded, placing her hands together as she was wearing a school issued bathing suit. Given the presence of Peke fastened in her hair, it was likely thanks to him she was wearing this.
"Oh, yes. I had some extra time, so I had Peke analyze the swimsuits they have." Lala admitted with a whisper. "Does it look right...?"
"Yes, it looks great on you." Rukia smiled gently.
"I'm glad to hear that!" Lala's tail wagged behind her.
It then went stagnant as she felt her chest gripped on. Her face became a tomato as she looked down to see a pair of hands on her underboobs.
"Ohhh myy~❤" Risa, peering her head to the side to reveal herself as the culprit, gave a light squeeze of them, "No wonder Darling's got an interest! They're so soft, and they practically bulge out of my hands~"
"Is that true!?" Mio rushed over, "Lemme see, lemme see!"
"M-Momioka-san... Sawada-san...!"
Rukia deadpanned. He was unsure who he considered more of an anomaly, Lala or Risa...
"Get off her, you nuts!"
Two quick swings of Tatsuki's fists sent Risa and Mio off of Lala, who had quickly hugged herself soon after.
"T-thank you, Arisawa-san!"
"No problem." Tatsuki snickered with a light pop of her knuckles.
Over to the side, Haruna had placed her hands against her chest. Was she feeling jealous of Lala...?
Rukia approached the girl and lightly placed a hand on her shoulder: "Don't feel discouraged, Sairenji-san."
"Oh, um..." Haruna blinked, but offered the girl a smile, "You too, Kuchiki-san."
Rukia lowered her attention to her own chest. Her expression quickly became deadpan.
Standing over the pool, Rito peered into it with a moment of pause.
Well, he only had a brief amount of time before the girls had shown up. It was now or never. With a leap, he dived into the pool.
As he swam downward, he glanced around the waters to find anything alien within.
It was a bit difficult given that he was unsure what exactly he was meant to look for. After all, what could he possibly have been looking f-
...he scratched that thought when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Glancing over, his eyes made contact with the lense of what looked to be a camera.
After a few minutes, he would pop up from the waters. Shaking his head lightly, he flicked water from his eyes. Afterward, he looked down to the item he had in hand... Definitely a waterproof camera.
"No alien would need this..." Rito's lips pursed, "Maybe I had the wrong idea about him. He turned out to be somebody after cheap sho-"
His words choked back into his throat as he heard doors snap open behind him.
OH SHIT! He was not expecting the girls to already be here!
He frantically looked around. He needed to find some kind of escape plan. If he was found, he was going to be pinned as the pervert here. Especially with this camera in hand!
He was immediately haunted by the image of the disgusted face Haruna would probably direct toward him.
"Are you someone who takes candid shots!? How pathetic..."
Rito would be devastated if that were the reality he needed to experience.
Okay. It would be fine for now. He just needed to hide underwater for a while. At least until an opening to escape comes up.
At the surface, Sasuga would be starting the class fresh.
"Alright, since this is the first Swimming Class of the season: We'll just have some free time in the pool today."
When he made the announcement, most of the girls in the audience had cheered affectionately.
"Yes, Sasuga-sensei~❤!"
"You're so generous~❤"
Tatsuki in the back of the crowd looked toward Sasuga with a skeptical gaze. There was no way that alien politician was back, was he...?
"Before then, let's do some warm-up exercises first."
Rito hung by the edge of the pool to give himself some room to breath through his nose. Glancing in the corner of his eye, he got a general idea of what was going on so far.
It did not look as though they were going to get into the pool yet. So it bought him some time to look around.
"Sairenji. Please come forward and be the example."
"Yes."
WHAT!? Haruna was going to be the example...!?
Rito found the sweat on his body beginning to overtake the water from the pool that went over him. He supposed that one quick peek would not hurt...
"First, bend your body like this..."
Rito had to cover his mouth and slip back down into the pool to keep himself from screaming at the sight. His lip twitched under his hands as he blubbered beneath the waters.
He was able to see Haruna's body from an amazing angle...!
No! Rito, focus! He had to get out of here. If he stayed any longer he would lose his mind...!
Especially since the girls were starting to get into the water!
