Comments and C&C welcome.  Previous parts available at:

http://members.linkonline.net/rlyudmirsky/uy/uy_chapters.html

Thanks!



Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year:  "Alternate Lum-san III:  
Repercussions" Part 3
by Sean Gaffney
gaffney@iconn.net
**** **** ****
Edited by James Bateman, Robert Geiger, Philip Gavigan, Fred Herriot, 
E.B. Kushnir, and Helen Szeto
**** **** ****
A side story based on the fan fiction stories in turn based on "Urusei 
Yatsura", created by Rumiko Takahashi
**** **** ****

IN THE SECOND PART OF "ALTERNATE LUM-SAN III:  REPERCUSSIONS", Sean 
realises that it's been so long since he worked on this that Mike and 
Fred have abandoned the 'quick update between parts' format, but goes 
along with it anyway for appearances' sake.

**** **** ****

In any case...ON WITH THE SHOW!!!

**** **** ****

	Ataru unlocked the door of his home for the first time in three 
weeks.  He had always considered it to be a nice, modest Japanese home, 
suited to his new life.  Now it seemed too small.  He had grown a lot 
lately, however reluctantly.  He hoped that the person he was becoming 
was not totally irreconcilable with the person he had been.

	Benten and Lum followed him in.  Neither of them had spoken on the 
flight back.  In fact, Lum hadn't spoken until she'd been delivered into 
his custody.  He had tried on occasion to initiate a conversation with 
her, but she just looked down.  This bothered him much more than he 
would have thought possible.  The idea of Lum having to avoid his gaze 
left him cold inside.

	Benten wasn't much better.  He had caught up with her after she 
fled from Nassur, only to find her collapsed in a corridor, shaking 
uncontrollably.  It was mostly shock, but she wouldn't stop until they'd 
left Holland, and even now she occasionally twitched spasmodically.

	He didn't want things to be like this.  He didn't want to go back 
to his normal, safe routine with Benten and Sakura, but life seemed to 
be forcing him toward new directions in which he still felt 
uncomfortable.

	He stepped inside, and turned to the others.  "Benten, you can 
keep your old room.  Lum, I think we'll put you in my parents' old 
room."

	Lum finally spoke up.  "I couldn't possibly do that.  It would 
desecrate their memory."

	Ataru was beginning to get a little irritated with this Lum.  
"They won't mind.  Trust me.  In any case, the only other room is mine.  
It's not a very big house."

	Lum looked around, but still avoided Ataru's eyes.  "I could sleep 
on the floor in here."

	Ataru had had it.  "NO!!!!  Dammit, Lum, just because the World 
Court decided you were my slave doesn't mean that you have to behave 
like one!"

	This time, it was Benten who reacted.  "Why not?  You had me 
acting like a slave."

	Ataru flinched, then turned away from both of them.  "I...I 
haven't been myself lately.  I'm still not feeling completely all right.  
There are certain things...that I'll regret from this past year.  I may 
never be able to look at Sakura again.  And...I was far too harsh on 
you, Benten."

	He was interrupted.  "No, you weren't.  At the time, it was 
exactly what I needed.  I saw it as my punishment.  If you had treated 
me as just another person, I don't know what I would have thought.  I 
needed to get rid of my guilt."  She turned and looked at her friend.  
"So does Lum."

	"Then she's going to have to do it some other way," Ataru said 
testily.  "Lum, you may have to behave as my slave outside the house, 
but in here you will be treated as my guest, just as Benten will.  I'm 
not your father-confessor, and I'm not here to give you penance for your 
sins!"  He was shouting  by the end of his speech.

	Lum spoke up.  "I understand.  Should I go put my things in your 
parents' room now?"

	Ataru sighed.  He felt the edges of a lurking headache.  "Please.  
Then perhaps you and Benten can have a talk, try to work some things 
out.  I'm going out."

	Lum nodded and went upstairs.  Benten, even though she was no 
longer his slave, still considered herself Ataru's protector, so she 
protested.  "It's still not safe for you to just wander the streets, 
dammit!  What if you have another memory lapse?"

