A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews! Anon, Lura Elsworth, Ginpachi-sensei, Guest, Reazthie, and Rika Tone! :D

A/N 2: Let me know if I'm making Akashi too OOC? I want him to be less 'I am all-knowing' than in the anime XD But not too much. Anyway, hope you like it :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or Tokyo Magnitude 8.0


Chapter 3


Evacuation Site

It was morning now and much hotter today than it was yesterday. A certain gray-haired boy woke up from experiencing the full blast of heat from the sun.

'So...hot...' Chihiro thought. He hesitantly opened his eyes, narrowing them when a bright light momentarily blinded him. After all that happened yesterday, he wanted to keep sleeping, but the heat made it almost impossible. Even with the overpass covering most of the intense rays, it did nothing to lessen the heat and humidity in the air.

Deciding that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, he slowly sat up, doing his best not to jostle Tetsuya's head too much. The blue-haired boy merely shifted a bit at the movement, and continued sleeping. How he was able to in this heat...Chihiro would never know.

Tetsuya had a tendency to fall asleep in the weirdest of places. Like...that time he fell asleep in the pool, making their mother freak out at seeing the bluenette's body just floating there unmoving. Or when their father came home from work early one day and almost tripped over the blue-haired boy who decided to take a nap in the entryway of their apartment.

Chihiro glared at nothing in particular, remembering how he had gotten in trouble for just reading his manga in the living room and letting his brother sleep there...

Looking down at his brother sleeping face again, he saw a little sweat and removed the blanket Akashi had given them the other night.

'Akashi...' Chihiro suddenly remembered the red-head. He looked to his right, where the man had been before and saw no one there. He must have left them sometime this morning.

'It's not like we need him...' Chihiro said, glaring at the spot the man had been last night.

Taking his gaze from the spot, he noticed that there were significantly fewer people sitting on the steps than there were yesterday. Figuring that they must have left to go home, he realized that he and Tetsuya would have to do so eventually as well.

Thinking about that, made him remember that his parents were still out there. Despite his usual indifferent attitude towards them, he still cared for them and he had to make sure they were alright.

He pulled out his phone and dialed his mothers number. When the call screen came up, he had some hope in him that she would be fine and greet him with her usual annoying cheerful voice and come to get them. But as he was about to put his ear to the phone, the call screen ended and the words 'no signal' replaced it. Sighing, he put his phone away.

'We'll just have to go to them...' He decided, after seeing yet another group of people walk down and away from the steps.

"Wake up, Tetsuya." The gray-haired boy shook his brother lightly until the bluenette's eyes twitched and a moment later opened.

"Ah, good morning, Chihiro-nii." Tetsuya said, sleepily when he saw that it was his brother next to him. Blue eyes looked around for a moment, not recognizing their location, until he remembered everything that happened yesterday. Going to buy their mother a gift, the earthquake, and being separated from his brother...

"Did Akashi-san leave, Chihiro-nii?" The eight-year old asked, not seeing the red-haired man, who had helped them the other day, present.

"Yes." Chihiro said, shortly.

The younger frowned a little at the answer. The red-haired man had helped them both and he hadn't properly thanked him for doing it...

"I did?" Chihiro's eye twitched at the voice... Blue and gray eyes turned in the direction it came from and saw the red-head coming towards them. Behind him was the black-haired man who worked at the juice store that Tetsuya had gone to...Takao, Chihiro remembered his name after thinking for a little. Next to Takao, was a green-haired man who had equally green eyes that were behind black-rimmed glasses.

'Dang it...' Now there was another weirdo...

"Good morning, Akashi-san, Takao-san, and..." The bluenette looked up at the tall green-haired person in front of him, who merely kept looking like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"He's Midorima Shintaro. He's just in a bad mood because of the heat." Takao provided, before grinning. "Isn't that right, Shin-chan?"

"I told you, Takao. Stop calling me that." The man sighed, too hot to properly scold the other.

