The next plan

(Ryoto's pov)

Shizu: "Why do you smell like death even though you're alive?"

Ryoto: "I don't know."

Pretending ignorance is often the correct choice if you want to fool someone.

Ryoto: "By the way, can I ask you something?"

And changing the conversation topic as fast as possible could be unnatural. Still, if you manage to keep the conversation going, the other person hopefully forgets about the first question or just loses interest in it.

Shizu: "Huh? Sure."

Ryoto: "Are you bounded to this place, and if not, why didn't you leave?"

Shizu was surprised by my question, but she did answer it shortly after.

Shizu: "No, I'm not bounded here. It's just where I died, and I didn't leave because I didn't know what I would do outside."

Ryoto: "I see, anyway, it was nice meeting you and all, but I need to check up on my friend who just ran away. If you decide to go outside, just look for me or anyone from the group before. Bye."

And so I left, leaving Shizu and her thoughts alone once more. Outside everyone was waiting for me.

Risa: "What took you so long? Having a chat with a ghost?"

She asked jokingly.

Ryoto: "Yeah, the dead are surprisingly chatty these days. Oh, by the way, Mikado-sensei, you'll get an assistant in the new future."

Ryouko seemed intrigued by what I just said.

Ryouko: "And what makes you think that?"

Ryoto: "Let's just say it's a hunch. For now, I will take Rito and go home."

I helped Rito get up, and on our way home, I asked Lala to go ahead as I planned to talk with Rito. She obliged as she also wanted to speak with Mikan alone.

Rito was down because of the previous events, so I tried to cheer him up a bit.

Ryoto: " You know, Rito, one failure doesn't mean anything. You can even use today's failure to succeed tomorrow."

Rito: "*Sigh* I sometimes envy your positivity Nii-San."

Karen: "Sometimes ignorance is bliss."

'Yeah, but it's better this way.'

Ryoto: "Listen to your big brother. You've got yourself a big opportunity today."

Rito looked confused.

Rito: "What do you mean by that?"

Ryoto: "Well, our group have now excuse to go to Haruna's house and apologize to her. You can get even by her a gift as an apology."

Rito looked at me as if he had found God.

Rito: "Nii-San, are you a genius?"

Ryoto: "Sometimes, but this is really the last time. I feel a little bit bad because you got beat up and this whole alien situation, but the results still depend on you."

Rito: "Yeah, I know but still, thank you, Nii-San."

Rito smiled gently, and I patted his head roughly, changing his hairstyle slightly.

Rito: "Nii-San, stop."

Rito protested, and I stopped.

Ryoto: "Well, better hurry home. I'm quite hungry after today, and Mikan's dishes are usually delicious, let's hope it doesn't change today."

I joked a bit to ease up the atmosphere. Rito chuckled at this, and soon we arrived at our house. Inside, Mikan was already making dinner, and Private and Lala were helping her.

Private: "...and remember, Lala, the secret ingredient is always love."

Private made a cute pose.

Lala: "I see, I see, so that's why Mikan's food is always so delicious."

Lala nodded a few times and wrote some things in her notebook.

Mikan: "Well, even with love, you need some skills to prepare a proper meal. But I must admit, food made by the person you care about is always tastier."

At that moment, Lala noticed us.

Lala: "Rito, Ryoto, welcome back."

Ryoto: "Thanks. Are you the one making dinner tonight?"

Lala: "Yes! Mikan and Private are helping me out!"

Ryoto: "And what made you want to do it all of a sudden?"

Lala did a famous finger twiddle and explained herself.

Lala: "Today, you seemed sad after you helped Yui, so I asked Mikan what would make you happy, and she said a homemade dinner by me, and since I've never cooked anything, she and Private are helping me."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't expect her to think about it for so long. After my fast 'recovery', I felt that she would believe that I was okay.

I hugged this adorable creature, and she returned it in kind.

Mikan seeing this smiled warmly and returned to the kitchen. Private was satisfied with what he was seeing left as well. Rito blushed a little at our affection but quickly recovered and looked slightly jealous because he also wanted to have a similar relationship with Haruna.

We ate dinner made by Lala. I could tell she put a lot of effort into making it, and I didn't waste anything. I think I ate three portions worth of food, but I usually ate more because of my spider powers. Need more energy for all that strength.

After dinner, I watered Celine, making her happy, I think and checking up on penguins. Kowalski was most often found in Lala's lab tinkering with machines. I'm honestly surprised he didn't do anything dangerous yet, besides that fish, of course. We still haven't found him...

Rico was together with Kowalski to watch over Kowalski. After the fish incident, I asked him if Kowalski starts building something threatening, he is allowed to destroy it. It killed two birds with one stone. It satisfied the destructive nature of Rico and kept safe our whole neighborhood, if not the city.

Skipper was training and watching military programs. He enjoyed it, saying that it reminded him of his younger days.

Private, as I've mentioned earlier, was helping Lala with dinner but usually, it's only he and Mikan that are in the kitchen. He got interested in the art of cooking and became proficient in it fast. Private mostly made fish dishes. He also liked to watch some cute-looking anime as his favorite show didn't exist in this world. One of his favorites was a magical girl show that would make me get diabetes or epilepsy just by looking at it.

I finally lay in my bed next to Lala. As I hugged her from behind, I said.

Ryoto: "Hey, Lala."

Lala: "Yeah?"

Ryoto: "Thank you for today. It was a great surprise, and it made me really happy."

Lala, hearing that turned around to face me and showed me a beautiful smile.

Lala: "You're welcome!"

I'm truly fortunate to have her in my life.

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END

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