Hi, everyone! Again, thanks for the very nice reviews! Although now I'm nervous that the end's going to suck or everyone's going to be disappointed or something...lol.
Anyways, here's chapter 6! This is Lum and Ataru's chapter (although Chapter 7 is kind of their chapter, too), which I told you all before. I don't know if this came out as good as chapter 5; it was a lot harder to do, anyway. Well, not a lot harder - harder in a different way. Whereas Shinobu and Mendou rarely have such an in-depth look into their characters, so much has already been done with both Ataru and Lum in the series and movies that it was hard to come up with something new and original while still staying true to their characters and the story. Anyway, I hope I did all right, but I will say that there were a lot of parts I really enjoyed writing in this and a one of the scenes in this was particularly one of my favorite to write in the whole story (I won't say which one because I don't want to give anything away). I don't know, though, if that necessarily means it's a stellar scene or anything; I just had fun writing it, that's all. lol. Again, although there are some funny scenes scattered around, some of it is really sad as well. It's kind of a mix bag, I guess, of comedy and drama, but I don't think it's as depressing as Shinobu and Mendou's chapter was. There's kind of a reason for that, though, although I won't state it now because it kind of gives away parts of the ending... Oh, yeah, and I apologize for the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter! And, also the one at the end of chapter 7...sorry about that! lol!
Also, just like chapter 5, things might get confusing and jump around a lot; so separate scenes within the four featured parts will be separated by a horizontal line again, unless a scene happens to flow into another one (I know there's a big scene in this, actually, which is composed of separate scenes flowing into each other, just to warn you...actually, I think there's a few like that...hopefully it won't be too confusing!).
With that, and only three more chapters to go, here's chapter 6!
Episode 6: The Scariest Thing of All is White Picket Fences
Subtitle: (Relationships, Part Three: The Problem with Commitment)
Wedding Interlude
The wedding march played and Lum grinned, dressed in white lace, her hair in curls, with a tiara and veil, and a bouquet of white and pink flowers in her hand. She took a deep breath and started gracefully down the aisle, towards the altar, where a smiling priest stood. Gazing over the teary-eyed guests, she felt her own eyes welling up as her grinned widened. Today was the day she had dreamed about all her life - her wedding day.
Lum reached the altar, more beautiful than she had ever been in her entire life, glowing with her joy and excitement. The wedding march faded away into a silence and Lum closed her eyes and lifted her head with a smile, waiting for the priest to start speaking. However, when the silence remained, Lum frowned and fluttered her eyes open, glancing around her in a puzzled worry. Murmurs began to ripple across the guests, and the tears in Lum's eyes that had once been joy were now replaced with despair. "Darling?" she asked aloud, hoping he would answer her, but he did not. "Darling!" she now cried, a sob catching in her throat when she did as she realized she was alone at the altar. The priest gave her a sympathetic look, closing the bible and shaking his head.
Then Lum turned her head to gaze down the empty aisle.
The Case of the Oni Lum (The Lum Project)
Lum stood in front of the carousel with a smile as she watched it spin around with it's melody. "How pretty!" she exclaimed happily, as if it were the first time she had seen it, and went towards it. However, she stopped when, to her surprise, when the carousel flashed with a bright white light, and she put her arm in front of her eyes as to not be blinded by it. Then, when the light dimmed, she lowered it, to see a dozen unicorns with silvery manes, standing upon the carousel. They then started galloping toward her, yet Lum did not cower at the sight of the speeding unicorns. Instead, she giggled, silver dust glittering all around her as they ran past her, not one coming close to hitting her. And Lum twirled around, her skirt flipping about in the silver dust that sparkled all about her, to watch the unicorns fly upward towards the starry sky. Lum stretched a hand out towards them as they faded into the heavens, and her smile soon became bittersweet. She lowered her arm with a frown, and lowered her eyes as well, wondering why she hadn't followed.
Grinning, Lum floated into the schoolyard, humming merrily to herself. However, to her surprise, she noticed the students staring at her with disgust, whispering and murmuring to each other. Lum's face became puzzled and she looked herself over; nothing seemed wrong.
"It's so weird how she flies like that, don't you think, Shutaro?" she heard Shinobu whisper and she turned to see her standing with Shutaro.
Shutaro nodded. "I have to agree, Miss Shinobu; it just isn't normal," he agreed and Lum frowned, slowly placing her feet onto the ground.
