My second FLCL fic. I'm glad I can be back. Now, be warned, this takes place after my first fic, which I deleted, so I shall tell you where we are. Either way, I love this concept, and I hope you guys will too, and tell me if you like it or not. Oh yea, I don't own FLCL, no matter how much I wish that I did. I do own my OCs though, and I'll stand by that, pretty solidly. Well, shall we get going, my duckies?

Traverse

"I hate you so much, Shiki…" called a draggy, depressed tone from across the table.

This was Naota Nandaba, and yes, he was now 22, and lived just across the way from the bakery now, which is beyond him how that happened. I'll explain something though. About a year or two after he met Haruko, a red-afro boy with orange double bangs appeared, and lived with him, and Haruko came back, along with the boy's mentor, Hini. Amarao, as usual, freaked about Atomsk being back, but also about Atomsk fighting Archanis, the force that took the strange boy. After Archanis and Atomsk took their fight to the stars it was all over, that quickly. Haruko also left that quickly, too, and Hini was forced away by her curse. A little after that, Shiki and Ninamori broke up, with their relationship in flames. Sadly enough she left too. Shiki was going to leave, too, but really didn't want to have the guilt of leaving Naota all alone. He gave him a home after all, plus, after all the misadventures, he felt like a brother. So for 7 or 8 years, they lived in Mabase, and went on with their humble livings.

The red head, Shiki called across to Naota "Yea, well… I'm all you got. Me and your dad. Speaking of which, we have to make a little bit of money."

"Your guitar tuned then…?" Naota's voice cracked a little, as he said this.

"You mean my… bat?" Shiki would tease him often about their guitars. He knew Naota knew this also. Shiki also had a very different feeling about the way today would go, after all.

"Shut up and go play… at least your job is fun…" Naota worked with his dad (Years have actually been kind to him) in the bakery, which is now a city monument, with how long it's been there, and how successful it is.

Shiki went out the door, with his guitar on his back in a hard case, and his amp clutched tightly in his arms. Naota shortly followed suit out the door, heading across the street to his father's place. He still got chewed out for 'being late'. Truth was, Kamon really wanted Naota to move back in, even though he was just across the street. It's always been said that your parents will miss you when you're gone. That's proof right there. Now we join Shiki, who got his spot he always takes, the place outside of the store that had opened up a while ago. They knew the previous owners let him use their outlets, so they let him. Generosity goes a long way, ya know.

He began to play, loudly but cleanly, in more of a virtuosic style, instead of a mad rocker. That's for later. People walked by, looked pale, and sickly, but in truth they were tired, and longed for their beds. They tossed him change, and some dollars, then bigger bills. These people knew him… and they loved listening to how he improved. He turned on the overdrive, and his distortion pedal, and began to blow them away even more with wild riffs and power chords. Life poured into the peoples faces the longer he played, and he began to make the guitar cry, as he wasn't caring about money at this moment. The cash flow was blasting, but he didn't care. All that mattered was pouring his soul out… where it could be heard. Then something unexpected happened. He gaped a bit, and his pace slowed even more, though the guitar cried with pouring emotion, as he saw Ninamori walk straight up to him. He finished his long, wailing song with a very quick cascade to a muffle end. Then he looked at her, feeling almost like a wounded and stabbed beast being eyed once more by the person who inflicted the wound.

"Eri…" is the first word Shiki ever got out, as his mind was pretty blank, and stumbling for words.

"Don't call me that. I came back to visit Naota, but I wind up finding you." She still sounded stern and cold.

"Naota and me are working… he's at the bakery." Shiki's voice was trailing off, fast…

She threw quite a wad into his guitar case, and just by looking at it, he could tell, it was MAJOR cash. Then she threw in two more. All three wads looked like they were all hundreds. He became confused as he turned, and looked into Ninamori's eyes. She didn't look near as angry as she let on. There was pity in her eyes. Not just that, though… regret lingered powerfully in her spirit. She gave a soft, yet sad smile and took a seat next to him, her beautiful womanly form, next to his rash, and simple frame. She sure did grow up. Her chest was quite big, and she had a nice tail, she was still pretty in the face, and she was of a lean body type, though proportioned very nicely. She really didn't care if dirty businessmen were staring up her skirt. She just wanted to sit near him again.

"I… we… I know we can't be together, so I want you to do something worthwhile with the money I gave you… alright?" she spoke softly and kindly, different from her regular tone.

"Yea… I understand, Eri… I missed you… especially when you left… I want you to take care of yourself, and find the right person for you, alright?" his voice flowed like cream, that cascaded into her sense of hearing, and gently rocked her.

She leaned against him as they sat up against the wall and he held her, reminiscently. They didn't care what other people were thinking. He didn't care that he was holding her right on the street. Nor did she care that now she had started to quietly cry in his arms. All Shiki could think was 'What happened to us… we were so happy…' Then she looked up at him, as he held her, and they locked in a long, loving kiss. He felt like the whole world could explode, and it wouldn't matter… just as long as they could hold that kiss. When they finally did break it, she began to tidy herself up, fixing her hair, and pulling down her skirt…

As she began to walk off, she turned, and called sincerely to him "I… I love you, Shiki… but it would never work out, I guess. Tell Naota I said hi, will ya?" and she took off before she could bust out crying again.

He immediately packed up, right after this, and began back home to put up his 'bat' and count up all this money. He really did miss Ninamori, and he noticed that once they began to talk, she didn't mind him calling her Eri. He wished he could've been with her again, but it would've blasted apart, like last time. He put his Jackson Randy Rhodes in the corner, and scooped the money out from under it as it sat in it's case fit for a king. He trotted across the street to go see Naota, and tell him everything. He walked in, looking at the nice breads they had made, the place smelling pretty nice and all, as he dug into his own pocket, and went to the counter, whistling a little. Naota spotted him and moved over to the counter to get him something. Yup, this is where he has a snack, you know.

Naota asked a little more upbeat than his regular tone "Hey, what can I get you?"

"I'd like… spicy bread and… three sweet buns." He slid the money across the counter to Naota, and gave a cool grin.

"Alright then… any news for me today, Shiki?" he came back with the freshly baked order because he always knew Shiki's order, and baked it ahead of time.

Shiki laughed a bit, and said excitedly "Naota, we're going to Tobaku-shi. You'll never believe what happened to me… oh yea, Eri said Hi."

Naota began to rub his chin, probing his brain "Eri… Eri… hmmm… Ninamori? She was here?"

Shiki grinned smugly "Yup, and she saw me, and we had an intimate talk, but also she gave us this huge, I mean HUGE, lump some of money! She said do something interesting, so we'll go to Tobaku-shi with it."

"Soon as I get off work, 'k?" Naota couldn't wait, road trip, baby!

End of Ch. 1

Yes, first chapter is supposed to be short, with me. Can't give away too much, now. I'm hoping this'll turn out how I like, and just as good as I hoped. I'm also hoping to get a lot of reviews, so I know that people are actually reading it. Anyway, this is my fic, and I'm stickin' to it. Licking Pennies, out.