Hey there! Thank you for clicking on this story! I hope you enjoy it.

I tend to work on this when I get bored of Niji Meets Neko (my other fanfic). It is simply for fun, so if you don't like what I'm doing...I apologize, but I, respectfully, refuse to change or stop. Oh, and before I forget, there are parts in this that are taken directly from the manga. I think Gareki has a few exact lines and I know Hirato has multiple. Just a warning to fans of the manga who try to yell 'FOUL!'.

(One more thing, in this story there aren't two Circus ships. Just one. It would be a little difficult for me to deal with two sparsely manned ships. So I decided to combine them. Every crew member is present but they are all part of "Circus' Ship" as I will (or rather should) be calling it from now on.)

Reviews are always appreciated and helpful.

Now then...I present, Chapter 1: Little Brother

"NO, PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU, DON-"

SHLUCK

THUD

The tall young man ripped his epee from the now dead gangster. He glared coldly at the dead body, "Your first mistake was underestimating my abilities, your second was trying to trick me, and your last mistake was threatening my little brother. For that you deserve much worse than what I gave you," he narrowed his reddish-violet eyes and stomped on the corpse. He ground down his heel and began to giggle; it then changed to cackling, finally morphing into insanely gleeful howling.

When he was done he proceeded to roughly wipe off blood that had splattered on his face. As he removed his hand a cool breeze blew through the broken-down building, swishing the man's unruly blonde and silver hair into his face. He irritably brushed it aside. While the sun rose over the distant mountains, the man walked away, leaving the headless corpse to rot where it lay.

Ӂ-Ӂ-Ӂ

"NII-CHAN! HELP! NOW!" The shouting boy looked like he was in a very pretty pickle. He had been attempting to move a bunch of boxes to be able to clean under them, but he hadn't anticipated how heavy they were and thus had taken one too many. Because of his error, he had started to tip over backwards under their weight. Luckily, 'Nii-chan' caught him before he landed on his backside crushed beneath his burden.

"Mou, Gareki-kun! How many times do I have to tell you to think before you try something you doubt you can handle?" The man was holding Gareki up from behind, all the while frowning worriedly at his upside down face.

"Sorry, Nii-chan," the boy stuck his tongue out slightly at the man, "I thought they were lighter than this. Guess I miscalculated a bit, hehe." He gave a sheepish laugh before blinking his eyes innocently. He knew his brother didn't stand a chance against him once he began acting sweet. The next minute, as Gareki had anticipated, the older man gave a defeated sigh, lifted the boy up till he could stand up again, set the boxes down for him, and gave his little brother a bone-crunching hug while squealing about how cute he was. Gareki chuckled to himself. Whenever anyone besides his brother attempted to be so familiar with him, he always beat them off harshly. No one was even able to touch him without getting kicked across the room.

After about five minutes of patient endurance, Gareki started to tire of the affection and praise. He wriggled a little in the other's grasp, indicating that he wanted to be let go. 'Nii-chan' understood the gesture and, reluctantly, released his beloved little brother. He smiled brilliantly at the younger boy, before skipping away happily. Gareki shook his head in amusement and went back to work arranging the boxes so he could clean without having to push them around. This time around, however, he decided to pick them up one by one instead of all at once. This was much more tiring than before and he eventually began to feel drowsy. So when 'Nii-chan' came back a few hours later he found that the teenager had fallen asleep while leaning against one of the boxes. He laughed quietly and after carefully picking him up, the older brother carried Gareki to his room and lay him down on the bed. 'Nii-chan' had figured that the boy was going to fall asleep sooner or later; it was already past midnight and they had gotten up early. He gently brushed the boy's dark hair off his face, slowly removed the black goggles that rested upon his head and smiled sweetly at the sleeping youth.

"Sleep well, Gareki-kun," he stepped back silently, "I'll see you in the morning! " The blonde/silver-haired man closed the door behind him and walked into the living room. It was covered in blueprints and plans. He chuckled to himself. That boy has done it again. I can't believe it only took him a few hours to finish this up. He really is a genius. I suppose we'll see how well he actually did tomorrow. I can't wait! The man began to skip around the room in excitement.