"And that blue hair!" Shinobu added with a grimace. "I'm glad my hair isn't that strange." And Lum, with a panicked look in her eye, looked down at her blue hair that laid on her shoulders.
"Yes, and those horns!" Shutaro said, laughing, and Lum's hands immediately shot up to her horns, biting her lower lip worriedly. "How absolutely ridiculous do they look!"
"Sh! Sh! She'll hear you!" Shinobu said in a scolding whisper, trying to suppress her own giggles. "And you know how uncivil she can be! I mean, with those electric shocks and those fangs!" Lum's hands dropped to examine her fangs, pressing a finger against each one.
"No respectable woman would act so barbaric," Shutaro agreed as he folded her arms. "I really don't know why Moroboshi puts up with her." Shinobu concurred with a nod.
Lum's arms fell to her sides as she felt herself begin to cry, the sound of cruel, mocking laughter engulfing her. She shook her head, wrapping her arms tightly around her shoulders, and flew upwards, her crystal tears falling from her eyes as she flew far away from the others and their cold laughter. Then, when she was alone, she sniffled a bit and dropped her eyes toward her dangling feet, tears still glistening in her eyes. Then, she said quietly to herself, "Darling..."
"What's wrong, Lum?" Ataru's voice came to her and Lum looked up in surprise to see she was at the carnival again, besides the carousel. He then folded his arms stubbornly. "You're not crying over the stupid carousel again, are you? Because I'm still not going on it; and I still think it's a stupid reason to want to go on it just because the unicorns have horns like you do."
"No, that's not it," she said, shaking her head.
"Then, what is it?"
"You think I'm normal, don't you, Darling?" she asked and Ataru broke into a fit of laughter, doubling over in his hysterics. Lum scowled furiously. "What's so funny?!"
"You? Normal?" He laughed even harder, shaking his head with his chuckles.
"Well, how would you know, anyway?!" she cried, crossing her arms and turning her back to him.
"Huh?" Ataru's laughter quickly died out, noticing Lum's back was to him. "Aw, Lum...I didn't mean it in a BAD way...so who cares that you're not normal? No one's really normal, anyway, so you're kind of just like everyone else."
"Everyone else?" Lum asked hopefully and turned back to Ataru with pleading eyes.
Ataru just gave her a casual shrug. "Well, you're more like us than you're like the stupid unicorns, anyway."
"Will you let go of my arm, Lum?"
"Leave me alone, Lum!"
"Lum, not now!"
"Jeez, Lum, why do you always have to cling onto me like that?!"
Lum frowned as she looked down at her feet as she and Ataru sat together on Ataru's bed in Ataru's room with the lights out, rain falling down outside his window. "Darling...am I a bother to you?" she asked. Ataru frowned and shrugged. "Do you...want me to go away...? Because I will, if you want me to..." Yet Ataru still wouldn't answer; all he would was give her a shrug.
And Lum simply assumed that he meant "yes."
Lum tapped her foot impatiently as she waited outside the restaurant, looking down at her watch with a scowl on her face. "Where could he be?" she questioned aloud. She let out a frustrated sigh as she brought her head back up and dropped her arm to the side. "Ooh...Darling!" she exclaimed angrily to herself. "That jerk! Why doesn't he ever keep his promises?" Angrily, she slumped against the outside wall of the restaurants, in hopes that he would still show up.
Glowering, Lum looked up at the clock tower at Tomobiki high school as she waited in the schoolyard. "Darling!" she exclaimed to herself. "Where are you? You were supposed to be here a half an hour ago!" But she just crossed her arms and continued to wait.
Lum sat on the park bench, glaring at her watch. With an exasperated sigh, she rose to her feet. "Darling!" she muttered under her breath, scowl on her face and angry sparks coming from her. A fierce growl escaping her lips, she turned and began to finally decide to leave.
"Hey, Lum!" Ataru called out to Lum, and Lum turned around in surprise, seeing him standing a few feet away.
Grinning excitedly, Lum exclaimed, "Darling!"
"Come on, Lum!" he told her, gesturing her to follow him, and then he then started running.
