~Electric Love: A Collection of Ataru and Lum Stories~

Story One: Jungle Fever

Ataru's lungs ached as he raced through the muggy jungle, shoving the swaying stalks of plants out of his way as he searched desperately for another flash of lightning. Fallen palm frawns cut into his bare feet as he ran, but there had been no time for shoes – as soon as Perm's sheepish whisper had met his ears, the thumping beat of his heart and angry flush of blood were all his body could feel.

"She's not here. Megane asked her to come with him for something. I dunno man, he didn't even tell us about it, but I'm worried. You know how he gets."

He didn't need to hear more: everyone in class knew that Megane's idol-worship of Lum had gone past rational years ago, and even Kakugari and Chibi were just following him now out of fear. Ataru often wondered why Perm bothered to hang with the Stormtroopers at all; everyone knew he was dating outside their class.

Perm had shouted something after him as he ran out of the fancy hotel buffet room and out into the sea of palm trees turned black by the sunset – something about Mendou and getting a search party going, but Ataru didn't have time for that. By the time Mendou got over chewing him out for letting Lum go off with a creep like Megane, said creep could've done who-knows-what to the alien girl. 'Not that she's helpless' he reasoned, trying to assure himself more than anything, 'but she's too trusting. And Megane can get pretty scary when he's got something to prove." Fear drove him forward, towards the direction where he was sure he'd seen lightning not five minutes ago. Either she was there and had already dealt with the psycho in her electrifying way, or she'd been there… and she'd been in enough trouble to lash out with an attack.

The island jungle stretched on and on before him, and Ataru swore he'd get back at Mendou later for dragging their whole class to such a deserted location. Of course the young billionaire had claimed they'd be perfectly safe, of course he had lavished every attention and amenity on the beautiful Lum until even she was rolling her eyes at him… but it was a big island, and Mendou was only one man. With so many other students to take care of and a dense forest of palms and unexplored terrain surrounding their hotel, it'd been easy for Megane to slip away unnoticed, even with the green-haired Oni-girl.

Ataru was fuming now, at Mendou, at Megane, at Perm… at himself. If he hadn't been flirting with Ryuu-chan, if he hadn't been following Sakura-san around the buffet table, if only he'd been giving Lum that devoted attention she'd been silently begging for all night…. He'd been trying so hard lately too. He'd been doing so much better at putting her first, and thinking only of her, but with so many of his lovely schoolmates in swimsuits and all cramped in one building and one beach and one island for several days, well… he'd gone a little stir-crazy, and his self-control had slipped just enough for him to lose track of the girl that mattered more than any of them.

"Dammit… LUM!" His voice shook as he shouted into the growing darkness, and he huffed as his lungs greedily pulled in more air to try again. "LUM!" He shouted louder this time, tripping over a cluster of jungle vegetation, the serrated edges scratching up his legs as he did. Ataru stumbled into a crouch, doubled over as he tried to catch his breath enough to shout again. He couldn't stop searching for her – he couldn't let her down again. Each breath was a wheezing gasp now as he struggled to get air back into protesting lungs, his muscles seizing painfully after he'd pushed them to such a harsh extent, but he was already drawing in breath for another shout of her name when he felt something: static.

There was electricity in the air.

He sat up, searching through the dark shadows of the trees surrounding him for some other sign of her, and he only caught a quick flash of movement, the shimmer of green tinged red in the light of the dying sun, before he was knocked over by the weight of her.

Slender arms squeezed him painfully tight, her face burrowing against his shoulder and horns poking into his cheek, but he ignored the slight discomfort and grasped her just as tightly. "Lum… Lum!" He whispered her name over and over, unable to say anything else in his relief, but that relief soon melted back into worry when he noticed she wasn't responding. Pulling back slightly, he noticed her eyes scrunched up tight, and the erratic breaths that escaped her clenched teeth: she was hyperventilating, trying not to cry, and Ataru felt worse than ever.

"Oi, Lum, it's okay now, I've got you. C'mon, you gotta breathe. Breathe with me, Lum." Extracting a hand from around his neck, Ataru placed her fingers against the thin cotton shirt over his chest, holding it in place as he took deep breaths and prompted her to do the same. It took some coaxing, but eventually she calmed enough to give him a grateful smile. "Thanks Darling."

Those big blue eyes and that pretty pink smile almost did him in, but he pulled it together enough to frown down at the girl in his arms. "Don't think I'm lettin' you off the hook Lum! Just what were you thinking, going off alone with-"

"LUM-SAN!"

They froze, hardly daring to breathe as the somewhat hoarse cry repeated not far away in the jungle. Ataru could feel Lum shaking against him, and he bit his tongue on the rest of the scolding he'd planned. First things first: that bastard was gonna get it.

He stood, pulling the Oni-girl to her feet, and in the dying light he was finally able to see the state of her: the stylish yellow sundress she'd donned for the evening party was stained with mud and torn at the hem, and a few of the top buttons were missing to reveal a pop of pink from her swimsuit underneath. There were scratches on her cheeks, and Ataru guessed they'd come from a race through rough jungle foliage as she'd rushed to escape –

"LUM-SAN! Where are you hiding?"

Terrified eyes met his, and Ataru knew at once: an electric shock wouldn't be enough this time. Megane called out again, and a faint haze of blue surrounded the alien girl as electricity built within her body, but Ataru looked her way and silently shook his head. He jerked his thumb toward the trees behind him, and although Lum looked ready to protest at first, another cry of her name from the trees close by sent her diving for cover. Ataru breathed a sigh of relief as her yellow dress vanished in the shadows, and it was none too soon as Megane stumbled through the tall ferns in front of him. The tall young man was breathing hard, sweat dripping down his square jaw as he adjusted his glasses and glanced about, eyes eventually falling and narrowing on Ataru.

