Disclaimer: The characters in this story belong to Rumiko Takahashi, not I. Some characters are from my imagination, but not many. Do not use this story without my permission.


Introducing, the Silent Giant, Gen Takamura!


It was a humid afternoon in Tomobiki when Ataru and Lum went out to fetch Ten, who was spending the day with his friend Kotatsuneko. Ataru wanted to keep his eyes forward and grab the brat quick, but Lum was distracting him constantly with her unnecessary nudging and hand holding. He was about to say something dejective enough to shoo her away, but some delicious aroma went by his nose and turned his head. Lum felt the air shifting as Ataru started involuntarily dragging her along with him.

"Darling!" Lum shouted. "We're going the wrong way. What's wrong?" Her concerned inquiry couldn't pierce the cloud of Ataru's mind, which was fixated on that wonderful smell of fresh baked, sugary food. By the time the smell became almost palpable, Lum picked up on it too. "What's that smell?"

"That's what I want to know!" Ataru said happily. He could sense it with one of his many extra-human senses, that the food was just around the next corner. They turned the corner on Ataru's heel just in time to watch a huge man eating the last Taiyaki in a box. The man looked down at the couple curiously, as Ataru's eyes were white with disappointment.

"Hi" Lum said cheerfully. "Sorry to bother you, he just smelled your food and automatically came this way..." she explained, obviously embarrassed. The man nodded and stood up, easily six feet tall and built with a strong girth, like a sumo wrestler.

"You wouldn't happen to have any spare food?" Ataru asked earnestly. Lum smacked him and tried to drag him off, but the man interjected. He put up his hand and grunted. Lum and Ataru looked at him as he fished inside his t-shirt and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and pointed at the drawing of an upright-walking cat smoking a pipe.

"Eh!?" Ataru exclaimed. "That's..."

"Kotatsuneko" Lum finished. "Who are you?" she asked. The man sat back down and let out a heavy sigh, as he began to tell his story...


Many a year ago, it seemed, this man's ancestors shooed away their own pet cat into the harsh winter where it died. Because they were so cruel to an innocent beast, they and their family were placed under a never-ending curse until the cat's spirit could be put to rest properly. That cat was to die and become Kotatsuneko, as was told by a fortune teller to this man and his parents. However, as misfortune would have it, the man's parents succumbed to the dread of the curse and are bedridden with a horrid cold, heaven's retribution for the death of a cat who wanted only warmth. They placed it upon him, their only son, to find this Ghost Cat who Loves Kotatsus and plead for the family's freedom from the curse. As the fortune teller had told them, the cat himself took up residence in a place where Death's shadow walks like a friend to all, and where mayhem never ceased to be short. That place, as this man had come to research upon from newspapers and television reports, was unquestionably Tomobiki, the place where Earth was nearly taken over in a game of tag...twice. So goes the story of this man, Gen Takamura.


"Wow, that's so sad" Lum commented.

"You're a great storyteller, Gen" Ataru added. Gen sadly nodded, and with tears in his eyes he clenched his fist up to his face and stood back up in a huff.

"Listen, Gen" Lum started sympathetically. "I know you're pressured to find Kotatsuneko to reverse your family's curse, but you won't find him by just stomping around randomly." Gen turned and almost began down the street, when Ataru stood up and grabbed Lum by the arm.

"Come on Lum," he said, "we have to go pick up Ten from Kotatsuneko remember?" Gen's eyes lit up. He turned just in time to watch the couple round the corner. He followed them distantly as they both walked in tandem down to the vacant construction lot where Cherry lived. As they rounded another corner while Gen wasn't looking, Lum gave Ataru a deep kiss on the cheek. He winced and pulled away.

"What the heck!?" he protested. Lum giggled and clasped his hand with hers.

"I just think you're being sweet today" she said, batting her lashes at his cautious face. He sighed and scratched away her lip mark on his cheek.

"I just have a soft spot for cursed people, I guess" he explained meekly. "Heck, I am one" and as he said that, he look over at Lum and kept looking at her until she got it and got angry.

"You're miserable sometimes, Darling" she said haughtily. They both rounded the last corner and walked into the grassy lot with Gen right behind them. There was a tent, a small fire pit with a worn pot over it, and the usual signs of Cherry's existence, but no signs of Kotatsuneko or Jariten. This jarred Lum, who had told Ten to wait for her and Darling to pick him up later, and now he was gone without a trace.

"Ten!" Lum shouted, hoping he was nearby enough to hear her. Ataru thought for a second, and got an idea.

"They might have gone with Cherry to Sakura's" he suggested. Lum shot around and nodded.

