The title MAY be a tad misleading…Canti does return but the chapter is by no means about him. It is only about our hero Tao-kun! Er…Ato. Also, as an added note, I'm trying to make Ato as Naota-ish as possible. Really, Ato is supposed to be how an older Naota would act, with only slight differences because of how Mamimi would raise her only son. I think I hit it pretty much on the target but…if you sense any OOCness then tell me okay? Oh yeah! And, on paper anyway, I now have fifty pages of this lovely little story! Which'll probably be only 25 on the comp…but its still far more pages than I've ever written before!
Disclaimer: …..I think this is self-explanitory.
fooly coolly: thanks! I'm trying to update as often as possible! Even though I'm a couple days late of a weekly update at this point…
Chi: The BEST? Wow…I couldn't imagine my little ol' story being THE best story…though thanks for saying so!
Genoscythe: I was a bit worried that the story was a bit too…serious for FLCL. I'm absolutely terrible at humor…
Chapter Two: Enter, Canti!
"Hold still Tao-kun!"
He winced as his mother applied even more of the alcohol swabs to his forehead, where a large red bump stood. Irritated, he caught her gaze, brilliant blue eyes staring stubbornly into her brown ones. After barely a moment though she looked away hurriedly, putting far more concentration than necessary onto his forehead.
He hated it when she did that, not looking him in the eye…ever. Well, that and always calling him "Tao-kun". He had disliked it because it sounded too much like their cats name, and the first time she'd called him that, which incidentally was after he'd cut his hair to its present length, an unexplainable anger boiled in his chest.
Looking to the side he frowned as his gaze landed on HER. Haruko, she'd said her name was, though he had no idea why she was still here. She should be arrested or something! Interestingly enough, she and his mother had begun arguing over something a few moments after Haruko had disinterestedly deposited his half conscious form on the couch.
Despite all appearances, he wasn't dead or unconscious, just trying to deal with a REALLY bad headache. Therefore, he didn't pay too much attention to what they were talking about, though he'd guessed it was about the cat when he had heard Ta-kun mentioned. When Mom had pointed at him though, he had begun to get suspicious.
He'd heard the word "Naota" mentioned repeatedly, but when they had realized he wasn't as knocked out as they'd thought he was, they quickly shut up.
Now, Haruko was sitting across from him, strumming a few chords on her double guitar. She grinned widely when she caught him looking at her, and he just frowned and looked away. He didn't like the way his heart fluttered weirdly in his chest, like a butterfly or a bird or something, when he met that cat-eyed gaze. He also didn't like the way Mom had twitched when Haruko had stepped through the doorway, waving and saying,
"Hey Mamimi! You haven't changed much!"
It was then Mom had twitched again, muttering way too loudly,
"And you haven't changed at ALL Haruko…now what did you do to Tao-kun?"
Actually, come to think of it, there were a lot of things he didn't like. School, this town, the cat, nicknames, his full name, Haruko…his heart fluttered again at her name and he mentally squashed the annoying thing and stood abruptly, much to the protests of his mother. Grabbing a nearby hat and yanking it down over his head to cover the bump,
"I'm going out."
Was all he offered as an explanation as he walked to the door, glaring at Haruko over his shoulder before he left and slamming the door closed for good measure.
He slipped the quarter into the machine, pressing one of the buttons and grabbing the drink as the vending machine made weird chugging and whining noises. Popping the top he began drinking it thirstily, heedless to anything and everything around him.
"You look upset about something Ato."
He almost choked on his drink from surprise, spinning around to face the owner of that monotonous voice.
The girl standing behind him was dressed in the a girls school uniform, even though it was Saturday, a somewhat bored look on her face as she tugged impatiently on a thick braid of purple hair.
"N-Nina…"
The girl in question quirked an eyebrow but said nothing, obviously waiting for an answer.
"You weren't at school the other day either Ato."
She was doing it again, he noted. Just when he was about to tell her something she'd interrupt before the words even left his mouth.
"I got hit by a Vespa girl…"
He shrugged; ignoring the amazed look she gave him.
"You got hit by a wasp girl?"
He shook his head quickly at her reply, realizing vaguely how ridiculous that had sounded.
"No! I got hit by some crazy girl riding a Vespa bike!"
Almost immediately the bored look slid off her face, replaced with worry, something he was positive she NEVER showed in front of anyone at school. That was Nina for you.
"Are you okay? Shouldn't you be in the hospital? Who was the girl that did it?"
He sighed at the flurry of questions and now remembered WHY his thoughts were not to tell Nina…at this rate that 'Haruko' woman would probably be locked up. Dismissing the thought quickly, another sigh escaped his lips.
"Well…"
"I did it! Ta-kun had a fly on his head, so I hit it for him!"
Ato jumped as Haruko suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Nina, grinning from ear to ear. Nina just blinked…and stared.
"She hit your cat too?"
Ato sighed yet again, his left eye twitching slightly. Things were beginning to get slightly chaotic, and slightly chaotic for this town was just plain crazy. Nothing amazing happened here. Ever. There was supposedly a bomb explosion or something twenty years back but after that the most amazing thing to occur here was a new library opening.
Snapping out of his thoughts he blinked as the two girls stared at him, Haruko was still grinning, and Nina was glancing between him and Haruko, a somewhat disturbed expression on her face. Smiling nervously he jammed his hands into his pockets and turned to the side, purposely keeping his gaze as far away from Haruko and Nina as humanly possible while still trying to look cool.
"Nah. She just keeps calling me that for some reason. The cat's fine."
Nina nodded and slowly began edging away from the still grinning Haruko.
"Well, I've gotta get to school…"
She smiled nervously, the smile disappearing at Haruko's next words.
"It's Saturday though."
Ato could almost HEAR Nina cursing mentally, and stifled a snicker behind his hand as she thought up a different excuse almost immediately.
"Well I've got to do homework!"
As she ran off he heard her yell goodbye over her shoulder and then disappeared off the bridge, leaving him alone. With Haruko. With no one else in sight. He didn't even have to look at her to see the evil grin that painted itself on her face.
"So…is that your girlfriend?"
His face turned at least a dozen shades of red at Haruko's question, already picturing her sly grin. It was weird how he knew exactly what she was gonna do, before she did it…he knew her too well and he didn't even like the freaky girl!
"N-no way! She just hangs around and bugs me about stuff…"
He tugged the hat further down over his face to hide the blush. Haruko shrugged, turned and walked only two steps before pausing.
"By the way Ato…You probably don't know him but you're a lot like Naota Maybe you'll turn out differently than he did."
A chill traveled down his spine at those words, and the moment he blinked she had jumped onto her Vespa and ridden off into the sunset. He would've appreciated the romantic scene more if he hadn't been so confused, and slightly creeped out.
Blinking after the strange woman he turned…and slammed right into a wall, that he swore hadn't been there before. Or at least he thought it was a wall. When he stumbled back, clutching a bloody nose and glaring up at the 'wall', he saw a pair of metal…feet? He eyes slowly traveled upward, catching sight of metallic arms and he guessed legs, beneath the green jacket and jeans it wore. How it ever fit into a pair of jeans, he would never know.
Slowly, he realized the wall he had slammed into was some type of metal robot…thing. The TV screen face looked down at him, a tiny print flashing across its screen too fast for him to comprehend. Taking one last look at the robot he turned tail and RAN…or at least he would've, had the robot not grabbed him by the back of his shirt and lifted him three feet off the ground.
"Put me down you big, stupid, metal robot…thing!"
His arms and legs flailed wildly, trying to connect with something, but the robot held him at arms length and began walking, its metal feet thudding against the pavement dully.
"Lord Canti!"
Ato blinked as his mother leaped off the couch, running to the robot and throwing her arms around its neck in an ecstatic hug. While affectionately patting her on the head with one hand, he let go of the back of Ato's shirt with the other, leaving him to land shakily on his feet. Glancing over his shoulder at his Mom who was poking Canti repeatedly, as if to make sure he was really real, he smiled and climbed the stairs to his room.
As Ato opened the door to his room he was bombarded with possibly one of the weirdest sights he had ever seen. Haruko was dressed in a nurses uniform, HIS blue guitar slung over her shoulder, and she was talking to Ta-kun, shaking the poor cat every few moments.
"I couldn't find Naota but I found another kid who looks like him. He's pretty useless though and his mom is the girl Naota was hanging around…I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or not. I'll have to study him a bit more before I try to find a different person though…Raharu, out!"
With that, she threw the poor, dizzy little cat on his bed, muttered something about a bad connection, and turned around.
"OH! Ta-kun! How long have you been standing there?"
Instead of answering her question, he cast a sympathetic glance towards Ta-kun the cat, and made his way to the bed, countering with a question of his own.
"Why do you keep calling me that anyway? Ta-kun is my cat, which I'm sure you know by now. My…nickname…is Tao-kun."
He turned quickly, leaning backwards so he fell back on his bed. Haruko frowned, looking at him sadly, though he couldn't see it because his gaze was firmly locked on the ceiling.
"Because…that's what Mamimi always used to call Naota…good thing it wasn't Taro kun. And it fits you!"
He glared at the ceiling, blue eye burning a hole through the white plaster and paint.
"Well I'm not Naota. I'm Ato! If you have to keep not calling me by my real name, at least call me Tao-kun. I really don't want people to think I'm a cat…understand Haruko?"
A smirk wormed its way onto her face at his words.
"You called me Haruko! So far, you've only called me 'That crazy lady on the Vespa! Heh heh heh…"
Ato froze, realizing his mistake FAR too late and scrambled to correct it and save face.
"That doesn't make any difference at all! It's just annoying to keep calling you 'that lady'. I mean it's not like I LIKE you or nothin'…it's just more polite and all…if you call me by my name I should call you by yours and…uh…"
He stopped abruptly, realizing he was beginning to chatter on aimlessly. Haruko just grinned, switching Ato's guitar for her doubled red one. Ato, being curious about the thing for a while now, decided now was as good a time as any to ask.
"How did that guitar get that way? It's weird looking."
Haruko paused at Ato's question, a somewhat thoughtful look crossing her features.
"It was made that way…by an old friend. It carries a lot of old memories."
She shrugged off the almost overwhelming feeling of nostalgia that washed over her and, in one leap, bounded across the room to Ato's bed, leaning over him with a grin.
"By the way…me and Canti will be staying here awhile. I presume you two already met?"
At Ato's surprised face she stuck her tongue out at him, resisting the urge to cackle like a maniac.
"Too bad for you huh? Guess that's the way life goes."
With a smirk she disappeared through the door, cackling like a maniac down the stairs, her laugh lingering even after she was gone and leaving Ato to wonder just WHO he had gotten himself mixed up with.
End Chapter