Lum looked and acted a little off when she returned to you. She hadn't been gone for too long, but you could tell that something happened that upset her. You already knew that she was clingy because she loved you a lot, but at the moment she was being extra clingy.

She had a tight hold of your arm and was flat out refusing to let go. You did try and gently tell her that you needed to get up to participate in an event, but she wouldn't budge at all. This did mean that you missed your event, but you didn't mind too much.

"I've never liked participating in this anyway...it's just a drag." You said with a sigh as Lum hummed in acknowledgement.

"I'm so glad I get to spend this time with you darling-cha!" The oni girl said as she gently nuzzled your arm with a smile on her face.

"Lum...is everything okay? You seemed a little tense at the moment. Not to mention, you're being a bit more clingy than usual." You mentioned to her.

She just looked up at you, the expression on her face not changing whatsoever. Her fixed smile was a little unnerving but you quickly shrugged it off.

"Of course everything is absolutely fine! You know I always love to keep a hold of you my darling-cha!" Lum said to reassure you.

"I can't let Ran do anything to him! I don't know what she has planned, but I am going to make sure she does not succeed!" She thought.

The two of you watched the next event which was a race that involved the students having to go around the school and find certain objects. This ranged from an eraser for the chalkboard in one of the classrooms to a bonsai tree in the principals office.

But what you didn't expect was...

"Miss Lum! You must come with me!"

Mendō called out to Lum as he waved at her, gesturing for her to come to him.

"I need you for this event! Could you please lend me just a few minutes of your time?" He asked as Lum shook her head and held your arm tighter.

"No I need to stay here with darling-cha!!" Lum responded.

"Lum? You can go with him you know. It's only for a few minutes like he said. And besides, he's practically the only other guy at this school who I would trust you to be in the company of." You said.

Lum was caught in two minds as she really wanted to be able to keep you safe from Ran, but she also didn't want to have to worry you about what was going on. She knew that she was fully capable of keeping you safe from Ran on her own without needing to tell you.

But your suspicion would only increase if she kept acting this way.

"Can I risk it? She's really sneaky and could easily get to him in the time that I'm gone." The oni girl thought.

"You might wanna go Lum. Mendō does probably need you for the race. I would be more concerned if it was Ataru since he has no standards whereas Mendō does." You said trying to convince Lum that she could go.

"B-But...darling I-." Lum tried to reply but she was interrupted. The voice she heard immediately put her guard up again.

"Y/N L/N!!! I need you!!!"

It was Ran and she was running over to the bleachers, waving at you with a card in her hand. Her demeanour completely different to what she was like earlier with Lum.

"Huh? You need me? Why do you need me?" You asked as she started to climb the bleachers towards you.

"For the event silly! You're exactly what I'm looking for!!" She said with a sweet smile and giggle which made Lum's eye twitch.

"You stay aw-!" Lum was about to yell, but Ran grabbed your other arm and managed to pull you out of Lum's grasp, much to her horror.

"You don't mind if I borrow him just for a few minutes?? This won't take long!!!" Ran said to Lum as she started to pull you away, a sinister glint and smirk spreading across her face when she knew you weren't looking.

"Darling wa-!" Again Lum tried to intervene, but Mendō took his opportunity to get her attention so she could go with him.

"Please Miss Lum! It's only for a few minutes! Be aware that my intentions are only to have you for this race and nothing more! You are a taken woman with an honourable man! I would not break his trust!" He said as Lum hesitantly turned herself away from where Ran was taking you.

"I need to get this over with as soon as possible! Darling doesn't know the danger he's getting into!" Lum thought.

Meanwhile, Ran had a tight hold of your hand as she dragged you across the yard and towards the back of the gym.

"Hey uhm...where are we going? The event is back over there you know." You said, alarm bells already started to ring off in your head.

You did attempt to pull your hand away, but again the girls grip was so tight that you weren't able to break free.

"Forget about that!~" Ran said in a sweet and almost flirty tone as she took you to the place where her and Lum had been talking earlier.

Like before, there was no one around here and no one could see around the back of the large gym building. For the moment, none of the other students knew what was going on at all.

Finally, Ran let go of your hand and turned to face you.

"Now that we're out of the view of any prying eyes..." She began as she gently placed one of her hands on your chest.

"...kiss me." She said, puckering up her lips and leaning closer to try and kiss you.

A moment passed and you blinked before you quickly backed away.

"Excuse me?! What the hell are you trying to do?! I know you're new and might not know, but I am already happily married! Well...I am and I'm technically not at the same time. It's a long story...but anyway, we've only just met too! Why were you trying to kiss me?!" You went on, shook that someone you just met was trying to kiss you.

Also, you were afraid of Lum's reaction as you knew she would not be happy at all. As long as you kept yourself a good distance away from this girl, then you knew you would be okay.

