Chapter 21: Parents' Greatest Worry
"Come on, slow pokes, hurry up!" Oliver called back to Yuki and Ritsu as he clambered over a rock.
"We're coming, Oliver!" Yuki called back, sprinting over as fast as she could.
Ritsu didn't reply, just huffed as he idled over. He stood by, watching as Yuki struggled to climb the same rock that Oliver had. Oliver leant over and held out his hand, which Yuki gladly took hold of, and pulled his friend up. It didn't help too much considering Yuki was five years older than him so she more or less continued to climb up on her own. It was a shame Oliver hadn't acquired the strength his father had and was more spindly like his mother. He may not have had the strength but he certainly had the agility; he managed to climb rocks and do an all manner of things without problems, and he was only four.
"Are you coming, Ritsu?" Oliver asked, peering over the edge.
"But I don't want to get my clothes dirty!"
"Ritsu, you're a boy, you're not supposed to care about you're clothes," Oliver said, very stereotypically. "Anyway, it's dark, you won't see it."
"When is it not dark?" Yuki asked. Oliver laughed and nudged her.
"I don't even want to go that way anyway." Ritsu started to sulk, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Ritsu, Big Al put me in charge since I'm the oldest, so if I say we go this was, we go this way!" Yuki put her hands on her hips, scowling down at Ritsu. "We're lucky he even let us out!"
As Yuki scolded Ritsu, Oliver wandered away slightly, not too far away, he was still in sight of the others. He gazed around the dark sky, staring at each individual cloud when he saw something. Something white and glowing was flitting through the clouds. It looked like a magic bird with big, white, sparkly wings. Oliver narrowed his eyes, trying to make out what it was. When he realised what it was his eyes opened wide, crammed full of delight.
"Guys, guys, look!" he squealed, overly excited as he pointed at the glowing shape in the sky. "I think it's another angel!"
Yuki's and Ritsu's heads immediately snapped around. They too stared up at the angel in wonder.
"Come on, let's go!" Oliver instantly took off, not bothered to wait for the others.
"Oliver, wait!" Yuki called as she ran after him. "Big Al said not to leave the garden so we can't go too far!"
"Yuki! Don't leave me on my own!" Ritsu wailed and he scrambled up the rock, not so elegantly.
Yuki sighed and waited for Ritsu to catch up slightly before following Oliver.
Oliver kept running further and further away. They were now in a place that Yuki knew they were not allowed to be in without their parents. Still, Oliver ran on and on, eager to find the angel.
As Yuki ran on, Ritsu having caught up and running next to her, she saw Oliver run around a corner. Around the corner they could see a white glow that blinded them, even though they weren't even looking directly at it's source. With a glance at each other, both of them ran around the corner, joining Oliver. They both stared up at the white glow in front of them, their faces dropping into ones of awe, similar to the one Oliver had across his face
Miku soared through the sky, expertly dodging the clouds. Twisting one way one moment then the other way the next, she plunged downwards. The wind whipped against her face, the old air scratching at her skin. The feeling of being free though was rather overwhelming. Miku may have despised the humans with every single fibre of her being but there had been the rare time where she had escaped to the human world and flew around the sky, surrounded by the darkness. It was pleasant to feel wind on her face, a fresh feeling to be able to somersault through the sky in her wonderful darkness she oh so kindly leant to the humans. There was no darkness in heaven, so flying through it always felt exciting.
But not that time, that time Miku was on a mission. This was no time for fun. This was a time for murder, and she was positive in the fact she would come back with the angels' blood on her hands.
Eventually she saw the ground approaching. Holding her wings tightly against her back she dived directly downward. Just before she reached the ground she spread out her wings and, similar to the effect of a parachute, she floated down, landing softly on the ground. She stretched out her wings and shook herself, loosening her joints. Her eyes were closed and they remained closed for a while. She just stood there, feeling the breeze against her skin. Eventually she opened her eyes, the sight in front of her was something she wasn't quite expecting.
