FLCL Fan Fiction ❯ Noata (Moon-Walker Through Space and Time) ❯ Naota's Green Dad, A Boxing Match, and Three Guitars ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

At my house my dad actually started acting like he used to.

Thanks to those old times being long gone I was totally not used to it.

I was really scared. He actually started flipping out like he did when Haruko was around. Of course, it wasn't as bad as it was then, but it was still really weird. And dumb. Just because stupid Ninomori came, it isn't as if she hasn't visited before (course I think then things were weird at our house too). Just like last time, though, Ninomori was entirely calm through-out the whole thing. I think she's gone back to her normal, boring, plain self.

But maybe I give her too little credit.

Canti loves to serve us strange food and even if he's always lurking, it's as if it's second nature for me to tune him out. This time was different though, you know why? Because I can tell things are starting to change, maybe revert a little back to their previous weirdness. Even Ninomori's entirely flat and bored expression can't change my mind about one thing. Nothing is nearly as routine as before. I can tell by the way dad's doing the mexican hat dance on the table.

At least...that's what I THINK he's doing...

"LA CUKARACHA!! LA CUKARACHA--"Canti puts his metal hands overmy dad's mouth, his throaty, hoarse, extremely irritating voice is put to a stop. But that doesn't change the fact there's a stick of butter in my face. Thanks to my dad kicking up random plates of food at me while he did his ridiculous dance. I immediately begin throwing wads of mashed potatoes at him. I think my system's gone a little haywire.
"GET OFF THE TABLE!! QUIT BEING SUCH A PSYCHO!" He only blinks at me blankly and Canti struggles more to keep Dad still.
"FOOLY COOLY FOOLY COOLY!!! Donctcha know what it means, Ta-kun?" my dad cried insanely, pushing Canti away, his big mouth now free to do what it does best. Irritate the living HELL out of me.
I hate it. Even my DAD'S calling me by it now. Ta-kun. I haven't heard that name for so long. For some reason it hurts. I didn't even know I could FEEL anymore...course, that one time, I felt excitement. Maybe I can feel pain now too?

