Whew...finally done! I'm trying to stick with the manga, at least in part...but it has been a long time since I've read it so I'm re-reading it, just in case.

I would like to thank Kiscia and Scarlet Horn for their reviews and those who are following and/or favorited this story! I really respect everyone's opinion and I hope that I can continue to please you! XD

Now, I present Chapter 2: This Place is a Circus!

Enjoy! :)

"Hai, Gareki-kun. I promise not to make a scene," Yogi pouted a bit, but he was happy that Gareki was paying attention to him instead of Nai or the dark-haired man, now known as Hirato. The boy sighed, leaning his head against the man's shoulder.

"Thank you, Nii-chan," he paused, thinking about Hirato's offer, "So? Will we go with him?"

"Well…I don't really see why not. However," Yogi glared at the dark-haired man still standing in front of them, "If the dear captain ever lays a finger on you again, all bets are off and I get to follow through with my original plans. Okay?"

Hirato smirked and nodded, "That sounds acceptable, Yo-."

"I wasn't talking to you," Yogi snapped, "Gareki-kun, is that alright with you?"

"Heh…yeah. That's okay, Nii-chan." The boy chuckled under his breath.

Nai was listening to the whole conversation, silently. He was still quite sad that he wasn't able to see Karoku. Unconsciously, his head had lowered in grief. Gareki noticed his emotional state first. He smiled apologetically at the pale child. The dark-haired boy stretched out his hand and set it on the little one's white hair.

"Don't worry kiddo," he said softly, "Everything's going to be fine. Come here." He pulled Nai to him gently, wrapping his arms around the boy in an attempt to ease his pain. Nai closed his eyes and, holding back the tears that threatened to leak out, leaned into the embrace. He wasn't sure why, but there was something about Gareki that reminded him of Karoku. He trusted the older boy and was very, very happy that Gareki was there for him whenever he needed comforting.

Yogi frowned slightly. Again, he felt frustrated that Gareki was willing to act so familiar with someone besides him. Gareki-kun…why? Why do you care about this brat so much? I understand that you can identify with him…but you're supposed to only need me!

Gareki flicked his eyes up to his brother's face. It was very clear that he wasn't happy, so the dark-haired boy snickered softly, lifted one of Yogi's arms and placed it around both him and Nai. He glanced up again. Yogi looked a little surprised at first but his expression melted quickly as he cooed and tightened his grip on the two boys.

Alright...I will admit that they are both adorable and Nai really does need help. I suppose I can deal with letting Gareki pay more attention to the boy that to me...for now...maybe...never mind, he's mine and I'm merely shareing. There that sounds about right! Yogi brightened. Now that he had figured out how to deal with Gareki caring for someone other than him he felt much better.

Hirato observed the three with amusement. He had never met a group quite as interesting as them.

"Well then, would you three be willing to detangle yourselves from one another and follow me back to my ship? Or were you planning on simply staying like that?" He smirked, hoping that maybe the blonde would blow up again. Yogi's eyes seemed to glow a bit when he was mad and it fascinated Hirato to no end. Yogi growled at him before slowly letting his arms drop to his sides. Gareki snickered and Nai gave a small smile.

While the two alpha males were staring each other down (one with delight, the other with annoyance), Tsukumo returned from attending to the hostages. She blinked in confusion when she noticed the situation. "Um…Hirato-san?" The girl questioned hesitantly.

Hirato finally tore his eyes away from the blonde/silver-haired man and glanced at her, "Yes, Tsukumo-chan?"

"I have dealt with the other hostages effectively. Is there anything else you need me to do before we depart?" The blonde girl tilted her head and gazed up at the man.

"Actually, I would like for you to decide which one," he gestured at the three guys, "you would be willing to carry all the way back to the Ship. I would like to ask them a few questions. Plus I'm sure they have a few to ask me as well." He looked expectantly at her.

