Chapter 14 "Party time!"
All original cast and elements of Urusei Yatsura belong to Rumiko Takahashi The OCs are mine though.
Enjoy if you will.
Tomobiki was always an interesting place to live, what with all the alien invasions, reality-altering shenanigans, and other paranormal nonsense that occurred on a near daily basis? But once Tomobiki's infamous Letcher and the Oni Princess left the planet, a sense of normalcy returned. However an ominous wind blew through the streets of this fair town. Twenty seven years have passed by and a new player arrives to Tomobiki, Ken Aoki, a fighter from Kyoto with a mysterious past and one who had received the title of "Invincible Demon-Fox". Tomobiki will become the epicenter of all weirdness and chaos once more.
Friday 1:30 P.M. - Tomobiki High - Gymnasium [Earth]
Ken was in deep...well...you know...
The Prosecution, composed of most teachers that hated his guts, lead by Megane, the one teacher who's hate for the boy reached pathological levels, were confused. More by the name Ken spouted other than the reaction that followed. What could this mean?, was the question in Megane's mind.
On the other hand, his own defense was all but ready to execute him. Usagi knew of Ken's constant flirtatious nature and tried everything in the world to...well... the correct term would be to train him out of it. She knew he dated around (something that infuriated her) but she thought she had a good grip on the whole situation, as well as some degree of control over Ken's nature [or at least she thought she had]...but somehow she sensed...that name...would only bring fury and anger to the blonde girl.
The Judge, or rather the Principal, scratched his head confused. It was all too clear that they were all missing a huge chunk of the story. He had agreed on this little mock-trial experiment, but now that he considered it, if Ken was truly guilty [of something, though he wasn't too clear as to on what] then what sort of sentence should the 'Kitsune' boy go through? The boy was rather...untamed as it was.
And right in the middle of it all was Kenichi Aoki, cursing his luck, trying to wiggle free out of the chains that currently bound him. The chains stood fast, and Ken dropped his head in defeat, once more reminiscing on how did he wind up in this situation...and on the girl who had struck fear right onto the core of the fighter previously known as 'Invincible'. With an almost inaudible sigh, Ken uttered
"...Emi you moron..."
Thursday 10 A.M.- Oni Palace - Halls [Oniboshi]
Lum had been wondering the halls wistfully, reminiscing on times past. On how she met her Darling and all the adventures she had, on the many wonderful friends she had made in Tomobiki, and how there was never a dull day. In a word, she felt never realized how much she missed Earth and all the adventures and mishaps they all had in that wonderful and weird planet, until this fellow showed up. For some reason, Ken felt like he had brought a little of the spirit of Tomobiki with him, could it be that the boy came from that city?
...Now that I think about it...How did this Ken fellow wind up here?
Lum absently wondered, it was a very good question...but it was soon diverted by another pressing thought.
I really should try to get those two together and get them dating, they make a cute couple and who knows...*giggle*
As the Oni Empress thought about this, a certain raven-haired youth sneaked up behind her.
"Everything all right, Mrs. M?" Ken asked abruptly making the Oni empress jump suddenly out of shock, reaching the halls chandeliers and grabbing onto them for dear life. When Lum turned to see the perpetrator of the prank, she saw the pony-tailed youth grinning slightly and her youngest daughter, still latched to the back of the boy's head, giggling as hard as she could.
"*giggle* We sure got you, mommy!" Airi cheered, Lum pouted for a moment togive a stern dissaproving look to both Oni girl, and human youth. Ken stiffled a laugh. "Hehe...ahem...need any help, Mrs. M?"
Lum's features softened, she never could do the whole stern, scary-parent schtick. [Though Ten would argue otherwise] Lum merely shook her head and jumped off, descending smoothly to the floor, she noticed the boy studying her descent, as if he was trying to figure something out.
"Hmm...now I wonder..." started Lum "...do YOU need any help?" she asked to the youth, breaking his concentration. Ken for his part blinked a couple of times before he quickly started shaking his head to clear his thoughts. Airi giggling as her 'horsie' bucked.
