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

『 10:44 a.m.「 Monday: April 28th, 2008 」』

⦗ BGM Cue: Head in the Clouds ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Rito's leapt from his chair, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as they locked onto the girl standing before him. His lips were locked tightly, trembling as his mind wandered over the possibility of how he was even seeing who he was. He failed at the effort to even express any of the words his rattled brain tried to piece together in this situation.

Behind the two, Mizuiro was the first to arise from his seat and offer some guidance for his friend.

"Oh! That's right, I forgot to tell you: This is Kuchiki Rukia-san. She was just transferred into this school today." Mizuiro narrated to Rito, "Weird time, I know, but her family was apparently in a weird situation that forced them to move to Sainan suddenly."

"I.. See.."

Lowering his shoulders, Rito calmed his gears. When the internal heat went down, he began to reassemble the pieces of different thoughts that were jumbled in his mind. Soon enough, the jagged pieces would come together and form the very first and most important question that Rito could bring up.

"Wh-"

Before Rito could finish, a force struck him in the stomach. His words lost in the grunt that escaped from his lips as he doubled over in pain. Holding his stomach tightly, he let out quiet cries in retaliation of the feeling cursing his nerves.

Keigo shot up from his desk in shock of the development.

"Rito? You alright, man?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's alright. He must've bumped into something as he got up."

The girl before him was indubitably the same Rukia Kuchiki he met the night Rito's troubles began. Most notably, she traded her usual black kimono for the Sainan High uniform. Letting out a small giggle, she lowered her hand when she saw Rito beginning to arise.

"It's good you're alright, Yukki-san. I'm sorry to bother you so suddenly. I don't have any of the textbooks yet, so could I borrow yours?"

The words failed to process to Rito as he lifted his head from their permanent focus on the ground. His eyes instead demanded his mind pay heed to the contents of Rukia's palm, which over its terrain a message Rito knew was waiting for him and him alone:

"Cause a scene and you're dead."

As the message got to Rito's knowledge, it immediately made him grit his teeth. Letting it sink into the deepest depths of his gray matter, he moved his head upward as he rose to his full height. Meeting eyes with Rukia, he saw she carried a bright smile on his face he knew was a mask for the stern gaze she would before regularly adorn in their interactions.

'This girl is that Shinigami that came from the Soul Society. It's definitely her. She's trying to make sure I don't let anybody in on that..'

Knowing all of this, it was far too dangerous not to comply with her request. Turning away, he slid his hand into the black hole within. Shuffling his hand around for a moment, he eventually retracted it. When he did, clutched between his fingers was a blue book with orange accents.

"Here, the Social Studies book. I'd recommend you take a quick peak at page 28."

"Thank you very much."

Accepting the item, Rukia's smile grew wider as she took the book for herself. With that, she sat herself down in the seat on Rito's right. As she did, Rito could have sworn he saw a sparkle stretch out from the corner of Rukia's eye.

'Even then.. What does she gain from being here..?' His facial features took to consistently changing at a whim as he rattled his brain for any kind of answer to his question. When it seemed he was finding an answer for himself, it revealed itself to only be another question the brainstorming came up with, 'What the hell is she planning?'

⦗ BGM END ⦘

Zastin knelt down. He was in his personal craft, crouched before a cheery Lala who sat in the captain's seat. As she sat, her tail behind her swayed to either side as she hummed quietly to herself. Peke in their dress form looking down from the top of the princess's head to the one they were clothed over.

"Lala-sama, if you would be so kind as to explain your reasoning for taking refuge on this planet in particular?"

Peke remained silent but did quip a brow at the raise of the subject. They too were curious to know the exact same thing.

Lala raised her hand to cup her chin. Rubbing along it softly, she hummed again as she came to ponder what exactly it was Zastin was asking. Thinking over this only served to sweeten Lala's mood, placing her hands over her cheeks as they were flushed with a deep red.

"That human that risked his life for me last night, Yukki Rito."

Zastin's eyes shot wide as he began to piece what she was implying together on his own. Gawking at his liege, it was not a challenge for him to notice Peke shared his expression as they began to break into a nervous sweat (however this is possible was beyond the general).

What he did know was that the shock triggered by his realization only came to tenfold as Lala spoke the words Zastin exactly feared. No, shock alone was not palpable enough to describe the feeling Zastin was filled with. The most accurate description would be: Dread.

"I have decided he will be my husband."

『 Tʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ Hᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴏᴜʟ: To-Love Ru 』
【 Chapter 3 | The Starter ~𝑹𝓮𝐬𝛔𝒍𝝂𝓮 𝓽𝛔 𝒄𝜶𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝓽𝒉𝓮 𝙗𝒍𝜶𝒅𝓮~ 】

『 11:33 a.m.「 Monday: April 28th, 2008 」』

⦗ BGM Cue: Comical World ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Looking over to Rukia from the corner of his eye, Rito leaned further into the window next to him.

'I still can't figure out the point of her being here..'

Scratching through his auburn locks impatiently with one hand, the other tapped the eraser of his pencil against the top of his desk. Focusing the major circumference of his attention on Rukia, he robotically turned the page of his book along with the teachings Honekawa-sensei spout to the class that he heard bits and pieces of.

'I mean.. Her mission here was done, right? She's not here because some other Hollow is after me again, right..?' As the pace of his tapping increased, his mind began to race on what little information was in his disposal.

After some brainstorming, he clicked his teeth in annoyance, 'No, if that were the case, she would've made that clear from the beginning..'

Honekawa's lesson continued on, Rito being pulled out of reality into the quicksand his deep thoughts proved to be. He found himself being defeated by his inability to even formulate an image in his mind that could offer any clues. His frustrations only grew stronger as each image he did formulate succeeded time and time again to fail to provide him any meaningful answer.

After his expression crumbled twice, he finally broke under its pressure. Standing up, he shouted the main thing on his mind: "WHAT'S THE POINT OF ALL THIS?!"

This outburst caught the attention of every student in the room, notably Haruna, who quipped a brow. Quick to believe his own actions were the cause of the cry, Honekawa spun around, his swirled spectacles reflecting the sunlight creeping in through the windows as he brought up a wrinkled hand to adjust them.

"What's the matter, Yukki? Did I fail to explain the lesson this time? You usually understand them better than most in the class."

Rito blinked, a sweat trickling down the side of his face. Seeing Rukia grinning from across the room, Rito was quick to respond to his teacher. "Oh, no, Honekawa-sensei. I was just daydreaming, don't worry about it."

As Rito sat down, the class burst in a tidal wave of murmurs. Looking across the room, Rukia frowned, turning the page softly as Honekawa promptly demanded return of totality in the class's attention to the lesson. The auburn male and raven-haired girl soon locked eyes with one another, the latter pulling at her collar softly.

At first, Rito seemed visibly confused at the gesture. His eyes soon steeled as he realized the meaning of the gesture. With this, he was offered a chance at some answers. Thus, he gave a nod, to which the girl turned with a subtle smirk.

Haruna saw this exchange, puffing her cheek a bit. Looking down, she suddenly found great interest in the textbook she read over.

'Do those two.. Have some kind of relationship?'

'Girls have PE next period.. Meaning she wants to talk during the lunch break..' Rito rubbed the back of his head, hearing the ring of the bell above him, 'Maybe then I'll finally get some closure to this mess.'

Following suit with the rest of his classmates, Rito rose from his chair. Moving his glance toward those leaving, it was not a difficult task for him to find that Haruna was among them.

After a soft sigh, he moved his attention away, "No time to fail another confession today, it seems. Well, saves me the disappointment."

"Ayo, Rito! You're setting your sights on that Rukia girl since nothing's changin' with Haruna, yeah?"

A familiar voice rang from behind Rito. His brief surprise was turned into annoyance as he felt a tug at his body in the form of Saruyama ringing his arm around his neck.

Rito's response was quick, grabbing onto Saruyama's arm and swinging it over her head. Pinning him to his deck with his elbow, he brought his knuckles over the back of Saruyama's head as he lifted it to look at Rito with a groan.

"Sa. Ru. Ya. Ma." In perfect rhythm to the grinding of his knuckles against Saruyama's head, he spoke with a sharpened edge to his voice, "Didn't I tell you not to make assumptions like that?!"

"Sorry man, I can't help it when you make it so easy!"

Pulling him back up from the desk, he let go of Saruyama with a sharp exhale. As the latter was freed, he raised his hand over his head with a sheepish smile

"Only you would think of such a thing after a few seconds of interaction." Rito groaned, turning away to walk toward the door. "I'm gonna go take a leak."

⦗ BGM END ⦘

『 12:23 p.m.「 Monday: April 28th, 2008 」』

"Hmm.. The map said it would be around here.." Lala was slowly cruising through the open skies courtesy of wings protruding from the hat Peke's dress form provided. Placing her hand at her forehead, her eyes darted over the town below with a small frown.

"Lala-sama."

Opting to ignore the robot over her head, she continued to examine the world below. Dissatisfied with the lack of results in her search, she let out a harsh huff.

"It was definitely down this road, I saw a sign on the way here.."

"Lala-sama!"

Peke's expression was dyed with their annoyance as their master would continue to ignore them. The devilukean princess persisted in scanning over the buildings before stopping when a pale white building with pale orange roofing came into view.

"Ooooooh~ I found it!" Cheering to herself, Lala threw a fist high above, "This has gotta be that school thing Rito goes to!"

"Lala-sama.. Do you really intend to marry that dorky earthling?"

"Of course I do!" Bringing her eyes up toward her hat, Lala puffed a cheek, "Why do you keep asking that, Peke?"

"Lala-sama. You do realize that as the First Princess of the Devilukean Empire, marrying Yukki Rito would-"

"Peke, relax!" Lala lifted up a green bag, grinning widely, "It'll all work out if ya just let me do what I want, ok?"

The support bot hesitated for a moment. They knew there was no way of convincing her otherwise as things stood. So, with a long-winded sigh, they gave the best possible response and conceded.

"..if you insist, Lala-sama.."

With no more distractions, Lala giggled and dived toward the school.

Rito blinked, standing opposite to Rukia on the school roof with a brow twitching.

"Doth thee has't a questioneth f'r me?"

"What..?" Rito's eye twitching increased in pace, "Why are you speaking in such a weird way?"

"Weird?"

Rukia scoffed, a genuine hurt in her expression. Crossing her arms, the girl averted her gaze with an emphasized frown. Narrowing her eyes, she simply could not see how it was not a glorious display of her language.

"How rude! Don't you think it's rather good for only a day's worth of study?"

