Author's Note: Okumura Tsuki and Literally Dirt, thank you again, for your comments, as usual. Calypso, dear lady of the sea, thank you for the Kudos. Skilley and guests, thank you all for yours, as well. You guys would not believe them trouble I've had with this chapter! I created the file and EVERY time I tried to start typing the story, the first letter caused the entire program to crash and close. So, I had to open the file for Dungeons and Varuga Chapter 1 and recreate this file, I already had D & V Chapter 2 started because I couldn't get this one off the ground, but I deleted my original file for this chapter and saved D&V 1 as this chapter. I got as far as page 2 and the document CLAIMED to have auto saved. I went back to work and when I got home, instead of my 2 pages, it had only saved up to the 7th paragraph... And even after saving again, manually this time, it's STILL lost everything past Paragraph 7! This chapter's starting to be a chore. . I was originally going to add the grave visit in this chapter, but with the way this chapter's been going, I don't want to hold it out any longer.

Synopsis:

Karneval: Pyromancy

Chapter 31

After a lengthy lecture from Tokitatsu about hacking their mainframes and missusing Circus materials, Gareki and Koroku received permission from Research, to use one of the mechanics bays and whatever necessary resources it had in order to repair Naira. "Too bad I wasn't given a chance to pack my phone and laptop before I left," Gareki lamented. "Do you have either with you, Koroku?"

"I've got my phone," Koroku replied, pulling out said phone.

"Great, let me see it for a second, would you?" Gareki took the phone from the young scientists and showed him what buttons he needed to press in order to back into the black sheep's algorithms, "I'll send you a copy of the master program once I get back to school," he promised as he handed the phone back to his brother and pressed Naira's on button. The horns on the side of her head swirled and buzzed as she booted back up.

Gareki frowned as the robotic sheep took two steps, then froze in place, before falling over on it's side. Gareki looked over Koroku's shoulders at the data the phone was showing. "Damn, it's a good thing they agreed to let us use this workshop. This isn't something I could have fixed remotely," Gareki sighed, slipping his goggles into place. "Her auditory sensors are damaged, and she's got multiple joints that need to be replaced."

He removed the sheep's wool, exposing her robotic skelton. "Damn, girl, hey hit you hard, didn't they?"

Koroku smiled and quietly watched as Gareki worked on fixing the tiny sheep. He silently mused as his younger brother treated the little robot more as a child than the plaything she had been designed to be. It made sense, however, Gareki had given Naira all the qualities of the other Circus Bots, only giving her a personality of her own, he didn't want her to blend in with the rest of the 'herd' she was meant to keep Nai company and protect him, after all. Koroku assisted Gareki best he could, fetching whatever the younger male asked for.

"She's your first personal creation, isn't she?" Koroku asked.

"My first successful one," Gareki admitted, "I made a smaller one when I was little. It was barely bigger than your average toy soldier, but it couldn't hold a charge for more than a few seconds."

"What happened to it?" Koroku asked.

Gareki flinched and froze. It was obvious it wasn't an issue he wanted to talk about. He'd been so proud of himself at the age of six. He'd managed to scrape together enough scraps of metal and gears and springs to make a six inch tall tin man that could only walk a few paces before falling over on it's side. He closed his eyes, shook his head. "It found itself on the wrong side of a hammer," he said vaguely. He tweaked the screwdriver one last time, "There, that should do it," he sighed as he zipped her wool back over her robotic skeleton. He pulled her goggles over her eyes and turned her back on.

Naira clicked and whirred back to life as she looked around the room. "What happened, baa?" she asked.

Gareki took the phone from Koroku and started monitoring her visual feedback. "Welcome back, Naira, you gave everyone quite the scare," he said, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"A Varuga was chasing after Nai-Chan and I jumped... " she paused, with a paw at her mouth and there was an audible metallic click. Her memory was fully intact. "How long was I out of commission?" she asked.

"Nearly two months," Koroku replied, "I attempted to repair you, but lacked the necessary understanding of your systems and it took us a while to get you back to Gareki."

"That clicking noise worries me," Gareki stated, "Naira, are you experiencing any abnormalities anywhere else?"

"No sir, all systems appear to be nominal," Naira answered, "Although..." She shook her head there were a few rattling noises. "I seem to have a few screws loose."