"Oh ah nevermind, I was just...hehehe...nothing..." The boy nervously waved off. Lum thought now would be as good as any chance to ask him.
"Are you from...Tomobiki by any chance?"
Ken was truly taken aback by this...but he considered this the best chance he could get to make time till her party...and it also raised a few questions on the youths mind. Ken decided to answer truthfully.
"Actually, I'm from Kyoto, but I've been living in Tomobiki-cho over in Nerima for the past few months...but how did ya know?"
Lum merely gave an enigmatic smile. "Woman's intuition, and well, you sort of remind me of Tomobiki back on Earth..." She answered, the boy just scratched his head wondering about that, but before his mind could wrap around the situation, he considered something...
"Yeah, I think I heard something about that. Mr. M is from Earth, right?"
"You mean Darling? You betcha!" Ken slowly mouthed the Darling part, laughing a little. Pet names, adorable. You might as well have the guy on a leash!, the boy thought to no one in particular.
"You're from Earth too, Big Bro Ken?" Airi asked
"Yeah, I'm terran."
"How'd you get here?" Airi wondered.
Ken opened his mouth to say, but quickly recalled the reactions both Ataru and Emi had about Lum figuring out. Airi stared at the young man, his mouth agape, suddenly put on the spot. If he told the truth, then both Emi and her father would be in deep trouble, but then what possible excuse could he give about his presence here...
Lum tilted her head, the boy was taking an awful long while to answer a simple question..."
"Ken...?"
"AH! Err..." The boy bashfully scratched the back of his head. "Umm...well...the Earth space program ran out of monkeys, so they sent me, hehehehehe" The boy forced a laugh as he lied.
"But how did they know where to find Oniboshi?" The Oni empress wondered.
Ken started sweating bullets. "Well, I sorta crash-landed here...hehehe" He half lied, technically he did. But if this kept going Lum would stumble on a question that would really put the boy in hot water, thus he decided to ask the next question.
"You guys have been to Tomobiki?"
"Yes, I used to live with Darling's parents when we were back on Earth, we both met many friends and had so many adventures back then." Lum nostalgically reminisced.
"...though I could easily have done without Darling's 'girl hunts'..." she growled out lowly, low enough for Ken not to hear.
"Huh?"
"Ah! Nevermind, just thinking on something...annoying" Lum waved off, earning a confused look from the boy, but Ken decided it probably wasn't all that important...though he could've sworn he heard her growl out the words 'girl hunts'...anyone else wouldn't think too hard about that, but the boy considered himself concerned...for about 2 seconds afer he waved it off as something unimportant [the fool]
"Anyways, Lum-san...tell me about your time in Tomobiki." Ken asked
"Oh, I don't know...it was such a long time ago..." Lum considered.
"C'mon Mommy, I wanna hear the story too!" Airi pleaded, Ken laughed at the little girl's enthusiasm.
"Two against one, Lum-san. I'm afraid you lost." Ken declared as Airi giggled. Lum gave a warm smile at the duo and walked to a bench, she signaled both of them to come take a seat. Both human and Oni made their way to the seats, Lum took a finger to her mouth.
"Where should I start? Where...? AH!" She exclaimed
"Say Ken, Have you ever heard about Earth's Tag Race against the Oni?" Lum started her tale, about how her adventures on Earth started, with her motley audience of two, listening intently.
Ken was brought back to the present, suddenly grabbed by the neck of his shirt and shaken by his then girlfriend, Usagi Miyake, though she was closely followed by an entourage of angry female classmates. The boy noticed the teachers crumpled in a heap to one side of the room, the idiots probably tried to stop them. Ken was now being lifted, by the appropriately nicknamed 'Hulk Bunny', Usagi Miyake.
"I'm asking you again: WHO IS THIS EMI?" Usagi's voice was no longer cold, and furious, it was fiery and furious with the same intensity of the flames of hell. Odd, the boy thought, maybe he did die and went to hell.