"Y'know, I think the days' worth is showing."

Rito sighed. This girl was becoming more alien to him the more she made herself known. That line of thinking brought him to the idea of the antics he was forced to deal with the previous night. Just recalling it made his head throb. Deciding to shake off the very thought, he turned his attention back to Rukia.

"Anyway, start explaining."

"Explaining what?"

"The reason you're here!"

Seeing Rukia's dumbfounded expression, he slammed his palm against his face. Grousing to himself, he carefully thought of the more specific answer she was seeking.

"Your job here is finished, right? Didn't you go back to the Soul Society? If that's the case, why are you in my class right now? You can't just randomly do-"

"Fool."

A shift in her original attitude occurred. It seemed Rito said the right words needed to awaken the slumbering mission maniac her truest personality embodies.

"If I could return to the Soul Society, I would."

With a dramatic turn, she outstretched a finger that was pointed at Rito. Initially, the boy was rattled at the sudden action, but he soon calmed down when Rukia turned her face away. When he looked closely, he could have swore he was seeing Rukia bowing her head in shame.

"However, you absorbed nearly all of my Shinigami power. I can't return without them, meaning you must help me."

Raising a hand to his chin, Rito gave a slow nod as he contemplated the explanation Rukia was offering.

"I see, I see.."

. . .

Soon, he would dread even doing so. His eyes bulged out of his skull as his entire frame shook at the very thought.

"Wait a minute- WHAT?! What are you talking about?!"

Breaking into a nervous sweat, Rito began patting himself down violently as he shook his head. Throwing his head back in Rukia's direction, he shakily brought an arm to his arm, an emphasized finger pointing at the limb.

"See?! No kimono! I'm not a Shinigami anymore, so if the power didn't go to you, where'd it go?"

"You aren't a Shinigami right now because you are in your physical body. It's your soul that contains the power, Yukki Rito."

"My soul..?"

Rito looked down, beginning to review their immediate conversation. Soon retracting his thoughts to the main topic, he narrowed his eyes. Throwing his arm into the air, he shot a point toward Rukia.

"Never mind that. What did you mean that I have to help you?! In case you forgot, it's not my job to hunt those monsters!"

"I couldn't possibly defeat them myself!" Rukia was quick to retort, "I have so little power that I can't maintain a Spiritual Form. I'm forced to reside in this artificial body!"

"Artificial body?" At his echo, a question mark leapt out from Rito's head.

"In order to live in the living realm, Shinigami reside in artificial bodies known as Gigai. They allow Shinigami to interact with humans as though they were humans themselves."

With a bob of the head, Rito piecing together the speculations he before could not.

"So that's why you're able to play schoolgirl now, right?"

"Well, well, you can be a quick learner when you need to be." Rukia affirmed his answer with a nod, "In my weakened state, if I remained in Spiritual Form, I would be an easy target for Hollows. So until that changes, I must remain in Gigai."

"Ok, ok. Back to what I asked."

"Yes." Rukia smirked, "Until my powers return, you are going to take over my Shinigami duties!"

The first sign of recognition Rito gave was the shattering of the question mark floating over her head in favor of an exclamation mark. His entire vision soon became profound images of the night his family and himself nearly met their fates at the hands of Fishbone D. With the memory, a nervous sweat broke out into the young man.

"..w-what?"

"Didn't I just explain it? You have the Shinigami power now." Rukia gave a smug grin, oblivious to Rito's shaking stature, "That means you are the one who has to take up the responsibility. Don't worry, I will assist you. However, you have no right to refuse seeing a-"

"I do refuse!" With a spin on his heel, Rito began to take his leave.

Rukia's jaw struck the ground, "What did you say?!"

"I said I refuse." Rito stopped, looking toward the ground as that previous horror crept over his face, "I'm sorry, but I'm just not cut out for hunting monsters."

"Hold on!" Rukia plead, "The other night, you-"

"The other night.."

Once again, Rito felt his body quaking at the seam of the memories flooding through his mind. Bowing his head, a sweat trickled down his face as he remembered the state Mikan, Rukia and he himself was in before Rito gained such powers. It was a miracle that happened and it would not be guaranteed to happen again.

"That was a do or die situation.. If I didn't fight, my family would have died.." When his head shot back in Rukia's direction, it was a targeted scowl, "Look, I'm not prepared to risk my life for strangers. I'm not some kind of hero."

Feeling his word were enough to successfully quell the girl's insistence, Rito took his leave with a wave.

"Sorry to disappoint."

Rito walked into the stair hut and shut the door behind him quickly. Once he took a sharp inhale, his composure broke. His breathing became heavy. The boy soon clutched his chest in attempts to calm the beating of his heart.

'What the hell.. She wants me to go around killing Hollows..?' His mind soon raced forward to when he chased off Maul and Smutts. 'But.. Last night, I..'

"Rito! I knew you were up here!"

A sudden call cut Rito's thoughts short as he looked down to see Keigo approaching.

"Dude, that Lala chick's here to see you! I knew you two hit it off!"

"Wait, what?!" Rito's eyes widened, the male dashing past him down the stairway.

"Ah- Rito, hold up! You gotta tell me the details!" Keigo chased after him.

Above, a puzzled Rukia reopened the door. She heard enough to discern what was being spoken of. Though this was enough to peak her curiosity.

"Lala..?"

⦗ BGM Cue: Head in the Clouds ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

A light melody of tapping played as shoes skipped along the ground. Providing harmony with it would be the hum of a soft voice the wearer of these shoes belonged to.

As per comment of Keigo prior, it was quickly proven true that Lala was looking around the building in obvious search of Rito. A wide smile peered over her face; she ignored the sounds of all the male students ogling at her.

Peke however, did not.

"Lala-sama. It seems the male population surrounding cannot take their eyes off you."

Lala gave a shrug to her assistant's acknowledgement. Peke scanned their eyes over their surroundings with a quiet chuckle. They found it amusing they were practically driven to their basic instincts by the mere sight of their creator.

"Though, I suppose it's nothing surprising considering who you are, Your Highness."

"That outfit's pretty weird.." A random female student commented.

"Maybe it's cosplay.. But I dunno what it could be from.."

"Well, I don't care, she's hot!"

"Riiiiiitooooooo~!" Lala called out, "Come out, Rito~!"

In the area surrounding, the male students all flocked in a line following Lala's every move with a cheerful skip, hearts in their eyes. Seeing them as no support to her search, she ignored them and continued on her leisure.

"Heeeey! Rito!"

"This must be fate. After all, running through Lala-sama's veins is the blood of Deviluke's latest Queen, said to be the most beautiful woman in the entire universe." Peke still had yet to find any part of the situation unamusing.

Lala then stopped, looking up to see a man with dirty blonde standing before her, accompanied by two others behind him. Upon her eyes laying upon him, he dropped to a knee, bowing his head and presenting her with a welcoming hand.

"Hello there, pretty lady.." He spoke in a gentle tone, gazing at her with his silver eyes, "My name is Motemitsu Taizo, and I'd love for you to be my girlfriend."

Lala blinked, tilting her head softly, "Wow, that was pretty bold of you. Sorry, I'm already taken."

Motemitsu's devastation covered his face as he dropped to the ground in defeat.

"Incredible! Motemitsu-senpai was rejected in such amazing speed!" The cheers of the two behind him only made him sulk more.

"Hm.." Lala moved past the three, tapping her chin lightly.

"Hey! Lala!"

A call for her name was already enough to spark her intrigue. When she saw who the voice belonged to, her entire body worked to express her ecstatic mood as she leapt toward them. At the dismay of the male students that were all following her, she ended up clutching onto the owner of the voice.

Quickly it was revealed to be a shocked Rito, who shot a scowl in her direction.

"What're you doing here?!"

"Oh, that's right!"

After releasing her grip on Rito, she turned toward her side. Pulling at a compartment on her hip, she comically stretched it dynamically. Raising her other arm, she reached into the stretched pocket and dug around for a moment. Closing an eye and sticking out a tongue as she searched around for a moment, her face beamed when she seemingly found what she was looking for. Drawing out her hand, it revealed that in her hand was a green bag tied over a cubical object.

"I came to bring you this! I found it on my way here, and when I opened it up the thing inside had your name on it. So I had double the reason to come here~!"

"Hey, that's my lunch!"

Rito recoiled at this as he thought over how this could be possible. When he reflected over the course of his day, his eyes widened as he came to a hypothesis.

"It must've been when I was carrying all that ink over to Dad's shop.."

"Well, whatever it was, I made sure it got back to you safe and sound!" Lala chirped, leaning into the tight embrace she clasped Rito into; "If it's your lunch, do you want me to feed it to you~?"

"No.."

Bringing up a hand, he pressed it against the side of Lala's face that was being nuzzled against him. He soon took to push her away with what power he could muster against Lala's resistance. When he finally made some leeway to squeeze out from the princess's powerful grip, he leapt back with a hand raised. This hand served as a shield to keep a distance between himself and Lala.

"You've done what you came here to do. What I want is for you to go home already."

Frowning as his response was a heavy sigh from the girl. Clearly his message was not getting across.

"But Rito~" Lala whined, crossing her arms, "I came all this way to see you! I want to spend some time with you~"

In spite of the barrier Rito provided, Lala still gave reckless abandon as she jumped toward him. Rito's eyes shot wide as his hand pressed into the window between her breasts, mostly because of the outrage spreading through the male student body observing. Even so, Rito placed all of his focus on holding the girl back from him.

"RITO!"

At a cry piercing through the blind rage of the crowd, Lala and Rito's attentions were both demanded by this call. Looking toward the source of where it came from, they found Rukia's glare toward Lala. The princess quipped a brow toward the girl as she stepped aside from Rito with a tilted head.

"Hey, Rito.. Who's that?"

"Aw, what do you want now?!" It was quite clear that Rito was not interested in Rukia's persistence at the moment, "I'm kind of busy right now, so-"

"Step away from that girl, she's dangerous."

"Huh? What're you talking about-"

As opposed to a verbal answer, Rukia jabbed a thumb toward the window beside her. Rito looking to where it led, his curious expression becoming earnest. Meeting his eyes back up with her, his response was a nod.

⦗ BGM Change: Enemy Unseen ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Zastin sat idly on the captain's chair of his star vassal. Tapping his fingers against his knuckles, he kept his hands steadily folded over his lap. Thinking to himself over the declaration his princess made that morning.

As if to demand him to confront these anxieties, a hologram screen appeared before Zastin. On it sat a man with black hair that spiked upward in a ragged fashion with bangs drooping down over his forehead.