Lum laughed happily. "Wait up, Darling!" she called and started to fly after him. However, as fast as she went, Ataru still stayed the same distance ahead of her. She frowned and pushed herself to go faster. "Darling!" she called out again, but she felt herself and everything else slowing down, as if falling into a monotonous slow, and Ataru got farther and farther. She let out a cry, tears falling from her eyes as she stretched her hand forward, her palm outstretched, straining her arm as to try and catch him. "Darling! Please, don't leave me, Darling!" she exclaimed, but he was nothing more than a silhouette now, and he certainly couldn't hear her. And she whispered to herself "Darling..." as everything around her turned white.
She stopped then, staring out at the blank white emptiness that encircled her in confusion, the last of her tears leaving her eyes, her despair being replaced with confusion. "Darling? Darling? Are you here, Darling?" No answer came and she frowned.
She floated around the barren white for some time, trying to find it's end, but she had no luck. "Hello? Isn't anyone here?" she called. Then, something flickering in the distance, caught the corner of her eye, and she turned. She squinted her eyes, trying to see what it was, but, realizing it was futile, she decided to fly towards it.
When she reached it, she found it was a mirror, but her reflection was strange and she cocked her head to the side, staring at it inquisitively. Her hair was black, her head hornless, her mouth fangless, and her leopard bikini was replaced by a Tomobiki school girl uniform. Nor was she flying in the reflection, although she was floating; instead, her reflection was standing on some sort of tiled floor that did not exist in the white world Lum was in. Lum gazed at the strange reflection and lifted her fingers to it in her perplexed daze.
And as her fingers touched the mirror, she transformed into the reflection - her blue hair turned black, her horns disappeared as did her fangs, and her leopard bikini grew into a flowing school girl skirt, and her bikini top into the school girl's sailor shirt. The white emptiness transformed as well, morphing into the girls' bathroom of Tomobiki High School, and Lum found herself leaning over one of the sinks and looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She frowned in disappointment as she tried to brush through her black hair with her fingers, and then turned to her book bag, pulling out a hairbrush and starting to brush it.
The toilet in one of the stalls flushed and Shinobu emerged, heading over to the sink to wash her hands. "My hair's...so...ugh!" Lum complained to her as she brushed through it. "It just kind of sits there; it's so dull!"
Shinobu shrugged, turning off the faucet and shaking her hands to dry them. "It's not that dull," she told her. "At least your hair is long."
"Well, I told you that you should grow out your hair," Lum commented before groaning and slamming her brush down onto the bathroom counter. "Oh, it's no use!" she exclaimed, with a slam of her foot as she looked angrily at her hair reflecting in the mirror.
"I think it's fine..." Shinobu trailed off and then headed for the door. "Come on; we're going to be late for class."
"Fine..." Lum reluctantly agreed, shoving her hairbrush back into her bag and following after Shinobu. As the two girls walked down the crowded hallway, filled with chattering students, Lum said, "Hey, I was thinking. Maybe I should dye my hair or something; you know, really liven it up? What do you think?"
"Dye it?" Shinobu asked with an intrigued laugh. "Are you serious?"
"Oh, I don't know!" Lum exclaimed, laughing as well. "But it would be fun, don't you think? Maybe you could dye yours, too."
Shinobu chuckled again. "I don't think so; I'm kind of used to my brown hair, even if it is kind of plain. I'm kind of used of your black hair, too, now that I think about it. After all, it's been like that ever since I met you back in grade school."
"But all the guys would think it was really cute, don't you think?" Lum persisted with a grin. "I'd bet we'd be a big hit!"
"Well..." Shinobu began, feeling herself cave in. "What color do you want to dye your hair anyway?"
"I don't know; something that's not so black and dull," Lum answered. "Something like blond or red; something that will really stand out." Her grin widened. "Or maybe I'll go really crazy and dye it something like blue!"
"Blue?!" Shinobu questioned and both girls fell into a fit of hysterical giggles as they stepped into their classroom and took their seats near the window, Shinobu in the seat in front of Lum.
As class began, Lum frowned, her bored eyes gazing out the window as the teacher began his lecture. She sighed, watching the birds whisk across the sunny skies as free as any creature could be, and she wished she could be out there with them, flying freely among the clouds.
Suddenly sensing someone looking over at her, Lum turned her head around to spot one of the male students staring at her - Ataru Moroboshi, she thought his name was - with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Lum blushed and gave him a half-smile as well as a little wave. Then, in embarrassment, Ataru quickly turned his eyes from her and to the front of the classroom, his cheeks burning red.