Lowering his hand, he reached into his breast pocket. Drawing from it a straw, that seemed to even confuse him. Oh well, he decided to use it to his advantage.
Now that he stuck it up from the waters, he now had a solution to his air problem.
Though another had shown right up when he heard a splash beside him. Clicking his teeth around the straw, he made to swim around the edges to avoid being spotted.
As he had, he took notice of a particular feature of the new figure in the water.
A tail like that... It had to be Lala!
"Lala-san!?"
Haruna placed her hands over her face as she looked to her friend.
"Y-your swimsuit—‼"
Lala quickly looked down and pulled her suit which was slipping off into the waters over herself.
"W-what's happening...?"
"I'm sorry, Lala-sama...!" Peke apologized, "The water felt so good that I let up completely..."
"P-please fix it fast, Peke..."
Under the water, Rito had comically fallen over thanks to the events above. Which lead to the straight floating away.
Was that Lala trying to kill him!?
Wait. Shit. His one ticket to air was gone‼
To the side of the pool, Yui was watching the pair of Haruna and Lala with her arms crossed.
She still had that tail of hers in the pool, hm...? She shivered at the thought. Such a strong conviction toward indecency...!
She sighed and sat down against the wall. Running a hand through her hair, she turned to look out of the fence.
She could not stop thinking about the other day...
But when she went to speak with Masaki on it, he claimed to not remember what she was talking about...
"COME ON, YOU BAD SPIRIT‼" Don taunted, calling out violently, "THE CHARISMATIC SPIRIT MEDIUM OF THE NEW CENTURY, DON KANONJI, IS YOUR OPPONENT‼"
Rito caught his foot against the ground, sliding backward before he fell onto his rear.
"Wh-what're you doing?!" Rito was quick to draw his blade, "YOU MORON‼"
The Hollow snapped its mouth wide open as he prepared to bite down on Don's body. The spiritualist letting out a banshee cry as he prepared to jab his cane forward.
Before either would make their move, Rito leapt forward. His massive sword caught in between the Hollow's teeth. He grit his teeth as he swung his sword upward, the force of the swing propelling the Hollow inside of the hospital.
Was that... Not real?
Her gaze began to move toward Rukia, who had been in the midst of a conversation with Risa and Tatsuki.
Kuchiki Rukia... She did not have much reason to go off... But she suspected that she knew something about this.
"Are you enjoying the pool, Lala-san?"
"Yes, I am..." Lala placed a finger on her chin, "But... I think it might be a bit more fun with some waves."
"Waves?" Haruna thought about it behind her, "Yeah, I like those kinds of pools, too."
Lala smiled at that and turned away as she began to move out of the pool.
"Lala-san? Where are you going?"
"I forgot something in the dressing room!" Lala called as she ran back, "Don't worry, I won't be long!"
» 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧! «
Rito felt his breath waning. He had been underwater far too long.
Shit! But he still had no way of getting out discreetly...!
At this rate, he may be about to start drowning! Internally, he grit his teeth. Did he have to give up and just surface?
No, no... If he did that, he would just die in a different way. Tatsuki's fists were the last way he wanted to go out...!
Wait a minute.
His gaze moved across the pool when he noticed a whirring beginning to sound. There, he would notice Lala had been surfacing from the pool.
An ominous sign.
One that his intuitions were right to skepticize as he noticed a mechanical turtle at the pool floor...
A mechanical turtle...
Rito immediately began to swim for a way out.
"Sasuga-sensei!"
Sasuga rushed over quickly when a student called for his attention. To his dismay, he would see something that should not be possible...
"There's a whirling... In the swimming pool!?"
Quickly, he drew his whistle to his mouth.
"Girls, get out of the pool, quick!"
At the order, the girls would flee from the pool and evacuate from the whirling waters. To their shock, the whirling did not seem to reach a calming point.
In fact: It only seemed to be getting faster!
Lala held her D-Dial with a frown, a bit frustrated that the machine would not respond when she clicked a button on it.
"That's strange..." Lala huffed, "Is it malfunctioning? It worked fine in the bathroom the other day..."
"Lala-sama... This is much larger than a bathtub..."
"I know that, but still. Splash Splash Wave-Kun should be working fine..."
