(This chapter is dedicated to Lety! Thanks for the ideas! Much love! Sorry for the late update, I accidentally posted the other chapter meant for this week-- last week. Oops.)
--unless otherwise specified, all dialogue is spoken in Japanese but written in English to save time. I'm not even gonna bother with italics.--
[Between Phases 1-2]
It's been nine months since the band's big argument. Noodle doesn't know where her family is, but at the same time isn't too worried about their well-being. She's somehow managed to fake her age so she could 'legally' travel alone, and Noodle had decided that she'd head back to Osaka to try and find out who she is and why she'd been shipped away from there. Of course, she'd arrived in Osaka around four months ago, but the only thing she's found is that the night terrors have somehow increased their hold on her mind.
She's frustrated, to say the least, but at the same time is glad to be able to use Japanese without any confused looks. On the other hand, she feels betrayed by her boys. Why'd they leave? Russel had left without even saying goodbye, and had even been the first to go. Just up and left. Well, he'd remembered to leave her fifty-thousand pounds. So it's not like she's living on the streets, but..It's unfair. Having money isn't the same as having her family around. Nothing can replace them. A lot of the time, she's so miserable she doesn't want to get up in the morning. She doesn't cry about it any more, but that's only because she doesn't feel she has tears remaining. Besides, crying isn't productive.
But, enough of that.
Noodle's had a project going on now for awhile. Whenever she feels as if she isn't getting anywhere with her search for an explanation of her past; she's been working on a few tracks for a potential album when Gorillaz reunites. She knows that they will, Stuart had promised that to her before he'd left. Yeah, he may be forgetful, but he's never once broken a promise to her. Noodle knows that even if they'd broken her trust with abandoning her, she can still hold Stuart to his promises.
Noodle likes how she blends in with the people in Japan. It's convenient; no one's recognised her like they had in the UK. She thinks it helps that she'd dyed her hair indigo. Somehow, it makes her appear much older than three-days-until-fourteen. At least in Japan.
Noodle looks down at her watch; the thing reads 23:00. She hadn't felt the need to eat anything at all, today, but now her stomach's rumbling. Sighing, Noodle sits up on her tatami and starts to put her laptop and wallet into her messenger bag. There's papers, some crumpled, strewn all over her floor. She'd fallen asleep with her head on the table. Noodle remembers looking at the clock last night before passing out from sheer exhaustion; it had read 08:32. She always finds she's got the best ideas when it comes to music late at night or in the morning hours. That's when she'd written most of the recently composed music. She's on track nine; maybe there's two or three more left to write. The only thing missing then will be the actual music.
She's found that the late nights also have to do with not feeling safe. The dreams have gotten so bad that she hasn't let herself sleep for longer than an hour at a time since she'd arrived.
Pulling on her boots, Noodle then gets up and stretches out. Going over to the bathroom, she turns the faucet over the sink on and waits for the water to warm up. Her hair is getting annoyingly long. She had been thinking of growing it out, but it's just plain tedious to deal with now that it's a few inches past her collarbone. She decides to cut it later on; it's not worth the trouble.
Rinsing her face with the warm water, Noodle then yanks a brush through the hair for a second, decides it's too much trouble, and just leaves it the spiky mess it is. She likes it better that way, anyhow, it reminds her of 2D.
Screw appearances, it's not likely she'll know any of the people she sees.
Pulling her bag onto her shoulder, she grabs the apartment key and stuffs it into her pocket. As she goes to open the door, she turns to look at the photo of her family. It's rested on a dusty ottoman over by the balcony. The teen turns away again, shaking her head. She's tempted to turn the frame so she can't see it, but she's also afraid she'll forget their faces. Noodle wonders how Del is for what seems like the millionth time; she's been missing him, too.
Shaking her head, she flips the light switch downwards and closes the door behind herself, then locking it with the key. As she walks down the corridor, she feels numb, as if she's missing memories. Of course, Noodle knows she is, but it makes her feel like she's missed out on an entire lifetime.
She pushes the down button on the lift. Her foot taps impatiently; she's hungry, damn it!
Finally, the aluminum doors slide open. She's on the seventh floor of an apartment complex smack in the center of Osaka. The price been steep, so she's been budgeting as much money as she can. She doesn't know how long she'll be in Japan; plus she doesn't want to risk her identity being discovered if she applies for a job. It hadn't been during customs and such, nor when she'd started renting her apartment, but there's always a first time.