Standing in front of her were three kids, all gazing up at her in awe. She easily recognised one as the child that Akaito had held hostage in the fire he had started by the bandages around his eye. The other two must have been his friends.
"A-are you another angel that's come to help Luka?" the child with bandages asked.
Miku stared down at him silently. With out answering she looked up and into the distance where she could faintly make out the building the DD lived in. Still silently, she looked at the three children who were all still staring up at her.
"So, are you an angel?" the kid with bandages asked eagerly. Miku just shook her head, earning a confused look from all three of them. "If you're not an angel then what are you?"
A sly smile crept across Miku's face. "I, my children, am the goddess."
Instantly as the last word escaped her lips the children's faces fell. Clearly they knew the the goddess was someone not to be messed with.
"Pl-please don't hurt us!" the only girl that was there pleaded as she stared up in horror.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you, you are all exactly what I need." Miku's sly smile grew into an insane grin. "But of course none of you will remember a thing."
With that her insane laugh filled the air and she waved her hand.
Gakupo was standing in the remains of the entertainment room. There was nothing but black stains and rubble everywhere. With a sigh he kicked an ash pile over. After the fire had been put out they'd searched for things that were still usable but no one had had the heart to tidy the room properly.
"I've been looking for you," Big Al said as he approached Gakupo from behind.
Gakupo looked over his shoulder at the older man. "Have you now? And why might that be?"
Big Al chuckled to himself. "I just couldn't see you anywhere so I was curious as to where you were."
Gakupo chuckled too. "Well, now you know."
The two men stood in silence for about ten minutes before Big Al spoke again. "So, you wanted to sleep with Luka, eh?"
Gakupo looked at Big Al. "No, I was going to sleep on the sofa."
Big Al laughed, more heartily this time. "I believe you."
Gakupo shook his head, knowing full well Big Al didn't believe him. "Stop teasing me."
"I'm not teasing you."
"You jolly well are!"
Big Al laughed again. "Well, remember who was the one who teased me about Sweet Ann."
"That was completely different!" Gakupo retorted.
"And how so, may I ask?" Big Al raised an eyebrow.
"Because you're older than me, and you're married now."
Big Al just smirked and put his hands on his hips. "You jealous?"
Gakupo snorted. "Jealous? No way! Jealous of you hitting on Luka, maybe." Big Al just looked at Gakupo, a sly grin on his face. Gakupo groaned and face-palmed. "Ignore the fact I just said that."
"So, you don't like her, I get it." Big Al snickered and patted Gakupo on the Shou,der before turning around to leave. "Anyway, I'm off to find the wife. I hope she's put Oliver to bed already."
"It's ten, they better be in bed," Gakupo said. "Their bed time was two hours ago."
Big Al nodded. "I'll be off to be in a minute, there's no point staying up too long. Luka, Lily and the others are already asleep, aren't they?"
Gakupo nodded. "Well, I'm not tired yet, so I'm staying here. If you need me you know where to find me."
Big Al nodded and gave a slight wave before leaving the room. He yawned as he trudged down the corridor. Ignoring the fact he was clearly tired he trudged over to Oliver's room to check on his son before he drifted off to sleep. As he reached the door he bumped into someone familiar.
"Hey, honey," he said, giving Sweet Ann a kiss on the cheek. "I thought you'd be asleep already, you don't generally stay up this late."
"There was things that needed to be done in the kitchen," Sweet Ann replied. "I just thought I would check on Oliver before going to bed."
"Well, that just so happens to be the reason why I'm here too."
Sweet Ann laughed. "Well, I hope you didn't keep him up past his bed time like you always do."
Big Al raised an eyebrow. "No, I couldn't have. Didn't you put him to bed? I assumed you did since I haven't seen him in the past several hours, ever since Yuki and Ritsu took him out."
"But I haven't seen him either." Sweet Ann's eyes widened.
Big Al's eyes widened too and he immediately flung open the door to his son's room, only to realise Oliver's bed was empty.