Just to show her how wrong she was, the universe retorted by causing the whirlpool to erupt into a towering pillar of water that arose toward the heavens.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH‼"
All of the girls looked on up into the sky with utter shock at this turn of events.
Meanwhile, behind Haruna, Lala looked up with a wonder in her eyes.
"Was that Rito's voice just now...?"
Rukia stepped over toward Lala with a disappointed look.
"Go put your D-Dial back in the locker..."
Yui, still sitting against the wall, had her jaw loose.
What the hell just happened!?
"Fufufu..."
On another roof, the hooded stranger stared off into the distance past the railing with his hands triumphantly rested upon his hips.
"Lala's secret picture while she's swimming... I'm so looking forward to it."
"WHOA, SENPAI‼"
"You're one crazy guy!"
"Not only did you set up a camera in the girl's changing room, but also one in the pool?!"
Behind the masked man was a most of the boys from the first year class. All of them cheering amongst themselves behind the stranger as he raised out a collection of photos.
"If you think that's crazy, then you guys're idiots. Underwater shots are all the rage these days." He turned back toward them, giving them a glance of what images he held in his hand, "If you want, I can cut you guys a deal on these bad boys."
When they looked at him with a gleam in their eyes, he smirked under his mask.
"I could even sell you a set of panty shots that I collected so far." He fully turned toward them as he went to reach into his hoodie, "Just for a good 50 th-"
"...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH‼"
Like a bullet, Rito shot through the air and struck the man like a bowling pin. His body flung into the distance with such a force, he was spinning the entire time.
Rito, meanwhile, had crashed face first into the ground. The impact so hard he dribbled against it and flipped over.
"SENPAI‼⁇"
The other students called out for the masked man in shock.
Rito groaned as he looked over to them. Did they refer to him as Senpai...? Did that mean he was...
When all of the water dropped back down in the pool in a rain, the girls had crowded around it. Murmurs beginning to erupt amongst the crowd.
Haruna watched as Rukia took Lala back to the changing room to confiscate her phone... For some reason. Though, a smile slowly came onto her face.
She had noticed they got along a lot better than before. It was nice to see.
Behind the girls had dropped the masked man. His face covering coming off after the crash.
"Huh?"
Risa blinked, being the first to notice him.
Mio, squinting a bit due to the lack of her glasses, gasped.
"Hey, isn't he..." Slowly, the stranger lifted his head and rubbed the back of his neck, "Motemitsu-senpai!? From the Baseball Club?"
"Ouuuuch..." He groaned as he started to recover.
"Why did you fall from the sky...?" A girl in the crowd wondered.
Yui, however, was quick to approach with her arms crossed. A venomous expression on her face as she glared down at him.
"And just what are you doing at a girls' swimming class...!?"
"U-um... I just wound up here by accident! Accident, yeah!"
Yui's ire would pause only for a second as the pictures he showed off to the boys began raining down onto the floor around them...
Only for it to ignite further when she saw what was on them.
"These are all sneak shots of girls‼"
"W-wait, no... Those aren't...mine...?"
"So you intend to lie to the bitter end...?" Yui's brow twitched violently, "You're so shameless I can't even find a way to accurately describe it...!"
"Oh, don't worry..."
Tatsuki was standing next to Yui, her body overtaken with a burning hot aura. Motemitsu was sure his life flashed before his eyes as she popped her knuckles.
"I'll handle him!"
The screams that Motemitsu let out were soon muffled by the sheer amount of punches that Tatsuki unleashed upon him.
From behind the door, Rito had been watching with a look of dismay at what went on.
First off, had he not been careful, that could have been him on the receiving end of that.
But, the larger problem he had...
That masked man he spent the day chasing was just Motemitsu...!?
» 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨。。。 𝐀 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐦? «
When the pair of Lala and Rukia had gotten back to the changing room, the latter of the two had noticed something when she peered into the other's locker.
She would know the head of Chappy anywhere...!
With a swing of her arm, she would swipe the device it belonged to quick.
"So you were the one who picked up the Memory Chikan!"
"Oh, yes." Lala nodded.