Noodle walks along the sidewalk towards the shopping district, humming a bit as she does. It's rather dull taking in the increasingly familiar sights of the city when you're by yourself, as she'd found out when she'd first arrived. More often than not, she finds herself wishing to have physical contact with someone. She'd taken it for granted after awhile, but now she's completely alone. Definitely doesn't like it, either. She's not looking forward to celebrating her birthday by herself. Hell, she probably won't even celebrate. After all, what's celebration if you can't share the happiness with Stuart, Russel, or Murdoc?
She turns a corner, shifting her bag strap to a more comfortable position. Walking past the window shops is a bore, nothing's open. The one restaurant open is a ramen joint, one she's found at least tolerable. The night is clear, luckily, though all the neon-lit advertising signs gives the street a bit of an eerie feel to it. Noodle's glad when she finally arrives inside.
A tired-looking waiter looks up from his book, straightening out the slouch that had formed when he'd been reading it. He bows to her. "Hello, miss. Welcome to Golden Dove Ramen House. Please, follow me."
She returns the bow habitually, muttering a nervous 'thank you.' She follows him, and is directed to a booth seat with a bland painting of a sunrise hanging on the wall over it. The man asks Noodle for her order after handing a menu to her.
She orders the cheapest thing on the menu. Despite being hungry, she doesn't really have an appetite. Noodle never does, these days; just doesn't feel like eating.
When the waiter, (apparently his name is Ryusaki), has taken the order and shuffles off to let the kitchen staff know, she glances around the dining area. It's mostly empty in here, save for a young couple sitting at a small table together snogging, and a scruffy middle-aged man sitting in the booth in front of her. She notices that he's looking at her inquisitively. Noodle doesn't feel threatened, however. She instead finds him familiar, somehow. Not like being reminded of someone, but as if she actually knows the person.
No matter, it's probably just imagination. Shaking her head, the girl pulls her notebook from her bag. It's got an octopus on the cover. Octopi have been her favorite animal since was little, that much hasn't changed. Murdoc had even gotten an octopus tattoo just to surprise her. Noodle had been very excited about it. Even now, whenever she sees the tattoo, a little flutter of happiness makes itself known. Stuart had given her this notebook. It's still her favorite, though it's almost filled up with writings.
"Here you go, miss." The waiter has reappeared with a bowl on a platter with chopsticks beside it. "Are you alone? Where are your mother and father?" He asks, looking unable to stop himself.
"Oh, I'm twenty. Don't worry about me," she lies.
"Oh! Apologies!" Ryusaki bows again. "Just call if you need anything."
"Thank you." She replies, nodding.
Ryusaki walks over to the next booth, the one with the strange man sitting.
"Can I help you with anything else, sir?" He asks.
"Hmm, yes, in your menu, do you have..err.. ocean bacon?" The scruffy man inquires with a side glance in her area.
Suddenly, Noodle drops her chopsticks, eyes widening. Her mind's suddenly going a mile a minute, unfamiliar thoughts and pictures invading. Time seems to slow down as they make their way into her subconscious, though a mere five seconds pass. The girl doesn't pick them back up, instead standing up on the booth seat and pointing at the man. "It is you!" She exclaims loudly before she can stifle the act. Noodle looks around awkwardly to see that there are all eyes on her and sits down again with a forced laugh. "Heh, uh, sorry."
Ryusaki turns back to the man. "Very sorry, but I do not believe we have that. I have never even heard of it," he says, bowing yet again.
"Oh, don't bother yourself about it, it's not a common thing."
"..Right, well, I'll leave you to it. Sorry again." Ryusaki heads back to the front of the restaurant awkwardly.
The man slides into the seat in front of Noodle. "Ah, I wasn't completely sure it was you," he says.
"You! Uh, I have not seen you in years, Doctor Kyuzo." Noodle's incredulous. Nevermind these memories, now the man who made her is sitting in front of her, casually eating the ramen she had just ordered.
"Hope you weren't hungry." He grunts. His voice is rather wheezy. "Nevermind that. It's about time my favorite experiment paid me a visit, yes. Good to see you, um.. You've a name, I presume..?"
"Noodle."
"Right. Why'd you pick that name? Utterly awful, especially for such a fine specimen. Shame." He's already finished eating the ramen.
"It is a long story. Not one I much want to tell." Noodle forces bangs from her eyes.
