THE KEY TO VICTORY

a story by

DELICIOUS GEARS

CHAPTER SIX: Into My Arms

"Um, Lum? You're in my bed again..."

Ryuunosuke peered down at the head of green hair poking out from under her duvet, crowned with stubby yellow horns. This must've been the fourth time that week that she had woken up to find her self-proclaimed "wife" cuddled up with her in her own bed. And it wasn't even Wednesday yet.

Ryuunosuke had insisted on having separate beds to sleep in, citing the need for her personal safety. After all, Lum had a bad habit of letting currents of electricity spark off her body while she slept, and Ryuunosuke didn't want to be in the same bed as her while she did. Lum's lightning really hurt even when she was being affectionate, and Ryuunosuke didn't want to have constant discharge anywhere close to her.

Of course, it just so happened that Lum had a habit of getting out of bed and, in the dark of night, confusing her own bed for Ryuunosuke's own. To Ryuunosuke, it sounded like a cheap excuse to wriggle in with her and buzz her all night. But Lum stuck to her story and her guns, even when Ryuunosuke proclaimed on Sunday night that she would start sleeping on the couch if she did it again. That was two nights, and four more times ago.

Quietly, Ryuunosuke squirmed out of Lum's grasp, and slithered out from under the duvet. Trying to be as quiet as possible, she crawled across the floor towards the door, touching the edge of the door frame to trigger the sensor to open...

"Darling..."

Ryuunosuke twitched, just as the bedroom door slid open. As quickly as she could, she scrambled through the doorway and into the living room. Like a gecko, or some other small lizard, she climbed up onto the couch and pillowed her head on the cushions.

Unfortunately, Lum poked her head out from the doorway.

"Darling, what's wrong? Why won't you come back to bed?"

Ryuunosuke turned around to glare at Lum. "You know why."

Lum padded closer, a look of concern on her face. "I don't, Darling. Seriously..."

Ryuunosuke scowled, turning around to face Lum. "I told you that if I found you in my bed again, I'd start sleeping on the couch, right? On Sunday?" She raised herself up to sitting position. "You know how many times I woke up because you were sleeping in my bed and you zapped me?"

"Three," Lum answered, her furrowed brows creasing her pretty face.

"Four!" Ryuunosuke said. "Including just now!"

"I didn't zap you just now," Lum said, "I heard you telling me about sneaking into your bed, and then...!"

Ryuunosuke's gaze hardened. "So you know I told you not to, and you're still doing it!"

Lum recoiled from Ryuunosuke's words. "Darling..."

"I don't like it when you shock me in your sleep," Ryuunosuke said, "and I ain't gonna be sleeping anywhere near you if you can't control that electricity of yours! Good night!" She rolled over on the couch, pressing her face in the crook between the armrest and the back.

She heard nothing for a long moment, before the sound of Lum's footsteps slowly making their way back into the bedroom.

"Good night, Darling... I love you."

The words struck Ryuunosuke in the centre of her chest, carried by Lum's soft voice and tone of loneliness. If it wasn't for the fact that she managed to get out of another painful nightly interruption, she would've regretted her words. Now, all she wished for was some kind of solution.

At school the next morning, Ryuunosuke stared at the notebook in front of her. Taking notes wasn't usually a problem for her, but when she had spent the last few days trying to fend off an over-affectionate alien girl, her cognitive functions definitely took a serious hit. Not that anyone else around her seemed to care, anyway; she could see most of the other students dead asleep at their desks, without even the insistent plink of the teacher's chalks waking them. It was only Ryuunosuke's sense of honour that kept her from joining them.

But still, her eyelids felt heavy and her vision was getting increasingly blurry. It seemed that maybe she would have no choice but to have a quick nap in the middle of class... Until she blinked and saw a strange, craggy face staring into her eyes.

Ryuunosuke yelped and stumbled backwards, slamming down on the classroom floor with her chair behind her.