"You shouldn't just take someone else's stuff like that! This only has a limited amount of uses, so if you accidentally flashed this on someo-" Rukia paused when she had lightly shaken it in her hand. Turning her head in the direction of it, she shook it again in her ear, "It's... Refilled?"
Lala turned toward her with a light bow of her head.
"I'm sorry for taking it like that, Kuchiki-san..." Lala placed her hands together, "I just noticed you've been having to use it a lot lately and when I found it, it was almost empty. So I studied it to try and get a read on how it worked."
"...and you found a way to refill it..."
"Mhm."
Rukia paused, looking down at the device once again. A light sigh escaped from her lips as she averted Lala's gaze.
"You fool... You shouldn't mess with technology of your enemies like that."
"But, Kuchiki-san." Lala lifted her head, her hands lowering to her sides, "You're not my enemy."
When she said that, Rukia turned toward the pinkette with wide eyes.
This had to be a product of her fever. No way the Lala from before could feel that way. After all, she was surely taught by her father to recognize Shinigami as threats, and no matter what her current status was... She was still...
Lala then gleamed toward her as she placed her hands behind her back.
"Come on, we should get back, shouldn't we?"
"Y-yes, you're right."
As Lala walked past her to walk on ahead, Rukia found herself staring out the doorway for a second longer.
"...thank you, Lala." She said to no one, before moving to catch up.
"That Yukki Rito vanished before I could use my queenly charm on him...!"
Saki's fist was shaking, the girl having been walking around in a red robe which covered over her body.
It appeared that Rito had gone home quicker than she had anticipated! It was rather frustrating to admit, but she would have to relinquish victory to that Lala this day!
"Is it really necessary to involve Yukki Rito in this plan?" Rin spoke up from behind.
Saki was caught off guard by this. After all, Rin had not been one to usually question her motives. Placing a hand on her hip, she pouted toward her servant.
"Is this because of the mishap you had with him yesterday?" Saki raised a brow, "If so, he can be properly trained later to avoid such circumstances in the future."
Rin had stared at her superior for a moment's time, but said nothing to further object.
"Good. Then, I suppose the first step would be to find him. Perhaps locating his home would be a good idea..." Saki rubbed her chin lightly as she began to ponder.
"...what on Earth are you wearing...?"
Saki moved her attention forward to see Yui, whose eye was twitching at the sight of her. One glance downward gave away that she was barefoot. Which left Yui little need to imagine what was beneath the robe...
"Oh? Well, I suppose since you asked so graciously..." Saki tossed her robe backwards, it being caught by Rin before it flew far, "I'll allow a commoner such as yourself to gaze upon my beauty!"
Yui was filled with unadulterated dread about what she was made witness to, her eyes bulging out of their sockets as she was greeted to the sight of a white two piece bathing suit and nothing else on the woman's body.
The male students that were still on campus in the hallway came in droves to ooh and aah at the sight. Something that someone of Saki's type ate right up.
"Ohohoho~" She flipped a hand through her hair, "There's no need to hold back your desires, go ahead and feel free to stare~"
Yui rubbed her temple as she glared toward Saki.
Answers. She needed answers first. Then she could make her judgments.
"...and why are you wearing such a depraved outfit?"
"Well, for the sake of my glorious battle, of course!"
"Glorious... Battle?" Yui felt this girl's brain needed to be studied.
"Yes. My status as queen of this school is being challenged by that Lala girl." Saki began, "And I will not be defeated!"
Lala... Yui internally groaned at the name being mentioned. She seemed to be the cause of an unreasonable amount of trouble affecting the school lately.
However, there was something that needed to be accounted for...
"I don't care if you're an upperclassman! This shameless behavior will not be tolerated‼"
"Oh my..." Saki placed a finger over her lips, "You have quite the look in your eyes."
Yui's eyes widened. She was caught off guard by the comment.
"I may have my personal business with Lala, but it seems that her name alone is enough to draw a genuine anger out of you." Saki giggled at the sight of her expression, "Perhaps a matter of jealousy...?"
"Jealousy!? What are you talking about...?"
No. Why was she listening to this weirdo?
Yui shook her head. She had a job to focus on! As a representative of the morals committee, she must correct this act of indecency!
"A-anything other than the school uniform is against the rules!"
