⦏ 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 27th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 4:28 p.m. ❳

"Wasn't today fun~?"

"Which part?" Rito deadpanned, "Before or after you sicked those mice on the class...?"

"I was trying to cheer you up!" Lala pouted, "You shouldn't have dodged out of the way, Rito!"

Rito spun toward the pinkette with a brow raised, though held back the words to instead focus on the pain of his action.

"Agh...!"

"Hey, Rito, don't overdo it..." Lala stepped up to walk beside him, her hands behind her back.

"That's right. You're not in a condition to move around recklessly like that."

Rito was about to argue, but held his tongue.

They were right, after all. He was honestly lucky to have survived falling into his body after taking the beating that Shinigami gave to him the night before.

He did not get the chance to speak with Rukia about it at all today. Girl seemed preoccupied every time he attempted to speak with her.

Not to mention, he kept bumping into some weird guy. It was whatever, though. Nothing for him to be concerned about.

Perhaps he would find Rukia at home if he waited long enough. He would just have to hope in that for now.

For now? It would be for the best he focus his attention on the present.

The door to his home was opened with a creek as Lala sprung through the door to kick off her shoes.

"We're home~❤"

The table jerked violently in the dining room. Rito rubbed his neck as he heard footsteps approaching.

It was only a short while before he found a basting spoon pointed toward him. A sweat dragged down the side of his face as he saw his little sister direct a glare toward him.

"Tatsuki called me about an accident last night!" Mikan narrowed her eyes, "What happened to you last night!?"

Rito fidgeted at the question, averting his gaze. There was no real time to come up with an excuse for her. The way her expression warped in response made it clear to him that his silence only further pissed her off.

"Uh, hello? I'm talking to you, Rito!"

"I'm fine, alright? You don't have to worry about it."

"When it's so bad you can't make it home, yes I do need to worry!" Mikan lowered the spoon to point her finger at him, "Just look, you've got bandages all under your uniform!"

His sister bit back. He supposed he should not have expected any less, but at the same time, he could not afford to cave.

"Did you water the plants out back yesterday?"

"Huh-" Mikan glanced out toward the direction her brother jabbed his thumb, "N-no, I've been too busy worried about the trouble you caused Tatsuki!"

"Mhm." Rito shifted his attention to that direction, "Then I'll go ahead and go do that. Can't let them go thirsty."

He ignored Mikan's demands to continue the conversation as he marched out the glass door to the backyard and slammed it shut behind him. Of course, he refrained enough to where there was no chance of it breaking.

Maybe he should have tried better to make up an excuse...

The thought alone was exhausting enough to make him drop and sit on the patio.

"Nngh..."

Rito let out a groan after that endeavor.

Truth was, his entire body was sore after the thrashing he took the previous night. When he reflected on the situation, he felt his face form into a cringe.

He was completely and utterly outclassed back there. He rubbed his temple as the memories of the endeavor resurfaced.

Sure, he had been on the defensive before. But that was different than the Grand Fisher. He was completely helpless back there.

The sharpness of the blade that cut through him like he were butter remained vivid in his memory.

He felt like he could conquer the world after having defeated the Grand Fisher. After all, the Hollow was supposed to have been evading all Shinigami that came after them for over 50 years.

Rito's fingers pressed gently against his forehead.

He supposed he understood that it did not necessarily mean that they were not strong enough to defeat him themselves. But...

He at least wanted to imagine that meant he had some level of strength to him. But in the end, reality had a very different message to deliver to him.

He was still powerless in the face of everything.

A universal fact that he failed to escape from, again.

Even so, no matter how much it frustrated her, he refused to ever allow his little sister down into those depths with him. This was his problem. So he was going to deal with it.

There would be no arguments to that.

"Wooh! That bath was great!"

Lala swung forth the door to Rito's room, the sunset peering in the window to flicker through the water droplets that still hung onto her form. Trademark to the girl, she had on only a bath towel that kept her most private parts from view.

When Rito turned to face her, his face was deadpan.

"Lala, you barged into my room with just a towel..."

"I don't see the problem. I'm not naked." Lala huffed.

She just could not help it, after all. Rito's house was her brand new home on Earth. The atmosphere was always so comforting that she found herself wanting to be as relaxed as possible.

Especially in the presence of her chosen fiancé.

"What ya up to?"

Lala walked over to Rito's desk, where she would see a number of notebooks sprawled over it with the one closest to Rito's hand which held a mechanical pencil had been blank.

"Are you studying?"

"Yeah..."

Rito leaned back in his chair as she scanned over the desk.

"The Substitute business with Rukia has had me backed up on my studies for a while, so I figured I'd cram a bit more before the finals."

"Oh, okay."

"Right now..." Rito sighed, leaning forward in his chair as he glanced at the book closest to him, "I'm trying to focus on Math, my problem subject. The problems before were pretty easy, but these...? I don't know where to start."

Lala looked to Rito with a thoughtful expression.

He looked super serious... Maybe he had been flunking because of the stress Rukia was putting on him? Well, if that was the case, it was her job as his future wife to help him when he was down, no?

"Why don't I take a look for you?"

"Oh, uh, sure."

She found happiness in his acceptance of her help. He would normally try to talk her out of even trying.

She decided to call it progress.

"Now, let's see..." She got in close, leaning over Rito's shoulder to examine the problems, "For this problem here, you..."

She had done her best to be as thorough as possible when explaining the solution. After all, she wanted to be sure that he understood the answer in its entirety.

She paused, though, when he had suddenly stopped writing in the midst of her lecture.

"Rito...?" When she glanced toward him, his face was red as a tomato, "Is something wrong?"

"I..." Rito's head began to steam, "I'm glad that you're helping me study, I am..." He gently set the pencil down, his head lowering as the steam gave a puff that fluctuated the stream, "But I really can't concentrate with you dressed like that..."

Lala stared at Rito for a moment.

...oh, he was just the cutest thing.

She placed a hand against her cheek as she reflected on the matter. Well, she figured that he had a point about her lack of clothing... This time.

He was studying, and to study efficiently there must be no distractions.

"All my clothes are in the washer..." Lala frowned, but then her gaze moved to the other side of the room, "Looks like I've got no choice. Peke!"

Laid out over Kon's back was a sleeping Peke, the former having perked up when the latter's name was called. Peke soon sat up and rubbed the tiredness out of their eyes.

"Ugh...Right away, ma'am..."

Soon enough, Peke's body would stretch out in a white light that latched onto Lala's body. Peke's shape transmuting into that of a sleeveless top and shorts for the pinkette to wear.

That should work perfectly!

"Okay, then! Back to the lesson, Rito~❤"

"Hai, hai."

. . .

"You're overthinking it." Lala chimed in before Rito wrote out a problem again, "With this question, you just use this formula and you'll be fine."

"Hmmm..." Rito tried the suggestion as Lala said, "Okay, I get it." His brow then raised as he scanned over the page, "Well, how about this one?"

"That one uses exponential functions, so... Do this!"

"Oooohhh!"

Lala had a smile on her face the entire time they studied together.

It was not anything meaningful to be doing at a time like this, but it had significance all of its own. She could not remember the last time the two were alone together without any interruptions.

Not since the boy had taken her hand to run across the rooftops, under a starry sky much like the one this night.

She could never compare the two, but with this little favor: It felt like she was taking his hand to pull him away from his troubles. However smaller they were in comparison to her own at the time.

She hoped that someday she would be able to truly do that for him. To repay him for the new life he had granted her.

"Great!" Rito leaned back in his chair once the study session reached its conclusion, his arms outstretched, "That was really amazing! You're super smart, Lala! Thanks a ton."

Lala's eyes widened at the expression on Rito's face. He had never smiled at her like that before now. Before, she would see an array of various emotions.

The smiles he gave before had always felt like they were given as a courtesy above all else.

But now? His cheeks flared a pink color that would blend nicely with her own hair. His face adorned with a smile from the bottom of his heart.

The girl averted her gaze.

It was just too bright. It was like she were looking directly at the sun just now. Her memory burned into by the expression, her eyes shook slightly.

Today was... Perfect.

"Getting complimented by Rito... Makes me really happy."

She did not see the reaction he gave, but noticed that he had suddenly gave an awkward laugh. Her hands fidgeted as she crossed her toes over one another.

At this rate, her face was going to go up in flames.

"Lala? Are you okay...?" Rito suddenly asked, "Your face is flushed."

"Oh..."

Lala's tail flickered behind her. Quickly, she grabbed onto her hairpin as she picked up the towel off the floor. Swinging it over her body, she tossed the hairpin to the side. When this happened, Peke had been too tired to even react as they merely dropped over the crawling Kon, who raised a shaking hand to curse the world.

"O-oh no! Peke's battery seems to be dead!" Lala cried out, a rare nervousness showing in her tone, "I-I'll go see if I could find some clothes somewhere, ahahaha!"

When she successfully escaped from the room, she had shut the door behind her. A few shaky breaths escaping her lips.

Why did she react like that...?

This was progress, was it not? Exactly what she had been hoping for for two whole months now. She supposed that in a way, it almost felt unreal. She placed a hand over her chest, it starting to pound.

Her eyes closed gently.

She knew that some progress was not enough. Now she knew that from here onward, she would just have to work to ensure that progression stayed on the path toward success.

She pumped her fist at that with a low "Yes!".

"You seem cheerful."

Lala blinked as she looked over in the direction of a smiling Mikan, who had been carrying a tray with some cookies and a cup of coffee.

"Did something happen?"

Lala shook her head to the question, "Nothing at all~❤"

The alien girl beamed as she turned away to walk into her room. She supposed she could go one night without Rito's scent to soothe her.

Rito lied back on his bed later that night, his gaze focused on the ceiling. His hands rested behind his head as he allowed for his thoughts to flow freely through his mind.

Honestly, that Lala was such a handful.

No matter what the situation was, there was never a moment without some kind of trouble following after.

He shook his head lightly before his gaze moved over to where Peke laid asleep. There, Kon had been trying to push them off of him to get up from the ground, but to little avail.

"What's the point if they're asleep..." Kon sighed, "I'll admit defeat this time..."