Gareki bit back a laugh and picked the tiny robot up, gently pulling her into his lap. Unzipping her wool once more, he began tightening every screw until the clicking noise completely stopped. "How's that? Better?"

"Much beetteer," she belated. She looked around the room. "Where is Nai-Chan?" she asked, "My prime directive is to keep him safe and happy, baah! I didn't fail, did I? The Varuga didn't get him, did they?" she asked worriedly.

Gareki out a gentle hand on top of her head. "Woah, woah! Calm down!" he said, trying not to laugh, "I know I built you to grow your own personality and all, but I DID NOT program you to become a crybaby worrywort like Yogi!"

Koroku failed to hide the laugh that escaped him. "Nai's just fine, Naira," the young scientists assured her, "He's back on the ship with Tsukumo-Chan."

Gareki smiled. "I'm told you were very brave," he praised, "You jumped in and distracted the monster long enough for Yogi dispatch it. You've carried out your prime directive just fine. I'm proud of you."

"And I'm very grateful to you," Koroku added, "Thank you, Naira-Chan."

"He's waiting for us to bring you back, " Gareki said, "Everything else seems satisfactory now, and Koroku should be able to manually repair you now, from now on, and I can remotely check in on you from time to time." He scooped her up into his arms, "If you feel everything is nominal, I'll take you to him."

"Ok, I don't want him worrying about me, baah," Naira agreed.

"Speaking of Nai," Gareki ventured, "I'm guessing he and Yogi haven't really had a chance to speak with, today, have they?"

"Beyond, 'Good morning' you mean?" Koroku replied, "No, not really."

"Last night, I asked Yogi to see if Hirato would allow him to escort me back to Karasuna after you and I were finished here. I want to visit Tsubaki's grave, " Gareki admitted.

"And that has what to do with me?" Koroku asked, "Gareki, if you want to visit the grave of the closest thing you've ever known to a real mother, you don't need my permission."

"Not me," Gareki sighed, "Nai overhead us and asked to go too."

Koroku stopped walking. "Did they tell you the risk you're taking by going?" he inquired.

"You mean that they believe the Varuga are after again?" Gareki guessed, "Yeah, right after I asked Yogi to take me and before Nai asked to come."

Koroku raised an eyebrow. "You know the risk, but you didn't tell him 'NO'!?" he asked.

"Have you ever told him no?" Gareki huffed, "Does he even know the meaning of the word, or am I the only one he doesn't listen to?"

Koroku chuckled, "Relax, Gareki, I'm not scolding you, just surprised. I'm well aware of the hero worship Nai has toward you. He sees you as his best friend, and when they told us you and I were brothers, his whole face lit up. But, it's to my understanding you didn't want him to go to Karasuna with you the first time you went, why the change?"

"I knew telling him 'No' without your or Hirato to back me up was futile, anyway," Gareki admitted, "But in truth, I didn't want any of them with me the first time. Yogi was an annoyance that I had no choice in bringing along. But, if it was just him, I thought maybe I could give him the slip and take care of what I needed to do and pass it off as I had gotten lost. But with Nai tagging along... That meant double the danger, double trouble trying to slip away and the slower everything else would be. Even Eva-San was surprised Hirato agreed to let either of us go. Apparently I was already a sacrificial pawn in their eyes. But, I never suspected we'd run into Tsubame-Chan and Yotika."

Koroku's eyes widened for a moment. "I think I get it," he said , "You're hoping Nai can contact her spirit, right?"

Gareki flinched. "I. I don't know what I'm hoping," he admitted , turning to face his brother "I've never considered myself the religious sort. Not have I ever been the superstitious type. Ten months ago, I would have told you everything Circus does was impossible and that Varuga and monsters were just fairy tales. And maybe... I could have even convinced myself all those crazy fires and lightning strikes back at the Katasshi Inn really were just coincidences and freak accidents and not my fault, but not anymore! So, maybe. If there is a way to reach out to her, to tell her I'm sorry... Maybe Nai could... "

Koroku sighed and placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "Alright. It's not like you and your boyfriend are irresponsible enough to let Nai wander around and get hurt or anything. Let's see what Hirato says first, though, alright?"