"What's with that face?" Rafael asked with a slight smile.
Lala sat down slowly, her hand mostly covering her breasts while her tail wrapped around her crotch. "What do you mean?" Although a huge blush covered her face, Lala kept smiling as if she wasn't obviously covering herself in embarrassment.
Rafael raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean what do I mean, I'm talking about you boldly coming to lie down naked in my bed and now looking embarrassed."
Lala didn't change her expression, she simply kept smiling while her eyes stared at him without the slightest tremor. "Mm~? What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about." She tilted her head, looking confused before suddenly standing up.
Rafael just stared at her in disbelief while the girl shamelessly pretended nothing had happened.
"Peke, wake up, quick, dress-form." Lala grabbed Peke who was sleeping beside the bed.
"Mm~? Yawn~...Is it morning already?" The little robot stretched her arms slowly while somehow her eyes watered.
"Quick Peke! Dress-form!" But without giving the robot time to properly wake up, Lala shook her urgently.
"Ah! Yes!" The robot then glowed pink, covering them both.
The next moment, Lala appeared wearing her characteristic Deviluke outfit.
"I have to do something, see you later Rafael, bye!" She hurriedly said goodbye, her smiling face still red as she quickly opened the window and flew out.
Rafael just watched all of this with one eyebrow raised, her clearly rushed behavior looking rather funny and somewhat cute to his eyes.
He then laughed lightly while shaking his head. "I really don't get this girl, one moment she gets naked in front of me like it's the most normal thing and the next she's embarrassed? I don't get her." He got out of bed stretching and yawning.
[I think in her case it's because it's too intimate, she probably doesn't care about being seen naked by anyone, but you touching her might make her lose her composure? At that specific moment you slept hugging her, and she apparently got aroused, she has reasons to feel embarrassed.]
Rafael pushed his hair back from his forehead with one hand while the other rested on his waist, thoughtful at Ariel's words. "Yeah, maybe that's it, and if that's the case I'll have to talk to her, I can't have my fiancée going around getting naked randomly in front of anyone."
[Oh~? Already getting jealous~?]
"Jealous? I thought it was more like possessiveness? Besides, that's literally common sense, no sane person would let their partner expose themselves freely, especially if it's a man."
[Hahaha, so you're not denying it?]
"Nah, unfortunately for Lala her fiancé is toxic, and I'll show her all my toxicity when I wake her up with morning kisses, breakfast in bed and back massages."
[Haha, right right]
Taking off his shirt and throwing it over the bed, Rafael raised an eyebrow while looking up. "By the way, did you watch us while we slept?"
[No need to worry about that, it was censored, I only deduced what had happened based on your positions, I have no interest whatsoever in seeing you two being intimate.]
Rafael narrowed his eyes, doubtful. "Are you sure about that?"
[Obviously, why would I waste my time watching two people having sex through a screen? I'm not like you or those weirdos on the internet, to make it clearer for you, it would be like watching two dogs mating in the middle of the street, you might find it strange or even funny but that's it.]
"Huh... that was a weird example but I think I get what you mean." That explanation made him understand more about Ariel's character as well as give him an idea of what kind of being she was.
"Are you some kind of superior being like the one who brought me here or something?"
[Not the same, but I can say I'm a kind of superior being compared to humans or any other being from your world.]
"Hmm, doesn't look like it at all, you sound more like some weird aunt." Rafael shook his head at that, Ariel didn't give that impression, she had a mature voice, not like a milf, but definitely an adult woman.
[...Aunt?]
Ignoring Ariel's questioning tone, Rafael grabbed a towel from his wardrobe and headed toward the bathroom downstairs.
[Hey, don't ignore me! What do you mean by aunt?]
...
Sitting at the dining table, Rafael, Rito and Mikan ate their breakfast.
Rafael wore the full school uniform, checkered green pants, a pastel blazer over a white button-up shirt and a green tie, he was using a spoon to eat an unknown dish Mikan had made for him.
He only knew it was made with vegetables and seafood.
Chewing, he looked at Rito who seemed completely normal, apparently already having accepted what he heard yesterday or more wisely choosing not to think about it.
Meeting Rafael's gaze, he smiled carefreely.
Rafael then looked at Mikan, the younger girl calmly eating too, apparently already having accepted what he had said.
['Am I really overthinking this or was her reaction too mild? I don't know, it seemed way too easy, not just her but Rito also accepted it too easily, or am I just wasting brain cells trying to figure out something that makes no sense?']
[I believe that's the case, you're wasting your brain cells, just accept it and stop being paranoid, don't forget what kind of world you're in now.]
['Right right.'] While he was thinking, Mikan ended up sensing his gaze and as if she could read his mind, calmly smiled as she said:
"Don't worry Rafael, I'm not doubting what you said, it's just that sometimes my life gets... strange, being the daughter of a famous mangaka and all." She went back to eating still with a smile on her face.
