"EH?" The entire group yelled as one, facing the blushing Mikan.

"It's not what you think!" she immediately began to spout an explanation. "It was only when I was little! It wasn't serious!"

"Truth-kun, confirm?" Risa immediately ordered sharply.

"Yuuki Mikan – Lying." It intoned.

"Okay, look, so it may have been when I was older, but you could only call it a crush, not serious love!"

"Truth-kun?" Risa again insisted.

"Unable to confirm – define 'serious' love?" it enquired.

"Never mind that!" Yui yelled, practically jumping up and onto her feet. "It's indecent!"

"Have you ever thought of kissing him? And I don't mean like one of those close families who may kiss cheeks, I mean like a deep romantic kiss." Risa pressed, smoothly getting to her feet.

"N-N-No!" she stuttered; her face was a deep red and she was subtly trying to back away.

"I should have known after that bed fiasco," Momo muttered, getting up also.

"Truth-kun?" Yui cut in sharply. Her mouth was set and her arms were folded under her breasts.

"Yuuki Mikan – Lying."

"Mi-Mikan-chan?" Lala asked, a little confused. Even she knew that love between siblings was not supposed to be like that.

"Ecchi girl," Momo commented.

"I never would have expected this," Nana put forth her opinion.

"Its kind of fetishy," Mio added under her breath, too low to be heard.

Haruna was strangely silent.

Meanwhile, Run had taken the opportunity to snuggle up closer to Rito, trying to wake him up – with feather light kisses on his exposed chest of course.

She knew it was wrong, but when there is an opportunity, it should be taken. That was what she always thought.

"Listen, listen!" Mikan once again began. "It was because of Run!" Mikan squirmed where she sat. "Ever since you girls came, Rito's been ignoring me more and more; seeing you get close to him like that made me think about it, with me in your place. When Run kissed him, it made me think about it. I've never seriously thought about him in that way! I've only fantasised a bit."

By this point, most of the girls were crowding around the younger Yuuki sibling, looming over her. Mikan herself was pressed as far back as possible, so flustered she was almost in tears, the salty liquid gathering in the corners of her eyes.

"Hey!" Rito's voice suddenly called out.

It seemed he'd finally managed to rouse himself, only to find his little sister crying, surrounded by his female friends.

Well, apart from Run, who was blushing beside him.

Rushing forward between Momo and Risa, he went straight to Mikan. "What's wrong?" he asked, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

"It's not what you think, it's not like that!" she responded, burying her face in his chest.

"Its alright," he soothed, "I believe you," he told her, holding her in a protective hug. "C'mon, let's get you out of here and you can tell me what's wrong."

She nodded her head against him to signal her agreement. He helped her stand and led her to her room, throwing a quick glare to the girls as he left.

"Well, that could have gone better," Risa sighed.

"It's indecent," Yui said vehemently.

"Truth-kun?" Haruna asked, standing up to better face her friends.

"Yuuki Mikan – Truth."

The entire room seemed to let out a collective breath at this declaration.

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," Risa let out.

"Unless she begins to get serious," Mio cut the brief moment of happiness short.

"Do you think we were a bit hard on her?" Haruna asked, concerned for the girl they'd just made cry.

"No, I don't think we were," Yui said coldly.

"We could have handled it better, but we had to be sure," Risa partially agreed

"We'll have to apologize," Lala cut in. Unlike her usual aura of a kind but ditzy innocent girl, now she was giving off an aura of apologetic dignity.

"Yeah, you're right," Nana agreed with her eldest sister. "We barge into her house, hog her brother's attention, and even make her cook for us – the least we could do is respect her privacy. We crossed a line. Even though some of her feelings may be… inappropriate between siblings, she knows it too, and would never act on it."

"I agree," Momo put forth her own thoughts. "We should apologise to her for acting so brazenly about what turned out to be almost nothing. But don't forget, there is something else we need to discuss," Momo reminded.

She felt terrible for her actions and would try to make it up to Mikan when she could, but there was something else to do now.

"What is that?" Haruna asked.

"Everyone here has feelings for Rito; well, apart from Mio-san."

"I do not have feelings for Yuuki-kun!" Yui reflexively yelled.

"Don't even try to deny it," Risa pressed.

"Or are you questioning Onee-sama's lie-detector?" Momo continued.