	Ataru sighed again.  "I'm not going to wander the streets, I'm 
just going over to Tanoshii's temple.  You two aren't the only ones 
who've suffered crises of faith lately.  I need to talk to someone about 
this."

	Benten backed down, but still felt a need to say something.  "Be 
careful.  I may not be your slave, and you may not think much of me 
anymore, but I still care about you.  Don't do anything stupid."

	Ataru smiled weakly.  "Being in the same room as Megane might be 
classified as stupid anyway, but I'll try."

	And with that, he left the house.  Benten sighed.  She had to get 
used to this new Ataru.  He wasn't like his trans-dimensional 
counterpart, but at least he seemed to be living his life again.  She 
looked up the stairs where her oldest friend had gone.  *Lum,* she 
thought, *you'd better snap out of your stupor soon.  Because he's going 
to need you much more than he thinks.  And I don't think I could stand 
to see him the way he used to be anymore.*

*    *    *

	Ataru wandered down the street towards Tanoshii's shrine.  The 
original had been destroyed in the aftermath of the war, but she had 
built another one, closer to Tomobiki, to continue following her path 
and help Megane feel at home.

	Ataru was *not* looking forward to dealing with Megane again.  His 
persistent insane grudge against Ataru, claiming that he should have won 
the tag race and...

	Suddenly Ataru stopped dead in his tracks.  Winning the tag race.  
Lum staying on Earth, no war.  The other Ataru.  So this was what he had 
been up to the last time he'd appeared!  Ataru stepped up his pace 
towards the shrine.  Perhaps this meeting wouldn't be as awkward as he 
thought.

*    *    *

	Tanoshii cleaned up after supper, leaving Megane to wander around.  
He soon settled in front of the television, staring at the blank screen.  
She sighed as she went into the kitchen to wash dishes.  There were 
times when taking care of her wayward charge was almost too much of a 
burden to bear.  But those times were balanced by his saner moments, 
when she almost could believe they were boyfriend and girlfriend, rather 
than that she was his keeper.

	She never would have thought she'd ever fall in love, considering 
her upbringing, and she certainly wouldn't have picked Aisuru.  Their 
first meeting was not a moment that could remotely be called romantic...

*    *    *

	One year ago...

	Tanoshii looked through the wreckage once more, finding it 
difficult to believe that this had once been Tomobiki High School.  They 
had brought her in as sort of a spiritual guard.  The major religious 
forces of Tomobiki had staged a war here against the *saikoo 
jinseijitsu*, and though they came out victorious, the price was much 
too high.  Ashin Budou was dead and his father injured.  Sakura had 
fared the worst, as the ninja database had crudely lobotomised her.  She 
was being cared for by the Moroboshi family doctors, but there didn't 
seem to be much hope.  Cherry had lapsed into a fugue state upon 
learning of his niece's condition, and refused to  respond to anybody.

	Therefore, it fell to her to protect the workers involved in the 
cleanup from the considerable psychic backlash that still pervaded the 
area.  Her mental and spiritual resources were almost exhausted, and she 
knew that they would have to call a halt soon, not for their sake, but  
for her own.

	She heard a cry of anger coming from the workmen, and raced to 
that area, trying to see if they'd found another of the invaders that 
had been hiding.  Earlier, they had uncovered Ran, who'd given them 
quite a struggle before she'd been subdued.  Tanoshii had no sympathies 
for *that* one.  She could be taken off and shot and most people would 
cheer.

	The area of dissension appeared to be in the collapsed basement, 
where Lum had kept her political prisoners.  She was angered to see that 
one of the workers already had a gun out.  Were these people insane?  
She had enough trouble keeping the spiritual world calm without a show 
of violence.

	She stopped them, and tried to grab the gun from the enraged man.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked.

	The man responded by pointing to a room in the wreckage.  
Amazingly, it seemed to be mostly intact, with only a few cave-ins and 
collapsed areas.  There was a shape huddled in the far corner, though 
Tanoshii couldn't make out who it was.  She rounded on the men once 
again.  "You mean to say that you've been arguing while someone who 
could still be saved lies there and waits for help?"  She could not 
believe the callousness of what she saw before her.

