Guys…I'm not being very faithful about this whole 'due on Friday' thing…I'll try my best but ya, know, life…anywho, here we go….I'll try and give this a 'funky fresh' spin to it!

It's time for a history lesson with the narrator! YAY! Today we'll talk about ex-terrestrial migration! This is to explain the reasons why humans moved to different planets in space—and no, it wasn't just because they could and it sounded cool (but it was partly the reason!)

So back when what was the old "United States of America" was founded by those European natives, called the British, some of the people moved west rather than hunkering down on the East coast…what brave souls! During their travels through the prairie, some people stumbled upon what was later to be called "Yellowstone National Park." It was a strange fertile area in the state of Wyoming-which mostly consisted of grass at the time. It was filled with wonders such as natural hot springs and sulfur springs and many types of different animals. What the scientists in the United States then began to realize about this section of land was that it had a massive, active volcano underneath it (hence the hot springs).

Well this volcano wasn't active enough to cause too many problems until the active lava flows began to plug up the drains to the underground chamber. Then the pressure was on.

Alarmed at the rate at which this pressure was increasing, scientist informed the government. They researched all possibilities to try and prevent the eruption. However, during this study, they realized that this explosion would be grand enough to set off other volcano, due to its seismic activity, across the northern hemisphere, including dormant giants. The amount of ash and debris would take centuries to recover from. When the other nations were informed about this they decided to join together and flee the scene.

This was the mid-2000's era, technology was far more advanced that what the average citizen expected. So with this decision hastily made, the construction of domes on other planets and moon began. Years and years later, inhabitants of the northern hemisphere fled with their wealth. Those who had money from the southern hemisphere fled as well, but less advanced countries (or the stupid people who said they like Earth better) evacuated their citizens to the southernmost part of their continent (even shipping some to Antarctica) and waited for the inevitable.

Well, the people didn't have long to wait. The pressure is the chamber increased exponentially and within an hour obliterated the beautiful park and the rest of the United States, and, as expected, set off many other volcanoes around the world, burying ancient trade centers and cities as in the day of Pompeii. The ash hung thick in the air and covered the globe so that even those at the southern icecap could see the ash in the air. Food became hard to come by as it had to be shipped from Australia or Africa both of which were at least covered with ash, at most covered in lava.

But enough about Earth (not even the Organization bothers with those people) our space bound crew have their own volcano to worry about.


Hotarou sighed; horribly stiff even after waking up in his own comfortable bed…he moved his arm. This isn't my bed. He opened his eyes and rubbed his head. He was in a chair. Not any chair he had seen before. Old, torn-up turquoise leather: like a barber's chair from 200 years ago…he sat up and shoved the blanket off of himself, nearly falling out of the small chair while doing so. What the heck is going on? He stood and noticed that he was in the kitchen and that he head itched and burned terribly. This better not be what I think it is…he marched around the corner and almost ran in Eru. Her hair had, overnight, become an orangish color and made her dark eyebrows stick out very badly. He stared in shock and seeing her had confirmed his suspicions.

"Good morning, Oreki!" she chirped happily.

"What happened to my hair?"

"Oh! well, we dyed it."

"We? You had accomplices?"

"Mayaka helped, and Fukube fed you the sleeping powder…"

"The what?" Eru could sense the anger building up and desperately wanted to call for backup.

"T-the sleeping powder. We knew you would not agree so we put some in your drink last night at dinner." She noticed every muscle in his body tense up and he seemed to tower above her. "OH! Fukube…w-what do you think of Oreki's hair!?" she exclaimed calling to him for assistance.

Satoshi noticed the predicament and bounded over, partially shielding her from Hotarou who had found himself in a very unpleasant mood. "I think it looks great on him! Wouldn't you say? Very fashionable!" He winked at Hotarou which irritated him further.

"Oreki, calm down," said a voice from behind Hotarou. He spun around even though he already knew who it was. "You have no reason to act like this. Control yourself."

"I have perfect reason!" he roared back. "I never asked for this!" He pulled at his hair. "I never even wanted it! My scalp burns and I'm sure my hair is orange. ORANGE! That isn't even natural!"

"The rich couldn't tell the difference, and the poor wouldn't care," Irisu replied calmly as she walked down the steps with her arms crossed defensively. "You need some sort of disguise because, as you said, the Organization is looking for you out of all of us. Think of it as a good thing."