"Fujinami?!" She heard someone shout, before other students started yelling as well.

"That sure is a lovely greeting," Cherry said, perched perfectly on Ryuunosuke's desk. "I was wondering why you seem to be so lacking in energy recently." He leaned in closer. "Don't tell me your fiancée has been keeping you up all night?"

Ryuunosuke's hand shot up and grabbed Cherry by his face. "You been following me around, you shrunken freak?!" She rose up suddenly, pinning the diminutive monk to the desktop. "I thought I told you people that what goes on between Lum and me is none of your business!"

Aside from a slight tint of purple, Cherry's face hardly seemed affected from Ryuunosuke's claw grip. "Awfully considerate of you, to give a demon girl the benefit of the doubt."

Ryuunosuke tried very hard not to grind her teeth. "Whaddya even doing here, anyway? Don't you know we got school?!" She tried to ignore the blissful look on the teacher's face, from receiving such validation in his career choice.

Cherry grunted, managing to squirm his face away from Ryuunosuke's grip. "I only came here to give you some help, of course. A girl plagued with as much misfortune as you needs some divine intervention."

Ryuunosuke let go of Cherry, backing away slightly. "What're you talking about?"

"I mean, I could help you with your demon problem," Cherry said. "Or at least give you a little relief..."

Lum suddenly rose to her feet and stomped over to Ryuunosuke's desk. "Darling doesn't need any help with me! Especially not from some crazy old holy man like you!" Electricity crackled around her as she stared down on the little monk. "I want to make my Darling happy, and I'm not going to let you or your deities, or whatever, stop me!"

Cherry stared at Lum for a good long while, before hopping off the desk. "Say what you want, demon. But your retribution will come soon enough. Mark my words."

Ryuunosuke watched the tiny monk slowly exit the room, dark worries creeping upon her. She knew that Sakura and Cherry both were keeping a watchful eye on Lum, and she couldn't help but wonder what kind of powers would be brought to bear on the oni girl.

Ryuunosuke looked over at Lum, who was slowly trying to calm herself down. But the sparks around her body still arced out, even as her angry expression faded away.

"Man, Lum-chan was sure mad today!"

"I knew their relationship couldn't last! How could two girls ever try and get married? Those laws were made for a reason!"

Ataru sat beside his four friends at the counter, slurping up his ramen and listening in on their conversation. Of course, he only really considered them "friends" because they knew he was good friends with Lum-chan, and thus didn't leave him alone. If it wasn't for her, then maybe... Just maybe...

"What's with that stupid grin? It's positively brimming with bad vibes!"

The small ramen shop was suddenly rocked with the sounds of screams and bowls smashing into bits, soup and noodles and meat splattering everywhere.

"You!" Ataru shrieked, while struggling to keep balanced on his stool.

"Yes," Cherry replied, slurping up some noodles and soup from a bowl that had overturned onto his head, "me."

"Haven't you cursed our day enough with your ugly face?!" Ataru shouted, getting off the stool and stomping up to Cherry. "I've not nearly eaten enough to puke it all back up again at the sight of your face!"

"How colourful," Cherry said, staring Ataru down. "I had just come here to offer you something that you might find interesting. Maybe it'll help you get your beloved Lum..."

Almost immediately, the diminutive monk was surrounded by five lust-blinded faces. "You know of a way to bring Lum-chan to us?! Tell us! Tell us now!"

Cherry reared back slightly, beads of sweat forming on his brow. "Calm down, calm down. I'll tell you what I've got here..."

Lum looked over sadly at Ryuunosuke, who was already fast asleep at her desk. True to her word, she spent the whole of the night before on the couch, the television quietly playing. She had to fight every urge in her body to cuddle up to her Darling, and hug herself tightly against her. She knew that if she did, she would risk another discharge that would push her Darling farther and farther away.

Lum tried to pull her gaze away from her Darling, and back to her notes. Maybe her studies would take her mind off of her worries.