"Ah, Ataru," he began, straightening up to fold his arms across his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, "Have you come to admit defeat?"

Despite the rage bubbling up at the sight of his classmate, Ataru bit down the feeling and sized up the situation. He'd been unlucky all his life, but being prone to disaster had the fortunate side effect of making him more cautious. They didn't need to fight this out just yet. "Come again Megane? You get hit in the head by a coconut or something? Because I don't have a clue what you're on about."

Megane sneered, the sweat on his brow shining in the last rays of sunlight peering between the palm tree stalks. "Oh really? So you didn't come out here to try and stop Lum and I from finally declaring our love for each other?"

Something in Ataru snapped up at that, something raw and ugly and dangerous, but he pushed it away to say with a false laugh "Why the heck would I waste my time trying to stop something that couldn't happen? You know Lum doesn't love you. Honestly, I don't think she even likes you!" He watched in vicious satisfaction as Megane gaped like a toad, his hands shaking and clenching and motioning as though he'd like to strangle Ataru – which Ataru didn't doubt. Megane however wasn't ready to give up or give in.

"And you think she loves you?!" He spat, pointing accusingly at the young man still sitting among the fallen palm frawns. Giving an ugly laugh, Megane continued "She was so eager to leave that party – you should've seen how mad she was when you ignored her to chase after every other girl in the room. But you wouldn't have seen, would you? How 'bout it, Ataru? How long was it before you realized she'd left?"

The boiling anger was back, and Ataru couldn't even try to hide his glare anymore. Megane's words stung… they were too close to being true. Lum deserved better than him and he knew it.

But "better than him" sure as hell wasn't Megane.

"I'm here now, aren't I?" he answered, rising to his feet and standing tall in his dirtied shorts and scratched skin. "And where's Lum, huh? If she was so happy to leave with you, how come you're running around the whole island like a moron shouting for her to come back?"

Megane gave him a piercing look, but then his back straightened, and an expression of noble sorrow washed over him. "I was too ardent for her. She, being so innocent and pure, wasn't ready to receive my love, and ran off in maidenly embarrassment." His voice turned deep and tragic as he added with impassioned flourish "She's just waiting for me to find her now and show her the depths of my love!"

A high growl rose up behind Ataru, and he turned panicked to see Lum emerge from her hiding spot, already sparking with anger even as she huddled nervously away from the other boy. "That's not what happened at all! You said you had a surprise for Darling, but then you kept dragging me further and further away, and you wouldn't stop talking and it confused the heck outta me, and then you were trying to take a kiss and get my clothes off before I could realize you'd stopped yammering!" She was shrieking by the end, lost in her anger and frustration, and Ataru was afraid she'd start hyperventilating again any minute. Megane wasn't listening to a word of it, unable and unwilling to tear his eyes away from her butterfly lips or the heaving of her half-exposed chest.

Ataru had heard more than enough. Stepping boldly between Megane and the girl he'd been focused on, the young man cracked his knuckles and said darkly "You messed with the wrong girl, Man. You better stay away from my wife from now on, or else." He ignored the excited gasp from the girl floating behind him, still glaring up at his opponent who gave him a bored, dismissive glance as he adjusted his glasses with a prominent middle finger.

"Or else what?"

Ataru didn't bother to respond. He just reared back, and shot his fist forward with all the strength he had, right at the bridge of the bastard's nose. The rectangular glasses snapped in half, Ataru grimaced at the pain of his knuckle bones shifting and bruising, and Megane crumpled back to the ground with a shrill wail of pain as he clutched at his red nose which was just starting to drip blood. He whimpered on the jungle floor, and though Ataru didn't have a shred of sympathy left, he'd let Mendou know when they got back so the medics could deal with the mess.

Shaking the ache from his hand, Ataru turned to lead Lum back towards the bright lights of the hotel – but was stopped as slender arms wound around his shoulders from behind and a warm cheek pressed up against his. "Thank you Darling" she cooed, nuzzling against him and pressing a kiss to his jaw. "Thank you for searching for me." He flushed, not only at the affectionate contact but at her words, and he swallowed thickly before answering "L-Lum, I…."

He turned slightly to look at her, barely able to see her face in the dim light but still able to look into those captivating blue eyes, and continued "I'll never let anyone hurt you Lum. Promise." Those big eyes went wide, her sweet lips forming an 'oh' of surprise, but as he didn't back down from his words or take them back, those eyes became watery, and a smile spread across her face as she leaned in for another hug. Ataru looked down at the arms encircling him, his own hands rising to lay softly over hers. Nothing would happen like this again. He wouldn't neglect her again; he wouldn't abandon her devotion to him anymore. He couldn't afford to. 'No one will hurt you again, Lum. Not even me.'

*Author's Note:

So this was written in response to a Tumblr prompt asking for jealous/protective Ataru, and it just so happened I'd been wanting to write something where Megane gets what's coming to him, thus this was born. Though obviously Megane deserves much worse. In the anime he is haaaaaaardcore creeper status and also needs to leave my boy Ataru alone. Anyways, hopefully I'll have some more Urusei Yatsura specific stories in the future! I friggin love this series and it needs WAY more fan content. Especially fanfics. It's a little sparse.