Of Forgotten Things and White Roses

Living a thief's live had taken some of his values, his believes. He had seen the very worst of society after all. And sometimes even more than that. Not often but occasionally.

It had taken more than that.

Sometimes when he woke up he was disoriented. Directly assessing the situation he found himself in. Still unused to being save, protected and simply home.

But there were still some things he couldn't understand anymore or maybe he still did and just didn't want to recognize it.

Gareki felt strangely disappointed.

And angry.

At himself.

"Gareki!" came a delighted cry. Nai.

"Go away," he answered and pulled the covers tighter around himself.

"Gareki?"

"Leave me alone!" he snapped.

There was a shuffling sound. Nai actually seemed to consider his request. "But there is a parade today… We gotta get dressed…" He sounded confused and sad, but for the first time Gareki couldn't bring himself to care.

"I'm not going to the goddamned parade. Now leave me alone!"

He heard the door close.

Alone. Again.

But not for long.

"Gareki?"

"Leave me alone, Yogi."

Why did his voice sound so miserable?

He felt his mattress lowering a bit.

"I won't." Gareki didn't react. "What happened?"

"Nothing, now leave me alone."

Yogi shook his head but Gareki couldn't see that. "I already told you: I won't leave you alone." He crawled up so that he sat next to Gareki. "Not now, not ever. So what's up?"

Gareki hid even more under his covers. "It's nothing. Now go away, Yogi," Gareki's voice again nothing more than a whisper further hushed by the pillow.

A hand found his forehead. "Mhh… You don't seem to have fever…" Gareki mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like 'Told you it's nothing.' Yogi looked concerned at him. "And today is-"

Gareki didn't hear him out. "The freaking parade, I know AND I'm not going. Now beat it!" He suddenly sat up, surprising Yogi and leading him to fall down.

"G-Gareki? That's not-" Yogi tried to explain, but Gareki interrupted him, "Fine! I'm going!" And jumped down not far away from Yogi who reached out for him but missed him by centimetres. The door was shut. Yogi was still sitting on the ground. To stunned to do anything at all for a moment. Then he jumped on his feet and opened the door. Gareki was already gone. He cursed silently. And ran the floor down to the common room.

Unbeknown to him Gareki was just at the end of the floor waiting for him to disappear.

"Tsukumo!" Yogi said when he opened the door and grinded to halt, "He thinks we forgot!"

Her eyes widened slightly. "What?" She turned around and starred at him. The decoration she had been setting up for a moment forgotten.

"Gareki thinks we forgot…" Yogi answered teary-eyed. "And then ran away from me." Tsukumo didn't know what to say. "We have to… we can't even look for him right now…" This shut Tsukumo even more up. Yogi sounded so devastated.

In an effort to calm him down she said, "He doesn't think we forgot, he thinks we don't know, Yogi." But she already knew this wouldn't calm either of them down.

Living a thief's live had taken some of his values, his believes. He had seen the very worst of society after all. And sometimes even more than that. Not often but occasionally.

It had taken more than that.

Sometimes when he was together with Tsukumo, Nai and Yogi he felt insecure. Assessing the environment for any dangers. Still unused to being save, protected and simply home.

What was home anyway?

Gareki was running through the streets, he didn't plan to even come near the parade. He didn't even think about going back to the ship. Going back home. Running around the town hoping for his head to clear. Like back then. But some things don't change. It still wasn't of any use.

Why was he so angry anyway?

When did the irrational thoughts start to affect his mind? He wouldn't survive in this world like this. He sat down at a bench, staring up at the sunset. The sky was of a lively orange.

He needed to think.

Thousand melancholic thoughts raised like a flock of birds.

"Gareki! There you are!" Yogi sounded out of breath but he didn't react. "Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I came as soon as the parade was over."

Slowly Gareki raised his head.

What was he sorry for? Shouldn't he be sorry?

Yogi just stood there his grin almost illuminating the twilight. And stepped closer. On hand behind his back until his stood not even a metre away from Gareki.

Gareki's eyes widened. Yogi's formerly hidden hand now on display between them. In it a single white rose. "Happy Birthday, Gareki-kun. Sweet Sixteen now. Wow."

A slight blush spread across his face as he took it. "Thanks…"

"We didn't think you would be so affected by it," Yogi explained and scratched himself at the back of his hair. "Sorry, we didn't want the parade to shoot it in half."

"Who do you think got affected by it, you idiot! Besides there is nothing 'sweet' about it!" Gareki complained with an angry voice, but his eyes couldn't hide the happiness. Yogi grinned and outstretched his hand.

'Let's go home! The others are already waiting for you!"

Home again this word, Gareki mused. But maybe, just maybe, he already knew the meaning.

It was tipped down quickly, so write me if I made a mistake or more… It was probably the best I could do with all the work right now (most of this story was written in between of lessons today) It's still pretty much Yoreki I guess even though I didn't plan it, but I guess and I quote something I read on tumblr just the other day "this ship sails itself".

What do you think?

Sincerely Mal