(A/N): oops. i completely forgot to post this here from tumblr. forgive me. this chapter was done like. a week ago or something. i have to give kudos to the little fan who was encouraging me over there to continue it. 'w'

I've kinda been going slow on these next few chapters because the Nanska arc actually isn't finished being written out in the notebook yet, so I'm not sure how to divide up the next few chapters. As such, this chapter is rather short compared to the other ones (probably a good thing for my sanity, I was afraid these chapters would keep growing exponentially longer and longer, and then I'd never be done) while I try to finish up the plot of Nanska, and once that's done I'll decide whether the rest of the arc will be in one or two additional chapters. REGARDLESS! I've been getting lots of encouragement to continue along with this, more than I expected, so I'll keep writing in the book whenever I get the chance, honest!

i'm so sorry

Episode 013 - Kizamaro's Plea! Let's go to Nanska!

It was strange, seeing Gonta and Kizamaro without the Class President. Subaru could almost say they looked lonely or lost when the two of them came into the lab that day without her.

"Eh? Where's the Class President?"

"Oh, she went to some place to look for fresh and new ingredients for new food dishes, called…Nan…des ka?"

"Nanska," corrected Kizamaro, adjusting his glasses in that familiar all-knowing manner of his. "By the way, Subaru-kun, you might want to watch out, I'm pretty sure she's intent on getting 'Rockman-sama~' to try some…"

"Oh geez…" Subaru chuckled weakly. If he could only somehow avoid being fed until she'd mastered it…!

Throughout testing of the Star Carriers that day, Subaru couldn't help but notice that Kizamaro seemed to be trying to get his attention. It wasn't hard to notice: for all his intelligence, the smaller boy was easy to read and wasn't subtle at all.

Subaru, thankfully, knew enough about subtlety to help avoid trouble-he made Kizamaro wait to tell Gonta that the boy had left his backpack back in the lab until they were nearly outside the gate, allowing them some time alone while the larger boy bumbled about in search of his belongings.

"Ne, Kizamaro, you wanted to ask me something?"

"S-Subaru-kun?!" Kizamaro stammered in surprise, clearly taken aback by his being addressed so directly after having his increasingly obvious signals being blatantly ignored for so long. He quickly drew himself up, however, looking up at Subaru with a highly focused expression.

"I-I saw, on the TV! You and Dossy!"

"Eh?" Subaru hadn't expected that to be the subject. Was Kizamaro mad that he hadn't gotten to see Dossy up close or something?

"Don't act like it was nothing, Subaru-kun! That sort of thing…it was like when you fought against all those FM-ians before, right? We thought you were just fighting them, but they had reasons for coming after you and fighting you all the time, and there was something bigger going on…"

Subaru listened, dread growing in his stomach as he saw Kizamaro drawing connections, coming to a conclusion right before his very eyes.

"Something like that is happening again, isn't it? You're fighting something and putting yourself in danger for us, and we don't even know it…"

Subaru felt his breath catch in his throat, and he immediately tried to stutter out some kind of denial.

"Kizamaro…I…"

"D-Don't try to hide it!" The shrill yell easily cut off his half-hearted attempt, and Subaru was left to listen to what followed. "I saw how you got Dossy to leave just by talking, and then later on, you were acting so strange fighting Harp Note and Dossy…you would never have done that! And then you collapse, and then we see you recovering in that tube thing like you were hurt really badly and you still act like nothing big is going on! Did you really think none of us would notice?!"

Subaru remained quiet, unsure how to respond. He wanted to try and console the shorter boy, assure him that nothing really was going on that he should be worrying about, keep him from getting involved with something that was beyond him. But that was what Kizamaro was accusing him of, wasn't it?

It was like he could read Subaru's thoughts directly, because the shorter boy frowned and drew himself up again as Subaru continued to remain silent.

"I-I know you probably don't want to share with us what's going on, we must be pretty useless, not being able to do anything to help you fight…but it's not like it was last time! We know who Rockman is now! Every time we see you fighting on the news, we get scared that we won't see you the next day at school, or in the lab! And most of the time it's fighting viruses and stuff so most of the time we can just tell ourselves that you'll be fine, it's stuff that you've easily done tons of times; but now there's huge monsters showing up again and you're in big danger and we don't know why! It makes us more scared and worried than before…"

"Ah…" Subaru didn't know how to respond, but he was saved the trouble due to Gonta reappearing in the door way that was some distance from them. "Ah, Gonta, over here!"

A quick glance over in Kizamaro's direction showed that the smaller boy was hurt by Subaru's lack of response to what really seemed to be a truly heartfelt plea, and he found his brain whirling through thoughts and memories.

"You have a lot of people here to support you, so it's okay to relax, ne?"