"Ataru Moroboshi?!" Shinobu questioned in surprise as the two girls sat outside on the grass for lunch that afternoon. She laughed. "You can't really be serious!"
"I am!" Lum exclaimed, laughing as well. "He was looking over at me and smiling!"
"No, not that!" Shinobu declared, giggling. "I meant that you're actually interested in him; everybody knows that Ataru Moroboshi is a lecher!"
"Well, I know that," Lum replied with a smile. "But I think if he had the right girl, he might actually kind of commit, you know?" She then grinned deviously and added, "Besides, he's kind of cute, don't you think?"
"Cute?" Shinobu laughed, shaking her head. Then, she asked, "Besides, what about Shutaro Mendou? Now HE'S cute AND he likes you! I don't see why you haven't gone out with him yet."
"Because," Lum began with a simple glint in her eye, "I don't like him. I mean, I like him and everything, just not...that way." Her face turned pink and she chuckled in spite of herself. "Well, you know what I mean!" she exclaimed. "Besides, I think the bigger question is why YOU haven't asked him out yet!"
Shinobu's face turned red and she immediately shook her head. "Oh, no! Why would I - I mean - he likes you and everything, anyway, so - "
"That's because he simply doesn't know any better," Lum insisted, cutting her off with a sly smirk. "You know how boys are; they don't get anything unless you hit them over the head with it, and even then they sometimes still don't get it. Besides, I think you two would make a really cute couple!"
"You think?" Lum closed her eyes with a grin and nodded. Shinobu's face turned redder and she quickly shook her head again, deciding it would be best to change the subject, "Anyway, are you still thinking of dying your hair blue?"
Lum laughed. "Oh...I don't know...maybe!"
Shinobu giggled. "Really?"
"Well, it would be different, right?"
"But I don't see why anyone would want to be THAT different," Shinobu argued with a chuckle, but her eyes soon became inquisitive as she looked up at Lum, putting a finger to her chin in contemplation.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing; it's just that, now that I think about it, I don't think you'd look all that bad with blue hair," Shinobu commented. "Actually, I think it might look good on you. Normal, even."
"Normal?" Lum asked and then began to giggle. "Yeah, right," she said, crossing her arms. "That's what you said about the leopard bikini and we all saw how that turned out."
"What?" Shinobu said with a laugh. "I thought it looked good on you!" And both girls fell into giggles again.
Lum's giggles abruptly ceased, however, when she spotted Ataru walking across the grass on the other side of the schoolyard. "Look! There he is!" Lum exclaimed, pointing at him.
"Huh?" Shinobu asked and looked to where Lum was pointing.
"I'm going to go and talk to him!" Lum exclaimed and quickly jumped to her feet, running over to him.
"No! Wait! Lum!" Shinobu cried, reaching out a hand, but it was no use for Lum was already halfway to Ataru.
"Oh, wait! Excuse me!" Lum called out and then ran in front of Ataru, causing Ataru to stumble to a halt. "Hi!" she said with a nervous smile, cheeks pink. "I saw you looking at me before."
"Oh," Ataru replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "You just reminded me of someone I knew a long time ago. But you couldn't be her."
"Oh..." Lum trailed off with some disappointment, and looked down at her feet. Then, she perked up a bit, and asked, "Well, what was this girl's name?"
"Her name was Lum," Ataru answered.
"Hey, that's my name!" Lum exclaimed, placing a hand to her chest as to indicate this.
"Really?" Ataru asked and Lum nodded. He frowned, though, and replied, "But Lum had blue hair."
"Blue hair...?"
Ataru nodded. "And she had these horns and she used to fly about, and call me Darling. I think she was in love with me." He laughed sadly, longing for the memories, and scratched the back of his head as he averted his sad eyes from her. "She really was something...I wish she was still around, but she just disappeared one day, as if she never existed at all. Hey, maybe she really never did exist at all." He let out another bittersweet chuckle, a regret in his forlorn eyes as he lifted them to her and Lum frowned, unsure what to say to him. "But it was nice meeting you, um, Lum," he told her and extended his hand to her.
