"Nucleic Inversion" by Kris Edward Warren Based on the anime "Urusei Yatsura" created by Rumiko Takahashi Story #1 Writer's Note I am a new fan of Rumiko Takahashi's "Urusei Yatsura," and I decided to try my hand at story writing using the cast. Though I am trying to get all the available anime, I will warn anybody right now that I have only seen some of it, so if it seems like I'm on the wrong track with the characters, or something else, just play along. If you are wondering about the dates given (March 1989,) I chose it because the movies seemed to use the year from which they were released, for example, Movie 3 took place in 1985, so I choose the year of Movie 5 for the dates. Also, if you are wondering what the loose V's, S's & L's mean, it's a rating system. After seeing some pretty hot stuff on the web, I decided to start puting little tags on it to point out the potentially offensive parts. (Though some might say I did it to easily find the violent or sexy parts!) Simply put, V means Violence, S means Sex and L means Language or anything else. I personally believe that somethings on the web and such should be rated, but I think that the industry and artists should do it, not the government. You will also find a series of numbers scattered throughout the file in square brackets, [X]. These are for the Endnotes at the end of the file. One final note, this story was originally written on Microsoft Word, and was later downgraded to a simple text file so that more people could read it. Should I decide to start divulging my e-mail adress, I might send out people the Word version should they want it, or even put it on the net. But as I generally don't check my e-mail, I won't do that at this time. I'm sure anyone with Word or another word processor could convert themselves. So with this all out of the way, I hope that anyone reading this will enjoy it, I have other stories planned and may make them available too. Chapter 1: Nucleic Inversion by Kris Edward Warren V: 2 S: 0 L: 0 Part 1: Ran's Wonderful Science Project < = = > Wednesday, March 1, 1989. Ataru, Lum, Ten, Mendou, Shinobu, Rei, Benten, Oyuki and the Stormtroopers are on board Ran's ship, she is showing everybody her invention for the upcoming Science Fair. [1] While most see the mini-van sized object with awe, Rei is there eating away. Oyuki on the other hand, is circling the strange device like a vulture, taking a multitude of snapshots with her new camera. "Hey Oyuki, is that a new camera? May I borrow it?" "This is a new prototype holographic camera being developed on Neptune, and I just got it. So no, Benten, you may not borrow it, it is very delicate." "Stingy as ever!" Ran steps out from behind her machine and is ready to start the show. "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen. Today I will demonstrate my fabulous invention for the Tomobiki High Science Fair, which I intend to win!" Mendou asks the first question. "It is very interesting, Ran. But what is it exactly?" "Direct and to the point. This is my Horticultural-analysis-maintenance- treatment-and-resuscitation-device-for-all-organic-plant-based-life-forms- and-anything-else-I-can-think-of machine." Seeing the group with nothing but blank expressions on their faces, Ran reiterates. "It can detect problems with plants and fixes them." "Oh, I see." "Yeah." "Nice!" Benten is a little annoyed by this. "Plants? Ran, remember the mushroom incident? The idea of you and plants gives me the creeps." Ran ignores this and goes on with her demonstration. "And now, I will make a quick demonstration." Ran walks over and picks up an ailing sunflower. "This is a sunflower which I picked up some time ago, and I have lovingly called 'Darling'." The choice of name got some snickers from the audience, while Ataru could only roll his eyes into the back of his head. Ran recites in her ultra-cute voice, "It seems as if 'Darling' is sick-" Chibi quips, "You can say that again. Heh-heh!" "-it seems as if 'Darling' isn't flowering properly." With a sinister glare at Ataru, Megane comments, "It's Darling doing a little bit of DE-flowering that worries me!" Ataru could only respond with a piercing stare and a grumbling from his throat. Ran then places 'Darling' into a slot in the machine, and a pane of glass slides down to seal the slot. "And now, to see what's wrong." Pushing some buttons, a display says that the plant is dehydrated, and that the soil is missing some nutrients that the sunflower needs. Ran pushes a few more buttons, and the display indicates that the machine is trying to restore the plant to full health. The sunflower is bathed in a strange orange light as a mist of water tries to rehydrate the plant, and small needles inject fertilizer and minerals into the soil. After a few minutes, the procedure stops and Ran removes the sunflower which is dramatically better than it was before. "See, now 'Darling' is in fine shape." The group is in awe over the obvious improvement, except for Rei and Benten. Rei is eating (what else) while Benten gets a little suspicious. "I smell a rat. She probably switched plants on us or something." "Benten, I am insulted that you could think that I would do anything as devious as that!" "Yeah, right. I'll believe you when hell freezes over." Switching to her bitchy self, Ran screams while holding a bazooka to Benten's face. "YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME!!" Benten jumps back with the others. Oyuki has moved around to grab some more snapshots of Ran's machine from behind. Ran tries to get herself in the shots, though Oyuki is trying to get the shots she wanted. "This is a pretty incredible machine." Lum is her usually chipper self. "Show us again." "Okay. Let's see here, we have some wilting mushrooms here I could try and restore." The others scream in unison, save Rei. "NO!" "All right then. Here are some carrots which I picked up some time ago, and they're going bad." Ran puts them into the machine, and after a few minutes of the same treatment, they come out looking like they're freshly picked. "And now we have a nice new bunch of carrots. Here Shinobu, why don't you give them to your boyfriend." Ran tosses the carrots to Shinobu, while Shinobu blushed a bit at Ran's comment about Inaba being her 'boyfriend.' "What's next?" Ran looks around to find a few chrysanthemums that were starting to die. "We'll try these next." Ran places the gold flowers into the machine, and after a few minutes, they too seem to be fully restored. As Ran took out the chrysanthemums, however, smoke could be smelled from somewhere in the room. Snaps were heard from Ran's machine as Ran went to check out the panel where smoke was starting to bellow from. But before she could take two steps, the panel exploded. No one was hurt, but Ataru and Lum who were standing closest to the explosion, were covered in soot. Ran jokingly asks the pair "Oh my, you two look terrible, maybe I should run you through my machine?" Mendou and the Stormtroopers were quick to move to Lum's side to see if she was all right. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Nothing a change of clothes and a bath won't fix. Right, Darling?" Ataru just stood there. Ran went over to check the damage while Benten and Shinobu moved up behind her. "Hey Ran, what happened?" Benten asks. "It looks like the power systems overloaded. Damn, I should've put in a fuse or some circuit breakers or something!" Shinobu then asks "Did you have any help putting this thing together?" "Rei." Both Benten and Shinobu look at each other with that 'obviously' look. "Ah-hah." "Ooo! It will take me days, weeks to fix this." Lum tries to comfort her friend, "Don't worry Ran, you'll get it fixed in time, and besides, you can call on us if you need help." Ran is ecstatic. "Oh thank you. I knew I could count on you!" She then gives Lum a big hug causing some of the soot to rub of on her. "I know I'll be able to get it ready now!" "Yes, yes. Now could you let me go? I have to go get cleaned up." Oyuki still has not lost her normal demeanor. "Perhaps it would be best for us all to go so that we are not in Ran's way." "Yeah, you guys go on. I can do this myself. Come on Rei, I have a pizza in the oven." With that, all but Ran and Rei leave for their respective homes. < = = > Half an hour later at the Moroboshi home, Lum had just finished taking a shower and had emerged in a new bikini. "That was something wasn't it?" Ataru had washed his hands and face in the kitchen sink, "Yeah, I would've liked it a lot more if it didn't blow up in our faces." Ten chirped, "I don't know, I thought that was the best part." Ataru gave Ten a rather nasty glare, "We'll it's getting late, I might as well grab a shower before I hit the sack." Picking up a pair of pajamas, he heads off to the bathroom to grab a shower. Ten floats over to his cousin, "You think Ran will get her machine working again?" "With Rei's help, I doubt it, but I'll head over tomorrow to see if she needs any assistance." < = = > Monday went like any other day, except that Ran was busy trying to work out the bugs on her invention. She and Lum had met in a free period at the Hama Tea Shop, going over her plans. Ran is reading her notes while sipping some tea, "The diffraction resonator is fine, the magneon scanners are fine, the PU-232 space modulator [2] is okay, and the power converter is functional! I figure I can have this thing running again in a few days." "That's great!" In the kitchen, Mr. Fujinami walks over to the fridge and opens it. A loud thump is heard from inside the kitchen ad Ryuu runs in to see what happens. Inside, the fridge door is open, and Ryuu's father is buried under a mountain of snow, atop of which sits Oyuki. Nagisa [3] comes up, "You O.K. Mr. Fujinami?" A muffled voice from under the snow replies, "I love the sea!" Ryuu mutters, "He's fine." Oyuki gets up and drops down to where Ryuu and Nagisa are standing, "Is Lum around, I understand this is supposed to be a free period for her." Nagisa goes to help Mr. Fujinami out of the snowbank while Ryuu answers, "She's outside." "Thanks!" Oyuki goes out the door to meet up with Lum and Ran. "How's it going you two?" Ran looks up to her icy friend, "Hi, Oyuki, just trying to finish my machine." Oyuki sits down next to them, looking most out of place in her white kimono while everyone else is in their blue Tomobiki High uniform. "Well, that was a nasty explosion, it probably take a while to repair. Have you checked the space modulator?" "Yes I did." Lum then remembered Oyuki was there with them, "Oh, Oyuki, how did the pictures come out?" "Pictures?" "Yeah, the ones you were taking with that camera of yours." "Oh that. Like I said before it was only a prototype, it didn't seem to work right. Either that, or some radiation from when Ran's machine blew up must have nuked the film." "What? You mean you came to my place to use my beautiful machine as a test subject for a camera. I'm disappointed in you, Oyuki. My machine deserved to be photographed by some of the greatest photographers of all time, not by some cheap flashbulb that doesn't work." "Sorry, Ran?" Lum then comments, "We could've used the pictures as a reference in some places." Lum was about to continue when she thought she heard something, "Excuse me." She flies off down the hall, Oyuki and Ran look at each other. A few minutes later, Chiiko [4] comes running down the hall, "Get away from me you jerk!" Seconds after, Ataru can be heard around the corner, chasing after her, "Come on Chiiko, come back. Ow, hey back off!" Ataru runs past Oyuki and Ran with Lum in hot pursuit, "Darling! Get back here!" With the three gone, Oyuki turns towards Ran, "It never ends, does it?" "Nope!" Part 2: Ataru Did That! < = = > Monday, March 20. Ran was still very upset, "3rd?! How come I only got 3rd?!" Though Ran managed to get her machine fixed in time for the fair, and it performed beautifully, she was most disappointed at her rank over the weekend. Lum came over to her desk to try and calm her down, "Now com on Ran, you still got the 3rd place prize, ¥5,000. And that scientific research company did seem rather interested in your invention." "Stupid money, stupid Earth scientists. I deserved to WIN!" Elsewhere, Mendou was talking with Ataru, "Doesn't take well to losing does she?" "No, I'll go see if I can cheer her up." Ataru walks over to Ran, "Hey Ran, I heard about your performance at the Science Fair, and I saw you were pretty despondent at the horrible judging. So I thought that I might cheer you up." Ran put on her cute face, "What did you have in mind, Darling?" Lum was most displeased, "DARLING!" Mendou turned his head and winced upon hearing his classmate's tortured screams. Moving over to Lum, "Lum, why do you put up with him? When you have me." Lum stared at him, "Don't give me that Mendou, I don't want to hear it." Onsen-Mark enters and everyone takes their seats. < = V = > At lunch, everyone was talking about Ran's placement at the Science Fair, they had no choice. Ran's ranting didn't allow anyone the chance to discuss anything else. Mendou decided to take it upon himself and try to comfort Ran. "Ran, perhaps you would like to discuss this in private instead of in public were you may bring ridicule upon yourself, perhaps at my house, say eightish." Ataru is most incensed by this, "Damn, he can get away with all the girl chasing he wants. Life's not fair." Mendou heard this, "That is because you have no idea on how to treat the opposite sex, which is why you are a loser." "Nah, it's just that I have to put up with a jealous 'girlfriend'. If Asuka were here, I'm sure you'd have to shut up and sit down pretty quick." "Hmmph. I couldn't care less what she wanted me to do concerning my life. Our families may want us to marry, but she doesn't control me." "I'm sure she'd like to hear that. Or better yet, I wish Rei were here, he'd probably beat you to a pulp for trying to hit on Ran." "Like I could be bested by that cow." "Or maybe, the other girls you have stored away are getting a little boring, and are worried that they may lose their jobs, as they don't seem to impress you anymore?" "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" "You heard me, Mendou. I'm sure someone with your riches would have hired on oodles of women to seduce you at home. After all, you're no different than me." "That does it! I will make you two for that!" Mendou draws his katana, intent on putting Ataru to it. Ataru jumps out of his seat to get away. "Mendou, don't you dare hurt Darling!" For the next minute or so, Ataru runs around the class with Mendou chasing behind him, "You're losing it!" "Get back here so I can make you pay." "Make me!" Ataru has moved to the back of the room, and is jumping from desktop to desktop in the last column. Mendou is at the front, walking in front of the rows, keeping himself lined up with his favorite target. Ataru, though rather fit physically, isn't perfect, and eventually slips on one of the desks. Lum shouts, "Darling!" With his opportunity in front of him, Mendou enters the row and prepares to run down and slay his foe, "Now you die!" "Oh no you don't!" Lum tries to fly up out of her desk to rescue Ataru, but she hooks her foot in her chair and falls to the ground with a crash. Mendou storms toward Ataru, unhindered. Ataru looks up to realize he's about to feel some serious pain, when something hits him. Leaping to his feet in a crouch position with his right towards Mendou, he pulls his hands to his left, forming an imaginary ball in his hands. Staring at Mendou with intense fury, he shifts all his weight towards Mendou and thrusts his hands forward, "HADOUKEN!" [5] As astonished by what Ataru was trying to do, the class was even more stunned when the move worked. Ataru's body was charged with electricity, and a blue fireball shot out of his hands towards Mendou, blasting him back to the chalkboard. < = = > Mendou woke up in the infirmary about half an hour later with a large burn mark in his chest, "What the hell happened?" Mendou was pretty weak so the words came out rather hoarsely. "You were electrocuted." Sakura was standing over him, looking at some notes she had jotted down. "At first I'd simply say that Lum had blasted you, I couldn't believe it when someone told me that Ataru did it." "Ataru?" Mendou rubbed his head, "Wait. I do remember, I was charging at him when, when he threw the lightning bolt at me. I was thrown back, but that's all I remember." Mendou tried to sit up, but his pain shot through his chest, causing his to fall back to the table. "I might want to rest there for a few hours before I tried to leave if I were you." "How the hell did he do that anyway?" "Don't know. I could only come up with two guesses. 1) The shocks that he's taken from Lum over the past few years have caused a build-up of charge. 2) Lum's probably been feeding him Oni food, and this is the result. Ataru may even be starting to become an Oni." Mendou thought about that for a moment, {Ataru, an Oni? He's bad enough as a human, but to possess an Oni's powers, that'd be terrible!} "I have to take this down to the principal's office, will you be all right here by yourself for a few minutes?" "No problem." Sakura left, and Mendou took a better look at his condition. He was lying in the infirmary, topless, with a large electrical burn on his chest. {Ataru did this? I can't believe it. If it is only a charge build-up, then this is probably the only blast he had, possibly a few residual charges. Nothing to worry about. But if Ataru is somehow gaining powers of his own, I don't even want to think about what he'd do with them. He'd be able to keep Lum or Ten at bay, he'd no longer have to put up with anyone, he'd be free to do whatever he wanted.} Mendou felt a shiver run up his spine as he considered the girl-hunts that Ataru could have with such powers. Lum and the others couldn't stop him. Sakura returned, "How are you holding up?" "Fine, you've only been gone less than 3 minutes." "A lot can happen in three minutes. You could die." "You're a real laugh riot, you know that." Sakura smiles, as she sits down. Mendou calls out to her, "Can I have a blanket or something, it's rather drafty in here." < = = > The rest of the day went about as close to normal as could be expected. Of course in Tomobiki, "normal" really doesn't mean much. Ataru was spending most of his time twiddling his fingers, trying to get a small spark, but nothing. Everyone else was getting worried, if he could pull off that lightning ball against Mendou, what was next. Everyone knew that Ataru was no ordinary human, every so often his determination and spirit led to feats of superhuman speed and strength. Ran thought back to the first time she saw Ataru. She remembered Ataru cutting a trench in 2 feet deep dirt, by walking through it. She also remembered shortly after, when she saw Ataru with the Peach Blossom Maiden over his shoulder, run at speeds that would make a race car look like a turtle. And of course, there were all the electrocutions he took from Lum, as well as everything else he had to put up with. Let's face it, Ataru Moroboshi, was certainly not some average human, or average for any race mind you. When school was out, everyone went home with a look of worry on their faces, all except for Ataru and Lum. Lum floated behind her Darling with a look of amazement on her face, "This is incredible, I wonder if somehow some of my powers are rubbing off on you? Try flying." Ataru took a few hops to humor her, "Nope, can't do that." "Well, that energy ball you threw at Mendou was probably just a discharge of energy you built-up over a period of time." Ataru was a little annoyed, "Yeah, from you." Lum was also starting to get mad, "Well I wouldn't have to zap you if you would stop flirting with other girls." "Whatever." < = = > When they got home, they decided not to talk about the subject anymore. When Lum woke up the next morning, she felt quite different. She walked out of the closet, and then tried to fly to the bathroom for a shower, but she found that she could hardly move. She tried again, she could float, but her speed was greatly diminished. "What the?" She remembered this happening recently when Memory appeared, and wondered if maybe something weird was going to happen. Running her hands through her hair, something was wrong, her right horn was missing. Looking back in the closet, she could see that it came off in the night. Feeling her left horn, it too was coming loose, and would surely be gone in a day or two. {I don't understand it! It's not time for this to happen!} She remembered that when Rupa was here, he used some kind of ray to age her by a few months to cause her horns to fall out prematurely. Could that be the cause of this. Later, while she and Ataru were walking to school, Ataru noticed something odd, Lum was walking. "Are you feeling all right?" Lum put a rather bashful grin on her face, "What do you mean." "You're walking instead of flying." "Oh, I like walking." "Really?" Ataru tried to look Lum in the face, but she turned her head away from him. Leaping behind her, he tries to see what's wrong, but Lum turns her head again. "All right, now I know you're hiding something from me." Lum disgracefully turns to face him. Ataru looks for a moment then notices, "Your horn is gone." "Yeah." "With only one of your horns, your powers would be greatly reduced, right?" Lum whimpers, "Yes." "Really!" Ataru turns, and is off like a shot. He gets to the school and is of course, asking every girl he can find for a date. With her powers reduced, Lum can't follow, but is forced to jog to the school as fast as she can. < = = > By Wednesday, her other horn had fallen out, and Lum was totally powerless. Without her powers, she had no way to control Ataru. Her only option was to wait for her horns and powers to return, and teach Ataru a lesson. It was Friday before she would realize just how bad things were. Lum was taking part in one of the few events that she and Ataru did together, cleaning his ears, "Darling, I'm glad that you at least stayed home tonight." "I can't ignore you all the