"Mikan, Rito disappeared!"
Mikan, who was cooking breakfast, had her attention drawn by Lala's shout from the upper floor.
"Disappeared?" Mikan asked.
"Yes! I went to look for him, but he's not in his room" Lala replied as she hurried down the stairs.
"He probably just went out to clear his head for a while, he's been under a lot of stress lately."
"Is it… because of me?" Lala asked, feeling guilty. Even though she felt she had been holding herself back lately to avoid causing trouble, maybe for humans she was still too much.
"No. He just has some things to think about" Mikan replied.
Ding Dong!
"It must be Rito." Lala heard the doorbell and immediately exclaimed.
"Rito doesn't ring the doorbell, I'll get it" Mikan corrected her as she untied her kitchen apron and walked toward the door.
"Hello? Do you need something?" she asked when she opened the door and found a small woman she didn't know.
"Is Lala here?" the small woman asked.
"Yes, I'll call her right away."
Mikan assumed she was probably another one of Lala's strange acquaintances and called her without asking more questions.
"Lala, you have a visitor!"
However, without waiting, the woman entered the house ignoring Mikan and rushed toward Lala excitedly.
Mikan ignored that, instead paying attention to the other newcomer.
"Rito, where are you coming from?"
"I just went out for a walk" Rito replied.
"Come in, breakfast is almost ready. Do you know that woman?"
Mikan stepped aside and returned to the kitchen.
After closing the door, Rito followed her, glancing at the unfamiliar woman in the living room while she chatted excitedly with Lala.
"No, I just saw that Zastin brought her" Rito said, shaking his head.
"What!? Impossible!"
But they did not continue discussing it, because they stopped when they heard the scream of the woman who had just entered and watched as she turned to stone, literally, in front of them.
"Lala, is she okay?" Mikan asked worriedly.
"Yes, she… Rito, you're back!"
"What's wrong with her?" Rito repeated the question.
"It's normal for her race. They turn to stone when they suffer a shock of surprise, but it passes with time" Lala explained casually.
"Should we… move her or something?" Rito said, unsure what to do. At least he didn't overreact, he was already somewhat used to the weirdness of outer space.
"It's fine, she'll be fine in a minute" Lala said.
"Then, who is she and what happened?" Mikan asked.
"In short, her name is Stellar and she's the president of my fan club, my first and biggest fan in the galaxy, at least that's what she said.
She wanted to turn me into a star and turned to stone when I told her I couldn't because I'm engaged."
"Then…" Mikan hesitated, alternating her gaze between Stellar and Rito. "She's going to cause trouble for Rito when she goes back to normal, right?"
"...Maybe?" Lala said, looking to the side and trying to avoid the firm gaze Mikan directed at her.
Crack!
While they were talking, Stellar unpetrified and her entire body was briefly surrounded by a kind of golden fire aura.
Her eyes were burning, literally, as she looked at Rito and ran toward him angrily.
"You! You are not worthy of being with Lala!
How dare you chain Lala like this? I order you right now to release Lala and let her be free."
"I-I..."
"Stellar, I chose to marry Rito, he didn't chain me. Besides, I don't want to be a star" Lala interrupted.
"No way! Princess Lala doesn't want to be a star?! This is all your fault, you'd better take responsibility" Stellar said dramatically.
"Take responsibility? You don't want me to become a st..."
"Pffft. You? Impossible. There's no way you'd succeed with that face. Take me to perfect people, beautiful, successful, powerful, whatever as long as they have the potential to become a star" Stellar interrupted. "You must take responsibility for making me lose a future star like Lala because of your low level primitive instincts."
"But I only know a few people. Wouldn't it be better to ask Lala? She knows many more" Rito said, confused.
From Rito's point of view, he had said something perfectly reasonable, but for Stellar it was incredibly stupid and she looked at him like he was an idiot.
"Are you stupid? How am I supposed to ask a girl to take me to someone better than her fiancé? Do you think I, the great Stellar, who brought out the maximum potential of thousands and turned them into famous stars, have no emotional intelligence?" she said indignantly.
"Ah! I know, I know! I know someone who might work for you" Lala said excitedly with a sudden idea.
"Emm… well, I think Miss Lala found someone more suitable to be a star.
This doesn't necessarily mean they're better. Zastin, for example, is a thousand times better than many of my stars, but he doesn't have what it takes to be one.
You understand? Different types of people have different advantages and disadvantages."
After hearing Lala say she knew someone seconds after claiming that asking her to choose someone would be the same as naming someone better than her fiancé, Stellar looked at Rito with compassion like a kind mother before quickly thinking of an excuse.
'Is an alien comforting me?' Rito thought, not knowing how the situation ended up like this.
