If they could take notice of her, many people in Tomobiki would look at Chigaiko Inu and declare her insane.
Personally, if she heard that, Chigaiko would gladly tell them all to go to Hell.
In the end, dear readers, can you blame her?
Forced to live under something -- a curse, a geas, she just had no idea whatsoever! -- which made almost everyone outside immediate family forget her name even when it is shouted ten times right into the listener's ear, Chigaiko pretty much had every right to be pissed off at the world. It was hard to stay friends with people who couldn't remember your name. Even the use of unofficial meishi -- the business cards that were one of the grease lubricants of Japan Inc. -- didn't help her.
Then you tack onto that the fact that the only man who DOES remember her name is also a man whom everyone in Tomobiki just LOVES to despise -- regardless if he deserved it or not; Chigaiko didn't care about that too much -- and the frustration grows. After all, what might actually happen if she did try to pursue Ataru? Everyone else would haze her to death just to "protect" her from him!
And to add insult to injury, the man she wanted was also the "husband" of an alien bitch who seemed most often the living personification of a woman scorned. And for what? Because Ataru had said "Now I can be married!" at the end of Tag Race One and Lum thought he was actually talking about her?! An Oni?! Well, what did one expect of one of THEIR kind, for heaven's sake?
What could Chigaiko do in the end after facing up to all THAT between Tag One and Tag Two?
Go out and proclaim that she loved Ataru? Yeah, right! Much that she did care for Ataru, she had seen what that Oni had done to that stuck-up bitch Miyaki. Did she want to experience the same, force her family through all that? Not likely! Not to mention have those four traitors to the human race calling themselves "Lum's Bodyguards" on her case? Or that rich snob Mendou? No way, jose! And what would happen to Ataru if she did try to go after him seriously. The equation would go something like this:
Ataru + Chigaiko - no way to stop Lum - no way to stop Mendou - no way to stop Bodyguards = Ataru gets a closed-casket funeral
So she had to keep it simple. Just live with his daily "Good morning, Chigaiko-chan!" and the nice smile he always gave her when he said that. Lum never bothered him about that, thank the gods. Still, she could dream...
But now...
Now...
Moreau's flu was hitting Tomobiki.
Chigaiko just caught it from Gioo Shigoozei.
Ataru was now separated almost all the time from Lum and her otaku.
Two years of emotional isolation and frustration were about to explode.
You can figure out the equation, can't you?
Lunchtime finally comes. Ataru grunts as he stretches himself, then sniffles before taking out a handkerchief and blowing his nose. Oh, shit, this was just great. Now he had this damned bug! Just his luck, which always seemed bad. Oh, well...
"Ne, Ataru-kun?"
He looks up, then smiles as Chigaiko gazes on him. Damn, why the hell didn't he take any time to notice her before now? "Hi, Chigaiko-chan! Looks like I got this bug now," he sniffs, then blows his nose again.
"Well, you're probably lucky you didn't catch it from Lum," Chigaiko's eyes swim over the lean, muscled form hidden under Ataru's button shirt. Yummy! And the growing bulge in his pants -- which he didn't seem to take notice off, but for someone like him, it was probably normal -- didn't escape her notice before. Mine, mine, mine, mine! she mentally screams, then slips out of her desk. "Ne, you want to go for a walk? Maybe the fresh air might clear your sinuses up," she offers him her hand.
He blinks, then rises, his hand sliding nicely into hers. "Sure. Didn't bring much to eat, anyway."
"Ikumashou (Shall we go)?"
They head out. The others barely notice their departure...
So now we...
(Posted Thu, 16 Jan 2003 05:34)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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