The man plastered a bullish grin over his face, leaning back in a ostentatious manner. It was clear he was here for a self-fulfilling purpose.

"My lord!"

Zastin nearly leapt out of his chair as he came to realize who it was. Bowing his head, he spent a few seconds giving his expressions of marvel at the man's presence. The man gave a chuckle of approval to the action.

Though, soon his wide grin became stark as he straightened his posture.

"Zastin. I can see you aren't on your way back to the motherland. Nor do I see Lala with you.." The man soon dramatically quipped a brow, "I'm going to inquire as to the reason neither of these things are occurring."

Hesitating at first, Zastin knew he could not hide the activities Lala was engaging in on Earth for long from his Emperor. Turning his face forward, he gave his ruler the information he desired.

"I see. My daughter made such a decision on her own, then?"

"Yes, My Liege. She intends to court with an Earthling named Yukki Rito."

"Yukki, eh...?"

At the mention of the surname, the man's lips curled into a devilish smirk. As he broke into a malicious cackle, his piercing red eyes took to shrink as the veins in his eyeballs made red crackles around his sclera.

"Well isn't this interesting! So interesting that any and all suitors should be made aware, yes?"

"I believe that is what Lala-sama would suggest."

"Great!"

Another fit of maniacal laughter gave approval to the inquiry, despite Zastin meaning for it to be sarcastic. Or rather, what he secretly hoped to come through as, rhetorical.

"So, you intend to take my little girl..? Well, I don't plan to give her up so easily!"

Zastin's eyes shot wide as he realized what his lord was implying, he opened his mouth to try and interject on the thought process. As if a cruel twist of fate that prevented him from doing so, the projection disappeared in its wake.

Frowning at this turn of events, he brought his head down to the ground.

"The groom-to-be will face trials.. I do hope he can handle such."

⦗ BGM END ⦘

『 𝓞𝓶𝓲𝓷𝞼𝓾𝙨 𝓶𝒆𝙨𝙨𝒂𝓰𝒆 𝒇𝙧𝞼𝓶 𝓽𝒉𝒆 𝙨𝓽𝒂𝙧𝙨. 』

『 12:48 p.m.「 Monday: April 28th, 2008 」』

⦗ BGM Cue: Oh so Tired ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

"So. It is true."

Rukia rubbed her chin as she stepped forward. In the midst of her walk, she stopped between a confused Rito and pouting Lala. Despite feeling the need to inquire further, it would not be long for him to find Rukia's attention was focused solely on the latter.

"You are Lala Satalin Deviluke." Rukia clicked her teeth, "I wasn't expecting such a foe of Soul Society to appear like this."

"Foe?"

Rito's head tilted as his brow quipped at the subject. Was there some connection between them he was standing in the middle of? This was an answer he found trivial to find for himself as he caught Lala shooting a glare in Rukia's direction in the corner of his eye.

"Oh, you're one of those Soul Society people? That explains why you're all secretive and stuff!"

Sparks seeming to fly between the two, Rito shrunk as the two began to form their own auras. This moment broke as Lala's gaze moved to Rito. Breaking into a giggling fit and beaming at the boy of her affections, she made to skip around Rukia and hug onto his arm.

"I have more important things than Daddy's problems now. My concerns are surrounding my Rito~"

"Hey, don't call me that."

Rito averted from Lala's gaze, a crimson hue emerging over his face to Lala's words. It was actually rather flattering she held him in such an endearing way. Thinking it over, he has not ever felt appreciated in such a manner for his very existence. Lala certainly was an adora-

Stopping his thoughts right there, Rito's eyes shot wide as he realized where they were about to go. Raising out his arms, he lightly pushed Lala off once more.

"..and quit latching onto me!"

"But you're my fiancé~!"

Letting out a whine of defiance to Rito's ire, she pouted and made grabby hands at him. To Rukia, she thought she was watching a puppy beg for the attention of their owner.

"I wanna be cuddled up with you as often as possible~"

"Fiancé?"

After her annoyance at the interaction died down, it was inevitable her intrigue moved to another subject. No, not just her intrigue, but her frustrations. A small blush appeared on her face, baffled by the very prospect.

"You've engaged to this woman?!"

"No!"

His face breaking into a crimson hue did little to support his case. The first indication that made this clear was how Rukia gave an amused face in response. Looking around frantically, he took to slide away from Lala.

"She's just saying that! I never agreed to anything of the sort!"

"Is that so?"

Despite his best efforts, Rukia was not convinced. Either way it went, the man who was in possession of her powers was fraternizing with the heiress of the Deviluke Empire. Giving a deep inhale, she calmed herself.

For now, she needed information.

"And how exactly do you know her, anyway?"

"Well, last night, she was almost kidnapped right before my eyes. I guess I kinda just reacted." Rito recalled the events of the previous evening, "It all ended up in a chase and just when I thought it was all over.."

⦗ BGM PAUSE ⦘

『 8:32 p.m.「 Sunday: April 27th, 2008 」』

Zastin groaned, having been one of the first to be released from the clutches of the massive machine. His entire body ached at every twitch as his body armor was smoking. Eventually, he garnered the strength to arise from the ground.

"Lala-sama.." The soldier coughed, "You must return with me to Planet Deviluke at once.."

"No!"

Scowling toward her Royal Guard representative, Lala stomped her foot in retaliation. Looking at his reaction, she released a snarl as she saw Zastin's face gave no signs of yielding.

Behind her, the Go Go Vacuum-kun whimpered as it floated toward the ground.

"I won't be going back home and I won't be seeing any more future candidates!"

"But Lala-sama!" Zastin stood straight, placing his hand over his chest, "You are far too important to the fate of this Empire to be making such rash decisions! The Future Emperor, if you recall, is to take your hand in marriage and rise to govern the Milky Way in your father's place!"

"See?! There you go with that Future Emperor crap again!" Lala stomped her foot, "Daddy seems to care about his successor more than me!"

"Lala-sama, you know that's not true!"

Over on the other side of the room was Rito, who was in the midst of rising from the ground. Rubbing his head, he felt the greatest headache. If he knew he would end up regurgitated by a massive machine under the dominion of a crazy space girl, he would not have put himself in this situation.

The world's signal of the futility in his actions was given by the rising smoke of the Go Go Vacuum-kun which hit the ground nearby. Coughing as the smoke invaded his lungs, the boy He couldn't hear exactly what they were talking about thanks to the ringing in his eyes, but he heard enough bits and pieces to get a general idea.

"Tch.. This.."

The auburn struggled to articulate his thoughts, slowly walking toward the two.

"Listen.."

This was not enough to stop their pestering.

"You two need to.."

Groaning, he rubbed his head at the violent throbbing. He began to realize that his voice at its current volume was inevitably going to be trumped by the conflicting waves of Lala and Zastin's voices.

His frustration and headache both took to swell in scope as the conflict between the two Devilukeans standing before him. Tick marks multiplying on his head, the dam finally broke.

"WOULD YOU BOTH CUT IT OUT ALREADY?!"

Looking up with a fierce gaze, he noted that their attention was now focused solely on him. Perfect. He could hear his thoughts again. Now he needed to complete the next step.

"The heir of Planet Deviluke.. Candidates.. The hell does that all matter..?"

Trailing off, his eyes drooped as Rito brought his hand over his head in attempts to calm his headache bursting in potency. His entire body aching every moment he stood, he staggered slightly. However, he needed to relay his message to the both of them. He needed them to understand what was on his mind right now.

"What's so bad about wanting a normal life?!"

'Yeah.. A normal life.. Is much better..'

"A marriage can't even be called that if it isn't done with love shared between the two!" Rito grabbed his chest, gripping his shirt tightly, "Otherwise, it's just you lying to yourself!"

'If I were forced to marry someone who I didn't love..'

Rito dwelled on the thought, cringing at the image appearing in his mind. Despite how corny he viewed it as, it was an accurate depiction of how he felt on the subject at this given moment.

'The only one I feel that would be possible for.. Is Haruna..'

"So please.. Just go home!" Rito bowed his head, genuinely pleading with the both of them.

'I'm sorry, Lala.. But you're in the way of that life I'm seeking..'

"Rito.."

The first to respond to his plea was Lala. Raising his head to face her, he felt his heart crunching at the seams when he saw her eyes tearing up.

"Did you really mean that..?"

"Yes.."

Rito nodded. Perhaps she understood what he was trying to convey after a-

"Oh, Rito~!"

Rito found himself getting a face-full of Lala's bosom as he was squeezed into a tight embrace, the pinkette looking to Zastin.

"Oh, I just knew it! I love you too, Rito~ Ever since I first met you~!"

"Wait, what?!"

Rito's jaw went unhinged, shaking his head frantically and trying his best to pry the girl off. Once he made enough leeway between them, he threw his head back. His face was flushed at the very implication. In his mind, his image of having a wholesome marriage with Haruna shattered.

"No no no no no no, you don't understand-"

"I see.. So that's the story here." Zastin nodded understandingly, much to Rito's dismay, "So you came here in the pursuit of your own personal love, Lala-sama."

"Wait a minute! Let's talk this out for a second-"

"This changes things.. I must report this at once."

Rito let out an exasperated cry as he reached toward the soldier for assistance. These prayers were left unheard, though, as Zastin broke into particles when a blue stream of light created a pillar around him.

⦗ BGM RESUME ⦘

"I see.. I'm beginning to understand what's going on here.."

Having now obtained the context she wanted to connect the dots, she gave a nod. Now she believed she had a full grasp of the situation occurring here.

"Yeah.. She wants to marry me just so she can get out of marrying some suitor her dad's got lined up for her."

Rito gave a defeated sigh. It seemed his designation as a hopeless romantic was present even in the stars. He rationalized that on one end of this truth was the open possibility for pursuing a relationship with Haruna. On the other end was the disappointment toward the love Lala was parading was simply a platitude.

On the other side of the conversation, Lala broke into a sweat. Fidgeting as her eyes darted around the boy, she clasped her hands over her face.

"No~! I really, really do love you, Rito!"

Lala smiled to the apparent target of her affection with a sheepish giggle in attempts to convince him. Her only response was an unamused frown, which seemed double when Peke's eyes moved down to her assistant.

"I can't help but carry the same sentiment, Lala-sama." Peke spoke up, "I know better than most how much you desire to escape the endless meetings with possible husbands."

After giving a glance to either Rito or Peke, Lala took in the facts. Her facade was seen through. Pressing her index fingers against one another, she shrank as her gaze lowered.