"Quick to change the subject, are you?" Saki smirked, "Or perhaps, you're trying to avoid it altogether?"
Behind their master, the pair of Rin and Aya looked to one another. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of their heads.
Yui's brow began to twitch.
She was beginning to grow tired of this conversation. Mind games were not going to get her out of this.
"You're the one who's changing the subject." Yui grumbled, "What we were talking about is how this attire of yours is unacceptable to walk around the school in...!"
"Hmmm..." Saki was deadset on ignoring Yui's complaints, "Oh, I think I understand what your issue is..."
"If you understand, then go change your clothes! Or better yet, just go home...!"
Saki lowered her arms to her hips, staring into her eyes, "Such a quickness to shout... Perhaps you've fallen in love...?"
Yui honestly found herself in need of a quadruple take after hearing that one.
"Huh!?"
It was as if lightning struck her. Her body leaned backward as if in repulsion of the idea. A furious blush ran over her cheeks as her lips trembled in attempts to form her immediate thoughts into words.
But they would not come out.
"Well, then. It appears that you're confused on the subject." Saki huffed, her smirk still plastered over her face.
While Saki and her posse took their leave, Yui was struggling to keep her face straightened.
What on Earth was that girl going on about...
"I think I was pretty clear." Lala was stern, "I don't like you."
"I... See." Yui looked pained for a moment, but shook her head lightly, "I don't like you either. Everything you come up with causes trouble wherever you go."
"I'm going to marry Rito." Lala shot back, "So I have as much a right to be here as anyone else he goes to school with."
"Marry?" Yui quipped a brow, "So you plan to drag Yukki Rito's entire life into your troubles?"
Lala clicked her teeth, "What does that matter? I love Rito, so I want to be a part of his life!"
"So you're in love..." Yui paused, taking in a breath through her nose, "Has Yukki-kun returned that sentiment?"
She talked about love so casually. Especially when it was none of her business to do so!
It did not matter either way it went!
"Kotegawa...?" A voice came up in the forefront of her mind. Immediately, her hand began to raise toward one of her hairpins, "You okay?"
Soon enough, she would shake her head. A growl let out of her mouth toward the heavens as she shook her fist.
Love was disgraceful...!
"Loitering around school is against the rules, ain't it?"
Yui snapped out of her thoughts when she looked forward and saw Masaki standing in front of her.
"Masaki-kun? You're already done with practice...!?"
"Oh..." Masaki rubbed the side of his cheek lightly, "Nah, I didn't go today."
"And why not?" Yui raised a brow.
"Today, I was gonna go with Toyokawa-san to the hospital."
Yui reigned in her chastising when she heard his explanation, her face softening, "Oh... I see."
"Did you wanna come along?"
"Wha- Oh, no. I couldn't possibly..." Yui shook her head lightly, "I mean, I have no right."
Masaki looked to her as the two began to walk down the hallway beside one another. Hoisting his bag over her shoulder, he gave a gentle smile.
"No, I don't think Toyokawa-san would mind at all." He then frowned softly, "I just wish Rito would finally visit, too..."
"Yukki-kun hasn't...?" Yui looked up toward him in a genuine surprise.
"No..." Masaki sighed as he looked down, "But... I get it. He just can't bring himself to."
Yui raised a brow, but could not bring herself to speak out her inquiries.
⦏ Monday: June 16th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 8:39 a.m. ❳
"Rito! Rito, wake up!" Kon pointed a paw toward the sleeping boy, "Mikan's been calling for you for half an hour now!"
Slowly, the boy's eyes came to open. Soon enough, he sat up in bed and rubbed his head with a groan. He glanced over to his left with a light breath.
Lala was already up, huh... Guess that meant he slept in a little later than usual.
"Rito! Kojima-kun is waiting outside for you! And he's been waiting a while, so hurry up and get dressed!"
When Rito heard that, he jumped out of bed with a shout. He soon began to run around the room in search of his clothes for the day.
As that came to be, the door to his closet would slide open. Rukia stepped out with her uniform already on.
"How do you get dressed in there!? It's so cramped!" Rito called out in question as he threw on a shirt.
Rukia merely shrugged, "I've gotten used to it."
