Author's Note: I am so, SO sorry for the delay on this story. Real Life got in the way, I've forgotten where I was going with this story, I had lost my access to the Mmanga, and I no longer have a way to turn on my computer( missing mouse and power cords) to see if I had already started Chapter 17 before it started giving me trouble. But after years of issues, finally finishing a bulk of my other stories and a few new ones, and rereading this one and the comments five times, I think I have an idea on where to head with it. Sorry if it doesn't hold up to my previous standards after being gone so long. To everyone who bookmarked, faved, commented, and/or left kudos since my last post; THANK YOU for your support and patience. I'm sorry to bring this up, but I do have one small request in the future, if I ever fall short and go into a hiatus on one of my stories again, PLEASE be patient with me I have had to move several times in the last 8 years and may have to do so again by next year. On top of that, We've spent the last give years trying to get my husband approved for disability, so random short one-shots have been all I've had time for, just to help keep me sane, until recently. I appreciate the comments and love conversing with my readers, but please, if I become restricted to short one-shots, please don't come to those stories insisting I come back to finish one of my longer fics. I felt it rude that the ONLY comment on one story was requesting I return to this story and nothing was said about the story in question, especially since the story in question was for my all-time favorite movie. I do appreciate the interest, but there are better ways to go about asking. If you request it on the story itself, I'm fine with that. If you PM me, that'a fine too, but please don't detract from my other stories without at least commenting on what you thought about that other story first and then leading in to a polite, "by the way, how are things looking for 'X Story'?"

Summary: Katashi Osamu calls Hirato back, and doesn't make the Captain's impression of the couple any better. Nah and Yogi get a new friend.

Karneval: Pyromancy

Chapter 17: Kuroi Hitsuji

Hirato's phone rang. He picked it up and rea d the name. "Katashi Inn". "Akari-San?" He called the doctor's attention before answering the call and putting it on speaker phone. Akari was at Hirato's side in a heart beat. After what happened while speaking with Katashi-San, there was no telling how Hirato would handle speaking with Katashi-Kun. "Circus Second Ship. Captain Hirato speaking," the dark haired Captain answered.

"Yes, Sir, this is Katashi Osamu, I heard you wanted to speak with me?" Osamu's voice came over the phone. The man sounded rough, but was being polite.

"Yes sir," Hirato answered, "Did Katashi-San mention the nature of our body the other day?"

"She said you were asking questions about the Arumerita brat," Osamu replied, "What sort of trouble has he gotten into that requires Circus to speak with us? It's been nearly eight years since we last heard from him."

Hirato glared at his phone, the callous way Osamu spoke rubbed him all kinds of wrong, and Akari's from hand on his shoulder was the only thing keeping him in his chair at the moment. "I assure you, the boy's not in any trouble. We were simply curious about the lad's background," the captain stated as calmly as he possibly could. "Katashi-San told us Arumerita-Kun left him with the two of you when he was an infant and he had been attacked by a Varuga on his way there?"

"Yeah, it was an ugly mess. Arumerita was in such bad shape, it was lucky he could even stand. He left the child with us and disappeared without letting us know where he was heading."

Hirato closed his eyes and heaved a quiet sigh. He found himself wishing that Nai were in the room, wondering if the little Niji's ability to decipher lies would even work over the phone. "Yes, Katashi-San mentioned neither of you knew how to contact the Arumerita couple after Arumerita-Kun had left. She also mentioned Arumerita-San was conducting experiments that hadn't been authorized and the couple may have been being blackmailed. You wouldn't happen to know anything about the nature of these experiments, would you?"

"Something about inceminating herself with some kind of cells," Osamu answered.

Hirato and Akari both bit back a surprised gasp and exchanged looks. "Incure Cells?" Hirato asked, visibly shaken. He wasn't exactly asking anyone particular, he had more or less been thinking out loud.

"I think that's what she said they were called," Osamu answered.

"But why would she...? She should have known how risky that is!" Hirato exclaimed, again, not really speaking to anyone in particular.

"Something to do with believing the kid would be stronger if he were born with those cells naturally inside him or something," Osamu said. "If I'm being honest, though, the kid was bigger trouble than he's worth. Wouldn't have surprised me if he were in trouble with the law."

Hirato gritted his teeth. "Why would you think that?" He tried to remain cordial, but he found it increasingly difficult with these people.