Rito gave a light chuckle before returning to his previous thoughts. He supposed he could not help but appreciate that she gave her best, though.

What was his life like before all of this, again? It had become so normal to him that he had almost forgotten back when all he had ever thought, spoken, or done was all for the sake of a romance with Haruna.

Life was much simpler back then. When all he had to worry about was whether he could look Haruna in the eyes and give a solid confession or whether or not Risa was going to mess with him that day.

But now? He was a monster hunter, of sorts.

One who had a fellow monster hunter interested in cutting him down. The only way of explaining that was in the form of a singular person...

"Rukia, are you there?" Rito cast a glance toward his closet.

He heard the muffled flip of a page inside the closet, "Yes, what's the matter?"

Even if she did not answer, he would have known the truth... She ate his cookies and drank his coffee when he left to use the bathroom earlier.

Rito let out a sigh as his focus repositioned upward. He needed to understand the situation that she was in as much as possible. Even so, it was hard to just come out and ask what the matter was when he had no clue how Soul Society operated.

He was already beginning to have the impression that they were a cruel people more and more as the days went by. After all, if he did not beg for her sake, Rukia would have chopped Oshizu apart the other day.

To her, it was just protocol. Something supported by the idea that the Shinigami that attacked him the previous night also shared a similar sentiment.

"...going back to Soul Society..." Rito took in a soft breath, "You said that was your goal, but..."

Another turn of the page within the closet.

"...it's actually impossible, isn't it?"

A jerk came from inside the closet, Rukia grunting shortly after. Rito could not help but shoot a glance in the direction of the closed "room" opposite to his bed with a frown.

"R-Rito, I've explained this to you, have I not!?" Rukia barked, not bothering to open the door, "You do my work until my powers return, and I go ba-"

"You didn't explain that it was impossible." Rito reaffirmed.

"Because it's not impossible!" Rukia huffed, "What gives you that impression anyhow? Besides, you should be more worried about this incident of y-"

"Another Shinigami told me."

The silence hung heavy in the room. His eyes lowered at that.

He supposed he knew the truth the moment he had been told about it. Even so, he wanted to hear from Rukia herself. He wanted to understand exactly what was going on with her.

"Rukia, I hate being the last person to know what's going on." Rito slowly sat up, "Will you please tell me what you're hiding from me?"

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"If you weren't, then I wouldn't have almost been killed last night over it!"

A silence followed. Rito frowned at that.

He was hoping to have made progress in this conversation. He had hoped that he and Rukia had gotten close enough to where she could at least open up to him that much. He placed his hand over his face with a soft sigh.

That was hypocritical of him to think, though. He did not even tell her what his deal with Grand Fisher was and dragged her around all day.

...fine. He would just have to be more direct.

"If you're not going to talk, then I guess I will." Rito stood up from the bed, "You've been here for too long. I don't know how long you were supposed to be here, but this Soul Society place has gotten suspicious..."

"It's..." Rukia hesitated from behind the closet door, "It's merely a holdup, nothing for you to be concerned over."

Rito stared at the door with a trembling lip. He would rather not have confronted her like this. But, after the grilling that Yui gave her, it was bad enough that it turned out Rukia was hiding things from him.

Things that were far too important to ignore.

"Rukia, why didn't you take your powers back from me?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Rito placed a hand over his chest, his brows furrowing, "Me having your powers... Tell me, is that a crime in Soul Society?"

The silence from Rukia spoke volumes. Volumes that Rito had wished not to hear.

"...so, me having been taking your place in all these assignments..." Rito clutched his shirt tighter, "...made you into a fugitive? Is that why you won't go back?"

"Rito, I already told you why I can't go back!"

Rito grit his teeth, pulling the closet door open. He met Rukia's awaiting glare with one of his own. The boy's teeth grinded against one another as he took in a breath through his nose.

"You gave me a reason, Rukia, not the reason!" Rito retorted, "That Shinigami wouldn't have tried to kill me if it wasn't a big deal!"

Rukia averted her gaze, her eyes wavering, "M-maybe I didn't..."

Rito lowered his hand from the door. He stared at her for a moment as she seemed to struggle to get out whatever she needed to say.

"But that's not your burden to bear, so do not mind it."

When Rukia swiftly grabbed at the door to slam it shut, Rito raised his hand to catch onto it. The girl looked at him with a puzzled expression as she struggled against his grip to close it.

"What are you doing...!?"

"Just... Talk to me, dammit...!"

"It's not your problem!" Rukia shouted back, "That Shinigami attacking you is more important. You should focus on-"

"Myself?"

"Yes!"

Rito grit his teeth, his bangs covering his face as he lowered his head. Rukia gripped at his wrist, beginning to pull it off of the door so she could shut it again. Swiftly, his other hand rushed up to grab at her hand.

"What are y-"

"You're wrong." Rito spoke softly, his gaze trained on her despite his eyes being invisible, "What's most important to me right now is your safety."

Rukia looked toward him with a bewildered expression.

She just had to make him come out and say it, huh...?

"You're my partner, Rukia." Rito lifted his head to make it so their eyes were able to peer into one another, "I can fight back. I will fight back, no matter how many come after me. No matter how many times I get pummeled."

"That's... Foolhardy!" Rukia snapped, "I didn't ask you to do that! You need only defeat what Hollows appear until my powers come back! That is a-"

"I'm not just gonna sit back and leave you to get attacked, Rukia!"

Rukia paused at that, Rito's hold on her hand tightening somewhat as he continued.

"Until you get your powers back, it's my job to protect every soul. And the most important soul of all of them to protect..."

Rito's gaze became stern as the shadows in the closet loomed over his figure.

Yes. The most important thing overall. He absolutely had to protect them.

The person who changed his life.

The person who had given him a chance that most others would never grant him.

The person who gave him the opportunity to move forward with his life.

That person...

"...is you, Rukia."

"...huh?"

Rukia stared at him with a bewildered expression. Though, this time, he could have sworn that her face was crimson.

A moment of silence was shared between the two, as the muffled sounds of the night could be heard through the closed window. Rukia lowered her head, gently tugging at her arm for Rito to let go.

He then paused, realizing that he had grabbed her hand just now, and obliged.

...that was embarrassing.

"Alright..."

He blinked, looking up to the Rukia who finally responded to him. When he had, he could see that she looked back to him with a small smile on her face.

"I'll trust in you..." Her gaze softened as she crossed her arms, "...just until I get my powers back... Partner."

『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 12 | Strange Student who Brings Turmoil ~𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐞!?~ 】

⦏ Monday: July 7th, 2008 ⦐
❲ Finals, Day One ❳

Exams were always something that Rito took very seriously. Even now, as the finals came at him like a boulder trap in a treasure labyrinth, he fought long and hard to overcome the obstacle.

After all, he put his all into giving the last week appropriate time to study everything he needed to know.

With Lala eager to help out every step of the way, too, it was a cinch! Though... She always seemed more bashful than usual whenever they studied together. It was adorable...

It...almost reminded him somewhat of Haruna! That was why he found it so cute! It just had to be.

Though, he supposed a more important detail to factor was that whenever he looked up from his paper, he could swear there was a boy at the front of the class who always had a glare pointed his way...

What was his deal...?

After school that day, Rito had decided to be nice and take a detour to thank Lala for the help in studying... To find out it was her birthday and end up forking out a gift for her in pure guilt that he was unaware.

A good host should remember something like his tenants' birthdays, right...?

Wait a minute, why does he care so much!?

⦏ Tuesday: July 8th, 2008 ⦐
❲ Finals, Day Two ❳

Exams sucked. Risa had felt that way since Junior High, and that sentiment only strengthened once Highschool came around.

She puffed her cheeks and took a glance around the room. All the students around who normally either kept to their stereotypes or blatantly ignored the lectures were acting as though they gave a damn.

It bothered her that she felt like the odd one out. At least, that was until she cast her gaze upon Rito. Oh, seeing that determined look in his eye. If he looked at her like that, she would be more than willing to do anything...

Wait. If she passed, that meant there would be no summer school, which meant a chance!

The idea had sparked a passion within her that started the academic engine within her. Write, write, write!

She could not help but notice in the corner of her eye that some guy kept staring at her Darling...

Was he some manifestation of Mio's fantasies...?

⦏ Saturday: July 12th, 2008 ⦐
❲ Finals, Final Day ❳

On the walk to school, Yui had brushed a finger through her hair to get some of the leftover unruliness from last night's slumber out of it.

"Come on, it's really not that bad..." Masaki waved a hand beside her.

"I can't show weakness in the midst of the finals!" Yui pumped a fist, "As a representative of the morals committee-"

"It's necessary to have good grades. You said that yesterday too." Masaki deadpanned, waving a finger, "No one's gonna bat an eye if you look like you're tired from the exams. It's a perfectly normal thing for a high school girl to be stressed about exams."

Yui shot a glare his way, "It's about image, Masaki-kun."

"Whatever you say..." Masaki looked forward, a smile coming onto his face, "Oh, Rito, Lala, what's up!?"

When her friend rushed ahead, her eyes followed his line of sight to see that just as he said, the pair of Rito and Lala had been walking ahead of them.

Yui had now definitely been brushing her fingers with a little more vigor to ensure that she was more proper. She certainly did not want Rito seeing her as unsightly.

As she heard the three up ahead begin to chatter amongst themselves, she resolved to hurry and get involved in the conversation.

"Good morning, Lala-san, Yukki-kun." Yui smiled.

"Hey, morning, Yui." Rito replied with a similar smile.

Yui gripped at her chest as a precaution before her heart leapt out from it. She still needed to adjust to him referring to her by first name. But it was not like she wanted him to stop doing so.

"Oh? You made friends with Yui, Rito...?" Lala's tone almost deviated some from her usual bubbly one, "That's great!"

"That's Kotegawa to you!" In Lala's case? Yui wanted the familiarity she referred to her with to cease, immediately!

"Let's go, let's go! Exams, remember!?" Masaki gave a light nudge to Yui before he ran on ahead.

"Hey! Quit being the mature one, it's weird!" Rito soon followed after.

"Ugh... Don't run like that, you two!" Yui quickly warned, but to no avail.