"Oliver!" Sweet Ann immediately yelped. Her face had gone as white as flour at the realisation her son was missing.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's with either Yuki or Ritsu."Big Al tapped Sweet Ann's shoulder in comfort.
He swiftly left the room, heading down the corridor to the other kids' rooms but the results were exactly the same, empty beds.
"Where are they?" Sweet Ann exclaimed.
"I'm sure they must still be out in the garden, they must not realise the time," Big Al said, trying not to sound worried for his wife's sake.
"But I checked the garden hours ago, to bring the, inside. They weren't there so that's why I assumed you had bought them inside!" Sweet Ann was starting to go hysterical. "What if they wandered away and got lost?"
"Then I'll kill the son of a bitch who was outside in the garden at the moment in time for letting them." Big Al gave Sweet Ann a brief hug. "You stay here, I'll get Gakupo. We'll find them, don't worry."
"N-no, I'll meet you in the garden, I'll go and get Kiyoteru, Ruko and Rook."
"Okay, we'll meet you there then." Big Al gave her a kiss on the forehead before sprinting all the way back down the corridor to the entertainment room. When he reached it, he stumbled in, creating a loud clatter so Gakupo's head snapped around.
"You're back already?" he asked.
"You've got to help, we think Oliver, Yuki and Ritsu have wandered off and got lost."
Gakupo gasped. "That's bad."
"Bad? This is horrific!" Big Al exclaimed, now letting out how worried he was since he wasn't in front of Sweet Ann.
"Calm down, we'll find them," Gakupo said.
"That's what I said to Sweet Ann although I don't particularly think I believe it myself." Big Al attempted to get his breathing under control.
"Well, you better start believing it," Gakupo said as he left the room. With a sigh, Big Al followed. "Have you told Kiyoteru, Ruko and Rook yet?"
"Sweet Ann's getting them, we're meeting up in the garden."
It didn't take them long to reach the garden. Big Al instantly rounded on the guy who was sitting there, calling him an all manner of things for letting his four year old son wander off to get lost. Gakupo had to pull Big Al away before he did any damage to the man, who looked quite scared. Big Al was a tall man, he did look quite intimidating when he was angry, especially now he was healthy again.
Afterwards Gakupo turned to look at Sweet Ann and the other three adults that were with her. Kiyoteru was Yuki's father. A middle aged man with glasses, taped together at the middle as he had snapped them some time ago. He had quite a few children; Gakupo sometimes found Gumi hanging around with his oldest daughter, Iroha, and sometimes his second oldest daughter, Yukari. Kiyoteru's wife had died during childbirth with Yuki so he had to look after all of his children alone. It took a toll on him but he always managed to pull through. He taught the younger kids in the DD and always had a smile on his face to make sure they were all happy, despite the fact he was quite a sad man himself. If Gakupo remembered correctly, he was also the one whom had made Luka's robotic arm.
Ruko and Rook were Ritsu's parents. Neither were really good parents, they were just so over the place. Even if Ruko classified herself as a she, she would sometimes refer to herself as a he and act more like a brother to Rook instead of a wife. Ritsu instead had to look up to his older sister, Teto, considering he was more feminine than not and couldn't particularly connect to his tomboyish mother, although she was such a romantic. Despite their flaws, the rather dysfunctional family all loved each other truly, it was just hard to understand their craziness sometimes. Gakupo could clearly remember the time Rook had spent a week pretending to be a a dog and convincing Ritsu he was one. Ritsu, only being three at the time, had been rather confused.
"I'm such a bad father," Kiyoteru muttered to himself, his face forlorn. "I can't believe I fell asleep and didn't wake up to put Yuki to bed."
"You can't help it if you fell asleep, someone should have waken you," Gakupo said, trying his best to console him.
"I know, but I still feel so bad," Kiyoteru muttered, pushing his glasses up his nose.
In the mean time Ruko was wailing her head off. "I am such a horrible mother! Such a horrible horrible mother! How could I let my child run off like that!"
