Author's Notes: Chapter two is up already? Wow... Well, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own FLcL. I never will own FLcL. Don't sue me.
Synopsis: Naota's returned to Mabase. Let's watch!
"And this," the teacher motioned behind her, a big fake white smiled plastered on her face, "is the centerpiece of the city of Mabase. The, now unused, Medical Mechanica building. It brought real industry to this once small town and, before being finally shut down on March 16, 2001, it was producing at an output of 40,000 a day."
Alice raised her hand and the teacher paused her speech, "Yes? Do you have a question?"
"Yeeeah," Alice dropped her hand as she tried to think of a way to say it before finally settling on the most obvious, "40,000 what?"
"I'm sorry?" the teacher replied in confusion.
"40,000 what? You said it was producing 40,000 a day. 40,000 what?"
"I don't understand your question. Could you rephrase that?"
Alice sighed, "Just what did they make here at the Medical Mechanica building? What did they do?"
The teacher stared at her for a few moments and Alice thought for those few moments, but it couldn't possibly be true, that the teacher had never been asked that question before. Finally the teacher shook her head, "Look. We have a limited amount of time here and do you really want to waste it asking ridiculous questions? Now if you can manage to come up with a real question, Alice, then I'll gladly answer you."
And that was that. The whole rest of the field trip, any time Alice put her hand up the teacher would simply ignore her.
"Huh," Naota almost laughed as he pulled up to the building. "It looks... exactly the same." He parked along the curb and put down the kickstand but he didn't get off his Vespa just yet. For a minute or two he just sat there taking it in.
Finally with a big breath he jumped off his motorbike and onto the sidewalk. "Ah! Could it be?" spoke a voice from behind the dirt coated shop window. Apparently whomever it was behind the window could see out at Naota but Naota could not see in at them. "Naota! It is you!" said the voice again and Naota now smiled as he recognized the voice.
"Hi dad, I didn't recognize your voice at first. Sounds much more gravelly than I remember," Naota replied.
"Ah well," Kamon said as he walked out the door of the shop to greet his son, "Years of smoking will do that to you. You've been gone a long time Naota."
Naota looked at his father for the first time in years and realized that he had indeed been away for a long time. Kamon's hair was still long and held back in a tail but it was noticeably receding in the front and flecks of gray were sprinkled throughout. "Come," Kamon motioned, "come give your father a hug and lets go inside to talk. I'll have the robot cook something up."
"Oh?" Naota almost laughed as he gave Kamon a hug and walked inside his old home, "Canti's still here is he?"
"Ah, yes indeed. The robot has been very useful in keeping the house from falling apart."
"I'm sure he has," Naota smirked knowing full well that all of the housework over the years had fallen on the robot.
Father and son sat down at dinner table and Kamon shouted, "Robot! Naota's come home! Why don't you make us some food?"
Canti's head poked into the room and his television face showed a large exclamation point appear on it before his head disappeared back around the corner. Naota assumed this meant surprise.
"So Naota," Kamon smiled from across the table, "just where have you been?"
"Around," Naota replied simply.
"Oh come now, you can tell me can't you?" Kamon leaned a little closer.
"Well its not a secret or anything I just don't feel..." Naota sighed, "I've been traveling."
"Traveling for nine years?"
"Yeah well, I couldn't stay."
"No, that's fine. You could have sent a postcard once in a while though."
Canti walked in at this point which immediately ended the conversation. The robot was bearing a tray with three bowls of curry. 'Ah curry, well doesn't that bring back memories?' Naota thought to himself. Canti started setting the table and Naota noticed something, "There's only three bowls. Does Canti not eat anymore like he used to?"
Canti and Kamon shared a look and both of them seemed suddenly rather sad. "I wanted to tell you Naota," Kamon said, "I really did. But, I didn't know where you were."
"Wanted to tell me what?" Naota was nervous now. He wasn't in the mood for bad news.
"Ah, I'm afraid that your grandfather has passed on."
"What? But... he was fine when I left."
