Lupin III Fan Fiction ❯ Yuma Avara: A Love Story ❯ Chapter 2: A Beautiful Friendship ( Chapter 2 )

Yuma's Entrance: Chapter 2

Story Line and "Yuma Avara" (c) Tiffany Swartz, All other characters (c) Monkey Punch

Yuma was surprised to see such elegance as she walked in the door of Lupin's penthouse. The closest she'd come to seeing anything like this were the scenes that she looked at in the thrown away catalogues at the post office. She found herself softly saying only one word: "Wow!"

She felt a pair of hands on her back. Shocked at first, she turned around, only to see that Lupin was merely taking her coat and putting it on the coat-rack. She looked at him with a dazzled, curious look. No man had ever treated her like a lady, much less, taken her jacket for her. She looked at his face, and he smiled kindly at her.

"Th-thank you!" she stammered, as he took off his own jacket and placed it next to hers.

"No problem," he said.

'I guess he really *is* a gentle-man thief,' she thought quietly.

Leaving her standing there in surprise, Lupin told her, "Wait just one minute," and walked into the kitchen. He came out again and asked, "How do you like your steak?"

"Steak?!" she asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes," he chuckled a little, "I thought that we might have steak for dinner."

"Well, um ..." Yuma was embarrassed. She wasn't used to fine things. "I don't know. I've never had steak before."

"Hmm," said Lupin, "Well, I guess we'll just make yours a medium, then." He smiled at her, "Come on, let's go into the kitchen, shall we?"

"Why?" she asked, immediately regretting what she had just said, "I mean ... I'm sorry." She blushed.

"Oh, there's no reason to be sorry," said Lupin, "I just figured you'd like to learn how to make it."

"Cool!" she said, "I've never really learned anything about cooking before, unless it's one of those instant dinners or something like that."

"Well, you're going to learn now," he grinned, "Now let's get going. One *does* have to be in the kitchen to cook steak, you know." He winked at her, and secretly, in hidden, sacred place in her heart, time seemed to stop, and though, mentally, she denied it, she knew that slowly, bit by
bit, Lupin's seemingly magic charms were working their way into her soul. However, the moment that tiny spark went off, just as quickly, it went out. She followed him into the kitchen.

As Lupin gave her instructions to cook steak, she seemed to secretly bask in the glow of his smile. 'God, damnit!' she thought to herself, 'Yuma, people don't fall in love that easily! This is not another one-night stand! You are having dinner with this man, and that is it!' Suddenly, a frown of  sorrow appeared on her face. She had nowhere to go, and even though this man was offering her dinner, when she came home, she would have to go back to the shelter. She got lucky this night. She would have a full stomach. That was a rare thing, indeed. But in the end, it would all be the same: she would have to leave. Silent tears started pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks.

"Yuma? What's wrong?" she heard a voice break into her thoughts, "Yuma!"

As she tried to speak, her voice started breaking as she said, "After this, I'm going to have to go back - to the shelter. I have no home to go back to ...." Her 'tough girl' facade fell from her demeanor and crumbled at her feet, and she started sobbing uncontrollably, "I'm- sorry I- stole your
wallet ... I didn't mean ..." When she could no longer speak, she looked down and put her face in her hands. Thinking that she would be alone in this, her shoulders started quivering as they hunched in, as if trying to  shield her from an up-coming onslaught. But none came. Instead, surprisingly, she felt a strong pair of arms wrap around her and hold her close as she wept, unable to speak.

"Yuma," he half-whispered, half-murmured, "It's okay. You don't have to go back if you don't want to. You can stay here, with me. You don't have to go back there." She locked her arms tightly around his lower torso, shivering. "It's okay," she heard him say again, "Shhhh."

Within a few minutes, her tears subsided, but still, she held onto him, as if she would fall and break, if she didn't. And he didn't let her go, either. He let her stay as long as she wanted. Somehow, he knew that she felt the most secure locked in his embrace. Her breathing steadied, but she still felt herself snuggled up to his chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if this were only a dream, and if she opened them, this would only be a dream, and would shatter before her very eyes. She loosened her grip and felt a hand run through her hair. Somehow, she knew that he wouldn't hurt her, nor would he expect anything more from her but the same decency that she gave her.

"Thank you," she murmured

"Don't," he said softly, "You don't have to be thankful for anything. Just don't go back out there. You never know what kinds of nasty people you might find out there, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"What about my bike?" she asked, suddenly worried, "It's all I've got!"

"I saw it when we went out," he chuckled softly, "Don't worry. I've told Jigen and Fujiko to go out and get it."

"Who's going to be riding it?" she asked curiously, "I wasn't aware that either of them knew how."

"Both can, but Fujiko's going to be taking it back," he said, then grinned, "Now come on. We're going to teach you how to make broiled steak, pan-broiled to be exact. It's much easier that oven-broiled." A smile crossed her face and red-rimmed eyes. His eyes smiled back at her, and
she could tell that this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.