Nandaba Naota

Personal Information
Name: Tsumi
Age: 24
Personal Journal: tseutsumi
Email / AIM / MSN / Plurk: Plurk: tseutsumi | AIM: tseutsumi
Current Character(s): Jaime Reyes, Jake Long, Captain Hazama, Daisuke Motomiya

Character Information
Character Name: Naota Nandaba
Fandom: FLCL


Character history: Naota has lived in the town of Mabase with his Father, Mother, Brother, and Grandfather since he was little. They own a bakery and live out of it. It was when Naota was young that his mother disappeared suddenly. His Father spent some time walking up and down the river, presumably looking for her. He brought home a small cat they named Miyu Miyu and life went on as normal. Some time later Naota's older brother, Tasuku, went to America to play in the minor baseball leagues. Because of this a lot of weight was left to Naota as he took the place of his brother on his Grandfather's baseball team and began to hang out with Mamimi, his brother's possible ex-girlfriend. Mamimi would use Naota as a replacement for Tasuku and relieve some of her sexual frustration and stress with Naota by antagonizing him and playing with his ears. This continued for some time until one day Naota's life changed forever with the arrival of the Vespa Woman.

Episode One: Fooly Cooly
It was on the day after school that Naota was hanging out with Mamimi by the river. They were talking about things such as why Naota didn't play baseball and why Mamimi hung out by the river. They went to grab a drink and Mamimi picked it before Naota, choosing a sour drink. He reminded her she didn't like them but she gave it to him anyway. It was after she called him Chief, the same nickname she gave his brother, and gave him the drink. He was going to tell her about the new girlfriend his brother had in America; before he could tell her though, she appeared; the Vespa woman. She came out of nowhere and hit him with her yellow Vespa and knocked him out. He was unconscious while Mamimi and the pink haired girl talked before the Vespa woman gave him mouth to mouth to being him back to "life".

It was as he was coughing and waking up that the Vespa woman took her guitar and smacked him again, nearly knocking him out. She grabbed him and shook him, wanting something to come out but it didn't. Mamimi saved him from getting hit again. He yelled at the woman and asked what she did to him. She just said he was useless and drove off after he asked her what she was talking about. Later that night a strange large bump appeared on his forehead. He found he could press it in as long as he held it. He put a bandage on it to keep it in.

The next day at school he was told by his friends about the Vespa woman. They said she would sting people and leave a demon mark to prove they had been doing perverted things. His friends thought the mark left by Mamimi was the sting and what was under the bandage was his demon mark. It was after school he decided to go to the hospital to get it checked out. It was at the railroad crossing along the way he ran into the Vespa woman again.

She was measuring his head and began to ask him if something happened after she left. He denied it and she wanted to see what was under his bandage but before she could get anything out of him, Naota took off. He was at the hospital and the nurse kept making up fake syndromes. He was blind folded and couldn't see the nurse but once her voice changed, he took it off and saw it was the Vespa woman. Turned out she had taken a nurse's outfit and tied her up. Naota escaped the woman and ran home.

Later that night he got a call from Mamimi by the river. She wanted to show him the pictures she took but he said he was busy and didn't want to. He hung up on her and went up to his room. He fell asleep for a few hours until dinner was ready. He went downstairs to eat and found the Vespa woman was there. Turned out she had hit his dad with her yellow Vespa and would now be their live-in housekeeper. It was then he learned her name was Haruko.

Haruko said she spotted Naota making out with Mamimi and his father began to freak out about him Fooly Coolying with Mamimi. A long series of puns ensued while Naota watched until Haruko said she and Naota were Fooly Coolying together. His Father again freaked out and tried to pull off his bandage. Naota went to take a shower, angry at his family. He found Haruko talking to no one in his room and was annoyed she went into his room without permission. They began to talk. Naota wanted to know who she was and she said she was an alien. She began to ask him about what was under his bandaid. They went back and forth, until he yelled at her to go stay with his Father since she came to his house with him. She pouted and said he was the first she saw. He blushed and told her she couldn't sleep on the top bunk since it was his brother's. Naota decided to sleep in the front room since she decided to sleep in his bunk.