"Good idea, Darling" she said. Ataru smiled at the prospect of going over to Sakura's but Lum picked up on his idea in time. "I'll go there and see if they're there, you and Gen stay here in case they come back." Ataru looked surprised, when he really wasn't. Lum flew off before Ataru could protest, so he decided to conserve his energy and sat on a concrete pillar. Gen followed him, moving the whole pile of pillars in the process.

"That stupid girl" Ataru complained. "She always does this to me...leaves me sitting around with nothing to do, and when I go out by myself she just wants to cling to me like a sickness! She's so annoying sometimes, you know?" Gen just nodded at Ataru's confessional, although Ataru took it in good light and calmed down slightly.

"Well, if they don't come back here, we can always try again tomorrow right?" Ataru suggested. Gen nodded, though very slowly and almost sadly. "You're right. It's best to undo your curse thing ASAP. I should know, I get cursed by something every other day..."

While Ataru moped about his own troubles, Cherry came back to his campsite to the presence of a stranger sitting on his favorite pile of concrete.

"You there!" he shouted. The surprise of his horrid voice mad Gen jump and threw Ataru's face to the ground. Ataru pushed himself up, expecting some dark prophecy, but was instead treated as a step while Cherry hopped on his head and pointed at Gen. "You have a sense of destiny about you, don't you?" Gen nodded. "You have a resounding purpose to be here, do you not?" Gen nodded emphatically. "Well, that's nice" Cherry finished. Ataru reached around, picked him up by the collar and slammed him to the ground in spite.

"'Well, that's nice'?" Ataru quoted angrily. "Don't you have any stupid Hindu wisdom to spit out at him like you do me?" Cherry conked the boy on the head, again forcing him into the dirt and hopped back on him.

"It's Buddhist" Cherry corrected, "and yes." Gen leaned in to listen to the apparent sage. "Heed me, for I shall tell you when your destiny shall culminate." Gen nodded, taking stern mental notes. "It shall pass over you if you don't look, but look to hard and your eyes will deceive you..." Gen tried to interpret Cherry's suggestive prophecy, and after a brief stare down Cherry took his spiritual wand and turned Gen's head to the open street, where a vendor was passing by with food to sell.

Ataru pushed himself back up in time to rub his sore head and watch as Gen took out his own money to buy for the sleaziest monk in the world. Ataru felt compelled to rush over and bean the old man right in the face, but he couldn't bring himself to boil. He could see the hope on Gen's face, the hope of a lost man in the desert as he eyes down a spring of water; the hope of a cursed man gazing upon his cure.

"Here is what you shall do" Cherry instructed. "That young man over there is the incarnate of universal misfortune himself..."

"Go to hell!" Ataru shouted, hearing the remark.

"...but his resonance of good fortune can often out-play his bad. Stay with him and you shall meet with he you must meet with in less than a full day." As Cherry finished off his ice cream nosily, Gen started off over to Ataru, looking at him with a stern sense of objective. Before he could stomp very far, however, Cherry again stopped him by his shirt. "...but to work the forces of the universe must work unhindered. You can only follow him, not alter his path, or your destiny will be forever unfulfilled." Reluctantly, Gen nodded, and calmly walked back over to Ataru, who had heard the whole thing.

"Well," Ataru said thoughtfully, "I suppose you could stay with me. It can't be for that long, right?" Although he turned to Cherry for confirmation, the monk was gone like magic. Ataru looked around for a second, then shrugged and started off. Gen silently strode behind him like a massive shadow, and Ataru paid him no mind as he headed home. Then, Gen tapped his shoulder. Ataru looked back to Gen pointing behind him, obviously signaling his trustee of destiny that they were supposed to stay there.

"Yeah" Ataru started gleefully, "but I don't think we'll get with the flow of the universe if we sit still, right? We've got to move with it!" Gen smiled and hit his palm with his fist. So, Ataru marched off down the road, keeping an eye out for chicks, while Lum was just now arriving at Sakura's.


"So they aren't here?" Lum said sadly. Sakura shrugged in the doorway, smoking a cigarette and went back inside. Lum turned back around and took off into the air again to scan the streets for a giant walking cat and tiny spec of tiger-stripes.

Oh, they could be anywhere! She thought to herself. I hope they've already gone back with Cherry...or perhaps they visited someone else already. Kotatsuneko has plenty of friends besides just Ten and Cherry, like Mr. Fujinami or the principal... Lum stopped in mid-air, accidentally catching herself picturing both men at once and almost succumbing to the shock. Although, if he's with them I don't want to find him that bad... Lum sighed and started flying off towards home. At least I can count on Ten to come back safe...that's enough for now. While she went through town back home, she neglected to scan anymore and passed right over exactly what she was looking for: A Kotatsu sled pulled by a Kotatsu.