time." Lum was quite surprised by the statement, and thought this was a sign that Ataru did love her. Ten came up, "I'll bet none of the girls would accept your invitations so he's forced to spend Friday night with you." Ataru swatted him away, "No one asked you." Lum started to cry, "That's it though isn't it. You're only here with me because you have nowhere else to go. I'm simply your last resort." "Now Lum. You're not my last resort. Those phone sex lines would be my last resort." "DARLING!" Lum is really crying now, "There are times when I wonder why I even put up with you." "Dump him!" Lum shouts, "TEN!" She goes back to cleaning Ataru's ears, "Darling, why can't you just love me." With a coy smile on his face, "Oh, so we're back to sex again?" Lum was amused by his statement, "Oh, Darling. You're so silly." "So Lum? Just how long before your horns grow back anyway?" "Why, so you can know how long you have before I fry you for your lecherousness?" Ataru turns to look up at her, "No, I'm serious." "Well, they should start coming back around now, probably over the weekend. Now, if you want me to clean your ears, would you please stop-" Lum's face shutters with angst. Ten comes down, "What's wrong?" Ataru is getting worried, "Lum?" Lum picks through Ataru's hair and finds a lump in his head, "Darling, you're growing- a set of horns?!" Part 3: Ran Did It! < = = > The next morning, Ataru, Lum and Ten raced to Sakura's shrine, were they started banging on the door. Sakura is still asleep, and half sleepwalks to the door, "I'm coming, I'm coming." Sakura opens the door and is stunned to see the trio there. Ataru is also stunned at seeing Sakura in her nightie. Lum is incensed, "Darling!" "All right, what are you doing here at 7:00 in the morning?" Lum grabs Ataru by the arm and drags him inside, "We'll show you." < = = > After Sakura changed into her hakama, [6] she sat down to examine Ataru's head. Poking through his hair at the points Lum pointed out, she could definitely see the small horn buds poking through his head. "This might explain that incident on Monday, when Ataru blasted Mendou with that thunderbolt. Have you tried using those lightning powers again." Ataru puts his hands close together, and tries to create a spark, after a few seconds of trying, a flash of blue energy crosses between his fingers. "What about flight?" Ataru gets off the table and tries to fly, but nothing. Lum looks over, "Sakura, what do you make of this." Sakura thinks for a minute. "Lum, I've noticed that you are now without your horns, and now Ataru seems to be growing a set of his own. I understand that Oni powers are quite varied, and when it seemed that Ataru's powers were lightning based, I thought that he might somehow have gained your powers. That's why I asked him to try and fly." "You mean that Darling has, MY HORNS?" "Possibly. But until I know for sure, I don't want to make that assumption without a few tests." Sakura pulls out her spirit-sensor and waves it at Ataru and Lum. "It's possible that you two have been cursed." The sensor only reacts to Ataru, "Strange." Ten looks at Sakura's sensor, "What does it mean?" "Well, it means that Lum's aura had faded and Ataru's has grown, possibly from the Oni horns he now has. I have another test." Sakura leaves them alone and returns in her nurse's outfit, with a medical bag. She pulls out some needles, "A blood test might prove useful." "Oh no. You're not ramming one of those into me!" Ataru tries to run but Sakura holds him down, and jabs him in the rear. "OWWW!" But Sakura was equally unfortunate, with Ataru in pain, he sends a jolt of electricity straight into her. Sakura still got her blood sample, and a quick lesson in bedside manner. She shakes of her electrocution, and then goes over to Lum with another needle. Lum isn't so intent on avoiding Sakura and accepts the needle. But when she is poked, "Oww. That really stings!" Lum never took many shots before, but she knew that was the worst. Sakura took the two blood samples. "I'll examine these, see if there's anything funny going on. You two should go home." < = V = > On Monday, Ataru and Lum walked to school, or at least Lum did, Ataru simply floated behind her. His horns had grown to the length that Lum's were, and his powers seemed to be just as powerful as hers. On the school grounds, Mendou and the Stormtroopers were waiting at the door. Chibi was talking about Lum losing her horns, "I wonder if Lum is O.K., I couldn't get a hold of her all weekend." Megane is quick to lay blame, "This is Ataru's doing, I just know it!" Mendou then hears the beeping sound normally associated with Lum's flying, "That sounds like her now." The five are about to get up to greet their favorite classmate, when their jaws drop at the hideous sight before them. Lum walked through the gate while Ataru, flew. Perm could barely speak, "It's not possible!" Kakugari looks at the sight before him, and almost dies of a heart attack. "How? This is a bad dream." The five boys weren't the only ones stunned, the girls were also quite aghast at the sight. Some of the teachers who looked out saw the unusual sight, and acted no better than the students. Ataru and Lum approach the door, where they meet up with Mendou and the Stormtroopers, and try to act like nothing's wrong. Lum chirps, "Hi guys, how's it going?" "Hey, you look like you've seen a ghost or something. -Or Cherry?" Mendou's shock turns to anger, "What have you done to Lum?!" "Me, what makes you think I did this?" Megane also starts pointing fingers, "You have done this, you, only you would do something this horrible to our precious Lum-san!" "Hey I didn't do this!" Kakugari joins in the mob, "LIAR!" Lum is starting to get angry, "Where do you get off accusing Darling of such things, he would never do that to me, this has to be someone else's doing!" Mendou comes up to Lum and takes her arm, "Lum, he's stolen your powers from you, and you still don't see him for the vicious demon he truly is. Let me show you that you can do a lot better than this slime." Mendou whips out his katana and points it at Ataru, who is now more ticked than ever. "SLIME, EH? You've got some nerve, Mendou!" "Really, I'll show you just how much nerve!" Mendou releases Lum, and charges Ataru, but Ataru is more than prepared. Before Mendou could take two steps, Ataru blasts him. "Man, you do have a lot of nerve, don't you!" Everyone else stepped back in horror, save Lum, who moved back to her Darling. < = = > Before heading to class, Ataru and Lum dropped into the infirmary to see if Sakura found anything. "Well, actually I did. It seems almost as if someone swapped your genes." Both stare in amazement, "WHAT!" "Ataru seems to have gotten some of your genes, Lum, while you got some of Ataru's." "So, our genes are swapped, how much?" "I can't say exactly, but It's obvious that the genes responsible for making you human or Oni have been switched. Fortunately, your sex chromosomes weren't affected, so at least you won't be going through any spontaneous sex changes." "Can you fix it?" "FIX IT?! I most certainly cannot! Your only hope may be to find out what caused your genes to be swapped, then we'll see what can be done. Fortunately, none of your genes seem to be lost, so at least your entire genetic code is there, just all jumbled up. When did you notice that you were changing into one another?" "Well, I