"The kid was always rebellious and disrespectful," Osamu started.

"While that does sound like Gareki, I fail to see how that's relevant," Hirato questioned. Akari raised a curious eyebrow.

"The kid had a rather explosive temper, breaking things or catching stuff on fire, then blaming it on lightning or spontaneous combustion," Osamu stated.

Hirato and Akari both raised an eyebrow, exchanging looks that seemed to question had Gareki been making things up, or had his abilities been active during childhood and something forced them dormant? The later options would definitely explaine Michi's claims about the incident with the stove. "So you believe he was an unintentional threat to the public?" Hirato questioned cautiously.

"Unintentional? Like hell, that brat knew what he was doing," Osamu scoffed. "Michi said you guys had shipped him off to military school to train him how to be one of you. I would say I hope that straightens him out, but the way Michi said your boys treated her, I'm not expecting much."

"I beg your pardon?" Hirato asked, his voice quickly turning cold, "How did she say we had treated her?"

"She said you and the other gentlemen were very professional," Osamu said, "But those kids you had with you, she said they were rude and fowl-mouthed, and that one had manhandled her. If either of us ever see any of them here at the inn, we will be in touch with your superiors and less charges for harassment. And if you ever see the Arumerita couple again, tell 'em they owe us compensation for keeping their brat for them."

Akari took a step back, well aware he had no way of controlling Hirato now. The 27 year old Captain was on his feet, hand clenched tight around his phone, wishing he could reach through it and strangle the man on the other side. This conversation had started off with false politeness, but Hirato had done his best not to provoke the other man. How had it turned so sour?

"Now, you listen here. Your wife was not 'manhandled' when we approached her, and introduced ourselves, she attempted to run, which have provocation to persue her. My Lieutenant was very careful not to harm her as he took her back inside. But, if that's the way either of you feel about it, I can assure you you will never see any of my people anywhere near your Inn again. I only hope you never find yourself in a situation where you're attacked by a Varuga, as we won't be able to come to your aid." Hirato closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "As for the Arumerita couple, I will not be passing along any such message. They expected you to keep their child safe and you sold him, weather you knew it or not, to the very people you were supposed to have kept him away from. I would think you received more than enough compensation for those eight years a t that time. The boy's parents have been MIA for almost sixteen years, now. If further investigation shows you and your wife have anything to do with it beyond harboring their child, no amount of money or lawyers will be able to protect you when my superiors come to call."

Hirato flipped his phone shut, hanging up without so much as a goodbye and tossed the phone down on his desk with a frustrated huff. He paid no attention to the phone as it bounced off his desk and onto the floor as he plopped back into his chair.

"Well, at least we know Gareki comes by that explosive temper, honest," Akari sighed, picking up the phone, "I'm surprised at you, Hirato."

"I don't like it when people try to mess with my kids, Akari-San," Hirato huffed irritabily.

"I said I was surprised, not disappointed," Akari said, setting the phone back on the desk. "Even Tokitatsu would have been screaming by now. Your voice barely even raised an octave. And while Gareki has been somewhat rebellious and stubborn, just like someone else I won't mention, when had he ever been disrespectful?"

"Whatever," Hirato sighed, apparently, the good doctor was unaware of Garek's nickname for him, but that wasn't the issue. The captain huffed and rested his cheek on his hand, "Is my new herd of sheep loaded yet?"

Akari sighed and started massaging Hirato's shoulders. "Calm down," Akari coaxed, "We've got nothing to hold them by, you can't just run out there and arrest civilians," he said. "Why don't we call Tsukitachi and arrange to meet him for some coffee?" He leaned down and pressed his lips to Hirato's cheek, "It wasn't a very pleasant phone call, but we did get a little more insight on Gareki-Kun," he tried to suggest as a positive.

Hirato sighed and smiled. "I suppose you're right." He grabbed his phone and dialed up Tsukitachi's number.

Meanwhile

"Yogi, are you sure you're gonna be ok, coming down here?" Nai asked as he, Yogi, Koroku, and Tsukumo entered the Research Tower Loading Bay.

Yogi smiled, "Of course I will, Nai-Chan," Yogi beamed, "Akari-Sensei is back on the ship with Hirato-San. Being down here puts me as far away from him as possible. Besides, Gareki-Kun said you should keep an eye out for something with this herd of sheep."

"Yeah, but why?" Koroku asked.