He found his Father still awake downstairs and they started to talk about Haruko and then Mamimi since she stopped by to drop off the pictures and buy some of the old bread they had on sale. Naota took off to go see her. He found her on the bridge and they began to talk about Mamimi and his brother. She listed off a bunch of things she liked as much as his brother and began to cuddle up to Naota again. It was then he told her about his American girlfriend and Mamimi grabbed her head and said she was going to overflow. It was then the Medical Meccanica plant began to glow and sound an alarm. At the same time something began to happen to Naota's head as the horn grew larger and two robots came bursting form his head; one was a red robot that would be come to be known as Canti and the other was a giant hand robot.

Canti and the hand robot fought each other on the bridge with Naota stuck to Canti. After Canti dispatched the hand robot, Haruko appeared on the scene. She started her guitar and came down on Canti, smacking him hard in the head, breaking the back of it, and he turned blue. Naota stared at Haruko in wonder and mumbled the word; wow. And from that point on he would regret it as for that moment, she looked like his brother. Mamimi was left asleep on the ground, Haruko continued to look around for someone, which left Naota stuck to the KO'd robot.

The next day the horn was gone and they gained yet another housemate. Naota left Canti to Haruko, who was teaching him to help in the bakery. Naota ran and met up with Mamimi. At the end she handed him a sour drink and though he hated it, he drank it down.

Episode Two: Firestarter
It was a bit longer that another set of horns appeared. Naota had them hidden behind a sweatband like hat. He went to school and found Mamimi waiting outside his school. It was then the rumor began spreading that Mamimi was his wife. It was later Haruko took some X-Rays of Naota's head with Canti. Naota's brain was no where to be seen and the new horns were in front and back of his head. They began to argue about why the robot was there, about whose fault the horns were, about her Vespa causing all of this, and about how Naota was connected to Medical Meccanica.

It was the next day Naota caught his Dad using the robot outside. Naota was angry because he didn't want the neighbors to see, though his dad didn't seem to care too much. Haruko asked what Naota's dad was talking about and Naota just responded that his Dad had written a book about the mysteries of everything. Haruko brought up that there had been a lot of fires lately. Later Naota found Mamimi with a new kitten by the river. She named the kitten Ta-kun. They started to talk about the god of black fire; Canti. She asked if Naota wanted to hang out but he declined, saying he was busy. She commented he was always busy and he said he was because he had so many people to take care of and left.

It turned out he had to go to the Medical Meccanica factory. Naota got there in time to smack a depraved security guard from looking up Haruko's skit by smacking him in the head with a toy figure box. He was asked if he was related to Haruko and said there was no relation since he was from Earth. Haruko then told them Naota was her guardian and that he had custody of her. She was glad Naota came to get her and took her for a ride on her Vespa. They went out to the beach together, though Haruko's driving left something to be desired.

That night Mamimi came over with pictures of Canti. They began to talk about Canti and why Mamimi wasn't allowed in the house. She said she saw Canti at the 7 Eleven reading Hustler. Canti came down from the sky, carrying the goodies he had been sent to get. Naota threatened to chain Canti down if he kept going out but the next day the robot did anyway.

Naota went with his friends to the burned down boat house that had been burned down the day before. No one was sure who burned down the boat house so they all continued their walk. On one of the bridges they spotted Mamimi drying off her clothes. Some other girls had bullied her and tossed her into the river, which was how she lost her shoes. Seeing Mamimi like that hurt Naota, making him feel incredibly sorry for her. It was by this point he was developing a strong crush on his brother's ex. On the way to Mamimi's house, she dropped her Firestarter game and realized then that it was Mamimi that had been starting the fires.

It was soon after Naota lost Mamimi that another fire broke out along the riverbank. It was the Naota realized that when the Elementary school burned down six years ago, that it was when Mamimi and his brother first met. He found Mamimi at the old school house and told her she dropped her game. Mamimi was preforming some sort of ritual. Canti was there, collecting more pieces of his broken head. They started to talk about the burned down school and how it never truly went away. When Mamimi tried to kiss Canti it set Naota's horns off. They began to grow, even bigger than before. A new robot emerged from the boy's head, a big robot with a massive arm. Naota was flung into Haruko's Vespa and was run over again, knocking him away. Canti and Haruko tried to fight the robot by themselves but it didn't work out too well for either of them.

Naota came to see the fight and raced to push Mamimi out of the way of a falling Canti. He saved her just in time before Canti was grabbed by the monster. It was then Canti channeled the powers of the Pirate King and ate Naota. With Naota acting as the catalyst, Canti could fully channel the power of the Pirate King and fire his Overdrive Cannon. With its power, Canti was able to take out the robot's arm, which left it open for Haruko to finish off. There was a massive explosion but Canti got everyone out okay. It was then he passed Naota out of his body and returned to his blue form. The police and fire fighters were on their way. Haruko wanted to run but Naota couldn't hear them. All he could do was stare at Mamimi and decided he would stay by her side forever.