"Lala-san's inventions are notoriously unreliable!" Yui yelled.

"Doesn't stop you from blaming Rito-kun every time one of them goes wrong," Run told her snidely, standing up to look her in the eye. She had had just as much, if not more, first hand experience with Lala's invention than Rito. She knew better than to blame Rito, even slightly. Hell, she would happily accept the usual consequences (Rito with a pretty girl usually) if they were targeted at her.

Yui's mouth worked, trying to find a response to that.

"Don't worry about it Kotegawa-san. I do the same," Haruna told her gently with the slightest hint of shame, placing a hopefully placating hand on one of her crossed arms.

"So what do we do now?" Momo asked, glancing at each girl in turn.

"We should all marry him!" Lala cheerfully proposed, jumping to her feet.

"A-A-All of us?" Yui stuttered.

"That's illegal in Japan," Haruna shouted.

"So?" Momo asked. "If Rito marries Onee-sama, he'll be a member of the Deviluke royal family. From there, Japanese laws won't apply," she shrugged. "I say we do it! This way we can all have a piece," she licked her lips. "I was planning on becoming his mistress anyway; this is even better," she suddenly blushed, both hands on her cheeks as she did so, trying to hide it.

"Ooh, I'll take that position," Risa squealed. "I'm not really interested in marrying him, but the mistress position sounds perfect for me." She quickly glanced at Mio, who was smiling at her. Maybe Mio would like to share the position with her on and off?

"I'm fine with it," Run suddenly smiled. "Being able to kiss him like that was amazing; if I can be with the man I love, I'll do anything," she began, a shy smile on her face that was in stark contrast to her strong declaration. She knew it was very unlikely she would be able to win Rito over on her own; this was for the best. She could stay by Rito's side, even if she would have to share with Lala. Rito was sure to return her affections one day. Suddenly she grimaced. "Ren isn't very happy, but he'll just have to live with it."

"Don't you think he should have a say?" Nana asked.

"It's not his decision to make." Run told her simply. "On my planet, we can change our gender with the correct prompts. It's a lot harder on my home world than it is here, where we only have to sneeze. This is only relatively of course. It is fairly easy to change at home, but accidental changes are rare. The switch is intentional four times out of five."

"Why are you telling us this?"

"Background," she said simply. "Because of this, one personality is almost always in control. The other is nothing more than a confidante, a sibling. We care about them, listen to them; they know everything about us. They are the absolute closest person to us. They advise us, but we still make the final decision. This is mine," she finished.

"Okay, so that's four votes for polygamy," the blonde stated. Mio wasn't being included in the vote, and neither was Mikan. Due to this, only seven girls had the right to vote, and with four positive responses already, they already had the majority. Still, in this situation quantity meant little; what mattered was quality. She turned to one of the royal twins, the one she believed to be the youngest for obvious reasons. "Nana-san, what do you think?" Risa asked the flustered princess somewhat clinically.

Startled at the attention suddenly being drawn to her, Nana flushed, letting out a small squeak of surprise. Her shoulders narrowed, trying to make herself seem smaller. Then, suddenly, she exploded outwards. "I don't like that brute!" was her very vocal response.

"And now you're the one questioning Onee-sama's inventions," Momo coldly pointed out. "Don't you remember all the times Papa has caught us and forced us to confess with that machine? It's only ever once given a false reading, and that was due to a misunderstanding."

"Then that's all it is!"

"The question was rather clear. I don't see how it could be a misunderstanding?"

"Like I said, I've thought about it!" Nana blushed as she yelled, her arms stiff at her sides.

"You've just always known that Lala and Yuuki-kun would end up together, right?" Haruna asked, somewhat sympathetic to her plight. After all, the same dilemma had plagued her for quite some time; it was only when she told Lala of her feelings that the burden lifted from her shoulders, at least some what. "And now that the opportunity has presented itself, you're unsure of the extent of you're feelings?"

Hesitantly, Nana nodded.

"Well then, you don't have to agree right away," Mio cheered, jumping up into the air and pumping her arm high.

"W-What do you mean?" Nana asked.

"Well, if you're unsure, you can just carry on as normal," she began. "If your feelings grow stronger with time, you can join in later, and if they don't, you can simply bow out. You don't have to force yourself," Mio continued to explain cheerfully.