"He said it was something special, just for Nai-Chan, so he doesn't have to sleep alone anymore," Yogi explained.

"Did Gareki-Kun say what we're looking for?" Tsukumo asked, looking over the herd of robotic sheep.

"He said we'd know it when we saw it," Yogi said.

"Ah! This one!" Nai exclaimed, grabbing hold of one of the sheep.

"That was incredibly fast," Koroku said.

"Look, like Gareki!" Nai said, excitedly, pointing to the pair of goggles sitting on the sheep's top hat.

"Awe! That's so cute!" Tsukumo giggled.

"Cute?" Koroku huffed, "More like vain." He bent over and thumped the pair of goggles. "Did he put these on there just to show off he finally got to take one of these little guys appart?"

"That's not nice, Koroku," Yogi scolded, pulling out his phone, "Gareki-Kun knows how hard it is for us to tell the sheep apart. He probably put the goggles there so we can keep track of which one he built for Nai-Chan."

"Yogi, who are you...?" Koroku started to ask as Yogi pressed the call button on his phone.

Yogi smiled, It barely took half a ring before the call was answered. "Ne, Gareki-Kun?"

Koroku rolled his eyes, "I should have known."

"Yogi? I'm kind of in the middle of combat training," Gareki said, "Can I call you back?"

"Oh, sure! Sorry. I don't want you to get in trouble, or hurt again," Yogi said.

"Why'd you even pick up if you're busy?" Koroku asked.

"Gee, nice to hear your voice, too, 'Bro'," Gareki replied, rolling his eyes, "Anyway, I'll call you back in a couple hours."

"Alright, we'll talk to you then," Yogi said, "Good luck."

" In the meantime, I suppose we should start loading the new sheep on board and boot them up," Tsukumo suggested.

"Right," the others nodded.

Gareki sighed as he flipped his phone shut. He'd sat still too long and a small number of the training boys had found his hiding place. He was certain he would get demerits for having answered his phone in the first place, but letting it ring would have given him away much faster. He turned the corner and took a deep breath. Five robots were closing in. "Deija vu," he sighed. This time, a new word came to him, "Feuerball" Gareki took a step back in surprise, as a ball of flame caught the robots, and a small portion of the room, activating the room's fire extinguisher system. The sprinklers quickly put out the fire, covering the room in smoke.

The instructor quickly shut down the remaining robots and lead Gareki safely out of the room. "Are you hurt?" he asked. Gareki shook his head. "Good," the instructor sighed. He looked to find the bots that has been caught in the flames were all still in tact, but extremely charred. "Damn it, Gareki, stop destroying my robots!" he scolded.

"They're not destroyed," Gareki argued, "They could stand some polish, maybe, but they ought to still be in working condition."

"Whatever, class is dismissed for the day. In fact, we'll have to postpone for a while, while these things receive proper maintenance." He looked at Gareki and smiled, "The nurse is going to get tired of seeing you if this keeps up," he chuckled, "Report to the nurse's office, then you can retire for the day."

Once cleared by the nurse, Gareki headed to the showers. He'd taken no damage from the bots, not the flames, but there was soot all over his uniform and in his hair. After the shower, he made his way back to his room and flopped on his bed. He buried his face in his pillow and heaved a tired sigh. Hopefully, the laundromat would be able to get the door out of his suit with a single wash.

Rolling over on his back, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open. "Guess I better call and see what he wanted," he said languishly. He dialed up Yogi's number. The blonde was quick to answer.

"Gareki -Kun? That was fast," the Lieutenant's voice came from the other side. "I finished earlier than expected," Gareki explained, "What's up? Oh, wait ! That's right, you guys got the new sheep today, didn't you?" He sat up and grabbed his laptop, booting up a hidden program. "Did Nai find the one I designed just for him?" With a single button press on his laptop, the cameras Sesire had snuck into the room began receiving a false audio/video feed.

"We believe so," Yogi answered, "The one with goggles, right?"

"That's the one," Gareki said, proudly, "Has he booted her up yet?"

"Her?" Tsukumo blinked.

"I take that as a no," Gareki chuckled.

"How do you boot it up, Gareki?" Nai asked, "I don't see any buttons."

"Hidden behind the horns, just under her top hat," Gareki instructed.

"Oh, here it is!" Nai said, pressing a button under between the left born and ear, just under the hat.

