*Note: Today it won't be any picture due to certain circumstances but in exchange, tomorrow I upload three of them.
Have a good day :)
...
A few days later. Specifically, Wednesday.
Normally we'd focus on our protagonist, Akira, but this time we're turning the spotlight on Mikan.
At Mikan's school, Mikan and her friends were chatting peacefully during lunch…
"Lately you look happier. Did something good happen, Mikan?" one girl asked.
Her name was Sachie, one of Mikan's friends. Sachie was a cheerful, outgoing, expressive girl of average height for her age, with short light-brown hair that she sometimes wore in a ponytail or held back with a headband.
"Is it that obvious?" Mikan asked, curious.
"Even I noticed. You've been looking happier lately…" another girl said calmly.
This girl was Mami, one of Mikan's closest friends. Mami was quiet, upbeat, and very loyal, and she admired Mikan for everything she could do and for how mature she was. Mami stood around 147 cm, with straight black hair down to her shoulders or longer. Her adorable expression made it clear at a glance how calm and gentle she was.
"It's true something good happened… but I can't say," Mikan admitted.
She was trying to hide it, but ever since she'd become Akira's girlfriend and discovered a whole new world of possibilities she'd never even dared to dream of… happiness was practically radiating from her skin. In fact, even Rito—usually denser than a brick—had noticed how happy Mikan was.
"I'm pretty smart. Let me guess…" another girl chimed in.
Unlike in the anime, where Mikan only had two friends at school, here there was a third. Her name was Hikari Yagami.
Hikari—"Kari" to her friends—was a little shorter than average, with smooth, straight light-brown hair that fell a little past her shoulders, and reddish eyes. Kari was the smartest of the four and the one who worried most about Mikan. She also wore a small whistle around her soft neck. She always carried it with her.
Author's Note: This is a To Love Ru–exclusive fic, but since I can't write a Digimon fic—and believe me, I'd love to—I decided to add my two favorite characters from Digimon Adventure 01 to this story: Kari and Tai. Their lore in this world will be explained shortly and it will all make sense. I've spent days crafting a backstory so they fit this world logically. Please stick around to see how it connects!
"You've got a boyfriend! No doubt about it! That happy face, that smile… My incredible powers of deduction say you have a boyfriend!" Kari exclaimed.
Intrigued by their friend's claim, Sachie and Mami quickly turned to Mikan, who blushed and immediately denied everything.
"N-No! I'm still too young for that!" Mikan protested.
But her three friends knew her too well and could tell she was lying. Normally, Mikan was calm and unflappable, but the moment Kari said "boyfriend," she turned red to her ears and rushed to deny it. Pretty clear she was hiding something.
"You've got a lot of virtues, Mikan, but keeping secrets isn't one of them. It's painfully obvious Kari's right," Sachie said.
"Eh?" Mikan blinked, confused.
How had they seen through her so fast? Sometimes Mikan was amazed by Kari's brains.
"Our dear Mikan has a boyfriend… Tell us. What's he like? Is he from our school? Is it Satou-kun, the soccer club captain?" Kari asked, curious.
"No way! I don't like that show-off!" Mikan shot back immediately.
That boy was way too arrogant just because he could play soccer. Besides, after meeting Kari's brother, only professional players could impress her—certainly not a kid with a superiority complex.
"So… he's not from our school?" Mami asked.
She, too, was eager to know who had managed to capture their friend's heart.
"Um… no… He goes to another school," Mikan said.
Since they'd already figured it out, it was better to answer their questions. They were her best friends, after all, and she trusted them completely.
"Is he older than us?" Sachie pressed.
Mikan said nothing—she just nodded.
"Incredible! How much older?" Kari asked.
They never would have guessed Mikan's boyfriend was older than her.
Blushing and unable to speak, Mikan lowered her head and timidly raised her left hand.
"Five years older?!" all three cried in surprise.