"Nice meeting you, too," Lum answered, trying to smile as she took his hand. But as soon as her hand wrapped around his, she let out a gasp and her eyes widened as they looked into his, her memories somehow playing out in his eyes. She froze in her
surprise, and Ataru released her hand, not noticing the revelation in her eyes, and started walking away. "Darling..." she whispered,glancing down at her hand that still hung in the air. She then gasped again, looking up and exclaiming, "Darling! No, wait, Darling!" she cried, running after him, as her black hair slowly grew into her blue hair and her horns growing back onto her head while her school uniform slowly shed away to reveal her leopard bikini. And as her feet slowly lifted off the ground, clad in her knee-high leopard boots, she cried out after him still, "Darling, it is me! Lum! I do exist, Darling! I do!" But everything around her faded again into night, and she found herself in a dark field, a black, moonless sky above her. She let out a sob and her feet fell to the dark grass, as she stared down at her feet. "And I do love you...Darling..."
"Would you care for a dance, my lady?" a familiar voice came to her and she looked up to see Ataru, dressed in his southern gentleman attire from earlier, and with a charming grin and an extended hand.
Lum shook her head, wrapping her arms around her cold shoulders. "But you - you're not, Darling. I know that you're not Darling." But he just continued to smile at her and brought his hand closer to her. And Lum started crying, beautiful tears falling from her eyes as she shook her head still, wishing it wasn't so; that she hadn't lost her darling Ataru to be replaced by an empty version of him, one that she had somehow selfishly wished for, and she hated herself because of it. Then, realizing it was no use, she raised her head, her last tears falling down her cheeks, and she accepted the illusion's hand and her own punishment.
As the two began to dance, the field became a beautiful valley, vivid and full of life, and the night sky brightened to the day, and the image of the made-up Ataru faded away until the somber-eyed Lum was only dancing with herself and the wind in the lonely valley.
And the red-haired man grinned as he saw her arrive in the valley only a few yards away from Shutaro, who laid in the grass. Still standing behind the weeping Shinobu, the man with the curly red hair grinned and then slowly vanished out of the valley to capture the last one of the four - Ataru Moroboshi.
The "Always and Forever" Scenario
"I'll always be rich, I'll always be young, and I'll always be handsome," Shutaro remarked matter-of-factly. "And Moroboshi will always be an idiot."
"I'll always be plain, I'll always be alone," Shinobu listed glumly. She then sneered and added, "Men will always be idiots, and Ataru will always be a lecher."
Then Lum grinned with an excited giggle and exclaimed, "Darling and I are going to be together, always and forever!"
And Ataru Moroboshi gulped.
The Case of Ataru Moroboshi (The Ataru Moroboshi Project)
The trial had begun sometime ago and Ataru frowned, knowing that it wasn't going all that well. Shinobu had now taken the stand and was listing off every flaw she could find in Ataru.
"Let's see - well, he's a pervert, and he's lazy, and he does poorly in school. He's also very insensitive and he treats his wife, Lum, horribly. He ignores her all the time, he never buys her any gifts, and he always is hitting on other woman all the time," Shinobu told the judge and the jury, and Ataru gave her a scowl while she sneered at him in contempt. "He's also very rude and he never takes anything very seriously," Shinobu continued on. "And he's very juvenile, he's petrified of even the slightest form of commitment, and he's not very smart, either."
"Thank you, Miss Miyake," the judge told her and gave her a nod, and Shinobu rose from the witness stand and went back to her seat. The judge then gave a thud of his mallet and called, "Next witness!"
Shutaro was up next and he smugly took his seat at the witness stand. Ataru just rolled his eyes. The judge then asked, "Tell me, Mr. Mendou, about the defendant, Mr. Ataru Moroboshi."
"Well, let's see," Shutaro began with a devious grin. "He's, most definitely, everything Miss Shinobu mentioned. Lazy, rude, lecherous, stupid - VERY stupid - and he has absolutely no manners whatsoever. A REAL gentleman treats a woman with respect, especially one of Miss Lum's caliber, instead of coldly mistreating her."
"I object!" Ataru exclaimed, standing up and slamming his hand against the table. "I never 'mistreated' Lum! And who's Mendou to talk, anyway, after everything's he's done? He's just as big of a lecher as I am!"
Shutaro just gave his a sneering glare before haughtily crossing his arms and looked away. Meanwhile, the judge ordered, "Objection overruled! The witness may continue."