"Greetings, everyone, bah!" the sheep said, with a feminine voice. "My name is Naira, bah! Pleased to meet you, bah!"

Gareki smiled as he heard his creation white to life. "Naira, I'm having trouble remote accessing your secondary database, can you run a systems diagnostics for me?"

"Bah?" Naira tilted her head to the side. Her horns spun, and whirred for a brief moment. "All systems nominal, here, bah!"

"Try putting your goggles on, I didn't set them too far up for you to reach, did I?" Gareki suggested.

"No sir," Naria answered, pulling her goggles down over her eyes. "Oh, I think I hear you pinging me, now."

"Found you," Gareki said, hitting a button on his keyboard, "And I'm in. Ok, so now we know, you have to actually be wearing them in order to contact me remotely."

"Is THAT why the goggles!?" Koroku exclaimed.

"Gareki-Kun, she's amazing," Tsukumo praised, kneeling down and offering to shake hands with the little black sheep.

"How did you make her?" Yogi asked.

"I take an engineering class, so after repairing two Sheep and three rabbits, I was charged with building give sheep from scratch. I built six; Naira was my prototype before I worked on the other five. Once I was certain the initial database for the typical Sheep worked, I set her aside while I finished the rest, then went back and created a secondary, based off the schematics I found in Research Tower's records for Yukkin. She's capable of doing everything the Sheep and Bunnies can do, but I adjusted her vocal pattern and have her the goggles in order to differentiate her from the others. She should recognize everyone's voice patterns, and when you ask her to take care of something, you'll know it's her, but her prime directive is to help keep up with Nai. Now he doesn't have to keep grabbing random sheep to sleep with every night. And, while she's wearing the goggles, I can get a video feed of whatever she's looking at."

"Clever," Akari's voice broke in to the conversation.

Everyone jumped and turned to find Akari and Hirato both standing at the door. "A-Akari-Sensei?" Yogi stuttered, taking a step back.

Taking need of Yogi's instant, obvious discomfort, Akari sighed and stepped aside, letting Hirato enter the room. The dark haired Captain approached the children and knelt down to examine the black sheep robot. "Gareki, am I to believe these modifications were unauthorised?" he asked.

"Well... Not all, the instructor did ask about the goggles, but when I explained it was for differentiation, I was given the OK," Gareki answered, cautiously.

Hirato sighed. "I'm impressed," he admitted, "You don't really need any of these courses, so you?"

"Honestly, no," Gareki admtted, "But at least this way, I can be licensed to do this sort of stuff legally."

Hirato bit back a laugh, "That's my boy," he thought proudly. "You need to be careful with this sort of stuff, Gareki," Hirato said worriedly, "being the 'responsible' adult and your benefactor, I'm required to report this kind of activity. However, since this is your only model and it was created with good intent, I'll overlook it this time. But keep in mind, a spy has to be stealthy. Just like Naira, here, you are the black sheep among the black sheep, after all." Hirato stood and looked to Yogi. "I was originally coming down here to tell the lot of you that Akari-San and I were heading out to meet Tsukitachi and to suggest you all find somewhere for dinner tonight after you've finished loading the sheep. Gareki, I was going to call you later, but knowing this bunch, they'll eventually find out one way or another. I'm not sure how much Yogi told you about our visit with Katashi-San?"

Gareki gave a huff and drew in on himself, subconsciously pulling the Nyanperowna plush closer to himself. "He told me enough," the teenager said.

"Then you should know that your parents disappeared because they were hiding from someone, right?" Hirato asked.

"Yeah..." Gareki answered hesitantly.

Something in Gareki's voice washed over all of them, rather than the strong, fearless, confident teenager, the mere mention of the Katashi couple made him quiet and timid, reflecting right years of abuse nd neglect. Hirato closed his eyes and sighed. "Gareki, there's no gentle way to put this. I just got off the phone with Katashi-Kun."

Gareki sat up straight, his eyes growing wide, his subconscious hold on Nyanperowna tightening. "What kind of lies did that Bastard try to feed you?" he asked, trying to put up a strong front.

"I'm not sure how much was truth or lies," Hirato admitted, "But the reason I'm warning you to be careful with any actions that are unauthorized is because according to the Katashi couple, your parents we're being blackmailed because your mother was conducting unauthorized experiments. Your birth may have been a result of one such experiment."