"Answer the question Aoki!" One of the other girls asked, Saeko
"You said I was the only one!" Minami, another classmate complained
"Now you go for 'Alien' girls? Go to hell, Aoki!" Midori, yet another girl, mouthed off to Ken.
"Traitor!" "Letcher!" "Unfaithful creep!" "Perv!" "Two-timer!" It was then that all the estrogen fueled lynch mob stopped and stared at each other, their gazes going from surprise, to confusion, to realization, then to a renewed downright fury. They had all realized Ken was cheating on all of them...at the same time.
All these girls, had one thing in common, they had all dated with the fighter at one point or another, and considered to be still in a relationship with the Kansai native. In his short time in Tomobiki High, Ken had become an infamous fighter, but just as well as an infamous lady killer. He was certainly attractive to the fairer sex and many girls fell for his charms, though a delinquent, many of Tomobiki's female gender actively dreamed of reforming and dating the wayward youth. But Ken was no idiot [well, he was, but not that big an idiot], he managed to keep all his women separate, but right now all of them figured out his womanizing attitude and were surrounding the kitsune-like boy, ready to lynch the idiot. Usagi leading the charge, curiously stared back at her...'competition' then took another look at the bruised and battered idiot fighter in her hands.
"So...'no flirting with other girls' , eh?" Usagi's voice held a very, VERY dangerous tone.
"Err...well...you see...*gulp*" Ken was in deep, he had managed to keep all these women from discovering their relationship with him, but now...how the hell could he escape from this situation. He also noticed a few random students [awfully familiar one's, seven of them to be exact] trying to pacify the angry female mob...with little success [Ken of course, didn't notice the fox tails and ears all these students had]. He also noticed from a corner of his eyes that Cherry was reciting his last rites.
"DON'T DO THAT, YOU STUPID MONK!"
"KeNiChI!" Usagi yelled at the boy, getting his attention back, the little lawyer tried to get her to calm down...to no avail. Ken had no escape, he could only hope for a miracle at this point.
*BOOM*
A loud boom resounded throught the room, everyone stood still.
"W-what was that?" Megane asked, having recovered his senses. The whole class looked around, that loud boom came from outside. On the door's entrance stood Onsen-Mark, mouth agape pointing at something in the sky.
"L-l-l-l-LOOK!" He shouted.
All the students and faculty quickly made their way outside, and stared at something so utterly unbelievable in their lifetimes. Even the lynch mob were moving to the doors, leaving Ken and Usagi behind. Usagi gave Ken one more withering look. "I'll deal with you later, Two-timing Kitsune!" As she said this she dropped the pony-tailed youth unceremoniously on the floor. Ken did a kip up, and wlaked to the doors trying to squeeze throught the sea of people. Once he managed to get to the front of the mob, he wondered what the hell mess was...Ken paled, in fact, all color drained from his face as he saw what Onsen-Mark and the others saw, and the boy dropped to his knees.
It was a gigantic UFO that pierced through the clouds of the sky, an enormous, tiger-striped UFO.
All the students could only watch in utter shock [poor choice of words, really], while Megane and the four, well, their jaws already met floors by now. Ken wanted to scream, but there was no voice. He wanted to run, but his legs were paralyzed in fear...all he could do was give a pathetic grin...and cry. Megane was ecstatic, after 27 long years, he would finally meet again their green haired goddess once more. Usagi couldn't believe her eyes but there was a true bonafide UFO looming in the sky
"She's heeeeree..." The fighter managed to utter. No! He had managed to escape her! He ran as fast as he could! He managed to barely make it back to Earth! But no, she followed him! The one girl...the one girl Ken wanted nothing to do with! The one girl that scared the boy down to his very core! ! !
Usagi noticed the pitiful whine from Ken and asked, a question she would regret asking. "Who?"
Ken looked back at the whole student body, his soon-to-be-ex girlfriend, his teachers, and even the little lawyer guy and the firendly-but-oddly familiar classmates were looking at him curiously. There was no way out, he was truly and definitely trapped, might as well come clean...
"...Who?..." Ken parroted, and with a pitiful chuckle he answered:
"...My wife..."
