Lupin III:
Fanseries I:
Episode VII: What Makes You Human: Two Days Later

As Yuma and Lupin ate their ramen, Lupin thought of something that troubled him. Those secrets, the reason why Yuma had shot Jeno last night... could there actually be some truth to what he said. He recalled what Jeno had told Fujiko that night:

"Yuma don't have to look twice to know what she is. A robot. Can't you see? She's just too perfect! You know, they make 'em like this all the time. Beautiful and deadly. and this one just so happens to be a snotty little bitch. she should know better. She should be serving us, not the other way around, don't you think? We're better than her! We're the real thing, not just some cheap immitation, some peice of trash like she is. So you see, honey, she's a robot. A realistic one, but a robot none the less. She's gotta go."

Lupin played with the idea a bit. What if she was a robot? Just some lifeless doll? What if she were merely a puppet that had someone pulling strings to make her move, walk and talk? And just who was her maker?

'But no,' he thought, 'She can't be. Not after last night. Those emotions, that passion, her body, her reaction to his touch... that had all been real. And no matter what anyone says, nobody can prove otherwise. So what is she so damned defensive about? What was wrong? She'd been just fine last night. Affectionate. And I got to see who she really was, up close: a passionate woman with a strong desire to prove herself worthy in a world full of hipocrits. And yet, now, even when we're this close together, she seems so far away. What's wrong with her? What is she hiding? Ah, Hell! I'll figure it out later. Right now the morning is going smoothly, and I'd like to keep it that way.'

Yuma looked up at Lupin as he was eating his ramen. He didn't seem to have a care in the world. 'How lucky of him to not have a care in the world,' she thought, 'He doesn't worry about anything, and when a problem comes along, he just fixes it. But how will he react when he finds out? What if he finds out that what Jeno said was true? Then what will he think of me? He liked me last night, but he didn't know who I was. He doesn't even know about what's inside of me, what I can turn into in the blink of an eye. I'm not even real! That was all taken away from me years ago. And I can never get it back.'

Yuma looked down. She had a sad look on her pretty face. Lupin looked at her. "What's wrong, Yuma?" he asked.

"It was all those things that Jeno said," she told him, "They're all kind of unnerving, you know. It's kind of creepy, having someone actually think that about you, having someone come after you like that. He told Fujiko that I should be a servant to the Lupin Gang. It's scary. I know it would never happen, but, that guy, he... was so suggestive about it. It makes my skin crawl-"

"Look, babe," said Lupin, reaching a hand out and putting it on her shoulder as he moved up next to her, "You have nothing to worry about. It's just some sick fantasy of his. I know that you're real, and so does everyone else around here, so you don't need to worry about a thing. And if he was suggestive about it, well, he can't be anymore, because he's dead. And you don't need to worry about him anymore. Okay?" His hand reached out and carressed her face, stopping to hold it for a moment or two.

Yuma felt her insides turn soft as he held her face. He had that kind of power over women. One touch was all it took. She looked into his black eyes. They were full of warmth and understanding. "Don't worry," he said, "It's fine." He stole a quick kiss from her lips. She looked a little shocked at first. She'd thought that they'd only be doing this in bed. She drew her face up close to his and they shared a long, slow kiss. But something was bothering Lupin. He couldn't just leave it alone. This thing had to be dealt with. He needed to know. Why had Jeno been after her, and who was coming after them?

Lupin pulled away, "Yuma?"

She looked at him, surprised, "Yes?"

"I've got an important question to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Is there any truth to what Jeno said last night?"

Yuma felt as though a bucket of ice had been dropped into her stomach. Although she didn't look like it, the cold fear held her in place. On her face was a calm, serious look, but inside, she was shaking like a leaf. "Why do you ask? I thought you knew that I was real."

"It's not whether or not your real, Yuma. I know that. But why did you kill him that night? Was there a specific reason?"

"Lupin, I don't think you should be asking me this!" said Yuma angrilly.

"Yuma, I thought we were close," he said, slightly hurt, "You can trust me with anything."

"I know," she said, a little shaken, "but why are you asking me this question?"

"I'm asking because I want to keep you safe," he said softly, touching her face, "I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Yuma, whatever reason those guys are here, they won't stop until you're dead. I don't want to see you end up like that."

"If you insist on talking about it," said Yuma in a soft, shy voice, "can we at least do it somewhere else?"

"Yuma," he said gently, "you're safe here. Nobody's going to hurt you."

"Are you so sure?"

"Yuma, come with me," he said. He got up from his chair, and reached out his hand to her. She took it, now looking unsure, and followed him into his room. Lupin needed to get whatever information Yuma was hiding from him out of her, and he knew just how to do it. All it would take was a little coaxing. This was going to be very enjoyable.