"Ah, good morning, Midorima-san." Tetsuya greeted politely, making the man look down at him and nod in response to his greeting.

Chihiro just ignored them all. He saw no need to speak to people who he would never see again. But, seeing how the red-head had come back to them, he couldn't help but wonder why and where he went...

It seemed that he must have accidentally let his face show his interest show on his face, because Akashi spoke up.

"I woke up early and decided to find out more about how much the earthquake destroyed." The gray-haired boy nodded, accepting the answer.

"Akashi-san knows Takao-san?" Tetsuya asked, tilting his head in confusion. They hadn't acted like they knew each other before.

"Well, I've seen him around the mall a few times since we both work there, and Shin-chan" Chihiro didn't miss the way the green-haired mans eye twitched at being called by that nickname again. "mentioned an 'Akashi' before. But we've never formally met."

"Let's go, Tetsuya." Chihiro said. If this man wanted to hang out with his grown up friends, then fine by him. Sure, he didn't know the area very well, but they'd just have to find the nearest bus and get home. It'd be a lot better if it were just the two of them and not with some red-head who kept trying to boss him around.

The bluenette nodded, putting on his backpack and stood to follow his brother. Before they could get out of reach, a hand was placed on each of their shoulders, making them stop.

"Unless you both live near here, I suggest you wait." Heterochromatic eyes surveyed them.

"And why should we..?" Chihiro asked. They did live quite far away from the mall, almost a thirty minute ride by bus. But, that was nothing compared to how long they'd have to wait for the officers to come to them.

"Give me your 1seg, Shintaro." Midorima sighed and placed the device in the red-head's hand.

'He wants us to watch something..?' The gray-haired boy was about to refuse. They had a long way to walk and this man just seemed to be trying to delay them. But as he looked at him, he saw the firm and serious look and became curious at what he wanted to show them.

'I guess a few minutes won't matter...' Chihiro thought, looking down at his brother who was looking at the device in the mans hands with just as much curiosity as himself.

He nodded sharply and took the 1seg from him. The video was paused, he saw that there was a woman with long black hair and dark blue eyes on the screen, sitting behind a desk. From the background and words across the bottom and side of the screen, he assumed that the video was about the news. He hit the play button and listened.

"Hello, this is Araki Masako of channel 8 news. We will now talk about the earthquake that hit the northern part of the Teiko region yesterday at 1345h. The epicenter of the earthquake was at a depth of approximately 25 kilometers below sea level. Its magnitude is estimated to be 8.0 on the Ricter scale. As a result, there may be many aftershocks and tsunamis, so please be very careful."

'Aftershocks?' Chihiro mildly wondered if that was what they had felt when that piece of ceiling almost fell on him and the tremors they felt when they went to the lower levels of the mall.

"All transportation will be suspended because of large-scale fires that have broken out all over the downtown area and police say they won't be restored anytime control has been implemented and entry to the area surrounding those areas are forbidden for safety reasons."

The gray-haired boy now knew why Akashi had stopped them. If there were no buses or trains working, then getting home would be a problem for just the two of them.

"As of now, 843 deaths have been confirmed, including many injured and missing persons..."

'843..?' Chihiro couldn't believe how many people had died. It then came back to him. That kid's body he saw yesterday and the many other bodies that had sheets covering them in the mall. He had been so caught up in finding his brother, that he hadn't really taken in the fact that others have died.

Noticing that he was missing some of the broadcast while in his thoughts, he quickly returned his attention back to the news.

"...who are currently in an area with any fires, please evacuate to one of the shelters that have been provided by law enforcements."

"I will now turn this over to Professor Harasawa Katsunori." The woman finished talking, putting down her papers and turned away from the camera. A moment later, the screen split into two and a man with wavy black hair came into view on the left. "Please explain the current situation."

The man nodded and began his explanation of the events that happened.

"Since the earthquake hit the capital, approximately 6.5 million people will have difficulty heading home, seeing as transportation is out of order. I would advise people to either walk to their destinations or stay put in the provided shelters until the aftermath is finished."

