Shopping Panic

Shopping Panic is the ninth chapter of To LOVE-Ru manga series.

Plot
One Sunday, Rito and Mikan took Lala out and showed her around town. However, since Peke was in dress mode, Lala's costume immediately attracted attention.

Noticing the attention Lala was causing, Rito and Mikan pulled her aside into an alley and told her that since she wanted to go sightseeing, she should dress normally to avoid causing trouble. Lala then had Peke imitate the clothes of one of the random people walking around. At first, she chose the outfit of a businessman. But Rito scolded her that it's only for men. Then she chose a policewoman's outfit (which Rito rejected), then a PlayBoy outfit (which Rito asked where she got it from), then a stuffed animal mascot, then a cavewoman in a loincloth, and even a martial artist's gi. Frustrated, Rito scolded her to stop fooling around, and if she didn't, they would go home. So Lala finally chooses a normal dress, which Mikan and Rito think is cute, the latter even has his heart pounding. Lala then takes Rito's arm and drags him away. Mikan then teases Rito about his situation with Lala, saying that it probably would have been better if she had not come along. This makes Rito blush and he says (in his mind) that if it was just him and Lala, it would really be a date.

The trio walked around, looking at shops and getting taiyaki before coming to a claw machine game. Lala saw a stuffed rabbit she liked. However, Mikan says that it's big and would be hard to get. However, Rito uses his skills and wins it for her, to which Mikan comments that Rito is good at useless things. Lala is happy and very grateful and tells Rito that she will make the doll her treasure. At first, Rito is shocked and surprised that he accidentally enjoyed himself, but he realizes that it's okay when he sees how happy Lala isz.

Later, Rito noticed something of Mikan's and asked what it was. She said she got them for free when she bought clothes earlier, and that they were discount tickets for four to the newly built aquarium. Lala wondered what an aquarium was, and Rito explained that it was a place with lots of fish and sea creatures. Lala got excited, and Mikan offered to go there. However, Rito noticed that her clothes were starting to disintegrate, and Peke explained that she was running out of power because the earlier wardrobe changes had drained more energy from Peke than she had anticipated. She explained that if she ran out of power, she would not be able to maintain the shape of the costume and Lala would be naked. Lala laughed, and Rito told her to panic more. Rito grabbed Lala and started running. Lala asked where they were going, and Rito replied that they needed a place to hide. Boys passing by turned their attention to Lala, whose clothes were slowly disappearing, revealing flesh. Rito tried to think of a place to hide, first the bathroom, but the train station was too far. Mikan suggested that they go into one of the shops there.

Rito then chose a random store. However, he accidentally walked into a lingerie store. Rito suggested that they go somewhere else, but Mikan stopped him and said that this store was fine. Mikan then handed Lala a handful of underwear and told her to go to the dressing room. Mikan then rushed out to find Lala more clothes, which made Rito thankful for Mikan's presence, since he wouldn't have known what to do if Mikan hadn't been there. Suddenly, Rito saw Haruna looking for underwear, which shocked Rito to see Haruna there. What shocked Rito even more was when Lala suddenly came out of the changing room wearing only underwear. She asked Rito if it looked good on her. Then Lala noticed Haruna and greeted her, to which Rito called the meeting the worst case scenario.

Trivia

 * The martial arts gi that Lala tried on is similar to Goku's gi from Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Whether this was intentional or coincidental is unknown. However, the series has shown other references to Dragon Ball.