Eventually, he grew tired of the action and decided it was time for him to go to bed as well. They had a big day tomorrow, might as well get as much rest as possible. As he pranced to his own room he hummed a silly little song (to be honest it sounded more like a poem, but he didn't really care too much about what to call it). It went something like this, "Filled with the power of man's spirit! I'm the sparkling prince who makes your heart throb! Yogi-sama is here to stay!" He repeated this a few times and nodded his head to the nonexistent beat. He was incredibly excited for tomorrow. He couldn't wait to try out Gareki's plan. Yogi grinned. His blood was already boiling with anticipation. Mine-sama wouldn't know what hit her…

Ӂ-Ӂ-Ӂ

The next day at around 10 PM, the two brothers initiated Gareki's brilliant plan. Their target was a nasty woman named Mine. She thought of herself as some kind of queen and loved to order people about, plus there had been rumors flying around of her possessing magical powers. While Gareki didn't believe the rumors, he did like to be cautious so he planned out the whole thing while making sure they never actually went into her domain. Everything took place outside where the trucks carrying her newly acquired treasures arrived. Gareki would blow out the tires, Yogi would knock out the guards, and they would escape with the loot. It was simple yet beautiful.

As they waited for the trucks to show up, their bodies began to twitch with eagerness. This was going to be a huge job and they couldn't wait to pull it off. Finally, after what seemed to be hours for the two males (in reality they were only waiting for thirty minutes), the caravan came rolling up the hill leading to Mine's mansion.

Gareki whipped out his guns and took careful aim at the first truck. He breathed out slowly and fired two shots, then another two, and another. Finally he inhaled and fired two more into the tires of the last automobile. Yogi patted him on the back with a smile (which was cheekily returned), and set off to play his role. When he was finished dealing with the drivers and guards, he motioned to Gareki and together they began to search the trucks for any valuables.

When they got to the last truck they found something different. In all the previous vehicles they only ever found material goods, such as gems, gold, expensive fabric and so on. After opening this one, though, they were met with a frightened shriek. The startled thieves pulled back and looked at each other in bafflement. A shriek? They thought simultaneously. Slowly, Gareki poked his head back into the van. What he saw shocked him into silence. Lying in the middle of the truck, trussed up like an animal, was a young boy, no older than twelve. Even though it was dark, Gareki could still tell that the boy was very pale and had light hair that came together in points at either side of his head. He was trembling in fright and the tears that had welled up in his eyes when they burst in finally spilled over, streaking his slightly dirty face with glistening lines. The child skootched back as far as he could and cowered when he bumped into the other side of his prison.

Gareki raised his eyebrows. A slave? Mine's in the slave trade now? Dang, he looks young too! That witch…I hope she gets caught and killed…tortured if possible. Poor thing, he looks terrified. The dark-haired boy's heart went out to the child. If Yogi hadn't found him he would probably be in a similar situation. He swore under his breath.

"Shh…it's okay," Gareki whispered gently to the shivering boy, "We aren't going to hurt you, I promise."

He climbed into the truck and crept towards him slowly. The boy stopped whimpering when Gareki spoke. As the older boy came closer, the younger stilled and looked at him, eyes fearful yet curious. Gareki smiled softly at the child and cut his binds. The pale boy rubbed his wrists before giving his savior a grateful grin. Said 'savior' held out a hand to the other, which was taken without any hesitation. Gareki led the boy back to Yogi, who was still waiting at the truck's tailgate. Yogi started a bit when his little brother came back with a pale young boy in tow.

"Gareki-kun, who is this?" The blonde/silver-haired man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No idea…he was tied up. I'm guessing he's a slave Mine bought to play with," Gareki jumped down and held out his arms to the child. The little one hopped off the truck, into Gareki's grasp. He wrapped his own arms around the older boy's neck and snuggled into his safe hold. The dark-haired boy looked a little surprised, but allowed the action. He knew how frightened the child must be so he let him rest knowing he was finally safe.

Yogi chuckled. He was glad Gareki seemed to like the child, yet he was a little too clingy for Yogi's taste (even though Gareki was the one being touched, Yogi must have been felling a tad bit…over-protective). The man tapped his brother's arm and muttered quietly, "We'd better get going. Mine might send someone out when these trucks don't show up." Gareki glanced at him and nodded. He patted his passenger's back and whispered reassuringly to him.

The brothers, plus one, carried the loot they had acquired from the other trucks away from the scene of the crime. After covering a few miles of terrain, they reached the train station; planning to use it as an escape route. They had purchased tickets beforehand (Gareki even thought to have bags ready so they wouldn't have to carry their booty out in the open) but they hadn't planned on taking another person with them so Yogi bought another ticket while Gareki packed the bags. The pale little boy stood off to the side (close to Gareki but far enough to not be in the way) and watched them work.

"Oi, brat!" the teen called to his little shadow, "What's your name? I'm Gareki and that," he pointed at his big brother, "is my nii-san, Yogi."

"M-my name is N-nai," the boy paused fidgeting a bit, "Th-thank you for s-saving me…" he trailed off, feeling more than a little intrusive.