"How long do you estimate the aftershocks will continue? And is it possible to tell how strong they will be?" The woman asked.

"I believe that the aftershocks will continue for three days at nothing more than magnitude 5.0. However, they may happen at random intervals, so caution is advised."

"Thank you, Professor." The man nodded and the screen returned to normal, only the woman showing again. "That's all we have for now. We will keep you updated when we have more information."

The screen went black, signalling that the news broadcast was over. Chihiro shut off the device and gave it back to the man.

'So, we have to walk home...'

"As you heard, we can't stay here." Akashi said. "I asked around and they told me that this is only a temporary evacuation site for those who survived in this area. Soon the officers will have to leave and focus on the main ones. We will have to walk and find another place. And since I assume that you don't know the area well..."

There was no way they could make it around without getting lost... He sighed, knowing that they had no choice but to accept their help.

Akashi could see the gray-haired boys stubborn look turn into one of reluctant acceptance, and once again felt a smirk make its way back onto his face. Something about his attitude just plain amused him.

"Oh! Here!" Takao shouted, holding out two rice balls to the boys. "We went and got some real food as well."

"Ah, thank you, Takao-san." Tetsuya accepted the triangle-shaped food and sat back down, Chihiro doing the same, nodding in thanks.

Chihiro waited for Tetsuya to unwrap his own rice ball. When the bluenette took a bite he started eating his as well.

"Tet-chan, you should eat more carefully." Takao said, noticing a piece of the food was on the boy's cheek. He was about to remove it, but the bluenette just scooted farther from him.

"It's for later..." Tetsuya said plainly, before nibbling on the rice ball again. Why did people keep trying to make him get rid of his snack..? The three adults looked at the boy in confusion, wondering what in the world he meant.

"Oh...I see..." Takao withheld a laugh, going along with the unexpected statement. Akashi and Midorima however just kept the puzzled looks on their faces.

Chihiro couldn't help but smirk at the fact the red-head looked genuinely shocked for the first time. He silently thanked the annoying orange-haired friend for being part of the reason that caused him to wipe that smirk off of the red-haired mans face.

While the two ate, the adults talked about what to do from here on.

"We could stay here and hope maybe Aomine can give us a ride." Midorima suggested. Akashi had told him about their meeting at the mall and even if public transport wasn't an option, perhaps they could get someone else to take them.

"That won't be possible...Someone said that the bridge connecting Teiko to the other island is on fire. Not only that, but the roads are closed." Akashi muttered, looking in the direction of the smoke that was in the distance. "We have no choice but to walk..."

"We can't just walk. If you've forgotten, Teiko is an artificially made island. There's no way on or off of it, other than that bridge." Midorima said. "We should just stay here until they fix the bridge."

"If another aftershock happens, this place could very well sink." Akashi narrowed his eyes at Midorima, who stared back just as stubbornly. "Staying here would be bad."

They both knew that the other had a sound argument, but they had to decide on something. Takao was about to say his thoughts, when a loud voice echoed around the area. They looked over and saw a small boat with the words 'Japan Coast Guard' written on the side of it.

"This is the Japan Coast Guard!" There were three people on-board who were all wearing life vests and uniforms. The man who was speaking must have been in the wheel room, because the others were busy doing tasks. "We will be operating a sea bus to transport victims! Those who wish to be transported from Teiko to Seiho Pier, please gather at the docks near the park! Those who wish to embark to Kaijo-."

They stopped listening to the man after that, since Seiho was much closer to them than the Kaijo area.

"Well, that settles it then." Takao smiled. The broadcast had effectively cut off the red and green-haired mens argument. The two stared at him for a little, before grudgingly nodding. Seriously, both of them hated to be wrong...

Chihiro finished his rice balls as the three finished their chat and looked over to see that Tetsuya hadn't finished his. And from the looks of it, he was too full to eat the rest.

"Just wrap it back up and put it in your bag, Tetsuya." The gray-haired boy said.

The bluenette frowned a little before nodding, wrapping the remaining food in the aluminum and putting it in his backpack. Chihiro blamed Tetsuya's teacher for his hesitancy to not finish a meal. The man would practically force the boy not to throw away his meals in the cafeteria, even if he was too full to eat anymore. When their mother found out about this, she started packing lunches for Tetsuya.

"Alright, ready to go?" Akashi asked. Seeing the bluenette put on his bag and Chihiro stand, he assumed they were. The five walked down the stairs and began following the group of people who were heading for the piers.


On the way to the boating area

The farther they walked from the evacuation site, the more people they had seen. Now, there were hundreds of people around them and all of them were as eager to get home as they were. People were pushing and shoving each other over the littlest of things. But, who could blame them after all that had happened?

After walking for almost an hour, they finally reached the intersection that lead to the piers. But they still had a ways to go. They stopped, seeing the rest of the crowd were gathering in front of a man who was shouting directions to the survivors of the earthquake.

"Those who want to go to Seiho Pier, take a right! Kaijo Pier, take a left!" The man with the megaphone shouted for people who didn't know the area well, but the red-head already knew the way and had started for the right path before he mentioned it.

"Stay together." Akashi warned. With this big of a crowd, if they lost sight of each other then it'd be difficult to regroup, especially since it took him a little while to even notice the boys at first. Everyone nodded and continued walking.

"You okay, Tetsuya?" Akashi asked, and slowed down a little seeing how the youngest was having a little trouble keeping up with their longer strides. The blue-haired boy nodded.

"I could give you a piggy-back, Tet-chan." Takao offered with a smile.

"Ah, I'm fine." The bluenette started, but Takao just grinned and easily picked the boy up. Chihiro glared at the mans back for picking up his brother against his will. But seeing his blue eyes light up at having such a different perspective of things, he let it go.

"Want to hold my hand too, Chihiro-kun?" Takao asked, holding a hand out to the boy, who just gave the hand a weird look before ignoring it completely and continued walking. The black-haired man frowned a little at the action. "Ah, so moody. He's like you Shin-chan."

"What? Are you calling me a kid?" Midorima glared at his friend, Chihiro also glared at the black-haired man, angry that he had technically insulted him.

"Hahaha! Look Akashi, Tet-chan, they both made the same face!" Takao laughed at the two who were both glaring at him, and the red-head and bluenette couldn't help but let a small smile go onto their faces.

Midorima 'tsked', but Chihiro inwardly seethed.

'Trying to treat me like a kid...' There was no way he'd resort to holding someones hand like a baby! Chihiro was brought out of his thoughts as he noticed the pace of the crowd had picked up and he could barely see the green, red, blue and black hair. He was about to pick up his pace as well and get to them before he lost sight of them, but as he did, someone bumped into him.

"Don't just stand there, kid! Keep moving!" The man hadn't noticed him there, but he wasn't about to apologize for walking. With a scowl, the man continued after the crowd and disappeared from Chihiro's sight.

'I was walking!' Chihiro had the urge to shout at the rude man, but he just gritted his teeth, and tried to calm himself down. People in general annoyed him, but those types especially got on his nerves.

Once some of his anger dissipated, he looked around and froze. He didn't see anyone... Not Tetsuya, or Akashi or the other two...

'Where?' He looked around, making sure to keep walking so no one else would bump into him. All he saw were unfamiliar faces and he knew that he had gotten distracted and had lost them.

"Tetsuya?" He looked around for his brothers bright blue hair, hoping to notice the contrasting color from the sea of brown and black-haired people. When he didn't, he stood still and tried to look more carefully. He didn't realize his mistake until after it happened.

The people behind him, not noticing that he was there, walked into him and pushed him forward. He managed to straighten a little but then lost his footing and shortly after felt himself getting closer and closer to the hard asphalt of the road. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pain of hitting the hard surface to come.

