To Love-ru (4)

"On a not-completely unrelated note..." Zastin continued after telling me about the spaceship that likely belonged to Ghi Bree. For some reason he was staring straight into my eyes with an inquisitive look, a hand stroking his chin. The dog went back to gnawing at Zastin's head, though he kept observing us with one eye. "That's an interesting change to your irises. Is it another of the abilities granted to you as the Peacekeeper of Light?"

Change to my irises? What the-wait, could it be...? "Are they red now, with three strange symbols around the pupil?"

"Indeed."

That settled it. I needed a mirror or to snap a picture of my own face with the phone to be completely sure, but it seemed I had unlocked the Sharingan. Now the next question was: how the fuck did it happen without me channeling Sasuke?

"Really?" I heard the Ninja scoffing. "Bastard king just threatened your family, friends and everything you hold dear with death, and you're surprised you unlocked the Sharingan? How much do you really remember about my family's history?"

Oh, that's right: Uchiha tends to be very attached to their family and those they consider as such, so the onslaught of powerful emotions related to them was originally the trigger to unlock the Sharingan. It caused a massive problem since it works especially well with negative emotions and there were plenty of those in the world before the Fourth Shinobi War, causing many Uchiha to enter a downward spiral of negativity. I knew that much at least.

However, there was just one small problem. 'I'm not an Uchiha.' I pointed out to Sasuke.

"No, but you have my Chakra. Channeling allows you to use our skills, but the attributes that make using them possible in the first place are already there." He explained. "While I was at the Academy I read a few records about Uchiha members awakening their Sharingan even before being taught how to access their Chakra. Those episodes were all related to their family suffering some kind of tragedy, so not something I could use even if I wanted to."

That was useful to know, but also kind of dark once you read between the lines. Still, I felt it wasn't proper for me to point that out: even if he appeared to me like a teenager again Sasuke was an adult, so he surely had plenty of time to come to terms with it.

And even then, I now had the Sharingan! Said realization caused my inner geek to laugh like a saturday morning supervillain, and for once I felt like indulging it a little. "To your previous question: yes it is, I just didn't expect it to activate so suddenly." I told Zastin before partially covering my eyes with a hand. "Thank you for the message and the warning, Zastin. Now if you don't mind I would like to be left alone: I need to do some meditation in order to change my eyes back to normal, I can't go through my daily life with them like this."

I probably could just pretend it was because of contact lens since Naruto existed in this world, but that would scream 'otaku!' too much for my tastes. Cosplay was fine and all during conventions where it's expected to find people dressed like that, but it didn't fit during normal school hours. Source: the Internet.

"Of course. Good luck Yuuki Rito, please keep watching over Lady Lala." Sweeping his cape like a fantasy hero Zastin turned in the opposite direction and began to walk away, the stray dog sitting comfortably on his shoulders as it kept chewing on his head. Also, unless I was mistaken he was walking away from the city rather than towards it.

'He's going to get hopelessly lost, uh?' I thought.

"Yup." Rito answered, without delay or mercy.

"So he really is a second Ryoga, but with a better temper. Can't say I dislike it." Ranma commented.

====

After Zastin left I spent a few minutes alone in the woods, learning how to turn off the Sharingan and keep it from activating against my will. Luckily Sasuke knew exactly how to do both, so it was quite simple.

He also mentioned, from the little he could felt at least, that my own Chakra seemed to have a heavy imbalance of Yin Chakra compared to Yang Chakra, which was likely due to me having more than one person inside my mind. According to him said imbalance would make Genjutsu and similar techniques stronger and easier to use, and physical techniques like Taijutsu harder. A good payoff since I was not limited to just using Chakra, but he warned me to practice all Chakra-based techniques outside of combat in order to get used to the altered difficulty compared to Sasuke's own experience. Which was perfectly good advice as far as I was concerned.

"This soup tastes so good!!" Lala complimented Mikan's food as the three of us ate dinner.

"It's Shijimi Clam miso soup." My little sister explained as she finished to put down the plates with her own food. Since she was the one cooking Mikan usually was the last one to start eating, but since she was quick and efficient the delay was usually very small. Not to mention both me and Rito always began eating very slowly in order to let her catch up.