Instead of listening, the both of the boys laughed for the short distance that was from the two girls to the front gate. Though Yui did not find herself upset that they ignored her. In fact, she was somewhat delighted to see the two getting along so well again.

She moved her gaze to the side to see Lala had been staring at her. It was a blank expression, so she had a hard time getting any idea what she might have thought.

"Lala-s-"

Lala walked a bit faster to catch up with the boys before Yui could question her. Yui lowered her arms with a question mark popping up over her head.

What could that have been about...?

She looked around again. When she had, she noticed she had not been the only once glancing toward the leaving Lala. Some guy she had not recognized was looking at her with his eyes shaped into hearts...

"...how shameless."

She huffed before picking up her own pace.

「 𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞｡｡｡? 」

⦏ Tuesday: July 15th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 8:49 a.m. ❳

"...now we're late." Rito glanced around with a frown, "And once again, there's no Hollow."

Rukia had stared down at her Denreishiki with a frown. It seemed that once again there was a false alarm...? But there could not be... She was absolutely sure that she had gotten it repaired recently.

Unless of course that Kisuke gave her faulty products to keep her coming back!

A shady businessman like that certainly would fall to such standards...

"Just what is going on...?"

"Ugh. Ever since this week began, that pager of yours has kept going off!" Rito snapped at her, currently in Soul State, "Is it broken or something!?"

"I'm not sure..." Rukia grumbled to herself, "It shouldn't be..."

"Exams just ended, dammit! I was hoping to catch a break!"

"Exams just ended for me, too, y'know!"

"Well, you can deal with it!" Unbeknownst to them, a soul had been staring at the two as they bickered amongst themselves, "It's your broken machine that's caused this mess!"

"I-I already told you that it can't possibly be broken!"

"Are you saying that Shinigami from the other day is going around defeating Hollows before we get the chance?"

"Er... No." Rukia pulled back, crossing her arms, "When Shinigami are sent to the World of the Living, they are given specific tasks. They're only allowed to act in ways that would fulfill that task. And there's only one Shinigami sent to survey specific districts at a time. So, given that I'm the one who was assigned to defeat Hollows here..."

"...then I'm the only one of them who's going after Hollows, got it." Rito gave a deadpan expression that annoyed Rukia.

"Technically, yes."

"There's no technically about it!"

The both of them jumped in surprised as suddenly the spirit that was watching had leapt toward them with comical tears streaming down his eyes.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH—I WAS SHO SHCARED—‼" The soul of a plump man who had the side of his tank top torn to show his ribcage underneath wailed, "I WAS REALLY, REALLY SHCARED‼ THANK YOU SHO MU-"

He was sent to the ground when Rito kicked him backward.

"Go thank whoever saved you!" Rito growled, his eyes staring daggers at him, "AND QUIT TRYING TO HUG ON ME‼"

"H-hold on, Rito!"

Rukia had picked up the man from the ground, her hands firmly gripped onto his collar as she glared into his eyes. Perfect form of interrogation, just like the comic she had read the other day...

"Just now, you said you were scared! So that means there really was a Hollow here, right!?" Rukia shook him lightly as he stammered rather than affirmed her suspicions, "TELL US! Who defeated the Hollow and helped you!? What kind of guy saved you!?"

The plump man gulped as he stared up at her, the frames of his glasses obscuring his eyes from view.

"...—I got shcared and closed my eyes, sho I don't know..."

The sheer disappointment that emanated over the both of Rukia and Rito's figures had caused a great terror in the man as he crawled backward into the corner he jumped out from.

"W-WAIT! I...I...I... I'M SHORRY‼" The Spirit frantically waved his hands around as the pair began to come closer, "I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, BUT I'M SHORRY‼"

Having dug into his pockets, he would draw out a small doll to present to the pair. Their bodies seemed to emanate the kanji for "menacing" the longer the staredown went.

"I know! How about thish for an apology!?" He gave a light shake of his hand to emphasize the doll, "I'll give you my treasured Magical Girl Megaron figurine, sho pleash... GO EASY ON ME‼"

He pushed the doll forward. It seemed he truly believed that it would be his salvation from certain death by the hands of the pair...

But to his utter shock and horror, they would instead both raise their arms forward to crush the doll's neck. The blonde head of the plastic girl having been flung across the alleyway.

"MEGARON, NOOOOOOO—‼!"

"Well... Guess it's time for Konsō..."

"W-wait. What'sh a Konsō!?" His panicked voice reached the heavens above, "H-HOLD ON, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SHTAB ME WITH THAT SHWORD, ARE YOU!?"

. . .

The young man that defeated the assassin sent by Carter had leaned over the railing of a rooftop as he watched Rito and Rukia's interaction with the spirit from above. As the winds brushed over, the silver chain on his wrist bounced lightly against the metal.

He narrowed his eyes for a brief moment before he turned to walk away.

A black butterfly slowly arose from the streets below behind him.

Chatter erupted in the halls of Sainan High, a crowd gathered around the wall as students gathered up to take a look at the results of their efforts: the official rankings for the First Year Finals for the first semester.

Sent in early due to it being the last week before summer vacation.

"Wow! Beautiful and smart!"

"You're one incredible girl, Lala!"

Lala had heard things like that all the time. Besides, it was not her own personal grade she cared for. She expected to get first place, after all, human high schools were academically behind what tutelage she had gotten from her caretakers back on Deviluke. All she needed to do was apply her newly acquired knowledge of Japanese and voila, she went from zero to one hundred.

She was more worried about Rito. After all, he seemed eager to get a good grade here. She did not want to see him get bummed out from failing to meet his expectations.

She wanted to see that smile again.

"Oh, look at you, girl. You got fifth!"

Lala's emerald eyes locked onto the pair of Tatsuki and Haruna. The former patted her friend on her head, causing the latter to smile gently.

"I just studied hard, that's all."

"Either way, that's a pretty big level up! You went from eighteenth on the midterms all the way to the top five!"

It seemed that Haruna was about to respond to Tatsuki's encouragement, but instead let out a yelp as a pair of hands clutched onto her chest from behind.

Risa leaned her head over the shoulder of purple haired girl as she began to move her hands around freely, to the latter's dismay.

"Her grade's not the only thing that's leveled up~❤" Risa cooed. "I'm so proud of you!"

"S-stop, Risa-san—!"

She decided to look elsewhere, as she noticed the trio of Saruyama, Keigo, and Mizuiro standing closer to the board. Keigo placed his hands on his hips as he gave a shrug.

"Oh, let the girls have their top grades all they want." He gave a light chuckle, "It's not like any of our boys did something embarrassing like make the top 50, right?"

Saruyama slumped when he asked that question, while Mizuiro looked at him with a finger raised toward a particular name.

"I'd say check again, Keigo..."

"Hm?"

Keigo leaned closer to the board. This piqued Lala's interest as well, so she stepped closer to look at the results herself.

—the shock on her face was given voice by Keigo's cry of horror.

"WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT‼⁇⁈!?" Keigo's body jolted in either direction, as though he were being bulleted down by a machine gun, "R-R-R-R-R-RITO'S RANK 21ST‼⁇⁈!?"

"This just... Can't be...!" Saruyama had punched the ground, his entire frame shaking, "We were supposed to all bond in the misery of being morons...!"

"W-well, that's just one, right...?!" Keigo attempted his recovery, wiping his nose gently, "We've still got our good buddy Masaki to take up his place! Surely, soccer practice has kept him fro-"

"Look again." Mizuiro trailed his finger just slightly downward.

"22ND‼⁇⁈!?"

Keigo had fallen backward, hitting the ground with a hard thud. Saruyama slid over and began to push against Keigo's chest. As if they were caught in their own little world that just so happened to be a warzone...

"Come on, man! You have to survive!"

"I just... Don't think I'm gonna make it..." Keigo weakly rose his hand towards the ceiling light, "It's over... I'm dead—!"

"KEIGO—‼" Saruyama screamed out toward the heavens for the sake of his friend.

...a scene Lala pretended she understood so she could instead focus on other things.

Like the fact that she thought that Rito had been failing this whole time! She was honestly shocked to see him rank towards the middle of the top class of students!

She blinked as she began to wonder what exactly he had meant by falling behind before...

She pouted now. It was almost like she took all that time to help him study for nothing more than the sake of his pride...

Something that until now, she almost felt like Rito lacked. Pride was just something all creatures in the universe had. At least, in something.

When she had first met Rito, she was unsure if he had any. After all, he turned out to have left behind all of his greatness in favor of a much more meek lifestyle. A decision she found strange, elaboration or none.

Who would leave behind what makes them happy...?

She personally could not do it. Her mass of inventions were practically a part of her identity.

...and more than half of them were highly unrecommended to be operated by anyone but her.

Oh well. Now that she had thought about it... If it turned out that he had not quit soccer... Maybe they would have never met, at least not in the way they had. Possibly fallen for someone else. Never met Mikan. Never experienced the atmosphere of the Yukki Household that she felt so comfortable in.

—perhaps Rito was better this way.

She placed her hands behind her back as she moved her head aside, her face beaming when she finally saw an approaching Rito beside Masaki, the pair looking over toward the group with a smile.

"So, how did we do?" Masaki perked up, "What we get?"

Keigo and Saruyama both jumped up from the ground and rushed over to the two. Most specifically, a confused Rito who they grabbed at from both sides.

"H-hey, what are you doing!?"

"You're a dirty cheater!"

"There's no way you could've possibly scored as high as you did!"

To this, Rito gave a deadpan expression: "Oh shut up, both of you... I score well cuz I study, something both of you should give a try."

"AHA!"

They both leapt away from him, both pointing a finger toward him with a blatant disgust in their eyes.

"So that's what you were doing all those nights!?" They both cried out in shock.

"Whenever I invited you to hang out!" Keigo called.

"Or when you kept ignoring all my calls!" Saruyama added.

"You always said you were too busy!"

"But the truth is you were studying like a TOTAL NERD!"

They both then took to dramatically run away from the scene, tears streaming from the both of their eyes.

"I'M FRIENDS WITH A TOTAL NERD‼"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M JEALOUS OF A FREAKING NERD‼"

They would soon both slide toward the pair of Rito and Masaki while holding a pair of swirl framed glasses.

