As crazy as everything had been for Ataru, Saturday morning came by much quicker than expected.
Back when Lum first moved into his house, it took him quite a bit of convincing for her to sleep in the linen closet in his room. Despite Lum's arguments, Ataru was right in saying that he's still a high school student. From his point of view, it's still much too early to be sharing a bed with somebody else.
As Lum was still sleeping, Ataru took the opportunity to get out of the house. A lot had happened since his debacle with Shutaro Mendou and he thought that maybe a morning walk would be enough to clear his head.
The internet is also an option, but he decided against it. Two years of the pandemic went by so fast and staring at a screen took up most of that time.
Twenty minutes into his walk, he comes across a familiar face.
"Ataru Moroboshi… Just the man I wanted to see."
He couldn't help but put on a small smile when he saw Officer Itsuka walk up to him. "Officer Itsuka… It's been like, what, a week since we last met?"
"A little shorter than that… Tell me…" Itsuka puts on a serious face. "You were street racing back on Tuesday, weren't you?"
"Alright. Yeah. I did it." Ataru came clean. "I couldn't let Shutaro Mendou beat me, so I may have broken a few laws. How did you figure out it was me driving, anyway?"
"Who else but you has access to alien technology?" Itsuka shook his head. "Now look, I'd write you up, but I'm not gonna."
"Well, I appreciate it."
Itsuka continues. "Because I am looking forward to meeting with my special someone. That monk Cherry says she could cross paths with me any day now. Don't wanna ruin my karma."
"Hold on… Cherry? You actually believe him?"
Itsuka continues smiling. "Yeah… Why wouldn't I? I'm good looking, aren't I? I'm a hard worker. I'm a responsible adult. I should have an exciting life. Just like yours."
Ataru crosses his arms. "I wouldn't call it EXCITING. Eventful would be more accurate."
Before he knew it, they were both sitting down at a nearby McDonald's. Itsuka offered to pay for both of them, which Ataru instantly accepted.
After taking a few bites of his McMuffin and having a few sips of iced coffee, he was ready to tell his story.
"I guess I should be starting out with what happened on Wednesday. You see, Lum tells me she loves me everyday. People say that to each other all the time, right? Well, I had no idea how much she did when I was informed that she had been… slipping out on… certain activities… You know, the ones an alien princess is expected to perform."
Itsuka rests his elbows on the table. "Obligations. Tell me… who told you about them?"
Wednesday afternoon at Tomobiki High School. Lum had just came in through the window of the classroom to bring Ataru his lunch.
She hovered in the air across from him while trying to ignore all the staring from the other guys in the class.
"I don't know how you're able to listen to that teacher run his mouth for so long, darling."
"Who said I was listening." Ataru says to her before he opened his bento box. His eyes lit up.
"Beef teriyaki… My favorite." He smiles at her. "You know, I've been acting too harsh on you lately. I shouldn't have. You deserve so much better than me, yet you stay. Yeah, I'm still not ready for actual marriage any time soon… but I appreciate you."
This only excited Lum. "Oh… Darling!" She levitated behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
Witnessing the whole thing, Shinobu puts her head down. "Oh… get a room, you two." She speaks to herself.
Mendou, having seen the whole thing, tries to step in.
"You know, Lum… Ataru is right when he said that you deserve someone better than he is-"
He didn't get the chance to finish what he was planning to say. Something unexpected had taken everyone in the class off guard.
A young woman who appears to be Lum's age can be seen riding a vehicle similar to the Oniboshi Airbike Ataru had ridden just the other day.
Her appearance was what one would call stunning. Her attire is similar to that of Lum but instead of a fur bikini, this one is made from some sort of metal. Metal that's been painted red.
The stranger wasn't hanging outside for long. She entered in through the same window Lum had entered. Lum, who had been watching the window along with everyone else, was quick to confront her.
"Benten! What are you doing over here!? And how did you know where to find me anyway!?"
Benten smirks at her friend. She knows she's on the receiving end of everybody's attention and is loving every second of it.