His eyes softened at Amachi's words. Support…

"Ne, Kizamaro," Subaru found himself muttering as Gonta got closer. "Call me later tonight, okay?"

Kizamaro's eyes grew wide, and somehow Subaru felt the tension that had been building up in his body relax on seeing the clear gratification on the bespectacled face.

"Y-Yes!"

"Eh? What are you two talking about?" huffed Gonta, finally having caught up to them.

"Ah? Nothing, nothing…"

Subaru heard nothing else of the subject until he had said goodbye at a key intersection that separated him from the other two.

"Are you sure about this, Subaru?" War-R0ock queried from the Star Carrier. He took out the device to see the alien looking at him intently.

"I'm not sure…"

"What do you plan to tell him?" demanded the voices of Berserk, materializing next to War-Rock and forcing him to move aside.

"Oi, oi…" the alien grumbled, even as the other denpa being sparked angrily.

"Not everything," soothed Subaru, calmly ignoring the entity's impertinence. "But…" Subaru frowned, remembering Kizamaro's impassioned words, and somehow he felt that this meant more to the boy than his usual somewhat eccentric demeanor hinted at. His resolve firmed and he began to walk with more determination as he made his decision.

"He deserves to know."

0-0-0-0-0

Even without telling Kizamaro everything, Subaru spent a lot of time talking to him that night. While he didn't mention Berserk and the OOPart's consciousness; he did talk about the OOParts themselves, how they acted as a seal to Mu, and how the FM King's appearance had triggered their activation, making their previously sealed power awaken and exposing the ancient artifacts to being found by anyone who wanted to use their power for evil…and there were at least two others looking.

"So, those rumors of an abominable snowman in the HImanara Mountains, and ghosts at the pyramids…"

"Gori and Hyde," confirmed Subaru. "They've teamed up with Murian life forms to revive Mu."

"And Dossy?"

"Another Murian life form, although he wasn't interested in OOParts. He was actually pretty happy to help once I agreed to help him out with his own matters. Anyways, it's completely possible that a lot of recent UMA sightings are reawakened Murian life forms…"

Kizmaro "oohed" in interest, and Subaru quickly noted something that had to be said.

"I know this sounds interesting to you, but please don't let this information get out, at least not for now. I don't want more people looking for OOParts…"

"Understood!" Kizamaro sat up at attention, making Subaru chuckle weakly at the unnecessary enthusiasm. He paused for a few moments, then continued in a subdued voice.

"Ne, Kizamaro," he murmured, garnering the shorter boy's renewed attention. "Can you not tell the Class President and Gonta about this?"

"Weeh? But why?"

"Well…" He wasn't completely ready for them to find out, honestly. Just having Kizamaro know was already nerve-wracking enough! It was strange to him that the boy would see him as a friend close enough to warrant being a confidante, when most of the time they hung out together was because the Class President wanted to keep an eye on him! But how to justify this without admitting that he wasn't sure about them seeing him as a friend?

"If the Class President knows what I'm up to, she'll probably end up getting herself into more trouble going after 'Rockman-sama…'"

Kizamaro laughed sheepishly, and Subaru felt relieved that there seemed to be no arguments with that statement at all.

"And Gonta's a nice guy and all, but he would tell the Class President anything, you know how loyal he is. He can't really keep a secret from her at all…"

"You have a point there…" sighed Kizamaro, shaking his head. "I can do that, I guess, at least for now. I can't promise anything if they really start trying to get information out of me, but I won't say anything voluntarily, absolutely not!"

Subaru found himself laughing again. He supposed that was the best he could get from the smaller boy, considering his circumstances. And yet, it didn't feel like this was such a bad compromise after all.

"Thanks, Kizamaro…"

"Of course! Ah, wait!" The smaller boy seemed to remember something and snapped his fingers. "Speaking of the Class President…you know the place where she went to? Nanska?"

"What about it?"

"Well, I picked it out for her because the area is notorious for being a pretty cultural spot, always keeping to its natural roots because it's always been so isolated from almost everywhere else…what I'm saying is that Nanska has ties to some kind of ancient civilization that probably haven't been affected a lot compared to other places!"

"An ancient civilization?! You don't mean…?"

"It could be Mu!" Kizamaro grinned. "I'll send you the information I know. It's not much to go on, but it can't hurt to look, right?"

"Mn, it can't, I don't have any other leads until Orihime-san gives me more info anyways…"

"Then it's settled! I'll send you the information right away! And if I hear anything about ancient civilizations or UMA sightings, I'll let you know!"

"Mn…thanks, Kizamaro." Subaru paused, then found himself adding something else tentatively. "Talk to you later?"

"Yeah, see you later!" Almost immediately after Subaru had closed the connection, he found his Star Carrier inundated with messages forwarded from Kizamaro about Nanska; and yet with all the new information, he found himself instead focusing on the conversation they had just had, how casually they had ended it. "See you later," huh…almost like they were really friends.