But, before he could hit the ground, a hand grabbed his wrist, stopping his fall. A few seconds later, noticing that he hadn't fallen, he looked up and saw the familiar heterochromatic eyes of Akashi. The others behind him.

"Are you okay, Chihiro-nii?" Tetsuya asked. When his brother disappeared, he'd been the first to notice and had looked for him from his increase elevation. Takao placed the boy down when he squirmed a little to get down to his brother.

"I'm fine..." He grumbled, embarrassed that he had lost his temper so much and had lost track of things.

"I suggest you hold hands, Chihiro." Akashi said firmly. Getting to the boats would mean nothing if they all got lost.

"Here, hold on." Midorima said, holding out his hand. Tetsuya looked at the mans hand and was hesitant to grab it.

Seeing the worry in the blue eyes, the green-haired man knew what was wrong.

"My hands aren't hurt...It's tape, not bandages." He explained.

'Why in the world would he tape his fingers..?' Chihiro didn't get it, but he had no intention of holding hands with someone who'd do something weird like that.

But, the bluenette didn't seem to mind, since a moment later Tetsuya accepted the offered hand and smiled in relief when the man didn't wince in pain like he had expected when he saw the white wrapping on his hand.

"And I thought that you hated kids, Shin-chan." Takao nudged the others side.

"B-Be quiet. It's just so we won't have to waste anymore time if they get lost, is all." Midorima explained his reasoning, looking away from the look smug look Takao and Akashi were giving him.

"Mhmm..." Takao's smile just widened. Midorima's eye twitched at the unbelieving response.

"Chihiro-nii?" The gray-haired boy looked down and saw that his brother was holding out his hand to him.

It felt weird for his brother to be the one to try and protect him... But, remembering what happened just a few moments ago, he knew that it would be a good idea not to get separated again... It was better than holding one of the other three's hands. With a sigh, he slowly took his brother's hand and made sure not to let go.

"We should almost be there." Akashi announced, seeing the sign for the pier in the distance.

As they were walking towards the sign, they started to hear a rumbling noise. All of the people in the crowd froze, hearing the sound as well. The trees and poles that hadn't fallen before were now quivering a little.

"Aftershock?" Midorima asked, feeling a small tremor. It was nothing like the magnitude 5.0 they had been told to expect, and they were glad. Until a moment later when the shaking increase.

This aftershock lasted longer than the one. Not only was it enough to send everyone to their knees, but in the distance the crowd could see one of the skyscrapers crumble to the ground. But that wasn't the only thing... The support beams that held the overpass they were about to go under, shook violently before they too cracked in half. And without the support of the beams the highway came crashing down towards the many people below.

Luckily, they were far enough from it to not get hit by the huge structure, but from the force of the broken road and metal hitting the street below, clouds of dirt, dust and rock were sent flying towards the crowd.

Chihiro closed his eyes and tightened his grip on Tetsuya's hand, he shielded his brothers face from the mass of soil and rock that was coming at them. When he didn't feel the objects hit him, he noticed that just as he had shielded his brother, Akashi had shielded them both.

'Why..?' He really didn't understand this man.

"5.0's are pretty strong..." Takao murmured, getting up shakily.

Chihiro made sure the bluenette was alright, before looking around at the damage.

Everyone around them were in complete shock at what they had witnessed. The only sounds being the cries of the oblivious babies, who were weeping at the sudden loud noise.

"N-No way..." A man near them whispered, looking in front of him at the destruction that the aftershock had caused.

"Th-The highway...it fell..." A woman stuttered.

"We can't keep walking now... We'll have to get to the Kaijo boats!" Someone declared, taking his wife's hand and going towards the area that people were gathering to go to Kaijo Pier.

The adults did their best to block Tetsuya's and Chihiro's view of the accident. It wasn't something a child should see... The bluenette and gray-haired boy had only gotten a glimpse of the accident, but a glimpse was all they needed... Some people hadn't been able to move out of the way in time when the structure collapsed. Even if most of the bodies were covered, there were still signs of limbs and blood sticking out from underneath the rubble.