A flicker of a smile flitted across the dark-haired boy's face. He stood up and held out an arm to the uncomfortable child. Nai brightened, stepped quickly towards the out-stretched hand, took it, and beamed up at Gareki. The older boy smiled crookedly at him and ruffled Nai's pure white hair (which, Gareki noted with curiosity, had bits of purple coloring the ends of the points). The boy practically purred in happiness. It had been a long time since he had felt this safe and content.

"Gareki-kun," Yogi interrupted the sweet scene with a slight sense of urgency, "the next train is leaving really soon. We should get ready to go." Gareki looked at him and nodded. The three of them picked up the bags of treasures (Nai having the least to hold, Yogi, the most) and marched over to the waiting train.

Ӂ-Ӂ-Ӂ

An hour or so after they boarded the train Nai fell asleep on Gareki's shoulder while the brothers talked about what their next move should be. A half-hour after that he shot up and looked around, blinking and confused.

"What's wrong, Nai-chan?" Yogi asked in concern.

"I heard something," the boy replied, "It came from the roof."

Gareki looked up to the place where Nai pointed. He hadn't heard anything, nor did he see anything when he looked up. At least not at first. A full minute passed before something happened. Unfortunately, what occurred wasn't exactly…expected. A nicely dressed man, with dark hair and glasses, came bursting through the ceiling of the car they were in. He was followed closely by a younger girl, who had blonde hair and a kind of ballerina-like outfit. Yogi and Gareki stared at the couple in shock for about…twenty…maybe forty seconds (they were very surprised), before flying into action.

Gareki jumped up, whipped out his gun and took aim at them. Yogi also leapt up, but he, instead of getting into an attack position, gently grabbed onto Nai and crouched close to the ground, folding the child into his body.

"Who are yo-"

THWUMP

"Hmph…they have a child like this as a lookout…hm?" The dark-haired man (who had just kneed Gareki in the stomach) noticed a piece of paper sticking out of his pocket. It was a boarding pass.

"Oops! Sorry kid…I didn't know you were a passeng-"

"GAREKI-KUN!" A shout that could have woken the dead arose from the boy's brother (who had looked up in time to see the teen go down). He set Nai on the seat in front of him and turned, burning with an unrivaled fury at the sight of his precious little brother's pain. His eyes narrowed to slits and he hissed angrily at the man standing over Gareki. The man blinked a few times; he had never heard a person make such a noise. Cats, yes, but a person? Not quite as usual.

"*cough* *cough* Yogi, I'm alright *cough*," Gareki pushed himself off the ground and put a hand on Yogi's arm, "I'm good…it's okay." He was desperate to calm his brother. The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow at the boy's tone of voice. Although he didn't feel too bothered by the blonde/silver-haired man's frustration, he was interested in the boy he had attacked; any normal person would have passed out after a blow like that.

Any further discussion about Gareki's stunning tolerance was put on hold when two men burst into the car, shouting something about them being there to help the CEO…whoever that is. The dark-haired man made quick work of them. Seeming to remember something, he walked off dragging the two stunned men behind him.

"This is going to be more frustrating than you anticipated, isn't it Gareki-kun?" Yogi growled. He was still peeved that the dark-haired man hurt his little brother.

"Yeah...kinda," the boy rubbed a hand over his sore abdomen, "Do you wanna go after him?"

"Might as well," Yogi looked back at Nai. The young child was curled up on the ground, staring up at him with wide eyes. He patted the boy's head, "It's okay Nai. Everything is going to be fine." He hoped he sounded reassuring. In his mind he was thinking of different ways to torture the dark-haired man without killing him; he was up to about four-hundred (he couldn't wait to put some of them into action).

The three males followed after the two well-dressed people. They eventually reached a car that sounded like there were people in it. Yogi waved Nai and Gareki back while he took a peek. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at what he saw. The man and girl had been tied up and there were guns pointed at them and another two people. One was an old man; the other was a young girl with loosely braided pink hair. Yogi looked for a while longer before bending back down and explained the situation to Gareki. The teen nodded and was about to head back, when Nai jumped up, opened the door and walked in.

Both of the older two leapt to their feet and tackled the child to the ground, just in time to avoid the bullets that whizzed over their heads. They simultaneously growled, "Stay down, you idiot!" at the ignorant little boy. This small distraction was all the dark-haired man needed to swipe the guns out of the criminal's hands and onto the floor.

"You should just give up," the man stared coldly at the fallen men, "Becoming vigilantes to fulfill your own vendetta is a ridiculous act of folly."