"Why is that, then? It'd better be long, I didn't put all that work into you for it to be ineffective when it comes to naming things, you know." The scientist says.
"Okay, I will tell you on one condition." Noodle rests her chin on her hand.
"Oh, lovely. What's it, then?" He inquires, pushing his thick glasses higher onto the bridge of his nose.
"What happened, to.. Um, me? Or.. Everyone else I remember? The other ones?" Noodle has an air of urgency surrounding her. Even with these memories returned, she doesn't know much.
"Well, uh, Noodle. Long story short, you and twenty-nine others were grown by me and another few doctors to create the ultimate human, an indestructible soldier for use in wars and such." The man seems lighthearted.
"Unfortunately, through no fault of my own, nine years into the experiment, it was scrapped. The government had decided that you children were dangerously unstable; too powerful for your own good."
Noodle's eyes are closed. "So, they are dead. All of them."
"Mm. We were forced to gas them."
She sighs shakily. "What about me, then? Why am I still alive?"
The scientist is silent for a moment. "Um, how to put this.. I didn't have the heart to kill you. You were always the most joyful little thing I'd ever seen, even as a a tiny baby. With all the experiments, all the pain I put you through. You never resented me like the rest. Instead, you just smiled through it all. It's a bit selfish, yes, given what I've done to you, but I. Um. Couldn't kill you. Never kill you. You were," he pauses, "you are unique. I wanted to keep you that way."
"Oh." Is all she can say. She turns her head to gaze at the floor.
"So, when we were first, uh, ordered to euthanise the lot of you, I knew I couldn't. Not you. So I staged an escape, broke you out, and FedEx-ed you to some bloke who'd put an ad out for a guitarist for some lousy band of his. Gorilla, was it? No matter. You see, we'd given everyone a special talent. Yours, well, yours happened to be music." He finishes.
"The Gorillaz." She corrects. Thousands of questions are running through her head. "So.. I am not fully human, then? Cool."
He laughs. "You are, just different. I suppose the name 'Noodle' does suit you; I very well can't imagine you as anyone else. Though, you're smaller than I would've expected. What are you now, ten?"
"I will be fourteen in three days. Anyway, it was an accident, that name. Sort of. When I arrived in Kong Studios, I did not remember a lick of English! Well, I remembered one word; noodle. I do not recall it as well as the others do, but apparently I just repeated it over and over again. So, Toochee decided that it was my name."
"Toochee? Speaking of strange names.."
"That is a nickname. His real name is Stuart." Her face falls.
"Uh oh, what's this? Sadness?" He rubs the stubble on his chin.
Noodle then explains the argument between the three boys, Russel's abrupt exit, and her current situation.
"Well, that's not right for them to leave you alone. I say you find this father of yours and beat him senseless, but that's just me." The scientist advises.
"He is at least three times bigger than you are. Plus, I would never. Russel has protected me a lot. Plus, he left me with all that money. I do not think he thought I would be left alone by Murdoc and Toochee."
She admits. "It is not as if I hate him. None of them, really. They are all family."
"I see you haven't changed a bit, now. Anyway, I'd like to leave you with a word of advice. Go find them. You seem down even now; it's not right for any experiment of mine to feel like they're useless, hm?"
Noodle glares at him playfully. "Not as if I have any other plans now that I have found you."
"Yes, well. Here's my business card. If you ever need anything at all, give me a call, alright, Noodle?" The man slides from the booth and does a mock-salute before heading out.
Noodle stares down at the table. She feels as if she should chase after him; maybe kick him in the shins for eating her food. Sighing, she waves for Ryusaki, knowing she won't be able to walk home with her stomach as empty as it is.
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It's been three months since Noodle had gotten her memories back. Really, not much has changed. At the same time, though, everything feels to be different. Noodle knows what the faded scars on her arms and stomach are from, now, but in all honesty, it's just made her hate them more to know why she has them.
The nightmares? Those turned out to be broken memories of a former reality, and they're still not gone. She doesn't mean to fear them, no, but she can't help when she wakes up with tears in her eyes and phantom pains shooting up through her arms.
But, on the bright side, she's able to speak nearly-perfect English. She had noticed when she had first spoken in it last week that she somehow has a mix of a Japanese and a British accent when she does speak. Not that she minds, but it makes her miss her boys even more to sound like them when she speaks. Although, she's always loved the sound of Stuart's, and even Murdoc's voices. She misses Russel's most of all, though. That Brooklyn accent always stood out in the UK.