Episode Three: Marquis de Carabas
It wasn't long after that the Mayor was involved in a scandal and a divorce at the same time. Naota was friends with the Mayor's daughter, Ninamori. At the same time, roles for the school play had been assigned and Naota had been given the role of Puss in Boots, the second lead. It was around this time a pair of cat ears had appeared on his head. The morning he was yelling at Haruko to clean her stuff out of his room while she was working on her Vespa. He tried to leave but she gave him a rough hug. She was able to get his hat off and began to play with the ears, turning Naota's limps into noodles.

She picked on him about having curry for dinner and insisted she'd buy him Little Prince Curry brand. Naota made sure to make it to school late so he could avoid before school rehearsal. That day at school, Naota was passed the mini-zine his father wrote. The teacher discovered it and apparently what was in it caused her to ban outside reading material. Inside was a story about the Mayor and his scandal, which the teacher insisted was impolite to Ninamori. Naota decided to skip rehearsal after school, despite everything.

That day Mamimi was wearing a cat hat and drew whiskers on her face. She was happy that Naota was hanging out with her. They talked about plays and how she enjoyed them. She pulled off Naota's hat and discovered the cat ears underneath. She began to play with the ears, saying she loved his head and what kept coming out of it. She was glad he had saved her though Naota said he couldn't remember anything about what had happened after he was swallowed by Canti.

Naota found Ninamori hanging out downtown like a delinquent. They started talking about the trouble her dad was in. She wanted to take Naota somewhere but he didn't want to as he was still upset about the play. He had been waiting for Haruko, who came on the scene, caused a traffic accident and swerved to miss a cat. The Vespa hit Naota and sent him slamming his head into Ninamori. Naota was knocked unconscious by the hit and didn't wake up until they got back to his house.

Again, they had curry and Naota's was spicy, making him hate it. They had dinner with Canti, the family, and Ninamori. There was fighting at the table about Haruko's cooking and no matter what they brought up, Ninamori didn't think it was a big deal. Naota's father invited Ninamori to stay the night since she was hit by the Vespa. His Dad called the Mayor and his wife to make sure she could stay the night.

Naota found Ninamori in his room, wearing his pajamas that were too small for her. She was wearing glasses and she told him she wore contacts. He said she was hiding things and she retorted to look who was talking. They agreed to not tell people at school and not to hang out with him for a while. He leaned on her on accident and got embarrassed before jumping away. She then told him she saw his ears. He got more embarrassed as they talked about his ears and why he had to play the cat. It turned out Ninamori rigged the votes for she would play the lead and so he would play the cat. She began to compare him and her to the story. It then turned out Haruko was listening from the top bunk the entire time. She kept talking about how she was tricking Naota and kept saying how she was always there, sleeping above Naota every night.

The next day Naota had fallen asleep in school around rehearsals. He woke up with Haruko kissed him. She gave him curry for lunch. He tried to leave but Ninamori wouldn't let him leave. They got into an argument about the play. She wanted him to stay while he didn't want to because it was for little kids. She exposed his ears and he exposed that she cheated. It was then the Medical Meccanica plant went off again only this time the ears transferred to Ninamori and the machine popped out of her head but not completely. She was still attached to it and was using her to fight Canti. Haruko tried to fight it with a ukelele but it didn't work.

Haruko and Canti took off to the roof with Ninamori and Naota in tow. Naota was hanging onto Ninamori, trying to get her free from the monster. Despite his protests, the two wouldn't stop attacking his classmate. He was knocked into the air and Haruko knocked him away. His curry spilled out of his backpack and the monster ate it. As Naota flew through the air, Canti jumped down and caught Naota in his mouth, eating him again. The monster, thanks to the curry, spat the girl out. This allowed Canti to blast it with his Overdrive Cannon and destroyed the monster.

Naota decided to play the part of the cat finally. Ninamori's father wasn't prosecuted and her parents didn't get a divorce. She stayed in their class and they preformed the play together. It also turned out her glasses were fake.