The shock was such, Megane's glasses cracked as the other teacher's jaws broke through the floor simultaneously, and a Cherry-worthy explosion blasted a good deal of the students away. Usagi's eye twitched as she heard what Ken just said, loud and clear, the seven students and the little lawyer [who seemed to be his only allies in the world right now] gasped in shock. Everyone in Tomobiki High reacted as one:
"YOUR WHAT! ? ! ?"
Thursday 12 P.M.- Oni Palace - Halls [Oniboshi]
Emi rushed through the halls, everything was ready. Ken had done quite a great job stalling her mom, but now it was time for the party. She turned a corner flying at top speed when she saw her mom and Ken, who still had an Oni brat clutching the back of said boy's head, talking. She descended nearby and walked over to the trio, approaching Ken and co. from the back.
"...and then I found out Darling got infected, his skin had turned into pink and green stripes!" Lum finished her tale. Her audience laughing boisteruosly.
"PFFT! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA, F-for reals! ? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ken laughed, as he pictured Ataru head to toes in pink/green zebra print. Airi giggled as well, picturing the ridiculous mental image.
"giggle* If you think that's funny, maybe I should tell you of Emi's first sleepover" Lum said with a mischievous smile
Emi paled. She recalled the events of that sleepover her mother mentioned. It wasn't my fault! I-I had too much to drink! Besides I was only a kid back then! !
"MOM!" She yelled, scaring Ken and making him into a fight stance, a conditioned response if anything. He instantly recognized the Oni princess as the culprit of the scare
"GEEZ! Don't scare me like that!" Ken huffed. Airi popped overhead, sticking her tongue at her, guess Ken wasn't the only one surprised...speaking of surprises
"E-Emi-chan!" Lum exclaimed as she saw her daughter and jumped to her giving a tight hug. "I was so worried! Me and your father were so worried! Thank goodness you're okay!" Emi was confused at first, but then she recalled she did runaway from home a while back, she probably forgot with all the excitement and whatnot. As her mother hugged her, Emi blushed, at the embarrasing situation, specially since Ken was watching, and chuckling lightly, as well as she saw Airi's taunting grin [That little brat! Emi had mallet with her name on it.]. It was then that Lum's caring smile turned into reproachful scowl, as she held her daughter at arms length, ready to scold her.
"Emi-chan! What were you thinking! ? Running away like that! What if something happened to you?" Lum scolded.
Ken gave a very suspicious, unsuspecting cough, while glancing to the side. Emi glared at the boy, their eyes doing all the talking.
You be quiet! Was the message behind Emi's glare.
I didn't say anything, hehehe. Ken's confident smirk communicated, oddly enough they both understood each other
Lum stared at the both, having the distinct feeling that she wasn't getting the full picture. Of course, she knew she was forgetting something!
"*ahem* Ken-san? Perhaps I should let the both of you have some time by yourselves to get to know each other better" She eagerly suggested. Both teens stared at the Oni empress, until Ken realized what she meant.
"Um...Lum-san, we already know each other quite well." Ken commented with a grin. Emi started getting nervous, Ken noticed this...hmmm...
"Oh? And how did you meet?"Lum asked sincerely, suddenly interested in their apparent history, Emi started panicking and sweating. He wouldn't! He wouldn't dare tell mom everything that just happened...would he?
"Weeeell..." Ken rambled, enjoying her panicky look a little too much, but in the end decided to give the rebellious princess a break.
"I was in a spot of trouble and she helped me out, that's it." Ken vaguely admitted, Emi nearly deflated from the stress.
"What sort of trouble?" Lum inquired further, making Emi panic again.
"Eh? I was...stuck, she helped me out of a jam...nothing too interesting." The boy shrugged, Emi deflated again, then she noticed the playful smirk in the earth boy's face, followed by a playful wink in her direction. Ouuuh, he's doing this on purpose!
"Anyway-" Ken decided to change the subject. "- Everything ok, Emi?"
"Huh? Oh right!" The princess suddenly remembered what she came for, and turned to her mother. "Mom, Daddy wnats to see you."
