Ataru lay on the bed Ran had tucked him into and took a deep, deep breath of the sheets. Ah! This was nice. No sign of Ran anywhere, so he quickly pulled out his Level Upper for a quick check.
<i>Dating: Level 12: 19/25</i>
Ataru frowned. Man, he'd hoped for a bit more than that already! According to his master plan, first he'd become an expert flirt, then an expert dater, then an expert lover, and from there an expert harem master. But at this rate it would take too long. Ages, in fact! He wasn't going to get anywhere unless he stepped up his game!
Which led to another problem. Apparently the date had stopped since Ran had warned him of some weird space illness he'd caught that had made him hallucinate another Ran on a date with Rei. This was the last thing he needed! Alien biology was so weird! What if this disease turned him into a giant rodent, or made his hair turn into chocolate? There was no telling what might happen! Ah, now his imagination was actign up and nothing could possibly calm him down anymore!
Then the door opened and Ran stepped in. Ran... Wearing a cute nurse's uniform. In a touch more detail: A pure white smock with a big flaring skirt that stopped a little above the knees. Though the outfit was professional it didn't do much to hide Ran's curves and, strangely, the red cross across her chest seemed to highlight her breasts a touch more than they would have been if it hadn't been there.
"How is my favourite patient?" Ran sang while skipping into the room.
"My temperature!" Ataru lamented. "Check my temperature!"
Ran hovered over him and went "aaaaa!" until Ataru did the same. Then she stuck a thermometer in his mouth, turned away and skipped over to a machine in the corner. Blast. He'd been hoping for the old hand-on-forehead to forehead check. That would have set up an immediate flag he could pursue.
Well, in that case he should instead focus on another important question. How to return this to 'date' status so he could get more experience points? If he was sick then she would hardly want to do something like a date...
"There's only one cure for a hyper spacetime concussion," Ran chirped happily. "That's why Li'l Ran brought you to finish our date!" Ran tittered. "As I was saying. The only cure for a Hyper Spacetime Concussion is for its victim to string a bunch of insults at the girl they spend the most time with. Gosh, wouldn't that be Lum in your case?"
Lum, huh? Yeah, he supposed it would be wouldn't it? Well, if it would save his wretched life from whatever misery this mysterious space malady would inflict upon him, then he could easily string together a bunch of insults towards that troublesome Oni girl!
"It has to be out l~lo~ou~ou~d," Ran sang. She giggled again, reached out a hand to pluck the thermometer from his mouth and checked the temperature. "Better hurry. Your temperature is dropping. That's not a good sign."
Ah! Oh no! Forget about his dating skill, his life was on the line!
"She's way too clingy - " Ataru began.
"Who is?" Ran interrupted.
"Lum is!" Ataru insisted. Ah, even that detail was important? "She's so paranoid, it's really uncute. And you know how normally she's kind of pretty? Feh! That's only when she's happy! Any other mood and her fangs'll show, her horn'sll grow and you will see the demon she truly is!"
Ding, he'd just levelled up. Not that Ataru noticed, since he didn’t consider insulting Lum normal “Date” activities. But since a date involves two people doing a pleasurable activity.
“Yes.. yes… that’s it! Say more!” Ran’s breathing was was getting heavier, she was getting a <b>lot</b> of pleasure from this.
<hr>
"And for darling's portions, let's give him a whole heaping pile of extra hot sauce!" Lum yelled all of a sudden, upending and jamming the entire contents of a little red bottle with a skull and crossbones right into her cooking equipment.
"L-Lum, wait! I just told you that he won't like that!"
"I know! For some reason I'm really upset at him all of a sudden!"
Gentlemen, your woman always knows when you're talking about her behind her back. Take that as a warning. Especially if they make your food.
<hr>
"Then there's the times where she misunderstands basic facts about human society," Ataru went on. "I swear, it's like she deliberately picks the most troublesome interpretation!"
By this point Ran was trembling. She had to sit down. Ooh, who could have guessed that smack talking about Lum would be so much fun! Well, actually... She had. But hearing someone else saying it was even better! It made her feel like she wasn't alone in seeing the flaws in little miss perfect.
This plan also had the added bonus of getting Ataru to stay put while the other her had the date with Rei. Ran sighed in genuine contentment. Yes, this was fun. It was something she'd been missing of late. Genuine intelligent conversation.
If only she could work out where that beeping was coming from.
"She doesn't respect anybody's privacy either! You ever notice that? She's always got to get involved in someone's business, no matter what! And... I think I'm out."
Ran nearly fainted. She felt like she needed a cigarette or something after that. Ah! That was such catharsis. Definitely not a wasted evening. "Well, that should be you all better," Ran said sweetly. "This has been quite fun, Darling!" Unexpectedly so, in fact. "Teehee, but you should probably get back to her before she gets suspicious as usual."
"Right," Ataru said. He climbed out of bed and stretched out. "Thanks for the treatment. I wonder how I got concussed?"
"Hyper spacetime concussed!" Ran corrected. "It might be something you experienced in the past or future, or maybe even another timeline."
That should be confusing enough to keep him from asking about it. Hah! All the bases were covered. She led Ataru to the door, opened it up -
"Ran!"
