Chapter 2: Lost Forever

Overview: Basically, it's a bridge? An arc? For the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Karneval! D; So don't come bugging me at my doorstep.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I have a whole paragraph at the end of the story where I just keep talking, so read on!

A week or so later, after Gareki passes out...
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A cold stark ceiling with a ventilation grid hung grimly above his bed. A nice breeze and bright sunlight filtered through the window. The drapes were blue and white, and a salty sea scent could be tasted in the air. Was he by the ocean? He didn't recognize the room. Gareki's tongue tasted horrible, as if he had slept like a log for weeks on end. He felt cold and rock-like. He stretched out his right arm to grab hold of the railing. He was in a hospital bed for sure, and an IV sticking out of his arm was proof. Or not. His breath hitched when he attempted to sit up. Wait. He was in the hospital, probably in the second ship. So Tsukumo got them back safely. He thought back to how she found them, what happened between Yogi and himself and shivered. A stupid blush burned his cheeks. If Yogi had appeared suddenly in the room right now, he might just commit suicide by jumping out the damned window.

How did he feel about Yogi? It wasn't like he hated him... but to say he felt something for Yogi was a little far-fetched. They were both guys! Not to mention the Yogi that did those things to him wasn't the normal Yogi. That silver-haired bastard was a cruel and flirtatious sadist. Let's harass the cute beat up teenager with broken bones! He groaned in frustration. Why did things have to play out like that? Yogi probably didn't have any memory of what he had done, so it would only be a one-sided confusion- and a one-sided love. He decided not to worry about it or care. He would brush it off and act like nothing happened, even if Yogi did remember what had happened at that time. If he acknowledged what had happened, he couldn't keep a normal distance anymore. They would be more than distant colleagues. Unforgiving chains would pull on Gareki once more.

He reached up to close the window, as it was suddenly too cold and too drafty in the room. A shiver ran down his back again. Damned Yogi. Damned window. The warm sunlight became still and slim, transforming into a winter sun. The festival had taken place in autumn right? He hoped that he hadn't been unconscious for a whole season.

He barely nudged the window sill with a straining hand when the door on the left of the room suddenly burst open with a loud bang.

"Get him!" Doctor Akari pronounced, pointing at a confused Gareki. He froze in place. What the hell? Two nurses grabbed him by his broken arm roughly. He hissed in discomfort, though his wounds hurt much less than before. The doctors here must have been doing their thing.

"I'm not going anywhere! Let go of me, crazy- " They slammed him down onto the bed. He tried to escape their too tight hold, not because he wanted to escape, but because

it actually did hurt when they squeezed his broken arm.

"Then why did you try to get out of the room by going out the window?" Akari demanded, shooting him an accusing glare. He was probably still peeved about the last time Yogi escaped, since he left through the window in a similar situation.

"I really didn't. Where would I go with a broken arm?" Gareki questioned, glancing at the nurses who still held tightly to the said limb. They slackened their grip and backed away, embarrassed by their unneeded fierce hold.

"Don't forget two fractured ribs and a sprained ankle," Akari added, taking the clipboard from the side of the bed and scribbling medical nonsense that nobody could read. "Circus has to pay for your carelessness you know."

"Exactly my point," Gareki said. He finally knew the origin of the side pains.

"Take this medicine right now. Don't get out of bed, or else we'll strap you in and knock you out for a week with some sleepy juice," Akari said, handing the nurse a bottle of pills and a prescription. "We've prepared an extra strong dosage just for you." He turned to leave.

"Wait- how about Yogi? Is he still unconscious?" Gareki was unsure why he asked. Hadn't he just promised himself that he wouldn't care about that bastard anymore? He nonchalantly popped the pills into his mouth without downing some water. That's how badass he was.

Akari shot him a glare, and strode out the door. The green eyed nurse turned to Gareki and said,

"Doctor Akari is mad because Yogi escaped again. This time he climbed out through the vents." She whispered, hiding a smile. Gareki smirked and glanced up at the square above his bed. This square was larger than the one Nai had previously gotten into. Could a full grown man climb through those? The nurses left quietly, as he continued to stare at the grill. If Yogi could get through, couldn't he himself do that?