Suddenly, the grinning face of Shinobu's boyfriend came into her view.

"Hey hey, Lum-chan! I heard you and Ryuu-chan have been having some trouble!"

Lum blinked up at Ataru for a moment. "Well, yeah... Darling's refusing to..." She glanced from side to side for a moment, before lowering her voice. "Darling doesn't want to sleep in the same bed as me and..."

Ataru's grin grew wider and sloppier. "I got something for you that'll pick up your spirits, Lum-chan. I dunno if it'll help with Ryuu-chan, but..." He pulled out a small box of red lacquered wood. "Have a look."

Lum peered at the box for a moment. "What is it?" Carefully, she lifted the lid and saw a long ribbon of yellow silk inside. "Oh wow, it's so pretty! What's it for?"

"Lemme show you how to put it on," Ataru said, picking the ribbon up and leaning closer to Lum, before several human bodies suddenly descended on him with shocking speed.

"Get your filthy hands off our Lum-san!" Megane shouted, trying to grab hold of Ataru. "I don't want her pureness marred by your disgusting nature!"

Ataru quickly squirmed away from Megane and his friends. "Get a hold of yourselves, already! This is just a hair ribbon!" And before anyone could stop him, he wound the yellow ribbon around Lum's horns, into a pair of neat bows that concealed them from view. "See?"

Lum blinked, and pulled out a small compact mirror, peering at the ribbon. "It's so pretty, but..." She looked over at Ataru. "Don'tcha think Darling would like it like this?"

Ataru just grinned, brandishing a victory "V". "Ryuu-chan's all about that girly stuff, right? She's gonna love it!"

A smile spread across Lum's face. "Of course she would! I should tell her right now!" She got up from her desk, and rushed over to the window. She knew that her Darling was out in the courtyard, having decided to go out for some peace and quiet.

Lum's eyes scanned the courtyard, before falling on Ryuunosuke, wandering by herself directly below. She grinned, and pulled the window open, waving her arms. "Darling! Darling! Up here!"

Ryuunosuke jerked, and looked upwards in confusion, standing directly below the window Lum hung out from.

The next few seconds, everything seemed to slow down: Lum hunched forward and leapt out of the window to take flight. Her expression changed from excited happiness to confusion as, instead of her usual lightness, she felt incredibly heavy. The other students watched in horror, their eyes widening, as Lum suddenly dropped out of their sight. Ryuunosuke's eyes also widened, and she burst forward into a run.

And then Lum looked down to see Ryuunosuke and the ground rushing up to meet her.

"Darling...?! DARLING!"

Ryuunosuke's eyes snapped open. "L-Lum?"

Lum wrapped Ryuunosuke in a bone-creaking hug. "Darling! You're alright!" Above them came the shouts and screams of the students who watched Lum uncharacteristically plummet out of the window.

"I don't know what happened, Darling!" Lum was half-sobbing, tears running down her cheeks. "I opened the window and jumped out to fly down to you, but then the next moment, I just started falling!"

"Yeah, much faster than usual..." Ryuunosuke coughed, trying to shake off the shock of Lum's body hitting hers and knocking the breath out of her. "If I didn't catch you, you would've ended up pavement pizza..."

The school doors opened, and Sakura rushed over to the two girls. "I heard the screaming from my room. Please tell me that you're both alright."

Lum just nodded. "I was trying to fly out but..."

Sakura paused, her sharp eyes raking over Lum. They paused for a moment at the yellow ribbon wrapped around her horns. And then they fixed squarely on Ryuunosuke.

"Ryuunosuke, you probably should stay by Lum for the rest of the day. Keep a good watch over her, and don't let her out of your sight."

"What?" Ryuunosuke sat up a little straighter. "What're you talking about?"

"Whatever it is, I want you to take good care of your fiancée." Sakura stood up. "Lum-chan, you better not let your Darling out of your sight. You'll be safer that way."