Most recently, Noodle's been packing her things. She's tired of being alone, now, and is more than ready to leave Japan. She'd purchased plane tickets last month, and finally, she's within minutes of going home to Kong Studios. Honestly, she's ready to be a kid again. At first, (as in the first hour and a half), she'd enjoyed pretending to be an adult. But after awhile, she found it awfully dull. After all, she's only fourteen and doesn't have much of a childhood left, so why waste that time? She definitely feels she needs to get her boys back together; she feels if she doesn't, her memories of them will always feel bittersweet.
The girl has two small-sized bags of belongings by the time she's packed everything. Even with her messenger bag, it's still not much in the way of things. She'll probably go to one of the five cheap souvenir shops she had counted on the way to the apartment from the airport. The walk isn't even long; three miles at most. When she'd first arrived, she would walk back to a small park over by the airport and watch the planes go by, admittedly wishing she could be on one of them.
As it turned out, Osaka was rather boring to live in for the year she had to before her lease had expired. Especially with the fact that she hasn't had many interactions during that time; she had been too paranoid that someone would find out about her not-so-legal cover.
It has gotten to the point where her voice is weak from disuse. She absolutely hates it.
Noodle makes another round throughout her apartment for any belongings she might have missed. When she doesn't spot anything else, she says, "Well, this is bye. I am eternally grateful to you for keeping me safe." She says to the room as she picks up her bags. "Best wishes."
Picking up the key from the table, she starts to the door. Before she opens it, however, she spots the photo of the band on the ottoman. Rushing over, she picks it up and looks at it for a moment. "You three had better be all right." She mutters, carefully putting the cracked frame in the messenger bag with her laptop.
"Again, thank you." Noodle finally opens up the door. Taking a last look around at the emptied apartment, she sighs and leaves the room.
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Yet another month had passed. Noodle has been cleaning the interior of Kong Studios for that long when she hasn't been putting the finishing touches on her new album, probably titled 'Demon Days'. There's nothing much left to put into it other than the actual sound, really.
Murdoc had stupidly left the door to Kong unlocked. Although, nothing living had approached it. Instead, there had been dozens of demonic spirits and such that had made their home inside, much to the girl's annoyance.
Currently, she's close to finished with the cleaning. She'd cut her hair that morning after finally remembering that she needed it done. Noodle feels like she'd sliced an entire pound of hair off, though in reality it had been five inches and it was never really that heavy. She'd also noticed how thin she's gotten. All the baby fat had pretty much gone, and she's thin enough to see her ribs. That's too thin, she knows, but still doesn't find much motivation to eat more than what she has to.
She's grown a good foot since last time she'd been in Kong, though that only makes her four foot two. It's not tall by any stretch of the imagination, but it's at least taller.
Noodle's sitting in the dining room, now, her faded-pink toy rabbit clutched in her arms. Her papers are all spread out over the table. It's 20:17 in the evening. Despite the occasional groan from outside, she's gotten completely used to the silence. It's odd; she'd never liked it silent, but now there's not any way to fill the empty air by herself with anything but guitar practising, but she can only do that for so long without making her fingers bleed. That happens often, though. A lot of the time, she'll spend three hours practising scales, chords, all that; and won't stop until the three hours are up, even if her fingers do bleed before then.
She still sleeps in, sometimes until noon. Anything to pass the time. There's only so much cleaning one can do without going completely mad, after all. Her sleeping has improved a bit now that her memories are whole, but she'll still get awful night terrors.
Noodle is dozing off when she hears the click of a doorknob being turned down the hallway. This startles her awake, and she's immediately on guard. There's no one else in the grounds but her; so there's an unwelcome guest.
Her rabbit still in hand, Noodle leaps from her chair over to one of the drawers under the cabinet. She opens the one with the false bottom and lifts it up quickly, revealing a silver revolver. Speedily grasping ahold of the gun, she then parks herself on the center of the kitchen tile and pushes the safety off. She's glad she knows how to work a gun.
Noodle points it at the door when she hears heavy footsteps approaching it. Her free arm tightens around the rabbit as the knob turns. "Who are you?!" She demands in English, her voice steady despite the lack of use.
