Karneval: Pyromancy

Pyromancy

Author's Note: You guys have sadly proven my point that there is not enough love for HiraTachi or HirAkTachi out there. But I digress. I'm glad you all enjoyed Chapter 13, and I'm sorry I've taken so long with Chapter 14. I'd kind of wanted to get this up by Christmas, but it clearly didn't happen that way. I hope everyone had a good Christmas, though? Starstorm 10 and Mirirou, thank you for the follows. ArrowHawk and Tosurviveistokill, thank you for the faves and follows on this story. Kaminokoe, DeathBringer13, Saiko1234, Ice cream13, and the anonymous comenting guests, thanks for the comments! TheDeadOne, thanks for the comment and the fave, and I agree, Gareki is cute when Yogi's around. Alibandi, WhitFluffDuck, and PCheshire thanks for the favorites. Smart Kira and AnimeGrl2519, thank you for adding me to your lists of Favorite and Followed authors. Hibari Mayumi, (I don't normally do this-thanking people for faves on older/other stories-but...) thanks for the fave on my "Shiki Karneval" fic and on "I'm No Snitch". Likewise, animefan1212, thank you for adding me and "Another Way" to your favorites and follows. Palewhiteshadow, LeiaKuroia, and the anonymous AO3 readers, thanks for the Kudos! Again, this is not the Innocence Lost Universe, but I'm reusing the same OCs as Gareki's foster parents... They also still own an inn. Oh, and yeah... Yogi's gonna' have an OOC moment, but when you read what he's reacting to, I think you guys will forgive it. But, you guys are going to hate, hate, hate, HATE the Katashi couple. After using them here and in 'Innocence Lost', I almost hope the author never shows us Gareki's real foster parents in hopes of some sort of 'redemption' arch. More for the sake of the author's characters than my own. There were two ways this scenario could have gone, the one I used here, or blackmail, I've been sick these last two days I spent working on this, so I honestly don't know which one would have worked better. Sorry if this all feels contrived. Also, very little Gareki screen time in this chapter.

Chapter 14: Katashi Inn

Gareki smirked. "Got'ch'ya'!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"Eh, already?" Yogi asked leaning over his shoulder to look at the computer screen, "Katashi Osamu and Katashi Michi, owners of the Katashi Inn..."

Gareki scrolled through their information. "Both still alive, still running then inn..." He smirked, "Apparently the cosmos has some sense of justice, they still don't have kids of their own. I can't go with you guys to see them, unfortunately."

Yogi hugged Gareki and ruffled a hand through the teenager's dark hair. "Don't worry, Gareki-Kun, I'll keep you informed on things, I promise."

"I don't know what Hirato plans to do when he meets them, but I hope he puts the fear of Hell's Fire into them," Gareki chuckled.

Yogi smiled, pulling out his cellphone and scrolling up Hirato's number. "I'm sure he will," he said passiveagressively. He put the phone to his ear and pressed the button to dail his captain. "Hirato-San?" The corners of Yogi's mouth twitched upward into a smile. "He's found them."

"That was fast. Forward the information to my phone," Hirato said.

"Roger, we're sending the files now," Yogi replied.

"Wait, what? They've only been alone together for half an hour," Akari exclaimed in surprise. Hirato smiled at the pink haired doctor and gave a shrug. "Impressive. I figured Yogi would come out of there black and blue from bruises and we'd be no closer to finding these people."

"Either you're underestimating Yogi's ability to get people to trust him, or over exaggerating Gareki's false detachment to him," Hirato smirked.

Akari let that statement sink in for a moment. "False detachment? Wait, you mean Gareki and Yogi...?"

Hirato chuckled and wrapped an arm around the doctor's shoulder. "Just like you and me," he whispered.

"They'd better be careful with that," Akari sighed.

Hirato's phone buzzed and he smiled. "There we go, everything we need to locate the negligent couple. Contact the kids and let them know they're clear to go visit Gareki. It looks as though Tsukitachi and I have a field trip to plan."

Akari shuddered. "You're getting way into this fathering role, you know that?"

