Later that same day, after somehow managing to sneak out of the girls' locker room without being noticed, Rafael returned to class right as the bell rang to end recess, where he continued being stared at with open hostility by the male students.
While he thought he'd be chased after school, they just stared without doing anything once Lala had left.
And so went his first day of school in this world—a very unique way to start a new life, to say the least.
Now he was sitting on a grassy patch near one of those open river canals you see in anime.
He was gazing thoughtfully at the starry sky, supporting himself with his hands behind him. ['Didn't Mikan accept all this a little too easily? Or am I just overthinking it because that's how this world works?']
[Yes, you're definitely overthinking it.]
['Yeah, I think so too.']
This question popped into his head because Mikan had accepted Lala's existence way too easily. The excuse he gave was that she was a friend from where he came from and that she had secretly followed him.
It was a completely ridiculous excuse, yet Mikan accepted it with a smile.
"So, Rafael, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Pulling him out of his thoughts, he looked to the side where Lala stood, hands behind her back, still wearing that outfit made by Peke.
She tilted slightly while smiling at him.
Rafael stared at her for a moment before simply saying, "I wanted to know why you're still here."
Lala blinked. "What do you mean?"
Rafael raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Aren't you on the run? So why are you here? Wouldn't it be better for you to go hide out somewhere isolated or something?"
Lala blinked again before pouting. "Why are you saying that? Don't you want me to stay here?" She even threw in puppy-dog eyes.
Rafael's face twitched at how she basically dodged the core of his question. "That's not the point, girl."
Rafael didn't actually have a problem with it—what was bugging him was that he couldn't believe he was basically taking Rito's place in the plot.
['I know I triggered the canon event, but that shouldn't mean I'm taking Rito's place, right? I mean, I clearly said I didn't want to get involved in her mess.']
[I don't know why you're still doubting that—these are called "scenarios" for a reason. Of course if you trigger one, the result's gonna be the same as the original. Meaning, you're Lala's fiancé.]
['Yeah, seems like that really is the case.']
[And what's the problem? I thought you were fine with that.]
['And I am, but anyone can tell you becoming the fiancé of an alien princess from a galactic empire is not a simple and easy thing.']
"Hey."
Snapping out of his conversation with Ariel, Rafael was startled to see Lala's face suddenly close to his, causing him to instinctively lean back.
Seeing she had his attention, she pulled away, still smiling. "You don't have to worry about that because the answer is very simple." She said, hands on her hips.
"And what's that answer?"
She pointed at him as she cheerfully exclaimed, "I've decided that you'll be my fiancé~!"
Rafael blinked slowly, then pinched the bridge of his nose. ['Yeah, that basically confirms it.'] "And how exactly does me being your fiancé have anything to do with your running away?"
Since he wasn't supposed to know what was going on, he had to play the role of the completely clueless guy. ['Although I gotta say, pretending not to know anything is kinda boring.']
Lala just beamed at him. "That's because I'm running away from an unwanted engagement."
Letting go of his nose, he looked back at her. "So your solution to that situation is to get a new fiancé outside of what was planned for you? Did you not think about how problematic that might be for me?"
Lala waved her hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Rafael stared at her blankly. ['This girl really has no shame.']
While he had a deadpan look, she kept smiling carefreely, and then a new voice echoed through the area.
"Finally found you two! Damn confusing planet!"
As the two turned to look at the source of the voice, they saw a man approaching along the sidewalk.
"Eh? Zastin?" Lala looked surprised.
Rafael just stared silently, trying to remember who the hell this guy was.
The man—Zastin—walked up and stopped a few steps away from them. "Now that I've found you, you can come with me, Lala-sama. No more running away."
Rafael looked him up and down. The man had grayish hair and matching eyes, shoulder-length, and he was wearing an armor with a cape that looked like it was made of bone—something Rafael actually thought looked pretty cool.
['Yeah... I give up, I have no idea who this guy is.'] No matter how hard he tried to remember, he had zero clue who Zastin was, but just based on his "character design," he could already tell this guy was important.
"I don't want to marry someone I don't even know! How hard is that to understand?!" Lala exclaimed, frustrated, flailing her arms.
"But you're the princess of the Deviluke Empire, Lala-sama! It's your duty—"
"I don't care!"
Zastin sighed tiredly. "Why must you be so stubborn, milady?"
Lala then smiled, hands on her hips. "Anyway, I don't plan on running away anymore, so don't worry."
Zastin looked hopeful. "Then that means—"
"No, I'm not going back with you. I'm not running away anymore because I found my own fiancé." Lala grinned brightly.
Zastin's eye twitched at that. "And who would that be? Don't tell me..." His gaze turned to Rafael.
"Hm~ Hm~." Lala nodded and pointed to Rafael. "Yup~! This is my fiancé, Rafael!"
And the boy in question had just stood up from the ground, brushing dirt off his pants. He looked at the two who were now staring at him with very different expressions.
Zastin stared blankly while Lala smiled like a ray of sunshine.
"Hello." Rafael raised a hand to greet the man instead of refuting Lala. He'd already accepted his fate, and it wasn't like refusing would change anything.
"I see." Zastin closed his eyes for a moment, seeming to accept her answer easily. "Then, if that is truly the case, I must see for myself what he's capable of. After all, not just anyone can be the fiancé of Lala-sama."
"What?" Rafael asked, feeling his suspicion spike. ['This sounds kind of threatening... this is a scenario, isn't it?']
[Don't even doubt it.]
Ignoring Rafael's question, Zastin opened his eyes, staring stoically at him while his hand reached to his waist under the cape. "Then I'll test you. Even if Earthlings have potential, that doesn't make you worthy of Lala-sama."
Pulling out his hand, Zastin revealed a glowing blue-bladed sword, holding it calmly at his side. "Show me what you can do, Earthling."
"Hey hey hey why are you pulling out a sword?" Rafael was immediately alarmed. ['You've gotta be kidding me!? This bastard actually wants to fight me!?'] Rafael didn't need to see Zastin in action to know this guy was way stronger than any human.
"That's not fair, Zastin, you're the strongest swordsman of Deviluke!" Lala pouted.
Zastin replied calmly, "I understand, Lala-sama, but know that there's no other option. I must see if he's worthy, or I won't leave."
Lala went quiet at that. She seemed to think for a moment, then turned to Rafael with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Rafael, but we won't be able to rest easy unless you do this, so..." She then smiled encouragingly and gave him a thumbs up. "You can do it~!"
The corner of Rafael's mouth twitched again at the girl's complete shamelessness. He sighed and shook his head. "It's fine."
"I'm glad to see you have Lala-sama's support, but don't worry, Earthling, you don't have to fight me—you just have to survive." Zastin raised the sword slowly.
Rafael watched tensely, already getting ready to react to whatever was coming.
"Then..." Zastin lowered his arm. "Do your best."
Shooosh! Boooom!
Powerful gusts of wind slammed into Rafael's frozen body, his clothes and hair whipped around wildly for a moment as he stood still.
When the wind stopped, a bead of sweat slid down his temple as his eyes shifted to the side.
On the ground was a slash-shaped crater, and when he turned his head and looked back, he saw it extended and widened all the way to a collapsing bridge in the distance.
['Holy shit!']
[Yeah, you're screwed]
Taking a deep breath, Rafael turned his gaze back to Zastin, then, with a serious look, locked eyes with him.
They stared each other down in silence as the tension thickened—until Rafael moved.
He ran.
Quickly.
He turned around and ran with everything he had, putting as much distance between himself and Zastin as humanly possible without looking back.
['Bad day! Bad day! Baaaad day!'] He cursed internally, wind slamming into his face, heart pounding, and his now bare feet hitting the ground as hard as they could.
[Good luck, you're gonna need it]