The expectation of a normal school day felt like a distant memory as Ataru sat down at his desk.
Until very recently, his days at Tomobiki High school weren't what one would label as abnormal. His grades were a little more than average since the pandemic began. And despite the increased recent temptations to stare at his female classmates walking around in their sailor suits, he's able to keep his thoughts in line.
A healthy student is a happy student. Those simple words were the quickest way for Ataru to straighten himself out. Push himself to fight another day. No matter how hard the challenges ahead of him present themselves to be.
As a Japanese high school student, giving up is simply not an option. Aim the closest you can get to perfection, go to sleep, and wake up in the morning willing to do it all over again.
If there's even a little bit of a possibility of the happiest day of his life ahead of him in the future, he isn't going to let anything stop him from working to get there.
Today however, is different from any day he's ever had in school. To put it simply, he feels stuck. No matter how hard he tries, he'll never be free. People just never know what they have until it's taken from them.
Right now, he's sitting at his desk while Lum, who's catching the attention of everybody, is hovering in the air and wrapping her arms around him.
"Darling…" Her voice weaves itself into his head. "There's no reason for you to listen to such basics! How about we ditch this place? I can take you somewhere that's much more fun."
Now Lum is trying to get in between him and his academic goals. Those goals being don't flunk and look decent enough for a other twisted ideas does this alien princess possibly have in mind?
"Oh, please leave me-"
Ataru didn't get to finish that sentence. As the teacher threw the piece of chalk he was holding. An action most unprofessional for an educator. "OW!"
"Moroboshi!" All eyes are on the sensei now. "The school is no place for showgirls!"
Rubbing his forehead, Ataru argues back.
"Don't insult showgirls, Sensei. They're much harder workers than you'll ever be. And I don't get a say as to what Lum wants to do."
"A wife should always be together with her husband!" Lum yells out. "In sickness and in health. Until death does us apart. Isn't that what they say here, darling?"
"Um, yeah they do. Good job."
As soon as those words left Ataru's mouth, he hears the sound of a pencil breaking in two. Almost immediately, he put together whose pencil it was.
He looks to his right to see Shinobu sitting at her desk. Visibly shaking in anger. He had just complimented Lum in the same way he used to compliment her; and that was enough to tick her off.
"Shinobu!" He calls out to her. "I swear I didn't mean to make you angry!"
Lum brings her face closer to Ataru's neck. "Darling…" She closes the distance and connects her lips.
That was more than enough to get a rise out of some of the male classmates. (They'll be unnamed to save time.)
"Ataru, you filthy pig!" One voice cried out. "How dare you violate our pure, innocent Lum!"
"Oh, give me a break." He said to himself. "Listen up, guys! I'm only going to say this one more time! Lum's decisions are- AAAHH!"
That was all he could get out. Shinobu, to the surprise of everybody, had picked up her own desk and threw it at him.
It all happened so fast, nobody could warn him.
"You damn womanizer!" Shinobu shouted at him. "You leave me for an alien princess and then rub it in my face while we're at school!? What the hell is wrong with you!? Why do you have to be such a-"
Shinobu stopped talking as she realized what she had truly done. The second she saw the red liquid coming out from his nose and spilling onto the floor was when she regretted everything. Ataru has been beaten up pretty badly and she has nobody but herself to blame.
Lum, realizing everything that had happened, became infuriated. The lights in the classroom start to flicker as she moves closer to Shinobu.
"You… hurt my… darling." She said while staring at her with lifeless eyes.
If looks could kill, Shinobu would be dead.
Seeing no other option, she bows her head and raises her hands up in prayer.
"I'm so sorry, Lum! I didn't mean to! I'll do everything I can to make it right, I promise! Please don't hurt me!"
Lum raises her right hand.
"Well, maybe you should have thought about what I would have done BEFORE you thought it was a good idea to break darling's nose."
She then gives her a wicked smile. "Die… Ugly."
"Lamu, cut it out!"
Within a second, Ataru's voice wiped the smile off her face. It was like flipping a switch.
"You… you called me by my given name." He could hear her say.
Lum then covered her reddening face with her hands before falling on her knees.
"Ohh… This is so embarrassing!" She cried out. "Why oh why did I have to be born with that name!?"
Helping himself to a handful of tissues passed onto him, Ataru tilts his head forward and covers his nose. He then looks at Shinobu.
"I'll forgive you this time, but you gotta control that temper of yours."
With tears in her eyes, Shinobu bows to him. "Su-Sumimasen!"
In all of his time at Tomobiki High school, Ataru had never been to the nurse's office. There was just simply never a reason to go. So he didn't know what to expect from the one who's waiting for him.
He could only take a step back in disbelief as he saw Nurse Sakura for the first time. She was a young, beautiful woman who looks to be near the age of thirty. Long, black hair that isn't tied back, which does seem a little strange for a nurse.
As soon as Ataru gathered the courage to walk in, he made sure to focus his attention on his injury. Last thing he need s is the nurse thinking he's a creep.
He can be, but he doesn't need her thinking that.
"So… you're Ataru Moroboshi." He hears her speak in a tone that sounded almost flat.
"Yeah, that's me."
"Figured you'd wind up in here sooner or later. Come on in and have a seat. I'll be right with you."