Tsukumo's face paled a few shades. Yogi, however, had other plans. He grabbed his brother and his brother's new pet before floating a few inches off the train's hard wood paneling. The two Circus members stared at him in astonishment. He grinned triumphantly. Hirato quickly shook off his surprise and simply decided to follow the other man's lead.

He stepped lightly over to the gaping hole he had cut just a few minutes before and flew into the air. Tsukumo jumped to follow him. Yogi tightened his grip and did the same. Pretty soon all three were soaring through the night sky, headed toward the one place that held all of their answers.

Ӂ-Ӂ-Ӂ

"Welcome back, baa. Welcome back, meep. Welcome back, baa. Welcome back, meep." At the group's arrival, a small rabbit and sheep (both wearing spiffy outfits) greeted them politely. Hirato told the three guests to say something so they could register their voices.

Yogi and Gareki said, "Sorry for intruding," and Nai whispered, "Good evening." The bunny and sheep whirred for a bit before bleating (and meeping), "Voice print registered."

"TSUKUMO-SENPAI!"

"TSUKUMO-CHAN!"

Two very loud, female voices rang through the wide halls as a tall green-haired woman, accompanied by a younger blue-haired girl (who looked like she thought she was some kind of princess), dashed toward Tsukumo. Gareki jumped a little at their voices and pressed his back against his brother's chest. He didn't like loud people in general and seriously disliked bubbly, annoying, spastic, loud people as a rule. Yogi winced. He wasn't too fond of 'loudies' (as Gareki had dubbed them when he was ten) either. Even though he could be a tad bit bubbly when he was incredibly happy, he knew Gareki didn't like it very much so he always tried to reign himself in as much as he possibly could, and he made sure to speak quietly so as not to bother the boy more than necessary.

The tall woman and girl both jumped on the poor blonde, hugging her with all their might. As soon as Tsukumo replied with a gentle, "Hello Iva, Kiichi," they began chattering at a deafening pitch. Everyone covered their ears, even the bunny and sheep 'guards' raised their tiny paws to their ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise.

Hirato waved his three guests over to him and shouted above the din, "Why don't I take you to my office! We can talk at a more normal level there!" Gareki and Nai both nodded vigorously, hands still pressed tightly to the sides of their heads.

The four males walked quickly out of the hall before ducking into a spectacularly silent room. All of them breathed a heavy sigh of relief…then the wonderful quiet was shattered by a cheerful, "HIRATO!" The dark-haired man in question looked up just in time to see a flash of red before he was tackled to the floor.

"You're back!" A tall man with red hair, who was wearing an outfit similar to Hirato's (instead of the upscale trench coat and tie, he wore a red and black striped scarf wrapped loosely around his neck), turned his lightly golden eyes on his captain and began babbling excitedly.

"How did it go? Did you learn anything new? I still wish you would have picked me to go with you. How was Tsukumo? She didn't get scared or anything, right? She really is a nice girl. Who are these boys? Iva and Jiki got in a fight again while you were gone. But you don't have to worry, I took care of it. Do you want me to get you something? What did yo-"

Hirato cut him off by shoving the red head to the side. He slowly sat up and groaned, "Tsukitachi, how many times do I have to tell you to stay off me?" He rubbed the back of his head, "That really hurt you little…"

"Waaah! Hirato! Don't swear in front of kids! It teaches them bad manners. You should kno-" The red head, now known as Tsukitachi, was silenced with an icy glare from Hirato.

The dark-haired man sighed, "I apologize for my subordinate's actions…and decibel of voice," he looked up at the three. They were standing stock still and couldn't help but stare at the two men. They didn't know Hirato was even capable of emotion. They thought that the calm and collected façade that seemed to have taken up permanent residence on his face was all he had. Right now, however, the captain looked like he wanted to strangle the red head.

Hirato stood quickly and brushed himself off a bit. Tsukitachi leapt to his feet as well. He watched as Hirato tersely ushered Yogi, Gareki, and Nai over to the couch that sat in the middle of the large room. As the four sat down, he bounded over to the captain and plopped down in a chair next to him. Hirato cuffed him on the head before seating himself gently at his desk.