"The two of you would do well with some special Nerd Glasses™ like these!" Saruyama purposefully deepened his voice to sound like a businessman.

"No thanks." The dynamic duo both swung a fist to knock over the two, them rolling out of the way for them to move past.

"It is a bit of a surprise to learn that you actually study, though." Mizuiro said as they approached the board to check the scores for themselves.

"...I get beat on enough cause of how damn near every girl in the school sees me. Or how every guy in the school leers at me with jealousy." Rito scratched the back of his head with a frown, "It would only make it worse if instructors started bugging me over my grades, too."

...instructors?

Lala tilted her head slightly at that.

"There's no real winning for me." Rito looked toward his hand as he pulled it forward, "Unlike Masaki, I don't ever fight back unless somebody else is dragged into it, so I'm seen on one end as a punching bag. A lot of crazy stuff happens around town and I get the blame for it just because I happen to be there, it's been that way since I can remember. It's why tons of girls see me as no better than Saruyama."

Rito furrowed his brows at the thought, "Doesn't help that every instructor around is convinced every rumor about me is true. That's been that way since I can remember, too. The eyes I get from them really piss me off." He cast a glance in Mizuiro's direction, "So, if I keep my grades good, then it means they'll keep their eyes off me."

"So in a way, that's more or less the reason I study."

"That was... Actually a more deep answer than I was expecting." Mizuiro blinked, while the pair of Keigo and Saruyama stared at him with an expression Lala could not tell since she faced their backs.

Lala herself, though, frowned.

She was completely unaware that Rito had such trouble with everything that went on at school. Lala herself saw it as a fun place. The place where she got to hang out with all of her earth friends at once, and she got to do it every single day!

But the way that Rito referred to his teachers as instructors. It was a cold way of classifying them. As if Rito was creating as wide a gap between them as he possibly could.

Did he not ever try to rely on them...? Did he ever see them as reliable in the first place?

It was a bit of a lonely thought, not having anyone to lean on like that.

Had it only been made worse since she arrived on this planet...? She knew that the boys bugged Rito all the time whenever she was not with him at school. But she never thought of it as her having wedged a knife deeper.

Maybe she was overthinking it.

"Your life sounds quite troublesome to handle. Even for you, Rito-dono." Peke spoke up, a luxury they had now that people at school were more or less used to their presence.

"Not really, I'm already used to it." Rito shrugged it off, but his face said otherwise.

"I think I was kinda harsh on you before, I'm sorry man..."

Keigo would then swing toward Rito with a headband over his head which carried in its center a red sun between the two kanji that read Pass.

"How about this special Nerdy Headband™ as an apology!?"

"I told you no." Rito drew a pair of scissors at just the right time to cut through the headband dead at the center, to the utter dismay of Keigo.

"By the way, Rito." Mizuiro leaned toward the brunette, who raised a brow his way, "Do you know where Kuchiki-san might be?"

"No, why?"

"Well, since you two were so close, I figure you'd be..."

"I've been trying to be seen around her a lot less lately." Rito let out a huff, "Ever since that Spirit Hunter broadcast, I've heard nonstop rumors about whether or not I got it on with her."

"WHAT!?" Risa leapt out of the crowd and grabbed onto Rito's shoulders, shaking him back and forth, "YOU'D DO IT WITH KUCHIKI BUT NOT ME?!"

"I DIDN'T DO IT WITH ANYBODY‼"

Mizuiro gave a nervous chuckle at that, one that was reciprocated by Keigo.

Lala smiled as she watched the scene go on. But of course, she found Risa being too clingy to her Rito. So, she had better step in to correct tha-

The whole crowd had gasped aloud as their attention had all been brought her way.

No. It would be inaccurate to say that it was her who stole their attention.

But rather, the boy who had kneeled before her and took her hand for his own.

"I finally found you, sweet Lala-chan..."

Eyes that were colored similarly to her own hair stared up at her with a loving look in their eyes, which caught her completely off guard.

"...my bride."

But the sudden declaration he made caught everyone in the room off guard.

"This is just ridiculous!"

Rukia's brow furrowed as she stared down at her Denreishiki, currently ringing for far longer than she would have ever liked.

"How come he's not answering!?"

She was deeply frustrated at the current situation. To the point where her thoughts could barely be contained in her brain and needed to be thrown out into the world.

When the beep for the voice message came on, she leaned the device against wall and quickly retreated to point toward it.

"URAHARA‼" She shouted with all her might, "Why don't you ever pick up my calls whenever I actually need you to! This is an emergency, fool!"

Her brain dialed back to all of the times she had encountered him thus far.

"You have the gall to call yourself a businessman!?" She placed her hands on her hips, "Anytime I don't want to see you, you're always there! But whenever I really need you, you won't answer!"

She stared at the device with a frown. Almost as if it would actually respond.

The chirping of the birds in the background was the only sound that broke the silence.

Realizing her futility, Rukia lowered her shoulders. A light shake of her head came to follow.

"I need Urahara to take a look at this Denreishiki sooner rather than later..." She walked closer to the device, poking at its screen lightly as light flickered from it, "I mean. How am I supposed to know whether it's working or not...?"

When she held her finger back to pause in thought, the device finally gave her an answer in the form of a beeping that resounded from its speakers.

Curiosity piqued, the girl scanned for the details of the location. When she committed it to memory, she had gotten up from the ground and took off to go find her partner.

「 𝐀 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬!? 」

"My dear... I recognized you with only but a glance."

The boy had rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand as the image of a younger Lala came to mind. She was beautiful then. That beauty only grew to a point where it was almost too much for him to bare now.

"The way you shine cannot be hidden, not even in a crowd such as this." A fond smile came onto his features, "When you played in the palace garden, you were the radiance that shined through my heart like the sun..."

He suddenly sprung up from the ground, his hand placed over his chest as he reached toward the window. As though the world were responding to him, the sun's rays suddenly shined brighter for dramatic effect.

"And now, that dazzling shine is even more beautiful than it had ever been before." He closed his eyes gently, a tear trickling from his eye, "Truly, you must be a Goddess..."

Most of the crowd was either too bewildered or put off by the interaction to even say anything.

Risa shot a glance toward Mio as she let go of Rito, a light tilt of her head.

"What's he on about...?"

"You don't know?" Mio straightened her glasses, "This is clearly a boy from Lala's past...! Yukki and Lala's relationship clearly has reached a point of complication...!"

A blush came onto Risa's face as she gave a smirk at that, "Oh, a romance filled with love and hate, huh...? That's kinda hot."

"What—?" Rito deadpanned at the both of them.

Their chatter did not matter. This boy planned to seize his opportunity. No, much more than that, seize Lala here and now!

"Ah! Once again, we've had a heartfelt meeting!" He looked toward the pinkette with stars in his eyes, "I was convinced that coming to this remote region would offer me nothing, but it lead me back to you!"

The confused look in her eye was a bit off-putting, but he would run with it for now.

"NOW, LALA-CHAN! LET'S SHARE THIS JOY‼"

"Erm..." Lala rubbed her cheek in an adorable manner, "...who are you?"

A meteor may as well have struck him dead in the face. Soon followed after by the entire asteroid belt it came from. Followed by the crushing waves of the sea that the Earth was filled with.

There was no way.

She did not remember him?

But they... They spent so much time together as children. There was no way she could have forgotten those times...!

No. It was going to be fine. He was going to be fine...

The reason...?

"—I'm a man."

A determination flared in his teary eyes, causing the males in the crowd to fall over comically. He decided to ignore them, as nothing mattered to him more than the woman before him now.

Speaking of which, he raised his arm out again to snap his fingers. He looked to Lala with a serious expression.

"That's right, Lala-chan..." She looked to him with a curious expression at the call of her name, "I've heard that there's some evil man who's been tricking you into his affections..."

His gaze scanned through the crowd. Then, a confident smirk plastered over his face as he pointed out to that very man...

"Yes. It's you!" He closed his eyes because he already knew he locked onto his exact target, "Yukki Ri—"

When he opened them back up, he had come to realize he was looking at an empty space. He placed his knuckles to his temple in frustration at this.

But then, he looked to the distance as he heard a bickering down the hallway.

"We have a Hollow alert!"

"A Hollow...?" Rito sounded skeptical, "There better actually be one this time..."

"Just shut up and run!"

Rito, once again in his Soul State, glanced around with an annoyed look on his face.

"You dragged me all the way out here just for there to be no Hollow again."

Rukia dragged his body along with a low groan, "Why are you complaining so much? What happened to this partner speech you had the other day."

"The other day, there were actually things to fight!" Rito walked past her to get to his body. "Or did you forget how I was all bandaged up?"

"Everybody could see the pathetic state you were in."

"Pathetic!? Ha! I survived a Shinigami who was probably stronger than you were!"

"What- How absurd! Don't underestimate me!" Rukia drew out her Denreishiki with a frown, "Anyway, don't blame me for this. Every time the Denreishiki goes off, I have to assume it's a Hollow and report it. I'm just doing my job."

Rito rolled his neck once he had returned to his own body. Well, at least he did not walk away from this sore.

"You'd better get it fixed, then." Rito looked back toward her, "The thing's obviously not working right."

"You say that as though it is a simple task." Rukia crossed her arms, "I can't just take it to any electronics shop, you know."

"Bickering, are we?"

The pair stopped when they heard a new voice add itself into the conversation. Rito recognized the voice and frowned when he turned to see who it was.

"It's very unmanly to yell at women like that, you know."

Stepping from the shadows was the young man who suddenly confessed his feelings for Lala in front of basically the entire first year class.

"Disgraceful, in fact."

To him? This was the absolute most dramatic weirdo he had ever met.

Given that he had a past with Lala? He was clearly an alien.

Instead of the school uniform, the boy was wearing an all white outfit that covered most of his skin. With the summer heat that brushed through, Rito had to commend his ability to do so.

⦗ BGM Cue ー BL_73 ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

"Good evening..." He began as he now stood directly in front of the pair, "Yukki Rito-san, Kuchiki Rukia-san. I do believe that is how you would use honorifics in this situation..."

Rito frowned at the boy before him, his eyes narrowed.