Which suddenly brings me to thinking about Mom for some inexplicable reason. I suppose, the only explaination is that, something I didn't care about at all before, now hurts too? Ninomori's starts staring at me, just when the thought comes. At that moment I realize how bizarrely out of wack everything is. I mean, I just pegged my dad with a whole bunch of clods of mashed potatoes.
"WELLLLL, YOU'RE the main character!" my dad rants on, with his usual insane grin. I notice Canti smoking in the corner, where dad must have pushed him. For some reason my head really hurts. Really, REALLY hurts. "WHAT is fooly cooly? WHAT is it? WHAT IS FOOLY COOLY?!" Suddenly, I can't take it anymore. The pain is too much in my head, small beads of sweat clinging desperately to my flesh. I grasp on to the table for dear life feeling as if I'll be lifted, clear off the ground. In a moment I realize, I'm screaming.
Canti is at his feet, I notice, my vision blurred, my eyes partially cloed in the pain, Ninomori looking at me with that infurioratingly calm expression, Dad smirking with insane, widened eyes my way. Something strikes me as odd--different about my dad--not like things aren't totally weird now, not in the weird way he acted when Haruko was around--but as if...he's an entirely different person.
Right when this is flashing through my brain like lightening, hurtling to what I clearly see is a tall cliff over looking the ocean--which is dense in cold, the pain is so scalding hot and extreme, I feel faint, and it's now all I know. I'm only dreaming now, like In was before,. The black ocean slamming agains the cliff. I clearly see myself. I'm holding a guitar.It lifts slowl off the dark soil, upright in the air, against the yellow sky. Haruko's guitar. SLAM!!! It hurtles straight into my skull. I'm knocked down and hit what I think is the sea, only it's hard, really hard, and cold.
Slowly the ocean and yellow sky disapear from me and I see several blurs up above. I see my dad. And a hand. It's growing. Right above my eyes, now an arm comes into view. I see Ninomori, still staring calmly, and I see Canti, whos boxing with my dad. No, they're seriously boxing--boxing gloves--the ring--you name it. My dad's skin's green. I don't give it a second thought, as I see a shoulder immerging into view, that's when I realize, a person's come out of my head. His head pops up suddenly and I realize at that moment some of what's going on. The man with green skin fighting--that's not my dad--he's a fake, the man coming out of my head--HE'S my real father. Without further notice, his full figure jumps from my skull and stands before me with a pleasent smile. I look up blankely without a second thought.
"FOOLY COOLY!!!" I roll my eyes. The difference between my dad and the fake isn't a big one. My real dad starts making a dash toward the boxing ring where Canti and the fake, green dad are duking it out. I don't really think about it at the moment, all I do is lean forward, resisting the strong urge to vomit--I feel really sick right now, and I hold my head which is covered with icy sweat. I look up, everything's jumbled together, I feel like I'm going to go unconcious, I can't make out one clear thing, everything's spinning around me. Suddenly, I see it, something violet, purple...and white...am I dying is it an angel?
"Is this heaven?" I inquire, feeling vomit in my mouth and starting to doubt my assumption, "...is this hell? You're not pretty enough to be an angel are you?" I ask the strange figure before me. Something familiar hits my head. Suddenly my vision is clear. It's Ninomori standing in front of me and boy does she look angry. But she also appears very odd to me, holding Haruko's guitar, the one the one Haruko left behind, that's what she hit me with, the pain registers as an eeire deja-vou once I recognize the familiar weapon in her hands. The lavender light bouncing off her purple hair as she kneels down and hands it to me with that fierce, brave expression on her face that I finally recognize. At that moment I know what Ninomori has been screaming at me with her silence all along. "I WILL GET THROUGH!!" she screams in her quiet, cutting through all the clatter which sounds far more soundless and insignificant all around. My eyes are seemingly fused with her gray ones, "I WILL BE BRAVE!! DESPITE ALL THE CRAP THAT'S HAPPENED TO ME! WHETHER MY PARENTS GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ME OR NOT, I WILLMAKE IT THROUGH." You know what? I never thought her to have hardly any emotion at all. Now I realize, she's the most emotional person of all, and, perhaps the most noble, she keeps all her suffering inside, just to make people like me free of the burden. She takes it all on. By herself.
Inspired by her strength of spirit that I suddenly can sense, I stand up, almost awed. She hands me the blue guitar it stings my flesh, red hot, in my hands. Her eyes always dig into me, but now they pierce me so fiercely I wonder if I'll be dead after this. It's clear what she knows, and what she's indicating to me with her gaze and her soundless speech as she hands me the guitar. The statement, actions speak louder than words is a lie. Actions speak. Words, are silent. I think that's the truth.
Somehow, the silence or meaninglyess soudn gets to me and I find the freedom to look away, my hands clasped tightly around the neck of Haruko's guitar. But you know what? It's MINE. I see my dad kicking the living crap out of the green one and Canti trying to pull him away. Finally, my dad's punched by Canti and the false dad stimultaneously and is sent flying, he crashes into the left wall of the kitchen which is half rubble now. Canti pins the ingenuine dad on the ground he stands over him, his prescence filled with purpose. I know he has to destroy the green clone. I'm not sure why. But he does. I know what CAN destroy him, the ONLY thing.
"Canti!" I cry, holding up my guitar as high as I can. "Do you need this?" The robot looks over from his target for a moment at the instrument, but his gaze falls upon me. He shakes his square head readily, and suddenly I'm pretty certain what he means to do as he approaches the edge of the ring, looking at me.
"No! Not again!" I shout, backing away a litte. He means to eat me. Again. Ninomori looks on with her same expression. All this oddness and confusion, only seems to make her more intent on being the same Ninomori. But when the robot hops over the outer ring and walks quietly towared me, I can already tell he's attempting something else. He puts his metal hand firmly on my face, I shriek loudly, but I'm not afraid when he lifts me off the ground. I feel something very strange come over me when he does this, all along that small restlessness inside me, mulitplying, growing until I can't possibly ignore it, or keep it tame any longer. At that moment, my stmoach feels like it's being tugged on with extreme force and someone's trying to force it out my mouth, when I fall to the ground, feeling numb all over and some sense of satisfaction. I look up, seeing what looks like something off star trek in Canti's hands, like...a power ball or something.
"A spirit?" Ninomori says in awe and bewilderment. That seems like the most reasonable explaination by the looks of it. Of course, I HAVE my spirit still...don't I? Suddenly, the transparent, glowing...thing in Canti's hand starts to take shape into something. When I recognize it, I'm astounded. A red electric guitar. I'm starled out of my wits when it immediately becomes solid and Canti hurtles in toward me, instictively, I hold out the blue guitar in my hand as a shield. A loud booming sound, like a giant guitar string being plucked is heard and echoes through out the house...maybe throughout the country. I'm sure my ears'll be ringing tomorrow morning still... I look down at my arm, realizing it feels entirely numb only to discover sparks of electricity are traveling up an down it, and, to an incredibly huge rush of excitement and amazement, I realize in my hand is a tie-dye guitar of red and blue, pulsating with an extrodinary glow.
"Wow..." Ninomori whispers looking at the guitar with an expression like mine. She frowns a little and I look at her, why is she frowning? Doesn't she see how UNDENIABLY COOL this is?
"How come only HE gets one?" she demands, her hands suddenly at her hips, I am about to explain to her that I'm the special one, the only one who had things come out of their head and what-not, when she continues, "I'm going too, aren't I?" Going where? What the hell? Am I getting this...to...TAKE somewhere? But I NEVER go anywhere...except that one time when my and Haruko traveled together, but besides that never have I gone anywhere but this place. Ninomori and Canti stare at one and other for a long time. Suddenly, one of Canti's hands is at Ninomori's purple hair and it promptly pulls one out of her scalp succeeding in a pained yelp from her. "Ow!" she cries, with a glare the meta-mechanica's way. But our confused looks suddenly turn into amazed ones again when Canti starts pulling on her purple strand of hair from either end, and makes it grow a few feet long. And suddenly, after twisting it, pulling it, morphing it, tieing it up in random confusing knotts that I vaguely remember from boy scouts, I am dumb-founded and almost dead pan at the very idea of what the strand of hair turns into. A guitar. A PURPLE guitar.
She takes it from Canti, carefully, her shocked and awed face turning into a smirking, triumphant one as she looks over her new gift. I still think mine looks cooler. And what as all that cock and bull I thought about her being special and noble? Pah!

She's just bratty and selfish. Just selfish. ...Course...Haruko was selfish too...

I REALLY hate myself, why must I think like this anyway? As if they're anything alike...as if...I...

...still CARE about Haruko. I don't. I'm positive I don't.

And Ninomori and Haruko are nothing alike either!