	The man was unrepentant.  "Why would we want to save *him*?  
Without him, none of this would ever have happened.  I'm just 
administering a mercy killing."

	She finally succeeded in grabbing the gun.  "Go home.  Now.  
You're too tired to work anymore.  Furthermore, I don't think you need 
bother coming back tomorrow."

	The man glared at her, then gave a disgusted snort and walked off.  
The other men seemed just as angry, although more in control of 
themselves.  She turned to them.  "The rest of you might as well go home 
too.  I was about to call things off for the night anyway, and we're all 
too angry now to accomplish anything without insulting the spirits.  
I'll take this man to a hospital."

	She was astonished at the reaction.  They grabbed her arms and 
started to drag her away.  "No, miss.  That is Aisuru Megane in there, 
and I don't care what you think, he is insane.  I'm not going to let you 
in there."

	She stared back at the ruins in shock.  Well, that explained their 
anger.  However, she was going to help the man, regardless of his past 
history.  "Very well, you can come with me, and subdue him if he tries 
to attack me.  But I am going to get him out of there and get him some 
proper medical care."

	"But miss..."

	"I don't want to hear any arguing!"  And with that, she stomped 
back to the wreckage, leaving him to follow her.

	As she approached the shape in the corner, her doubts rose to the 
surface.   Megane's mental state was well known; the Urusians frequently 
brought him out for their political broadcasts, as an example to the 
rest.  She shuddered at the thought of attacking her.  Nevertheless,  
she had promised herself.  Moreover, there was something in his story 
that reached out to her heart.  Perhaps, with her spiritual energy, she 
might be able to begin a healing process.

	She went over and tried to get his attention.  The light shone 
dimly in the room, and she could barely see him.  "Can you here me?  
It's over.  You're safe now.  We're here to get you some help."

	She almost jumped back as the body turned over, and she saw 
Megane's face.  It was as bad as she had feared.  There was a large OUT 
OF ORDER stamped on his head, and his eyes were wild.  He didn't appear 
to be looking at her at all.  She tried again.  "Megane?  Aisuru?  My 
name's Tanoshii, and I'm going to try and get you some help.  You won't 
have to live like this anymore, I promise."

	His eyes swivelled towards her, and for a moment they came into 
focus.  She could see intelligence shining in them, along with something 
else.  A longing for something.  He attempted to speak, and she leaned 
closer to try and hear him.  What he said stunned her.

	"Venus."

	He was looking directly at her as he said this, and there didn't 
appear to be any insanity in his voice at all.  She almost fainted.  
Venus?  HER?!  Admittedly, men had been attracted to her, but very few 
of them saw beyond her breasts.  She had grown up in an abusive home and 
had very little experience with any affection.  Most men usually gave up 
on her after a few tries, considering her too aloof.  But Megane's words 
entered her heart in a way that no one else's had.

	"Miss?  Are you all right?"  The man behind her tapped her on the 
shoulder to get her attention.

	She shook herself and stared at Megane again.  His eyes glazed 
over and he looked as insane as ever.  Had she imagined it all?  She 
held out her hand to him.  "Come on.  Time to get you out of here."

	He looked up, and once again focused on her.  No, she hadn't 
imagined it.  Smiling, she drew him out of the cell's darkness and into 
the light...

*    *    *

	That had been the start of a very rocky road.  It turned out that 
Aisuru's sickness had advanced even further, and he began to rant about 
Ataru Moroboshi winning the tag race and coming back in time to ruin his 
life.  He had shown remarkable progress, but he continued to cling to 
these fantasies.  Until he was able to admit the truth to himself, he 
would never fully recover.

	The doorbell rang, and Tanoshii went over to answer it.  She got a 
lot of visitors these days, mostly people who were still harbouring 
grudges from the war.  It wasn't easy living in Tomobiki lately, 
especially since the UN had decided that all the expatriate aliens would 
live here.  Indeed, the other large group of visitors she received were 
aliens who'd decided to convert, and wanted to get in touch with their 
spiritual selves.