"It's not MY fault kids want to run away and join the Circus, you know," Hirato stated, "But it is my place to look after them once they have." Akari merely rolled his eyes in response as he took out his phone and called Tsukumo to give her and the others the go-ahead.

*~Several Days Later~*

Katashi Michi stood outside her Inn, slack-jawed as Circus Ship Number Two hovered above her head. She'd seen the ship once before, but she did not have the apprehensions toward it then that she did this time.

She remained in baffled silence as a small away team landed in the middle of the yard in front of her. The four younger members of the away team didn't bother her, Circus was known for traveling in small groups. The two young blondes, she noted radiated a status of nobility, while the other two young males; an albino and a boy with icy blue hair, appeared middle class at best. It was the two older members of the group that had caught her full attention and had her shivering in her boots. Top hats, black coat and tie, they were two sharp dressed men that would drive any woman crazy. Though their good looks alone were not the only reason she was shivering at the sight of them on her front doorstep.

Hirato frowned when he saw the woman. The Katashi Inn was not a run down little building struggling to stay alive as expected. In fact, it's whole frame was a sturdy structure with an off-pink, peach toned paint job, which if Jiki had been there, his excellent eye sight would have told them was only two weeks old. The courtyard, while small, was fresh and green, with a beautiful garden of flowers. Off the side, Hirato and Tsukitachi noticed the back yard fenced in and the cement behind the fence suggested an in-ground pool. Michi herself was dressed in rather nice clothes, suggesting she shopped at mid-to-high fashion stores. Even her jewelery did not suggest the pauper status that the two captains had come to imagine this woman having held. Gareki wasn't known to be a liar, but had he really had it as rough as he'd lead them to believe while living here? Their eyes settled on her face. No, she seemed nervous. It was time they got to the bottom of this.

"Katashi Michi-San, I presume?" Hirato said, tipping his hat to the lady.

Michi swallowed a gulp of air before nodding. She forced a smile. "Yes, Sir, that's me. How may I be of service to you? Do you and your comrades need a room for the night?"

"Actually," Hirato said, trying to keep calm. He cleared his throat and introduced himself. "I am Circus Second Ship Captain Hirato, and this is my partner, Circus First Ship Captain Tsukitachi. Is Katshi Osamu-Kun here? My cohort and I would like to ask the two of you some questions..." Before Hirato could further explain the nature of there visit, or the questions, the woman dropped the broom in her hand and turned to run inside. "Yogi...?" he sighed.

"Roger," Yogi nodded, already knowing what his captain was asking. In the blink of an eye, the blonde had caught hold of the woman and subdued her. He didn't harm her in anyway, nor render her unconscious, but he was stronger than she'd given him credit for and she was unable to squirm away from him. He carried her into the Inn, and the rest of the group followed. Yogi sat the woman in a chair in the lobby, then released her. Michi blinked in surprise. He'd been strong enough to move her all by himself, but hadn't been rough or forceful with her the entire time. A slight blush swept across the forty-year-old woman's face as she finally took a closer look at the blonde lieutenant. Now that she paid attention to him, she realized he wasn't such a bad looker himself.

"Now, why did you run?" Tsukitachi asked, "My colleague hadn't even told you what we were here to inquire about."

"Running without being told what you're running from seems rather suspicious," Karoku said, flopping down in one of the lobby chairs across from her and pulling Nai into his lap. He knew the Halfling's tendency to wander and get lost or into trouble. If Nai was perched in the same seat as him, this wasn't an issue they'd have to worry about.

Nai stared at the woman quietly for a moment before speaking, "She's been scared from the moment she saw the ship," the little empath noted. He blinked and blushed as he realized another emotion coming off of her that he didn't fully understand. But he knew enough to realize the source of it was being surrounded by so many good looking men. Remembering that he'd sensed a similar emotion from Lady Mine right before Gareki had rescued him, he cringed at the prospect of what this sensation was, and dared not draw the attention of the others to it.

"Interesting," Hirato said with a raised eyebrow. "Now, what would you have to be afraid of?"