"Woow!" Lala took another spoonful of soup. "Earth's food is super tasty Mikan!!"

"Tsk, tsk. That's not quite right, Lala-san." Mikan answered with a smug smile, lithe index finger waving left and right. "It's really all about the skills of the chef."

Yes, it turned out Mikan put a lot of pride in her cooking skills, thought it was honestly earned in my opinion. Not that I had much to add to the current conversation, as I was already busy with another one. 'What's your plan, Rito?'

"My fist, the space chameleon's face." He answered, completely serious. "Or rather, that's the end result. I know tomorrow Ghi Bree will try to take Haruna hostage, and I would like to avoid that happening in the first place."

'No objections here.' I could see the benefit of following some of the so-called 'stations of canon', to an extent, but there was absolutely nothing to be gained from letting Haruna be in danger. Not to mention it was dishonest, morally reprobable and many other things I wanted nothing to do with. 'Do you know when it's supposed to happen, and how?'

"Ghi is going to use his shapeshifting abilities to take the place of Sasuga, the tennis teacher, and make up an excuse to be alone with Haruna in the club room. I'm pretty sure he has already took Sasuga's place by now, but just to be sure it's probably best we confront him in the morning, before P.E. classes start." Rito explained. "Ghi talks big but in truth he's a total wimp: I could beat him even with my old normal self, so as we're now it's a foregone conclusion. The only problem is that he has some kind of alien machine with mechanical tentacles, and it may not be the only one. So I want to be ready for a possible unpleasant surprise."

'That's understandable, after all you're going to face the almighty threat known as tentacles.' I snickered within my mind while using the cup to hide my smile. I could picture Rito flipping me the bird, though there was no real heat in the gesture. 'Who do you want to channel?'

It was something I discovered by chance while training: unlike what the description of the [Decavirate] Skill said I wasn't the only one who can channel the members of the Gang and their skills. Rito could do it too, though his limit seemed to be only one person at a time. Tsuna thought it was because Rito is this body's original owner, or rather its original identity, which coupled with the strong link between our Hearts caused a sort of 'overlap' effect. All of it was of course him trying to put the feelings he got from Hyper Intuition into words, which was not always easy even for a skilled user like Tsuna. But it worked, and that was enough for now.

"Ranma. I already asked him and he agreed: nothing like a master martial artist to give someone a good beating, right?"

'Right. A bit overkill, but perfectly justified in this case.' I replied while picking up my glass to drink some water.

"Hey, Rito!" Mikan called out to me.

"Huh?" I managed to reply before the cool liquid reached my open lips, forcing me to abort talking in favor of swallowing. To my eternal shame talking with my mouth full was a skill I had yet to master.

"When are you and Lala getting hitched?" My little sister asked me, as if talking about the weather. Even though the sly smile on her lips betrayed her true intentions.

Demonstrating all of my inherent coolness and style I raised a single eyebrow, quickly finishing my drink and putting the glass back on the table. "We agreed it's too soon to consider stuff like marriage, so the both of us have decided to wait and see how things develop." I told her in a very mature manner. "Why do you ask? I thought you didn't want to be an aunt?"

She shrugged. "I'll be in Junior High the next school term." It was a huge surprise discovering Mikan is one year older than in the anime I once saw: right now she was twelve years old instead of eleven, meaning this was her last year in Elementary School. "Besides, it's usually just the two of us here. Lala-san has really brightened up the house: I'm so happy!" Mikan finished with a bright smile.

That Mikan was happy made me happy too, though I didn't quite understand what she meant with her first sentence. However before I could reflect or inquire more about her motivations Lala called out to me, a towel in her hand. "Ritooo! Dinner's all done now, so let's take a bath together!"

A bath together? Me and Lala?

For a brief instant my brain suffered a short-circuit, only for it to be immediately jump-started again by Issei's frantic voice. "SAY YES SAY YES SAY YES SAY YES SAY YES!!! Duuude! When a gorgeous girl says she wants to be naked before you answer yes! Then you go down on your knees and thank your parents for giving birth to you!"