"Oh? You and Darling are back in speaking terms then?" Lum wondered, happily.
Emi gulped for a bit, she forgot the whole argument about being the tag champion"Err...yeah, well, we agreed to a truce." The green haired teen deadpanned. "Anyway let's go."
"All right!" Lum beamed, she honestly missed seeing her Darling's face walked ahead quickly turning a corner and flying quickly [out of the teen's, specially Ken's, sight]. Ken was about to follow, when he felt a painful sting right on his shoulder.
"YEOW!" Ken yelled and turned his head to look at the culprit, her teeth buried with a very annoyed scowl "EMI! Did you just bit me! ?" he asked the painfully obvious question, slightly annoyed
"Thfth fuo scaerang me bleack thefre" She said, still biting his shoulder. Ken gave her a blank expression. "Translation?" He asked turning to Airi.
"I think Big Sis said: 'That's for scaring me back there'" Ken ahh'ed, Emi released the boy from the bite, pouting at him. Ken glared for a moment, that bite HURT!
Geez! What're her teeth made of! ? He wondered, he could get angry, he should've been angry...
...But he honestly couldn't bring himself to get angry to the alien princess. One look at her eyes and Ken felt all rage defusing. He wouldn't admit it [just yet] but he had fallen for the Oni princess.
"Guess I had it coming, heheheh." The terran laughed off.
"Hmph, you're terrible" Emi pouted, puffing her cheeks in annoyance. Ken lightly rubbed the sore spot on his shoulder as he walked over to Emi.
Man, she's got a nasty bite! Emi's tougher than she looks... He thought, but he then took a good look at the Oni princess, still pouting, and found himself smiling.
Still, she's definitely a keeper...
"Emi, I was only having a little fun at your expense, c'mon..." Emi just 'hmphed', turning away from Ken, but keeping an eye open. She saw the boy lean close and giving a quick peck on her cheek, she blushed taking her hand to her face, lightly touching the spot he kissed.
"Forgive me?" Ken said in a sweet voice. Emi turned away for a moment, pretending to still be angry, though Ken had read her body language enough to know she wasn't mad anymore. Emi turned and brightly smiled.
"Ok, Ken...but just cause it's you." She said giggling slightly as she made her way back to the grand hall. "Mom! Wait up!" She turned the hall's corner and and disappeared after her mom. Leaving Ken and Airi behind. Ken lightly rubbed the sore spot on his shoulder.
"Ow!...Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark..." The fox-like boy examined. "But still..." His expression turned into a rather goofy looking kind of one, when Airi leaned close, she noticed it was quite similar to the face her dad made when Auntie Benten, Auntie Oyuki, or Auntie Ran dropped by to visit. The little Oni girl had taken a shine to the terran fighter, so she decided to give him a fair warning.
"You know, Big Sis has a really nasty temper, Big bro. You should be careful..." Airi warned, Ken for his part just shrugged.
"Nah, I think you're exaggerating. Besides her bite wasn't that bad." Ken waved off. Airi leaned over to the affected shoulder and lightly tapped it, earning a hushed "Ow!" and a flinch from the human.
"~Don't say I didn't warn you, Big Bro~" Airi singsonged, Ken just shook his head and triangle jumped off the walls, and they were both making their way to the grand hall, Airi giggling all the way.
Thursday Party time- Oni Palace - Grand Hall [Oniboshi]
Ken shortly arrived to the Grand Hall, following Lum and Emi's scents respectfully...though their scents were mostly aerial, but the boy chalked it up to some sort of Oni physical prowess, they had probably traveled via triangle jumps all the way.
Yes, Ken had not figured one of the many crucial facts of Oni, though it was just a matter of time.
As Ken gave a couple of steps towards the Grand Hall, he saw Emi and Lum standing over the doors, Emi talking to her mom about something or another, he didn't quite make what the conversation was about because of the distance, but as he approached, he started hearing bits and pieces.
"...something important about Ken?..." Lum asked
"Yeah mom, but I kind of need to check a few things first." Emi said, it was then she noticed Ken. "Ken!"