"Hey!" Ryuunosuke got to her feet. "Lum can take care of herself, remember?"

"Of course she can," Sakura replied, "but after that fall she had, I wouldn't be so sure. Besides..." Her expression softened. "You should care a little more about her. You probably know more than anyone how much she cares about you."

And then Sakura turned on her high heel and walked back towards the school, leaving Ryuunosuke and Lum alone together.

Lum just smiled, wrapping her arms around Ryuunosuke's arm. "You heard her, Darling. You should stay by my side for the rest of today!"

After the school day finished, Ryuunosuke left to wander the streets alongside Lum, hands shoved into her jacket pockets. Doubts were still plaguing her mind, and so many questions bounced around. Why couldn't Lum fly? Was it because of the ribbons Moroboshi gave her?

Ahead of her, Lum skipped and jumped along the road. If it wasn't for her worried expression, Ryuunosuke would've thought of her as just some carefree girl who just so managed to get a real good hair colouring job. The yellow ribbons fluttered with her every move, harmonizing with her green hair.

Ryuunosuke picked up her pace, until she was right beside Lum. "Still can't do it?"

Lum looked up at Ryuunosuke, a despondent look on her face. "I don't get it! I was flying this morning, everything seemed normal until..."

"Until Moroboshi gave you those." Ryuunosuke reached up and tugged on the yellow hair ribbon. "How did he tie these frigging things? I can't even get it undone." She winced when she heard Lum squeak with the tugging, and let go.

A look of realization crossed Lum's face. But it was quickly chased away by a reedy voice calling her name.

"Lum-san! Lum-san!"

The two girls looked up to see one of Megane's friends – the little runt with sandy blonde hair – run up to them. "I didn't expect to see you out on the town after school! What're you looking..."

He slowly trailed off when Lum grabbed his hand in her own, staring down at them. His eyes seemed to bulge out in reaction. "L-L-Lum-san...?"

Ryuunosuke swallowed hard. "Uh, Lum?"

Lum looked up at Ryuunosuke. "Nothing! Nothing's happening!" Her eyes started to glisten with tears. "Oh Darling, I can't do anything any more!"

"Okay, that's pretty bad." Ryuunosuke crept forward, watching the rapt expression on the boy's face. "But I'm gonna need you to let go of his hand now before..."

But the boy grabbed Lum's hands, squeezing them tightly. "L-Lu-Lum..." However, whatever else he was planning was quickly cut short when Megane's foot slammed into the side of his head. He lost consciousness before his head smacked into a window and slid down onto the concrete.

Megane gave a snort of dismissal. "Look at you! Acting so shameful in front of Lum-san! I couldn't bear to see it! Why, I should..." He trailed off when Lum suddenly grabbed his hands, and his expression suddenly changed from an imperious sneer to a lustful leer.

The next moment, Megane shot forward and grabbed Lum in his arms. And at the moment after that, he was sprawled out on the pavement beside his short friend, the stinging red imprint of Ryuunosuke's knuckles on his cheek.

"I should've known not to trust either of you assholes!" Ryuunosuke snarled. "I oughta break every bone in your body!" She looked up towards Lum, only to see her fleeing down the street. "Lum! Lum, wait up!"

The two boys were left to lay on the pavement, with only the occasional look of disapproval from passers-by.

Lum curled up on top of the concrete pipe, her body wracked with tears. It took her minutes to clamber onto the pipe, when it would've taken her less than a second before. But now it was like she had chains and weights of iron lashed to her body. How could she face her family now, a champion reduced to such a helpless state? Or even her beloved Darling?

"Lum-chan!"

Lum flinched as she heard a voice call her name. "Go away! I don't want to talk to anyone!"

"Lum-chan, what's wrong?" The voice came closer, and Lum turned to see Shinobu's boyfriend approaching the concrete pipe.

"Oh, it's you!" Lum wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffled, and turned fully towards Ataru. "It's so horrible! Ever since this evening, I couldn't fly, and I don't have my electricity! I feel so..." She sobbed, her body shaking. "So weak!"