"Just who are you?" He spoke up quickly, "And I'd also like to know how you know us, if you don't mi-"

"I don't mind at all." The dual-toned boy interjected, "I think it would only be fair that I also inform you that I'm aware that you can see Spirits and the like, Yukki."

Rukia seemed caught off guard by this. Though, she was not present when this guy made everyone know that he had an apparent connection to Lala. He figured that it was only fair that she did not initially suspect him of being an alien.

Even so...

There was something greatly suspicious about this confrontation...

"And just how... Do you know that?"

Instead of answering, his pink eyes loomed to the side. The sun's gleam brushing over his features as he stared outward.

"...another Hollow has appeared."

"Impossible..." Rukia narrowed her eyes.

To the surprise of both her and Rito, the Denreishiki had started to beep rapidly. As though it were merely confirming what the stranger just claimed.

"There really is a new one here..." Rukia raised her brow, "How did he know...?"

"Alright, then, where is it?"

The stranger raised his hand, allowing the silver cross that hung from it to bounce in the air courtesy of the motion.

"It's over there."

The both of them looked at him in confusion. Rito, furthermore, was only more suspicious than before.

What was going on here...?

"Can you really not sense something so simple...?" A low venom dipped into the tone of the stranger, "And you call yourself a Shinigami..."

Rito frowned at that. It was already bad enough he was thrashed in his last major battle. He did not need some weirdo telling him he was inadequate!

Flicking his wrist, the silver cross on his wrist once again bounce lightly in the air. After some time, it would come to rest at the center of its gravity.

What Rito noticed most about the swinging cross was that... Blue particles emanated from it the entire time.

Soon enough, though, the cross would ignite with blue energy that would sprawl out from the trinket to swirl around his hand. Spread into either direction as a stream of electricity that he had grabbed onto tightly.

When he had, it would stabilize in his hold, forming into the shape of a blue bow in his hand. The grey haired boy then pulled at its edge, a string forming from the bow which would hold onto it an arrow made of that same blue light.

"What... The...?" Rito's eyes snapped wide as he saw this all unfold before his very eyes.

With a grunt, the boy released the arrow into the air. The bolt of light flew through the air with a whirring that rung through the clouds.

Further and further it flew until a small Hollow made its presence known by hopping into the air. Unfortunately for it, it was met with a devastating blow from the arrow that tore clean through its head through its eye. The monster being incinerated by the attack soon afterward.

Back at the scene, Rukia stared down at the Denreishiki in disarray.

"The Hollow... Disappeared—?"

"Wha—?"

Rito found his words choking back into his throat. After all, how exactly was he supposed to even react to that? He was aware that people who could fight Hollows were out there, given Don Kanonji, but... This was completely different.

This guy was on a whole other level compared to him...!

"What the hell are you—?"

The stranger stood up from his crouched position, allowing his bow to return to its place within his cross. Rito could not see his face due to his back being turned, but his eyes remained wide the whole time.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Ren Elsie Jewelria—a Quincy."

With a dramatic turn, his eyes would peer into those of Rito's...

With a deadly glare.

"...and I hate Shinigami."

"Coming soon! The new premiere of Super-Hot Magical Girl Kyoko's newest season this Summer!"

The magical girl herself would appear in the center of a red lit world, winking as she blew a spew of flame through her lips.

"Solving all kinds of cases by burning them! Don't miss it~❤"

Rito looked at the television screen with a dead expression on his face.

He could not stop thinking about the encounter earlier with that Ren guy. What the hell was his deal? He came out of nowhere and showed off, not to mention suddenly declaring himself Rito's enemy?

Even moreso, he claimed to be in love with Lala...

He glanced behind him with a frown.

Well, this whole engagement thing was one huge hassle. It would be easier if she fell for someone else, would it not...?

Even so, he had the feeling that he could not allow that. He...

He... Could not let her end up with such a weirdo! Yeah, that was it!

"What're you up to, Rito?"

"Watching TV."

"Oh, I see." Lala giggled from behind him, "Then lemme watch with you~❤"

Before he knew it, he felt her hug him from behind. Though, due to him being seated on the couch, he could feel two melons make contact with his head.

...and said melons were almost completely bare save for the fabric of a towel.

How did he know? She had done this before...

"Lala, put some clothes on..."

"Oh, boo..." Lala stuck out her tongue as she looked down at him with a smile, "I don't wanna miss Kyoko-chan!"

"I'll record it for you."

"But it's just a rerun before the next season, I probably have it recorded already." Lala's hold on him tightened slightly, "Besides, I wanted to get to talk with you."

"With me...?"

"Mhm."

He could see the slightest hint of her tail wave behind her from his field of vision. He felt her hands raise to cup his jaw as she kept his head upward.

It was then that the two stared at each other for just a few seconds.

Those few seconds of silence seemed to last far longer to Rito as he felt his heart begin to pick up pace somewhat. Almost as though he was anticipating for something without a guess as to what that may be.

"That's good... You don't seem sad anymore."

"Huh...?"

Rito blinked. Sad? What could she have meant by that?

He did not recall anything particularly bad going on. Unless she was worried about that Ren guy. If so, she had no reason to worry. It was not like he made any lasting impression with that weird confession of his. It was moreso what came after that bugged him...

"When you talked with Mizuiro, you looked really sad..." Lala smiled down toward him, her eyes beginning to water, "You talked about all the troubles you have to deal with and it made me wonder if... If I only made your life worse...?"

Rito was taken aback by the question. He never considered that Lala had ever given thought to what comes about thanks to the mischief that seems to revolve around her.

But, it was not like Lala was not still a person, despite being alien. Before now, all he had ever done was scream at her about almost anything she had ever done.

It had to have been his fault that she felt such a way...

He gently smiled up at her as he raised a hand to wipe the tears that threatened to drop from her eyes.

"Come on, now... Don't cry..." Rito looked to his hand that he ground the tears into his skin with, "You haven't made my life any worse at all."

"D-do you mean that...?" Lala looked at him with pleading eyes he could not ignore.

"Of course I do." Rito lowered his hand slightly, "The trouble you bring... Is the kind that makes life a lot more fun."

He had hoped that would cheer her up. Though, reflecting back on it, he supposed he could have chosen a less embarrassing way to phrase it. He made to lower his hand toward his cheek, but Lala had grabbed it before he could.

And so, following the movement of her eyes, he would eventually peer back up at the pinkette.

"Rito... Thank you..." Lala placed the hand against her cheek, her cheeks now the same color as her hair, "You're always the one who says exactly what I need to hear..."

Rito had blinked, a similar color coming onto his own face as they smiled to one another.

"N-no problem at all..."

The longer Rito looked at the girl, the more he...

"Ahem."

Rito jumped from the couch when Mikan had cleared her throat behind the pair. He looked to his sister with wide eyes and gave mere pants in place of words at what she was doing.

"I feel like making dessert. Go get some sugar, Rito."

"Right now!?"

"You don't want me going out at this hour, right?"

Rito gave a long sigh before he walked toward the door. "Alright, fine!"

"It'll be faster if I went with you!"

Lala went to follow behind Rito, but she was stopped by Mikan. The younger sibling did so by pinching the towel that hung off of her.

"That won't do. You're practically naked and he can get back by the time you're dressed."

In other words, Mikan wanted to have girl time at home. Rito was not dumb. Oh well, he was honestly glad that Mikan had someone to hang out with. Especially since Yoruichi came over far less often than before.

It was a genuine surprise that she showed up for the Don Kanonji broadcast. It was right when he needed her there...

Rito shook his head lightly.

Now was not the time to think on that...

. . .

Surely enough, to Mikan's expectations, Rito had secured a bag of sugar rather easily. But that was not the most important thing on his mind at the moment.

After all, there were two strange arrivals back to back. First, that Shinigami who pummeled him before... And that Ren guy.

Just to think of him pissed Rito off.

Damn! Just what was the story with that guy!?

He began to pick up his pace, his brows furrowing in frustration as his words echoed through his mind.

"And you really call yourself a Shinigami..."

"Can you really not sense something so simple?"

Who did that cocky bastard think he was!? Insulting him like that...!

He had never been this pissed off from being insulted before! There was just something about this Ren Elsie Jewelria that infuriated him to the core!

He was going to mess him up the next time he saw him...!

Besides, if there was anything to make fun of, what the hell was the deal with him using a bow and arrow? Talk about old fashioned.

「 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫! 」

And what was the oh so triumphant Ren up to after he gloriously demonstrated his power before the pair of Rito and Rukia, his self-sworn enemies?

Well. He was sulking in a bench out in the park. The light of the pole that stood next to his seat illuminated him that night.

Rather than elated... He looked deflated. In a fetal position as his coattails flapped in the winds that passed over below.

Why was that...?

Well. It was because his glorious plan to sweep Lala off her feet had failed. Horribly.

What was meant to be a romantic reunion that would be told all throughout the galaxy was instead punctured by the fact Lala had no recollection of his existence.

Did their time together mean nothing...!?

The image of Rito and Lala both holding hands, smiling toward each other as the world dissolved into roses and hearts around them, popped into Ren's mind.

"My, Ren-chan, long time no see!" Lala beamed up at him, "You've become so manly in all this time~❤"

"Yup, that's right." Ren nodded, a smile on his face, "All of this was for your sake, my dear Lala-chan..."

That was how it was supposed to go. But now...

Ren raised his thumb when he felt a strange sensation on his face. It was then that he realized that he was...

"Wh-why am I crying...!?" Ren slapped his cheeks in a futile attempt to stop them, "I told myself already, I wasn't going to cry over something silly like that‼"

Once he had defeated those pesky tears, he jumped from his seat to pump his fist toward the air.

No. He could never give up the fight! That was what a real man would do!

He was determined to take Lala from Rito, whatever it took to do so!

"WOOF!"

...that was, until he was met in the face of a small dog's mighty bark.

Ren dramatically shivered throughout his entire body before he jumped back in shock. His hands pointed toward the creature with wide eyes.

"W-what is this creature!?"

He had never seen anything like it in his travels before reaching this planet! Why was it looking at him with that derpy expression!? Did it plan to consume him?

