FLCL

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Grumbling, the girl got up. 'Ugh! I should've died.'

'Ouch!' Ninamori winced as she touched her hand to her head in the spot it'd been hit. There was a large bump. She really did feel as though this day was the worst day of her entire life.

Gazing in front of her, Ninamori saw that Naota was still spread out on the ground and hadn't come around.

Could it be…? she wondered.

'Naota!' Clinging to Naota's body, the first thing Ninamori noticed—even before checking if he was okay or not—were the cat ears on his head. 'What are these?'

'Don't touch them!' the Vespa girl ordered.

'Eh?'

'An underage girl mustn't touch such things!'

Unfortunately, Ninamori was already firmly gripping the fluffy things protruding from Naota's head. She was the only girl in her class who would hold a snake or a lizard, so something like a pair of cat ears felt completely harmless to her.

Cat ears aside, who is this tall girl? Ninamori asked herself. Naota's housekeeper? Did she just run over Naota and me with her bike?

Haruko didn't seem the least bit flustered about knocking over Ninamori and Naota as she picked up Ninamori's curry bread and started biting into it happily. 'Hey, this is yummy!'

She's weird, Ninamori thought. I don't know who she is, but this girl is weird. She may be really, really dangerous. She doesn't act like an ordinary person at all.

'When are you going to let go of those?' Haruko asked.

Ninamori still had Naota's cat ears in her hands. They had a strange feel to them, but upon closer inspection, they were indeed growing straight out of Naota's head. Cat ears are growing out of Naota's head?

'What are these?' Ninamori inquired.

'Well, you've given me no choice now that you've seen them,' the tall girl said coldly, taking another bite.

Chapter 3

Three people riding a single Vespa headed through the darkness toward the Nandaba residence. Ninamori was on the rear of the motorbike, but not on the Vespa's seat, so she was forced to cling to Haruko, who was driving. They were traveling at an extremely fast speed, and to make matters worse, neither Ninamori nor Naota was wearing a helmet.

'If someone sees us, you're going to get written up,' Ninamori informed the driver.

'It'll be fine,' Haruko replied. 'I don't have a license.'

'Well, you've given me no choice now that you've seen them.' After Haruko Haruhara uttered that grim line, Ninamori had thought she was going to be eliminated for the sake of preserving Naota's secret. She'd pegged the Vespa girl for that kind of dangerous adversary.

Seizing the unconscious Naota by the collar, Haruko had made him stand up. After putting his fallen hat back on his head, she then proceeded to slap him violently a couple of times, out of the blue. It seemed as though this type of violence was typical for Haruko. When Naota finally had come to, she'd studied his neck closely and then laughed, saying that he'd been doing naughty stuff again.

'Shut up already,' Naota had muttered to the girl.

Such argumentative attitudes seemed to be standard between the two of them.

'Are you okay?' Ninamori had asked.

Naota had panicked and felt his head, worried that Ninamori had seen his cat ears. Not realizing his hat had come off earlier, he found that his hat was on his head and then, with an expression of fake concern, had asked if Ninamori was okay.

'Well, we ran her over, and it's not as if we can leave her. How about taking her in for a while?' Haruko suggested.

'Where are we going?' Ninamori asked.

'Takkun's house.' Haruko called Naota 'Takkun,' as did the high school girl who'd been waiting for Naota outside school the other day.

Takkun, Ninamori had whispered to herself.

Haruko had picked up the fallen Vespa. 'Get on.'

'Three people on the bike again?' Naota had complained. 'I thought your brakes were broken.'

'It isn't a problem. I'll make it listen to me this time. Hey, girlie, you too.'

'I…' Ninamori uttered.

'You're coming, aren't you? It's a shoddy bakery, but it's Takkun's home.'

It almost felt as if Haruko had decided for Ninamori after she'd read Ninamori's true feelings.

Long story short, Ninamori had ended up carrying three people on her scooter, heading for the Nandaba home. Ninamori hadn't been forced to go, though.

Well, I guess if I don't have anywhere else to go, I may as well go to Naota's, Ninamori had said to herself.

'I'll go,' she'd declared aloud.

'You're coming, too?' Naota had whined.

Somehow, Ninamori found Naota's peevish attitude cute. She already knew that his house was a bakery, as she'd been around Shigekuni Bread before. At the time, there hadn't seemed to be anyone around, and she hadn't ascertained whether it was still open for business; however, her purpose for being there hadn't been to buy bread, anyway.

When did I start noticing Naota? Ninamori tried to recall.

It wasn't as though Ninamori liked Naota—he was merely a boy she was interested in. He was sweet, cocky, and above all else, clever. She thought he was a special boy and deemed him a suitable friend for a special girl like herself.

Ninamori had become increasingly curious about Naota. He was different than the other boys and was rather mysterious. There were so many unsolved questions about him, though: the high school girl who'd waited for him at the school gate; his violent maid; and, if there was no mistaking what Ninamori had just seen, Naota had cat ears growing out of his head. Naota Nandaba had cat ears!

What was that? What happened? Ninamori wondered, hoping she could get to the bottom of it if she went to Naota's home.

All these questions whizzed through Ninamori's mind as she held onto Haruko, driving the scooter. Once Ninamori realized she'd completely forgotten all her own problems for a short while, she smirked.

When the trio reached the front of the Shigekuni bakery, Haruko screamed, 'Stop!' as she kicked the side of the Vespa with the heel of her boot. As if surprised, the Vespa stood up on its back tire, doing a wheelie of sorts, before it suddenly came to a halt. It almost seemed as if the Vespa had listened to Haruko.

Naota and Ninamori thought Haruko's driving was haphazard at best, and although her method of stopping the bike seemed abnormal, it didn't occur to them that it completely ignored the laws of physics in the third dimension.

Breathing in the strong smell of curry permeating the shop, Naota complained that he didn't want to eat the previous day's leftovers.

'You'll eat.' Without waiting for an answer, Haruko pushed Ninamori into the living room.

Ninamori, who had nowhere to go for a while, was grateful for the offer.

Gathered around the table were people who seemed as though they could be Naota's father and grandfather.