The door opens slowly, revealing a very large, shadowy silhouette
Noodle pulls the trigger, getting a bullet straight through the thing's hat, narrowly missing its head. The sound of the gun is so loud it seems to shake the entire foundation of Kong.
Grinning widely, she prepares to shoot again.
"Hold up, Noodle? Is that you, baby?" The voice is a bit hoarse. The figure steps into the room, revealing a disgruntled-looking Russel.
Noodle furrows her brow. "Russel..?" She asks shyly, setting the gun down. Her hands are unsteady as she takes a shaky breath and wraps her arms around her rabbit nervously. She looks away, her lower lip trembling. She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry, but.. He's here.
"Oh my god, Noodle.. You're so thin, you look like a skeleton.. And you've grown, holy shit, you've grown.." Russel sniffs loudly, bending over to pick her up.
When he does, Noodle begins to cry, tightly grasping onto Russel. "I-I.. I miss you.." She says between sobs. "You left me.. You left me alone, and-"
"Shh, baby, I know, I'm so sorry. So sorry." Russel interrupts her, unable to keep himself from crying, too. "I shouldn't have left you with them, and what the fuck do they do? Leave you by yourself. God, what was I thinkin'?" His voice is trembling.
Noodle looks up at his face to see his own tears. She reaches up and wipes them away with her thumb, though she can hardly keep it steady enough to complete the action. "N-no, do not cry, you should not cry," she mumbles, now wiping at her own cheeks.
"I missed you so much, baby, my god. I can't keep myself from crying, I'm so glad you're alright. Fuck, I'm so sorry for being such an asshole. You shouldn't have been alone, never should have been alone.." Russel draws in a shaky breath. "You're fourteen, I missed your birthday. Still got you a present, though, couldn't resist."
Noodle smiles at him, kissing his cheek. "Thank you. I have two for you, since you had left right before your birthday. I.." She shakes her head, burying her face in his shirt. "I am sorry for making you leave, and Murdoc, and Toochee." She begins to cry again, can't help herself. The guilt has been eating at her since that night.
"It ain't you. Never was, don't apologise." Russel pecks the top of Noodle's head, his grip tightening protectively.
"What else could it have been to make you all leave?" Noodle's mumbles, voice muffled.
"I don't even remember, it was real petty. I just couldn't take Murdoc's shit anymore, didn't even consider what you musta been feeling like. You were hurtin' bad, I know it now. But I couldn't see past my own damned nose and fix it." Russel has obviously been beating himself up about this for a long time.
"Please stay.. Do not leave me ever again. I was so lonely, and.." She trails off, eyes watery.
"Never. Never again, baby-girl. That wasn't right, I'm sorry." He says again. "You don't weigh nothin' at all, you ain't been eating well." Russel scolds gently, taking one of her hands. The fingertips are scabbed over, and the fingers themselves are skinny to the point where every bone's outline is visible. She's awfully pale, too, he notices, seeming so delicate that if she fell over she'd shatter into a million pieces.
"Nn.." Noodle mumbles, holding a fold of Russel's jacket in her hand. She doesn't want to explain that she had just been too lazy to eat, not to mention she had been too paranoid to go buy food while in Japan. "I've just forgotten to."
Russel shakes his head. "Can't do much about it when there ain't food in the house." He makes his way over to the table. "What's all this, then?" He asks.
"The new Gorillaz album." Noodle replies tiredly. The shock of seeing Russel is worn off; now she feels safer than she had in over a year. Almost safe enough to sleep.
"You did all this?" Russel sits down, careful not to disturb his kid. "By yourself."
"Hai." Noodle nods. "I do not know what to call it, yet. I was considering titling it 'Demon Days,' but I am still not sure." She yawns, her eyelids closing.
Russel sits there in silence for a good hour reading over her handiwork. She falls asleep in that timeframe, sometimes murmuring a word or two in Japanese. Russ is astounded by the quality of her music. How she's fourteen and had written this entire thing solo.
There's some crazy shit in the world, yeah?
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Hello, everyone!
It was a bit of a challenge to write this chapter, in a good way. I've been to Osaka three times, but still had difficulty envisioning it in the world of Gorillaz. Ledy, I hope I lived up to your expectations!! Let me know what you think!
So, again, if anyone has more writing prompts for me, don't hesitate to send them! I feel a bit as if there's a case of writer's block coming on, so I've got to prevent it, don't I?
Hope you all are safe and well!
Until next time,
Liz
