FLCL Fan Fiction ❯ Hybrid Rainbow ❯ A Boy, An Alien, and a Vespa ( Chapter 1 )

NOTE: It would kick ass if I owned FLCL, but I don't, which I'll admit sucks. Anyway, enjoy my Cont. fic, Hybrid Rainbow. It's been awhile since I've written anything (five months to be exact) so I may not have as much flavor in my writing like I used to have, but I hope you like it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Hybrid Rainbow

 

“A Boy, An Alien, and a Vespa”

 

 

 

 

I lost him again because of you Ta-kun. We couldn't pull it off. Wanna come along?

 

Naota didn't know what to say, but as if he wasn't already at a loss for words. Not moments ago, he was caught in a battle for the world, the next thing he knew, he had become the Pirate King himself and he almost killed Haruko with his own hands. Before he could do so, he told her the one thing he thought he'd never say at his age, nevermind to her…

 

I love you.

 

Even now, he could still faintly feel her ripe, warm lips on his. So what if it wasn't her first time? Or his? It was their moment, when it really meant something. When they didn't just kiss each other. They almost merged, like a jigsaw puzzle gone right.

 

Right now, she sat proudly upon her Vespa, levitating against the setting sun in all her glory. Naota couldn't help but realize how noble she looked, like a hero from another generation, no. Something greater, more beautiful, more terrible.

 

She looks like…

 

 

…God.

 

Her name whispered in his head, like a soothing autumn breeze you only experience once every painstaking year. Haruko: Child of Spring. Whenever he heard it, Naota always imagined her sitting in a field of flowers, the wind-caught petals dancing wildly around her face. Like she'd ever be that peaceful for a split second.

 

Know what? Forget it. 'Cause you're still a kid, Ta-kun. Save it for next time.

 

He looked on while she sped away from Mabase, past the smoke the city was immersed in, into the sky, over the stars, and who knows where. He stood there among the ruins of Medical Mechanica, with her Rickenbacker bass in hand. He gazed into the crimson clouds, and realized little too late, he did want to come. It was like he once said to himself:

 

When you're in a town like this all covered with smoke, you forget that there's a world outside. Nothing amazing happens here. And you get used to that, used to a world where everything is ordinary. Every day we spend here is like a whole lifetime of dying slowly. But now Haruko is here. That's how I know there really is a world outside.

 

He really did want to come along. Just to see the world outside.

 

It must be pretty.

 

***~Three Years Later~***

 

It took some time and effort, and it required a lot of part-time jobs in the city, but money was made and collected, and before he knew it, fifteen-year-old Naota had himself a brand new, flaming red Vespa of his own. The owner of the scooter shop was skeptical at first, but surprisingly Naota had grown a lot during the past three years. His round, small head had narrowed, and his sea-blue eyes gave off an intriguing, mature light. His hair was still as untidy as ever, but he liked for the most part. His chin became sharper and was more defined, though still no stubble yet. Hey, what could a kid do? Not that it was needed, being that he already passed off as a high school junior, a nice one with a license, an exceptional portfolio all set for a good college, and a girlfriend to match. He didn't have any of those things, although he was doing particularly well as a freshman. Last marking period, he received almost all A's on his report card. Except for a B in Phys. Ed. “As if I'll need it later in life,” Naota would scoff to his dad whenever he scolded him about it. Whenever he looked in the mirror in the mornings, Naota would grimace at his reflection. “You look like your brother,” he'd mumble angrily. He hated himself for this. At least Mamimi wasn't around anymore to see him like this; she wouldn't keep her tobacco-laced fingers off of him.

 

Naota sat upon the scorching leather seat of his new “steed” and gingerly wrapped his hands around the handlebars. He always wanted to ask Haruko how it worked, how she took off into the wind on a “regular” Vespa. He sped through his memories back to the night she taught him how to hit a ball.

 

Yeah, yeah, that's the right stance. But, you have to swing the bat! Hit it into the sky. Don't hold back. Before he swings the bat, a real slugger imagines an arc inside his heart, arching directly to Heaven. There. That star would make a perfect target.

 

Naota took it to heart and surveyed the dusk sky above him. It took him awhile to find one, but he finally set his sights on a single star burning in the dark. “Let's hope I can take your word for it, Haruko,” he whispered. On that note, he kick-started his Vespa to life and revved the engine twice. He had already locked his target and he was never taking his eyes off of it. With that, he rolled forward and kept picking up speed while he stared mercilessly at the star above.

 

I'm coming.

 

40 mph, 50 mph, 60 mph… Naota could feel the wind pressing against his goggles and they squished his temples in. Still, he squinted for that one star… the end of the hill he was on drew closer.

 

I'm coming.

 

The cliff passed under his wheels and he prepared for the worst. But, it didn't happen. No gut-wrenching feeling that he got whenever he fell from a high place or whooshing wind blowing up his face.

 

Just…clouds, then sky, then…. Space.

 

Naota felt like he was stuck in a dream. In mere seconds he was out of Earth and into a place where few are lucky enough to venture into. “This is impossible. I'm dreaming. No, I'm dead. I have to be. I'm dead.” He saw that the vastness inhabiting Space didn't feel so vast. Row after row of stars and planets crammed up the darkness around him. Naota was overcome with awe. He felt sick, weightless, and his hands felt like they were aflame. He checked and saw that they weren't, but they were bleeding at the fingertips. “Damn it” he hissed. He watched as a drop of his blood fell up and drifted further into Space. Naota could barely fathom it. That little drop of blood, something that was once part of him, it's just going to keep floating up. It'll never find the top of the universe. Just more space. Naota looked further down and saw his feet were reflecting a blue light. He peeked over his shoulder and let out a gasp.

 

Earth. Below his feet. He studied it with precision. There was… there was…

 

…Nothing.

 

No war, no death, no pestilence, no hunger, no suffering, no hurricanes or earthquakes, no anything. It was simply a giant ball. Just green and blue and wisps of white. A whole world, hidden by the steam that shrouded Mabase like an evil force field. It was exactly as Naota had imagined for years, ever since Haruko came to town.

 

Hey, it is pretty.

 

He left his moment of meditation over planet Earth and looked back at his star. It was miles from where he was, but he didn't care. What ever it took, no matter how long he would have to wander, he would travel with all the life he had in him. Funny how one girl was making him do this, even if she wasn't watching him? Still, it takes an idiot to do cool things. That's what makes it cool. Naota revved his engine again and turned towards the star he'd targeted back on Earth.

 

I'm coming, Haruko.

 

He put the pedal to the metal and launched into the dark. Naota, the human shooting star.

 

 

**********

 

 

Whew! My eyes are burning… Anyway, let's make a deal. The more you review, the sooner I put up the next chapter, `kay? See you on the next chapter of Hybrid Rainbow: Runner's High!