	It was rough, especially with so many of Tomobiki's spiritual 
leaders dead or gone.  But about two weeks ago Ataru had succeeded in 
healing Sakura, though Tanoshii wasn't too sure of the exact details.  
Sakura, along with her new boyfriend, had set about rebuilding her 
temple.  Hopefully that would take some of the burden off of Tanoshii 
herself.  Perhaps Budou-sensei and Cherry would return from their 
sabbaticals, and things could get back to normal.  She had tried to 
instruct Aisuru in the Shinto arts, but did not yet trust him enough to 
let him help.

	Opening the door, she was surprised to see Ataru Moroboshi there.  
She hadn't seen Ataru for a few weeks, just before he had revived Lum 
and Shinobu and gone off to the World Court for Lum's trial.  The 
rumours were definitely strange, talking about Ataru turning into a 
Guyver and killing several Niphentaxians.  She wondered if she could get 
the full story from him.

	"Hi, Tan-chan.  I was just in the neighbourhood, and I thought I'd 
drop in..."

	She wasn't buying that.  "Translation:  you need to work out 
what's been happening to you lately, and don't feel comfortable going to 
Sakura."

	He grinned weakly.  "Yeah, I suppose."  He walked into the living 
room.  Megane didn't seem to be around.  That might make things easier.  
"I've got a lot on my mind, and it might help to tell you about some of 
it."

	She sat down on the couch and invited Ataru to sit next to her.  
"So tell me.  What's up?"

	Over the next half hour, he detailed exactly what had happened to 
him lately, and how he was unsure of the direction his life should take.  
When he finished, he felt much better, but he noticed that Tanoshii was 
shaking slightly.  "Tan-chan?  What's the matter?"

	She sat staring into the middle distance.  "It was true?  The 
story about Ataru winning the tag race?"

	"Apparently," Ataru said.  "He used a spacialiser to go back in 
time and change things.  That's how he ended up in our dimension."

	"Oh, gods," she whispered.  "He..."

	"So, I wasn't imagining things."

	Aisuru Megane stood in the doorway.  Unkempt and ragged, he 
nevertheless had a look in his eyes that would shock those who knew him.  
It was completely focused, with not a trace of the madness left.  "You 
did go back in time to make me run the tag race."

	Even though Ataru knew and sympathised with Megane's condition, he 
still got annoyed with him very easily.  "*I* didn't do anything.  An 
Ataru might have made this universe possible, but I personally was not 
responsible for it, nor do I accept it.  Find another scapegoat."

	Megane looked down at him for a few moments, and then nodded.  He 
then turned to Tanoshii, who was looking at him almost fearfully.  "Tan-
chan..."

	"Oh, gods, Aisuru-chan, I'm sorry."  She almost threw herself in 
his arms.

	He raised her head to look at him.  "Don't be.  No one should have 
believed me.  It was an insane story."

	"But I..."

	He cut her off again.  "I just feel better knowing that I was 
right."

	Ataru watched this exchange closely, half relieved that Megane 
seemed to be better at last, and half annoyed that he wasn't going to be 
getting any spiritual guidance here.  "I suppose I should be going..." 
he began.

	Tanoshii turned sharply, having forgotten Ataru was even in the 
room.  "Oh, Ataru-chan, I'm sorry.  I guess I haven't been much help to 
you."

	He smiled.  "It's all right.  I came here as much to fill you in 
on events as to look for advice.  And I do feel better."  Getting up, he 
turned to Megane.  "I'm glad you feel better as well."

	This earned a cursory nod.  "Thank you, Ataru."

	They still weren't going to be friends, Ataru thought.  Perhaps it 
was for the best.  "Thank you, Ataru-chan."  Tanoshii said, still in 
Megane's arms.

	He smiled, and left the shrine.

*    *    *

	Benten peeked inside Lum's new room, and found her lying on the 
bed staring up at the ceiling.  Her face had no expression.  Benten had 
no idea how to go about doing this.  The decision that she, Ran and 
Oyuki had made seemed like a good idea at the time, but they should have 
known that it would backfire.  But dammit, Lum was too caring to make 
those kinds of decisions!  She couldn't possibly have decided people's 
fates like that.  It was up to the other three to try to keep Lum safe.