Kotatsuneko sat lazily huffing his pipe as his self-propelled vehicle of very odd design sped on down the street towards his predetermined home. He sat back and lazed, thinking about how his day had gone. He had some taiyaki and talked with the mature Ten, though he mostly listened and talked little. Of course, he expected a good meal wherever he was going, as every house that would take him in always gave him the best fish or, hopefully, taiyaki they could afford. Especially friendly was a particular old lady who thought he was her son, or her old cat...it was different on different days.

Finally, he felt his sled skid to a stop and looked over at his house for the evening. He took a drag from his pipe, and puffed out a trail of smoke apathetically.


"She was pretty cute, eh?" Ataru said, rubbing at his new cheek wound. Gen sighed and looked away. He felt defeated, cheated of his own purpose. Was fate really so cruel as to make him follow around a young man with absolutely no responsibility for his own relationship? And with a girl that can fly no less. Gen took sad glances at his own reflection, seeing his sick parents lying in their beds, barely able to move each time. While Ataru kept hitting on totally random girls, Gen's heart began to sink.

"DARLING!" roared a voice from above. Ataru's face shifted from flirtatiously goofy to stone-cold serious. He grabbed his current two-second crush and jumped out of the way of a lightning bolt striking the very ground where he stood. Gen was thrown back in astonishment and looked over. Ataru was safe, and fuming over the fresh slap he just received.

"Hey, I just saved you!" he shouted after the ungrateful fleeing girl. He looked up, and perched dramatically atop a lamppost was his 'wife', scowling furiously with her arms crossed. "Yo! You find Kotatsuneko?" Ataru asked neutrally.

"You're unbelievable, Darling!" she shouted as she descended slowly. Gen couldn't help but notice that her clothes were smoking a little. "I searched for who knows how long, and you were off hitting on girls the whole time!"

"That's not true, is it Gen?" Ataru asked, trying to refocus the blame. Gen looked away and twiddled his fingers, but Lum didn't even look for his feign.

"Don't blame this on Gen!" Lum shouted. "You're the only person stupid enough to do what you do. I know you!"

"You don't know me!"

"You never talk!"

This arguing went back and forth, and Gen pulled up a chair to make himself comfortable. Staying with these two wouldn't be easy, and he could tell it wouldn't be enjoyable, but if he was to save his entire family then he would do it. He repeated his own mantra of perseverance...for about twenty minutes. After that the fight started getting boring. Finally, Gen had enough. He raised up his arms, slapped his hands down on his lap and 'Hrumph!'-ed loud enough to stop the couple's chattering. Ataru and Lum looked at him with surprise, then turned back to each other in silence.

"Well?" Lum pushed. Ataru looked far away, rubbing his neck and openly gritting his teeth.

"You know I'm no good at apologies..." he admitted. Lum smiled at him. He looked back over and smiled back. Soon, they were both laughing together, until Lum grabbed Ataru's nose and zapped him until he became luminescent.

"I forgive you, Darling!" she said cheerfully as she let go. Ataru smoldered at her, literally, and coughed up a ring of smoke. Even if it wasn't the most heartfelt apology, or even a normal one, Gen was satisfied. He pushed himself up, and Lum took her Darling in a walking, snuggling hug as all three set out for home. Ataru did so with his hands in his pockets and a deep sense of bitterness on his face.


"We're home!" Ataru called out once he reached the front door. The three took off their shoes and stepped inside. "By the way, I have a guest."

"Welcome back" his mother called out as she was cooking, "and who?"

"Just another poor, cursed soul" Ataru explained, once again looking at Lum as he talked. She frowned as they both went upstairs and Ataru's mother came out with a pan in hand to greet the large man.

"Well" she said shakily, "welcome to our house. If you happened to be curse because of Ataru, please feel free to beat him up a bit." Gen smiled nervously to the woman's apparent warmth and apathy towards her son's history with curses and started upstairs himself. Gen followed the steps up to the open room, where he heard something that peaked his interest greatly.

"Oh, you're here too Kotatsuneko?" Ataru's voice said. Gen's eyes were burst wide open and glinting with soulful flames. He hurried the rest of the way and barged his way into the room. He looked to the right, where Ataru and Lum were both pointing to the left. He looked to the left, and there he saw a huge cat sitting under a Kotatsu and eating taiyaki. A moment of pause took place as Gen stared in disbelief. Kotatsuneko held up a sign, on which he had written 'Hello' in Japanese.

"Kotatsuneko, you'll never believe who this man is!" Lum said excitedly. Kotatsuneko gulped down the last of his snack and looked at her. "He's the descendant from your original owners!" It seemed that the memory of those people struck a nerve with him, as Kotatsuneko willingly stepped out from his warm comfort and took a karate-sumo pose at Gen. Ataru and Lum looked dumbly at the cat, then over at Gen who walked in and took a serious sumo-like pose. A heavy air of anger settled down in the room.

"That probably wasn't the best introduction" Ataru whispered to Lum. She nodded and looked on with remorse.