Michi shook her head. "You're Circus, I know what your ships look like," she stated, "I've seen the monsters you people fight. Knowing you're here, made me nervous that there might be one somewhere in town."

"Fortunately, that's not our purpose here today, but if there were to be one, I can promise you the team you see in front of you is more than capable of handling the situation," Tsukitachi assured her.

"As I was saying," Hirato returned to the original subject, "We're here to ask you and your husband a few questions involving a young man who used to be in your care."

Michi shook her head. "I don't know what you mean, what young man?" she asked.

"He was still a boy the last time you saw him, I believe," Hirato said.

A glimmer of recognition flashed in the woman's eyes, but still she denied. "What boy? I don't know what you're talking about."

"She's lying," Nai quickly informed them.

Michi's eyes swerved from Hirato to the albino. She was clearly curious how the boy new. "Ah, yes," Hirato said, "Where are my manners? I didn't finish introducing our crew. To your right is Second Ship First Lieutenant Yogi, behind me is Second Ship Fighter Tsukumo, and these two are Arumerita Karoku and Nai. Nai is empathic, which means he can read people's thoughts and emotions, even without trying. If you fail to tell the truth, he'll pick up on it better than any electric lie detector." Hirato smiled as he finished that statement. Karoku and Nai both noticed a sudden look of surprise across Michi's face as she heard the name Arumerita. Hirato reached into his pocket with a sigh and pulled out a picture of Gareki and handed it to her. "I don't have a picture of what he looked like seven years ago, when you last saw him, but this is what the boy looks like now."

"Ah...?" her mouth dropped open as she looked at the picture. Seven years was a long time, but she knew him on sight. Even with the clouds of hurt and distrust that were apparent in them in the picture, she recognized his stormy blue eyes. She smiled, under all that distrust, she could still see a glimmer of childlike innocence in them. She was surprised that she could tell so much just from looking at a picture. "So, the lad's still alive. Is he in trouble?" she asked. "He always had a knack for getting into some kind of mischief, but he hasn't been here if you're looking for him."

"No, we know exactly where he is," Hirato assured her, "And while I agree trouble follows him closely, he's not in any at the moment. The question is not WHERE he is, but WHOM."

Michi raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

Hirato took a seat and motioned for the others to do the same. "This boy, Gareki as he goes by now, had been in your care for eight years, and yet from what I understand, you never gave him a name?"

"True," Michi nodded, "We took care of the boy until he was old enough to do chores around then Inn, then we set him to work to earn his keep. When he came into our care, we were never told if he had a name or not, and never knew what to call him ourselves, so he simply answered to 'boy'."

Hirato and Yogi both bit back a bitter comment to this reply. Though no one in the group saw this as a valid excuse. "You were never told if he had a name when he came into your care?" Hirato asked.

"How did he come into your care?" Tsukitachi asked.

"His parents left him with us," she said, avoiding names. Karoku stiffened, paying more attention now. "The pair had been clients of ours several times in the past. They even eloped and spent their honeymoon here, twenty years ago."

"When I was still seven," Hirato thought, "No wonder I wouldn't have remembered her before she went into Circus... And two years before Karoku was born."

"So they trusted you?" Yogi asked, his violet blue eyes locking on the woman. He'd asked the question in ernst, but his underlying bitterness was evident.

Michi nodded. "That's right."

"Did they explain why they had left him?" Hirato asked. "And before you tell me his mother passed away during childbirth, I'll remind you we will know if you're lying or not."

Michi shook her head. "The father came to us with the boy. He was badly injured and asked us to keep the child. The baby couldn't have been but a week old. He didn't tell us what happened to the mother. We waited, but she never came for him. We thought she was dead. We also didn't know what happened to the other child."

"Other child?" Tsukitachi asked.

Michi nodded. "They had an older son, about two or three years before hand, I don't remember exactly."

"You said the father was injured, do you know why?" Hirato asked.