"Mio-chan's right. If we do go through this, this vote isn't your only chance to join."

"You mean we'd have to let other girls join in if they asked?" Run asked, incensed.

This question was ignored for now as they turned to the next in line.

"What about you Yui?" Lala asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"I never would've expected any of you to entertain such a thought! I'm leaving!" Yui yelled, grabbing the bag containing her clothes and other belongings. She stormed to the door.

'How dare they ask me something like that? Polygamy! How indecent! And they'd agreed so easily. If it was the aliens only, that would be one thing, but even Risa had agreed.'

'Wait, on second thought, that blonde slut had only agreed to become his mistress. That was even worse!'

Yui stopped to imagine the absurdity for a moment.

She could picture it now. She would walk through the kitchen door and into the family room (wearing normal clothes or an elaborate dress she wondered. Apparently at this point she would be a Queen, married to the King of the Galaxy. Would they be in a normal house on Earth or a palace on Deviluke?) and she would find Lala and Run, playing with a red headed boy, maybe two years old. A green haired girl who looked maybe nine years old, Celine, watched over the three, jumping from one foot to another in excitement.

And then another door would open, and in would step Rito, tall and proud, a bright smile on his face.

"Daddy!" Celine would immediately notice and call, spinning around to run towards him. He would go down onto his knee and she would jump into his open and waiting arms, a huge smile splitting her face, and they would hug.

"Rito!" Lala and Run would call out, delighted, the former of which would scoop up the toddler into her arms as she stood.

They would both happily move up to him, giving him both a kiss on his cheek, then pass on the toddler.

With a small smile, Rito would take hold of the boy. "Papa!" the child would call out happily as he was wrapped in his fathers arms.

Then Rito would turn to her; she too would have a smile on her face. His eyes would soften as he regarded her.

"I'm back Yui," he would say.

"Welcome back darling," the dark haired girl would greet him, and then she would walk up to him and give him a kiss on the cheek.

The toddler would twist in his father's arms and turn to her. He would have her eyes. "Mama!" he cried out happily, a sparkle in his eyes.

Yui would take him from Rito just as the sound of the door clicking open hit their ears. In would walk Momo, Nana and Haruna, three children around them. There were two seven years old, one boy and one girl, the former with short straight black hair, the latter with long pink hair and a black tail ending in a spade-like shape. The third child was a five year old boy with spiky pale red hair that was one shade away from pink. He too had a black tail, this one tipped with an elaborate trident instead of the spade his mother sported. It resembled his grandfather's.

The children's face's lit up as they laid eyes on their father, and they all quickly swarmed around the four adults; Rito, Yui, Lala and Run.

The eldest, the pink haired girl, tugged on Yui's clothes; she looked down at the beautiful girl. "Auntie Yui, can I hold Touma?" she asked.

Yui smile down on her. "Yes, of course you can," she agreed, lowering herself so she could look the girl, Yuno, in the eye.

Carefully, she handed him over. "He'll be heavy," she warned.

"Don't worry; I'm a member of the Deviluke race, remember?" the girl reassured her, reminding Yui of their races' enormous strength.

"Only half, remember," she gently tapped the girl on the tip of her nose, eliciting a giggle.

"Hai~" she responded with a smile that was mimicked by her little brother.

"Kotegawa-san?" Rito called for her attention as he walked down the stairs. He now had a t-shirt on, but still wore the antenna.

"Call me Yui, Darling," the black haired girl said, still lost in her fantasy. 'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad?'

"Y-Yui? D-D-D-Darling?" Rito stuttered, snapping her out of her fantasy. His face was flushed as he stared at her in confusion. It was strange for her to be so casual.

She blinked at him, flushing bright red as the realisation that she had said the last bit out loud slowly sunk in. Her jaw worked as she tried to form a coherent explanation for why she'd just called him Darling and came up with a blank.

He seemed to snap out of it first though, as he was quick to pull himself together. He looked away, slightly embarrassed; coughing into his fist, he began. "What are you doing out here, Kot-, um, Y-Yui-san?" he stuttered, still slightly pink cheeked.

Yui fought down the urge to scold him for addressing her so familiarly, embarrassed at how nice it felt and how happy such a simple change made her. It would sound very strange to first tell someone to call you by your first name, and then scold them for doing so.