Episode Four: Full Swing
Soon after was when Nauta had to play with his Grandfather's baseball team against a rival team with Haruko working for them for money. Naota refused to swing the entire game, which resulted in Haruko aiming the ball to bounce off the catcher's glove and into his face. Naota was strangely quiet the entire time, never speaking or really looking at people. It was then the team noticed Canti picking up the balls and throwing them perfectly into the collection basket. They then had Canti try out and recruited him.

Naota left without a word and ran into Haruko. She wondered about the bandage on his face and asked him about the game. He responded he didn't care about baseball. She called him a liar and got on her Vespa. She told him nothing would happen until he swung the bat.

It was later when he got home that he found Haruko and his father in a compromising position. He was giving her a massage with his chin. She was blushing and making noises. She made fun of him not being sweaty when he commented on her being sweaty. It was then she and his father were using their mouths to eat an egg together that Naota began to get jealous and angry. He went outside and smacked a vending machine with his bat.

It was then another character that would influence his life came along; Amarao. He told Naota he should have hit it with French bread or a baguette. He came in to look at the bread selection and started to talk about unwanted things and how people should be ambiguous. Amarao mentioned something about Haruko being addicted to him though he didn't get it. He warned her that Haruko was a menace and that older woman could have a painful affect on people.

He went to the river to hang out with Mamimi, which didn't help much. She left her mark on him again. He came home to find Haruko waiting for him. She offered to be his batting coach but he told her to go play more games with his dad and to leave him alone. She retorted with saying they were in it together and that his head was the only one that would work. She then told him she'd teach him to hit home-runs soon.

She hugged him from behind, telling him that if he swung the bat and imagined an arch in his heart like any great slugger did he could knock the ball out of the atmosphere. Unbeknownst to the two of them, a satellite with a bomb was coming down towards the city, aiming right for Naota. He woke up in the middle of the night and Haruko was missing. He heard noises coming from his Dad's room. He went to peek and saw them doing something. It was then his head became the beacon for the satellite.

The next day was the baseball game. Naota refused to go and hung out with Mamimi at the river edge. When Haruko said it was Canti's first game, Mamimi took off with Haruko but Naota didn't go. He yelled after her, saying her home-runs weren't a big deal and he didn't want her as a coach anymore.

He found his Dad when he got home and say the marks she left on him the night before. His father began to tell Naota about their mouth to mouth relationship. He began to get more jealous as his Dad kept talking. He smacked the TV with his bat, yelling for his Dad to shut up. It was then his Dad seemed to fall over dead and the electricity in the house stopped working.

Soon after, a state of emergency was declared and people were told to evacuate. Naota was taken downtown by Amarao for questioning. The man with the giant eyebrows questioned him about why he hit his father, but Naota kept to the story he didn't hit anyone with it. He said he hit the TV and it was all he did and on accident. Amarao kept changing the subject, from swinging the bat on the field and then to Haruko. He picked up on how Naota called her by her first name though Naota kept saying she wasn't part of it. In truth, it was because he was jealous of his Dad and Haruko.

It was then Amarao told him about the Space Police Brotherhood and the space pirate, Atomsk, N.O., and the incoming satellite, He went home and discovered the Father he had been jealous of was a robot, which is why it died. He then found his real Father's dehydrated corpse in the closet, covered in cockroaches. He ran for the bathroom and covered his Dad in water to bring him back.

His Dad came too and told Naota how Haruko tried to use his head for N.O. but it didn't work. It was then she came crashing through the wall and ran over the machine, knocking it's head off. He asked her about the robot and what she was. He delivered the massage to Haruko from Amarao. Haruko took Naota to the top of Medical Meccanica and pulled a guitar out of his head. She gave him the guitar and told him to do it just as she showed him and swing the guitar.

The satellite ended up turning into a hand and threw a massive bomb in the shape of a baseball at Naota, a sinker to be exact. He was scared but called upon the power of Atomsk and swung. He held the ball but it was pushing him back and finally stopped. Before it could blow up though, Haruko came out of nowhere and smacked it with her guitar, sending it flying off where it exploded far away from the town. Some collateral damage was dealt thanks to their combined swing but it was minimal. Better than everything blowing up, right?

Naota collapsed and fell unconscious. He would later reflect that his palms stung for quite a while and wondered if Haruko always felt like that.

Episode Five: Brittle Bullet
The misadventures of the next few days would happen thanks to Haruko, as always. Naota was watching a movie with his Grandpa when his Dad came flying through the wall and into the TV. Naota looked up into his room to see Haruko with some sort of trap between her legs, which had knocked his Dad through the wall. He went up to confront her and she was talking to the cat again; denying that she had any emotional connection to him and that she was only still there because his portal was still open.