"He was running from a Varuga," Michi admitted. "They were both Circus members, scientists in the bio-research department. They were researching some far-fetched theories involving cell research. She had confided in me about the situation the previous year, but as it was work related, she couldn't give me all the details." Michi's eyes quietly shifted to Nai, "Though, it seems most of their research was successful."

"How much did his father tell you about the Varuga attack?" Hirato asked.

Yogi blushed and the entire group turned to look at him as his phone suddenly rang. Hirato and Tsukitachi both raised an eyebrow. They were both there, if there were a mission or emergency where Jiki, Kiichi, Akari, or Tokitatsu had to reach either of them, Yogi wouldn't be the one getting the phone call. "Um..." Yogi cleared his throat, "Excuse me while I take this." He stood and walked away, pulling the phone to his ear and hitting the button. Michi blinked, she could almost swear the blonde was sparkling as he walked out of the room. "Hello?" A smile graced his face. "Really? That's great news! I'll be sure to let Hirato-San and the others know. Congratulations. Uh, oh yeah, we're here now. No, just Katashi-San, no sign of Katashi-Kun." Yogi gave a soft chuckle and smiled fondly as he listened to the other end of the phone. "I promised I'd keep you filled in, didn't I? I'll call you back when we leave. You need to get back to your studies." He smiled and blushed. "You too," he said lovingly. "Oh, and hey! We're all really proud of you."

"Yogi?" Hirato addressed him as he returned to the room.

"Good news, I presume?" Tsukitachi asked, noticing the beaming smile on the blonde's face.

"Very good news," Yogi said, sitting back down. "Gareki-Kun is doing so well in his studies that he's being moved to the next stage of the Circus Fighting course." The blonde smiled, "He gets to start learning how to control his abilities tomorrow."

Hirato smiled. "That's my boy," he thought.

"He's in training to become a Circus member?" Michi asked sounding both concerned and surprised.

Everyone in the room fell dead silent and stared at the woman. She knew something that she had been skirting. She sounded as if she thought this was a bad idea. Yogi leaned forward in his chair and stared at her. "Yes, he is," he answered.

"Yogi," Hirato spoke, recognizing the unusual tension in his subordinate, "At ease." Yogi leaned back into his seat, the smile slipping from his face. "Now, Katashi-San, before we were interrupted, I had asked if Gareki-Kun's father had told you anything about the attack."

Michi nodded. "The pair had discovered a leak in Circus, and had left, taking much of their research with them. Nisu-San said the person who had been leaking information realized he'd been discovered and tried to extort the information from them, knowing they had one child and were expecting another. He never named the man. We were told to watch out for anyone suspicious, that Nie had experimented with one of their theories during the conception of the baby; and they believed it had worked. She gave birth while on the run, but couldn't keep the child with her, the four of them together would draw too much attention. She took the oldest and some of her documents with her and fled toward Karasuna. Nisu fled in the opposite direction with the infant."

Hirato frowned. "So, he asked you to ensure the child was safe?"

Michi nodded again. "The child has the cells that Circus uses to give themselves their powers embedded directly into his DNA. Nie wasn't given permission to conduct this experiment. We were to keep an eye out and ensure that neither Circus, nor their enemies... Kafka, I believe their called?" She waited for the silent nod from the two captains. "We were suppose to ensure that neither faction got their hands on him."

"Yet you sold him?" Hirato and Yogi both interjected irritably.

Tsukitachi shifted uncomfortably. He'd come along in case Hirato lost his temper, but now he wasn't sure who he was going to have to subdue first, Hirato, or Yogi.

"We fell on hard times," she admitted, dropping her eyes to the floor. "We had suspicions that someone had figured out where he was. We hadn't allowed ourselves to become attached to him, I admit," she stated, "We had to move the boy for our own safety as well as his. We sold him, hoping he'd find his way to a safe place. We'd heard about the ship sinking in a storm. No one was believed to survive, but it doesn't surprise me to know he did."

"You sold him hoping he'd find a safe place?" Yogi asked, "Rather risky, don't you think?"

"Yogi!" Hirato scolded. He sighed, the blonde was right, but he was beginning to worry he may have to ask the lieutenant to leave.