Then immediately closed it again. Rei! Why was Rei outside her room!? Why was Rei directly outside of her room the <b>one time in all of history</b> she didn’t want him to be!?
"Something wrong?" Ataru asked. Not in a clueless way exactly, more like he was genuinely concerned. That was almost worst if she was perfectly honest! Thankfully he'd somehow missed the giant hulking tiger striped pig-cow lurking outside her room.
Actually, that was entirely to do with Ataru's Dating skill from the Level Upper. Not that Ran or Ataru recognised this fact, but since noticing Rei would have ruined the date, Ataru was being kept completely oblivious. At his current level it would have taken Rei rushing into the room to grab Ran before Ataru would have been completely aware he was here.
"Oh, no!" Ran said. "Nothing wrong at all! I just... suddenly realised!" Think Ran, think! How to keep him preoccupied?! Her mind went a lightyear a minute and still felt like it wasn't fast enough. Gah! How could she keep this boy occupied until Rei went away?
Then it hit her. It was one of those 'oh yeah, I am such an idiot' revelations that people have from time to time. The reason she came to Earth in the first place was to humiliate Lum. To ruin her relationship with this human. This Earthling dork called Ataru Moroboshi. The plan she was running off of? Kiss him of course. Then use her species' innate ability to drain energy through the lips to leave him a husk of his usual self. An old man in a young boy's body. Vitality: Gone! Energy: Gone!
"Well, actually," Ran said, slipping into a coy and pseudo-innocent mode. She blushed on command. A skill she'd well practised to seem even more cute and vulnerable. "It wouldn't be a date if we didn't part ways with a k-k-kiss. Oh! I said it! What must you think of me?"
Hehehe! No way a pervert like Ataru would miss this chance. They were alone. In her spaceship. Well, okay. There was Rei right outside the door, but this was the perfect chance to enact her initial revenge plan. Drain Darling dry! Hehehehe! Look at him with his back turned. He must be grinning that blatantly perverted grin he wore when he thought something was going his way! She almost couldn't wait to see it when he turned around -
Gosh, what a serious look on his face. That wasn't what she was expecting at all! It was weird. In this light, he almost seemed... cool and handsome. "I think you're a cute girl," Ataru said, gently lifting her chin. "Let's take this smoothly, baby."
He'd said that last sentence in English in an attempt to sound especially cool, but it honestly just made Ran roll her eyes. But the funny thing was, she'd completely missed the real reason Ataru had turned his back to her: To set a new skill to level up.
<i>Kissing: Level 9. 2/12</i>
But remember that Ataru had some other skills being worked on currently as well. Skills which were not currently gaining any experience, but were still present within the level upper. Still affecting his actions and his fortunes.
<i>Dating: Level 21. 16/45</i>
<i>Flirting: Level 16. 10/32</i>
He also had an absurdly high level of sword catching, but that's neither here nor there presently. What truly matters is that Ran was totally caught off guard for the precious moment when Ataru Moroboshi's lips met hers. Her initial surprise had been brought on by his cheesy statement, one which would have normally put her off - but had in fact been triggered by his dating skill expressly for the purpose of ensuring she did not ruin the date. As for the rest, remember that he was just Flirting with Ran, that they were concluding their Date, and that he is Kissing her. On that basis, all three skills apply and so he gets all three levels used here at once. Pushing him up all the way to 46 under this specific circumstance.
The thought <i>'He's actually pretty good at this,'</i> flitted across Ran's mind. She felt herself pushed back against the door and let out a small whimper. Oh, she'd kissed plenty of people. Men and women alike. Drained their energy or fed energy to them. But she'd never actually taken the time to enjoy the sensation of being kissed.
In that sense this was not Ran's true first kiss. But it sure as hell felt like it.
"Ran!" she heard from behind the door.
<i>'Oh! Go away, Rei! Let me finish this first...'</i>
Ding! Ding! Ding! The sheer fact that Ran had thought that very thought had been enough to grant Ataru three levels immediately. Play that low Kissing level off of Ataru's higher Dating and Flirting levels, and his lips were working magic for her right about now. Oooh! Oh! Yes, this must be why Lum dumped Rei for him! Somehow this made so much more sense all of a sudden!
Ran threw her hands around the back of Ataru's head and lifted her leg to wrap around his waist. She felt like a wild animal. This feeling, it was so new for her. Exciting. Intoxicating! Ah, but then all too soon Ataru pulled away, giving her a cheeky grin.
"Same time next week?" he asked. Ran nodded without saying a word. "It's a date!" he said, then opened up the door leaving Ran to flop down onto the ground in a most undignified way, helplessly smiling to herslef. "Oh, hey there Rei! Fancy meeting you here. Keeping yourself well fed?"
"Ran!"
"Yeah, kind of figured as much. See ya later, you big dumb bottomless pit..."
Now, Ran was a bit too busy running her finger around her lips to properly digest the fact that Ataru had wound up bumping into Rei after all her efforts. Needless to say but tonight, it had not quite gone according to plan.
- Ataru switches back to flirting and grinds out a few levels on the way home.
- Ataru heads straight home to grind out some levels with Lum. And not just flirting either.
- The next day at school, Ataru thinks about his next move.
- Someone notices the level upper and figures out what he's up to.
- Something else
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