He asked her what she was doing and she went on a small Elvis impersonation routine about using a guitar and how it would be cool. She ended up pinning him to the bed and asked him to use his guitar again. He refused and tried to argue with her when the hammer of a gun popped out of the back of his head, pushing him up into kissing her. His Father saw and was ashamed of his son kissing Haruko behind his back. So he challenged his son to a battle for Haruko, which Haruko excepted for him.

The next day it was Haruko and Naota VS his Dad and Canti near the river in a toy gun war. It was during the fight that one of Amarao's fellow agents were shooting at Canti, trying to destroy him. The battle went back and forth before Naota's dad was knocked out and into the river by the agent sent to destroy Canti when Haruko cause her gun to explode. He was winning when his friends appeared and he called the game quits to try and appear grown up. He sent Canti to buy drinks and his friends told him of a rumor that he had saved the city and how he's controlling the killer robot.

Naota's ego began to inflate thanks to the rumors. Haruko came out of nowhere and began to hang on him while his friends freaked out about her smooching Naota. It was then Naota realized Mamimi was there watching the fight and seemed jealous. His friends left and Naota went to hang out with Mamimi.

Mamimi noticed Naota was drinking the same drink Haruko liked. She was obviously jealous and kept asking if Naota liked her. He said he didn't like her and that Haruko was just weird. She told him it was amazing about all the things he was doing lately. His ego continued to inflate but then she shot Naota with the toy gun.

She asked if he was all Fooly Cooly again. She kept asking why he was growing up and changing, asking if it was Haruko. Naota grabbed her hand and took her downtown. He wanted to take her to a nice cafe and have a date with her. Unfortunately it was then he realized that she didn't return his feelings. To further how unfortunate it was, his horn activated and summoned a massive monster. They were trapped on top of it. Mamimi kept calling out for his brother and he screamed at her, demanding she look at him and call out his name. He summoned Canti and let him eat him. He was able to use the power of Atomsk to save Mamimi but after it all he lost more than Mamimi. A giant hand appeared beside the Medical Meccanica factory and it began to pour out white mist continuously. Also Canti and Haruko vanished. He lost his view of the outside world, Haruko, Canti, and his friendship with Mamimi all at once.

Episode Six: FLCLimax
Naota became quite and a bit of a loner during the time Haruko and Canti were gone. He stopped speaking to Mamimi all together and hung out with his friends less. It was during one day in class they were using chopsticks and to Naota it was dull. Naota just left the class altogether. The town was covered in white mist; the sky and stars couldn't be seen.

It was after school he was hanging out with his friends when they spotted Mamimi. Instead of going down to talk to her and help her he just left, uninterested in speaking with her. It was while he was walking around, drinking a coffee drink, when he found the eyebrow man again. They started to talk about the things that came out of his head and told him to drink sugary drinks. He then gave Naota his own fake giant eyebrows. He then told Naota about Atomsk, the Pirate King. Told him about his powers and that Haruko was in love with him, which was why she was out to free him.

Naota went home and was strumming on his guitar, alone in his room, eyebrows still in place. He went down for dinner and like in the first episode, there was Haruko. He freaked out again that she was back and that she was a fugitive. She apparently also went to Hawaii. He was angry at her still and tried to leave. It was then they broke the fourth wall about the Manga form though Naota wasn't happy about it. His Dad asked him what Fooly Cooly meant but he kept saying he didn't know. He didn't care about Fooly Cooly and was able to avoid one strike from Haruko's guitar but not the second one. A fight broke out and Naota again retreated to the bathroom. He took a shower and headed off to bed. It was late at night as he laid in bed that he began to ask Haruko questions. He wanted to know who she was, where she came from and what she was. Though it turned out she was awake and began to taunt him.

She told him she came back just to see him because his head was the only one that would work. He asked if she was going to go away again and she offered for him to go with if he would throw everything away. She told him he was just a kid and he began to cry and clung to her. He cried against her, sad that she left without saying anything. In truth he was glad to see her because her coming back confirmed that there was a world outside their mist covered city.

The next day Naota skipped school and went on a small adventure with Haruko, riding around the area surrounding the city. They went around and enjoyed themselves. Naota was glad to spend time with Haruko and was very glad to realize that she hadn't changed when she left. The more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to help her gain what she wanted, no matter the cost to himself. That night Naota and Haruko slept in a sleeping bag in the park together.