"I see no good in looking like a clown," he replied stoutly. "And why isn't your hair colored?"

"We need someone to look like a wealthy person if we ever need to interact with them to find information," I volunteered.

Satohsi sidled over to Hotarou. "Plus she refused to have her hair colored," he gestured with his hand. "She also refused any drinks we had for fear of us knocking her out too." Hotarou aimed an icy glare at Satoshi who respectfully backed away.

"Where's Ibara?" Hotarou asked.

"She's still sleeping. Well get your things: all of you."

"Why?' Eru blinked in surprise.

"You are all getting off of my ship. I knew you would just be a hassle."

"Nice joke Hotarou," Satoshi laughed. He turned to Eru, "He's not serious, you know. He would never…"

"You think I wouldn't?" Hotarou threatened. He turned and moved out to the front of the ship, the others followed slowly. He opened the hatch behind the cockpit then grabbed the closest person (who happened to be Eru) and drug her up to the door.

"O-Oreki…?" Eru stuttered seeing the intent to kill smoldering in his eyes.

"Hotarou? Stop!" Satoshi wheedled. "You don't want to do this."

"You don't think I'm serious…" Hotarou muttered threateningly. "I never needed any of you…" he pressed the button to the outside hatch. Between the void of space and the two stood only a thin, invisible field.

"Hotarou! Stop!" Satoshi screamed.

"Oreki…" Eru cried as he took her by the collar and pushed her toward the opening. "W-wait!"

"Oreki!" Irisu demanded in her most commanding voice. "What are you doing?"

He ignored Eru, despite her grasping at his hands. She felt that his hands were cold and she looked into his eyes. His fury had vanished and he suddenly looked frightened. He released her and stepped back. Eru collapsed and trembled on the floor. Satoshi rushed over and closed the hatch then rested his hand on Eru's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently.

"Yes, I think so."

"Oreki. That was completely uncalled-for," he heard Ibara's voice coming from the hall, then heard footsteps marching across the metal floor. "I saw everything." She grabbed his collar and smacked him, but Satoshi pulled her away before do any more damage.

Hotarou sat, unmoved from the shock of the impact from Ibara. W-what just came over me? He wondered. I've never been that angry before…and over such a stupid thing as hair color? No, it wasn't just that. Satoshi said I was only joking about kicking them off. I guess I just took that as the challenge. No, that's not quite it either. I must have taken it as something else…oh…he called me weak. Not in name; I'm sure he didn't mean it that way either. But I took it as that. Am I over-stressed? That must be it. The sooner we get there the better. He rubbed his head. That was a lot of wasted energy too. I need to be more careful…

"I'm very sorry, Chitanda," he said quietly. "I have no reason to have frightened you like that. I'm sorry."

"I am sorry too, Oreki," she said. Hotarou wondered what she had to be sorry about, but ignored her for fear of starting another fight that he knew he wouldn't win.

The bored crew had been on the sip for a week and a half (With hyper-speed it would take 2 days there and back—but Hotarou wasn't so sure this old machine would handle it very well. However they still made pretty good time besides). The trip itself wasn't the bad part, it was mostly that Satoshi and Ibara felt lost without having work to do and Irisu and Eru had no entertainment beyond books. So Satoshi, Ibara and Eru took to searching the ship, a feat which Hotarou hadn't even completed.

After this traumatic event, the entire group, excluding Hotarou, who was left to ponder his actions, decided to search the farthest corner of the ship. They found it to be an old jet hanger that still contained some rusted old jets. Irisu examined them, knowing the best out of all of them what a jet was supposed to look like, then told the rest of the group her thoughts.

"They are old models, but still workable. Unfortunately, none of us have the mechanical ability to fix them, even with the manuals which I found." She held out two slightly yellowed booklets for inspection.

Eru looked around the group then spoke up. "I think Oreki might know how to fix them. He fixed up this ship, didn't he?"

"Eru, you are beginning to use the slang of the poor folk," Irisu chided coldly.

"S-sorry…" Eru stuttered. She ventured to return to the subject at hand. "I mean…Oreki did build this ship, so he should know how to fix these jets."

"Do you really expect him to work on these?" Ibara sighed.

"Well, we can ask," Satoshi suggested. "Bring it up tonight at supper."

The group agreed then continued to investigate the old dock.