'Stop tempting me, you... you... you literal devil!' I mentally shouted in embarrassment. Not because I was against the idea, far from it, but because I was too eager: it made me feel like I was being controlled by my hormones, and the thought was like a cold shower down my back. The last thing I wanted was to be overly creepy and treat the people around me like sexual objects. It was one thing to watch or read hentai, which were works of fiction made so that people could indulge their own fantasies.

Sadly, I was in the (mostly) unique position of having said works of fiction now suddenly being very much real: I was fighting a battle against the part of myself that doesn't stop to think, and I could obtain victory only by working really hard for it.

God forbids than growing up be an easy process.

"Ritooo?" Lala called as she waved a hand in front of my face. "Did you hear me? Are you sleeping?"

"I'm awake." I answered evenly. "Just fighting an inner battle against my libido."

"Whaaat? What's wrong Rito?" Mikan grinned. "You don't have the guts?"

"It's less about their presence and more about their amount, if you get what I'm saying."

By her puzzled look she didn't, but in a way it was comforting.

"Uhmmm, I don't really get what you're talking about." Lala muttered with a confused tone. "Unless, you don't want to take a bath together with me, Rito?"

There was no way I could answer 'no' to that question. "Sure." I answered as I slowly stood up, regulating my breath and shifting slightly into the Soul of Ice: a bit of a cheat, but this situation called for drastic measures. "Let's go."

====

"Here's your shampoo Lady Lala."

"Thank you Peke." Lala grabbed the bottle and poured a generous amount of the cherry-colored care product over her hair.

Yeah, I failed to take into account the fact Lala's clothes are both a sentient robot and apparently waterproof, so why should say apparent sentient robot wait outside the bathroom when he and Lala normally spend both day and night joined at the hips?

And that was why any desire from my part to enjoy the sight of the very naked and incredibly gorgeous girl sitting within my bath as she lathered her long hair was dampened by the presence of her robotic butler standing guard next to Lala to better and more quickly comply to her requests. Meanwhile I was sitting in the bathtub, Lala having told me to go ahead since her own cleaning was going to last a lot longer than mine.

Why it's always the little, seemly irrelevant details that fool me in the end? As a certain spiky-haired boy was fond of saying, such misfortune.

"Thank you for accepting Rito: it feels weird taking a bath by myself." Lala happily explained. "I always had lots of attendants with me when I took them in the past, after all."

How very much like the princess she, indeed, was. "Not a problem." I waved her off before pointing at the bald robot. "Still, a question: doesn't Peke count as an attendant?"

"Eeeh? But it's not the same thing." She blinked owlishly. "Peke's a robot, while you're a person Rito."

"Lady Lala!" Said robot fell to one side, eyes looking like they would cry rivers if only were they capable to. "Please have mercy!"

Ouch. I didn't know if it was because of her naivety, but Lala could be surprisingly cruel at times.

"I mean, I'm the one who made him. Doesn't that make him, like, a part of myself?" The pink-haired girl continued while tapping her chin with one finger.

"Lady Lala!" Recovering instantly from his funk Peke jumped on Lala's back and hugged her neck. "I am humbled by your kind words! I swear to be with you forever and ever! No matter what you ask of me, I shall do it!"

"Good, then since you're already there lather the rest of my hair for me."

"Yes ma'am!"

...Uh. Maybe I would only get to watch and not touch this time, but I can't say I was completely disappointed. After all, I got to see a side of Lala that very few people knew about.

====

"Hello Sasuga-sensei." Rito called out with fake politeness and an even faker smile on his lips. I was watching from the back seat together with the Gang, waiting to see how things would go.

"Mh?" The brown-haired teacher looked behind his shoulders at being addressed, caught in the middle of putting down a sport bag. His eyes widened slightly, betraying surprise and alarm for an instant before he schooled his features once more. "You're... Yuuki Rito-kun, correct? May I ask what you're doing here in the Tennis Club Room, especially now that you should be in class?"

That was true: just before reaching the school I told Lala I had something to take care of before joining her in class. After she left I gave control to Rito, who then used the Umi Sen Ken to move around unnoticed and settle in wait in front of the Tennis Club Room. The moment Sasuga appeared and walked inside Rito followed after him. Right now they were alone inside the club room, which suited our plans just fine.

"Good question Sensei. The truth is, I caught wind of a nasty pest lurking close to the school so I decided to take care of it before it can become an hindrance." Rito answered, still with a polite tone. "But to do that I need your help, Sensei."

