A Quick Opening Note: So, I'm writing this one because, let's face it, there needs to be WAY more Russel love in this fandom, simply due to the fact that Russel is awesome. Because of that, here's a little story about Russel and Noodle's bond over the years. I was inspired through looking at and reading a few Russel stories that are around, and by Russel's all around coolness. B-)

Let's get on with it then! Enjoy!


The moment Russel saw that cute little face, he knew he'd never quite be the same. Before she even began to play her guitar, he was taken with the little 9-something Japanese girl. When she started to play, it quite simply blew his mind. One look at Murdoc's face after the young one played the most captivating guitar they'd ever heard told the drummer that this diminutive girl would be staying. 2D looked, stunned, at the master guitarist, mouth hanging open. Russel immediately grinned and turned to Murdoc.

"I guess our prayers have been answered, Mudz."

Murdoc could only nod, still shocked that this small guitarist, this large blessing, practically came to them on a silver platter. The men beamed at her, even Murdoc wore a soft smile. The girl sensed their approval and, raising her guitar above her head, excitedly proclaimed:

"NOODARU!"

"Noodaru? …Noodle?" Russel asked.

She nodded so fiercely that it looked like her head might fall off. 2D pointed a finger at her.

"Yew, yew're Noodle then?"

She nodded again, grinning up at them. 2D and Russel got down on their knees next to the girl, obviously captivated; they looked like they could hug the adorable little Noodle. Russel put a hand on his chest.

"I'm Russel."

"Roos.. Russ.. Russeru-san?" Noodle mirrored.

Russel chuckled and patted Noodle's head approvingly. It was close enough.

2D pointed to himself.

"And I'm 2D." He then pointed a long, bony finger over at Murdoc, who was sorting through the box Noodle had come in. "That's Murdoc."

"2D-san? Mur.. Murdokku-san?"

Even Murdoc couldn't resist feeling a little bit affectionate. He grinned at the group, huddled together.

"Ahh.. Aoi.." Noodle cooed as she touched 2D's hair.

She turned to Russel and stood on her tip-toes. She put her small hands on either side of his face and carefully pulled him down so he was at eye level with her. She inspected his eyes closely; she'd never seen anyone with purely white eyes before. To Russel, she seemed like a small angel, looking into his eyes as if she were scrutinizing his very soul. She looked over at 2D, she'd never seen anyone with purely black eyes either. Despite their solid colored eyes, the adoration in them was unmistakable.

Murdoc laughed.

"No use standin' around then. Let's get 'er settled in now, hm?"

"We could, but we should try to figure out where she came from first. What does it say on the box?" Russel asked.

"Not a lot." Murdoc shrugged. "But they sent our ad back to us, so this one must be ours. Isn' that right lil' love?"

Noodle knew the strange man with the mismatched eyes was asking her a question, but she didn't know how to respond. She just peered back up at him with a determined look on her face. She could tell the men were talking about her, and she hoped that it wasn't about sending her back. She had a home now, however large and messy it was, and people to take care of her. If that meant that she would have to play the greatest guitar ever heard every single day of her life, then by God she was going to do it. No one would take this away from her if Noodle had anything to say about it.

Russel could tell how badly Noodle wanted to stay, but he persisted.

"What about her parents? Don't we need to go through some sort of adoptive process? She can't be more than eleven or so.." Russel said, the confliction between his hopes to keep the girl and his logic apparent in his voice.

"I don' think anyone'll mind. Someone clearly sent 'er to us, right?"

Russel shook his head, but he looked at young Noodle. Maybe her parents didn't want her, he rationalized, and they couldn't just drop her at an orphanage.

"Well.. Ah, I can't say no." He finally admitted.

2D grinned widely and patted Noodle's head.

"I's set'led then, you're stayin' wif us, li'l gal."

The men unpacked the rest of the crate, finding a few belongings that had come with her. Noodle was practically bouncing off the walls trying to explore everything.

After running several laps around the room, Noodle came to a halt and settled in between Russel and 2D.

"Tomodachi!" She said happily.

No one understood what she said, but her tone sounded approving, so all took it as a sign that she was happy where she was.

The first order of business was finding a room. 2D took Noodle out to get some groceries, Murdoc found a room while Russel went out to purchase some decorations, and the bassist and drummer set everything up. They didn't have a lot of money, so Russel couldn't get Noodle everything he'd wanted to get her, but he was able to acquire the basics. He had managed to buy some bedding, clothes, Japanese-style lanterns, and even found some magazines in Japanese, though he had to wing it on the Japanese items and just pray that she was actually Japanese and not Chinese or Korean.

When they'd finished setting up her room, they realized just how spacious it was. The room was split in to two main parts, one of them, presumably, a walk-in closet. Russel made a note to install some screen doors so that it would be a proper closet.

Later, the group ate and then gathered in the living room. Once everything had been set up, Russel gave Noodle a piggyback ride to her room, 2D and Murdoc leading. Russel set the little lady down on the bed and took a step back, allowing her to get familiar with it. The men stood, smiling, even Murdoc looked pleased at his work.

Noodle put a hand on her chest, trying to ask if it was hers.

"Fer yew, li'l luv." 2D said with a grin.

Noodle jumped on the bed and explored everything. Russel thanked the gods that she seemed able to understand the Japanese magazines he'd bought.

Everyone settled in, Noodle sitting cross legged on her bed with her guitar, and all three men sitting cross-legged around her. She clearly loved her room, and rewarded the men with another masterful guitar performance. 2D recognized the song, and began to sing along, Russel drummed along on his legs, and Murdoc played his bass with them. They ended the song, Murdoc nodding his approval.

"That was great!" 2D beamed.

"We'll make it big in no time like this." Russel agreed.

Unexpected, a zombie stalked in. The beast reeked something awful and was large and intimidating, even frightening 2D, who loved zombies. Noodle and 2D immediately hid behind Russel and Murdoc.

"EEEEEEK!" Came a loud yell, though no one was sure whether it had come from Noodle or 2D.

"Damn zombies…" Murdoc growled as he pulled a gun from his pocket.

He shot the zombie quickly and went to drag the body away, leaving Russel and 2D to console the young Noodle. She clung to Russel as if her life depended on it, and refused to let go. 2D stroked the young one's hair and sung softly to her until finally her eyelids began to fall and her head began to nod. Russel slowly lowered her sleepy form to the bed and covered her up carefully. She was reminiscent of a delicate doll in a bed two times too big for her. Russel had only known her for a day, but he hoped that he would be there to watch her grow and mature.

"She's a precious one isn' she?" 2D asked. "Our Noodle."

"Yeah…" Russel trailed off as they quietly left the room. "Noodle. Our little Noodle."


It's a shorter chapter I know, but there is more to come! So I hope you've liked my little bit here so far, and hopefully will be nice enough to continue reading. Next chapter I can hopefully dive into the characters and their everyday mischeif a little bit more. Hoho!

Yeah, I'm not a Japanese whiz, and what I know of it is limited and broken, so if anyone has corrections, I'll take them.

Aoi = blue

Tomodachi = friend

Review if you wish, and please, stay beautiful. ;)