"Your dad told me where you'd be at this time… after my clan defeated your people during setsubun!
By the way, he sounded very disappointed. You may want to check up on him before long."
Lum sighs. "A lot has changed since the last time we met. I'm on my way to getting married. I don't care much for childish games anymore."
Benten waves her off. "Yeah yeah. I heard about you and Rei. I heard he left Oniboshi to join you on Earth. What's so special about this planet anyway?"
It was then that Ataru stood up and took Lum's side. "She isn't engaged to Rei anymore. She decided to get together with me after I… accidentally… I won a game of tag and she stayed. That's what happened!"
Benten blinks twice, taking her time to absorb all the information this citizen of Earth had told her. A moment later, she burst out laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You gotta be kidding me! Lum, be serious with me for just a second. You left REI for this boy!? Mmm… you deserve so much better."
Mendou, who was listening to the conversation, decided to step in again.
"Yeah! That's what I… what I was trying to tell you before!"
He had everyone's attention for a moment, but it was all the time a certain someone needed to make themselves known.
Out of nowhere, Ataru began to feel a lump in his throat while his right hand began flaring up. "No…" He spoke in a barely audible voice, lower than that of a whisper.
the time Benten looked at Ataru again, she couldn't help but take a step back. It was as if she's looking at an entirely different person.
His hair was displayed neatly just a moment ago, now it looks like he had just gotten out of bed. His face looked much brighter, but now it's like the lights in the room are no longer reflecting off of him.
And that smile. She had never seen anybody smile like he had before.
She couldn't lie to herself. He's beginning to freak her out.
"Wait a second. Hold on." Itsuka pauses Ataru's story.
"So there's a second alien girl with you… And right now is when you tell me that you have a split personality!?"
"Yeah… I haven't had a reason to share that with you until now." Said Ataru. "Now let me continue."
"Lady Benten!" Ataru's perverted side stares at her with lustful eyes, creeping her out more by the second.
"Lum here had told me all about you yesterday! I had a pretty good idea what you may have looked like, but as I'm looking at you now, you're way better than anything I would have pictured!"
Before he could make any further advances on her, however, he felt Lum wrap her arms around him like she did before, much to the surprise of Benten.
"Darling here has something he calls a… 'split personality.' So don't worry too much about him, okay? His kinder self always returns in a short time."
Benten then points at her. "You expect me to believe something like THAT!? Come on. I know you know better than this."
This irritated Lum a little. "I KNOW what he's going through is REAL! And if you don't like it, Benten… then you can just… leave!"
Ataru's perverted side looks up at her. "Hey, no hard feelings about me, you know, grabbing your breast during that tag game. Because that wasn't him… that was me and-AAAHH!"
"Shinobu threw another desk at me and everybody had a good laugh over it." Said Ataru. "Thanks to her, I was able to surprise him like he did to me and gain control of my body again.
I apologized to Benten and she said to not worry about it. Then she rode off."
"And nothing happened for the rest of the day, right?" Said Itsuka.
"For the rest of the day, yes. The NEXT day on the other hand, another crazy thing happened."
Itsuka took a deep breath. "I'm listening."
"The day after, I ended up eating this weird fruit Cherry was trying to get rid of. I had just eaten what I thought was candy from Lum's homeworld. Way too spicy for my taste, let me tell you.
Having ingested both those things somehow put another curse on me.
My perverted side was able to escape the mental prison I built around him and somehow manifested a body of his own."
"Interesting… then what happened."
"As soon as he realized what was happening, he took off running. He was happy that he'd been freed from my control.
The moment he left my sight, however, I found an easy way to undo the curse laid on me.
It turns out he had only disconnected from me because he had his own body. I was still in control of my own mind… along with his. Before long, I ran out whatever timer this curse had and he was imprisoned in my mind again. He was mad as hell, of course, but I didn't care. I just couldn't let a guy who looks like me do what he wants to women. I'll never hear the end of it."