"Risky, yes, but necessary. If we moved him ourselves, we could have been watched," Michi said.

Nai shook his head. "But that wasn't why you did it," the Niji said, his red eyes growing wide and teary.

The woman sighed. "Alright, I admit it!" she caved in, "We sold him for the money. The child had become difficult to deal with and the Inn had been struggling. We were looking out for ourselves. What did we care what happened to Arumerita Nie's bastard child? He didn't know what kind of power he held or how to control it, so it's not like it was hurting anyone to send him on his way!"

"WHAT!?" Nai and Karoku exclaimed.

"You bitch!" Once again everyone froze. While the outburst wasn't completely unwarranted, it was still surprising to hear it from the usually sweet natured blonde who'd been staring daggers at this woman from the moment he'd gotten her inside. He was out of his seat and on his feet before even Karoku and Nai could move an inch.

"Yogi," Hirato finally managed.

"You were his caregivers for eight years of his life, and that was all you thought when you sent him away?" Yogi berated her.

"YOGI!" Hirato and Tsukitachi both called the Lieutenant's attention. Tsukitachi caught hold of Yogi's arm, at the elbow.

Michi scowled. "I admit, it was callous of us, but this discussion won't be going any farther if he continues to speak to me in such a manner in my own home."

Hirato sighed. He had a headache, and wanted to throttle the woman himself. "Yogi, I understand your sentiments, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room." Michi noticed the dark haired captain's grip tightening around his cane, a tell tale sign that she was on thin ice with everyone in the room. It was bad enough she'd just slandered Gareki, one of their own, in front of them. But now, all of his children were upset, and out of all of them, Yogi, the one hardest to anger, was clearly the most distraught.

"But, Hirato-San?" Yogi started to argue.

"Yogi, your captain's given you an order," Tsukitachi said.

Yogi gave a defeated sigh. "FINE!" He turned and left.

"Tsukumo," Hirato addressed her, "Please escort Nai and Karoku-Kun outside to the front courtyard." The three younger members of the party noticed Hirato's eyes settling on a window in the back of the lobby, where he was certain Nai would still be able to over hear the conversation. The notion was immediately understood.

"Permission to speak my mind before I leave, Hirato-San?" Karoku asked.

"Very well, Karoku, but choose your words wisely. As Katashi-San has stated, we are still within her home."

Karoku glared at the woman. "Madam, I have only just recently discovered this boy in question was my younger brother. You sat right here and admitted in my face that you knew both my parents before they died, and before they left Circus. You knew I was the 'other child' the moment I was introduced. I'm aware that Circus members have their family registries changed once they join as a way to protect their families. Even if that's so, even if my mother was conducting an unauthorized experiment, I do not appreciate your implication that she was unfaithful to my father, and I pity my younger brother for the misfortune of having been left in your care. Who were you hurting by sending him away? You were hurting him, and if the wrong people had found him and taught him how to use his abilities, the entire world." Karoku placed his hands gently on Nai's shoulders. This was a side of humans he'd hoped the little Niji would never have to see. "Come on, Nai, let's go."

"Hirato, perhaps I should finish up things here on my own?" Tsukitachi offered, knowing his partner was just as upset as the younger members of their group.

Hirato sighed. "It was a mistake to bring them, I suppose," he admitted. He turned his attention back to Michi. "My subordinates have been in charge of Gareki's well-being since he arrived on my ship several months ago. I'm afraid Lieutenant Yogi is a little too emotionally involved with this situation." His dark violet eyes settled on the woman. "But, he does bring up a valid point. Gareki was in your care for the first eight years of his life, which means you went through the days of diaper changing, potty training, teething, and bottle feeding. So, how, being a married woman with no children of your own, were you able to prevent any maternal instinct from taking over and allowing you to become attached to him?" Michi's brown eyes dropped to the floor and turned away from the two captains.

"Woman, if you tell us you left him in dirty diapers for all those years..." Tsukitachi thought, realizing Hirato was growing increasingly annoyed with her.