"Ok, maybe I did~"

Turning his head in the direction of the girl, Rito found his shoulders drooping. It was already discouraging enough that she had done it in the first place, but admitting it in such a carefree manner was pretty hard-hitting in its own right.

Seeing his expression, Lala averted her gaze. Frowning cutely, her fingers pressed against one another with more emphasis.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not that you aren't cute or anything. It's cruel to do so, but I need my life to change, no matter what."

⦗ BGM Change: Destiny Awaits ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

"I see. Well, at any case..."

Behind them, Rukia strapped on the Velcro of a bright red glove as she finished adjusting it on her hand. Outstretching her fingers, half of them were free of red leather as the sleeves of the glove cut short at the joints of each finger. The most notable aspect of this glove was the simple yet striking design on the back.

It consisted of a small cartoonish skull in the midst of a black flame with a bold blue outline, feature a white border around the logo.

"You've left me no choice, then."

"Huh? Wait, what're you talking abo-"

As Rito looked back over to Rukia, his eyes shot wide. In that moment's time alone, Rukia went from a stationary post to a dramatic dash toward him. As she drew closer, he thought he could see an aura building up around her which allowed her to gradually ignore the limits that would be placed on any regular human in her position.

When Rukia finally reached him, she brought up the gloved hand with a blur. The bystander Lala let out a gasp as her palm struck Rito's forehead with a smacking sound that echoed through the area they were standing at.

This was not the end of Rukia's actions however as she gave a push of her arm forward. Just as it seemed this would end in the regular result produced by gravity with Rito's body hitting the ground under the force of Rukia's strike, it was instead the opposite as it remained stationary as Rukia drew her palm away from it.

Behind Rito was a series of blue lights in the form of ribbons that rose out from his back as the phenomena began. Falling back from him was a second Rito, this one clad in the black kimono that he was wearing the night he met Rukia. This Rito dropped to the ground with a thud and grunt, as the impact lightly bounced him.

When the second Rito recovered from the blow, he immediately sat up. Looking around frantically, his vision was brought immediately to the first Rito. Almost as if triggered to do so by Rukia moving her attention away from it to him, the Rito still wearing the uniform dropped to the ground.

"W-what the?! How am I- But I'm right over there, unconscious!"

As an emphasis to his point, Rito shot an outstretched finger in the direction of the body on the ground. Pushing himself off the ground, he ran over to the unconscious version of himself. His attention then began to move back and forth between her and it.

"What in the world did you do to me?!"

"This glove's function is to remove souls from the living body. It's one of the methods for a Shinigami to exit their Gigai. Or, in your case, physical body."

Lala crouched beside Rito's body, pressing her finger against its cheek. Her mouth made several o shapes as she continued her examinations of the object.

"Woah.. It's true.. It's almost like he's dead~!"

Lala's curiosity soon enough moved to the Shinigami Rito, poking and tugging at his kimono from its drooping sleeves. The receiver of this treatment gained a tick mark despite his surprised expression as he felt his arm wiggling as she did so.

"So she can see spirits, too..?" Rito looked to Rukia, pointing a finger toward Lala.

"It's a common trait of extraterrestrials to hold notable Spiritual Pressure."

The shrug was enough emphasis for Rito's wonder to be satisfied. If it was this casual for Rukia, then obviously it truly was as common as she made it out to be.

"Come with me."

The surrogate Shinigami quipped a brow in Rukia's direction as she spun on her heel. Watching her walk off toward the distance, he gave a grumble as he knew no further explanation was going to be given.

Lala broke from her examination of Rito's clothing, poking her head over Rito's shoulder with a question mark popped over her head.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

『 12:52 p.m.「 Monday: April 28th, 2008 」』

Haruna put down her chopsticks, staring at her now empty lunchbox thoughtfully. Her mind did not take long to drift towards the events of the previous night.

That Lala figure.. Who was she? Soon after her brain shifted to Rukia.. Who was she?

Most importantly.. They both had an uncanny similarity.. Rito. What was their relationship with him..?

"Haruna? You good?"

The girl found her thoughts cut short as she looked up to see that Tatsuki was the cause. Leaning over, she directed a frown toward her as her eyes met with Haruna's. The thing that brought her volume to a near whisper was how they were just a hair apart from one another.

"Tatsuki..?"

"You're off in your head again."

Tatsuki tapped the side of her head to emphasize her point, a wide grin on her face. Arching back when she saw Haruna give a smile in return, she now leaned on her side with her other hand over her hip.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I've had a lot on my mind lately.."

Seeing her avert her gaze after the admission, Tatsuki let out a breath. Walking over to the side of the chair, she squatted a bit to match Haruna's level.

"It's about Rito, isn't it? I mean, first that chick from yesterday and now Rukia." Tatsuki shook her head softly, "I mean, it's irritating! That Rito's turning into some kind of playboy!"

"C'mon. You know Yukki-kun's not like tha-"

"YUKKI RITO! YOU BASTARD!"

The outburst from outside leaking into the room, it managed to catch the attention of the pair despite it being muffled by the shut doors. Tatsuki standing upright from her position, she looked to Haruna. The two sharing a nod, Tatsuki made to walk towards the door. Pulling the door open, her eyes shot down toward what she could see of several male students racing by.

Before she could even ask, fate seemed to play in her favor as the students began to chatter amongst themselves. At the end of this, one of them let a cry out as if to declare their purpose.

"Some cosplaying chick came looking for him and then he went off with both her and that new transfer student!"

Tatsuki's face was first blank. Nonsense was what it was, really. The first thing she imagined it to be was some kind of gross rumor the male student body was just blindly enraged by.

However, this thought process was quickly quelled by the recollection of the previous day's events. With that alone, it seemed to fuel her true reaction. Several tick marks formed as her skin folded in the rage that possessed her features. Raising a hand, the very air that cruised over her palm was crushed by the clenching of her fist.

Raising her head with her irises lighting aflame, her fist shook violently as she struggled to keep her anger contained.

"RITOOOOOOOOOO!"

Despite having her qualms with what she heard from the outside, Haruna did not really have such a reaction. Walking over to her best friend, she softly placed a hand on her shoulder. As she did, she winced as she could almost feel a heat exuding from her figure.

As she did, her mind could not help but drift to the common source of everyone's frustrations.

'Yukki-kun..'

« Trouble brews even without direct presence... »

『 12:57 p.m.「 Monday: April 28th, 2008 」』

Rito walked with his lower lip folded over the upper, hands tucked into his pockets. Behind him, Lala was swaying to either side with a hum. Hands tucked behind her back, her tail wagged behind her as she followed ecstaticly.

Opposite to her, Rito did not find the walk so amusing.

"Rukia, where are we going?"

The girl's only response was silence.

Rito's brow twitched. Increasing his pace, his face came to show how peeved he was. Shaking his head softly, he calmed himself before his thoughts could add fuel to the fire. With a wave of his hand, he let out a soft sigh.

"Hey, Rukia. I asked you a question."

Ignored again.

The tagalong Lala tilted her head as her smile lowered slightly. Her hat tilted a bit as Peke themselves took to examining the situation as it were, also.

"Perhaps it is a futile endeavor, Rito-san." Peke suggested, Lala looking up to her hat, "After all, she is from the Soul Society. They are reported to have little concern for mortal affairs and problems."

After Rukia came to an abrupt stop, her atteniton moved to Lala. Staring at her for a moment, her eyes narrowed. Letting out a soft exhale, she instead gave the prime of her focus to the location she stopped her wander for.

"It will be soon."

Another vague declaration.

Rito's face went deadpan as he found it pointless to even be angry at it anymore.

"What will be soon?"

Lala questioned, crossing her arms as the two she brought along with her stopped by either side.

Rito's deadpan express was soon crackled as silence followed. This silence was only filled with the whistle of the breeze, which served to annoy Rito further.

"I want an explanation, Rukia! You at least owe us that much for making us walk all the way here from the school! What're we even doing here?"

Rito turned his attention where they were, a trinkle of sweat moved down the side of his head as he realized this place was quite familiar. It was the place where Go Go Vacuum-kun overloaded and let out a huge explosion.

Rukia drew from the breast pocket of her blazer what appeared to be a cell phone, flipping the device open. Carefully the examining what would be shown on the screen, she raised her head. Returning the item to where it once came, she gave a stern gaze to her forefront.

"In but a minute's time, a Hollow will appear here." Rukia directed an eye to Rito, "Do any Wholes appear here?"

"Now that you ask, yeah."

Rito nodded, kneeling down and raising a hand to his eye level at the new established height.

"It's a 5-year-old boy who usually comes here every day close to now."

"Hollows? Wholes? What're you guys talking about?"

Stepping between Rukia and Rito, Lala gave the both of them a curious gaze as she crouched down to match Rito's level. The surrogate Shinigami then lifted his head to take his regards in Rukia's favor.

"Rukia, you said aliens have really high spiritual pressure, right?" The nod that followed gave Rito assurance to continue, "Then how come she doesn't know what Hollows and basic Ghosts are?"

"I know what ghosts are, but I've never heard of Hollows before." Lala added.

"Hmm.."

Rukia began to reach into the inside of her coat.

Rito was quick to recognize what she had been aiming to do. She carried a notebook on her in case someone was to ask any type of question she would be delighted to answer! A sweat picked at his brow as they furrowed at the thought. Crossing his arms, he took to brainstorming a method of explaining without the use of Rukia's crude drawings.

Soon enough, a lightbulb appeared over Rito's head as he turned to Lala with a soft grin.

"Well, you could call them evil ghosts that look like giant monsters with masks on their face."

"Oh, ok!"

Lala chirped. She seemed completely satisfied with any further inquiry on the matter, Peke being the one to inherit this curiosity in her stead.

"I thought you were just a dull human. You fight monsters regularly, Rito-san?"

"No."

Rito sighed, giving Rukia a brief glance. Slumping his shoulders as he did, he recognized the weight he was being thrown (the giant katana on his back aside).

"But with her around, it might end up being the case.."

Lala looked to Rito thoughtfully as his attention was focused on the park ahead. Her tail curled as she thought over what all she knew of Rito thus far. It would have been a lie for her to say she carried no interest in him whatsoever. Especially now being able to literally see another side of him.

Unbeknownst to the thought process Lala was moving through, Rito's eyes shot wide.

"Hold on, Rukia. Is the Hollow you're about gonna-"

⦗ BGM Cue: Enemy Unseen ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

The substitute Shinigami was cut short by a screeching roar that alarmed the three. Their heads bobbing toward its direction, they were greeted to the sight of the young spirit boy Rito mentioned prior running across the park with tears in his eyes.