	Benten entered the room.  She had to know how Lum felt, whether 
she hated Benten now.  Benten had lost so many friends over the past two 
years.  Lum in a coma, Ran in prison, Oyuki dead, Nassur ignoring them.  
Now that Lum was back, Benten wanted things to be the way they were.  
She wanted to be Lum's best friend.

	There was no way she would ever be ready to do this, so she just 
decided to get it over with.  "Lum, can we talk?"

	For a few moments there was no reaction.  Then Lum slowly turned 
to stare at Benten.  Benten felt her throat tighten, and almost ran out 
of there.  She was expecting anger, or betrayal, or sadness.  But Lum 
had none of that in her face.  She looked at Benten as if she might look 
at a complete stranger.  When Lum spoke, her voice was just as 
expressionless.  "Yes, Benten?"

	*I will not look away,* Benten thought.  *I will look into her 
eyes and apologise.  She deserves that much.*  "Lum, I wanted to 
apologise.  I know that it sounds so small considering what we did, 
but...Lum, please understand what we were doing!  You didn't know 
anything about war!"

	Lum spoke.  It was in the same nondescript voice.  "We weren't 
supposed to be fighting a war."

	"Oh, c'mon, Lum!"  Benten felt herself getting annoyed, despite 
herself.  "Did you really expect that we were going to come in here, 
announce that we were taking over the planet, and expect Earth to accept 
it?  Geez, Uru has been watching Earth's history for hundreds of years!  
It was Earth's revolution that sparked your own!  Hell, if you could 
have asked Syl Aruka, she would have told you the same thing!  Earth 
would never have let us stay peaceably."

	Benten's anger had the effect of making Lum sit up.  There was a 
hint of irritation in her voice.  "Then why did we go?  Why did we have 
to do this?"

	Benten shrugged.  "The Ipraedies were gonna do it if you didn't.  
Lum, there was no way you could have gotten out of this one.  That's not 
true, there was.  Earth could have won the tag race.  But they didn't.  
I mean, we've heard what happened if Earth won.  The other Ataru told 
us."

	Lum laughed, though there was no happiness behind it.  "Yes, he 
did...it was a beautiful world."

	"Was it?  I dunno...Ataru talked about suffering through three 
years of everyone treating him like shit.  You may have been happy, but 
he wasn't."

	"Oh, and this world was so much better?"  Now Lum was beginning to 
look angry.

	"Look, we can't keep going on about other worlds!  They aren't 
ours, Lum.  This one is.  So we gotta figure out what to do about this 
one."

	That seemed to end conversation for a few minutes.  Then Lum spoke 
up again.  "You want us to be friends again, don't you?"

	Benten was surprised at the vehemence of her answer.  "Yes.  
Please."

	"How can you possibly ask that of me?!"  Lum rose to her feet, 
fire in her eyes.  "You conspired against me!  Ran and Oyuki were 
*killing* people, good intelligent people, and you let it happen!  I 
don't care what honourable reasons you may think you had.  I can never 
trust you again!"

	Benten looked down.  She swore she was going to look Lum in the 
eye, but it was finally too much.  "I know.  I have no right to ask you 
at all."

	"Then why are you?"  Lum sounded livid now.  If nothing else, 
Benten had gotten her out of her depressed funk.

	"I..." Benten felt her voice catch, and paused before she 
continued.  "I have no one else.  I thought I had something with Ataru, 
but...he loves you.  I always knew that.  Even if Nassur did recognise 
me, he still loathes me.  Everyone else on Earth despises me, and I 
can't go back to Fukunokami because of my carrying Kokeru-chan to term.  
I...I have nothing, Lum.  If you reject me, I don't know what I can do."

	Lum flopped back on the bed, clutching her head in annoyance.  
"Don't do this to me."

	"It's the truth!" Benten screamed.

	"I don't care!" Lum shouted right back at her.  "Do you know what 
it sounds like to me?  It sounds like blackmail!  You're saying I have 
to be your friend or else you'll kill yourself!  How can you do that to 
me?"