"Wait, WHAT!?" Gareki and Koroku both asked in unison.

Gareki squeezed the Nyanperowna doll even tighter, once more squishing the stuffing out of the center and into the limbs. This time it hadn't been a subconscious action. As Naira sat there looking at the group, he could see each and every one of their faces on his laptop. They were all concerned for him and simultaneously surprised by this revelation. He actually felt as though he needed a hug at that moment, but his sister and his roommate were both still in their classes, and his brother and friends were all at least 3 days away. "How is my birth supposedly a result of one of her experiments?" Gareki asked, his voice cconveying undersyandable disbelief.

Hirato sighed. "You remember the blood samples Akari-San asked us for before you returned to school?" he answered, deciding to finally come completely clean with the kids.

"The ones you and I both knew he was giving a bogus reason for wanting them?" Gareki replied.

Hirato smirked, "Yeah, those, exactly."

Akari sighed, regardless of Yogi's unease, he entered the room. Brushing a hand through his hair before crossing his arms he approached the group, "Gareki, I found an unusually high amount of invite cells in your results from before you and the others went to Yanari's party," the doctor stated, "The tests I took before you returned to Kuronomie were simply to double check those results. I had somehow overlooked those results every time prior, but looking back through your records, they've been there from the start. It was during that final test, that it I confirmed the relations between yourself, Koroku, and Hirato."

"Hirato-San, too?" Tsukumo quietly questioned, her eyes flashing in Yogi's direction.

Yogi sighed and nodded, "Hirato-San is Gareki-Kun's uncle," Yogi answered in a whisper.

"I thought you said no one was keeping secretes on purpose?" she asked. "Well, that one slipped my mind," Yogi answered.

Akari held out his hand in request for Yogi's phone. The blonde hesitantly handed it over, then took a few quiet steps away from the doctor. "Gareki, I need you to understand, Hirato's NOT telling you any of this in attempt to bring you down. Everyone here is legitimately concerned for you. According to Katashi-Kun, Arumerita Nie-San inseminated herself with Incure Cells."

"So, are you saying my birth was a fluke as a result of an unauthorized experiment with positive results?" Gareki asked sounding more confused than hurt. "One would interpret it that way," Koroku said.

Everyone gave the young scientists a disapproving look. Koroku sighed, "As I've previously stated, my mother stayed with me until I could take care of myself. She never mentioned another child, but if we're all being honest, here, this does sound like something she would have done in the name of science."

"Even knowing the risks?" Hirato asked, "To her and her child?" Koroku nodded. Hirato sighed.

"So, what, you two we're going to meet with Tsukitachi so the three of you could gossip about me? Hypothesize and make guesses about me?" Gareki scoffed. Everyone smiled, this was the confident, headstrong Gareki they had grown to know and love, "So I've already got Incure Cells in my DNA. That does change anything, does it? At the end of the day, I'm still me." He smiled. He was on his own again, but this time he knew he wasn't alone. He had friends and family who cared. Even if they couldn't always be at his side, he knew he could always call on them for emotional support.

"Be that as it may, Gareki," Akari warned, "We don't know who Arumerita Nie-San was running from. We're just asking you to be careful."

"Don't worry about me, guys," Gareki chortled, "I've survived this long, haven't I?"

Hirato's own phone suddenly rang. "Gareki...? Why is your school suddenly calling me?" the captain asked, looking at the name on his caller ID.

Gareki flinched. "Are you serious!? Why'd they wait this long?"

Hirato sighed and answered his phone. "Circus Second Ship, Captain Hirato speaking?" Hirato blinked. "He set how many combat robots on fire!?"

Arthur's Notes: Yeah, you guys probably didn't see that plot point coming back into play, did you? Probably thought it was just a fun little Spoony reference as a throw away scene to finally give Gareki his chance to take one of the sheep apart? lol, it almost was, but after a friend's suggestion, I found a way to make it work. Fun fact; Naira is a feminine German name: "Naira f Romansh, German (Swiss) Derived from the Surselvan Romansh word nair (ner in other Romansh variants) "black; dark"." I typed it in on the English side of Google Translate, set it up for the German on the translated side And hit play to hear the pronunciation, and I think it's a very pretty name. And Feuerball is literally German for Fireball.

Also, I think after VTR, this should have become obvious, but Kuroi is the Japanese word for Black and Hitsuji is Japanese for Sheep.