"My help?" He blinked in confusion. "I don't understand why you would come to me, Yuuki-kun: I'm the tennis teacher, not the janitor. And what would this 'nasty pest' you're talking about be?"

"Oh, just a two-faced space chameleon called Ghi Bree." Rito finally dropped the polite act, grinning widely when the disguised alien's facade cracked from the shock of hearing his name. "I know it's you and not the real Sasuga-sensei, so cut the crap!"

Ghi remained silent for a few more seconds before chuckling, lips stretching into a cruel sneer. "Keh heh heh! To be discovered so soon... Have I underestimated you Earthlings? How terribly embarrassing! Keh heh heh! Hrahahaha!!!"

With a sudden shout Ghi's body began to change. Unlike the anime the process was disturbing both to look at and hear: the flesh flowed like hot wax, making a sound like many strips of cloth being dragged over a smooth surface, and I could hear his bones being continuously broken and set back into new configurations.

Eventually, thankfully, it ended: Ghi's new face was quite gross, being a cross between a chameleon and the type of aliens Akira Toriyama likes to draw. The skin was a bright green that reminded me of a poisonous frog, while a long and thick purple tongue was now hanging from his open mouth. Moreover his toes were now longer, to the point they ripped a hole in his shoes.

"Damn, taking a human form sure is an involved process." Ghi commented with a shrill voice. "How did you know about my [Mimesis]? I was sure I copied Sasuga's form perfectly."

Rito scoffed. "His form, yes. Your impersonification of him, however, let a lot to be desidered. A lot of people could tell something was wrong with Sasuga, so I naturally grew suspicious."

It was a lie of course, but it was a believable one.

"Is that so? How vexing." The shapeshifting alien commented while stroking his tongue as if it was a beard, uncaring of the saliva now coating his fingers. Just how much gross could he get? "Maybe I should have spent more time observing how Sasuga behaves... No matter. My goal was to drag you into a trap, so why complaining when you already did it by yourself? Keh heh heh!"

Ghi Bree took a step forward, trying to appear threatening. Sadly for him neither Rito nor I were fooled by his act: the only risk came from him using some kind of hidden tool, and that was why I felt Rito watching the alien's hands with attention. "I will say this just once: Yuuki Rito, relinquish Lala to me! I shall be the one to marry Lala and become the successor to the king of Deviluke, not some slimeball like you."

"First: fuck you. Second: no. Third: the only slimeball here it's you." Rito replied while counting off his fingers, an enraged expression on his face. "Now release the real Sasuga and leave Earth before I beat your ass six ways to Sunday."

Ghi's eyes widened in disbelief before the green alien became livid with anger. Literally in this case: the skin of his face first turned purple and then shifted to a pale green. "You little-! How dare you refuse me, the mighty Ghi Bree?! You shall pay for your insolence!"

Then he did something I was not expecting: he leaped forward, one fist clenched and ready to strike Rito. Why? It was obvious any kind of physical confrontation would instantly reveal the truth of his charade, so maybe he was hoping to intimidate Rito by pretending a willingness to use violence?

Too bad for him, both Rito and I were all too aware this was a complete farce.

That was what I thought until Hyper Intuition suddenly started screaming 'DANGER!' mere moments before Ghi's fist reached Rito. Reacting through the instincts he was borrowing from Ranma Rito squatted down, narrowly avoiding the fist as it soared above his head-

-And crashed into the metal door with a loud bang, the impact denting it outward.

Holy shit! "I thought Ghi Bree was a total wimp?!"

'I thought so too!' Rito mentally screamed as he jumped away, now very much wary of the green alien. 'This guy flinched back from me making a scary face and started screaming about dying after stumbling and hitting his head! He shouldn't be this strong!'

"Have you two forgot this is supposed to be an alternate version of the world you're familiar with?" Tsuna slowly shook his head, like a teacher disappointed in a bright student that made a very easy mistake. "Clearly this is another of the differences between the two universes. Furthermore, you should never underestimate your opponent!"

"Of all the differences possible, it has to be this one?!" I yelled in frustration as Rito dodged a vicious kick that cracked the floor.

'That's my line!'