Once they got inside, Lupin shut the door behind them.

"Lupin, what are you doing?"

"You said you needed to talk to me privately, so here we are," he said a little flatly, just by accident.

Yuma looked a little upset at the tone of his words. "You don't need to speak to me like that," she said softly.

He walked up to her, stroking her cheek. "I'm sorry. Look, Yuma, to answer your question, yes, I'm sure. Yuma," he asked slightly exasperated, but still calm, "why are you being so difficult?"

"Because it's my business!"

He walked around her and, wrapping his arms around her, nuzzled his head in her hair, "Tell me."

"Tell you what?" she asked, a little nervously.

"Easy, easy," he said softly, "Nothing to be worried about, my dear. Just tell me why you're being so difficult. That's all you need to do." He burried his head into her neck and began kissing her. Yuma moaned, pleased at the sensation, yet protesting. She couldn't tell him. He just wouldn't look at her the same way.

She moaned again, "Stop," even though, in truth, she didn't want him to.

"Tell me, Yuma-chan," he said softly, "I'm not asking for much, here."

"No," she murmured.

"Alright, but don't say that I didn't warn you," he said softly. He turned her around to face him. Pulling her gently along with him to the edge of his bed, he sat her on his lap, and began kissing her. After one long, slow kiss, he asked, "What are you so scared of. Will you tell me that, Yuma-chan?"

"Not even that," she said, being slightly short with him.

"We'll see, Yuma," he purred in her ear, "We'll see."

He carressed her face and kissed her again. This time, Yuma tried to pull away, but he gently pulled her back. Yuma stopped all physical protest what-so-ever and just went with him. After all, it wasn't as if he was hurting her. In fact, she was enjoying it quite well. 'But I can't tell him,' she thought to herself. The thought, itself, seemed so far away, as he continued to kiss her, that she barely felt that it was there. She was starting to forget what this whole 'debate' was about. 'He just wouldn't feel the same about me anymore. After all, who wants a robot, anyway? No, this needs to stop ...' but even as he was kissing her, an unexpected thought popped into her head against her will, '... but I don't want it to stop. I don't want him to stop this.'

Again, she heard his soft, gentle voice, "Tell me, Yuma. I'm not going to hurt you."

"No," she murmured, "Please, try to understand... I can't tell you this."

He picked her up and layed her down on the bed, on her back. Crawling over her on his hands and knees, he positioned himself just above her and lowered his body to hers, putting their faces close together. "Yes, you can," he murmured. Putting his body against hers, he began kissing her again.

"Why do you want to know so bad?" she asked softly.

"I believe we've already been over that," said Lupin in a soft, smooth voice, "I don't want you getting hurt." He began kissing her neck again.

Yuma took a deep breath. "I can't tell you."

"I don't believe that," he said, grinning, "Yuma, tell me, or we're not going any further than this."

"This really isn't fair," she said indignantly. Lupin only gave a muffled laugh in her neck. Yuma started breathing heavilly. She tried to get up, but he gently pushed her down again. After a while, Yuma asked, "If I told you, would you still want me?"

"Well, that all depends," he said, getting up, putting his face to hers, "Are you my ally or are you my enemy?"

"I didn't come here to hurt you, Lupin!" she said angrilly, "You found me! I - "

"Shhhhh," he said soothingly, "Relax. You don't need to worry anymore. Just tell me who you are."

Yuma's thoughts turned blank. She knew that Lupin would never hurt her, but this was one question she didn't know the answer to. The fear crept up and pounced upon her like tiger. She froze. "I don't even know who I am."

Lupin felt her body go rigid. He rolled them over and lay her on his chest. "How can you not know who you are?" he asked gently, "I know who you are."

"I don't know, Lupin," she said, "I'm just so confused right now, I don't know what to think anymore."

"Why's that?" asked Lupin.

"Complex problems that you don't need to know about!" she snapped and pushed him off of her. She stalked out of his room and into her room, shutting the door.

Lupin followed her, and poked his head in the door. "Yuma, what's wrong?"

"Look, you're the one who's getting in my face so why don't you just leave me alone!?" It was more of a demand than a question.

Lupin grew angry. He'd had enough. Enough of beating around the bush, enough of playing games. It was time to stop. At least for now. He would question her again later. "Alright," he said coldly.

"And why should it matter anyway?" she called after him, "Am I not human enough for you!?"

He shot an angry look back at her as she stood in her doorway, and turned around, slowly walking away from her and into the kitchen.