"Yo babe!" The terran boy amicably said hi...in his own way. An announcement about me? Hmm...Wonder what could it be? Well, I still have to tell Mr.M about my decision
Emi jumped over to the boy and smiled at him. "Could you and mom wait out here for a moment, I need'tcha check something."
"I'm sure I can help, Emi-chan." Her mother tried to follow but Emi quickly waved her not to. "NO! I mean...wait here, please." The Oni princess pleaded. Emi shut the door behind her leaving Lum, Ken and Airi to themselves.
Soon afterwards some Oni attendants started to arrive, one of them was pushing what seemed like a rolling changing booth.
"Master Ken Aoki?" The head attendant asked, Ken nodded, already used to the title, while Oni mother and daughter wondered the same thing: "Master?"
"We were summoned by Warlord Moroboshi Ataru, to ensure proper attire for you, Master Ken."
The boy cocked his head, which looked funny with Airi propping herself over Ken's head, tilting her head as well. "Proper attire?" He recalled something about that.
In an instant, before he could even react [which shocked the seasoned fighter] Ken was pulled, Airi floated off of the boy's head in time to see the attendants pushing Ken into a changing booth. Inside the booth, a struggle between Ken and the attendants could be heard.
"Oe oe oe! Where do you think you'r- HEY! what the-! LEGGO! Hey! Hands off, pal!"
As the struggled carried on, Airi gently floated over to Lum's head and latched on her. Both blinking confused. The attendant took a bow towards empress and young princess. "Pardon, but given that Master Ken was invited to the event we were to ensure he would be dressed properly."
Lum blinked confused, but inmediately asked. "Event? What event?"
Before she could get an answer Ken dashed off of the changing booth, instead of the clothes he had been wearing he emerged with a very stylish looking black suit, the dress shirt was still unbuttoned around the neck. Ken's hair had been groomed from his previous messiness into a sleek straight hairstyle, style tied into a ponytail. Ken ferally growled at the Oni attendant who had changed his outfit. "KON!" He barked making the attendant flinch away. In that moment the doors to the Grand Hall opened, Lum turned to see...
!
And she was greeted with a sight of most of her closest friends and acquaintances, her family and in the middle, her beloved husband, the man she had fallen in love with so many years ago, the unlucky boy with whom she had lived thousands of adventure who had become the father of her children and the love of her life, her sweet Darling. Ataru smiled warmly at Lum. Lum's eyes widened in surprise as she stepped into the hall, greeted in unison by everyone with the chant of:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUM!
To say Lum was surprised was an understatement...
Meanwhile Ken peered inside when suddenly Airi jumped off her mother's head back to the boy's noggin.
"You really like it up there, don't ya?" Ken asked. Airi giggled in response.
"Uh huh" she nodded. "Specially since it doesn't smell like sweat anymore."
"Oe, listen here-!" Ken was about to scold Airi, when he was hushed by a voice to his side, Ken turned to see Emi who had somehow sneaked up on him.
"Emi?" Ken asked, wondering why he was shushed just now.
Emi just shushed him again and with a smile she softly said: "Watch"
Ken blinked confused a couple of times, but decided to watch the unfolding events
As she tentatively took a few steps towards her husband, she looked around, the Grand Hall was magnificent, she had never seen it like this before...actually it almost looked like a completely different hall than the one she recalled. [Though if she had known it had to be rebuilt her shock and awe would be quite diminished, but she didn't need to know that now did she?] She then found herself face to face with her beloved husband, the boy, now a man, whom she swore she would make him tell her that she loved him, even if it took her entire life.
"D-Darling?" Lum said hesitant
"Bet you'd thought I'd forget, eh Lum?" Ataru said chuckling. Lum instantly realized, and she started to tear up. Taking her hands to wipe off the tears, she dashed over to her husband and enveloped him in a tight embrace.
"Darling no baka..." She said softly to which Ataru merely replied with a grin.
"Happy Birthday, Lum."
To be continued...
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