"You're right," she said, "I did care about the boy to some extent. But I always knew he wasn't really mine. I was afraid that if I allowed myself to become too attached, then Nie-San would come looking to take him back. I'm not sure Osamu ever felt anything toward him. It wasn't until he was eight that we started having real problems with him. We weren't the doting sort of caregivers. He didn't run to us when he had problems, we never saw him cry. He'd take a challenge and face it head on, even if it meant getting into a fight. He had a fondness for books and tinker toys. He was clearly very smart for his age. He also liked explosions and fire."

"Not much has changed there," Tsukitachi smirked.

"He never seemed effected by the cold or the heat. He always seemed to know when a storm was coming in, though. He use to like to watch the lightning and listen to the thunder. I remember once hearing him tell one of our guests that it was like watching a natural explosion. One day, he and I had an argument about one of his chores. I told him I was going into town and he'd better have it done by the time I got home. He did it, but he'd nearly burnt down the kitchen in the process. He said he was cleaning the stove, and there was a spark of electricity that he couldn't explain where it came from. The fire was a result. Another argument ensued as I accused him of lying, and there was a sudden thunderstorm outside. Osamu and I began to suspect these were all the effects of the nature of his birth, and worried he might draw attention if he stayed any longer. As I said, we had hit hard times, weren't getting a whole lot of visitors, it had been nearly two years since we'd had more than twenty guests at one time, and the stove was an expensive replacement. Then one night, this old man with white hair, and a young gentleman with a long red ponytail came in." Tsukitachi and Hirato exchanged looks. It was a vague description, but it reminded them of Uro and Palnedo. "The old man was clearly a well established business man from the looks of him," Michi continued, "and the young man appeared to be his assistant, or perhaps his butler, I'm not sure. They'd been caught in the storm we were having that night, and said the flight they had been scheduled to take had been delayed for a couple of days. I had plenty of vacancies, so I gave them a room, and sent the boy to help them bring in their things. The old man began asking me questions about him, was he mine, what happened to his parents. At first, I thought nothing of it, just a curious old man. But then he asked me, 'Would you like to sell him?' I stammered for a moment, and told the gentleman 'Of course not!' But, then I noticed he looked as though he'd been joking, so I laughed him off. Though, I felt uncomfortable after that. The two gentlemen continued to watch the boy's every move the entire time they were here. Rather than have him help them to their car when they left, two days later, I had Osamu do it. Something told me if that boy had gone to the car with them that day, he wouldn't be coming back inside. It was then that we agreed we had to move him before those two finished their business and came back." She shook her head and sighed. "After they left, another gentleman came through. He asked similar questions, but instead of if we would be interested in selling him, asked if we were having trouble providing for him. He offered us a substantial sum if we were to bring the boy to the docks. He explained that he was a scientist who was taking in children who's families couldn't care for them."

"Another red head?" Tsukitachi asked. Michi nodded.

"Meiga!" the two captains said in unison.

Michi nodded. "You know him?"

"Bastard's dead now," Tsukitachi assured her, "But yes, we knew him."

"He made it sound as if it were ok," Michi said, "Said that he did tend to use the kids as test subjects, but that the tests weren't harmful, that all of his experiments were for researching nutrition. We debated the idea for a while, then went to the docks and turned the boy over to him. We took the money and walked away. I heard the call out to us as he was taken aboard, but Osamu stopped me from looking back. He thought it was better for everyone if we simply let go then and there. We decided to wait a couple of weeks before we started renovating. Then, two days after it happened, I was talking to one of our neighbors. She asked where the boy had gone, and I lied, told her a long-lost-uncle had come to claim him, and that he'd given us compensation for taking care of the child for so long. The older gentleman and the redhead had come back through days before and I had told them the same story when they asked about him. I'd noticed a smile shared between them, as if they knew something I didn't. She said she was relieved to hear it, and I inquired why. She told me there had been a man, asking around about children close to the boy's age, offering to buy them from people. It turned out that he was lying about who he really was, and that a few kids still turned up missing. She then stated that the man had mentioned a ship on the docks, which was believed to have already set sail. It was then, through her, that I learned it had been a slave ship and that it had been sunk in a storm, and that no one was believed to have survived." She closed her eyes. "I immediately regretted our actions. I realized then, that the people we were suppose to keep him away from had gotten him, but the storm had taken him away from them. I expected it wouldn't be long before your organization came knocking at our door, looking to arrest us for harboring and selling him. I'm surprised it took you this long. I'm equally surprised, though relieved to learn he's still alive. It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders to know he's ok."