No. He could not afford to die! He raised his hand to prepare his bow-

"I'm sorry!" A voice called out as footsteps approached, "He ran away all of a sudden...!"

Ren's gaze moved to the side as he saw a girl approach and take possession of the creature before him. When he got a closer look, his brain sorted through the past school year thus far to find his reference on her.

"You're..." Ren mused aloud, "The Class Rep, right...?"

"Yes, and you're..." Haruna looked up toward her thoughtfully, "Ren-san..."

The girl had gotten up from the ground, a smile directed toward the boy.

"Is your... Home around here?"

"Y-yeah..." Ren raised a hand and brushed his hand against the back of his head, "Something like that."

Well. If he used his remote, he could have brought it closer. His spaceship, that was.

That was his current place of living. However, said remote was lost because of a certain someone... He shook his head lightly, he would deal with her at a later point.

"Here."

Ren pursed his lips when he saw that she offered a handkerchief toward him. For what reason would she have done that...?

"You... Should wipe your tears." Haruna suggested.

Huh? Tears?

Oh no! SOME OF THEM WERE STILL SHOWING!

Act cool, Ren. Cool...!

Suddenly, Ren swiped up the handkerchief and turned away from her. Aggressively, he dapped at his eyes to clean out the tears from his face.

Oh, she saw him in such a pathetic state...!

"T-tears? Are you kidding me?" With his free hand, he waved the idea off, "It's nothing more than sweat. After all, how could the manliest of men like me do something as ridiculous as shed tears!?"

"—is it about Lala-san?"

Ren nearly fell over at the sudden question.

Straight to the point, eh?

Once he had the chance to recover, he had turned in the direction of the girl. Haruna placed a hand over her lips as a frown appeared on her face.

"Ah, I'm sorry—" She was quick to get that out, "I shouldn't say such a thing without knowing what's going on..."

Ren found himself grumbling to himself.

He must have looked so pathetic just now... To the point where it was so blatantly obvious to the Class Rep that she could not help but blurt it out. To demand him to directly confront his weakness.

—if that was what it meant to be a man, then he must!

He placed a fist against his chest with a light bump.

"W-why would I have to cry over Lala-chan, Class Rep!?" ...that was much easier said than done, "Lala-chan and I are childhood friends who share memories, that's all‼"

The memories of the past came to rush into his mind. His face had smiled wider, from happiness. Happiness, yes.

"I loved Lala-chan a lot and Lala-chan was in love with me, too..." ...confront... weakness... "We were in love with each other...!"

Happy memories. Sent off on a rocket, out of love. Teleported into a cavern for the sake of materials, out of love. Ejected from every private craft the two of them were in, out of love...

"That's why Lala-chan accepted a promise to get married with me!"

Yes. That promise. That was what kept him afloat.

His motivation. What allowed him to go through the grueling training that allowed him his newfound strength.

Lala absolutely had to be...

"—probably." Ren slammed his head against the light post, "Even though she forgot about me—"

His attempt to act coolly was foiled. His cool image was in utter shambles.

Surely, the Class Rep was going to report on what he was really like. The crybaby that hid behind the mask of the manliest man. If that were to happen, then Yukki Rito would...!

"That's good. I envy you."

Huh?

That was the last thing he was expecting for her to say to him.

"You could speak out your true feelings to the person you love..." Ren's eyes widened upon seeing the flushed cheeks of the young woman, "I wish—"

"Class Rep..." Ren slowly came to a realization given her wording, "You are..."

Before Ren could make his statement, the dog would let out a bark as it suddenly rushed toward the bushes. This had caused the leash to violently tug at the girl's arm and throw her off balance.

Ren had quickly moved forward to reach toward her.

"WATCH OUT‼"

"Are you sure I shouldn't have gone with him?"

Lala pouted on the couch as she looked over to Mikan, the girl looking to her like a parent would a child that begged her to buy something for the last uncountable time.

"Yes, I'm sure." Mikan shook her head lightly, "Rito will be just fine on his own. He's just doing a little grocery shopping. It's not like he can't handle that much."

Lala sighed.

She supposed she could not argue with that. But at the same time, she could not help but think that Mikan purposefully sent him away at this time to thwart her attempts to get closer.

It felt like she was making great progress!

After all, that was the first time that Rito actively showed her affection. She could not help but smile at that thought.

She perked up when she heard a ring of the doorbell. Could have been him?

No. That was silly. Why would he ring his own bell?

"Coming." Mikan called as she walked over to the door, "Who would come at this hour...?"

Lala watched as Mikan got up from the recliner to go see who had been at the door. The curiosity that brimmed within had her latch onto the wall behind her to take a peak as Mikan had looked through the looking glass before taking a step back.

The younger Yukki gave a sigh before she opened the door.

To Lala's surprise, standing there would be Risa in a casual outfit. The girl gave a wink to Mikan as she waved.

"Hi, Mikan-chan~! Is your brother home?"

"He's not."

"How long do you think he'd be~?"

"Long enough to evade you."

"Really? Where is he now?"

"That's none of your business."

"Why not? He's my friend."

"Because who knows what you'd go and do with that information."

Lala blinked as she stepped out from her spot. When she had, Risa glanced toward her for a moment. She then gave a similar wave to her.

"Oh, hey, Lala-chi!"

"Hi, Risa!" Lala beamed at her, "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, I just had to talk with Rito about something, but it doesn't seem like he's here..." Risa glanced around with a frown, "Oh, but that does remind me that I did wanna ask you something."

"What is it?" Lala tilted her head.

"Can't it wait?" Mikan looked toward Lala with a finger pointed at the brunette, "Her breath is polluting the air of our house..."

"Hey, that's rude." Risa pouted.

"That's coming from the porn addict..."

"Hmm? It all only began from the DVD I found here, which has been missing since I returned it to this house..." Risa grinned devilishly as she placed her hand over her lips, "Rito never seems to know about its existence whenever I ask, so that just leaves you. Where is that DVD, Mikan~?"

Mikan was about to snap at her, but her words seemed to choke back into her throat. A look of dread came over the girl's features before Lala swore she saw her cheeks tinge bright red.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You must be real glad your parents aren't home to know what you get up to~" Risa teased further.

"Shut up, She-devil...!" Mikan glared, "You're making accusations!"

"What was it you wanted to ask, Risa?" Lala spoke up, deciding the conversation had gotten a bit too far off track.

"Right, right."

Risa placed her fingers together with a soft smile as she looked toward Lala. Though, from what the Devilukean could tell, her eyes leaned toward the making of an entirely different expression.

One that seemed almost unnatural for the image she had of her.

"This Ren guy. Could you tell me what you know about him?"

Rito stopped in his walk and took a glance around.

...he cursed himself. He got so caught up in his thoughts trying to figure that Ren guy out that he ended up going the completely wrong way!

He paused in his thoughts, though, as he could just take a glance around to almost see literal hearts floating around him. His eyes moved in the direction of the hearts that were trailing around and found his jaw drop at the ridiculous amount of couples entangled in the presence of one another before his eyes.

This just had to be completely awful luck. It was apparent that he was now at the rumored Love-Love Park where couples had often gathered at night!

...though he only had Risa and Saruyama as sources for such a rumor.

Even so, he stuck out like a sore thumb given the idea that he was the only one present who had not been in a couple. In fact, his loneliness skyrocketed when he turned his head to the left and saw the closest couple locked in a kiss.

A critical strike! Rito had lunged backward as though he were shot in the face of it. His eyes snapped wide as he grabbed at his hair to ruffle it. He was wasting time here! He had to deliver Mikan her sugar before it got too late!

When the boy had taken off running, his eyes had moved to look in the corner of his eye. There, he would see Ren... And Haruna...!?

Here!? Holding one another...!?

Oh, his life just had to keep getting worse, huh...

「 𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭｡｡｡? 」

⦏ Wednesday: June 16th, 2008 ⦐
❲ 8:13 a.m. ❳

"Good morning, Lala-chan‼"

The pinkette blinked as she was promptly approached by Ren first thing in the morning. She gave a light giggle as she gave a nervous smile.

"Good morning, Ren...-chan."

Lala found Japanese honorifics adorable. That had always been the case. But... She was not a large fan of using them on humans, but rather on her machines.

After all, they were all specifically crafted to be just as adorable.

But it seemed that Ren did not even notice her discomfort and instead bowed before her. It was like the etiquette she fled from the kingdom to avoid had literally followed her to her refuge.

"Ah... You are beautiful as always." Ren's cheeks blinked a pink color, "You're the miracle of the universe! God's art‼"

She wondered how the boy had managed to become so infatuated with her. Maybe it was the gifts she earned from her mother.

After some reminders of their past, she remembered how she treated him back in the day. Zastin felt it prudent that Lala had friends while she was young since unlike her younger siblings, she had no one to rely on. So, Ren soon showed up in her life.

At the time, she personally had absolutely no interest for anything other than making the greatest gadget in the universe. Something so impressive that her father would leave her alone about getting married someday.

Since she was going to be forced to spend time with him, she had decided to use him as a means of testing various types of gadgets.

Maybe that was why she used to be so nonchalant about throwing whatever new device she made up at Rito... She did feel they were very similar at first, now that she thought about it.

"Now that I can see you like this every day... It's as if I'm living a dream~❤"

"Oh, you're just exaggerating..." Lala giggled sheepishly, waving off the notion.

Oh...! Now she remembered.

She had to confirm with Peke that there was even a possibility that what Ren claimed was true.

Apparently, when they were children, Ren had decided to ask her if she would marry him if he became manlier. She was busy working on her AA Rocket-Kun at the time, so she agreed so he would stop bugging her...

She never expected him to take it so seriously...!

In the corner of her eye, she noticed that Rito had been glaring toward Ren.

That was strange. She did not see any reason the two would not get along...

Rito had been bitter the entire morning.

This Ren weirdo was apparently all the rage. Right now, he was subjected to the torture of watching a crowd of girls beg for the boy to help them study.

Turned out that bastard was the number 2 in the class. Certainly determined to get Lala's attention, that was for sure.

But even then... Why was he with Haruna, then?

Maybe he was just being paranoid about a situation he misunderstood but even so... One thing was clear: It was Ren and Haruna together in the Love Love Park.

