...I have no excuses for my actions. DX
ANYWAY, I'm back and hope to post more regularly now.
Enjoy Chapter 9: Rainbow Forest
(Disclaimer: Once again, I'm using parts directly from the manga. I don't own any of what I'm using. It's purely for entertainment purposes.)
Hirato walked over to the doctor and frowned at him, "Please tell me you are joking, Akari-san."
"I don't joke, Hirato. Surely by now you should know that." Akari-sensei stood and crossed his arms, "I'm being serious. Nai isn't a human. Or at least not originally. He was born as a creature called a Niji, most likely from a land called the Rainbow Forest. I don't know who created him, or for what purpose, but they certainly did a spectacular job."
The tall captain frowned again and gave Akari one of his 'looks' (as Tsukitachi likes to call it), "I don't believe you."
The doctor sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes as he said, "I don't care if you believe me or not. All I am doing is stating the facts." He grabbed a handful of papers with various graphs and numbers on them and held them out to Hirato, "Here! See for yourself."
The dark-haired man grumbled in frustration, but waved Akari off, saying, "If you're going to be that adamant about it you must be telling the truth." He paused and gave Nai a quick once-over, "So? Now what? Does this information help us at all?"
"Not really, no. But it may assist Nai in his search for this Karoku person. If we know where he came from, we may be able to find some clues to his whereabouts."
Nai leapt to his feet at the mention of Karoku's name and skipped excitedly over to Gareki and Yogi, "That's good, right, Gareki? Clues? Clues are good, right?" Gareki chuckled and nodded quietly. He didn't want to mention that a) there may not be any clues, b) the clues may lead to a dead end, or c) the clues may lead them to the conclusion that Karoku is, in fact, dead and Nai will never see him again. I should probably keep that to myself though, Gareki thought with a small grimace.
At this point, Jiki joined the group and happened to hear what Nai had just said. Feeling a little left out of the conversation, he puffed out his chest and snorted pompously, "Clues aren't always good, kid. They may lead to dead ends or even tell you that your precious Karoku is dead as a door nail, if there's any clues at all, that is…" Jiki trailed off triumphantly, expecting praise for his logical thought process.
Boy was he surprised when Hirato gave him a swat upside the head, growling, "I think that's enough out of you, young man. Go read in the library, or something." When Jiki sullenly obeyed, Hirato looked at Nai and said, "Don't worry, Nai-kun. I'm sure your friend is going to be just fine. Jiki was just trying to upset you. We'll head to Rainbow Forest first thing tomorrow morning all right?"
Nai kept his eyes hidden beneath his bangs but nodded politely, "Thank you, Hirato-san." He whispered quietly. Gareki gently pulled on his shoulder and led him back to the guest room. Yogi followed at a short distance.
When they got back, Nai sniffled once and burst into tears, "I-I'm never g-gonna see Ka-karoku agaaaain! Waaaaaah!" He buried his face in his hands and sobbed. Gareki tried to be encouraging, but nothing he said went past Nai's despair. Eventually, the dark-haired boy simply picked him up like he was a toddler and carried him to the bottom bunk. He sat down on the edge of it and hugged his small friend tightly.
"Shhh…it's going to be okay, Nai. Everything is going to be okay." The teen looked desperately at Yogi for help and was extraordinarily relieved when Yogi sat down next to them and began to sing softly. It wasn't in a language either of the younger boys understood but it had a calming effect on Nai and it reminded Gareki of all the times Yogi had sung the same thing to him after a nightmare had sent him over the edge. Yogi had never told Gareki was the song meant but he knew the lyrics by heart:
Hoshi ni yuuki ni kioku ni
Kimi no ashiato sagasu
Douka towa no yasuragi
Koko wa yume no tochuu de
Osanai tsubasa de sakamichi kaketeku
Michi kara hagurete kono me o tojiteku
Hoshi ni yuuki ni kioku ni
Kimi no ashiato sagasu
Douka towa no yasuragi
Koko wa yume no tochuu de
Itsuka subete modorite
Sora no hate hitorikiri
Anata ga matsu yasuragi
Hikari no ato nokoshite
Osanai tsubasa de sakamichi kaketeku
Michi kara hagurete kono me o tojiteku
Yume ni ai ni kokoro ni
Kimi no ashiato sagasu
Towa no hikari nokoshite
Yurugi no nai tsubasa de
When Yogi was finished singing, Gareki laid Nai down on his bed. The child had fallen asleep during the last verse and, while he was still sniffling a little, he had calmed down considerably. Gareki sighed quietly and, as he stood up, whispered to Yogi, "Why don't we let him sleep for a bit? It's been a long couple of days and he deserves some rest."
"Mm…" Yogi smiled gently at the resting child and nodded at his younger brother, "You haven't seen the library yet, have you? Why don't we go there?"
"All right."
Ӂ-The Next Day-Rainbow Forest-Ӂ
Akari-sensei flipped through his handful of technical papers and began describing the group's mission. "Now then, we will begin making out way to our goal, 'Karoku's house.' As of this moment we only have Nai's senses and memory as our guide, but we will make use of these things." He held up something that appeared to be a kind of pointy whistle and continued, "They are called sound markers. As we move through the forest, we'll use them to mark our path back."
One of the research assistants raised their hand to ask a question. When Akari-sensei nodded at them, they said, "What exactly do they do, Sensei?"
"Good question. The environs of the Rainbow forest are highly unusual. The plant life of this area has developed a cellular makeup that incorporates light-reflecting properties. Since the forest is on an island, there is a large amount of water particles in the air. Between the particles and the evolved plants, there can be a great deal of light refraction in the air, which results in a large number of rainbows. Hence, the name Rainbow Forest." He paused and shifted his stance, "This phenomenon doesn't only occur in the sky, however. The refraction is known to create mirages on the ground as well. We will have to be very careful to not fully rely on our eyes, because in this forest, sight cannot be trusted. This is why we will be using the sound markers. Does that answer your question?"
The assistant nodded quickly with a slight smile, "Yes, sir. Thank you."
"Good…as I was saying, while we move forward be sure to keep track of your assigned partner's whereabouts at all times. Everyone has their partner, correct?"
A chorus of 'yeses' rang out, so he continued, "Everyone has been sprayed with insect and sunscreen, I trust?" Again a round of 'yeses' was heard and he went on, "As this is a highly unusual forest, there are sure to be any number of scientifically noteworthy sights along the way. I understand that the temptation may be great, but do not, under any circumstances, stop for anything without alerting me first. Any more questions?"
Everyone shook their heads 'no,' so he nodded brusquely and barked, "Then let's move out!"
Yogi and Gareki were on Nai monitoring duty so they stuck close to him (not that he felt like running or anything, Hirato said the whole 'monitoring' idea was more of a regulation thing than actual surveillance). After a few dead ends and encounters with various surprising illusions, the group came across a clearing that Nai said was where Karoku's house was located.
Unfortunately, and much to Nai's disappointment, the house had been reduced to char and ash just a few days before their arrival. As the research team was picking through the rubble in an attempt to locate any evidence of the perpetrators, Nai volunteered that his own house was just a little further away. Akari-sensei, Gareki, and Yogi followed him to a cave.
Just as they were about to enter, Yogi whipped around, tense and alert. He felt the presence of something ominous and was ready to beat whatever it was into the dust. As it turns out, his senses were right, because not two seconds later, about seven big, black, monstrous creatures flew out of the woods and attacked him.
Akari and Nai expected Yogi to either be terrified or to quickly dispatch the creatures and move on. Gareki on the other hand was used to this kind of thing so his expectations were spot on. He figured that Yogi was going to extend this fight as long as he could, simply out of sheer boredom. He had been complacent for way to long and really wanted to cut loose and have some fun.
Yogi giggled ecstatically and flung himself at the animals with a war cry. He leapt into the air and drop kicked the largest monster. He quickly summoned his epees, still yowling happily. He slashed one of the monsters in half and stabbed another one all the way through. He dodged right, then left, then he cartwheeled over one and used his vines to pierce through most of the ones not already destroyed. When he was done, only the biggest one remained.
At this point, Gareki began to worry. You see, Yogi is capable of fighting all out for a short period of time and totally come off his adrenaline high without any trouble. The only problem is that when he fights all out for longer than a few minutes (especially after being kept from any kind of physical stimulation for more than a day), his mind kind of goes blank and he can't differentiate between friend or foe. One time he almost attacked Gareki. The only thing that ended up stopping him was when Gareki started crying in fear (he was about eleven at the time).
Knowing all this, Gareki had every right to be worried sick. He took a step forward and shouted, "Nii-chan! That's enough! Finish them off already!" Yogi totally ignored him. He was too far gone to even hear his little brother's call.
The monster wasn't too happy about the terrifyingly strong creature that killed its friends. It roared and bolted towards the blonde/silver haired man. Yogi grinned and raced to meet it.
Gareki yelled, "NO!" He sprinted to get between the two and held out his arms to his brother, pleading with him to calm down. As soon as Yogi laid eyes on him, he instantly pulled back. Gareki sighed with relief and gave his big brother a smirk.
"Adrenaline junky," the teen quipped. This made Yogi smile, just as the monster behind the boy reared up and pounced on him.
Kudos to the reader who knows what the song is from (hint: I didn't make it up).
Masked Guest: You're very welcome and I'm glad you enjoyed them! XD Thank you for reviewing! :)
Kiscia: XD Hope you liked this one too!
KingKagura: Thanks for reviewing, but I'm not going to be changing the 'no pairing' status for this fic. I suppose if you want to see their interactions as romantic, I have no right to stop you. However, that isn't how I want to portray them. I appreciate your thoughts though! :)
Have a great day, guys! :)