Ataru slumped angrily back into his seat while Shutaro smiled arrogantly. "Thank you," he said to the judge before continuing on. "Firstly, I have you know that I am not a lecher; I'm a womanizer. There is a difference, after all. A womanizer treats many woman with respect, whereas a lecher doesn't treat any woman with any respect, which is the case of Ataru Morobishi," Shutaro explained.
"Ha!" Ataru snapped sardonically and the judge let out an angry growl.
"Mr. Moroboshi! Silence or I will hold you in contempt of court!" The judge turned back to Shutaro and, as soon as his back was turn, Ataru stuck his tongue out at him. The judge glared back at him for a moment and Ataru smiled, feigning innocence. With an annoyed sigh, the judge then looked back to Shutaro and said, "Continue."
"Well, I'm not sure that there is much more left to say," Shutaro answered, grinning slyly. "It's all painfully obvious; Ataru is, simply put, a selfish, stupid, lazy, ugly and unlucky lecher - with not even a shred of gentlemanly decency in him - who, for the most part, is cruel and unfeeling towards Miss Lum. Oh, and did I mention the stupid and ugly part?"
"Yes, Mr. Mendou..." the judge answered, placing a hand to his forehead as if he had a headache. "Is that all?"
"Yes; I believe that will suffice," Shutaro said and stood up, walking swiftly back to his seat, although making sure to give Ataru a cruel smirk and a snicker as he did.
"Up next is the defendant, Mr. Moroboshi," the judge stated. "Ataru Moroboshi, please take the stand." Ataru, mumbling a few profanities under his breath, reluctantly did so, and slumped irritably into the witness chair. "Now, Mr. Moroboshi, do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I don't need to say anything for myself!" Ataru argued stubbornly, crossing his arms and slumping further down in his seat. "I haven't done anything wrong; it's Lum that's the one who's always causing me problems, shocking me and not letting me get with any girls! Yet everyone complains about her problems! Well, I never asked for her to come here, anyway!" Ataru then immediately rose from the witness stand and marched angrily back to his seat, which he slumped angrily into as well.
The judge shook his head in disgust of Ataru Moroboshi, and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Moroboshi! Ashamed!" Ataru just glared away with a scoff. "However, before I pass your sentence - which will be, most undoubtedly and indefinitely guilty as charged - I must call one more person to the stand, the Oni Lum."
Lum, with a pleasant smile on her face, flew up from her seat to the witness stand, and took her seat, crossing her arms and laying her hands politely on her knee. "Now, Miss...er...Lum, is what Miss Miyake and Mr. Mendou said true? Is Ataru Moroboshi everything they said he was - a self-indulged lecher?"
Lum just giggled and nodded, replying, "Oh, sure he is."
"Even Lum turns on me..." Ataru grumbled miserably as he rested his elbow on the table and his chin glumly into the palm of his hand.
"And stupid and lazy and ugly?" the judge continued
Lum nodded once more, closing her eyes as her smile widened. "Yes, I would say so."
"And does he ignore you and speak rudely to you?"
"Often," Lum answered cheerily as she cocked her head to the side, her blue hair swaying to the side with it. She then opened her eyes and said, "But all of that's all right, really; I don't mind."
"Huh?" the judge asked in puzzlement as everyone in the courtroom began to gasp and murmur in the same confusion. "What do you mean?"
"That it doesn't bother me," Lum replied, still smiling. "After all, he wouldn't be Darling, otherwise. And I love Darling, and I know he loves me, and that's all that really matters." Her twinkling eyes then met Ataru's surprised ones, as he stared at her with a gaping mouth and his heart sinking to his stomach in his guilty. Then, with a happy grin that was for him and him alone, she asked him, "Isn't that right...Darling?"
Ataru shot up in bed, his breathing labored, and beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. The clock read one o'clock in the morning and the night sky was out, hanging over their quaint little home in Tomobiki. Ataru then looked down at Lum, who slept peacefully beside him, a dreamer's smile on her face. His eyes quickly jumped to the portrait of him and Lum on his wedding day that hung in their bedroom, Lum with a happy grin on her face and he, with a panicky sort of smile. Dropping his gaze back down to his beautifully sleeping wife, he suddenly felt that panic return to him and, fear growing in his face, he let out a whimper and pushed the covers off him, hastily getting out of bed and making his way to the closet.