"Hn. We got some potentially useful information from the boy for such a small price," Berserk murmured. "Perhaps your judgment is not so clouded, boy."

"Mmm." For once, Subaru didn't feel much like bantering with the spritis of Berserk. Was it really so small a price as Berserk so casually dismissed it as? Opening up about something so important, allowing others to support you…

Had he really made the right choice, trusting such an important matter to Kizamaro?

0-0-0-0-0

Before heading out, Subaru found himself calling Misora about where he was going (he didn't think his wallet could take another blow from the bottomless pit that was her stomach, better to avoid that if possible). It turned out she needed inspiration for a new song, and going out to a town rife with nature and still observed ancient ways sounded perfect to her. An exotic place like that was bound to be inspiring!

She said that she would be at Subaru's house soon to join him, but he could honestly say that he didn't expect her to be right outside his front door as soon as he stepped out!

"Hello!"

"Wah! That was fast!"

Was she really locked up in her house before, as she said…?

"Well, let's go!"

Ah, well. Best not question these sorts of things when Misora is involved.

0-0-0-0-0

"Ahh, the air is so clean and refreshing!" Misora sighed in content as she breathed in the air on the high plateau. She then began to jog rapidly in place.

"W-wait, the air's really thin this high up, you'll tire out more-" He stopped as she sunk to her knees, panting heavily.

"…Easily." A sigh, then he began to look around. The first thing to catch his eye was a large, ancient-looking temple whose base was hidden in the clouds. It served to give the temple an ethrea, mystic appearance: Subaru couldn't help but stare at it in awe.

"Wow…"

"An ancient, romantic place like that is the perfect place for an OOPart to be!" Misora cheered, making Subaru chuckle.

"Are you talking about OOParts or songwriting…?" he murmured quietly. But, well, they were here on a rather baseless trip, there really were no leads to follow, and he had nothing else to worry over, at least not for the moment. Might as well follow her.

Approaching the temple, however, soon revealed to them that it was off-limits, as Ogamu-san was so eager to tell them. Only the village chief could give permission to go in and out of the temple, as it was a sacred place. Subaru didn't want to offend, and he wasn't in a great hurry, so while Misora stewed in disappointment, he asked the energetic man about the village's past.

"We are indeed descended from an ancient land, albeit not as prestigious as you think. You see, the actual ancient lands were far from here-we are descended from one of its many colonies!"

"Colonies?" Subaru questioned.

"Yes, you see, the ancient civilization of Mu was so strong that it had managed to conquer the world-it ruled from high up as the Earth was divided amongst its people."

"Waah, they sound really powerful…" Misora commented, enthralled by the tale.

"The way that you talk about it," Subaru reasoned, struck by something, "you talk about it as if the Mu were completely separated from everyone else, somewhere completely inaccessible in ancient times, like the top of a mountain or something…"

"You're close," Ogamu said, nodding. "Our legends actually say that the land of Mu resided in the sky."

"Th-the sky?! Wow!" Misora gasped, completely taken aback by the revelation.

"I-Impossible!" Subaru stammered out. Even if Orihime-san had showed him that picture…he thought that had simply meant that the Mu continent had been sealed in the sky, not that it had been in the sky the whole time before that as well… "In the sky? There couldn't possibly be a whole continent-!"

"The Mu are far superior to what your infant mind can comprehend, child!" Subaru heard the voices of Berserk snap irritably in his mind. "Our technology put us far and beyond those that would dare say otherwise-quite literally! The might and power of Ra Mu..that sole creation of ours was more than enough to do what you humans deem 'impossible'!"

"I see…so Murian technology wsa that advanced…" Subaru murmured, oblivious to Misora's suspicious glance in his direction, curious at his sudden stop at protesting and his conclusion that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Well, you came at a good time," Ogamu continued. Preparations for the festival later today are underway in the village-you may learn more about our customs and legends there."

"So cool! Let's go, Subaru!" Misora cheered, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off before he could ask for more information-such as asking what the festival was about, or which direction the village even was in.

0-0-0-0-0

The village was a simple and cheerful place. Little brown wood and straw huts were decorated with bright flowers and feathers. Villages were bringing platters filled with colorful fruit back and forth. Everyone greeted everyone else with a cheerful smile, and both Subaru and Misora soon found themselves greeting everyone with that simple, but infectious "Nanska!"

It turned out that the festival was a yearly event to honor their local god, which consisted of offering the finest bounty of the harvest as well as selecting one villager to offer something near and dear to their heart. It was meant to be a time to celebrate life and the efforts made to bring back such a bounty. One only had to look at the happy faces of the villagers to see the effects of the festival at revitalizing their spirits.