guess the first sign would be when I shot Mendou down in class last week. The only thing that happened then was Lum zapping me for trying to ask Chiiko out on a date, and Ran was pouting about the Science Fair. But nothing else that I can think of would cause this." "No, the incident would have occured sometime ago, at least a few weeks. You see, your genetic code was altered, but the protein sequences seemed unaffected, I was still able to find some normal proteins in each of you." Lum was intrigued, "Proteins, what has that got to do with it." Sakura explains, "Well your DNA is only a set of instructions on how to build an organic life form, like you. However, your body is made of proteins, the building blocks of life. Essentially, only your DNA seemed to be altered, but your proteins weren't. It would have taken some time for your body to replace the existing proteins with new proteins, created from your altered DNA, thus it would have been sometime before you actually changed." [7] Lum then remembers the beginning of the month, "Wait a minute, Ran's machine! When we were over at her place looking it over, it blew up. Darling and I were the only ones caught in the blast. Could that be it?" "When was this?" Ataru responds, "The 1st of this month. Almost 4 weeks ago." "That would be about the time frame I would guess, perhaps we should see Ran about this." Sakura then thinks about Ran's ship, "Tell me Lum, did you try an analysis of your situation on your ship?" "No? I never thought about it. Since I can't fly without my powers, I never thought about going up there. I guess I could get Darling to take me up." "You might want to do that. The scanners on your ship would probably give you a better idea of just how messed up your DNA is, it'll give you some idea of what to expect." "We'll do that after we visit Ran." < = = > At lunch, Ataru and Lum confront Ran about their situation. "My machine did that?!" Lum responds, "That's what we think, it must have happened when it blew up." Ran starts thinking about the odd effect her machine had, "Well, I'd have to study my machine, try to figure out what kind of radiation you guys might have been exposed to. Oyuki said that the radiation had wasted the film in her camera, so we might want to check everyone else who was there, to see if they experienced anything unusual." Ataru made a somewhat poorly thought out idea, "Why don't we try to recreate the explosion?" "You're not blowing up my invention!" "Darling, if we did that, our genes might end up more messed up than ever. Ran, we're going up to my ship later to see just how our genes have been affected. We should gather up everyone else, and Ran, go over your machine, try to find out what happened. We may just have to reconstruct the accident." "Right!" Over the rest of the day, Ataru, Lum and Ran went to the other students who were present at Ran's unveiling. All of them responded that they didn't notice anything wrong, save for Ataru and Lum's transformations. < = = > That afternoon, Ataru, Lum and Ten headed up to her ship and used the medical equipment to determine just how they changed. Their DNA was altered in just such a way that Ataru is an Oni and Lum is a human. Nothing else was altered. "Strange." Ataru comes up to Lum and asks, "What is it?" "Our DNA, it looks like only specific gene sequences were swapped, I doubt that this was by some accident." Ataru and Ten exchange glances, when Ten asks the full extent of the swap, "So only specific genes sequences were altered. Only the ones which determine what race you are." "That's right." "Just how were they altered?" "Actually swapped would appear to be a better term. What ever DNA Darling lost, I got it, and the DNA that I lost, Darling got. It's more like a trade rather than any kind of mutation. But I don't know of anything that could do this, so I suppose that Ran's machine was responsible." "But that was almost a month ago?" Ataru fields this question, "Sakura said that whatever happened to us, only affected our genes and not our bodies themselves. It would have taken time for our DNA to alter our bodies to match the new genetic code." "So only the genes regarding your race were altered, er- swapped. Nothing else, like your sex genes." "No, only the race genes were. So at least we don't have to worry about changing sexes." "Oh, that's good, Ataru would make a terrible girl." "You little brat." "Actually Ten, if our genes were swapped to that extent, then Darling would probably end up looking like me!" "And you'd end up looking like this idiot." Ataru gives Ten a nasty glare, "Would you stop calling me that." "Why, that's what you are. Besides, if it did happen, you probably wouldn't have to go chasing girls if you ever wanted a quick feel. Right?" "If Darling ever wanted a 'quick feel' he only has to come to me." "If we ever change back, I just might take you up on that offer." < = = > The next morning, Ataru confronted Shinobu at school. "Shinobu!" Shinobu turns around to see Ataru running up from behind her. "Ataru? What is it?" "Shinobu, I was wondering if you noticed anything unusual since Ran revealed her invention about 4 weeks ago?" "You mean aside from you turning into an Oni?" "Yeah, I mean anything happening to you directly." "No, not really. Wait a minute, Ran asked me the same thing yesterday." "Well, that's good. Tell me, seeing as you're still normal, wanna go out?" "WHAT?!" "What say I pick you up around 8?" "DARLING!" Ataru mutters to himself, "Oh, no-" "So flirting with other girls again. This time you'll get it!" Lum tries to zap him, but then realizes that she is without her powers. Ataru has also forgotten, and tries to dive out of the way, but ends up flying to the ceiling. "Oh, great. I forgot that I no longer have my lightning." "And I forgot I could fly." Ataru mumbled as he rubbed the bump on his head. "Wait a minute. Now that I have your powers, I no longer have to worry about anyone getting in the way of my girl hunts. You can't zap me, and I can fry anyone else who gets in my way." Ataru floated down towards Lum to gloat, "How do you like that, Lum? Face it, you lose." Lum was not taking this well, and so she grabbed Ataru and tried to wrestle him to the ground. But she soon found out it would not be as easy as it used to be. ZAP! Ataru stood up while Lum's charred body fell to the floor. The Stormtroopers came when they heard the electrocution, and their attention was immediately drawn to the blackened moaning figure on the ground. Angry, they jumped Ataru, and got a worse treatment than Lum did. Lum tried to get up, but wobbled a bit and had to grab the wall. When she finally got on her feet, Ran came up from behind and scared her. "HEY LUM!" "AAAAAGGHHH!" Lum fell back to the ground with a thump. "What is it Ran?" "I think I figured out how to recreate the explosion, I could try to use it to change you and Darling back." Ataru was being smirk, "And if we don't want to go back?" Shinobu didn't like that at all, so she grabbed him by the back of his shirt, and smashed him face first into a nearby locker. Ataru fell to the ground, unconscious. "Let's get this over with, the sooner the better." After going to Sakura with what they were planning on doing, she agreed to let them go for the day. Shinobu carried Ataru to Ran's ship behind her and Lum. Inside Ran's ship, Lum and Ataru were placed in front