One of the hijackers shot to his feet and shouted, "NO! WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DO THIS!" He pushed something hanging around his neck and sneered.

The dark-haired man growled, "What did you do?"

"We set bombs on all the cars. They will explode one by one until there is nothing left. And don't even try to stop them, cuz it won't work. I already activated them, and there is nothing you can do to turn them off!" He cackled with furious glee, but was kicked unconscious by the dark-haired man.

Gareki had heard the whole exchange. He stood quickly and said, "I can stop the bombs if you help me find them." The dark-haired man looked at him with a bit of suspicion. Nai, on the other hand, also stood up, before whispering to the older boy for a bit.

"Really?" the teen asked him in amazement.

"Un," the little one nodded, "Follow me."

Nai began to trot quickly in the direction of their car. He continued on until the noise, that had been bothering him for a while now, reached a fever pitch. He pointed to a spot on the floor and said, "The noise is coming from there."

The dark-haired man, who had followed them out of pure curiosity, muttered, "Stand back," and proceeded to make a large hole in the floor where the boy had pointed. Gareki knelt down and examined the tangle of wires protruding from the opening.

He began to think out loud, as he determined the best course of action, "Before the explosives at the rear cars started detonating, the initial signal was transmitted at the front carriage right?" he asked this out loud, not really expecting an answer, "This is…a vibration detector used for detecting when the train stops. It will disable if it doesn't get a signal from the back cars." He paused for a bit before continuing, "But, I don't know the range of this device's electrical field, so before the signal is sent out it has to be disconnected from the rear carriages." He sat back, a little frustrated that he couldn't do anything more.

The dark-haired man had an idea though. He, once again, told them to stand back. He then focused for a bit, withdrew a long glowing stick from thin air and cut the offending cars away from the rest of the train. Gareki and Nai (and Yogi who was sticking to his little brother like a lost puppy) gaped at the show of strength.

Even though Gareki had seen Yogi do some pretty amazing things, it still freaked him out a little to see something so…magical. The man them turned to the three males and smiled politely, "I completely forgot to introduce myself. From the country's defense organization Circus, I am Captain of their attack squad, Hirato." He bowed and looked at them pointedly.

Yogi determined that it was his turn to take over, "I am Yogi. The tall raven is Gareki, and the little one is Nai." Hirato raised his eyebrows when Yogi stated his name. He had heard it before, but couldn't remember where. Ah, well. It will come to me sooner or later. He thought, dismissing it from his mind. Just in case though, he decided to have them come back to the ship with him and his colleague, Tsukumo.

"Would you three mind visiting my ship?" he said nothing more, figuring that if they accepted it would be worth his time to investigate the man with the gold and silver hair, called Yogi.

"Circus?" Nai asked with a frown, "When the people who were going to sell me saw Karoku's bracelet," he shoved back one of his long sleeves, revealing a brown leather strap that had a large red gemstone embedded in it, "they said that it belonged to Circus and that Karoku was probably part of it. Is that true? Is Karoku with you?" The pale boy sounded so hopeful that Hirato found it hard to disappoint him.

"I'm sorry, but there isn't anyone named Karoku affiliated with Circus. The bracelet, however, is one of our older ID models. Although, it was discontinued many years ago." Hirato stopped, seeing that the boy was in tears. He frowned at his lack of tact and sighed, "I am very sorry, Nai-kun. I might be able do something if you came aboard the ship though." Hirato looked at the boy's companions. They seemed to not mind the thought of coming along, so he smiled again and said, "Gareki-kun, Yogi-kun…do either of you have any objections?"

Yogi leaned towards the man, menacingly, "Touch my little brother again and I will kill you without a moment of hesitation. Does that sound appropriate to you, Hirato-san?" Yogi's eyes seemed to turn a little redder than before and a malicious aura seeped into his normally cheerful demeanor.

Gareki stepped quickly to his big brother and whispered gently to him, "Not here, Nii-chan. You'll kill everyone in sight…including Nai. Do you really want that?" Yogi relaxed when the teen came closer (he didn't want his fury to upset his little brother) and calmed down entirely when he began to speak. He trusted the younger boy with his life and absolutely adored him. There was nothing Yogi wouldn't do for him, even if it meant giving up on his vendetta against the stupid 'Captain of Circus's attack squad.' He sighed internally, Mou, Gareki-kun…I know you are a peace keeper, but this restraining thing is really hard on me! Even so…I still love you, sweet little brother of mine!

Whew! This one is a little longer than I'm used to but I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I will try to update frequently, but I make no promises. Thanks again for reading and I hope you'll come back for the next one! :)

Later!