As Ataru did what he was told, Sakura continues looking over the file that she had been reading since before he walked in.
"So… rough day, huh? Not many students who come in here say they haven't."
Ataru looks down at the floor. "I didn't expect to be wound up in a lot of things right now. It feels like it's not just the world that's working against me. The entire universe is starting to join in."
He lifts his head up to look at her for a split second before looking back down again.
"But I don't expect you to care about that."
Sakura then puts down the file she was reading and looks at him.
"Hey, what you're feeling right now, is more or less what I hear from a lot of other students. Things for you could be a lot better, but usually what I see in people, they're going to end up feeling better. It's just the question of 'how?'
So don't worry about what I do or don't care about, okay?"
"You know, maybe I shouldn't have come here." He forces himself to smile as he stood up. "I mean, you must be very busy with a lot of other things."
It was then that Sakura rushed over to him and sat him back down.
"Yeah, I've already received a call from your teacher to look after you, Ataru Moroboshi! I can't let you go just yet!
You know, I was a priestess before I was handed this job as a school nurse. I can tell that something is wrong with a person just by looking at their face. Looking at you right now, I know that there's a whole lot going on with you! You are unwell. It's like something under the surface just keeps tugging at you at almost all times of the day. I've seen it before.
That bloody nose of yours is the least of your problems. An evil spirit must be residing in you and it needs to be exorcized."
Before Ataru could say anything. Sakura held up a small pocket watch in front of his face. In a very faint voice, she began chanting.
"Purity… and… sanctity…"
He then couldn't help but feel drowsy. Like if he had just been put under an anesthetic.
Before shutting his eyes, he hears that familiar voice from the back of his head.
"You look like you could use a hand. Here, let me help you."
As Sakura looks at the unresponsive Ataru, she continues her exorcism. "One… Two… Three."
She brings her hand closer to his face and snaps her fingers. Causing him to open his eyes.
"To whom am I speaking with now?" She questions him.
Ataru looks Sakura straight in the eyes and gives her a wicked smile.
"Nurse Sakura… I'm Ataru Moroboshi. Like, what kind of answer are you expecting from me?"
Before Sakura could say anything back, she heard two voices from the doorway calling for Ataru.
"Ataru-kun!" "Darling!"
Still smiling, Ataru pulls out the bloody tissues from his nose and embraces Lum and Shinobu.
"Ah, it's good to see that you two have come all this way here for me! I truly cannot ask for anything more!"
Seeing the smile on his face was more than enough to reassure the two girls as they found themselves smiling back.
"Wow Ataru." Said Shinobu. "I've never seen you… smile like that before. I feel like everything is going to be… alright now."
This is when Sakura decided to step in.
"Girls! Don't let this man fool you! You are speaking with an evil possessive spirit that has deluded itself into THINKING it's Ataru Moroboshi!"
She quickly grabs a paper fan from a drawer nearby and points it at him.
"Allow me a minute and I'll rid us all of him!"
"Wait, now hold on!" Lum was quick to defend Ataru. "As his wife, I'd think I'd know whether or not anything is wrong with my darling!" She goes on to wrap her arms around his waist. "He and I will be together forever!"
Shinobu gives a frustrated sigh before crossing her arms. "I've known Ataru forever. If anybody's capable of helping him out, it's me!"
Ataru could only chuckle. "Man it feels good to be in the light for once! Would you come here for a second, Shinobu? I believe it's your turn to receive a hug from me!"
"Darling…" Lum gives him a dissatisfied look.
"It's just my way of showing her that all is forgiven.
Shinobu gave him a smile as she hugged him. This side of Ataru had other intentions, however, as he moves his right hand closer to her rear…
Only for his left hand to slap it away.
"OW!" He winced as he pulled away from Shinobu, who's now looking confused.
He looks at his left hand to see that his fingers are moving on their own.
"See!? This is what I'm telling you!" He heard Sakura yell. "The real Ataru Moroboshi isn't in charge of his own body right now. He's now trying to claw his way back up into the light. I think that's how you described it, right?"
"Oh, you act like you know everything, Sakura!" Ataru spoke in a more sinister tone. "But the simple truth is that you don't!
You wonder why there's somebody breathing beneath the surface of the one known as Ataru Moroboshi. That led you to believe that I'm a separate being that's just leeching off the real Ataru. That's where you're wrong.
We're BOTH Ataru Moroboshi! One can't exist without the other. Get rid of me, you get rid of him. That's just the way it works. In case you didn't know that!
How did the saying go? 'If you can't have me at my worst, then you don't deserve me at my best?' Heh heh. It sure was fun being the one in charge for once. I should be doing it more often."
He looks at Lum and Shinobu. "Next time girls, make sure it's him and not me you're after, okay? Okay."
He then felt a strain in his neck, followed by blood continuing to pour down his nose.
It only took a moment, but the original Ataru made it back into the light.
After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he speaks to himself.
"I can't believe I lost control like that." He then looks at the other three. "The other guy didn't… try anything with any of you, did he?"
Sakura sighs while she shook her head.
"A split personality… I never could have guessed. I'm not a psychologist, so I don't believe I'll be of much help. I'll continue keeping a close eye on you."