It wasn't until Canti was absorbed into the terminal core that Naota and Haruko were alerted to any danger. They spotted the core as it headed for the hand with Mamimi and eyebrow guy stuck to it. The arrived at the hand, only to be shot down by eyebrow guy. They landed and Amarao asked Naota where his eyebrows where and tired to convince him Haruko didn't care about him or anyone else. He told Naota to come to him so she couldn't manipulate him. Instead, he turned away from him and went to Haruko. She hugged him and told him it was time for her to get what she wanted. He agreed and let her feed him to the core. With it now complete, it joined with the hand and it began to move. Naota was able to see Medical Meccanica's plan, to flatten all planets and stop everyone from thinking.

However Naota was able to overcome it at the last moment. Canti stopped the hand from grabbing the Medical Meccanica plant and Naota emerged from the robot, imbued with the powers of Atomsk. He tossed the hand off though Haruko was not pleased. She wanted to be the one to absorb Atomsk and they began to fight, though Haruko wasn't much of a threat to him. He smacked her down onto the plant and charged her with his double guitar. Amarao told him to take her out but as he came within strike distance he turned back to normal and told her he loved her before kissing her. He then released Atomsk from his head, the Pirate King rose above the plant as a giant bird creature, absorbed the terminal core as well as bits and pieces from the city with his power and vanished. The plant stopped to work and the city was left pretty damaged.

Haruko told him she lost him again because of him. She offered to take him with her but said forget it because he was still a kid. She took the double guitar that was a fusion of Naota's guitar and Atomsk's guitar, which left Haruko's for him. He took it. Mamimi left school to go off and become a photographer. The last scene is Naota in his middle school uniform, at age 13, and back to his ordinary life.

Character personality: Naota is not your usual Japanese school boy. There are others like him but he's still a bit different. He wants to always appear aloof and grown up, not really caring about much in the way of things. His ideal state is mature and he seeks to achieve it. He is still a kid and has that playful side to him though it's hard to see sometimes. He is perpetually bored due to his aloofness and trying to keep most things and people at arms length. This makes him come off as harsh and sometimes downright mean. He avoids most things that could be considered childish and even with the growth he went through this streak is hard to eliminate from him completely.

His idol is his big brother, who he holds up as a prime example of what it means to be mature. He wishes to be like him though the pressure of living up to such a giant shadow intimidates him. It was this fear of not living up to his brother that prevented him from even trying to swing the bat at baseball. Fear of not living up to his brother's example is one of the few things that can stop this boy in his tracks. Though Haruko did help him to overcome that fear once, it is still there just diminished. He'll always be proud of his brother and want to be more like him yet not. Along with the praise comes a complex of Naota's. He wants to be seen as his own person, as great for being himself and not his brother. This is why he grew so angry with Mamimi and cut off their friendship when she failed to acknowledge him when he was there and call out for his brother. He wants people to be proud of him which pushes on the want for him to be grown up and mature.

When it comes to doing the right thing or justice, Naota is a bit somewhere in the gray area. He cares about his friends and family but they still annoy him. He doesn't like irresponsibility and finds an abundance of it heavily annoying. This may have something to do with his mother's disappearance and his brother leaving. He had to grow up fast with a Dad like his and it has annoyed him ever since. Even with him realizing he, himself, is still a kid he doesn't take immaturity too well if it's constant. Light bouts of it are okay and he will go through them but there is a line for him. Being mature is the right thing to do and he is against outright hurting people to get what one wants. Though there is a bit of a double standard here as he was willing to let himself be used to help Haruko but that we'll talk about later. For now, maturity is a trait Naota holds highly and he is more likely to befriend people he things are mature, like himself.

Haruko herself is an issue for Naota. He does love her. She came into his life and even through she was a pain in his ass, she was there to help make things interesting and was interested in him and him alone. He was the only one that would work and for once he felt special and needed. She helped him to feel like his own person. He, Naota, was finally needed and wanted for something. The problem with this was when she pays more attention to other people it makes him jealous and angry. He's still young and wants to be the one she looks at. Unfortunately he also knows she doesn't love him back. She loves Atomsk and he believes she wouldn't love him back until maybe when he's an adult. Though that's years off so for now, it's hopeless if not completely hopeless altogether. Knowing this hurts him and narrows his view of other people he could get close to. He still wants to be with her and possibly may only have eyes for her. Only time will tell on that one.