Author's Note: Here I made a mistake that nobody caught. I wrote Akira as 15 in second year and Yami as 14 in first year… which is impossible. Based on Japan's school system, Akira should be in first year of high school and Yami in her final year of middle school. It doesn't affect the story much whether he's 15 or 16, so please consider him 16—I'll correct all previous chapters later. Thanks!
They might have expected one year, maybe two at most—but five?! What had happened in such a short time?!
The girls had noticed Mikan had been coming to school happier lately, but when they asked, she simply said it was because she didn't have as much to do at home. Hearing that, they assumed her brother was helping her—they never would have thought otherwise. But now it all made sense. It wasn't that her brother was helping—no, she had a boyfriend, and he was probably helping her. Now everything clicked into place!
"Um… yes," Mikan nodded shyly.
A few students glanced over, but quickly looked away, afraid of being caught staring.
It bears mentioning that Mikan, Sachie, Mami, and Kari were the most popular and beautiful girls in the entire school.
Mikan was calm, mature, smart, and good at sports. A cool beauty that all the boys desired but only dared admire from afar.
Kari, on the other hand, was the smartest girl in school. A disaster at sports due to her fragile body and health, but a prodigy when it came to intelligence. Kari had an IQ of 147.
Because of her high intelligence, the school tried to move her into an advanced class, but she refused, saying she wanted to enjoy her childhood and stay with her friends instead of studying all day. With her brains, it was only a matter of time before Kari succeeded in life without skipping grades. She also had an unusual connection with animals, especially cats. In fact, some people thought Kari could understand them and communicate with them. Of course, that last part wasn't true, but what was true was that Kari's affinity with animals rivaled Nana's—which is remarkable, considering Kari is an ordinary human.
She wasn't the only genius in the family, either—her brother Tai was one as well. While Tai wasn't especially gifted academically, he was extremely talented in sports, particularly soccer. He was so good that some scouts already wanted him for their teams, and it was said that if he kept it up, he could debut at the international level. That's how good Tai was at soccer.
Author's Note: Those are their backgrounds. In the anime, Kari was smart but not a prodigy, but since there are no Digimon in this world, I gave her a fitting "gift." As for Tai, I simply boosted his original soccer talent. I think it turned out well, but I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Lastly, Sachie and Mami. They were also very smart and beautiful—and good at sports to boot. They just didn't stand out as much compared to Mikan and Kari, but if Mikan and Kari didn't exist, either of them could be considered the top student in the entire school.
That said, and obviously, the four girls got love letters from boys every day—and they turned them all down.
Until a few days ago, Mikan wasn't interested in romance because of her complicated family situation, while Kari, Sachie, and Mami simply hadn't met anyone they liked yet. To be honest, none of the three were into boys their age; they preferred older guys—but the boys at school didn't know that. If they did, they'd cry.
Also, all four of them had fan clubs. Just a fun fact.
"Why don't you tell us what happened?" Sachie asked, excited.
"I'm curious too. How did Mikan, the school's ice-cold beauty, fall for an older guy? Hehe, I wonder what the boys here would say if they found out," Kari said with a teasing smile.
Mami was curious as well, so she nodded along with the other two.
"Um… I don't think we've got time… It's a really long story…" Mikan said, embarrassed.
Good thing there were only a few students in the classroom—if they'd seen Mikan blushing like this, they would have thought they were dreaming. Luckily, most of the students were in the cafeteria, and only a handful had stayed behind.
"Lunch period just started. I'd say there's plenty of time," Sachie said.
"Besides, I won't be able to focus in class later unless I know what happened," Kari nodded.
The three girls looked at her and thought the same thing: Do you even need to focus? Kari always got the highest scores and sometimes even corrected the teachers if they made a mistake—whether in a calculation or a fact. Someone like that doesn't need to pay attention in class. They are the ones who need to pay attention.
"Ahem… since you're insisting so much, I'll tell you," Mikan said.
In truth, she was dying to talk about it. She still hadn't told Rito and had no plans to do so anytime soon, so she was eager to tell someone—and who better than her friends—and brag a little about her boyfriend.