['Right... I don't know what that has to do with anything but okay.'] "It's just that I was worried I was abusing your hospitality and all, you know, bringing a new tenant out of nowhere, besides the fact she's from space and all the rest."
"I understand, don't worry, it's all fine."
Seeing the girl continue to smile and act as if it were no big deal, Rafael felt his suspicion rise but since he had already decided not to think too much about it he let it go.
"By the way, has anyone ever told you you're very mature for your age?" He pointed at her curiously before putting the spoon in his mouth.
"Yes, I hear that often."
"Hmm." Rafael hummed while chewing. ['Tsk tsk, poor thing.']
The corner of Mikan's mouth twitched imperceptibly at hearing that thought from Rafael.
['Anyway, I'll help her with the house chores later.']
But those following thoughts made her look at him silently after blinking, a small satisfaction present in her gaze.
While Mikan ate now seeming satisfied with something, something Rafael noticed but didn't care about, his gaze shifted to Rito as he asked. "And you Rito? What's your opinion?"
Rito, who until then had been silently watching their conversation, blinked for a moment before smiling and rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, actually I didn't think much about it, I just decided to accept it without questioning." He then gave a goofy laugh while smiling completely.
Rafael stared at him for a moment before lightly smiling with a look of understanding and giving a thumbs up too. "Wise decision."
The two exchanged a nod before going back to eating.
['Indeed, when your new tenant comes home engaged to an alien princess the best decision is not to try to understand, otherwise you risk having an existential crisis.']
[I guess you could say they chose that option to avoid going crazy or something.]
['Possibly.']
After that small conversation, the three finished their breakfast and finally left for their schools.
...
Sitting in his chair with his hands behind his head, Rafael waited for the teacher to return so class could continue.
His eyes were closed as he sang internally.
['I'm not afraid (I'm not afraid) to take a stand~ (to take a stand~) Everybody! (Everybody!) Come take my hand~ (Come take my hand~)...']
[...]
While Rafael's not-at-all chaotic head echoed with a classic and Ariel watched in silence, a light laugh sounded from behind him, catching his attention.
"Hehehe~."
Opening one eye and looking over his shoulder, Rafael looked at the desk behind where Rito was, stupidly smiling with his face half-red while staring out the window.
He had been like that since they came back from break.
['Something must have happened between him and the blue-haired girl for him to be like that.'] His gaze then shifted to said girl who was fiddling with her notebook. ['I wonder what happened... did they hold hands!? Wow, these kids these days are moving too fast, tsk tsk tsk.'] Closing his eyes again while smiling, he didn't notice Sairenji's slight tremor or how she soon threw him a dry look.
['By the way Ariel, does my system have a status window?']
[Yes]
Rafael blinked, not expecting confirmation. ['Wait, seriously?']
[Yes, just think about it and it will appear.]
He wasted no time after hearing that. ['Status']
And then a white transparent holographic screen appeared in front of him.
[Name: Rafael Sales
Age: 15(23)
Sex: Male
[Current Cards: 1
[Kaleb (Sense Life) +
Current Uses: 4/5
[Plot Points: 50]
[Lottery]
It was a simple and practical interface, it had his information, his current cards, his points and the lottery function, he focused more on the one next to Kaleb's name and the information about the card appeared, about who he was, where he came from and the specific functions of the card.
Rafael then shifted focus to the points he had. ['These 50 points are what I got yesterday for the fight against Zastin?']
[Yes]
['Isn't that too little?']
[You would have gotten more if you hadn't used the card.]
Rafael could only nod at Ariel's words. ['Yeah, fair enough, by the way, how many did I have before?']
[100]
['Huh.'] He understood that a hundred was the minimum value for something useful, or at least not useless, though he thought he was lucky to get Kaleb, even if it wasn't him with all his powers.
After that conversation with Ariel, Rafael went back to singing internally while waiting for the teacher's return and he didn't have to wait long.
The old bald man with glasses appeared at the door and went up to the podium. "Silence class, before we begin I have an announcement to make for you."
The students who were chatting or focused on other things turned their attention to him with Rafael himself still waiting in his relaxed pose for what he was going to say.
Seeing that everyone was quiet, the old teacher looked at the door. "You can come in now."
At his words, the door opened and a familiar face appeared.
The students were immediately stunned, the surprise or shock was evident in their faces, some exclaiming out loud along with the reactions.
"I don't believe it!"
"What the hell!?"
"What!? Am I hallucinating!? Quick! Slap me!"
Slap!
"Argh!"
While chaos reigned in the classroom, Sairenji looked surprised, not expecting that, the last thing she expected that day was to see her there.
Rito looked equally surprised as he blinked while his mouth opened slightly, also not expecting to see her there.
Rafael just looked with a slight smile at her, surprised at first, but that surprise faded when he realized this was a predictable scenario.
Stopping in front of the podium, Lala, now wearing the school's female uniform, cheerfully waved at Rafael. "Yoho~ Hi Rafael~! I study here now! Isn't it cool~?"