Chapter 12
Space Travel
Anymore running, Tino knew his heart was going to burst, but he must lest he be caught. He rounded around the corner and found himself staring at two options, a stairway or a door. Dark shadows appeared in the window of the door so Tino chose the stairs, jumping the simple ten steps, now he had to chose a hallway. Left or right?
Like the last two choices, he next choice was, once again, chosen for him. Footsteps from the hallway on his right, made Tino chose the hallway on his left, running down the long curving hallway, he skidded to a halt as footsteps accompanied by shadows appeared in front of him. Tino turned to return back only to see shadows coming in that direction as well, panicking, he looked for any other way to escape, seeing a door on his right, Tino quickly entered as stealthy as he could.
He sighed in relief as he looked out the window and watched a couple of men in uniform passed the other, unaware of a boy peeping out of a window. Tino nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hello."
Tino turned to face his company, and found himself face to face with a man. He had brown hair and soft green eyes, his skin was a shade between fair and olive, he wore a brown jacket that he wore like a cape showing his simple white tee, with brown pants with a beige hat and wore knee-high dark brown boots. He sat in an armchair, reading a book while stroking a orange tabby cat on his lap, he didn't seem too angry with Tino's intrusion, just mildly surprised.
"H-Hello." Tino replied back nervously.
The man gave off a rather lazy looking smile, "My name is Heracles Karpusi. What is yours, my φίλος?"
"M-My name is T-Tino Väinämöinen." Tino replied, reilived that this Heracles, wasn't angry, "But what did y-you say in that last part?"
"φίλος. It means 'friend' in Greek." Heracles smiled, closing his book and placing it on the table next to him, "If I am ask, what are you doing here, my little ελευθέρας?"
"Eh?"
"It means 'stowaway'..."
"Oh, well, you seem to know, uh... I-I... I'm trying to find someone," Tino muttered, looking up at the Greek man's face, shakily, "Do you h-happen to know a-a Berwald?"
"Berwald Oxenstierna?" Heracles asked smiling gently, the poor lad was scared to death, "Yes, I know him."
"C-Could you take me to him?" Tino asked, looking hopeful.
"I'm afraid I can't." He sadly replied.
"You-You're gonna turn m-me huh?" Tino asked, tears brimming in his eyes. He was so close.
"No."
"What? W-Why not?" Tino was confused.
"I'm not a heartless dick like my 'boss'," Heracles replied, he shuddered as the word, 'boss' slipped past his lips, "Plus, you seem like a nice kid. It would be dangerous to allow you try and find this man alone. No, it'd be best if you wait until we dock at homebase."
"W-Why are you doing this?"
"Because friends stick together."
Tino's face brightened at the word 'friend'. Heracles seemed nice, despite his carefree and casual nature and for that Tino was grateful.
"You'll sleep in my bed until we reach homebase." Heracles announced, standing up and opening a door to a room with two beds and a nightstand, "I'll sleep in my chair, the other bed is where my roommate sleeps."
"R-Roommate?" That didn't sound good.
"His name is Honda, Kiku. He's very shy, but a honest and honorable young man." Heracles explained, trying to ease the look of uncertainty on Tino's face, "I'll explain the situation to him and I'm sure he'll understand."
Tino nodded and placed down his backpack down, letting out Hanatamago out, who bounded playfully onto one of the beds. He looked up at Heracles, trying to look for signs of uncomfort, since there was a cat, Tino had to assume his new friend wasn't much of a dog person. To his relief and surprise, the Greek man smiled.
"What a cute little dog."
"So, you're okay with Hanatamago being here?" Tino asked.
"Kiku has a dog himself," The Greek man replied, as he bent to pet the fluffy dog's head, "A sweet creature."
At that moment, the door opened and Tino felt his blood turn to ice. Hoping that it wasn't the masked guy or Heracles' boss, he turned around when to face the person when the Greek man called to him, without looking at the door.
"Welcome back Kiku."
In the doorway stood a man a little shorter than Tino himself, he was slim with fair skin, flat dark brown eyes and black hair. He wore a white naval uniform with black and gold accents. He held a tray that held a few large parcels, he didn't seem to realize there was another person in the room as he addressed only the Greek man, while reading something off a small celluar device.
"Heracles, what did you mean that we are having company?" the smaller man asked, "I thought Lovino Vargas and Antonio Carriedo-San weren't coming till tomorrow..."
He looked up spotting Tino and he gave a shy smile, "Hello."
"H-Hi..." Tino replied, waving at the man nervously.
"Kiku, this our new friend, Tino Väinämöinen, Tino this is my roommate, Kiku Honda."
"Oh," the man, Kiku, replied his smile turning more warmer as he bowed slightly, "Hello Tino. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You too, Mr. Honda." Tino returned with a smile, mimicking Kiku.
"Tell me, Tino-San, what brings you here?" Kiku asked, setting the tray down onto a small table, "It is an honor to have company."
"W-Well, I-I came here to tell Berwald something..." Tino explained, as he began to blush furiously, as he held Hanatamago, "But I-I kinda became a 'stowaway' on accident."
"You mean Berwald Oxenstierna-San, of 'Ground Forces'?" Kiku asked, and Tino nodded, "Then you must be a 'bureibu wan' from the planet Earth, correct?"
"Eh..."
" 'Brave One'." Kiku smiled.
"OH! Y-Yeah..."
"We are going to help Tino with his mission." Heracles explained simply, as he scooped his cat into his arms, "We're going to hide him until we dock at homebase, then help him onto the station."
"But Heracles," The Japanese man gasped, looking nervously at the Greek man, "What if I our boss, Sadık-San finds him?"
"The dumb masked bastard can bite me." Heracles replied with a shrug and a tone of cold indifference, "I don't give a damn what he could do to me."
Kiku sighed. There was going to be no arguing with Heracles on this one, as much as he loved the Greek man, there were many things that the Japanese man couldn't understand about him, like his hatred toward their boss. He turned his attention back to the light haired blonde, and he smiled.
"I would be honored to be of assistance to your cause, Tino-San. But can you tell me why you are chasing one of our superiors in the first place?"
"It's kinda of a long and maybe, boring story..."
"We have time..." Heracles replied, pulling a few chairs forward, "We would like to know a little about our new friend..."
"O-Ok..."
And with a warm smile, Tino began his story.
Huh... I lied, there's also some mentions of GreecexJapan and SpainxRomano... Shame on me. Forgive me! c:
