Lupin III:
Fanseries I:
Episode VI: Speechless: Yuma's Break Down

All characters (c) their respective owners

Yuma walked into the bedroom, Lupin following her. The day was pretty hot considering, and both of them agreed that it might be a good idea for them to just take the day slowly.

As Lupin was putting on his boxers, Yuma walked over to him in her towel and asked, "Lupin?"

"Hmmm?"

"Can't we just stay in bed for a few more minutes?"

"Still asleep?" he chuckled.

"No, not really," she said softly. As his back was turned, she looked down at the floor, disappointed. It had all happened way too fast, as if someone had taken their time during the night and put it on fast-forward. She wanted to go over there, lean on his shoulder, but it was over, done with. She had known how this would end. A passionate love during the night, wasted, spent, over with at morning's light. She sighed.

Lupin turned around. "Something the matter?"

She suddenly put a smile on her face and said, "No, nothing's wrong with me. You don't have to worry."

"Okay, Yuma," he said, "If you're sure."

But something was wrong. She wished that he would walk over to her, put an arm around her, but the night was over, and he would probably be chasing after Fujiko if she came in today. 'Life sucks,' she thought, 'What a shitty ending to a great night! Why, oh why is it that they all have to turn out this way in the morning?'

He walked over to her, now fully dressed, smiled, and winked as he walked out the door.

Yuma slipped back into bed, lying in the spot where he'd lain, trying to sense any heat that might still be on the mattress from last night's great escapade. She breathed in the scent of his sweat, and clutched the covers around her body as she turned and looked at the ceiling. She closed her eyes. It was almost as if she were trying to grasp what had been left of his presense, as if that if she tried hard enough, he might actually be there when she opened her eyes, lying under her tiny, fragile little body, holding her. But when she opened her eyes, he wasn't. It was no use. It always turned out this way. Yuma felt tears come to her eyes, unbidden, but this time, she didn't try to fight them. That was when, for the first time in two years, Yuma put her head in the pillow softly cried herself to sleep.

Yuma woke up, bedraggled and covered in sweat. She heard the door open. There stood Lupin, tall, strong, lithe, in the doorway, smiling. "Well, well, well!" he said in an ever-so-slightly suggestive tone, "Look who finally woke up. Welcome back to reality, Yuma."

'Oh God, why does he have to look so damned good right now?' she thought as she smiled, knowing that there could not be a sexier man on the entire planet Earth right at this moment. "Yeah, talk about it," she said, "Good morning, sexy - I mean, Lupin!" She blushed deeply.

Lupin laughed, "I see you're still not up yet. I'll give you a few more minutes. But you'd better hurry. I've got something to show you. I think you'll like it."

As the door shut behind him, she cursed to herself, "Damn! Why is it that in the most important of moments, I can't seem to get my head out of the gutter?"

She muttered darkly as she put on some clean clothes that Lupin had obviously left out for her. Then, slipping out of the bedroom, she went into the kitchen with a look on her face as stormy as the words she had cursed under her breath not three minutes before.

Jigen looked up from his morning newspaper and up into Yuma's face as she walked by. 'I swear,' he thought, 'If she were walking any harder, the apartment would be shaking!' Jigen called out to her, "Hey, Yuma! What's the matter with you?"

"It's nothing, Jigen," she said darkly, "Nothing you'd like to know."

"Are you sure, kid? Someone doesn't just wake up with a look like that on their face, and besides, you got to sleep in. You should be fine."

"I'm irate, I'm horny, and my perfect little dream has just headed south for the winter," she muttered, "There. Now you know."

Jigen gave an earsplitting grin as he walked out. In the living room, Yuma heard laughter, "Hey, Lupin! You might want to check up on Yuma. She's pretty pissed right about now. Heh, heh, maybe you shouldn't have gotten out of bed so early after all!"

"Wha?" Lupin looked clueless until it hit him, "Jigen, shut up. It's not funny." Now he looked just as annoyed as Yuma. "Look, I'll deal with Yuma. You wait right here, I've got a good plan for our next attempt at the museum."

"Don't worry about me, I'm not going anywhere."

Lupin didn't wait for Yuma's answer. By the time Lupin had gotten to the kitchen, Yuma was already on her way out. "Hey, Yuma! Wait up! I need to talk to you."

"Get out of my face," she said as she stormed past.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a shower."

"But you just got one a couple hours ago."

"Well, I'm getting another one."

"Why?"

"To get all this stink off of me."

"What? Yuma, what in the Hell are you talking about?"

"What? You mean you don't get it already?"

"Yuma, did you actually regret what we did last night?"

"No, not until you walked out of the bedroom and left me alone, I didn't. Now I'm not so sure."

"Oh. So that's what this is about."

"Just leave me alone," she seemed to be in a hurry.

"No, Yuma I think we need to talk."

"Really? Well, you certainly didn't want to talk to me when you left. And I'll bet that you were in a hurry to get out of that shower, too!"

"What?" he asked, "Yuma, are you crazy?"

She spun around and faced him. Quietly, she said, "You're the one who regretted last night, and now the shit falls on me, so don't start complaining, Lupin." She tried to shove him out the door, but he wouldn't let her.

"Yuma, I'm sorry if I offended you, but you can't expect me to stay in bed with you all day. I've got to get up sometime because there's work that needs to be done. You could've come out there with me, and I wouldn't have minded. Yuma, don't you think you're taking this a little far?"

Yuma sighed. Lupin shut the door as she started to undress, but while she was pulling down her pants, he pulled her into his arms. "I don't know what happened to you," he said gently, "but in the future, I would like you to be a little more clear on what's going on, okay? Now tell me, what made you so angry?"

"It wasn't you, Lupin," she said with a sigh, "It's men in general. One night of hot, passionate love, and the next morning they get up and act as if it'd never happened. The whole think is spent, wasted, cold. And there's nothing I can do to make you stay."

"Who said that?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, I don't know," she said, "That's how it always is. Over half the time, they leave before I wake up in the morning, and I never see them again."

"Oh, you'll be seeing me again, don't worry," he chuckled, "Remember, we live in the same apartment."

"Yes, but will we ever do that again?"

"Sure we will," he said, "Whenever you want. Well, almost. There is work to be done, you know."

"Well, fine," she said, "Anyway, I've got to get a shower."

"Mind if I join you?"

Yuma looked up at him, "Really?"

"Sure, why not? After all, we didn't really get clean in there earlier."

Yuma smiled. As Lupin stripped down and Yuma turned the shower on, Lupin asked, "Yuma, why didn't you tell me that you'd become so attached to me?"

Yuma wet her hair down as he stepped in, "I don't know. You're just... different. Different from all the other men. Not mean, not crude, just... classy, if you can find a male term for the word. Refined. Different."

"Well, you know what, honey?" he came up behind her, gently pull a strand of hair back from her eyes, "So are you."

"You really think that?" she asked, as if trying to tell if he were telling the truth, "You're not lying?"

He began soaping up her back in a light rub, sliding the soap over her sensetive skin, "Yeah. I do." At the motions on her back, Yuma practically melted. She leaned against the wall while he soaped her up, and he pulled her into his arms again, facing her as he continued. Yuma closed her eyes and leaned against him, content.

As soon as the two got out of the shower, Yuma yawned and headed straight toward the kitchen. "Where are you going?" Lupin asked good-naturedly.

"Kitchen. I want some breakfast."

"I see," said Lupin, "Well, there's not much there at the moment, but we do have some ramen. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me."