of the panel. Ran went to the controls, while Shinobu hid behind a lead shield with Rei. Ran started the machine set on automatic, that would cause the system to overload as it did 4 weeks ago tomorrow. With that done, Ran ducks behind the shield. After a few seconds, the warning buzzers on the machine go off, and soon after, the panel in front of Ataru and Lum blew out. The pair once again found themselves covered in soot. Shinobu gets up, "Ran, did it work?" "We'll have to wait and see." Ataru and Lum emerge from the cloud of smoke, Ran gives them some towels to wipe the soot off, but they didn't change back. Shinobu turns to Ran, "It didn't work, they're still transformed." "Silly human, it took them 4 weeks to become like this, it'll take another few weeks to change back. A DNA scan is the only way to tell if it did work or not." Ran then grabs a scanner from her tool box and brings it over towards Ataru and Lum. Waving it a few times, the display starts lighting up with various symbols and diagrams. Lum looks at Ran, "Did it work?" Ran puts a hand up to Lum, "Give it a minute- No. No, it didn't. You still have human DNA, and Ataru still has Oni DNA. You won't be changing back." "WHAT?! What do you mean it didn't work." "It's just what I said, your DNA is still swapped, look!" Ran hands Lum the scanner and sure enough, the readout reported that both Ataru and Lum still had hybrid human-Oni DNA. "No-" Ataru was in a little more pleasant mood than everyone else, "O.K. So it didn't work. I guess things will just have to stay this way from now on." Ataru then leapt into the air, and flew out the door. The others could only imagine what Ataru would do with Lum's powers. Part 4: Lum's Realization < = = > After their visit at Ran's, Ataru and Lum had returned home where they got cleaned up and changed into new uniforms. They then proceeded back to school for the second half of the day. "Hey, Junko." [8] Ataru floated up to another female classmate, where he proceeded to try and ask her for a date. Junko is not to interested in Ataru's advances, "What do you want Moroboshi?" "A date." "Why not ask Lum? I'm sure she'd go out with you." "Of course she would, but I can't stick with just one woman. I'm too much a man for that." "Yeah right. Go bother someone else." "So I take it that's an 'ask me later'?" "No, that's an 'ask me never'!" Junko that moves to slap Ataru across the face, but he slides out of the way. Junko then walks away as someone else comes up, "Darling!" "Oh, hello Lum, nice day?" "Darling, would you please stop going after other girls!" "Lum?" Ataru has an odd look of sincerity on his face, "You actually said to 'please' stop chasing other girls. That's the first time I recall you ever asking me to stop. Usually you just try to punish me for me 'betraying' you." Ataru quickly smirks, "Though I guess you can't do that anymore!" "Darling!" Lum then chases Ataru as he flies down the hall to find a new girl. Lum obviously can't keep up, so she stops, and starts crying. < = = > After school is out, Ataru is still hunting down other girls, while Lum sits down on a bench, trying to figure out what to do now. She can no longer force Ataru to change, she no longer has her powers. Getting the Stormtroopers to help won't work, because Ataru has her powers. While she sat there, a tear formed at her eye. "A handkerchief?" Lum looks up to see Mendou holding out a white handkerchief to her, "Thank you." She wipes away the tear. "Do you want to talk about it?" Lum stutters for a moment, "I don't know what to do, I just don't know what to do." "Moroboshi has certainly gone overboard this time." Ataru's voice can be heard in the distance, "Hey, how'd you like to go out with me tonight?" Mendou turns his attention back to Lum, "I don't see why you torture yourself with him, just dump him." "After all this time, I thought I could change him. I knew that his lecherous nature would get in the way, but I thought I could handle it. I knew that inside him, that he would be worth the trouble, but now, I have no way to remove the barriers in my path. My lightning was my best weapon, but now it's being used against me." In the distance, the sound of the Stormtroopers getting their gizzards fried is heard. "I just want this nightmare to end." "Why don't you abandon him, you have me, Shutaro Mendou, who is much more of a prize than him." Megane, who is rather fried, comes up. "What makes you think she should take you anyway." Kneeling in front of Lum, "Can't you see that I love you? This rich snob only wants you to be his love toy, something that he can own. Please, Lum, come with me, I will love you as you should be loved." "You dare insult me!" Mendou is about to draw his katana. "HOLD IT!" The two look down to the apple of their eye, "I appreciate the attention, and your love, but, I would rather be alone right now." Mendou then bows, "O.K., but if you need me-" "No, if you need me-" Mendou and Megane trade evil eyes as Lum intervenes, "I have your phone numbers, I'll call." The two break up, and head their separate ways. Lum sighs, and looks to the sky. {It's not fair, why should Darling be using my powers against me. It isn't fair that he's using them to go after other women.} {But, I love Darling, and he wasn't acting right.} {Then how was I supposed to love him?} {I don't understand.} Lum's eyes opened wide, the debate between the voices in her head was worrying her, that deep voice that was taunting her, scared her. But she knew that it was right. For the current situation to take place, she must have had some involvement with it. She needed to figure out how to change herself so that the events that occurred around her would change with her. {For the longest time, Darling desires women, but why doesn't he desire me? Why am I different than everyone else?} {I'm an alien? No, so is Ran.} {Good looks? No, I'm am pretty as everyone else, if not more so!} {I live with him? Possible, perhaps if I moved out, or made myself less accessible. He'd realize that he wanted me.} {Wait a minute, I've been forcing myself on him. I kept trying to make him do what I wanted to do, but since Darling was only interested in chasing girls, I definitely didn't want to do that. Maybe that's what I've been doing wrong, I've been forcing him. Everytime he looked at another girl, I zapped him, but in doing so, I made myself less desirable. Maybe if I made myself more desirable, he'd come to me. If I don't force him, he won't stay away from me. I'd also have to do things that he wanted, for instance, he's tried to kiss me before, but not in public. So don't force him to in public, wait until we're alone, and if he wants to, do it.} Lum was starting to realize, that her presence was as much to blame as Ataru. She could only hope, that Ataru would also change. Part 5: Ataru's Realization < = = > Ataru had flown up to the top of the clock tower and was surveying the grounds, looking for girls. Probing the groups, he found several possible "targets," There were a few girls hanging out by the front door, a few at the gate, Ran was walking home, there was Shinobu. He saw a pair of really cute girls walking down the street, {I might try them.