FLCL

various reasons, his brother always had been mature.

Naota couldn't forget the fire; it was near that burning school where he had first met Mamimi.

Mamimi Samejima…

I have to meet Mamimi today.

That was the real reason this long after-school meeting annoyed Naota.

Since the night the robot had emerged, Naota hadn't returned to Mabase Bridge once. Frankly, his need to meet with Mamimi was much stronger than before. The single thing on his mind, at home or at school, was Mamimi. At the same time, though, his heart still was conflicted. He got the feeling he shouldn't see her for a while. More than that, he was frightened of being with her again.

His heart wavered with the uncertainty of how he should act the next time he saw her. That strange night, he had planned to end their fuzzy relationship, but he hadn't found the chance to make his resolution a reality.

Today, he wanted to see Mamimi so much that he couldn't stand it—just a glimpse of her would be enough.

He hadn't been back to Mabase Bridge, but maybe she had gone there today, all alone. Maybe she was waiting for Naota to meet her there. No, she definitely was waiting, and he was going to see her. He had to go.

I need to see her!

Thus, Naota was infuriated by having to stay behind for this endless debate.

Please, finish already and let us go home. If I don't hurry, then Mamimi might leave.

'So, that was the terrible fire I'd witnessed. Next time, I'm going to show all of you the newspaper reports.'

Finally, the words signaling the end of his prison term reached his ears. The second his teacher said, 'Everyone, please be careful going home,' Naota already had jumped up, bag in hand.

Naota dashed out of the classroom at full speed, but he was hailed by Gaku and Masashi at their lockers.

'What's up, Naota? Why the hurry?' they asked. 'You busy?'

He could have said 'yes' and gone straight home; without thinking, a lie came out: 'No, not really.'

He wanted to hide the true reason that he needed to leave so quickly from his classmates. Therefore, he said the exact opposite of what he really wanted to say. He regretted his response the second he'd said it.

Gaku and Masashi were good friends of Naota. They all lived close to one another, so they often went home from school together.

Recently, that had become something of a concern for Naota, who wanted his classmates to know as little as possible about the time he'd been spending under the bridge with a high schooler. He didn't want to imagine the kinds of rumors that would spread if people knew a twelve-year-old boy was doing such things. His actions would be a capital offense to his friends, like giving up the secrets from a shared diary. Naturally, Naota didn't want to ruin his friendships over gossip, so he had taken great care to hide his meetings with Mamimi from his classmates.

Gaku and Masashi already had seen him with Mamimi several times now. He had explained to them she was just a girl he knew somewhat—but if they continued to see him with her time and again, then they probably would figure out that he had an unusual relationship.

'We're going to go look at the burned-down house,' Gaku said, referring to the remains from last night's fire.

'You'll come, right, Naota?' Masashi assumed.

'Of course,' Naota heard himself answer.

I don't want to go look at that kind of thing.

'Where are you going?'

Startled, he turned around to face the person who'd spoken behind him. It was Ninamori. She must have been standing there, listening to them.

'Don't loiter. Go straight home.'

'Busybody class president,' Masashi said.

Naota agreed Ninamori was a busybody, but in his heart, he pleaded that Gaku and Masashi would obey her for just this one day. Of course, praying didn't change anything.

Eventually, all four of them left the school gates together.

Disgruntled, Masashi asked why Ninamori was following them. Gaku then teased that there had to be a reason why the class president would want to be with them. A little annoyed, Ninamori grumbled about what he meant by that. Otherwise, though, it was quite a happy group.

Suddenly, Naota was given a start when he'd heard the familiar sound of a portable game.

No way! Seriously give me a break.

When he looked up in surprise, Mamimi stood by the front gates. Still in her school uniform, she was sitting on the asphalt, playing her handheld game.

This is the worst, Naota thought, sighing deeply. Mamimi's here.

He had wanted to see her so much, when they could be alone—not in front of other people, and certainly not in front of his classmates. How dare she inconsiderately come to his school like this? Now, Naota felt rage.

'Hey, Takkun.'

'What are you doing here—at my school?'

Just for once, think of other people, he wanted to say.

Naota's cold words were lost in the wind somehow, and Mamimi looked at him with her usual grin. She almost seemed to enjoy Naota's concern about what other people would think.

Ninamori, meanwhile, eyed Mamimi with suspicion. Her thoughts were written all over her face: 'Who's that girl acting all familiar with Naota? Dyed hair, red lips, sitting in the street, playing a portable game although she's already in high school—totally pathetic!'

'Who's that?' she asked.

'That's his wife,' answered Gaku.

'Yeah, he likes his women older,' Masashi added.

Naota heard the entire exchange. Embarrassed, he cursed himself for neglecting the evidence that his friends had been suspicious the entire time, after all.

'Are they going out?'

Gaku and Masashi snickered meaningfully. Knowing Ninamori had been paying attention to Naota, they were being pretty spiteful.

Naota tried to think of an excuse to get far away.

'Takkun, that looks cool,' Mamimi said innocently. 'It really suits you.'

Is that true?

She was talking about the bandana wrapped around Naota's head. As soon as she mentioned it, Naota tried to hide the bandana with his hands. He'd been wearing it the whole day.

He needed it now. Because a second horn had emerged.

It had happened the previous night.

Naota had woken up suddenly in the middle of the night, feeling like he couldn't move his arms or legs. It was as though he'd been tied up.

Vague fear immediately changed to very real alarm. He smelled some kind of drug and felt groggy. Is this the work of that person I heard about in school? he thought when he felt paralyzed. The one who ties up people?

Looking around, he saw Haruko in the dimness. She'd been sleeping in the top bunk, so it wasn't unusual for her to be in his room. However, she looked different than usual. For some reason, she was dressed all in white and was peering down at the motionless Naota.

'What are you doing?' Naota managed to get out.