"But all of the other girls have said such nice things about you! And I can really see why!~" Ran said, seemingly unfazed at the fact that you backed away.

Though that wasn't exactly true.

"Damnit! I forgot that the other girls said he was decent! Any other guy here would've taken the bait no problem! I'm gonna have to be a bit more creative!" She thought, masking her frustration behind her sweet smile.

"Oops! Please forgive me...I just got a little carried away." Ran giggled and covered her mouth with her hand.

You stood there in disbelief as you slowly continued backing away from the pink haired girl.

"...sure. Any other guy in this school probably would've taken you up on that. Just be careful okay? Don't let anyone take advantage of you." You said, now a good distance away so you stopped backing away.

"Mhm!! Okay, I'll take your word for it!~" Ran said as she smiled and closed her eyes.

"You got lucky this time around Lum...but I'm not giving up this easily! I'll find a better way!" She thought.

At that moment, Lum appeared in the sky. She had flown over straight away after the event ended. Not that she was really focused on it anyway, she had been continuously checking where Ran had led you to see if she could spot you, but to no avail.

So when she saw you stood a few feet away from her, relief washed over her and a smile spread across her face.

"Darling-cha!" Lum said happily as she flew down and hugged your side.

"Lum! Hi! You're already done? I thought it would take longer." You said as you gently pat her on the head.

"Yeah we finished really quickly! So I came to find you!" She said, turning to Ran as she started pulling you away.

"I hope you don't mind, but me and my darling are gonna head back now!" Lum said as Ran nodded her head.

The two of them looked at each other and you could feel the tension between the two of them. Just as you were about to ask them if anything was wrong, Lum tugged on your hand.

"Ran, if you wouldn't mind meeting me after school, I'd like to talk to you. In private." Lum said as she dragged you away now, not even letting Ran respond.

She knew that she would be there anyway.

~

You tried to see if you could get anything else out of Lum at the end of school about the whole situation with Ran, but you were unsuccessful. She just played it off and said she wanted to have a friendly chat with her in private.

There were no more questions after that, and you headed back home after seeing Lum off with a kiss on the cheek.

While you went home, Lum met Ran by the side of the river where the two of them sat as the sun started to go down.

"I'm begging you Ran! Please just stay away from my darling-cha!" Lum pleaded, wanting to try and keep you out of the scuffle that Ran wanted to have with her.

"Oh come on! I haven't even laid a finger on him!" Ran said innocently, not even looking at Lum.

"Don't try and play dumb with me!" Lum replied, getting quite annoyed by how Ran seemed to be shrugging her off.

"Hey Lum look! The night sky is so pretty isn't it?!" Ran said while pointing up at the sky, still ignoring what Lum was trying to say.

Figuring that there was no point in trying to get through to her anymore, Lum sighed and looked up at the night sky now too. It was indeed a beautiful sight as stars started to litter across the darkened sections of the sky.

"Doesn't this remind you of when we were kids?" Ran asked, the question did indeed spark a few memories in Lum's mind.

One of which was when the two girls were very young...

The two young girls stood on the side of a hill on their home planet, watching the night sky when a colourful shooting star flew across the sky.

"Hey look Lum! It's a shooting star!! Let's make a wish!!" The young Ran cheered as the two girls fell silent and closed their eyes, clasping their hands together in prayer.

After a few moments, they both opened their eyes and turned to face each other.

"So? What did you wish for??" Ran asked as Lum held her face and turned away in embarrassment.

"I-It's way too embarrassing to say!!!" Lum squealed.

"I know! Let's both say our wishes at the same time!!!" Ran suggested before initiating a short countdown.

"Three...two...one..."

"I WISHED FOR THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!!" The two young girls both exclaimed at the same time.

"Haaah yeah...those were good times..." Lum said with a smile on her face as she reminisced.

"Then after all that...Rei went and fell in love with you anyway..." Ran said, quickly becoming agitated.

"In fact, he always has had his eyes on you ever since we were kids!!!" She continued, now becoming more and more angry.

"R-Ran calm-." Lum tried to talk, but Ran quickly turned to face her and yelled at her.

"SHUT UP SHITHEAD!!!! I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO GET MY REVENGE ON YOU AND NOW I HAVE MY PERFECT CHANCE!!! I'M GONNA TURN THAT HUSBAND OF YOURS INTO MINCE MEAT!!!" She yelled with her full voice which really unsettled Lum.

"PREPARE FOR YOUR LIFE TO BE TURNED INTO HELL!!!!" Ran bellowed as Lum just stared at her with a perplexed look on her face.

The sudden mood shifts and seemingly violent nature of this girl was much different to the one she knew as a child.

She would have to keep her guard up to protect you now more than ever.

[To Be Continued]