Welcome to the next chapter of Reoccurences! I am your author, Bluemistwolf! Thank you for showing up today to read this fanfiction, I am very grateful. Also, now I feel like a game show host or something… I also have a very special treat for those of you who're into that type of thing…So says the title of this chappie. Also, please note I know absolutely NOTHING about bands…Enjoy!
VASHATSOCOM: Firstly, thanks for the review! I always thought my action parts were really, really bad…You've got some really interesting theories there too! For most of your questions, you'll have to wait and see, but I will say that there is absolutely no relation between Naota and Atoan. Mainly because for the whole time range thing to work out for that, Naota would have been a father at sixteen or seventeen…I'm not that cruel to the kid.
Gijinka Renamon: I'm glad you think it's interesting! Thanks for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I do not own FLCL. Mainly because being responsible for Haruko would like signing your own death warrant…
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Haruko!"
Ato banged on the door again, hearing a cracking sound come from the wood.
"Haruko! Let me in! It's my room you know!"
Still not getting an answer and knowing if he tried to force his way in Haruko would whack him with her guitar…again…he did the only thing he could think of.
"Hey Canti! Could come up here?"
With a wicked grin he heard muffled cursing from behind the door.
He heard the robot coming before he actually saw him, metallic feet clomping down on the old wooden stairs loudly.
"Canti! I have a request for you. Could you please go into my room and bring out Haruko for me?"
He tried to smile nicely, really he did, but it turned into more of an evil smirk that would send chills down a mass murderers spine…it didn't seem to affect Canti though. And he knew that Canti would obey any order he gave him but he decided to just ask rather that order him around. Rather safe than sorry right? Or something like that…
Besides, Mom pretty much worshipped the ground Canti walked on…and the air he flew on.
Either way, the robot merely nodded, pulled the door open effortlessly, stepped over the huge pile of junk piled in front to keep people out, and spotted Haruko trying to escape out the window.
Sensing Canti's robotic, television screen gaze, she turned around.
"…Damn."
Before she could scramble out of the rest of the window, Canti bounded over…well, more like took two long steps, picked her up by the back of her jacket and set her down gently in front of Ato.
Haruko crossed her arms irritably, cat green eyes catching onto a spot on the floor and sticking there.
"Well? What did you drag me out here for Tao-kun?"
He hesitated, his original reason being to yell at her for completely embarrassing him in front of his class, but now, all of a sudden, it seemed somewhat…useless. Plus seeing her get picked up by the scruff of her jacket and dropped in front of him by Canti, like a weird metal mother cat and her kitten had chased most of his anger away.
"I just wanted to say, I never really got to thank you for saving my life…so, uh…thanks Haruko!"
Okay. So it was a lousy excuse, but it was the only thing he could come up with! And, judging from the way Haruko was staring at him, she was expecting something different too.
"…You're weird Tao-kun."
He stared at her, pure disbelief written all over his face.
"I'm weird? You're the one that goes around hitting people with guitars!"
She merely shrugged and began picking lint off her shirt.
"Yeah, well…I don't send robots after people who obviously don't wanna be bothered"
He twitched, beginning to learn that arguing with Haruko was the same as arguing with a brick wall…except the wall was easier to convince. Fuming he walked back down the stairs, a mutter slipping from his lips that Haruko shouldn't have heard.
"You're so immature…why can't you just grow up? Stop being such a kid."
Too bad that she did hear them.
The words weren't exactly the same as the ones she had told Naota so long ago…but they were close enough. And as he disappeared around the corner she wondered…was it Naota that was more mature? Was she the one that whole time…that was really still just a kid?
"Naota…"
He was cursing mentally, repeatedly…in fact, he was running out of curse words. The reason why Ato Okurah was cursing? Not one soul in his entire school had a worthwhile talent for the school talent show, including him, unless you count robots coming out of his head a talent.
Sure, he could play guitar, but his recent 'luck' with those things left him feeling a bit sick at trying to play one. Stupid Haruko…
But back to the matter at hand…since no one had a worthwhile talent, Nina had come up with a spectacular idea! Sarcastic emphasis on 'spectacular'. Any actual talent she, or anyone else, could think of was dropped in a box after being written down on a piece of paper.