"H-HELP MEEEEEEEEE!"

As if in response to the bellow the boy released, an inhumane figure let out from the smoke brewing in the distance. With a harsh rupture of the earth below, the figure hit the ground just behind the boy. From behind its mask, it gave a primal cackle as it watched its prey race off towards the exit of the park. Protruding a web from the maul of the mask, it proved enough to pull the boy down and impede his escape.

As the Hollow stomped along the ground as it drew closer, the boy breathed rapidly as he took to a crawl in his best attempts to get to safety.

"Tch!"

Rito, having up till now been only a bystander to the scenario, raised his arm. Taking a step forward, he grit his teeth. Fully prepared to march into the battle, he grasped at the hilt of his sword and went to dr-

"DON'T YOU DARE MOVE, RITO!"

At the cry of Rukia, he turned with a mixture of shock and horror on his face as she only responded with a stern look in kind. He found such an order from the girl contradicting.

Thus, it inspired him to clench a fist as he barked back.

"Why not?! If I don't go now, that boy's gonna-"

"He's a stranger, is he not?"

Lala shot a glance in Rukia's direction as the latter's face remained unchanged. Stern and cold to the cruelty going on just a few ways before her. No, far more than that. She was practically accepting the cruelty, as though it were not an act of violence that should be stopped immediately. In fact, she was forbidding Rito in even attempting to rightfully do so.

"Aren't you the one who claimed that he was not someone capable of fighting monsters for people you didn't know?"

"What are you saying?! That doesn't matter!"

Rito turned again, this time greeted with the sight of the boy being swung along courtesy of the web strung around his leg. Hitting the ground with a thud and cry of pain, Rito once again raised his hand toward the sword on his back.

"Just standing here and watching someone die before my eyes.. I couldn't do that-"

"In your face or far away, it doesn't matter."

Rukia's face was still cold. Even as the park echoed with the cries as the Hollow had its fun with their game of cat and mouse. Even as the boy was now dragging himself forward, showing an unwavering persistence despite the damning odds against him.

"The fact is that they are being attacked regardless."

Rito's eyes shot wide as the boy finally caved in, collapsing as a result of exhaustion from a mixture of his resilience and the torment he faced trying to fulfill it. Clutching the hilt of his sword tightly, he again took to step forward to stop the vile beast from sinking its teeth into the boy.

"DON'T SAVE HIM!"

Once again Rukia commanded Rito to refrain. Lala responded by throwing her arms down in fury of this respite.

"Hey! What're you screaming at him for?! You brought him here to save that boy, right?!"

Rukia lifted her head softly, only giving Lala a brief glance. Annoyed at the blatant disregard, Lala stepped forward to meet eye-to-eye with the former Shinigami.

"Now you're telling him not to save the boy! It makes no sense! You Soul Society people make me mad!"

"To save a single Soul just because they are right in front of you? Naive."

Rukia scoffed, pushing Lala aside lightly as her attention moved back to a shaking Rito.

"All spirits must be treated equally! Saving lives so conveniently... Don't be half-hearted! If your intent is to save this boy.. Then you must resolve to save all spirits!"

Rito's shaking came to a stop, his grip on the hilt of his sword laxing some in response to the declaration. Seeing his reaction, Rukia lowered her arms.

"Pledge to go anywhere for their sakes.. To go to any length for them, even if it means your very life!"

Lala continued to voice her grievances with Rukia's line of thinking, but that did not matter to Rito.

Rito was left in his own world as he thought over the events that were going on at this very moment. Time seemed to slow down for him as behind him Rukia and Lala traded verbal blows as both sought to make the other see their point of view. As the arachnid Hollow before him slammed down its leg toward the boy's body in the aim to end his misery then and there.

'Was I really being selfish..?'

The boy weakly raised his head from the ground, raising a hand toward the three. Most specifically toward Rito, whose eyes slowly began to grow agape.

'To only save the lives of those near me..'

Images ran through his mind as they came together to form memories. Memories of the rollercoaster of a night that was the one Fishbone D came to tear apart his home in search of his soul played on loop. Once digested to its greatest value, the memory faded into that of the night Rito took Lala across rooftops to escape from Zastin's two right-hand men.

As he drove through memory lane, there was a single thought on the subject that came to his immediate attention.

'Both of those times.. The danger was right before my eyes.. I could always use that as an excuse for my actions.. Maybe in reality I just wanted to protect what I wanted to..'

"Hey, Soul Society lady! You keep trying to throw all these responsibilities on Rito!"

As Rito came to a conclusion for the internal confusion he experienced, it seemed the sounds of the outside world proved themselves hearable via Lala's complaints toward Rukia. This was something he wished he was not hearing at this particular moment, but he could make do.

"You're just like Daddy! Trying to use others to lessen your problems!"

"Is that how you think it should be?"

Rukia huffed, keeping her focus forward. Rolling her eyes, it proved short for Rukia to find the childish naivete exuberated by Lala to be vexing.

"Your selfish manner of thinking is a poison to the mind. If you have a duty, you must fulfill it."

"Grrrgh!"

Peke sweatdropped as they saw no real opportunity to interject and quell their creator from lashing out any further. Lala grinded her teeth together. Her tail raised from its position in a jagged format as if to further express her seething.

"I knew you wouldn't listen! What's the matter with doing what you want?!"

Soon enough, Lala drew her phone from her pocket. As she did, she spun toward the commotion. Raising it to the air, she brought it down in a dramatic manner before pulling it closer to her face.

"You can try to stop Rito all you want to, but you aren't stopping me-"

"No, Lala!"

A sudden call from Rito before her inclined the girl to stop in her tracks. Looking to the man, both Rukia and Lala found themselves curious to what this meant as to Rito's intentions.

Clutching his fist, Rito directed a glare in the Hollow's direction. Seeing the leg of the behemoth growing closer boy from its full outstretch towards the heavens and now halfway down its massive height level.

'Here I was trembling in fear at the thought of ever doing this again.. But..'

Softly, the hand of the surrogate Shinigami curled around the hilt of his sword. As he grabbed onto it and tugged at it, a light click was the sounding to trigger Rito to disappear from the very spot he stood.

In a bolstering testament to the speed of the creature despite its massive size, the creature used three of its legs to pin down the boy as it brought its arm down. Taking to a more dramatic finish for its prey, it took the time to relish in the triump that would come in the boy's impending doom. Cackling to itself, the arm finally came near.

As the leg came down iwth blistering speed, Lala's eyes shot wide. Raising her hand toward her phone, she refrained as there would not be enough time for her to summon one of her many inventions in the time allotted to her to do so.

The girl sharply inhaled in the wake of her futility in this matter. In the showcase that she was not enough to solve this problem. It damned her as a scientist, as an inventor. As someone who carried a solution to any and all problems that may come her way, there was not one in her arsenal that could save this boy.

Despair struck her features as she called out to him.

"WATCH OOOOUUUUUUTTTTT!"

⦗ BGM PAUSE ⦘

All sound grinded to a halt. The very air stopping in its tracks as the tension reached an altime high. In the perspectives of Rukia and Lala, it was far too late for the boy. The leg swung downward toward the boy's chest would inevitably pierce through and fatally sever through his spiritual body.

All hope was lost.

⦗ BGM Change: Milk ⦅ Alexandros ⦆ ⦘

In the blink of an eye, the Hollow froze in a static shock. Its mouth slowly growing agape as it leaned backward, it looked with a mortified expression to the leg that struck the ground below. As it struck, it seemed there was no longer a boy for it to pierce through. Even further to its shock, the impact seemed to result in a mass of gashes to explode from the Hollow's appendage. Before it could try and make sense of the phenomena, it was thrown off balance as the stilt holding it upright shattered into pieces and scattered across the park grounds.

Rukia and Lala both looking in shock as to what occurred, what seemed like a sudden new current of wind brushed over them. Inquired by this wind to look behind them, they saw Rito standing with his sword clenched tightly in his hand while his other arm was crunched around the body of the boy.

Seeing him set the boy down gently, Lala gave a clap as she excited cheered for the surrogate Shinigami.

"Wooooow~! You cut it up like Zastin would~!"

His eyes darting behind him at the sound of the ground's crackle, he saw the Hollow stagger onto its feet.

Despite one less pillar to hold it up, it still made to shoot out a web toward the group. Rito ducking down, the web missed them all and hit a telephone pole behind them. This sufficed enough as the spider used it to pull its massive form toward the ground at growing speeds.

Before either of the two girls could react, Rito rushed into action. Raising his sword over his head, he made a powerful roar as the Hollow got ever closer. Twirling the sword in his hands, he abruptly stabbed it into the ground. The momentum picked Rito off of the ground, swinging him toward the Hollow. In doing so, he gave himself the force to throw a powerful dropkick into the eyes of the arachnid in tandem with his boosted physical strength to send it back where it came with a crackle of the earth.

As Rito landed on the ground with a wobbly squat, Rukia behind him gave a soft grin as she crossed her arms.

"So, does this mean you've accep-"

"I haven't accepted anything. Don't put words in my mouth."

Looking back, he noticed the boy slowly sitting up from the ground. The first thing Rito noticed of the boy was that his face carried an expression of terror he himself had not too long ago. Walking past the two to reach the boy, he dropped to a knee when he finally did.

"I'm sorry this is what ended up happening. I'm sure you must've been so scared.."

To Rito's surprise, the immediate reaction out of him was to rush from his place to Rito's arms. Clutching him in a tight and secure embrace, Rito found himself unable to do more than return the gesture with a soft smile.

"Onii-san~!"

Rito lifted a soft hand to rub the boy's head softly as he wailed into his chest, tiny hands clutching tightly against the black fabric of his kimono.

Aside from them, Lala drew a small pink camera with the Devilukean symbol on it from the other pouch pocket. Finding this moment too priceless to not memorialize, she took several snapshots of the two's embrace as she blurred around them for the best angles.

"Aww, so adowable.."

Watching the interaction as well, Rukia could not help but give a soft smile at the wholesome scene.

"It seems Rito has made quite the friends with the ghosts of this town."

"Shh.. It's ok. That monster won't hurt you anymore."

Lifting the boy up as he took to stand, his attention moved over to the sword planted in the ground just a few feet away. With a soft smile, he began to make his move towards it.

"But just to be sure, I'm gonna get you to a better place."