"It's going to be OK, we'll find them," Ruko said as he tried to calm his wife down. He was the only one that wasn't fretting about being a horrible parent. It was clearly visible in his eyes that he felt terribly guilty but Rook was the type of person who, in situations like this, would try to stay strong for others sakes.
"We're all just terrible parents!" Sweet Ann sobbed, rubbing her eyes.
"Well, if this guy didn't let them run away then it would be fine!" Big Al grumbled and Gakupo had to grab him by the wrist to stop him from rounding on the guy again.
The guy looked sick, not that he was ill, he looked sick because of how worried he was. Not necessarily for the children but more likely his neck.
"We can't stand around whimpering all day," Gakupo announced, taking charge. "We need to look for the kids."
Everyone nodded, trying to take control of their emotions.
"All right, we'll all split up. You can help too." Gakupo pointed at the man. "What's your name."
"Tonio, sir," the man muttered.
"Tonio, you can help look too." Gakupo turned to Sweet Ann and Ruko. "You two stay here. If they are to come back, one of you come to find the rest of us." They both nodded. Gakupo then took a deep breath. "Let's get this search party moving then!"
Gakupo, Big Al, Kiyoteru, Rook and Tonio all split up in search for the three kids.
The five of them had been searching for hours and hours but eventually they all came back empty handed. It was four in the morning at that time so everyone was fast asleep, not aware that the six adults were still wide awake. Sweet Ann burst into a fresh round of tears so Big Al hugged her, glaring at Tonio all the while. Tonio looked away, clearly ashamed of himself. Ruko just rocked backwards and forwards, panicking, while Rook sat down next to her with his head in his hand. Gakupo ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, as Kiyoteru fiddled with his glasses.
"Big Al, Sweet Ann, Ruko, Rook and Kiyoteru, I demand you all to go get some sleep," Gakupo said finally.
"But our children are out there!" Rook exclaimed, the first worried thing he had said all night.
"We will find them, but I truly think you all need some sleep," Gakupo said. "I'm practically falling asleep on my feet and I can clearly tell the five of you are tired. I think we should get several hours of sleep and continue looking for them later."
"He has a point," Tonio said. "They've been out there for hours already, a few more can't hurt."
"What a bloody heartless thing to say!" Big Al yelled. "If you hadn't let them-"
"That's enough!" Silence fell as Gakupo spoke. "Big Al, you are tired and frustrated, I think you need some sleep more than most."
Big Al grumbled, his words inaudible.
Eventually, Gakupo managed to convince them all to go inside. None of the worried parents felt like going to sleep so they gathered in the living room and fretted silently. Gakupo and Tonio left to go to their own rooms, both feeling guilty by the fact they had left the parents to worry, but the both if them were ultra tired and neither could think properly, their minds hazy.
"I feel so bad, I can't believe I let them run away," Tonio muttered, his head hung low.
"What exactly happened?" Gakupo asked, curious to hear Tonio's side of the story.
"Well, I just drifted off for a bit and when I woke up they weren't there," Tonio admitted. "I thought they'd gone inside."
Gakupo patted Tonio on the back. "I don't blame you, just get some sleep."
Tonio just sighed. "I understand how worried they are, I know what it's like to loose someone."
Before Gakupo could ask anything else Tonio disappeared behind a door, to which Gakupo presumed was his room. Gakupo just sighed too and headed off to him own room, now feeling glad Luka was sharing Lily's room and not his.
~Author's Notes
Okay, so someone mentioned to me how some of the earlier chapters were expected, so I hope this was a surprise for you! I was debating on whether to do this or not but I've already cut a lot of storyline from the story, so I finally decided to add it in. Originally it was just Big Al, Sweet Ann and Gakupo who were looking for the kids but then I released that you don't know who Yuki and Ritsu's parents were, so you finally get to meet them!
So, see you at the next chapter! I hope to surprise you more!
~Kate