Overall Naota really isn't the normal Japanese boy. Though he can be a little immature he tries his best to be a mature adult and fails sometimes. He tries his best to live up to his brother's name while being his own person and is in love with an alien. The poor boy tries to live his life day by day but is easily bored with the ordinary. He doesn't enjoy things that disappear quickly. For him excitement is a dramatic change of some sort, something that is not normal that sticks around for a long time. Things that happen and then are over isn't what he's interested in. He wants change, constant change. Unfortunately such a thing is very hard to come by and Naota will one day hopefully learn this lesson.

Powers and Abilities: Naota only has two abilities really; his N.O. and one powerful swing with his new guitar.

His abilities with N.O. allow his brain to create a portal inside his head that can pull things to it at random. When he was connected to Medical Meccanica, they were sending robots through Naota's head to destroy Earth but it is no longer connected to them. It may be used in Wake as the source of his Bending as Naota is somewhat familiar with the power of N.O. and it would help him to Bend, though might also be a bit of a put-off for him since it makes his head hurt when things come out.

The other ability is a powerful swing coupled with a space guitar weapon. The guitar has a rip cord which when pulled makes it hit harder, can be played as a normal guitar, and is a triple threat as it acts as a nonlethal shotgun as well, firing powerful bullets designed to knock opponents unconscious. He was able to use his own guitar to stop a massive bomb as well.

Samples

Network:

[Voice]

Nothing amazing ever happens here. It's all ordinary. Like home. Nothing special happens here. It's all the same. Storm. No Storm. Bending everyone can do. Means it isn't special. The Ascended just happen and it's random. It's all ordinary for this place. Why is it this way everywhere? Why is it just ordinary?

[A few strings on a guitar are strummed.]

At least the Ascended are mature. ...Most of them anyway. Some of them act like children. I don't get why they would be chosen. Maybe Nautilus is childish too. Some of the gifts it gives are definitely childish. I don't like it. I'm tired of him giving me sour drinks. I hate the sour kind. Why can't he give me something I like? And bending gives me a headache. How come it doesn't work the same for me as it does for anyone else? Whatever. I can get what I need from the store.

[A few more notes are played.]

Everything is ordinary. Nothing amazing ever happens here.


Third Person:

Bending was something that made Naota’s head hurt, figuratively and literally. He had been attending the classes for almost a week now and he couldn’t make a single thing. Maybe it was because he didn’t believe or something like that. It really sounded weird when it was explained to him. Think of something and make it real? The world didn’t work like that. If it did, things like hunger would be gone. Then again, this wasn’t his world. He was somewhere else. On another world, maybe in another dimension. It sounded like an idea for a bad anime. A boy wakes up in a new world and gets new magic powers.

Not that Naota wanted more powers. The entire thing with N.O., Haruko, Medical Meccanica, and the eyebrow guy was still in his mind. Sure, it was over now but it was still there. Her guitar was still in his room too. He would wake up everyday, see it, and think of her. He wondered where she was now. Could she come here one day? Or Atomisk? Or maybe Mamimi, or his dad, grandpa, Canti, or maybe even Ninamori? Any of them could show up or they might never show up. Either way, he was here now.

His mind drifted back to the guitar. Blue, brown and white. He would hold it sometimes and just strum the strings. He could feel the pull string against his lap when he did but he never pulled it. He always wondered just what the whirling did inside the thing when Haruko would do it but never got a chance to ask. Part of him didn’t want to find out. It would just make him miss her more.

Naota thought back to the guitar. He sighed as he moved his arms up to pretend to play. It helped him to not think about Bending. He wished it was here. Just to help him prove his world existed. That it was real and maybe this was all a dream or real too. Just something. Just to hold it. He gripped his head as the pain suddenly struck. He groaned as the pain ran across his skull and pooled in his forehead. He hunched over and opened his mouth to scream.

Something hit the table and his head snapped back. A large horn grew out of the front of his head. He stared at it with wide eyes. He reached up to run his hand over the bump. The shape was familiar. No. It couldn’t be! The guitar burst from his forehead suddenly. It flew up and spun in the air. Naota stared at the guitar as it seemed to hang in the air just for a moment. Then it came down and smacked him right in the head. The boy yelped and fell out of his chair and onto the floor with the guitar.

“O-Ow…” He whined down on the floor with the guitar laying over his back. Bending was definitely a headache.