After a few steps, the surrogate Shinigami grasped at the sword and subsequently drew it out. He shook the dust off of it with careful movements so as to not accidentally harm the child in close proximity. Looking to the boy, Rito knelt down against to match his level as he raised the bottom of the sword's hilt closer to his head.

Before the boy could question, Rito tapped it against his forehead. From the spot he tapped, the boy's head shone a bright blue. In that same instant, the light coated his body as he was slowly dragged down into the earth below. A black butterfly flying out from the vortex the boy was absorbed into.

"The Konso..?"

Recognizing the technique, Rukia found a new reason in itself to be impressed as Rito stood from the ground. There she stood in daze as she took in him in his entirety, who was watching the butterfly take off toward the sky.

"I couldn't bear to watch that kid be eaten. That's why I did what I did."

Looking to the sword in his hand for a moment, he closed his eyes softly as he clutched it tightly.

"I can understand your sentiment about honor and duty.. In fact, it's actually rather admirable that you hold those so dear."

His eyes flicking over toward where he kicked the Hollow, he noticed it wobble to a stand. Turning toward it, he began to stalk with slow, careful steps.

"But. Me? I'm just a regular guy who happens to be able to see ghosts. Honestly, the only thing I was able to hold in a similar manner was sports, and now I don't even have that."

The Hollow shook its head to calm its rattled figure as it began to charge at Rito. The surrogate saw this as no threat, continuing at his leisure.

"Even so..!"

His eyes hardened. Coming to mind were his family and friends, all offering him a thumbs up.

"I'm perfectly content with being DIFFERENT!"

A razor sharp edge lined the word as he took a leap forward at the creature. Soaring through the air with his hands clasped tightly around the sword in hand, a venom filled his eyes as they took to shrink as they locked onto their target.

The beast found itself grinding to a halt when its eye exploded in blood as the blade of the surrogate's sword dug into its skull through the left eye hole of its mask. Twisting the blade, it made the creature drop its head to the ground as its front legs quaked in response to the damage.

"I'll fight the battles that I want to fight! I refuse to live my life a way I don't want to!"

Slamming his arm down, the blade followed the motion, the Hollow crying out in pain as it finally ceased its futile resistance. At the loss of the last of its strength, its back legs gave out. With that, the behemoth collapsed before the triumphant Rito.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

Finding himself dropping to the ground amidst the disintegration of the beast, Rito landed with a crouch. Rising from the ground, Rito gave his sword a final once-over before pulling it behind him. Twirling it in his hand, he successfully sheathed the massive blade with relative ease.

"I mean, haven't you done the same?"

The question presented a dichotomy for Rukia. As this struck her brain, she recoiled at the initial thoughts she would have given to this answer. Stammering slightly as she thought over what her real answer could be, Rito toward her with a stern gaze.

"When you saved my life Saturday night, you weren't thinking about all that crap you just blabbered about."

With that mess over with, he decided the time for physical and psychological debacles were over. Giving an exasperated sigh, he slid his hands back into his pockets. Swinging his body away from the two, he took to begin his walk back.

"Now I don't plan on doing this again.."

"Wait a minute!"

Rukia called out for Rito, who stopped in an accordingly well timed manner. Though, she was not long to learn that she was not the source of his sudden stop as the boy suddenly clapped his hands against either side of his head. Looking to his current state frantically, he broke out into a nervous sweat.

"Aw crap, my body's still outside the school!"

Lala perked up and took off, a gleam in her eye. Rito waved a hand in his face to disperse the dust that was kicked up into his face by the abrupt race for the horizon.

"Oh right! It would be bad if somebody thinks you're dead and we lose it! I'll go get it right away!"

"Ah- Well, I guess that would help a lot, actually."

Rito shrugged, conceding that this time he could actually very well use the princess's assistance on the matter. A small chuckle to himself at the irony of such a thing, he began jogging after the girl.

This left a baffled Rukia all to her own devices.

« The first step to accepting change. »

"Sensei! Sensei! Yukki-san's unconscious!"

⦗ BGM Cue: Head in the Clouds ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

The shell that Rito left behind laid flat on the ground, a tumbleweed rolling past it. In its passing, the husk soon took to gather company in the form of various male students alongside Tatsuki, who gave a small pout.

"Man, I was hoping to beat up Rito myself. Looks like somebody beat me to it."

Tatsuki gave a whine whilst slumping her shoulders. She could be at club right now, but no. She came all the way out here for nothing but the shallow disappointment of being beaten to the punch. This time literally.

"Arisawa, stop joking around. Help me take Yukki to the nurse."

The teacher who volunteered to check on Rito scolded. Softly wavering a finger at Tatsuki, he took to hammering into her why such a line of thinking is not fit for someone of her age and she should instead aim to seek ways of peacefully solving her problems.

Tatsuki, being a person who has always been more interested in a solution found through the heat of battle rather than simple conversation, found this sudden lecture to be dull and even rather galling to be receiving. To satiate the teacher and get him to cut his lesson short, she decided to give a dejected compliance so as to satisfy the call to action he presented her.

"Alright, alright."

Seeming like that was enough for now, the teacher backed off. This action returned the focus back to the unconscious Rito. Soon enough, the man rung around him and crouched down to tug him up from the shoulders.

Good. Now she was free of that talk of diplomacy shoved down her throat. Even if her inner vices against such a thing would have to remain internal so as to not make apparent the need for another. Seeing the teacher beginning to lift Rito from the ground, Tatsuki stepped toward Rito's unconscious body in suit but was stopped by the sound of a bellow in the distance growing closer.

"Doooooooooooonnnnnnnn't touch iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

The shout grasped the attention of both the teacher and Tatsuki, alongside the male students who were all gathered with the original intent to beating Rito to a bloody pulp. Their faces exuberating disappointment grew to excitement as they cheered at the sight of who it was. The teacher quipped a brow. Tatsuki, though? She was confused more than anything.

A mountain of dust kicked up, an object in the distance shooting closer as if a speeding car. The culprit behind such an acceleration was none other than Lala, the nameless heroine of the male student body's minds at this given time. Her lustrous pink hair flew in the wind as if a strong current of its own as her entire body seemed to bounce at each step. This was a detail no male student missed, all of their eyes being filled with hearts which would blinker in a pink color as she grew closer.

What they failed to notice was that in front of the girl was a white mechanical puppy that's eyes blinkered blue as it continued forward. Leaping out toward Rito's body, the teacher being the unlucky victim as its head rammed into his sternum. With a thud, the teacher was flung back and into the ground. Leaping off the teacher's body, it took to sniff the ground for a moment. Afterwords, its eyes took to a pink blare before it raced towards the school.

Lala skid herself to a halt when reaching her destination. Stopping between himself

"Hey, you're that Lala girl from yesterday! What're you here for?"

"Oh, well that's easy." Lala smiled brightly, "I'm gonna be Rito's bride~!"

"I see."

Tatsuki popped her knuckles, a tick mark appearing on the side of her head.

⦗ BGM Change: Storm Center ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Following a sudden tip from her instincts, Lala quickly grabbed Rito's body and leapt out of the way from a punch Tatsuki struck the ground with. Her knuckles impacting the ground below with a sudden burst, a dust picked up at the seams. When it finally cleared, Tatsuki raised her fist from where she punched, a clear dent in the shape of it left behind adorned with cracks of the earth below.

"Um.. Tatsuki, why'd you do that?"

"Arisawa, calm down!"

"Sorry, I must have been hearing things.. It almost sounded to me that she said you were engaged, Rito."

Curious to the sound of a crash, Rito arrived on the scene. Examining the scene carefully, a melancholy expression caressed his features when his eyes landed on the angered Tatsuki. With a shriek at the sight of it, he rung around closer to Lala's side as to avoid being caught up in it.

"Hey, Lala. Why does Tatsuki look ready to punch someone's head off?!"

Sweat began to rain over Rito's spiritual form. If he looked close enough, he swore he could see an aura begin to flare up around Tatsuki's body as she began to pop her knuckles.

"I just told her about how we're gonna get married."

"Yeah, sounds like you just signed my death warrant."

Normally, he would give plenty of refute to the idea of being betrothed to this woman, but he had other concerns at this given moment. Turning his attention to his body on the ground, he gave a sigh of relief. There was something that could be good. Approaching the husk, he grabbed at, well, his wrist and pulled it closer to him. Now he would go to enter it and wake up as a regular human again...

. . .

"Crap.."

"Hm?"

"I never asked Rukia about how to get back into my body.."

All Rito knew for sure was that it was not something super simple. He roared as he shook his lifeless body in his hands. To his dismay, that also failed to produce results.

Looking over to his side, it seemed that only garnered the attention of Tatsuki and the other male students. Seeing Rito's figure moving whatsoever seemed to convince them to go into a rampage for Rito's head. The bloodlust even caused the surrogate Shinigami to shake at the idea of what may happen to him if they caught up.

"Oh sh- We gotta get out of here!"

"Why's that?"

"You remember that punching thing Tatsuki did yesterday?"

Seeing Lala give a nod and motion the punching volley Tatsuki unveiled on the boys. Rito sweatdropped at how accurate a depiction it was, but digressed. It was a sign that she did in fact remember the attack.

"Well imagine that but a hundredfold, and there's a single target: Me."

"Oh, that would be pretty bad."

Seeing her giggle brought heat to Rito's face, the boy threw his attention back to his physical body. Rito then noticed his leg was inside his physical body now, blue light pouring from where the two connected.

A sweat trickled down the back of his head. At this rate, he wasn't going to be able to get in his body in time to run away from the army charging at them. Brainstorming possible solutions, a lightbulb shot out of his head as the previous night's events came to his head.

At the spark of inspiration that flood through his mind, his attention shot to Lala who was confused at the actions of the army around her.

"Wait, Lala.. You have that teleporting thing, right? The bracelet?"

"Oh! You mean Pyon Pyon Warp-kun~"

"Yeah, that!"

Rito wiggled his body around like pants, still struggling to put it on. Pursing his lips, he dangled the husk around in frustration. With his other leg, he kicked at his body's back. How did he get the first in? Why wasn't the second going in the same way?

Lala's tail wagged as she brainstormed the idea.

"Hmm.. I guess I can.."

Hearing her trail off, the boy glowered at her when he saw her usual bright smile. To anyone else, it would seem like a genuine show of happiness. Rito, however, knew what the real intent of this expression was.

Lala's tail curled inward as she placed her hands behind her back.

"If I do, I can start living with you from today on, right?"

He knew it. She had an ulterior motive. His lips twitched as the proposal was made to him. Raising an arm toward her, he outstretched a finger toward her with his brows furrowed.

