FLCL Fan Fiction ❯ It's All About Haruko, Baby ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

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Chapter 1
Day 1

After the stream of urine had stopped flowing, Naota scooped up Haruko (who was still clutching onto her toy) and carried her to the back of the ship, practically praying that there was some sort of thing in the back that could help his cause. All he saw was a bed and a dresser. It would have to do.

He laid Haruko down on the bed and she asked in an obnoxiously cute manner, “Is it nap time?” He ignored her for the moment and opened the top drawer of the dresser. He didn’t look inside, instead keeping an eye on the baby (who now had her thumb jammed into her mouth as she lay down, pretending to sleep). He pulled something out and turned to look at it before turning red as a cherry in embarrassment when he realized he was holding one of Haruko’s bras. Naota quickly stuffed it back inside the drawer, then opened the next one down and pulled out a T-shirt. Deciding it would work for now, he placed her inside it with her legs sticking out from the arm holes and the rest of her inside, he then took the part that was covering the girl and shoved it inside of itself, covering the neck hole and for all intents and purposes creating a diaper.

“He he he, again, again!” she chirped, amused by what she perceived to be some sort of magic trick.

“I’m gonna go right now, but I’ll be right back,” Naota tells her.
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Who could help with Haruko? That question was on Naota’s mind as he walked through the streets of Mabase. His family? In a word, no. Considering the attitudes of his father and grandfather (especially the former) he didn’t like the idea of leaving Haruko with them. Kanti? Probably wouldn’t be keen on the idea of having to deal with Haruko yet again, and Haruko’s reaction upon her return to normal would probably involve many things exploding. A neighbor? He couldn’t think of anyone in town who would be willing to keep the secret. The police? Didn’t like the idea of Haruko being with them when she returned to normal; could cause her to freak out when she returned to normal, and could also result in explosions and smacks upside the head with a guitar for all.

“Hmm...” he muses while not watching where he’s going, bumping heads with someone. He looks to see that it is, coincidentally, Eri.

“Something on your mind?” she asked; she really had changed a lot since the scandal ordeal, and everyone could tell. She no longer had that aurora as though you were beneath her when you talked to her, instead being very easily approachable and basically a normal kid. The fact that she was the mayor’s daughter now seemed more like a small fact rather than the thing she was most well known for.

“Just... thinking about something.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Well... you remember Haruko?”

“Yeah.”

“She showed up a little bit ago and told me that she was going to be busy with something and needed a favor. She left me her... uh... niece, who also happens to be named Haruko. And you can imagine how it’d go if I left it up to Dad...” It was a lie made up right off the top of his head, but it seemed to do the trick.

“So, you don’t know what to do, right?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“Well, you’re in luck, because my mom happened to make sure I learned all that stuff.”

“Huh? When did that happen?”

“Some inspiring anime artist showed up for a week about two years ago and brought his family along. He had some ideas for him doing anime shorts to introduce people to the local businesses in return for getting some free advertisements for his other work around town. Anyway, he brought along a one-year-old daughter and I helped to look out for her while him and his wife were busy going through negotiations because my mom wanted me to. Said it was important I learned how to do these things then in case the need ever arose.”

“That’s convenient.” Naota turned and led the way, all the while thinking to himself how inconvenient it was that now not only was he going to have to deal with being around Haruko again, but Eri as well, who he was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable around... in a good way.
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“What’s with the ship?” Eri asked as the two got to the point where it was plainly in view.

“She left it behind. She left in an escape pod so she could cover her tracks effectively.” It was beginning to disturb Naota with how good he was getting at making up lies off the top of his head.

“So, did she happen to leave any supplies? You know, bottles, food, diapers, toys, clo-“ the girl was suddenly interrupted by a loud shriek from inside the ship. The two rushed in, closing the door behind them, and ran to the room where the crying was coming from. When they got in there, they saw Haruko lying on the bed, flailing her limbs all about while lying on the bed, screaming her head off.

Eri instinctively scooped her up and put her over her shoulder, rocking the young girl back and forth and causing the crying to cease enough for Haruko to stutter out in between tears, “–m-me p-p-pee-pee again.”

“Well, that didn’t make long,” Eri mumbled before laying the toddler down and going to work in removing the shirt-diaper. Naota stood facing the other way, partly out of disgust and partly out of shame of having to put Eri through all of this. Eri finished up doing what she could given the materials at hand, then said to Naota, “Sit here and watch her. I’ll go buy some stuff she’ll need. I don’t think we’ll need many clothes for her, and she can sleep in the bed, so all we’ll really need’s some food and some diapers since she looks old enough to use a cup.”

Naota blushed, thankful he was facing the other way; it was bad enough having to come to these realizations all on his own, but having someone else, his de facto girlfriend of all people, tell him this was just too much. He lay down on the bed as Eri turned and walked away, stuffing his face into a pillow. The naked two-year-old sitting at the foot of the bed crawled up and lay next to him, draping one arm over him and saying, “Night night, Nota.” What she meant as an innocent comment to someone she perceived to be a big brother-like figure, he took as a declaration of war between the Haruko he knew and this newer, younger, innocent Haruko.