In reality, Rito had thought of someone. Thinking of someone with the potential to be a star, he immediately thought of someone whose smile seemed to melt hearts and whose indiscriminate kindness awakened protective instincts in anyone, but he didn't want to tell Stellar, not wanting her to be taken to space.
'So if I thought of Haruna, Lala probably thought of...'
"Wait, Lala. Stellar is going to take that person far away, you know? Are you sure you want to introduce the person you're thinking about?"
Mikan joined the conversation, having thought the same thing as Rito.
Hearing this, Lala's expression immediately changed, hesitating.
"W-well… now that I think about it, I can't think of anyone" Lala backed down immediately after realizing it.
But Stellar's aura, which had already faded, flared up again.
"What's this? My producer instincts detect drama. I'm about to find a great show!" she said excitedly.
"Speak, young lady. Who are you talking about?"
Knowing Lala wouldn't say anything, Stellar went directly to Mikan, who clearly knew about the situation since she had intervened earlier.
"No, I have no idea" Mikan lied without hesitating for even a second.
"A-anyway, since we don't know anyone who could work for you, why don't you search on your own?" Rito said, trying to get rid of what he had already internally labeled as a nuisance.
"Fine! With my great skills I'm sure I can find great talent on Earth. I have a very rare day off under the excuse of bringing Lala, so I intend to use that time to find someone."
As soon as she said that, Stellar ran out of the living room in a cartoonish way, slamming the door as she left, the sound echoing throughout the house.
"So, problem solved?" Mikan asked.
"I don't know… maybe?" Lala replied uncertainly.
"At least until she comes back it won't be a problem" Mikan said as she returned to the kitchen to try to finish breakfast for the third time.
"OH LA LA! TALENT IN SIGHT!"
But she had to stop again when she heard Stellar shouting from outside.
"...could it be a coincidence?" Rito tried to convince himself while looking at Lala, who was already heading outside.
"Hey! Don't ignore me like I'm some kind of pest!"
Stellar's loud voice echoed again, loud enough to be heard inside the house.
"Doesn't seem like it..." Rito muttered to himself, easily recognizing who would attract Stellar's attention but would immediately treat her like a nuisance.
Knowing who they were talking about, he followed Lala, who was already running outside the house.
At the neighboring house, Stellar was pushing the door trying to get in, while Yuuji pushed from the other side trying to keep her out.
"Wait!" Lala shouted as she ran toward them. "You can't take Yuuji!"
"Lala, who is she?" Yuuji asked through the small opening in the door.
"Ah! She's Stellar, she's kind of my fan, she's from a race that..."
"Enough" Yuuji interrupted. "So she's an alien and not a human?"
Although he asked, he had already assumed it was true, so he stopped holding back and slammed the door shut, hitting Stellar, who bounced backward like a ball, just like in a cartoon.
"That man… how dare he treat the great Stellar like that? Just because he's a little handsome and has some style. No matter, once I turn him into a star under my command I'll pay him back," Stellar ranted, angry at Yuuji.
"Stellar, you can't take Yuuji" Lala interrupted her.
"Why not?" Stellar asked.
"You just can't."
"Even though I'm your fan, Miss Lala, I can't ignore talent like that. Just because you're the president of the group doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. I promised to bring back a star and I have to do it or I'll be in trouble."
"But it doesn't have to be Yuuji, search farther away" Lala exclaimed.
"You found someone so quickly, so why don't you search a little more? I'm sure you'll find someone again" Rito tried to reason.
But Stellar mocked this.
"Impossible. Do you think finding talent like that is easy? I'm not going to risk losing something certain by chasing possibilities and wasting time I could spend convincing the handsome guy over there."
"His name is Yuuji, not handsome guy, and you can't take him" Lala repeated firmly.
"Why not?!"
"Because life on Earth would be much more boring without Yuuji!"
"Oh..."
Stellar stroked her chin with interest and looked at Lala as if she had discovered something.
"I see. Since Princess Lala says that, then I should give it a chance."
But although she said that, in her mind she was thinking something completely different.
'Heh heh, a love triangle starring Princess Lala herself. If I can broadcast this, then I'll have a hit show across the galaxy.'
'She's definitely thinking something bad. How do we solve this?' Rito thought when he saw Stellar's intrigued expression.
"Well, since you understand, go look for another talent veeeery faaaaar away" Lala said, emphasizing the last part while pushing her away without realizing anything.
"Of course, Miss Lala. I will go look for talent. Still, if I fail to find anyone, I hope you will allow yourself to hear my proposal. I traveled a long way to come here after all" Stellar said, appealing to Lala's kind nature.
"Sure" Lala replied without paying much attention as long as she left.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)