The table was unusually quiet and tension still hung thick in the air. Satoshi remember the old jets and decided to bring that topic up for discussion.

"Hotarou, while we were exploring the ship today we found that there's an old hanger and it still has a couple of jets in it."

"What about it?" Hotarou replied, absently sticking another bite of food into his mouth.

"We were wondering if you could fix those jets."

"Me?"

"Yes, you…"

Hotarou closed his eyes and seemed to chew on his thoughts. "I have a better idea." The group held their breath. "How about you and Ibara work on them."

"But we don't have any experience with those things!" Ibara argued quickly. "We've only been trained to do what we did on Dione!"

"Humans are intelligent creatures," Hotarou responded quietly. "I think with a little coaxing you may be able to do it yourselves. The manuals were in the ships, right?"

Irisu nodded confirmation. "Well," he continued. "I think you'll be a little happier if you have something to work on. I've noticed that you've seemed a little restless because you're not working like you've been programmed to do. So I think working on those jets should be your job. However, I'm not saying I won't help you," Hotarou quickly exempted.

"Is something wrong, Oreki? You're acting weird," Ibara said suddenly, eyeing him suspiciously.

"No. Nothing's wrong," he confirmed.

"You're being too nice," she said. "Could it be that you're trying to make up for earlier?"

Hotarou decided to ignore her. "I'm finished, thanks for the meal. I'm going to bed." He stood and walked from the table.

Satoshi smiled. "We have progress! And I am happy that we get to work on something."

"I strangely agree," Ibara added.

That night Irisu lay in her bunk considering the day's events and organizing tomorrow's tasks. She had her own room, unlike Eru who felt more comfortable sharing with Ibara. Satoshi and Hotarou had their own rooms as well. Hotarou definitely need his personal space, as shown by that display (that he would never live down) earlier. She started at a quiet tapping at her door then a voice which called "I-Irisu, are you still awake?"

"Yes," she sighed as she recognized Eru's voice. "Come in."

Eru opened the door in slipped into the room with hardly a sound. "What is it?" Irisu asked, sitting up and reclining on her pillows.

"I couldn't really sleep, but Mayaka wasn't awake to talk to so I wondered if you might be."

"Talk about what?" Irisu said with the beginnings of a motherly tone.

"Well, I have been wondering about Oreki. He seems very subdued lately."

I hadn't noticed that at all, he just looked like the usual Oreki to me. "What about it?"

"I feel like he thinks he is under a lot of pressure from us and the Organization. Do you think I may be a burden to him?"

"If you consider yourself a burden, then we all are."

"Oh, no! You could not possibly be a burden to him, nor Fukube, nor Mayaka! I was the one who started all of this mess by asking to learn about the poor folk."

Irisu studies Eru who appeared on the verge of tears. This girl considers everything to be her fault; pitiful. "So what if it is your fault? What has been done is done."

"You are right," Eru sighed. She rested her head on her hand. "I do not want to burden him. I worry that he keeps so much inside without saying anything. I think he tries to be strong and act like he has everything together, but I think he is very afraid failing those closest to him."

Irisu's eyes widened slightly with surprise. I think this girl understand more about him than he does himself. I wonder… "Chitanda, do you like Oreki?"

"Yes, I like him very much; he is a very good friend who does so much for me," Eru smiled up at Irisu. As she looked at Irisu's face she realized that she meant something else. She quickly blushed and looked away. "Oh…you mean…like that. Um, it is not that I do not like him like that…but um…"

So this is what all the famous tales from ages past call "a maiden in love." Interesting. "But you like him too, do you not?" Eru quickly asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Me?" Irisu sat pondering for a moment. "I certainly don't hate him"

Eru laughed lightly. "What?" Irisu inquired, annoyed.

"You are using informal language as well," Eru smiled. "I think we shall both end up using it by the time our adventure ends."

"And when do you think that will be?"

"I do not know," Eru gave a small shrug. "I do not like fleeing as though I were a fugitive. Hopefully at the next place we stop our adventure will have ended."

Hi-ya folks! Sorry about not updating last week (I think it was…?). So here's another chapter…aww. I'm kinda losing the motivation to write anymore of this story. So comments would really help to encourage me. Ah...I'd make a horrible novelist. I'm hoping to maybe post another chapter today as well so let's see how that goes…PS sorry about Hotarou's OOC rage quit...