"Less complaining, more punching." Ranma urged Rito. "Can't you see how many openings he has? Take advantage of them!"

'Guh! Alright!' Flooding his body with Chi Rito dodged Ghi's next blow and stepped inside his guard, where he proceeded to deliver several fast punches to the taller alien's chest. Spit flew out of Ghi's mouth as he stammered back, only for a rising palm strike to slam into his chin. Only luck saved Ghi from having his tongue severed, the blow lifting up and slamming his body into the room's opposite wall. "Not so tough now, uh? What's wrong you green creep, this is all you got?" Rito mocked Ghi in a very Ranma-like way, though the confidence he was projecting was half-faked.

"You dirty little savage!" Ghi Bree snarled as he pushed himself back to his feet. His chest was bruised and there was a thin line of blood dripping from his lips, but beside that he looked fine. I wondered how much punishment he could take. "You dare doing this to me, the strongest warrior of Planet Balke?! I'm the one who is destined to rule the galaxy! To stand at the pinnacle of strength! Those who dare stand in my way... shall witness the true face of Hell!!!"

Releasing a powerful bellow Ghi Bree leaned forward and flexed his muscles. With a sound akin to bamboo being crushed his whole body swelled to obscene proportions, completely destroying his clothes save for the part covering his crotch. He gained not only another foot of height, but also several sharp spikes around his body. Finally the nails of both hands and feet were replaced by wicked-looking claws.

"This... is my ultimate form." Ghi growled, his voice now several times deeper than before. "Only the most talented Balkean warriors can achieve this state, which allows them to unlock their true potential. Be honored, Yuuki Rito: you're but a worm, and yet I, the mighty Ghi Bree, shall use my full power to crush you!"

"So say the one who has yet to land a single hit on this worm." Rito answered with a deadpan. "Maybe that's your strategy? Forcing me to hear your annoying voice until I fall asleep? It must be, you clearly are one of those types completely incapable of hitting a target unless they're standing still."

"YUUUKIII RIIITOOO!!!" Ghi bellowed in anger. He grabbed a locker with one hand, the metal folding like paper under his grip, and threw it at Rito with the force and speed of a cannonball.

Rito dodged it, the locker blowing a hole into the wall, and started using both the floor and the ceiling to bounce around like a ball in a pinball machine designated by a lunatic. Ghi tried to hit him, but for all his strength the green alien was depressingly slow when compared to a master of Anything Goes Martial Arts.

"Grand Master, thank you very much." Ranma pointed out with obvious pride.

Ghi's downfall was sealed when he punched downward with both fists, only for Rito to vanish before appearing back above him. "Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken!" He shouted while launching hundreds of blows so swiftly they looked like a single strike to most, all of them aimed at Ghi's head. Already unbalanced the alien fell down on his face, which was then drilled into and through the floor.

"And for the grand finish!" Once the onslaught of strikes finally ended Rito jumped upward, bounced off the ceiling and dived back towards Ghi, yellow Chi gathering into his hands. Was he really going to-?! "Mōko Takabisha!!!"

The ki blast slammed into the green alien with the forced of a freight train, drilling his body even further into the floor. Using the recoil Rito landed out of the impact zone, taking deep breaths to recover all the stamina he used until then.

"You know, I do not believe using the Mōko Takabisha inside a building is a very smart idea. What if there was a collapse?" I pointed out with some trepidation.

'I took a calculated risk, I didn't want to drag out our fight too much. What if someone hear all the noise and come here to investigate?' Rito argued back. 'Also, the tennis club room is just a shelter, less likely to crumble than a bigger building.'

"Alright, you have a point." I reluctantly conceded. "Putting that aside... is the chameleon knocked out or what?"

Very slowly and cautiously Rito approached the large hole in the floor, ready to leap out of range at the first suspicious movement. Thankfully nothing happened, and once he was close enough Rito saw a completely still Ghi Bree, his body covered in wounds and burns. Pulling his head to the side revealed the face of someone who was knocked out cold, and the slight breathing confirmed he was still alive.

"Satisfied now?" Ranma asked Rito.