"Naota... that was nine years ago. Three years ago Shigekuni was diagnosed with late stage skin cancer. We certainly didn't have the money for treatment and he refused to let us go into the debt so..." Naota was shocked and having trouble coming to terms with his grandfather's death. Kamon saw Naota's distress and tried to cheer him up, "Ah, but Naota come! We can't let news of a loved one's death cause us distress for he his in heaven now... or something like that. Either way, I'm hungry, you're hungry, so let's eat." Naota agreed and they started to dig in (Canti included).
Knock knock.
"I'm coming."
Knock knock.
"I'm coming!" Eri shouted as she pulled her long, oddly purple looking when its in the right light, hair into a tight bun and put on her glasses, which she now requires in adulthood.
Knock knock.
"Augh!" she muttered as she dashed quickly down the stairs and threw open the front door. "What is it then?" she asks the strange looking man on her doorstep. He wore large black hat completed by his dark, well ironed suit and a full beard that obscured most of his face and hung nearly to his belly but was well trimmed none the less. He looked almost exactly like one of those pictures she'd seen of those people in America called the Amish.
"Hello," he said in Japanese that sounded like it was his second language. Likely behind English if he really was Amish. What's an Amish doing in Mabase? "My name is Jebediah, and I'm visiting this town as a missionary of a sort," the man continued and thus, in Eri's mind, confirmed his identity as an Amish person because from what she'd heard they were all named Jebediah or Jacob.
"Alright... what do you want with me?" Eri asked, legitimately confused what this Jebediah could possibly want from her.
"Well I was simply wondering if you've accepted Lord Canti, God of the Black Flames into your heart."
She shook her head, "What?"
"I asked if you've accepted our Lord, Jesus Christ into your heart," Jebediah repeated.
"Oh I thought you... I mean... Uh, nevermind. I just... If I say yes will you go away?"
Jebediah shook his head sadly, "Ma'am fooly cooly is the only true way to happiness."
"What?" Eri jumped and took a step back.
The Amish man raised an eyebrow, "I said Jesus is the only true way to happiness."
"No you sa-" she shook her head, "I need a drink."
She started to close the door but the man stopped it with his foot, "Miss Ninamori it's very important that you listen to me."
Eri stopped and looked at the Amish man, now somewhat frightened, "How do you know my maiden name?"
"Maiden name? You've married on me?" Jebediah said, his voice now sounded different somehow. Familiar even. Before she could stop him he pushed open the door and stepped inside the house.
Jebediah stood there and looked around the house as Eri stared at him intently and tried, unsuccessfully, to figure out this odd man and just why he seemed so familar.
"So Ninamori... Oh I'm sorry, married, right. So what should I call you now then Eri?" Jebediah asked as he took of his hat and coat. Without the hat now she could see that the beard was fake.
"Just who are you?" she asked.
"You don't recognize me Eri? I'm hurt. I really am," the man said as he pulled his fake beard off. "How about now?"
Her eyes opened wider than they have in quite a while and were real life like a cartoon her jaw would have hit the floor. Minus cartoon physics acting upon her jaw it just hung open as she stuttered out, "N-naota?"
Naota smiled, "Long time no see." He takes a small step and somehow they were now centimeters from each other. The step had been tiny and the distance between them prior to the step had been at least a foot and a half and yet this is how it works out. His crotch started to grind softly into hers and she shivered as she tried to take a step back but his arms at some point wrapped around her and she was trapped in his embrace. "Eri..." he murmured softly, "I can't believe you got married on me..."
She was looking down, trying very hard not to look at his face. "I thought you were g... gone," a pause in the middle of her sentence as Naota's now hardening crotch continued to massage her nether regions. "I didn't think you would come... back."
"Well I actually hadn't planned on coming back," Naota said as his hand lifted Eri's eyes up to meet his, "and yet here I find myself all the same."
He kissed her and, try as she might, Eri could not find the will within her to resist him.
THE AUTHOR SPEAKS: So endeth Chapter two. I could have continued this chapter a little more but I thought this would be a good note to end it on. Don't you think so? Enjoy.