"Now then…is there anything you would like to ask me?" He looked directly at Gareki. He decided that the boy was more mature than the other two and could handle an interrogation from the coldly polite captain.

"Yes," Gareki smirked at him, "What happened on that train? And…" the teen glanced at the child sitting next to him, "Are you going to be able to help Nai find the person he's looking for? Um…his name's Karoku, right Nai?" The pale boy nodded and leaned forward, dashing out a quick description.

"Karoku has light blue hair, blue eyes, a kind smile and has a voice that sounds like…well…" Nai smiled softly, remembering the man that had taken care of him his entire life, "He sounds like a waterfall. Calm, gentle, happy, caring," he sighed, "I really miss him. I hope he's okay. When he went missing I found a bunch of pools of red water. I thought they were a little strange but Karoku was gone so I didn't pay much attention to them. Eh? What's wrong, Gareki?" He had peeked back at the older boy when he had finished talking about Karoku. Nai hadn't expected his new friend to look so upset when he mentioned the red water.

"Red water…" Yogi breathed, "Nai-chan was the red water a little thicker than normal?"

"Um…maybe. Why?"

"That wasn't water, it was blood. Meaning that your…Karoku, is either dead or seriously injured." Hirato answered for the blonde/silver-haired man.

Nai looked horrified, "D-dead?" He spun to look at Gareki, "Wh-what d-does that mean? It sounds bad, really bad…" he trailed off, not wanting to even think about what that word might mean.

Gareki winced slightly, "It means that even if you did find your friend, he wouldn't ever wake up. No matter what you did. However, just because there was blood doesn't automatically mean that he is dead. It might mean that he fought back and wounded his kidnappers…" Gareki stopped when he saw that nothing he said, other than his first two sentences, was going to make it through to Nai. The youth was already in tears.

At this point Yogi spoke up, "Nai-chan," he murmured, "It's going to be okay. Gareki-kun is right. There is no way of knowing that Karoku-san is dead unless an actual body is found," he paused and smiled softly at the despondent child, "How about until we do find him…you stay with Gareki-kun and I? We'll take care of you while Karoku-san is missing. Does that sound alright with you?"

Nai sniffled a bit, "Yes," he whispered, "I would like that." He gave Yogi and Gareki a small grin before sitting down in the spot between them (the brothers had moved away from each other to make room for him when Yogi asked if he wanted to stay with them). He curled his legs underneath him and leaned back with a sad sigh.

Hirato chuckled. "Is it okay if I ask my questions now?" When he saw Gareki nod, he cleared his throat and began, "Yogi. You are capable of flight and your eyes become redder when you are upset. How and why? Gareki. While you weren't able to stop the bomb on the train, you seemed to be in familiar territory. What made that possible? Also, when I hit you in the stomach, you didn't pass out or throw up like most people would have. Why is that?" He stopped to give them time to answer.

Gareki went first, "I've always had an interest in mechanics; explosives are one of my favorite things to work with. And in answer to the second question…well," he glanced at Yogi, "Nii-chan taught me how to fight when I was little. I guess all the exercises he put me through paid off. If that isn't the answer you were looking for, sorry, but there isn't another one."

Hirato smirked at the bratty statement, "Alright then. Yogi?"

"Do I have to reply?" The blonde/sliver haired man crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Hirato, "The answers are personal."

"Well…if you want any kind of assistance in finding Karoku I would recommend responding anyway."

Yogi huffed, "Fine!" He took a breath and proceeded to tell his story.

This chapter is a little shorter than the first one but it was fun to write and I hope you liked it! :)

Oh and btw, this will be the last chapter I'm going post for a bit. Two to three weeks to be exact. My editor, aka: my spectacular, incredible, magnificent mother (Luv u Mommy! XD), is going on a trip and I seriously need her advice when I write. So, anyway I suppose you could call this a mini hiatus but I will try to make up for it when she gets back.

Later!