'Could have been us...' He thought. This was getting too real for him. Akashi saw the panic on the twelve-year olds face and tried to change the subject.

"We just have to make our way to Kaijo and then handle things from there." Akashi said, looking at the remains of the collapsed highway. There was no way they'd be able to get around it... Seeing the gray eyes still had the scared look in them, the red-head shook him to get his focus. "Come on. You want to get home, right?"

Chihiro looked at the man then at his equally frightened brother, and nodded. He had to be strong so they could both meet their parents. Akashi looked at Takao and Midorima and saw they had always recovered from the event. Taking the gray-haired boys hand, who offered no resistance this time, they turned away from the mess, and followed the crowd of people who had come to the same conclusion.

Chihiro, after seeing how close they had come to dying, made sure not to let go of the mans hand and kept his brother close to him the whole way to the pier.


Boating Area

They finally arrived at the docks that would take them to Kaijo Pier, but the only problem now was the hundreds of other people who also needed to get on and go there. There were only two boats being sent at a time and with all of the men and women there, it'd take forever to be able to get on one.

"Maybe we can get on that boat?" Takao asked, seeing a smaller boat off to the side, only carrying three uniformed people on it. Someone else had the same idea and tried to walk onto the boat, but was quickly sent away by one of the coast guards.

"This ship will be rescuing those who fell into the water! I repeat! Do not board this ship, it's for rescuing purposes only! Those two boats over there are the sea buses. Please go to those to get to the pier!"

"Well, that answers that question..." Midorima sighed.

"This ship will departing soon! Please stay clear so you don't fall, and give priority to weaker people!" The mans shouted over the loud and rowdy crowd.

"Can these two get on?" Akashi asked, pointing to Tetsuya and Chihiro.

'He'd let us go on before him..?'

The coast guard didn't see what he meant for a moment, but when he finally noticed the boys, he jumped a little before recovering and answering.

"Yes, those two may go on this boat." The man said, looking down at the two kids.

"Alright, go ahead on the ship." Akashi said. The adults looked reluctant to send them on their own, but they knew it was best to let them get home as soon as possible. So they waved goodbye to the bluenette and gray-haired boy.

"Take care okay, Tet-chan, Chihiro-kun." Takao said.

"But..." Tetsuya had a frown on his face and shoulder slumped at the thought of never seeing the nice men again. Chihiro looked at the three men and sighed. They had helped them this whole time... he supposed that they should return the favor...

"He's our f-father." Chihiro said, choking on the word. "Right, Tetsuya?"

'Akashi-san is tou-san?' The bluenette tilted his head at Chihiro, who gave him a look. Catching onto what his big brother was trying to do, Tetsuya smiled at the man.

"Yes... please let tou-san and our ojii-san's come on with us..?" He asked the man politely. The man stared at the big, shimmery blue eyes and backed up a little. That look...he tried to deny it...

"R-Right now, we are only taking women and children on the boats." The man looked at the boat, seeing a few more openings, then looked down at the two boys, and sighed. "But seeing how young they are, it wouldn't be a good idea to let them go by themselves... Alright, you can go on the ship with them."

Akashi, Midorima and Takao were shocked at what they had just done. Being able to fool someone with such ease, especially since they all looked nothing alike!

'Evil siblings...' Akashi couldn't help but chuckle at their antic.

"What?! Why do they get to go?!" One of the men shouted. He had been forbidden to get on the boat, but they were letting three other men to go on it?

"C-Calm down sir. There will be more boats, but it's priority to ensure the safety of the women and children." The officer tried to calm the crowd down, but he could tell it was having little effect. He decided to make the five hurry onto the ship so they could fill in the next one. "Well, get on."

Akashi nodded, and took the bluenette's hand to help him onto the boat so he wouldn't fall. He was about to help Chihiro, but the boy ignored his hand and stepped onto the vessel with no problem. Raising a brow, Akashi let the matter drop and led them to the back of the boat where there were seats available. Takao and Midorima went on and took a seat near them.