Ataru hopped up onto the concrete pipe beside Lum. "What're you crying about? So you're more like us, big deal!" He patted Lum's shoulder. "Look over there."

Lum looked at Ataru, and followed his hand, pointing at the setting sun. "That's a lovely sunset, but..."

"That sun struggles to shine until it disappears from the horizon!" A rare serious expression made its appearance on Ataru's face as he spoke. "Like all living things, we must strive to endure until the very end. That's what makes us human!"

Lum blinked. "So, then aliens could endure too."

Ataru paused, and looked back at Lum. "Uh..." The serious expression melted from his face. "Yeah, I guess so."

Lum smiled, and reached out to gently hug Ataru. "Thank you. That makes me so happy!"

"Good for you," Shinobu said through gritted teeth. "Because I'm definitely not happy!"

Ataru leapt ten feet off the concrete pipe. "S-S-Shinobu!" He made an impressive mid-air 180-degree spin, landing back on the pipe to face Shinobu. "It's not what you think! I just gave Lum the ribbon to cheer her up...!"

Shinobu's eyes widened. "You gave her that ribbon? I never even got so much as a paper-clip from you!" Her eyes fixed on Lum. "You..."

Lum turned around to face Shinobu. "I know! Isn't it pretty? Maybe you can get one for yourself..."

But Shinobu cut her off by launching herself at her, grabbing her hair roughly. "Get that lousy ribbon off...!" Lum screamed and struggled, but Shinobu's grip was like iron, leaving her to flail widely.

Ataru quickly sprang forward, pushing Shinobu away. "Stop it, Shinobu! Don't hurt Lum!"

Shinobu staggered back from Ataru's shove, a shocked look on her face. "Ataru...!"

Ataru's eyes bulged as he realized what he had just done. "Shinobu... Shinobu, wait..."

But Shinobu just stared at Ataru with betrayal on her face, tears spilling from her eyes. Quickly, she turned around and broke into a run.

At the edge of the vacant lot, Ryuunosuke sprinted in, breathing heavily. "Lum! Lum, what..." The next moment, Shinobu barrelled into her and knocked her to the ground, wailing in broken-hearted despair. A moment later, Ataru sprinted past her, just barely avoiding stepping on her belly.

"Darling!" Lum dashed over to Ryuunosuke's sprawled body. "Are you alright?!" Her head snapped up when she suddenly heard Ataru's strangled cry, and turned to see his body embedded in a concrete wall. Further down the street, Shinobu ran on wailing, the broken remains of a concrete barrier rolling away behind her.

Lum stared at Ataru's unconscious body for a long moment, a thought brewing inside her mind.

Ryuunosuke grit her teeth as the hot water washed over her battered skin, leaving stinging echoes of the knocks she took throughout the day. It was definitely a rough one, more so than ever. A day that made her thankful of how her father's sadistic training toughened her up.

But now things had quietened down, and now her body felt sore and tired. All she wanted at that moment was to crawl into her bed and go to sleep. And with Lum still having the ribbon on her horns...

Ryuunosuke shook the thought out of her head like the water in her hair, and quickly shut off the shower. She'll have time to confront that situation soon enough. She towelled herself off, put on fresh underwear and her blue pyjamas and made her way to the bedroom.

When she opened the bedroom door, she did expect to see Lum there, already waiting for her. What she didn't expect to see was Lum sitting on a large double bed, which was the only bed in the room, arms wrapped around a large pillow.

"Welcome back, Darling!" Lum had a smile full of anticipation. "Let's sleep together..."

Ryuunosuke stared at her fiancée for a long moment, before she pointed at the bed. "Where's my bed?"

"Well, it's all modular, so I had them combined into one." Lum explained. "I figured that since I can't use my lightning any more, we could sleep together again."

Lum paused, waiting for Ryuunosuke's reply. It didn't come.