} Ataru was about to fly over, but the two girls passed a bench, a bench on which a familiar figure sat. {So, Lum. I guess you're not liking this one bit. Serves you right, trying to "horn" in on my life. Well, I guess now you get to put up with a little bit of failure. Maybe I'll come back to you, when I get bored. After all, now I can hunt down any girl I want, I can have any girl that I want!} {What?} {But she wanted me.} {And I ignored her.} Ataru stares at Lum for a few minutes. {A moment ago, Mendou and Megane had approached her, and she then brushed them off. They were offering themselves to her, but she wanted me with her instead. That's all she's ever wanted. I wanted her there with me too, but I wanted more than that. Before I met her, Shinobu was my girlfriend, and she seemed to understand my desires.} Ataru was finding the voice in his head to be terribly annoying. {Why should I give in to her. Why should I give up that dream.} {In Elle, I saw a version of myself, a hideous creature who allowed lust to drive her. Someone who let her dream harem become a reality, and it scared me. At the DPMB, I saw myself. I was terrified. Why would Lum want to be with me anyway? If I was truly like that, what would someone see in me anyway? No wonder I have so much trouble with women, they can't stand me. All of them, save her-} Ataru thought mindless thoughts for a minute or two, and noticed Lum getting off the bench. He knew what he had to do. Lum was walking at a snail's pace, her briefcase held in front of her by her drooping arms. She was wondering what would happen next when she heard a voice, "Going my way?" Turning around, she saw a familiar face, "Darling." "Hi Lum, funny meeting you here." Lum gazed upon Ataru, his familiar face, with a rather childish smile, his shaggy brown hair, with the all-too-familiar horns growing out of it. "Yeah, nice to see you too." "I was wondering if you wanted to go out, I hear there's a new pizza place on the east side we could go to. Then maybe a movie?" "That sounds nice." "Shall I pick you up around 8?" "Eight? Sounds like a decent hour, do you know where I live?" "I think so, it's close to my place isn't it?" "Yes, I believe so." "Can I carry your books for you." Ataru sticks out his left arm to take Lum's case, but stops. "No, I have a better idea." Ataru hands Lum his case, and then picks her up. "Darling, what-?" "How about, you carry the books, and I carry you?" "O.K." Lum could feel the gain in altitude as Ataru lifts off the ground and heads in the general direction of home. On the ground, there are those who are not pleased. The Stormtroopers scream out to the flying couple, "Moroboshi you slime, what makes you think you can trample over Lum like that, and expect full forgiveness!" Ataru obviously has an arm free, as the four soon find themselves encompassed by a massive lightning bolt. Mendou is off to one side watching the events take place. He then looks up towards Ataru and Lum and whispers under his voice, "Lum, how can you let that slime Moroboshi tease you with this game of 'give and take' he toys you with. Why can you not leave him, and give him the lonely fate he deserves. I hope you will realize that only I can truly love you, before he eventually rips out your heart." Mendou could do nothing, as his "love" left his field of vision. Part 6: Oyuki Did It! < = = > That evening, Ataru and Lum went to "La Plaza Italiano" which opened up, a new Italian restaurant, which served everything from pizza to spaghetti and meatballs. They ordered a round 10' pizza with the works, then proceeded to a movie theater, nothing good was playing, so they went to the park for some star gazing. They arrived home around 10:00, where they land on the ledge outside Ataru's window. "That was a wonderful night, Darling." "I know." Ataru leaned over to kiss Lum, but he was disrupted. "Hey! It's about time you got home!" Lum looks over, "TEN!" Ataru sees Lum's little cousin floating around, and immediately pulls away from Lum. Ten looks at Ataru's unwillingness to continue. "Ahh, come on, I've got to learn this stuff eventually. Simply reading about it can only get me so far." Lum is about to try and get Ataru to kiss her anyway, but stops. "Ten, would you please leave me and Darling alone." "But Lum!" "No buts, now go away. I want to be alone with Darling, and I don't want you spying on us!" "Damn it!" Ten is about to argue with Lum, but shrugs it off and flies into the house, towards Ataru's closet. "Darling, Ten's gone. If you want to kiss me now?" Ataru is quite surprised that Lum had chased Ten away, normally she wouldn't mind Ten watching. Seeing Ten leave, he goes over to kiss Lum again. "AAAARRGGGHHHHH!" Before their lips could connect, they rush into the house to see what Ten was screaming about. They find the closet door open, and a large snowbank where Ten should've been. Atop the snow, was Oyuki. Lum runs over to Oyuki, "Oyuki what are you doing here?" "I came by to see you regarding your transformation." It is at this time that Lum notices that Oyuki has her camera with her. Meanwhile, Ten blasts his way out of the snow. "Look, if you want to take a picture of us like this-" "Oh, you obviously misunderstood. You see I came here to fix the problem." The other three are shocked, "WHAT?!" "You see, this is not a camera. It is a device I picked up while I was on a distant planet. It is used to treat genetic illnesses by scanning the DNA of a subject, and mutating it to correct any problems." Ataru came up to Oyuki, "You mean you used this to turn me into an Oni, and Lum into a human?" "Exactly. I figured that you two were having so many problems with each other, that maybe you needed to experience having the 'shoe on the other foot' for a while. I came to undo the damage." "I thought that the mutations done to me and Darling were too accurate to be an accident." "Yes, now please move together, so I can undo the gene swap." Ataru and Lum move together into a picture perfect pose, and Oyuki hits the button. The "camera" flashes. "There, all done." "That's it?" "Yep. In a few weeks your DNA should restore your bodies back to normal. So you'll have to live like this for a little while longer." "No problem." Oyuki bows to her friends, then heads back into the closet where she is warped back to Neptune. "Oh, Darling. Everything can get back to normal now." Lum then shuttered a bit when she realized what "normal" meant. "We still have to put with this for a little while, but I guess we can cope." Lum then decides to try and coax Ataru, but without forcing him, "Darling do you remember when I said that if you ever wanted a 'quick feel' that I was here?" "And I believe I said that I would probably take you up on the offer if we got changed back?" "Yes." "No." Lum shrugged in disappointment over Darling's unwillingness to go forward. "But I wouldn't mind if we-" Ataru leaned over to kiss Lum once again. Ten, sensing that this would be it, soon had a bucket of popcorn in front of him. Lum was about to accept Ataru's kiss, when she called out, "Ten, go away." "Hey, now wait a minute!" "I said 'go away'!" Ten reluctantly flies into the closet, as he could hear the passionate mumbling from outside. "Why can't they let me watch anyway?" < = V = > The next morning at school, Lum is telling everyone about how Oyuki caused the gene swap, and how she and Ataru would eventually change back. Mendou, as well as the Stormtroopers are most pleased to hear this. "Well, it wasn't all bad, Darling did take me out for a date last night." Mendou was a little upset