He pondered deep in thought about the possible success rate of an escape like that. 6%? 5%? He decided not to risk it. Only someone small like Nai or someone amazing like Yogi could do something like that. He was just a plain and simple teen who didn't know what he was doing. The fractured bones didn't give him an advantage either.

Just as he turned and shut his eyes to take a quick doze, a creak and a thud made him flash his eyes back open. The figure of the one person he really didn't want to see was standing right there, flashing a wide smile at Gareki.

"What do you want, Yogi?" Gareki sighed, a straight face attempting to hide his embarrassment and chagrin. Yogi clapped his hand onto Gareki's mouth. His fingers were cold and slender. His stomach flipped at his touch. Did he have to touch him like that?

"Shhhh! They'll hear us! Do you want me to get so drugged up that I can't even blink?" Yogi winked at him. Gareki pulled away and stared at the wall.

"Maybe." Gareki asserted, tugging his blanket higher up his shoulders. Yogi's smile dropped a bit. He glanced at the door and back at Gareki.

"Do you really hate me that much?" Yogi sighed, tugging at his green sweater. It hung limply, screaming upon its last thread.

Gareki didn't respond. It was a facepalm or hide yourself moment. With Yogi there right now, he could hardly form coherent words. He didn't have the time to mentally prepare himself for an encounter. That crucial time was for him to practice a blasé attitude no matter what Yogi did. Why was he flailing like a girl? He was practically an adult already! He should be able to handle his own emotions.

Yogi bowed his head and turned to the door.

"If that's how you feel about me... Well, I might as well give myself up... " Yogi sounded genuinely crestfallen and upset. Gareki swallowed. He didn't know that Yogi could make such an upset voice. It was also quite comical. It was as if he was some convict giving himself up to the police.

"What a sec-" Gareki frowned, as he tried to sit up. He hissed at a stabbing pain in the side. Yogi was turning the door knob and was pulling the door open when Gareki came crashing down onto the floor, not at all gracefully.

"Ugh..." Gareki complained, tossing the blanket away and trying to get up. Yogi gasped and kneeled beside Gareki, flailing his arms.

"Where does it hurt? Can I touch this arm? No? That one's broken? Can I lift you up? Sorry! So sorry!" Yogi tittered and wailed upon lifting Gareki. Gareki swatted away his hands but knew that he wouldn't be able to get up by himself with the casts. The painkillers must have been strong or something, because he shouldn't have fallen down so easily. His reflexes had been dulled down to that of a hippo. He grabbed the edge of the bed, but each shift made him hold his breath. With a swift scoop, Yogi had picked up Gareki bridal style, with ease and comfort. His stomach flipped again as he noticed how close Yogi's face was. Why did he have to have such a perfect complexion and considerate eyes? Gareki didn't feel any pain at all as Yogi set him back down, but his pride was stabbed to death for all eternity. He waved good-bye to the bit of pride that he had left.

His IV had torn out of his hand, and it bled a bit. He looked at it with mild concern. Was the IV important, or was it allowing some sort of biological weapon prototype to flow through his veins? He tried to put the conspiracy theories into a folder in his mind to refer to later when he asked Hitori. Not like the man would respond, but it was interesting to think about. Yogi was apologizing like a rampant puppy on caffeine while he spazzed at his bleeding hand. Yogi's cold hands picked up his as he took a cotton ball from the bedside tray and swabbed at it. His hands were gentle and strong, scarred by the battles he'd been through. Gareki looked down at his own callused hands and wondered if it was something they had in common.

He snatched away his hands and hid them underneath the covers. Yogi hesitated and started messing with the stand that held up the bag with fluids.

"I'm so sorry! You're IV fell out... I don't know what kind of drug they're giving you, but it must be important, so please, let me fix it for you." Yogi thought it was sketchy too. Then again, Yogi thought everything was sketchy. Yogi was more skeptical of the world than he was, but unlike Gareki, he hid it cleverly everyday with a steadfast smile. His smile was always there, a safety net for people with doubts. People like Gareki.

"It's okay, I'll wait until the nurse comes back. I'll tell her that I turned over too fast or something." Gareki's eye twitched. The nurse would probably think that Gareki had tried to escape. Gareki watched Yogi shake his head in dismay. Why was he so persistent? So kind? If this situation was backwards, Gareki would have tried to keep a distance from Yogi. The farther away, the better.