"Yeah… Whatever that had happened, he's lucky I wasn't there to stop him." Itsuka took a sip of his coffee. "So… is that the end of your story, or…"
"No, there's more." Said Ataru. "Just yesterday, I met another one of Lum's childhood friends. Oyuki, her name was."
"Sounds interesting." Itsuka puts down his drink and crosses his arms. "Is she like Benten?"
"No, she's the Queen of Neptune. I was at NEPTUNE yesterday, man!"
A brief silence followed, which was then broken when Itsuka said one word.
"Damn."
"It wasn't just me either… a couple of guys showed up at my house… there was this portal in my closet…" Ataru scratches his head. "Lum had told her that I was very good with music and she wanted to hear me play, so I did what I had to do."
Lum made sure to stand close to Oyuki as Ataru ran through his options on what song he wants to play. He's pacing around the room with a guitar in his hand. Right outside, the classmates that barged into his house were shoveling snow. As ordered by Oyuki.
"I'm excited." Oyuki tells her friend. "Neptune is home to many musicians, but I'm glad I get to hear something new."
Lum smiles back. "The music just… pulls you in. I know it did to me."
Ataru then began playing. It was a new song that Lum had never heard of before.
"You know you can call me if you need someone,
I'll pick up the pieces if you come undone…
Paining stars up on your ceiling
Cause you wish that you could find some feeling. Yeah, you…
You know you call me if you need someone…"
"Hold on." Itsuka interrupts. "The Justin Bieber song. You sang that for her?"
"Yeah…" Ataru sighs. "I needed to come up with something as soon as I could. I didn't want to keep her waiting."
"Midnight till morning… Call me if you need somebody.
I will be there for you!"
Having heard the song introduced to her, Oyuki gives a polite smile.
"Beautiful… No mention of snow… or ice, but it's still a good song.
Tell me, Ataru, what are your… what are your goals if I may ask?"
"Finish high school… Try to get into university." Ataru tries his best to answer Oyuki's question. "You want me to sing you a song about the cold? I can do that."
"No no. That'll be enough." Oyuki stood up from her seat. "I've heard what I needed to hear. Now if you'll please excuse me, I have some other stuff to attend to."
"I could have introduced her to some Maroon 5 songs, but she wouldn't let me." Said Ataru.
Itsuka lets out a chuckle. "I'd have started out with Maroon 5 to begin with. Heh heh."
The two finished up with their food and began to walk outside.
Itsuka speaks again. "You know, Ataru? Despite everything that's happened to you so far, I think you're gonna be just fine. If you can get through a week like that, you can get through anything."
Ataru scratches the back of his head. "Thanks,but… I have a feeling that I haven't even begun to face what the universe has to throw at me."
"Well, if you have any more stories you'd like to share, I'm more than happy to listen."
"If I survive."
The two went on their separate ways and Itsuka returned to work.
It was about an hour after he had that conversation with Ataru, and he found himself deep in thought as he continued walking.
He snaps out of his thoughts as he hears a woman scream in the distance in front of him.
"A purse snatcher! Somebody stop him!"
That was all it took. A cry for help. It was all enough to put Itsuka into a certain mindset. Somebody is running off with something that isn't theirs. They need to be stopped no matter what.
He has practiced running regularly. He had never been the best at it, but he's as close as somebody could get. That criminal was going to get caught and he would be the one to catch him. It doesn't matter what happens between then and now.
As he began running after the thief, he goes over his plan in his head: catch the man and give the woman her purse back.
Things, however, don't always go to plan.
The purse snatcher was stopped, but Itsuka wasn't the one who stopped him.
It was a woman. One who looked like to be the same age as he is. Dressed in equal parts black and red. Two ribbons in her hair match her scheme. One black. One red.
Itsuka's favorite color may be blue, but as of today, a deep, dark red might be his close second.
The woman who knocked the purse snatcher unconscious closes her eyes as she smiles at him. It's the most sweetest smile anyone's ever given him.
Hopefully Cherry was right and he'd just met his special someone.