"Why do you wanna live at my house?!"

"Because we're going to get married, silly~"

"You just admit before that us being engaged isn't even true!"

"No~ I just said it wasn't for the same reasons you thought they were~!"

"DON'T SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO CASUALLY!"

Rito let out a growl to Lala's composure, turning his attention back to his body. There was still no progress. As it stood now, his body would be bloody and battered before he could re-enter it. As much as he hated the idea of bending to the whim of the troublemaker...

"Gargh..! Alright, fine! You can live at our house!"

"Really?! Wonderful!"

Her eyes dilated as sparkles shot around her sclera. Drawing her phone, she typed a combination of numbers on the dial. This action resulted in the phone exploding in a pink light that would whip around Lala's wrist. In its wake, the construct took a new shape in the form of the teleportation bracelet.

Prodding her arm, she tilted her head with a wink as so to present the item. Once she felt satisfied with the pose, she broke to stand properly as she glanced toward her hat over her head.

"Peke, power on the Pyon Pyon Warp-kun~!"

"Yes, Lala-sama!"

With a flash from Peke's eyes, they emitted sparks of energy that traveled throughout her body before finally settling into the bracelet on her wrist. When it finally reached the device, the eyes of the bunny mold absorbed the sparks and shone a bright blue.

"Hey, I think I got it now!"

Rito smiled, having gotten his entire lower body into his physical body. It was not too much to be excited for, but progress was progress. Chuckling to himself, he began to notice his arms were beginning to be absorbed into his body as well. Turning his head to Lala with a smile, the expression dropped when he noticed the process of the bracelet beginning to activate.

"Hey, Lala. I don't think I need that thing anymo-"

"Warp-kun, activate!"

A cheerful proclamation brought the device to life. With a loud whirring sound, the eyes shot out a pair of beams that formed a bubble around the two at speeds beyond recognition of the army charging toward them.

"Wait, I seriously don't need it anymo-"

It was too late. A bright crackle of light burst out from where the two were, forcing Tatsuki to a defensive. Shielding her eyes, she listened to the screams of the classmates around as they were flung at the intensity of the light.

When her senses finally gave her the signal that the visual threat ceased, she lowered her arm. Welcomed to the disappearance of Rito and Lala, her brow twitched violently.

"RITOOOOOOOOOO!"

⦗ BGM END ⦘

Peke observed from afar, holding Rito's school uniform in her hand.

"Perhaps the Warp-kun truly was an unnecessary action."

Darkness, heat, and a familiar softness. These were the only things Rito could detect in his immediate surroundings.

'Where the heck am I?' Rito shifted his head to either side, nothing changing in his peripheral vision. 'Wait.. I think I'm in.. Some kind of tight space..' thought Rito, a tap to either side confirming the suspicion.

A soft moan then reminded him what that familiar softness was.

"L-Lala?!"

Rito's eyes shrank as he now recognized immediately what this softness is. Recoiling his hand, Rito immediately went to press his hand against himself. To his further surprise, what he was met with was the lukewarm feeling of his bare skin.

"Oh, crap, does that mean-"

"Yep! Pyon Pyon Warp-kun can't transport clothes, remember?"

As he should have expected, Lala's response was delivered in a cheery demeanor. This drew a brow from Rito, who grinded his teeth against one another as his mind focused on escape.

"BEING IN A CLOSED SPACE NAKED ISN'T GREAT, YOU KNOW!"

He could tell Lala shrugged in response to his outburst, making him pipe down with a sigh. It was futile for him to convince her how this was an inappropriate reaction to what exactly was going on. Even so, Rito continued to frantically scan around the darkness clouding his vision.

"There's gotta be a way out of here..!"

Alerted by the creaking sound behind him, his eyes nearly sprung out of his skull as he fell back into the void behind him. With a thud, his skull struck the broken door of the locker below. Letting out a loud groan of pain as he wiggled to either side and gripped his hair tightly, RIto reeled at the sudden shock to his nerves peered directly into his brain.

"Ow, ow, ow...!"

Stopping as he took to notice his surroundings, he went to get up from the ground but noticed a pressure was holding him down. It was then that he met eyes with a smiling Lala, who seemed completely oblivious to Rito's current fret.

These frets soon became fears as he heard a voice letting out staggering whimpers. The sweat on his body ran cold as he instantly recognized it.

"You're..!"

⦗ BGM Cue: Ditty for Daddy ⦅ Shiro Sagisu ⦆ ⦘

Throwing himself off of the ground, Lala fell over beside him as Rito stammered to a proper seating posture. Lowering his hands over his crotch, for obvious reasons, he finds his face heating up violently as he found himself embarrassed.

"I... Can't believe this."

A locker door shut with a slam.

The cause for the ruckus was a young woman dressed in a school uniform, her blazer yet to be buttoned. As she brought her hand to the bottom of her button and began to fasten the coat, she let out a huff. Her face was flushed with a crimson hue, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she kept her attention away from the nude pair.

The girl's back was covered nigh entirely by the raven-colored hair that threatened to swallow it whole. Running over her scalp, the hair even poured over her forehead in several clumps of strands which formed bangs. These bangs were held up from drooping over her eyes with a pair of hairclips which took the form of two six-leaved flowers molded in cerulean coloring with silver highlights.

"K-Kotegawa!"

Rito's eyes shrank as he saw her, becoming even more embarrassed at his current state. Looking toward himself, he squeezed his body in attempts to hide his exposed body. Aside from him, Lala recovered from having been thrown off by Rito's sudden action. Rubbing her head softly, her eyes move over in the direction of the girl.

"Huh? Rito, who's this?"

Kotegawa took a soft breath. Closing her eyes softly, she calmly thought over all that was presented before her. Destruction of the locker. A male being inside of the female locker room. Blatant disregard for the dress code. Lack thereof of any dress whatsoever. Lack thereof of any dress whatsoever out of place. Public displays of affection. Two cases of public nudity.

Opening her eyes, the woman struggled to keep her eyes from immediately dropping downward as she saw Rito rising from the ground. Slowly stepping closer, her eyes trembled at his every movement.

"Look, I know what this looks like. But if you could just let me go for right now and I can make it up for you later?"

When she raised a hand, he was hoping it was some elaborate declaration for him to uphold the offer he just made. This naive optimism proven by the smile that began to show itself on Rito's features.

Soon enough he realized that it was nothing more than just that.. Naive optimism.

"SHAMELESS!"

A cry that rung throughout the room in perfect harmony with the smack that sent Rito reeling soon after.

The boy falling to the ground with a large blinking handprint on his right cheek, he groaned weakly. Kotegawa gave a light huff as she looked away from Rito's fallen form. This brought her attention to Lala, her brow quipped.

"Who are you?"

Kotegawa briefly fished through her mind for any recollection of a girl even remotely similar in appearance to this girl. No dice. That brought up red flags for her. Her instinct was to look to Rito to try and connect the dots, but her every will forbid her from doing so. Flushing at the very thought, she cleared her throat.

"Me? I'm Lala!"

Kotegawa frowned at this answer. It served her none whatsoever as to deciphering the reasons behind... This predicament. Nonetheless, she was going to get to the bottom of this. With a sigh, she turned toward the stranger with a frown.

"I'm asking for more than just a name. Information like where you came from. What you're doing here. And your relation to Yukki-k- ... Yukki."

Kotegawa caught herself before she said something unnecessary.

"Oh. Well, I'm what you would call an alien!"

To demonstrate her point, Lala hopped up from the ground. Turning around and presenting her tail, Kotegawa's jaw dropped in disbelief at the action. She expected such a reaction, it was near identical to that of Rito's.

What Lala was not expecting was for Kotegawa to raise a hand over her face and rub her temple.

"W-Why are you strutting yourself around?! Show some decency! You're naked for goodness sake!"

Stammering, Kotegawa quickly removed her blazer. She was disappointed to have to do so that soon after having just buttoned it up, but it was a much better alternative to having this girl naked for her entire interrogation. Once having it fastened enough to where it covered her modest areas, Kotegawa sighed a breath of relief. She wanted to do something about Rito as well but going near him at this moment may or may not be a liability.

She was likely to be in for more shameless activities if she were to do such a thing, so conceded it was better to maintain her current position.

As though lady luck were smiling upon her, Kotegawa's head jerked at the sound of metal against the ground. What sight greeted her was a floating Peke riding atop of the dog machine Lala summoned, having Rito's clothes hoisted on a stick.

"There you are, Lala-sama!"

"Oh, Peke~!"

Lala cheered. Kotegawa took note of the interaction. So these two also had some relation. Her focus then landed on the machine dog, which made eye contact with her. For a moment, the two of them remained stone still as Peke hopped off the dog and rushed over to Lala's side.

As Lala hugged the small machine, she smiled brightly. Peke then turned their head, swinging the stick in their hand to fling the clothes hanging off its end over Rito's naked form. It was a near immediate reaction for Rito to spring up and dress himself up as quickly as possible.

"It's.. So cute."

These words Kotegawa muttered to herself seemed to reach the pup. Its orb eyes pulsing with pink light, it took to rush forward. Kotegawa staggered as it did, intimidated by the sudden action the dog has taken. Her wariness was proven well-placed when the dog suddenly leapt up from the ground and into her bosom with rather commendable precision... Had it not been at the cost of Kotegawa's dignity.

"Hey- What're you- Get out of there!"

When Kotegawa when to pull it out from her chest, the dog bit down as a means to clench onto her. Kotegawa quickly put this to a stop when she heard her shirt was beginning to rip and tear at the force. Shooting a glance toward Lala, she saw her in her Peke dress and was confused as to where she got it and how it was put on so quickly.

Shaking her head, she returned her attention to the bigger matter at hand.

"What is wrong with this thing?!"

Lala quipped a brow at the question, walking over and examining the dog's current position. Tilting her head softly, she rubbed her chin and gave a long hum.

"I dunno, Sniff Sniff Trace-kun is only supposed to go after things I tell him to smell. Maybe he's malfunctioning."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE MAYBES! GET HIM OFF ME!"

⦗ BGM END ⦘

« TROUBLE is a word that can have many forms. »

"Now. Start explaining."

Once again Kotegawa was wearing her blazer. Though, it was more for the sake of covering what was torn by Trace-kun rather than upholding dress code.

To avoid any bystanders getting the wrong idea, Kotegawa moved the conversation to another room. Specifically, the room the Public Morals Committee often gathers on Saturdays. Crossing her arms, she stood firm before the desk at the center of the room.