	Benten grabbed Lum, yanking her up on her feet again.  "That's 
NOT...!!!!"

	Then she stopped.  For a moment the two of them just stood there, 
unmoving.  Then Benten spoke up again.  Her voice was almost a whisper.  
"That is what I'm doing, isn't it?  Blackmailing you with my life.  
Bensaiten's Grave, what kind of person am I?"

	She let go of Lum, and turned to leave the room.  Lum's hand 
stopped her, though, and she hesitated.  "Benten, stop.  Stop torturing 
yourself.  Stop trying to get me to be your friend...just stop.  All 
that is in the past.  Everything we did, our friendship...all of it is 
gone now, and there is no way we can get it back.  You told me we had to 
figure out what to do about this world now.  You need to do that 
yourself, just like I do.  Find out where to take your life now.  With 
Nassur, maybe with Shinobu.  Maybe you can strike out on your own."

	She then, deliberately, let go of Benten and stepped away.  "But 
you can't go back.  I'm sorry."

	Benten stared at Lum.  She understood the hidden meaning behind 
those words.  "All right.  Lum...I loved being your friend.  I loved 
you, in a way.  I hope that whatever you and Ataru decide to do, it 
makes you happy.  You deserve that much."

	Lum smiled.  It was the first time Benten had seen her smile in 
over a year.  "You too, Benten.  Find happiness.  With Nassur, or not, 
but find it."

	Benten found herself smiling, even while tears streamed down her 
cheeks.  "Thank you."  And with that, she stepped through the door, and 
said goodbye to her best friend...

*    *    *

	Ataru had almost finished his stroll through the neighbourhood.  
He felt calmer than he had in a while, so there was probably little 
chance of another memory blackout.

	After leaving Tanoshii's temple, he decided that if he had the 
courage to face Megane then he would be able to face Sakura as well.  
His visit there had been a bit more mixed.  Sakura didn't seem to be 
angry with him, despite the way he'd treated her lobotomised body.  
Luckily her new boyfriend (who was also her old boyfriend, and whose 
life story made Ataru's head hurt), Koosei Ryooki, had been there to 
keep things from getting out of hand.  Ataru had apologised, Sakura had 
accepted it, but it was pretty clear that they wouldn't be seeing much 
of each other anymore.

	After that, he'd visited a few of the survivors of the TUF and 
told them what the new circumstances around his home were.  Most hadn't 
been all that happy to see him.  Ataru was still considered a danger to 
himself and others, and that probably wouldn't change until he left 
Tomobiki.

	It was becoming clearer to him that he was going to have to leave 
soon.  For a year, he had stayed here and hidden away from life, hoping 
that if he pretended everything was fine it would get better.  Well, it 
wasn't.  Despite his hatred of what the other universe's Ataru had done 
to his life, he had to admit that he got it right in one respect.  As 
Ataru was now, he could no longer live in Tomobiki.

	While these thoughts continued to course through his head, he 
began to make his way home.  On the way back he saw a construction crew 
hard at work renovating one of the neighbourhoods in Tomobiki that had 
been destroyed.  Ataru tried to remember if it was the Urusians or the 
*saikoo jinseijitsu* that caused this particular area's destruction.  He 
found that he couldn't.  All of the devastation that the district had 
endured had blended together in his head.

	He did, however, recognise the person who seemed to be guiding the 
crew.  Grinning, he jogged over to say hi.  "Reigi, what's up?"

	Reigi Yumoa turned to look at Ataru, and a grin split his face.  
"Hey, Ataru, how are you?  I heard that you finally decided to wake up 
out of your funk."  The warmth in his eyes was a pleasure to see.  Ataru 
missed Reigi, who had been one of his true friends growing up, until his 
mother had cut off all contact.  They'd talked a bit since the end of 
the war, but Ataru was too brain-fried to say much.  Now maybe they 
could rediscover that friendship.

	"Reigi, you don't know the half of it."  Ataru grinned, feeling 
his spirits lifting.  "Listen, there's something I wanted to talk to you 
about.  I'm thinking of moving out of Tomobiki.  Is there any way you 
could find me a place?"

