Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Karneval. They belong to Tōya Mikanagi.
It was just another ordinary day on Airship 2. Everyone woke up early as usual, and Yogi and Tsukumo were fixing breakfast for everyone. Nai figured this would be a perfect time to play a game, so as Gareki was climbing down from the top bunk of the bed they shared, the albino's bright red eyes looked over at him cheerfully.
"Gareki!"
"Huh? What is it?" The black-haired teen asked as he reached the floor.
"Do you wanna play hide-and-seek with me?"
Gareki just stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was serious or joking. But when the younger boy didn't say anything else and kept smiling, waiting for an answer, Gareki knew that it was no joke.
"You idiot! You seriously wanna play that stupid game again after what happened last time?" He shouted.
Nai flinched a little at his harsh tone and his smile instantly disappeared. "I-I'm sorry Gareki. I promise I won't fall outside again if we play! Please?" His eyes shone with determination, and it was apparent that he wasn't going to give up so easily.
Gareki sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, putting one hand on his forehead as he brought it down his face. 'Damn it! Why does he have to look at me like that?' He opened his eyes again and looked at Nai, a dead serious expression on his face. "You promise you'll be careful this time? No snooping around in places you shouldn't be?"
"Yes! I promise!" Nai said excitedly as he stood up, clasping both of his hands together as he nodded rapidly.
"Fine, I'll play with you," Gareki replied as he headed over to the wall near the door. "Go ahead and find a place to hide and I'll come looking for you after ten seconds. And no falling out of the ship this time! Got it?"
"Got it!" Nai ran out of the room happily, looking for somewhere to hide.
"That kid," Gareki stated aloud, shaking his head as he closed the door and started counting.
Nai continued running, his eyes scanning everywhere for a hiding spot. "I have to hurry before Gareki comes looking for me!"
After running to the end of the hallway, he turned right and went down another one, sure that he'd be able to find somewhere to go.
He immediately spotted the passageway that he had crawled into last time and shook his head. "No! I promised Gareki I wouldn't go in there again." But something about it caught his interest. It was open, when it had been closed last time. He specifically remembered taking the cover off before and putting it aside so that he could go in.
Curiosity got the better of him, and a moment later he found himself on his hands and knees in front of the small door, looking inside.
At the same time, Gareki had just finished counting to ten and was now opening the door to the bedroom. "Ready or not, here I come!" He yelled out in warning as he walked out and started looking around.
Nai didn't pay attention to him though. He was too focused on the passage in front of him. He dared not go inside because of his promise, but he heard strange noises coming from inside. It sounded like metal clattering. The half niji boy peeked his head just inside of the doorway, when all of a sudden, one of the sheep came zooming by. Nai moved back a tiny bit out of surprise and tilted his head a little, wondering what the sheep had been doing in there.
"Ba!" The robotic sheep bleeted loudly, and without warning, it leaned forward and kissed Nai on the lips.
Nai just stayed still, not sure what was going on. He had no idea what a kiss even was, so it didn't bother him or anything. He was just extremely confused.
His sensitive ears finally picked up the sound of footsteps, but he didn't turn around because the sheep still had its lips placed on his.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
The sheep immediately pulled away and rushed back into the passageway. Nai then turned around and looked up, seeing a very angry Gareki frowning down at him with his hands on his hips.
"Gareki, you found me!" Nai smiled widely and stood up, running over to Gareki as he hugged the older boy tightly.
A blush settled onto Gareki's face as he stood there, looking at Nai in surprise. But he frowned a moment later and pushed him away roughly.
Nai looked at him sadly. "What's wrong Gareki?"
"Nothing! Just leave me alone!" And with that he stormed off, leaving Nai there feeling hurt.
Tears welled up in his ruby red eyes and he looked down. "Why is Gareki mad at me?"
Yogi announced that breakfast was done a little while later, and Nai walked into the dining room, sniffling as he wiped his eyes.
When he arrived at the table, he saw Gareki sitting down, a frown still on his face as he ate his food. He briefly glanced up at Nai, but said nothing. The snowy-haired boy quickly sat in a seat across from Gareki and looked down, not wanting to make him even angrier.
"Here's your food Nai. I hope you're hungry!" Yogi announced suddenly as he brought over a plate of pancakes, bacon and eggs and set it on the table in front of Nai.