AGH! That thought alone just fanned the flames in his brain.

No. No. Relax, Rito. He had to believe in Haruna. She was not the kind of person to get up to anything scandalous in a park of all places.

"Don't push me~"

He heard one of the girls call out as a friend of hers laughed as she kept on despite the insistence against it. It was then that Ren had raised his hands in an attempt to stop her.

But instead, they had found themselves pressed against her chest. The both of them staring at what occurred with a blank expression.

Here came the pummeling, Rito thought...

"Ayaaa~ He touched my boobs—❤" The girl hugged herself as she hopped away, "But if it's Ren-kun, I won't mind~❤"

What planet was Rito currently on? There was no possible way that he was on Earth right now!

As he watched it go on, he would see that Keigo slid over with his hands clasped in a prayer up toward Ren.

"Please, teach me your ways!"

He got up from his chair to leave for the bathroom. It was a good idea now to freshen himself up. At least then it may confirm whether this cruel turn of fate was the reality he had to bare...

. . .

Later on in the day, Rito let out a sigh as he began to collect his class materials. Classes have ended for the day. This was the perfect chance to confr-

"Oops. I almost forgot."

Rito's head swung in Ren's direction when he saw him get up from his chair.

That bastard. What was he planning to do now? He had his eyes on him. Like a hawk.

He watched as the boy marched right over to the standing Haruna, who seemed just as surprised as he was that Ren was headed her way.

"Class Rep."

"Uh, y-yes?" Haruna blinked, a bit flustered at the sudden call.

"Hi." Ren smiled gently, "I just wanted to say thank you for last night."

Last night...

LAST NIGHT‼!?

Never had a flame burned more furiously within Rito's chest. He slammed his hands against his desk as he charged at Ren.

"You! With me! NOW!"

Rito gripped onto Ren and took off out of the door, the Quincy flapping in the air behind him like a cape. All the while he cried out in confusion at the sudden forced exit.

"R-Rito-san, wait!"

Haruna had reached toward the door with a frown. The look on her face told that she was looking to speak with him on something.

"Haruna? Are you okay...?"

Haruna paused as she turned back to see Lala standing behind her with her hands behind her back.

"Where did Rito take Ren-chan off to?"

"I'm not sure myself..." She then looked as though a lightbulb went off in her head as she glanced back toward the pinkette, "U-um, Lala-san, can we go somewhere to talk...? Privately?" She had whispered the last part, to Lala's confusion.

"Uh. Sure?" Lala shrugged, not seeing any harm in doing so.

As the two girls left, Tatsuki looked toward the pair as they left with a brow raised.

Haruna referred to Rito by first name...? She had never recalled them being on first name basis before...

"What is it, Yukki Rito?"

Ren placed a hand on his hip.

He was not the greatest fan of being dragged out like that. Especially not by someone like this guy. A complete and utter weakling who called himself a Shinigami.

"Have you decided to give up on Lala-chan?"

"What? No!" Rito then shook his head, "It's not about that!"

So he still refused to step away from his woman. How unfortunate. He supposed resolving this peacefully was out of the question. He had to concur that he had at least some courage to actively claim Lala right in front of his eyes.

Rito then pointed toward him in frustration.

"I'm already tired of you and it's only been a day since I met you!" Rito declared, "Not only did you show up out of nowhere and start meddling with everything, but you're a lying bastard, too!"

"Hm? What are you on about?"

"You said that Lala was your one and only true love." Rito pulled back his hand as his eyes narrowed, "But I'm onto you. You'd take just about any girl, huh!?"

Ren... Had to double take at that.

What was this guy even saying...? It was so ridiculous that Ren could not even bring himself to vocalize the randomness of such a claim. Even so, it was clear he would need to force something out.

"My heart belongs to Lala-chan. There's simply no doubt about that."

"And why the hell should I believe you...?" Rito grit his teeth, "I was there yesterday, and I saw you... You...!"

"Yesterday?"

Was there something he did of significance the previous day? He could not bring anything to the forefront of his memory.

Oh. Wait. Now he knew what the boy was on about.

"Do you mean last night at the park?"

"YES!"

Ren gave a tired sigh as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I was aware that you were there. But don't misunderstand me." Ren turned away with a shrug of his shoulders, "I assure you that the Class Rep and I do not have any relationship like that."

"So you did that just to piss me off...?" Rito narrowed his eyes. "And how did you know I was there, anyway?"

"Look at you, useless and self-centered." Ren turned back toward him with a frown, "Of course I knew you were there. After all, you let your Spiritual Pressure pour out in waves. With such low control like yours, anybody with half a brain to do so can sense you from a mile away."

"Wha...?"

"I thought you were getting better since the other day you were able to sense that Shinigami approaching, but it's clear now that was just a fluke..." Ren sighed as he pocketed his hands, "What a lousy rival you had turned out to be, you can't even manage what a monkey could achieve."

"What did you say...!?" Rito's brow began to twitch.

"It's very clear that you lack the ability to actively sense high spiritual pressures around you." Ren pointed his finger toward Rito with a serious gaze, "After all... The only evidence I need is the fact that you've only just now noticed my existence."

Rito looked at him with a dumb look on his face. Perfect for a complete amateur like him.

"Are you saying you've been here... This whole time...?"

"That's precisely what I'm saying..." Ren retracted his hand, turning away, "Since my transfer to this school in April, I was able to notice your high spiritual presence and how it was unusually high, especially for an Earthling."

Ren had remembered back then. He recalled that the first discovery he made on this planet was that the sakura trees that grew in this region of the planet were quite wonderful to look upon.

He had hoped to one day gaze upon them beside Lala, whose hair their pedals reminded him of.

"I'm even aware of how at the end of April, you were given your Shinigami powers." Rito's eyes widened at this revelation, "And I'm also aware of Kuchiki Rukia's true identity."

"How... Can you be..."

It would seem he needed a clearer picture. Ren would gladly demonstrate for him.

With just a bit of focus, he would call them forth. A wash of blue light circled the ground around him as a plethora of white ribbons would shoot out of the ground and surround him.

Upon their appearance, Rito had been stunned. Just the way he expected him to be.

"Those are—!"

"Correct. They are Reikaku." Ren added, "Something that compresses spiritual auras in the atmosphere into a vivid visual representation."

Ren raised a finger to gesture toward the white ribbons that surrounded his body.

"I'm sure that Kuchiki has already explained to you what it takes to be even capable of seeing them. Only those of the upper ranks of Shinigami are capable, and only those of even higher rank can touch them." Ren smirked, "But what she failed to tell you..."

A sudden swipe of his arm had caught Rito off guard. Ren's hand clutched tightly around what seemed to be the air in front of the brunette's face.

When he pulled his hand back, it would be revealed he was holding a snippet of a ribbon. This ribbon, in contrast to all the rest, was a crimson color.

"...was that the Shinigami have red Reikaku." Ren opened his hand, allowing the ribbon to float off into the winds, "—I am a Quincy. One who holds the power to kill Hollows."

The pair of Rito and Ren were now staring each other down, the air around them beginning to thicken in the presence of both their unrelenting gazes.

"Would you care for a duel, Yukki Rito?" Ren smirked lightly as he raised his wrist to show his cross, "Between a Shinigami such as yourself, and a Quincy such as I, which would surpass the other."

Rito frowned at the prospect of the challenge, not giving a word in response. Ren's smirk lowered at this. He narrowed his eyes toward the boy.

The single obstacle that stood in the way of his goal to be with Lala.

"I'll make you understand..." Ren lowered his hand slowly, "—this universe no longer has any use for the Shinigami."

From the staircase, the pair of Mio and Risa were observing them. Though, Mio did not seem to get what it was they were actually talking about.

"Oh, I just know that Ren said something spicy just now!" Mio had stars in her eyes as she pumped a fist, "Come on, Risa, we've gotta get closer...!"

Before she could move in, she felt herself be pulled back into hiding. When she looked back, she noticed that Risa had an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face.

"Risa...?"

「 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐝: 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐯𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐢!? 」

"EEEEHHHH!?"

The trio of Yui, Masaki, and Lala all looked at Haruna in astonishment.

After all, what she had just told them was honestly crazy. But not out of the wheelhouse of possibility considering what they had all witnessed.

"So you're Oshizu-chan from the Old School Building..." Masaki recounted, "And you accidentally wound up in Haruna's body and can't get out?"

"...yes." O-Haruna nodded, "Ever since I've entered Haruna's body, I haven't been able to access any of my abilities. So when I tried to leave: Nothing happened."

"What even brought you here, anyway?" Yui crossed her arms as she looked to her with a brow raised.

"Well, there were two things. The first was that I was more curious to see how this town has changed since my passing, since I haven't gotten out much since I found the school building." O-Haruna explained, "Of course, that turned out like this..."

"...the other?" Yui pressed, finding some curiosity in its prospect.

"Y-yes. I wanted to inform Rito-san that I saw the Shinigami that attacked him on my way here!" O-Haruna's eyes widened, "I was so distracted that I had forgot to mention it!"

Yui calmly placed a hand on O-Haruna's shoulder. At least, it seemed that way until her clutch began to tighten to the point where the girl winced. "—what?"

"D-did Rito-san... Not inform you...?"

Yui stared into O-Haruna's eyes in a manner that made the possessed girl feel as though the both of the souls in her body were being given penance.

Yui then shot her gaze toward Lala, who had pouted at the glare.

"I didn't know that he was attacked either!" Lala waved her hand, "Rito never opened up about it whenever I asked, so I left it alone!"

She would then let out an exasperated sigh as she retracted her hand from O-Haruna's shoulder, something the girl was highly grateful for.

"I suppose for now we should focus on this issue with Sairenji." Yui surmised, with some grumble behind her tone.

"Isn't it cool?" Lala placed her hands behind her back as she looked over Haruna's figure with a blink, "I didn't know ghosts could combine with people from Earth!"

Yui then looked at Lala with a deadpan expression, "That's... Not what's going on here at all..."

Masaki waved it off and stepped past the two, "For now, we should probably get her looked at by Mikado-sensei! I'm sure she can figure something out, right?"

. . .

"It's done now. You can put your clothes back on."

"Yes..."