"I've got Mizuiro outside, so don't get too close to the window. Even I can't tolerate the thought of what rumors might pop up if he sees you."
Rukia stared with a blank expression as he rushed over to the window and popped it open. With a shrug, she turned around to grab her bag from within.
"Yo, Mizuiro! My bad, man!" Rito called out the window, "I just woke up!"
"It's all good!" Mizuiro called back, "I just got off the phone with Inoue-san, he said he'll meet up with us on the way!"
"Oh, that sounds good!" Rito finished buttoning up his shirt, "I'll be just a bit longer, I promise! You wanna wait inside? It's hot today!"
"Oh, sure, I don't mind at all!"
When he watched him step inside, he turned toward Rukia with a smile.
"Alright, all clear for you now."
Rukia nodded lightly as she stepped to the window once he moved to the other side of the room.
"I'll be going on ahead."
"Alright." Rito flicked his phone open, his eyes snapping wide when he saw the time, "W-what the hell!? Why didn't Mikan wake me up earlier!?"
Rukia turned toward him with a smirk, "Maybe if you had better prepared, you'd be up in time."
Though, she found her smirk lowering when she noticed him staring into the phone's screen for a while.
"Is something wrong?" She called out with a brow raised, "What's with the long face?"
"...nothing."
She knew that was a lie.
"L-Lala-san!?"
"Oh! It's Mizuiro! Hi~❤!"
Flicking his phone shut, he slipped it into his pocket. He turned toward the door and began to leave.
"I'd better go dissolve that mess."
Rukia watched him leave the room. But there was something strangely... Robotic to his movements. Rukia's eyes lowered as she frowned.
"—Rito...?"
A roar sounding from the building, Rito would take to leap upward to begin climbing the wall. When he had reached the top, he landed atop of it with a huff.
There, he was met with the Centipede Hollow that was dropping down toward him with its jaws open wide. Raising his blade, he guarded against the oncoming attack. The force of the blow slammed him down from the roof to the third floor. When he finally crashed into the ground, he let out a roar as he swung his blade to throw the creature off.
Screams surrounded him. When he glanced around, he saw various spirits spectating the battle. His eyes went wide as he saw the monster noticed them as well.
Rito moved quickly. He jabbed the end of his hilt against the foreheads of spirit after spirit, dismissing them from this world before they could be consumed by the beast as it slammed around the room.
However, when he tried to do the same to the final one, he found that it had no effect. When he looked down to who was looking up at him, his eyes had come to widen.
"You're...!"
"Watch out, Mister!"
Rito looked to the corner of his eye to see the giant beast approaching. Wrapping his arm around the boy spirit, he leapt out of the way from the attack and rolled to the side.
"Damn you, Shinigami...! You thwarted my meal...!"
Before Rito could strike at him again, the hollow vanished into the cracked wall beside him. He grit his teeth as he moved back to the boy.
When he had, the boy had drawn out a piece of paper. "Here, Mister. You should take this."
Taking the paper, Rito's eyes came to widen.
The paper read a very clear message... 06/17: Mikan's Next.
⦓ THS #08 ⦔
❱ END ❰
⦏ Here we are at Issue 8, ready to go! Good to see you read to the end! I sincerely hope you enjoyed. If you'd like, leave your thoughts in a review! ⦐
⦏ This chapter mainly serves as a breath of fresh air before the next chapter, which will be the start of Rito's real arc for this story. I decided to go ahead and focus on the To Love Ru mishaps I found pretty good to have at this point in the story. And, of course, we bring our resident Tenjoin into the scene. ⦐
⦏ We did not see much from Masaki or Tatsuki this chapter, but you don't have to worry about that, cuz next chapter, they'll be our storytellers here. It's time to get into Rito's backstory next chapter, and he'll see himself in a bloody battle for vengeance. Stay tuned! ⦐
⦏ For clarification on Rito's childhood story, it is mainly meant to foreshadow what stories in the future will take place in the same universe as this story. So really you don't have to mind them, just note them as neat little easter eggs if you recognize those names for now. ⦐
⦏ Again, there's a poll up to decide Rito's theme song from the next arc onward. So go ahead and start voting now! ⦐
— Red