Soon after they settled down, the boat pulled away from the dock and they headed through the ocean towards Kaijo.

Chihiro looked back at Teiko. Seeing smoke and fire coming from many places in the city, including on the bridge they had driven across to get here. It was so different from how it was just 24 hours ago when he and his brother had gone to buy their mother a gift...

'Finally away from there...' He let out a relieved sigh.

"I didn't know you cared enough to have us come with you, Chihiro-kun." Takao smiled at the gray-haired boy and went to ruffle his hair, but Chihiro ducked away from the approaching hand.

Chihiro turned away to ignore the black-haired man and when he did, he saw his brother staring at something with a far away look in his eyes. Following his gaze, he saw that he was looking at a mother and her children. They both looked scared from the events that happened and the woman was hugging them.

'He must be thinking about her...' The gray-haired boy deduced. Ever since he was adopted, their mother was always there to comfort them when something went wrong.

Tetsuya may be quiet and mature for his age, but he was still only eight. If Chihiro felt worried for his parents, then the bluenette must be even more affected by the separation than he was.

He slowly lifted his hand up and firmly placed a hand on his brother blue locks, tousling his hair and effectively snapping him out of his daze.

"I'm sure they're fine, Tetsuya." Chihiro said resolutely when the bluenette looked up at him.

"Yes..." Tetsuya was still worried, but hearing how sure his brother sounded, he felt slightly better. The bluenette gave Chihiro a small smile, but had to stop himself from looking back at the family.

Akashi was about to say something, when he heard a creaking sound coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw that it was in the direction of the bridge.

'Not good...' He thought, seeing what was going to happen.

"Hold onto the railings. Don't let go no matter what." He told them. They looked at him in confusion, but did as he told. A moment later there was a loud explosion and the whole bridge collapsed.

Everyone in the boat shouted at the sudden noise and looked at the source. The explosion wasn't a problem since it had happened at least a mile away from them... but there was definitely danger. The collapsed bridge fell into the water, causing a huge wave to form.

They watched in horror as the wave came upon the boat that had been behind them. The water engulfed the ship and they lost sight of the boat for a while. But, when it resurface...the boat was empty.

The passengers of the ship that Chihiro and the others were on didn't have time to mourn the people who had been sent off of the boat, because the wave was now coming at them.

Chihiro held onto Tetsuya tightly as they both gripped the railing. The boat lifted into the air, enough for them to almost flip upside down. But since they were farther away from the origin, the wave wasn't has huge or powerful enough to tip over the whole boat. And after a moment the ship landed roughly back on the keel.

They all held on longer until they were sure that the danger was over. Eventually the boat stopped rocking back and forth and the sea water was calm once again. The screams of panic gradually died down until there were only whispers of amazement that they hadn't capsized..

"Ch-Chihiro-nii..." The gray-haired boy tore his eyes away from the horrific scene and looked at his brother, who looked passive, but Chihiro could tell from the look in his eyes that he was scared. "The people...they didn't come up..."

It was true, not a single person that fell off, had broken the surface of the water. It was surreal...seeing a boat full of people disappear right before their eyes

"If he didn't let us on this boat..." Takao stared wide-eyed at the empty one behind them. He hadn't finished his sentence, but the others knew what he meant... If they had been on that other boat...then they would have drowned as well...

The whole ride to Kaijo suddenly turned bleak. Everyone affected by the many near death experiences.

Chihiro noticed his brother curl up, putting his knees to his chest and head on them. Something he had done many times when he first came to their house after being adopted. Takao rubbed the bluenette's back, trying to calm him down.

Chihiro wanted to comfort him as well, but he didn't think he could. Too much had happened... He leaned back against the railing and closed his eyes.

"Everything will be fine now." The red-haired man proclaimed, tone unwavering.

Chihiro opened his eyes and looked over at Akashi. Seeing the equally steadfast expression on the mans face, he found himself believing... He hoped he was right...