"It's the least I can do!" Gareki eyed Yogi suspiciously. Was Yogi aware of what he did; is that why he was apologizing so much? But he didn't find out that his arm was broken until just now. Perhaps he really didn't know? But why didn't he just keep away?

"Do you even how to do it?" Gareki accused, somewhat asking him about the questions on his mind as he answered Yogi. He pulled at a thread on his... hospital gown. A nurse had changed his clothes, or so he hoped. He looked around the room, and on a nearby fold-up chair sat his ragged outfit and his beloved goggles. Yogi was depressed once again.

"I must repent for my sins..." Yogi said, dragging himself to the door once again. Gareki let him walk to the door and even turn the door knob.

Yogi stopped and turned. "You're not going to stop me...?" Yogi tilted his head with a confused smile.

"Frankly, no," Gareki deadpanned, staring out the window. Why did Yogi have to stay in his room for so long? Why couldn't he just leave already? If the fool stayed there any longer, he would discover that a frustrated blush stained his face.

"Gareki-kun! Don't be cruel!" Yogi complained. Right on cue, the door flew open and hit Yogi with a shallow thunk. Doctor Akari appeared with an injection needle the size of a thermos. Gareki prayed that the thing was for Yogi and not for him.

"Yogi... there you are..." Akari's voice sounded like it came crawling out of a horror movie. Gareki was thanking the gods that he wasn't Yogi right now. Yogi had one foot out of the window before the tall Doctor had an arm around Yogi's throat, dragging him back across the room.

"Let's have an adult conversation back in your room. Let Gareki get his sleep." Doctor Akari had a firm grip on Yogi's collar, yanking him out the door. Yogi yelped and started yelling all kinds of nonsense.

"I'll eat all of your pig children and drown your beta fish! I'll give your hamster to Tsukumo so she can stroke it until all of it's fur falls off! I'll eat all of your chocolate cake and then vomit the contents of my stomach on your bed! And your lover's bed! Help Gareki, save me with your ninja skills! I'll give you back your gun! You'll regret this, Akari! " Yogi clamored, creating a ruckus louder than necessary. Akari-san threatened Yogi with the canister-sized needle, but it just made Yogi yell even more. Gareki wondered if they would actually give him back his gun. 6%? 5%? A nurse came in and fixed his IV, and when all was finally quiet, he softly sighed into his pillow. Finally, that golden-haired guy was gone.

He didn't feel an ounce of sympathy for him. The sunshine glowed orange outside, as an afternoon sun lazing away came to greet him. The IV must have been some sort of anesthesia, because a drowsy blanket came upon him. Next time, when he saw Yogi again, everything would go back to normal. They could go back to being distant acquaintances. Gareki could return to maintaining a mediocre relationship with everybody, just to be safe. No more problems would arise anymore, as long as he kept a safe distance between himself and everyone else... He idly wondered where he was and if he really was by the beach... A somewhat comforting but cold reassurance lulled him into a restless sleep. A landscape so dreary and familiar to the lost lambs, that even if they wandered, they could find their way back.

A/N: Sorry for the somewhat shorter chapter! I had this great idea for chapter 3, so I just sped through this awkward bridge... I'm not sure whether or not this is more important or if the next chapter is. I hope you enjoyed this! Thanks so much for the reviews! I can't believe that I've got people waiting on my chapters already, and all the positive feedback makes me so uber happy, y'know? ( I like criticism too- but no flames please! I may be a masochist, but please take your flames to cook me some french toast instead.)Without the quick feedback I probably wouldn't have been able to write this so quickly. Don't expect anything in the future though...! After Christmas break I tend to ease back into busy school life. What can I say? I'm a nerd. Your feedback makes me happier than an ostrich on Doctor Akari's drugs that flies around the world in a jet that he stole from Tony Stark while drinking champagne in a pretty wine glass made from 10000 diamond ore in Minecraft. In survival mode with no mods.

metafanfic: I noticed earlier that there are only 30 some fanfics for Karneval? I was like, "Gotta tap that." Thanks so much for your support!

yaoi-girl38: Thanks so much for your review! It really means a lot, trust me. :'D I hope I lived up to your expectations with this story!