'...Yeah.' He replied, taking a few steps back before falling on his ass. 'You know, the Ghi Bree I met was one awful bastard, treating Haruna and Lala as if they were just tools. This one, on the other hand... I don't know, maybe it's because he stood his ground and fought until the very end but I don't dislike him just as much. Even if he was very arrogant.'

I kind of agreed with Rito: this version of Ghi Bree gave me a different impression compared to the one in the anime. Not quite respect, but not quite scorn either: it was a complicated feeling like that.

Still, at the moment there was something more urgent to consider. "Not to rush you Rito, but what about doing some damage control?"

"Right, right." He replied. Taking out our phone he dialed Lala's number. "Lala? It's me, Rito. Could you leave class with an excuse and come to the tennis club room? I need your help."

====

"And don't come back ever again!" Lala chastised the still unconscious Ghi Bree before activating the machine called Little Flushy-Flush Warp... which looked like a toilet shaped like a duck. I was starting to question Lala's sense of aesthetics. "Toodles!"

The machine's top opened, generating a water vortex that picked up Ghi Bree and dragged him inside before closing. Seeing it in action gave me a bit of a headache because the alien's body was several times bigger than the machine, but I chalked it up to sufficiently advanced technology.

"The stuff flushed through Little Flushy-Flush Warp is expelled from Earth, so there'll be no danger of Ghi Bree popping up again." Lala nodded in satisfaction before smiling. "Good job defeating him Rito! Ghi was gross and a bully, but he was also strong! How did you realize he took the place of Sasuga-sensei?"

"I heard some people commenting Sasuga-sensei was acting strange, so I decided to check on him while returning from my errand." I could feel lying to Lala left a bad taste in Rito's mouth, but the truth involved things we weren't ready yet to reveal. "By chance I caught him commenting out loud about his plans, so I confronted him. The rest..." He gestured to the damaged club room. "You can see it. I thought he was just good at disguising himself, but it turned out he also had a freakish strength. Are all Balkeans like that?"

"Indeed." Peke said. "The people from Planet Balke possess exceptional ability as mimics, a skill they call [Mimesis], and sturdy bodies capable of lifting several times their own weight. Moreover Ghi Bree has been recognized as the strongest Balkean currently in existence, although the list of Lady Lala's suitors includes even more powerful individuals. It's not wrong to say that only the absurdly rich and the absurdly strong have the privilege to be counted among them. It's a really fierce and violent competition, oh yes."

There were people even stronger than Ghi? Holy shit I thought I was in a comedy manga, not a shounen one! Was that one of the reasons I had such powerful people in my head? Because their strength was actually needed?

"It's annoying, that's what it is." Lala pulled out her tongue. "All they did was fighting each other and telling me I should marry them, no one ever tried to know more about me. They didn't care about me, they just wanted to become Papa's successor!"

"It wouldn't say it's right, but the prospect of becoming king of the whole galaxy is bound to attract many unsavory subjects." Rito scratched his head. "Listen Lala, what do you say we fix the club room and then go back to class? We relax and then go search for the real Sasuga-sensei once classes end."

"That's a great idea Rito." Lala smiled and nodded. "Let's go."

====

"Again! Rock, paper, scissor!"

"Again! Rock, paper, scissor!"

"Again! Rock, paper, scissor!"

I stared at the Ninja and Overlord furiously playing the most classic of hand games with an even expression before turning to Rin. "Alright, what exactly is going on here?"

"Remember when we discussed the skill [Save And Reload] and why you need me to use it?" He asked, to which I nodded. "A short while ago Minato wondered why the skill is called like that when it's supposed to just rewind time. That made me wonder if it can affect time in more ways than just turning time back. Basically, after a long discussion we agreed it's worth a try to test how time flows when you jump to a different world. I won't deny this idea carries some manner of risk, but so far [Utopia Di Anima Leggendaria] showed only positive effects."

"And I wanted to try [Doorway To Infinity] sooner or later, so why not now?" I finished with a nod. Still I only had one World Key for now, so I needed to decide carefully-wait. "You guys are fine with me trying one of your own doors?"

"At this point? It's about time, and everyone gave their approval. Which is also why those two-" Rin pointed to Sasuke and Laharl. "Are like this: they both wanted their own world to be chosen, so now they're gambling to decide who goes first. Quite silly, uh?"

"You can say that again."