He swung open the sliding doors and bent down, pulling out a suitcase and threw it onto his half of the bed, popping it open with his trembling hands. He glanced back down at the sleeping Lum and frowned in his guilt. But he just shook it off, his panic quickly replacing his fleeting moment and guilt, and he turned to the dresser, yanking open the draws and shoving clothes into his suitcase. After doing this a few times, clothes hanging from the dresser draws, laying on the floor and bed, and hanging out of Ataru's suitcase. But Ataru ignored this, and, still panicking, sped over to the closet to get some pants and a couple of jackets.
"Darling?" Lum's voice came quietly and Ataru gasped, the clothes dropping out of his arms and onto the floor. He turned around to face her with a wince, the fear and guilt swarming his face and mixing together to form one horrible emotion churning in his stomach and coming out of his eyes. She was now awake and sitting up in bed in the dark, an innocent bewilderment in her face as she looked at him. "Darling, where are you going? Why are you packing?" When he didn't answer her, she frowned, and her breathing grew harsh, as worry replaced her confusion, realizing what he was doing. "Dar - Darling...?"
But Ataru could not see her; he could only see past her, out the window - at the white picket fence that surrounded their home - and him.
"You know, you're a real idiot, Moroboshi," Shutaro told Ataru as he walked alongside him at the carnival. "Any man would kill for a woman like a Miss Lum, and yet you throw her away like she's nothing."
"I don't just throw her away," Ataru argued, but Shutaro just shook his head. "Besides," Ataru continued, "it's not like she's perfect herself, you know. She's super needy, she's super bossy, she's super clingy, and she's super - well - she's super something else, too! I just can't think of it at the moment, that's all."
Shutaro just let out a sigh. "How a luckless loser like you ever got a beautiful alien princess to fall in love with you, I swear I'll never know, Moroboshi," he muttered. He then stopped walking and asked, "Why won't you go on the carousel with her, Moroboshi?"
"Because."
"That's not an answer, you idiot."
"I don't see why it isn't," Ataru mumbled and he crossed his arms, glaring away. "Besides, I don't know why she gets to have her way all the time. God knows I never do." Shutaro chuckled sharply at this and Ataru looked at him with vexed eyes. "What's so funny?" he questioned.
"The only reason why you don't get your way is because you're an obnoxious, unlucky moron who makes your own trouble; it has nothing to do with Miss Lum, as hard as you try to blame your misfortune on her," Shutaro told him flatly. "Women can't stand you because you're basically stupid, ugly, and perverted, simple as that. In fact, if it wasn't for Miss Lum, you probably wouldn't be as popular as you are now, although I suppose that's not saying much considering your current level of popularity is pathetic at best, especially among woman. Still, you should thank your lucky stars - or unlucky, as the case may be - that Miss Lum loves you so much, or you'd probably be more miserable and more unfortunate than you are now.
"And as for Miss Lum," Shutaro continued on matter-of-factly, "I can't see how she gets her way all the time, when the only thing she ever really wants is for you to stop being an idiot all the time and stay faithful to her."
Ataru frowned, shoved his hands in his pocket, and kicked at the ground. "I don't see what I'm supposed to do about it, anyway, Mendou."
"You're not supposed to do anything about it, you moron," Shutaro answered with some annoyance. "You are who you are and she is who she is, and she fell in love with you the way you are, no matter how lecherous and stupid you may be. As much as I hate to admit it, I suppose you must be doing something right, Moroboshi."
And Ataru's eyes, as if on instinct, looked to his right to see the carousel, it's lights sparkling and it's melody dancing in the air. It was all but empty except for Lum who sat on one of the unicorns, laughing happily as it went up and down and twirled about. Yet, Ataru frowned in dismay as he watched her, despite the excitement twinkling in her eyes, for as happy as she was, she was happy without him, and Ataru knew very well that he could never be that happy without her. A fear grew inside his throat as he watched her laughing, a fear that she would soon realize what he had known all along, that she could make her own happiness without him, a better happiness even, and would then finally leave him for good.
And Ataru got to thinking that Shutaro really had been right with all that he had said, except for the last, for Ataru knew he had done nothing right at all.
"Lum!" Ataru called out as he walked around the schoolyard. "Lum, where are you?" He sighed in aggravation, carrying his briefcase over his shoulder. He muttered, "She's never around when I need her..." Spotting Shinobu talking to a few other schoolgirls, he headed over to her, and asked, "Hey, Shinobu, have you seen Lum? I can't seem to find her anywhere."