Sitting at the center of the left table was Rito, who fiddled his thumbs as he puffed a cheek from where he sat. Bowing his head, he was reflecting on the day's events and how they could have possibly been all sowed by fate to lead him to this point. His face grew somber as he then fit a piece into the mix that was a dead giveaway to what went so wrong here.

Lala herself. A malfactor that guaranteed trouble. She was an anomaly that even now he failed to understand, at every aspect of her being.

Raising his head, he saw her with that same bright smile at the table parallel to his on the other side of the room. Her tail wagged to either side as she shot a glance to Kotegawa. Even now, she failed to grasp the situation occurring here. Rito gave a small sigh as he too glanced in Kotegawa's direction. He supposed it was part of Lala's character. Part of him surmised that if it was not there, Lala would not exactly be Lala.

"Kotegawa, I know that things seem pretty odd. What, with me having been with a girl that isn't...a student here...naked in the girl's changing room...alone... Ok. That's more than pretty odd, but can we skip that part for now, please? I don't think any explanation I could give would really be any satisfying."

Rito sweatdropped as he tried his best to come up with some kind of words to get Kotegawa off his- Or more accurately Lala's tail, which he realized just now in the midst of his thinking that Kotegawa never seemed to question that the girl literally had one. Oh well, it worked out in his favor here. Once again, it was more accurate to say it was in Lala's favor. Information that she was a textbook example of an extraterrestrial was not something that could possibly come without its consequences. Such consequences were not something he was interested in finding out the hard way.

Kotegawa on the other hand gave the boy an unamused look. He was hiding something. That much was obvious just in the way he was trying to avoid the subject matter at hand. Tapping her foot against the ground, she examined every nook and cranny of his facial features. There was always something about Yukki that could always make her lenient in her bestowal of punishment. The longer she stared at him, she found her anger dissolving. Lowering her arms softly, she turned away softly with a sigh.

"Alright. But that doesn't mean you're free of consequence, Yukki. You were in the female locker room just before, something forbidden for male students."

"Oh, thanks a bunch, Kotegawa!"

Rito clapped his hands together, bowing his head toward her repeatedly. Kotegawa was quick to recoil from this course of action, her face became a beet red. Raising her arms, she waved them frantically around to try and demand Rito's stop.

Lala arose from her seat with a bright smile on her face, skipping over gleefully. When she leapt out next to Rito, she looked to Kotegawa with a smile on her face.

"Hey! Hey! Kokegawa, does that mean you can tell me about this school place?"

Her skin folded into a tick mark at the call, Kotegawa turning her head to the girl furiously. The flushing of her cheeks immediately drained as her face became stark.

"It's not Kokegawa! My name is Kotegawa!"

"Ah- Oh, I'm sorry...! But that's a pretty long name to remember all at once! Don't you have a shorter one?"

"My full name is Kotegawa Yui.."

"Oh! Then I'll call you Yui, then~!"

"NO! We aren't friends! Refer to me as Kotegawa!"

Rito found himself shrinking as he was now completely irrelevant to the conversation. Lala's positivity against the strictness of Kotegawa. Certainly, they were two polar opposites from one another. Now that he thought about it, he decided that it was better that way. In fact, leaving now would be the greatest option.

Swinging himself around, he took to walking away from the scene. Making sure each step was subtle so that neither of their attentions would be caught, Rito eventually made his escape from the room. Slowly shutting the door, any knowledge of his leave fell upon Kotegawa and Lala when the wood clasped against the wall.

"What the-?!"

"Rito, where are you going?!"

"I believe this is likely from the height of your... Conversation."

『 8:49 a.m.「 Monday: May 5th, 2008 」』

⦗ BGM Cue: New Days ⦅ Shoji Meguro ⦆ ⦘

Coming early was pointless. If he knew Mrs. Ochi was going to be late, he would have slept in!

Slamming his face against the desk, Rito let out an exasperated sigh. For some reason, there were several missions to pop up on Rukia's transponder that weekend. He could count on two hands how many times Rukia appeared out of literally nowhere to find him. Yesterday she appeared while Mikan was making dinner to ask for me, which scared the color out of her face for a while. It was surprising how well she took it afterward. Especially how well she took Lala randomly telling her she was going to get married to him. She even offered up no resistance to her living there!

His life was becoming rather hectic...

"I suppose I never considered that your sleeping schedule needs to be worked according to your duties."

Turning his head at the sound, his hazel eyes met with the purple of Rukia's. Groaning, the boy quickly pushed himself up and sat upright to face her.

"Hey. You're already taking up half the free-time I have in my life! I had to call in on Mr. Bandou this weekend, and he was really hoping for a new design for this month..."

"I'm afraid you can't do it all. Besides, the defeating of Hollows has a greater stake on the balance of the world."

Rito turned away with a small frown. His talents with gardening and the many things that surround them was always something Rito fancied, and it was an added bonus that when got to use them for Mr. Bandou's shop, he got paid for it. Now that he thought it over, wasn't this Rukia's job, like genuine source of income?

"Wait a minute, I'm curious on something. How come I don't get a cut on the pay you're getting? I mean, considering the fact I'm the one doing all the work?"

As his words hung in the air, Rukia seemed to jump. Her face shrank at the question as a sweat trickled down the side of her face. Stammering as she thought upon her answer, she mechanically turned away to begin moving to her seat.

"Urgh- Agh- Well, it looks like class is starting!"

"Hey, hold on-"

With a tap of her foot, she practically leapt across the classroom to her own seat.

As Rito sat with a deadpan expression at the retreat, Keigo leapt from his seat to ring an arm around his neck. Rito being thrown down by the weight of his classmate briefly, he shot his attention to him. Being met with his bright smile, he gave a small chuckle to return the gesture.

"Morning there, Rito~"

"What's up, Keigo?"

As Rito and Keigo broke into conversation, the two inspired Mizuiro and Saruyama to join in. After a few minutes, Tatsuki and Haruna entered the room together as well. Tatsuki joined in too, but Haruna refrained from doing so. All she gave was a morning greeting before retreating to her seat when Rito spoke to her, something Rito found causing his chagrin and Tatsuki's amusement.

Rukia was watching this all from her chair, resting her chin against her palm. Letting out a sigh, she turned her attention forward. She could not make herself prone to such things as basic affection. They were things unfit of a Shinigami like herself. Trained by the elite to be the greatest she possibly could.

All of the student's attentions moved to the front of the room as the door slammed open with the swing of a woman's arm. Stepping inside was a woman with a modest figure dressed in a pale blue tunic shirt and black tights. Her long brown hair was tied into a ponytail that wagged to either side as she walked to the podium at the center of the room.

"Alright! Everybody, take their seats!"

"Yes, Mrs. Ochi."

Fulfilling the request of their homeroom teacher, the students all came into order in their individual seats. Smiling at this gesture, the girl cleared her throat as she placed the book in her hand on the counter of her podium.

"Ok, then, class. I know this is a bit sudden. But we have another transfer student."

Rito quipped a brow to this statement. Looking over toward the door, there was a familiar aspect to the silhouette standing before it. One that it would be impossible for him not to notice. Great.. Just when he thought there was some place where he could have peace.

Rukia blinked, her mouth becoming miniscule on her face and eyes become larger at the prospect. Another transfer student only a week after her? This was a surprise. Perhaps Soul Society sent another Shinigami to retrieve her since she has not returned from her should be medial task for her level mission. No. It was too soon for that. Even the strongest of Shinigami have gotten carried away before. So, who..?

"You can come in now."

"Okay~!"

Rito, Tatsuki, Saruyama, Haruna, Keigo, and Mizuiro all raised their heads at the sound of the voice. They all recognized the voice instantly as they looked instantly to the young woman walking into the room.

It was without a doubt the Devilukean Princess they met the other day, Lala. Over her body was the standard Sainan High uniform, with her trademark partner Peke in the form of a hairpin on the right. As she walked in, she picked up the piece of chalk Mrs. Ochi signalled to. Waving her hand across as she wrote on the board, she turned toward the class with a bright smile as it read HELLO THERE~ I'M LALA~ in kanji.

"L- Lala-san?!"

The first to voice her surprise was Haruna, whose eyes widened at the sight of the girl. When her own reaction became drowned out by the rest of the class erupting in either confusion of her presence or gratefulness for it, she recoiled. Quickly turning away her attention, she made a glance in the corner of her eye toward Rito.

Rito was on neither side of the debate as he was simply left frowzy by the realization. The world seemed to have no interest in giving Yukki Rito a rest from his troubles as it seemed.

Upon seeing Rito, the girl beamed. Pushing onto the podium next to Mrs. Ochi, she threw a peace sign his way.

"Look, Rito~ Now I'm a student in this school, too~!"

Rito found himself ignoring a short bicker between Keigo and Saruyama which ended with the former snickering while the latter snarled in jealousy. Right now he was trying to balance the fact that the two major causes of the destruction of his regular life as it was would now be regularly gathered in this one regular place. Capable of exacerbating any and all moments of his life as it seemed as it were now. His eyes raised to their utmost limit before he gave an irritable sigh before slamming his head back onto his desk.

⦗ BGM END ⦘

❰ END ❱

「 As to bring some connection from the extraterrestrial and the spiritual, the Devilukes are considered an enemy by the Gotei 13. A certain someone destroying planets casually throws the transit of souls off balance. Speaking of the Deviluke, there were certain things with the old series that I did with them that I don't recall doing. In the original I killed off Sephie. I definitely don't recall doing that, she's too important for later. Anyways, Rito reluctantly accepts Rukia's responsibilities, vowing that he'll be independent of the traditions the Shinigami follow. 」
「 Rito is also going to be less desperate for Haruna's affection here than in the original series. In the original series, it was used as a comedic relief and a literal crutch for Rito's character. In fact, once Rito's character actually started mattering to the narrative, the gag that his attempt to confess to Haruna ending with humorous failure lowers in appearance noticeably so. Of course, I'm talking about the sequel manga, Darkness. Meaning for the entire first and original manga, Rito's character relied on his affections for Haruna and it even motivated so many of his actions that he just came off as a P.O.S. and went almost immediately at the beginning of the manga to throw Lala out of the house despite having nowhere to go. I'm doing away with all of that because in the actual series, Haruna herself has nothing to do with Rito's character development and that was the biggest disappointment out of it if I'm honest (Yabuki-sensei's drama with his ex-wife the character was based on aside). 」
「 Next, we take a dive into Rito's life before the insanity as he's faced with an old face he never thought he would see again? What's that mean? Yukki Rito's journey carries on! 」
ー Red