at this news, "A date? And what did you do?" "Well, we went out to the new Italian restaurant that opened last month, then we went to see a movie. There was nothing good playing so we decided to go to the park to watch the stars instead. When we got home, Oyuki told us about how she was the one who transformed us, and she changed us back. With our genes restored, we celebrated." "Celebrated?" The Stormtroopers give a nasty glare towards Ataru, "What did you do exactly?" "Well, we kissed, and then I slept with Darling." The others were most stunned, "WHAT?!" Mendou and the Stormtroopers then jumped Ataru, "WE WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR DEFILING OUR PRECIOUS LUM-SAN!!!" But Ataru was not about to put up with them, and fried them on the way down. "Listen you guys, we didn't actually have sex." "Huh?" "Yeah, after we kissed, I merely snuggled up next to Darling, in his bed. We weren't naked or anything." "Oh-" "That's another thing, what reason do you have for trying to punish Darling because we had sex anyway?" Mendou muttered out, "Well, you're too young for that. You should wait until you absolutely sure that you're with someone who you really want to do it with." "But I was absolutely sure. I want Darling." The five on the floor didn't know how to answer to that. Lum then continued, "That is an unacceptable excuse. Darling?-" Ataru looks up to the Oni, "-Fry them for me." From all over town, the hideous screams of five boys getting the life zapped out of them can be heard. The End Endnotes 1 I don't know if they hold Science Fairs in Japan like they do in N.A. so I'm basing this on a North American science fair. 2 The 'PU-232 space modulator' (I believe that was what it was called) is a certain device that Marvin the Martian from the Bugs Bunny cartoons once tried to use to blow up the Earth. The rest of the scientific jargon there is made-up. 3 There are several characters for which I have not really seen in the anime yet. Some of them have yet to appear, or have only made brief cameos in the movies. Here are the characters for which I'm basing them on information I picked up from the internet or other sources, so if any of this is wrong, don't blame me. Asuka Mizunokouji Afraid of men! Her fear comes from her first encounter with boys, which included Ataru Moroboshi. Before that, she had been raised away from society, and had never seen a man before. There are a few men which she doesn't fear as much as the others, Tobimaro, her brother, Mendou, her fiancée, and even Ryuu, who isn't even a boy. But even though she doesn't fear them as much, she is still nervous around them. Another trait is her strength that would rival Shinobu, which is why so many men fear her. She'll pound the living daylights out of anyone who scares her, but she also ends up hurting those she cares about by not being able to control her strength. Finally, by being raised in seclusion, her ideas of male-female relationships leaves much to be desired. About all she knows is that men are supposed to fall in love with women and vice versa, and a limited amount of textbook knowledge about sex. But she really has no idea what is proper or taboo, she reportedly tried to bathe and sleep with her own brother. Because of this, she doesn't really know what to make of Mendou's obsession with other girls, whether it is normal, or if she should be trying to jump in to take all his attention. Inaba The only one of the characters whom I've seen for any significant period of time. Inaba works at the Destiny Production Management Bureau, and goes around in his work clothes, a rabbit costume. He met Shinobu in an alley where she helps him out, and then tries to repay her by offering her a date, but she isn't impressed. Tired of bad relationships with Ataru, Mendou and Soban, she pounded him into the stratosphere, thinking that he's no different than anybody else. Eventually, Inaba and Shinobu get to know one another and they start falling in love. Shinobu plans on going it slowly as she is scared that things just might go bad, while Inaba has no problems going as far as Shinobu is willing to. He is cute, as well he is very nice and caring. His only problem is that in his bunny costume, he is a little clumsy. Nagisa Shiowatari His and Ryuu's father had decided that their children were going to marry along time ago, but since Mr. Fujinami wanted a son and only got a daughter, he raised her as if she was a boy. Mr. Shiowatari had a son, but to match Ryuu, he was raised as a girl. Thus, Nagisa Shiowatari became the drag queen he is now. Nagisa and his father died from an unfortunate taste test, but Nagisa was brought back from the dead thanks to the tear of the Giant Sea Urchin. He loves Ryuunosuke, even though she would rather not have anything to do with him. Since being rescued, with no other place to go, he has come to Tomobiki where he now works in the Hama Tea Shop. Much to Ryuu's dismay, this set-up leads to numerous occasions where Nagisa tries to hit on Ryuu, and she hits back, in the 5-fingered fashion! Ryooko Mendou Shutaro's sadistic sister. She enjoys the pain of others and often provokes people into doing things that lead to disaster. Her favorite target is her overprotective brother. Often flirting with Ataru just to get Shutaro over the edge, she knows he would never let Ataru go that far. Although she is a sadistic little bitch, just like Ran, she has a cute side. Unlike Ran who seems more like a split-personality, Ryooko's good side is only a cover for her truly evil side. Though she is mean to most people, she is in love with Tobimaro Mizunokouji. This leads to an interesting square, Ryooko wants Tobimaro while his sister, Asuka wants her brother, Shutaro. Tobimaro Mizunokouji Asuka's brother and love object of Ryooko Mendou. He is about as close to an opposite of Shutaro Mendou as you could find, persona wise. He resembles an unkempt scruffy lad who looks like he's from the poorhouse, but inside, he is a truly noble man. Unlike Shutaro who looks like a prince but who really is a lust driven creature. He is the heir to the Mizunokouji Sports Empire which is about as big as the Mendou Conglomerate. Tobimaro is a big fan of baseball and when he says he eats, sleeps and breathes baseball, he means it. If he has any faults, it's that he's scared of women, it's not as bad as Asuka's fear as he lacks her super strength, but it has put a wall in Ryooko quest to make him hers. Actually, it is Ryooko's sadistic nature from which Tobimaro's fear emanates. He's on good terms with Shutaro, but they do have an overly competitive nature. 4 Chiiko is the name of one of Ataru's female classmates. I got the name from UYTV13B: "Full Course From Hell" 5 'Hadouken' or Fireball is the projectile maneuver in the video game series "Street Fighter (1, 2, Turbo, Super, Alpha, etc-)" used by Akuma, Dan, Ken, Ryu or Sakura. 6 Hakama is the japanese word for the priestess' uniform that Sakura wears. One inner robe on the inside, and one outer robe open on the bottom, to reveal the inner one. Sakura normally has a red inner robe and a white outer robe. 7 Simple biology. I don't know what would really happen under these circumstances, but it's a close guess. 8 Junko is the name of another of Ataru's classmates that I picked up from UYTV19A: "The Tearful Diary of Tomorrow" 9 DPMB - Destiny Production Management Bureau