"Lum?" Shinobu asked in bewilderment. "Who's Lum?"
Ataru chuckled. "Very funny, Shinobu," he said sarcastically. "Now where is she?"
Shinobu scowled. "You idiot, I have no idea who you're talking about," she told him and turned her back to him, starting to chat again with her classmates.
Glowering, Ataru snapped, "Fine! Be stubborn!" He then marched off. "Lum! Hey, Lum!" he called angrily. "Lum!" It was then that he knocked into Shutaro.
"Moroboshi..." Shutaro muttered through clenched teeth. "You idiot!"
Ataru ignored him and asked, "Hey, Mendou, have you seen Lum? I tried asking Shinobu about it, but she's all being weird about it; I guess she must be angry at me or something."
"Lum?" Shutaro questioned, just as Shinobu did. "Who's Lum?"
"You have got to be kidding me!" Ataru exclaimed. "You know! Lum!"
"I have no idea who you're talking about," Mendou told him and brushed past him, nearly shoving Ataru over in the process.
"Come on! You know Lum!" Ataru insisted as Shutaro walked away. "Blue hair, horns, shocks me a lot - that Lum."
Shutaro now broke into a fit of hysterical laughter and Ataru frowned. "Blue hair? Horns?" he asked and started laughing
harder. "How ridiculous!"
Ataru now scowled angrily. "It is not ridiculous!" Ataru defended himself. "She's an alien; she's supposed to have blue hair and horns!"
"An alien?" Shutaro asked and laughed even harder until his cheeks turned red and he could barely breath.
"Will you stop laughing and acting like you don't know her and tell me where she is?!" Ataru shouted in frustration, raising a stern first, but Shutaro was now on the grass, having fallen over in his laughter.
"I thought you were stupid before, Moroboshi, but this!" he exclaimed as his chuckles lessened. "A blue-haired alien!" he declared and fell back into hysterical laughter and that ludicrousness of it all. Ataru's scowl grew fiercer, but he forced himself to turn away from Shutaro, realizing he had something more important to do; find Lum. So he marched off again to look for her, leaving Shutaro to his mocking chuckles.
"Lum! Come on, Lum! Where are you?" he called as he came to the end of searching the schoolyard, a dark overcast now hanging in the sky. "Lum...?" he asked quietly, worry having slowly seeped into his eyes and conquered his anger. His heart dropped and his throat began to choke with tears. He cried out on the top of his lungs, "Lum!" Yet there was no answer from her. He wiped his eyes with his arm, trying to stop himself from sobbing. It couldn't be that she didn't exist at all, could it? It would be worst than her leaving him - at least then he would know that she was real, and all his memories of her were real, and that he could find her again. But as he lifted his eyes from his arm to look around the now empty schoolyard, his final hope dimming in his eyes, he feared that she really wasn't real. That he had somehow made up everything about her and only wished it was real.
Ataru shook his head, beginning to cry once more and he buried his eyes back into his arm again. "Lum..." he whispered before falling to his knees and slamming his hands into the ground. "No! She has to be real! She has to! Lum! Lum, answer me! Lum!" And when all that answered him back was the wind, he closed his eyes and let out a heart wrenching sob. "No...Lum..." he cried and his arms gave way under his heavy body , heaving with despair, and he fell helplessly to the grass.
And slowly the schoolyard changed into a valley, warm sunshine pouring down on him, and Ataru opened his eyes and lifted
his head to see a forlorn Lum dancing her own melancholy dance by herself to the tranquil silence of the valley. Ataru grinned and began to laugh, although tears were still in his eyes and running down his cheeks, and he stood up excitedly. "Lum!" he called out happily and went to run towards her.
However, as he got up, his vision started to get blurry and he frowned in confusion. "Huh?" He rubbed his eyes, trying to see clearly, but Lum and the valley were starting to get fuzzier. And, as much as he squinted to see everything, it was soon fading away in his eyes, being replaced by the bright lights of the Tomobiki Summer Carnival...
What's Next:Episode 7: Not Romeo, Not Juliet
Subtitle: (Love: The Problem with Losing Your Beloved)
Featuring:
-The Tomobiki Carnival, Part Nine (An Explanation to the Cerebral Stupidity)
-Question Number Three: Is This the Valley of...?
-Ataru's Overture, Full Version
-Darling! (Memories of...)