Rito glanced down at her, taking in her still pyjama clad form and then noticing the bag in her hand.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Yui gave him a brief glare as she remembered the reason for her departure, causing Rito to step back in fear of reprisal.

Seeing this, she sighed. "I'm not mad at you," she told him, though her voice still held an angry tone and she continued to glare. At least the intensity of her gaze had lessened. "I'm going home."

"Wha? Why?" he asked. "What did those guys say?" he asked, throwing a quick look to the room where he knew the girls where.

"I-It doesn't matter! I'm going!"

"Dressed like that?" he asked, giving another embarrassed glance at the pyjamas she was still wearing.

"Gah!" she recoiled in shock, shrinking in on herself slightly.

"You can get dressed in my room," he offered, setting off up the stairs.

Hesitantly, Yui followed.

"Then you can tell me what happened; both you and Mikan are upset, and she refuses to tell me why," he continued, looking back at her seriously as he reached the top of the stairs.

"This and that are two different things," she said coldly, one arm holding her bag, the other folded over her chest.

"Then explain it to me?" he asked, ushering her into his room to change.

"I-It was a misunderstanding," she began through the door, unbuttoning her top and grabbing a shirt from her bag.

"What was?" he asked. He had taken a seat next to the door and was leaning on the door frame.

"W-We thought Mikan-chan had said something outrageous and just plain wrong. It turns out we had overreacted. We were going to apologize soon enough."

"She was crying. I haven't seen her cry in a very long time. I don't want to see her cry again. What was the misunderstanding?" Rito asked again, this time with much more force.

Taken aback at this, Yui stopped in the middle of changing, just as she was pulling her pants up. It was rare to hear Rito so serious.

"You really care about Mikan-chan, don't you?" she asked softly.

"Of course; she's my little sister and I love her very much," he told her sharply. "I want to know what was so important that my friends would make her cry."

Yui was silent for a moment. "It's not often that you're so serious; I've always thought you were the indecisive type."

"Only when it comes to girls," he told her somewhat sadly. "Don't try to change the subject."

"I think I was the worst," she told him, ashamed of herself. "We were very cruel to her, but I was particularly vicious. Where is she now?" She pulled her pants all the way up.

"She cried herself to sleep; I think its best to leave her to rest."

"I'll come back to apologize to her tomorrow. The sooner I come back the better."

"But what happened?" he pressed

"I think it will be better if you didn't know," she told him, taking a seat on his bed.

"But-" he began.

"Please," she implored. "Trust me."

Rito paused. For Yui to speak like that meant the matter must have been very serious. "Alright," he told her. "I trust you."

She blushed furiously at those words; her heart warmed at the faith he was displaying in her.

"What about you? Why are you leaving?"

"Why should you care?"

"You're my friend. Of course I care."

Yui's blush intensified at these words. Noticing her agitated state, she forced herself to take a relaxing breath and leaned back, allowing herself to lie on the bed.

It was only then that it clicked; she was laying on Rito's bed, in his room. Involuntarily, she took in a deep breath and noticed it smelled like him, a mixture of sweat and plants. Then she noticed another underlying smell. Lala, she identified with a grimace.

Well, that was to be expected. She had admitted to sneaking into his bed to kiss him in his sleep.

"They asked me to take part in something I disapprove of," Yui eventually answered his question.

"What?" he asked.

Yui hesitated. She could tell him what they were planning and potentially ruin the whole thing now, but what would that accomplish? Her friends would hate her for it.

"It doesn't matter," she sighed.

"Another thing I just have to trust you on? Alright," he nodded his head even though she couldn't see. There was a pause. "Do you really have to leave?"

"Why?" she immediately snapped back.

"Ehehe, I was kind of relying on your help. This thing on my head, I can't take it off. I think I need to press a release on the controller, and, well, I thought you would be down there to help me convince them of that. Besides, weren't you having fun?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, well, it was fun, until that topic came up."

Rito nodded his head, knowing there would be no more elaboration on the subject.

"Besides all that though," he began embarrassedly, "I think we need to talk."

"What about?" she asked

"You have feelings for me," he stated. "We need to talk about that."

A/N:

By the way, Nana is actually the second sibling. Momo is the youngest.

Also, this isn't quite as funny as I would have liked, but I guess it couldn't be helped. I wrote what felt right. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

This was written before Darkness. I lol'd when Momo was the driving force here and there.