"Thank you Yogi," Nai replied in a quiet voice as he picked his fork up and started eating slowly.
Yogi became concerned at this. Nai was usually so cheerful and outgoing. Why did he seem so sad all of a sudden?
The blond placed a hand on Nai's shoulder and looked at him worriedly. "Hey, what's wrong kiddo?"
"N-Nothing. I'm fine," Nai lied as he continued eating.
Yogi just sighed and headed back into the kitchen. "Well alright. If you say so." But he knew that something was up.
Nai had only eaten about half of his food when he suddenly pushed his plate forward, standing up.
"Nai? Where are you going?" Tsukumo asked as she and everyone else sat down.
"I'm not hungry anymore. Excuse me!" Without looking at anyone, he ran off and headed to his and Gareki's room, shutting the door behind him.
"Poor little guy. I wonder what's wrong with him," Yogi inquired.
"Maybe he's not feeling well," Tsukumo guessed. "He usually eats so much more than this."
Gareki sighed loudly as he put his face in both of his hands. 'Now look what I've done!' He mentally berated himself and stood up, walking quickly to the bedroom where Nai had gone.
Yogi and Tsukumo just looked at each other, neither of them knowing what was going on.
"Should we do something?" Tsukumo asked.
Yogi shook his head. "Let Gareki take care of it. Nai is so attached to him. I'm sure he'll be able to figure out what's wrong."
Tsukumo nodded and the two of them ate their food in silence.
When Gareki reached the door to the bedroom, he stopped outside and listened for a minute. What he heard broke his heart.
"Why does Gareki hate me? I didn't mean to make him mad, b-but I did something and I don't know what it was. M-Maybe it was because I didn't find a hiding spot." Nai sounded miserable, and hearing all this made Gareki feel a million times guiltier.
"I'm such a jerk!"
He opened the door a little and looked inside, seeing Nai sitting down on the bottom bunk, crying. "Nai? Can I come in?" He asked in a quiet voice.
Nai gasped a little and looked over at the door. He nodded quickly and then looked back down.
The taller teen walked in and closed the door behind him. Nai swallowed nervously, afraid that Gareki was going to yell at him again. But instead, he sat down on the bed beside Nai.
"Nai, look at me."
Nai did as he was told and looked meekly up at him, trembling a bit. Gareki could feel his heart shattering into a million pieces, and he was so furious with himself for causing Nai so much grief.
He raised his right hand up to Nai's face and used his thumb to wipe away his tears. "Please don't cry. I'm not mad at you," he explained in a calm voice.
Nai's eyes widened a little. "Y-You're not?"
Gareki shook his head. "I just... got a little upset when I saw you kissing that stupid sheep," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away.
"Kissing?" This was a new word to the human/niji hybrid. He looked over at Gareki curiously. "What's that?"
Gareki's mouth opened a little in shock, but then he realized his stupidity. 'Of course he wouldn't know what kissing is! He's so naive. He doesn't know anything.'
A slight blush appeared on the ex thief's face and he turned to Nai again. "Do you... want me to show you?"
"Yes please!" Nai answered eagerly, innocence written all over his face.
Gareki chuckled. "Then close your eyes."
Nai nodded and complied right away, sitting there patiently as he waited to find out what a kiss was.
Gareki's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he slowly leaned forward, gently placing his lips on Nai's. They were so warm and soft. He closed his eyes in content and kept their lips connected for a few seconds before he finally pulled away, his face feeling like it was on fire.
"You can, um, open your eyes now," he mumbled.
Nai smiled widely and opened his eyes. "I like kissing!"
Gareki couldn't help but smile at how adorable he was. "Yeah, but don't go around kissing everyone now, alright?"
"Okay!" He agreed. "But I can kiss Gareki right?"
This caused him to blush even more, but he smiled and hugged Nai, ruffling his hair. "Of course you can."
A/N: This is based off of an extra from the manga. Nai notices that the hole he fell down before was uncovered, so he gets curious and looks inside. It's the passageway the sheep use when they're working. A moment later, one of them comes out and kisses Nai, who has no idea what's going on, and the caption by him says, "His first kiss?"
I really wanted to add onto that. GareNai is my OTP and I think it's hilarious that Gareki would get jealous over a robotic sheep kissing Nai. :D
Links don't work on here, so the page is 36 of Chapter 12. You can find it on plenty of manga sites.
Please review! ^^