Hand & Tail

Hand & Tail (ハンド&テール HANDO ANDO TĒRU) is the 143th chapter of the To LOVE-Ru manga.

Summary
One day, Lala showed Rito her new room which was separated from her laboratory. When Rito looked around, he thought that if the room were to be put in proportion, it was a pile of junk since Lala's room was filled with her inventions. Rito then spotted one of Lala's inventions lying on the floor, and tried to pick it up. However, when he touched it, he suddenly got electrocuted which caused him to fall, and accidentally grabbed Lala's tail. Lala became flustered when Rito grabbed her tail, and told him to let go. Rito apologized for grabbing Lala's tail, and tried to let go. However, Rito's hand won't come loose.

Later, Mikan, who became worried when Rito hasn't come back from going up to see Lala, went to Rito's room. She, then, overheard Lala's moaning from inside Rito's room. Then, she heard Rito's voice, and more moaning. This made Mikan blush and suspected that Rito and Lala were doing something perverted. She stormed in Rito's room, blushing extremely, and asked what they were doing at that time of the day. She, then, saw Rito and Lala were sitting on the carpet, and were trying to find a way to free Rito's hand from Lala's tail. Mikan was surprised and flustered because of what she was thinking.

Afterwards, Rito and Lala explains to Mikan that due to a malfunction in Lala's invention, Rito's hand became stuck to Lala's tail. Peke explains that a strong magnetic field will be created on whoever touches that invention, and that that's what caused the sticking effect. However, Peke reveals that she does not know what caused the malfunction, but she assured them that the effects will wear off soon. Then, Rito accidentally tightens his grip on Lala's tail which caused her to moan to which Rito immediately apologized for. Lala, then, blushingly told Rito that he has to do it softly, or else she's going to feel it. Lala's words stunned Rito and made him blush. Then, Nana and Momo walk in the room, and Momo began to say that she was jealous of Lala's situation, but she immediately corrected herself that the situation was terrible. Momo asks for permission so that she can analyze the item, and Rito agreed.

Later, while Lala and Rito were watching television, Lala told Rito that she needed to go to the bathroom. They went to the bathroom, but Rito stayed outside, and Lala forbade him from peeking. Peke walks up to Rito and gives him a helmet that blocks vision. Rito tries it on and wondered how the situation was going to last.

After a while, Mikan announced that dinner was ready. Momo apologized to Mikan for having her cook for [Momo and Nana] as well, but Mikan says that it's alright. Unfortunately, Rito was having a hard time eating since his right hand was stuck to Lala's tail, and he couldn't eat with his left hand. When Lala noticed Rito was having difficulties, she offered to feed him. Rito became flustered, and accidentally gripped Lala's tail tighter. This caused Lala to moan and grow weak; accidentally throwing the bowl of hot soup into Rito's face, to which Lala apologized for.

After dinner, Lala took a shower while Rito stayed on the other side of the door. Rito became nervous since Lala was taking a bath despite their "sticky situation". Suddenly, Lala calls Rito, and steps out of the bathroom, naked, since she ran out of soap, and wanted Rito to get her more. Seeing Lala's naked body made Rito more nervous, embarassed and flustered which caused him to grip Lala's tail tighter. Again, Lala blushes and moans then became weak, and fell onto Rito. Nana, who was going downstairs, heard a sound, and looked where it came from. He saw Lala, naked, lying on top of Rito. Nana accuses of Rito for taking advantage of Rito's hand's being stuck to Lala's tail. Rito tried explaining that it was a misunderstanding.

Then, it was already time to sleep. Rito asked if they were supposed to sleep together too, and Lala said that they have to since they haven't been separated yet. Having Lala sleep beside him made Rito blush, and he thought to himself that although he has awoken many times with Lala beside him, it was the first time that he let Lala sleep beside him. Lala tells Rito that even though the day was terrible, she was glad that she got to spend the day together with Rito. She then says that it would probably be better if the situation will last, which Rito asks what she meant, but Lala says that she was just kidding. Lala then says good night to Rito, and quickly turned her back on him.

Morning came, and Rito was not able to sleep. However, he states that he's glad that Lala did not wake up half-asleep, being naked. Then, Rito realizes that he is already able to let go of Lala's tail, and he rejoices, waking Lala up in the process. He then happily runs out of his room, and met Momo and Celine on the hallway. Momo says that she was unable to understand the structure of the machine, and apologizes for it. Celine, then, runs towards Rito while holding the machine that stuck Rito's hand to Lala's tail. Celine jumps onto Rito's face and became stuck, to which Rito comically says that he gives up.

Differences in anime version
This lists the changes made for the version of this chapter used in OVA 6.


 * Lala's reaction to finding out Rito's hand was stuck on her tail was less shocked.
 * When Momo is about to say she is envious, Nana looks at her, causing her to correct herself. In the manga she corrected herself immediately.
 * It is shown that Rito and Lala are watching Magical Kyoko.
 * Nana and Mikan are added to the final scene, where before it was just Rito, Lala, Momo and Celine.

Trivia

 * When Rito's hand was stuck to Lala's tail, he was still able to control his grip over Lala's tail (how tight or how loose). This is because Rito's hand wasn't actually "glued" to Lala's tail. They were just polarized then attracted magnetically. This allowed Rito the ability to loosen his grip. However, he is not able to resist the magnetic pull back to Lala's tail.

Goofs

 * When Lala was in the bathroom to pee, Rito stayed outside of the bathroom. However, since Rito's hand was still stuck to Lala's tail at that time, it should have been impossible for Lala's tail to be long enough.
 * When Lala took a bath and Rito stayed outside of the bathroom, she asked Rito for soap. However, since they were still stuck together, it should be impossible for Rito to get soap without bringing Lala along. This could have been just an effect of Lala's lack of common sense, though.