After some rustling behind the curtain in the nurse's office, Lala would be the one to take a peek behind it with a curious look in her eye.

"How's it look, Mikado-sensei?"

Sure enough, the curtains would open and give way to the pair of Mikado and O-Haruna. A frown crossed the features of the nurse as she set the device she used to scan the girl on her desk.

"I've checked everything I can, but to be honest? This case seems to be out of my hands." Mikado tucked her hands into the pockets of her lab coat, "In terms of medical treatment, I can do something thanks to my skills. However very little is known about the spiritual, even in the cosmos. All research into it is only conducted on remote planets, and most of those planets aren't permitted to share out their research."

"What?" Lala blinked, "I don't remember Papa or the Galactic Patrol making any rules like that!"

"That would be correct, because neither of them did."

"Then who...?"

"I'm afraid I don't know." Mikado shook her head lightly, "All we know is that whoever it is will go to great lengths to keep such research secret."

Only Yui had noticed the pain that reflected on her features at that. Though, she decided not to question it as Mikado quickly fixed her expression to its usual smile.

"But what I can say is that perhaps Rukia-chan can help with your predicament."

"Rukia-san...?" O-Haruna looked toward Mikado.

Lala thought about it for a moment, then an exclamation mark appeared over her head. "Yeah, that's right! Rukia can definitely help!"

"You're talking about that glove she uses on Rito, right?" Yui crossed her arms, "Are we sure it would work?"

"You used it on him yourself, didn't you...?" Masaki pointed out.

"—I suppose you're right."

O-Haruna had then looked to everyone with a frown. Her thumbs pressed against one another as she seemed adverse to the idea.

"What's wrong?" Yui questioned.

"I... I'm not sure that Rukia-san would help me." The possessed girl confessed, "After all, as far as she is concerned, she believes that I'm someone who should die..."

"Oh, don't be like that, Oshizu-chan!" Lala tugged on O-Haruna's arm to pull her into a side hug, "Rito got her to turn around on that, didn't he?"

"B-but..."

"And if she wouldn't do it for your sake..." Mikado began, pressing a button on her remote to show off a holographic screen which showed a chart with two wave patterns on them, "She would definitely do it for Haruna's."

"One issue with that." Yui raised a finger, earning the attention of all those present, "Kuchiki left campus early today."

"WHAT!?" Exclaimed the pair of Lala and O-Haruna.

"Then, where did she go...!?" Masaki bemoaned.

Trying to search for her was going to be an absolute pain...

"Alright, Showdown‼"

Outside the Urahara Shop, the pair of Jinta and Ururu were locked in their game. Immersed in the game they were playing as their arms were raised high into the air above them.

"Rock..." Jinta glared down with a determined gaze.

"Paper..." Ururu had seemed a bit worried, but still made the effort to play along.

"SCISSORS‼"

Jinta's hand was tightly locked into a ball. So much so, that he had a vein pop out at the back of his hand.

Ururu's, in contrast, was softly shifted to where only two fingers were outstretched.

Jinta's win for the round.

"Look over..." Jinta's entire body swung toward the right, his finger jabbing through the air itself to point toward where he looked off, "THERE‼!"

...Ururu did not do as told.

"DAMN‼" Jinta stomped his foot on the ground in frustration at Ururu's persistence, "You're pretty stubborn to last this long...! LET'S GO AGAIN‼"

"Rock, Paper, Scissors‼"

Jinta's rock was decimated by Ururu's paper.

"Look over there!" Ururu chirped, a smile on her face as she bobbed a finger upward.

Jinta cried out in shock at this, as if he were compelled by some invisible force to jerk his body upward in the direction that Ururu pointed. His eyes snapped wide as the impulse to look had effortlessly overtook his actions.

"I win~" Ururu had then offered a broom to her coworker, "Jinta-kun has today's cleaning duty, then!"

"I DIDN'T LOSE!" ...Jinta was adamant to deny it, "I STILL DON'T LOSE YET‼ I TOLD YOU IT'S BEST OF THREE‼"

"You say best of three but you already lost 14 times in a ro-"

Before Ururu could finish, Jinta had let out a roar. His fists now ground against either sides of Ururu's temple as the poor girl was at the redhead's mercy.

"OWOWOW! It hurts, ouch!"

"I TOLD YOU, I HAVEN'T LOST YET‼" Jinta demanded as he persisted despite Ururu's cries, "ANYWAY, THE ONE WHO WINS THE FIFTEENTH TIME IS THE TRUE WINNER! WE'LL COMPETE UNTIL I WIN‼"

"OUCH, NO FAIR!" Ururu raised her hands in a futile attempt to dissuade his bullying, "OUCH, THAT HURTS‼ STOOOOP‼"

"Take you that little- Huh?"

All of a sudden, Jinta no longer had a hold of Ururu's head. When he looked down, he realized that the reason was that he was held up in the air.

When he looked to see Tessai's bispectacled eyes staring up at him, his eyes snapped wide. The boy let out a dynamic and utterly dramatized scream as he tried to run in the air itself, to no effect.

"And just what is it you are doing, Jinta?" Tessai, a stern look in his eye that frightened the boy.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-nothing, sir!" He then realized his lack of address, "T-T-Tessai, sir‼"

Behind them, a foot would stamp down on the ground.

"Step aside..." That same foot had arisen when the group had ignored its presence. With a decisive speed, it struck at Tessai's buttocks. "FOOLS!"

The one who the foot belonged to had been Rukia, still dressed in her summer uniform with some sweat dripping from her. She did run all the way here immediately after school.

"Oh, Ms. Kuchiki." Tessai turned back toward the newcomer, completely unaware she attempted to kick him.

As for Rukia, she was reaping what she sowed. Crouched a few steps away now, she held her now aching foot in an attempt to soothe it with a massage.

"...did something happen to your foot...?"

A growl was Rukia's initial response as she looked up, tears prickling from her eyes, "Nevermind that... Is Kisuke here...?"

. . .

"Oh my..." Kisuke opened his fan with his usual smirk, "Well, if it isn't my favorite customer, Kuchiki-san! What's u-"

He was cut off by Rukia's Denreishiki being thrown into his face. The device clattering against the floor upon its landing.

"Don't go what's up and act casual with me!" Rukia grit her teeth, "You refused to answer no matter how many times I called you, so I had to come all the way here to see you personally!"

"Oh, looks like you're right..." Kisuke scrolled through his own Denreishiki, seemingly surprised at the sheer number of calls he had gotten, to Rukia's chagrin, "Sorry about that. We've been somewhat busy and we've had to do a complete restock because of it."

"What happened to the guy you were always with?" Jinta leaned over toward Rukia, looking around, "The one with the boring look on his face all the time and the messy hair?"

Rukia merely stared down at the child with a blank expression.

"Man. If he really was Mikan's brother, I was hoping to ask for some pointers..."

"Ease off her, Jinta." Urahara waved his fan toward the boy.

"Rito is probably getting caught up in trouble again, right as we speak..." Rukia spoke up, her attention moving back toward Urahara, "That's also the reason I came here today."

Urahara perked up at that, his fan raised over his lips as one eye showed itself from the shadow of his hat.

"I have something... Minor, I wish to ask."

"...and just what would that be?" Urahara opened the floor for Rukia's question...

⦗ BGM Cue ー BL_13 ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

"—and just when is this duel between us supposed to take place...?"

"Right now."

Rito was now staring down Ren, who stood opposed to him. Had a tumbleweed passed by, the atmosphere would completely line up with a western shootout.

As much as he was enraged about what relations this guy of all people had to do with Haruna, he had to think for a moment.

This was more than likely some kind of setup. There was no way that Ren offered the idea of such a challenge without having some kind of scheme in mind. After all, it was a bow against a sword.

No way it was going to be a fair match either way it looked.

Besides, they were at the school right then. Had anyone else gotten caught up in the mayhem, Rito would not be able to live with it.

"This is ridiculous!"

Rito turned away after making his declaration, pocketing his hands.

When he glanced back toward Ren, the boy's eye had been twitching.

"—what makes you say that?"

"Why do I gotta compete against you, huh? It sounds stupid." Rito scoffed, "I don't know what kind of grudge you have against the Shinigami, but it's got nothing to do with me."

"How surprising..." Ren flicked his hand through his hair, "Do you intend to run away?"

"You're not gonna provoke me, so don't try it." Rito waved off the notion quickly, "I'm saying there's no point cuz we both already know I'd win."

Hopefully, that would persuade the bastard to think about something else.

...he frowned when he saw the young man did not seem to relent.

"Ah, yes. I remember now..." Ren chuckled, "You're a Shinigami who only has his powers thanks to Kuchiki-san granting them to you. In other words... You're nothing more than a Substitute."

Rito narrowed his eyes.

He felt the words that came out of Ren's mouth begin to dig into his subconscious. He was not normally one to start fights. He usually kept to himself and rolled with the punches when it came to others insulting or hitting him.

But this guy...?

"Like any obedient slave, without her permission..." Ren raised a finger toward him with a smirk on his face, "...you can't even lift a finger."

Rito grit his teeth.

This guy had a talent for drawing out a different side of him.

"...what'd you just say?"

Those. Were fighting words.

⦓ THS #12 ⦔
❱ END ❰

⦏ You've reached the end of Issue 12. Thanks for your time. I sincerely hope you enjoyed. ⦐
⦏ I intended to post this Chapter yesterday, for the sake of the 2nd anniversary of this story, but I ended up passing out before I could get the chance to slide it in before work. Hoping to get Chapter 13 out by the usual Wednesday-Thursday timing. ⦐
⦏ Ren makes his arrival into the story! This time, with a major twist. It's about time for the party to get started. ⦐
⦏ I don't have too much to say on this Chapter, just looking forward to getting to write some of these scenes that will be coming up! Also, yes, Mikan and Risa's relationship is exactly like that of Ringo and Yoruichi's. ⦐
⦏ I also wanted to do a little towards showing that Rito and Lala have a better relationship than canon, cuz man. He honestly does not deserve her in the canon timeline lemme be real. ⦐
⦏ Next time, Sainan Town becomes a pandemonium of Hollows!? Don't miss it! ⦐
ー Red