Somehow, Hirato wasn't sure if he entirely believed this story. She'd already been caught in a lie more than once, though, he knew Nai was still close enough to listen in, and hopefully be able to tell how much was truth and how much was made up. He and Tsukitachi exchanged looks. Clearly, the redheaded captain wasn't completely convinced either. They shared a quiet nod and Hirato rose from his seat. "Thank you for your time, Katashi-San." He handed the woman a small business card. "When Katashi-Kun comes home, be sure to give him my phone number. I would like to speak with him also. Good day, Madam."

"That's all we're going to get out of her, Pal," Tsukitachi sighed as the two of them left the hotel.

Hirato sighed and nodded. "I'm well aware of that. Pity I truly can't arrest them. Child neglect, child labor, and child slavery aren't within our jurisdiction, and her story claims that they weren't aware they'd sold him to Kafka until after she heard about the ship sinking."

"If we acted on the fact that Nie's experiment hadn't been authorized, and that this couple knew, there's no telling what would happen to Gareki. Poor kid's under enough scrutiny as it is after his little disappearing trick," Tsukitachi sighed.

"We'll just have to hope talking to the husband gives us something more to go on. There have been documents of children born to parents both within Circus who've had advanced skills due to their parent's abilities. Gareki's Incure Cell level could easily be explained by the fact that Nie and Nisu were both Circus agents, even if they were only part of the bio-research team. I'm willing to bet that if Akari-San ran more thorough tests on Karoku, we'd discover he has a high count of natural Incure cells as well," Hirato exposited. He sighed, "But now, I have a much more pressing matter to attend to."

"A certain overly excitable prince?" Tsukitachi asked. Hirato nodded. "I came here thinking you were the one I was going to have to hold back. I never expected a reaction like that out of Yogi."

Hirato smirked. "My children are just full of surprises."

"I'll go round up the rest of the 'kids'," Tsukitachi said, "Hopefully Nai's not up a tree crying his eyes out, or we'll all be ready to kill this woman."

Hirato returned to the ship to find Yogi slumped on the ground next to the entrance, waiting for the others to return. He sighed and smiled. "Yogi," he called, calmly, as he approached the blonde.

"I blew it, Hirato-San, I know," Yogi admitted. "I spoke out of turn, and I was out of line."

Hirato smiled and placed a gentle, gloved hand on top of the former prince's head. "Off the record, I can't say I'm disappointed in you," the captain assured him. Yogi's big violet blue eyes shot upward, wide in surprise, looking at the dark haired captain. He'd expected a berating. "Off the record, I'm proud of you for being brave enough to stand up for Gareki like that. I understand how hearing her say such things can upset anyone. ON the record, however, I'm surprised at both of us. I'm surprised I had enough discipline to keep my mouth shut, and that you weren't disciplined enough to do the same." Hirato smiled as he knelt down in front of Yogi. "I know how much you care about Gareki, but this isn't the kind of behavior we're use to seeing from you."

"I just couldn't help it, Hirato-San. To hear her say such things about him, like she was just throwing out the trash; something inside me snapped," the blonde rationalized, "They raised him for eight years, then didn't care one way or another what happened when they sold him? It's no wonder Gareki-Kun acts the way he does. If you can't trust the people who've raised you, who can you trust?"

Hirato tried to let the double implications of that statement roll off of him as he looked into Yogi's eyes. No one wanted to think what would happen once Yogi realized his own hidden history. He wrapped his arms around the blonde and hugged him. "That's where you come in," he whispered with a smile.