Then the entire school would take a vote on which talent a person should do for the talent show. Obviously this plan had major flaws in it. He had been chosen for, not guitar player, oh no, that would be too easy. Instead, he was picked to do the worst thing imaginable…
Sing.
Thanks to an anonymous person, those who had been picked for musical talents were thrown in a band for whatever reason.
It was official…pretty much every kid in his school was a total, complete moron.
Which was the reason he was walking, very slowly I might add, to the gym, where the 'band' would be rehearsing. There he would also meet his fellow band members, then they would choose all the stuff that bands did…or something like that.
When he had, off-handedly, mentioned the entire thing to Haruko, she had grinned and looked like she wouldn't miss it for the world…and would bring a tape recorder as well to blackmail as many kids in his school as possible.
She hadn't said any of this of course; he could just tell by that look in her eyes…it was seriously creepy.
And when he'd complained to Mom she'd just said, and I quote,
"Just don't go Tao-kun. I TOLD you to start ditching school and this'll be perfect practice!"
…Yeah…
He'd abandoned any thoughts of not showing up, though that hadn't stopped him from being as late as possible. Which…had turned out to be about five minute.
How he hated his conscience.
With a resigned sigh he pushed open the doors to the gym and was immediately met with an angry barrage from none other than Nina. Vaguely, he wondered why she was here while tuning out her rant about punctuality at the same time.
Suddenly, and quite unbidden, a thought popped into his mind and he froze.
No.
She couldn't be…
Could she…?
"As a fellow team member Ato, you've got to be on time!"
He cursed every god he knew of, including Cantide from Firestarter.
Why did it have to be Nina?
Shoveling noodles into her mouth at an alarming rate, Haruko paused and eyed Mamimi, who had been sighing repeatedly for the past ten minutes. Now, Haruko wasn't one to get into people's personal lives…okay, scratch that.
She wasn't one to go around asking 'Are you okay?' and be all sympathetic and stuff. But if Mamimi was going to keep this up she'd never be able to finish her noodles in peace!
Slamming the bowl down on the table with a bit more force than necessary, and watching at least half the contents spill out onto the table because of it, she glared at the decidedly crimson haired girl.
"All right. What is it?"
Chocolate brown eyes snapped towards Haruko, though the owner of those eyes didn't even twitch at the question. If Haruko had been paying more attention, she might've noticed the slightly annoyed, frosty tone in her voice when she answered.
"Whaddya mean?"
The cat eyed girl stared boredly back, not even bothering to repeat her question. With a swift glare Mamimi stood abruptly, glaring at the alien girl for all she was worth as words she had kept bottled up for awhile now came gushing forth.
"You're trying to make Ato into Naota aren't you!"
The alien girl in question blinked and, not knowing really what else to do, fell back onto old habits. She merely pointed at herself, smiling innocently, while trying to make a halo pop into existence over her head. Needless to say, it didn't work. Both the halo thing and the innocent act, on Mamimi.
If anything, it enraged her further.
"You stole Naota away from all of us, and when you left, you left him completely lost! He never showed it of course, but we all knew. I won't let you do the same thing to Ato! You keep away from my son!"
During Mamimi's rant Haruko's eyes had widened slightly; there was no doubt in her mind this woman would hunt her down and kill her if she hurt Ato in any way. She wasn't particularly scared by the unspoken threat as much as shocked.
This was not the Mamimi she had known…
Mamimi probably would have continued, actually putting into detail what she would do if Haruko harmed Ato, if not for a loud thud near the doorway. Both woman turned to stare at the topic of their discussion.
Ato himself was standing in the doorway, bad lying discarded on the floor. His blue eyes were wide in shock as they glanced between the two women, black hair an untidy mess with strands plastered to his face.
Wordlessly, he glanced between his mother and the woman from/of his dreams, and, hesitantly, he spoke.
"Uh…I'm home?"
I think Cantide is the full name of Canti from Firestarted…I'm not too sure though. Tell me if I'm wrong, kay?