"In the same bed," she quickly added.

Ryuunosuke was silent. In her head, the urge to turn around and leave the room and sleep on the couch again was warring with her personal sense of honour, and the strange feeling of excitement growing inside her. Lum was right; the only thing that kept them from sleeping together was Lum's nocturnal emissions, if you'll excuse the phrasing. With the ribbon disabling her electricity, Ryuunosuke had no excuse not to sleep with her fiancée.

Lum looked up at Ryuunosuke hopefully. "We don't have to go all the way tonight, Darling. But I'd love to sleep with you tonight. I think you might need it."

"No funny stuff?" Ryuunosuke asked, her voice cracking.

Lum smiled, and extended her arms out. "Come to me, Darling. Let's sleep together."

The urge to sleep on the couch quickly crumbled away. Ryuunosuke slowly approached the bed, letting Lum move forward to wrap her arms around her waist and pull her in.

The two girls fell back onto the bed, Lum snuggling up to her Darling, nestling her face in the crook of her shoulder. The bedroom lights dimmed down to barely a glimmer, leaving a soft light to keep the room just illuminated enough.

Ryuunosuke could feel her face burning, and Lum's warm breath on her neck and shoulder. She could feel Lum's heart beating, slowly getting into sync with her own. Even after the last couple of times she felt Lum hug her like this, it didn't nearly feel like it did at that exact moment.

Slowly, Ryuunosuke drew her arms around Lum's shoulders, and hesitantly hugged her back. She let herself breathe a sigh of relief. She knew there was going to be no sudden shocks, but she still doubted herself.

"You feel so nice and warm, Darling..." Lum murmured softly. "I want to stay like this forever. Just you and me..."

Ryuunosuke didn't say anything. She just closed her eyes, and let the sound of Lum's breathing lull her to sleep.

"Good morning, Darling!"

Ryuunosuke was roused from her sleep by the feeling of Lum's lips against her cheeks and forehead. Her eyes quickly snapped out.

"What time is it?"

"Just turned nine-forty," Lum replied, brightly. She squeezed Ryuunosuke's waist gently. "How did you sleep?"

"I was out like a light," Ryuunosuke murmured. "I don't think..." She reached up and traced her fingers along Lum's cheek. "Nothing."

"I told you," Lum said, "still nothing. Whoever made this ribbon did a pretty good job..." She reluctantly pulled her arms away from Ryuunosuke, and raised herself up to her knees. "I'm gonna keep this for tonight, too. And every night after that." And then she pulled the ribbon loose, leaving her horns exposed once more.

Ryuunosuke's eyes widened. "Hey, wait a second..." She pointed at Lum's head. "Since when could you take that ribbon off?! Even I couldn't do it earlier!"

Lum just grinned at Ryuunosuke. "Well, let's just say that after Shinobu knocked you out, I got her boyfriend to get it off." She flipped her green hair back. "Turns out, only the person who put it on me could take it off again. I put them on again before I helped you get home."

Ryuunosuke's jaw hung open. "You tricked me! I thought you still couldn't..."

"Because I wanted to sleep with you, Darling." Lum slid off the bed. "You probably would've spent last night on the couch again if you knew."

Ryuunosuke couldn't answer, because she knew that Lum was right. Ryuunosuke probably would've just slept on the couch again. The Oni girl was definitely damn smarter than she took credit for.

"Besides," Lum added with a smile. "You should really trust me more! You are my Darling, after all!"

"Yeah," Ryuunosuke mumbled, embarrassed. "I guess you're right."

to be continued

NOTES: Been a while, hasn't it? I've been in a very long depressive episode, but I couldn't stay in it forever. So I've decided to start writing again. And where better to start than continuing this fanfic, am I right? I felt like progressing Ryuunosuke and Lum's relationship a bit. I figured I should do that while I can, considering how very convoluted my plans for Ryuunosuke's romantic life are becoming...