	Reigi frowned, his jovial grin disappearing.  "Hmm."  He 
considered for a second.  "Ataru, I don't know if they'd let you move.  
You may be the 'hero of Earth', but you still have Lum as your slave."

	Ataru's eyes narrowed.  "In name only."

	This didn't seem to phase Reigi.  "Not to the United Nations.  
They want Lum to stay put.  Your moving would mean a whole lot of new 
effort expended to keep an eye on her.  Unless you go off-planet, I 
can't see them allowing it.  And if you do try to go off-planet, they 
might stop you anyway.  You're their weapon against other races."

	"If my 'weapon' ever got out again, it would be Earth that would 
be devastated!  Don't they understand that yet?"

	Reigi shrugged.  "It doesn't matter to them.  The *saikoo 
jinseijitsu* is a deterrent.  It prevents races like the Lannarkites or 
the Seifusuku from waltzing in here while we're still rebuilding.  They 
won't give it up without a fight."

	Ataru sighed.  He supposed that he knew this, he just didn't want 
to admit it.  "Well, do me a favour.  Set up a meeting with my 
grandmother and we'll see what we can do."

	"Ataru...if you go anywhere outside Tomobiki, Lum has to come with 
you.  I don't have to tell you what will happen if Lum and your 
grandmother meet."

	"I know, but she's going to have to accept it."  He sighed.  
"Reigi, Lum and I are bonded in some way.  It's a way that neither she 
nor I can explain.  Until we can, I don't want to risk anything.  What 
if she dies for real?  That could be exactly the sort of thing that 
would set the thing in my head free again.  Even Grandma has to 
understand that."

	They stood there for a few seconds, then Reigi nodded.  "I'll see 
what I can do."

	Ataru grinned.  "Thanks, Reigi."  He looked around.  "What's 
happening here, anyway?  I thought this was an area that was going to be 
left alone in order to 'remember what once was,'" Ataru almost spat out 
the words.

	"Actually, we were.  But recently some girl's been channelling 
money into the rebuilding effort.  Mostly the theatre district, but 
she's coming here to meet with me today, and I'm hoping we can use some 
of her family fortune for more prosaic matters, such as shelters."

	"Family money?  Wait a minute..." Ataru began.

	Reigi smiled.  "Thought you'd pick up on it.  It's Shutaro 
Mendou's sister, though from what I've heard she's not as arrogant as 
her brother was."

	"Excuse me, is Yumoa-san here?"

	Ataru turned, and found himself facing a rather attractive young 
woman in a kimono, looking a year or two younger than he.  He could 
definitely see the resemblance to Shutaro in her face, but her eyes held 
laughter instead of anger, making her more appealing.  She turned 
towards them...

	Ataru suddenly jumped, as the sound of violins came up seemingly 
from nowhere.  Turning to Reigi, he noticed that bluebirds seemed to be 
circling his face, and he had turned a red Ataru didn't think possible.  
"Um...I'm...that, is, I...uh..."

	Deciding to make the introductions himself, Ataru turned to 
Ryouko.  "This is Reigi Yumoa, Mendou-san."  After a few moments he 
blinked and waved a hand in front of her face.  She didn't appear to be 
breathing.  "Mendou-san?"

	Finally she breathed in, and her face turned an identical shade of 
red to Reigi's.  "Yumoa-sama...um, san...I'm very pleased to finally 
meet you."

	Ataru had to push Reigi towards her.  "Likewise."

	Realising that his presence was unnecessary, Ataru made his way 
off the lot.  Reigi and Ryouko had started to shake hands, but for some 
reason hadn't let go, and now seemed content to simply stare at each 
other for the next week or two.

	To his surprise, Nassur was waiting for him back on the street.  
"What's with those two?" he asked.

	Ataru sighed, looking back.  "Just the author indulging in an in-
joke."  He turned towards the bounty hunter.  "What's up?"

	Nassur frowned.  "We just heard from the Zephyrites.  They don't 
accept the World Court's verdict.  They're sending a delegation here to 
plead for Lum's execution."

*    *    *

To be continued...