"At least he doesn't have to question who he is every time he looks in the mirror," she muttered. She walked into her room and looked at the small mirror on her desk. It had been so long ago, that accident that changed her life. Ever since then, she had questioned who she was. Tears started rolling down her face for the umpteenth time that week. "Who ... am I?" she asked through her tears, "What am I? Oh God, what did they do to me!?" She broke down in tears, "I'm not human. I'm not even a robot. I'm nothing but a monster!" She held her head in her hands, covering her eyes with closed fingers. "Help me ... somebody, make me real again." Then, through the pain, a thought occured to her. 'What makes you human?' she inquired silently, 'What makes you a person? If it's not in the heart, than what am I?' With that, she broke down into fresh sobs, "If I don't tell him, it will never work out, but if I do tell him, he won't want me anymore! What am I going to do?" She curled up on top of her blankets and cried herself to sleep.

Lupin looked in on Yuma. She was sleeping and her eyes were red. She hadn't even bothered to take off her shoes. 'Yuma,' he thought, 'I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have been so hard on you. But why would you keep something like this a secret from me?' He thought about it for a minute. Why wouldn't he love her? Because she was an android? He had to admit, it was pretty strange. From the way she kept avoiding him, she had to be one. But she was just so human! So he decided to love her anyway. All he wanted was for her to be straight forward with him. But she was so scared she couldn't even do that.

He walked in and shut the door. As he said Yuma upright on the bed, she opened her eyes and yawned, "We're not going to have the same argument, I hope, because you know that I can't answer your question." He sighed as she tried to look fearless but as he looked into her eyes, he saw the terror in them. "I'm tired," she murmured, "Please let me sleep."

"Why are you acting so apathetic?" he asked softly.

"You're going to break up with me because I won't answer your question, aren't you?"

"Wha - what do you mean!?"

"All the others did," she said angrilly, "Why should you be any different?"

"Because I'm not like all the others, Yuma," he said gently, touching her face in one smooth stroke, "I already know what you are, and I can keep it secret. I just want you to be straight up with me and tell it to my face so that there are no secrets between us. Yuma, technically, what is your body composed of?"

"And you won't think any less of me if I told you?"

"No, baby, I wouldn't. You're still my lady."

"Artificial tissue and human tissue. I'm half robot, half human." She covered her face.

"Don't do that, babe," he said softly, so only she could hear, "I'm not going to hurt you. Now listen, I need to know. If you're half and half, then how come you seem like a normal human being."

"Please don't make me answer any more questions!" she looked like she wanted to cry, "I'm scared."

Lupin sat on her bed and pulled her body so that her head was burried in his chest, and the rest of her body was against him. She started crying again. "This is so stupid," she wept, "I'm such a baby. I can't believe that I've cried this much this week!"

"No, it's not stupid," he stroked her hair, "You've just had it rough for the past couple of days, that's all. It's okay, Yuma, you can tell me. I'll still love you."

"It all started long ago," she sniffed, "When I was six. I was at the beach and was playing on the slippery rocks, when I fell and hit my head on the jagged part. I got a deep head wound. I died on that day. I don't know how long I was out, but the next thing I knew, I woke up with a pounding head ache. I was under some kind of anesthetic. My head was still pounding though, because I was waking up. I looked at my body, and saw the they had made an incision near my heart. They'd put some form of chip there. I looked up at the computer screen and on the back of my neck, and saw that they'd put a chip there, too. I got so scared that I started screaming. I passed out from the terror. When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. Three days later, I was released. I thought the nightmare was over, that the chips wouldn't do anything. How wrong I was! The first time that I got really angry when I got back, I felt something moving around inside me, like there were little worms in my skin. A wave off electricity ran over my body, like a lightning bolt. That's when I realized: I wasn't human or android, but a grotesque mix of the two!" She started crying.

"Baby, what are you saying?" he asked calmly, gently.

"I can change from human to android, but I'm never completely one or the other. The chips will always be there, because I can't live without them!" Her body wracked with grief, and he held her tightly against him.

"Ah, baby," he comforted her, "It's fine! It's going to be alright, I swear! There's nothing wrong with you."

"What makes you human?" she looked up at him and asked, her eyes all red from crying.

"What makes you human?" he smiled, "Well, believe it or not, it's what's inside of you that counts. What's inside your heart. It's not about the body. That's just a haven for the soul the abides there."

"Really?" she asked, "Because I don't even know very much about myself, or the possibilities of what I can do. I have body parts that I never even knew could exist on a human, and I don't even know how to use them!"

"Well, I know one man who could help, and we could learn together," he said, "Whaddaya say to that, huh, babe?"

"I like that idea," she sniffed, and rubbed closer against him. She closed her eyes, "So tired," she murmured, "Not enough energy."

"It's okay, just go to sleep. Everything's going to be fine."