"Ne, Berserk," Subaru asked when he felt that Misora was sufficiently distracted by singing with a small batch of children that had been practicing some sort of local dance step. "Do you recognize this village at all, or something close to it?"

"This village is decidedly not one that was under us," the voices growled in response. "Our colonies were kept under control by rigid military discipline. The village would have been more orderly than this if it was one of ours. No, this town reeks of the old Shinobi touch, child. The Shinobi valued tradition and trusted to the ways of religion and custom to direct their colonies…a more indirect, psychological method, if you will. Fitting of such sneaky, dishonorable…"

"Oi, oi…" War-Rock grumbled. "Can we please keep on topic?"

"Hmph, as expected from an impatient being like yourself. Regardless of what we've claimed so far, there's really only one thing that truly keeps us from confirming our suspicions that it is indeed a Shinobi colony…"

"And that's…?" Subaru prompted, his words being cut off by Misora as she seemed to finally be done with the children.

"That's what, Subaru-kun?"

"Ah? Nothing…just that that was an interesting song you were singing with them…" Subaru sweated slightly as the girl eyed him suspiciously, but she eventually seemed to accept his excuse and let her gaze relax.

"Yeah, it's a fun song…I'm thinking about writing one based on it. Not the lyrics or beat or anything like that, just the general feel of the song-it's about joyful mornings and blue skies and flowers…stuff that makes you feel good and ties people together with those good feelings!"

"That sounds like a nice song." Subaru smiled as he saw the children continue to dance and sing in a foreign tongue without them-it really did seem like a happy song.

"I see we have some more visitors in time for the festival!" a kindly voice boomed behind them, making both Subaru and Misora jump in surprise and turn around. An elderly man, with flowing orange and red robes and a long white beard stood behind them, striking a somewhat imposing figure with the golden staffed topped with a bird in his hand. Any surprise and intimidation, however, was gone when he smiled. "Nanska!"

"Nanska!" Subaru and Misora found themselves replying without any hesitation, even smiling back at him.

"Ah, chief!" a passing villager addressed the old man, and as he turned to speak with the villager both Subaru and Misora looked at each other in surprise. This was the chief that had access to the ancient temple!

"Yes, it's always good to see new, friendly faces, especially near the festival!" cheered the old man, immediately prompting a question from MIsora before Subaru could ask about the temple.

"There are more tourists here?"

"Ah!" Subaru interjected, a sudden realizing about who the other visitor could be. "I heard about this place because Kizamaro said that the Class President was coming here to look up new ingredients and techniques!"

"Oh, so you know the young lady who arrived here recently?" the chief asked. "Lovely! She's been attempting to make much of our cuisine since she arrived."

"A-attempting…" Subaru chuckled weakly, his less-than-enthusiastic tone immediately noticed by the chief.

"Yes, her first tries were admittedly …not good. But her spirit is admirable and infectious-our local cooks absolutely adore her, and she picks up on the techniques quickly. Her most recent attempts are almost as good as we can make it-she's helping out with festival preparations right now. Do you want to see her?"

"Eh? The Class President is…" Subaru looked perplexed at the idea that even away from home, Luna would still find ways to be in charge of something, so Misora took it upon herself to answer.

"Yeah, of course! Let's go, Subaru-kun!" And before he knew it, he was dragged off by MIsora to follow the chief. They were led to a large overhanging tent, and on being led inside they saw a large amount of people moving about. Some were stationed at a large table laden with food, others were working away at several rustic-looking hearths, observing the food cooking and making sure that they were coming out well. It was easy to spot Luna as part of this second group, and so Subaru and Misora approached her.

"Class President!" She turned around in surprise at the familiar voice.

"Hoshikawa-kun?! What are you doing here?"

"Kizamaro told me you had come here. I wanted to find out more about this place, so I came…"

"Ah, is that so…" And then she noticed the young starlet beside him. "Wha-Hibiki MIsora?!"

"Eh?" She had apparently not expected such a devoted fan of hers this far out, and so Misora was unable to do more than let out that surprised expression before her hand was grabbed by the other girl among cries of "so, so cool!" It ended quickly, however-fears of the meat she was watching becoming burnt due to her negligence resulted in her quickly situating herself in front of the fire once more.

"So what are you doing here, Misora-chan?"

"Ah, I was trying to find inspiration for a new song, and this place is just full of it! I just love going out into the world for inspiration-but, ah, don't' tell anyone! My manger's not really fond of the idea of me taking these trips…"

"My lips are sealed!"grinned Luna. While the two girls were laughing together, Subaru turned to leave.

"I didn't want to bother you too much, Class President," he began. "I just heard you were still here and came to see, but I actually want to ask the chief something…"

"Don't think you can get rid of me so easily, Subaru-kun!" called Misora, turning to come after him as he walked away.

"Yes, yes…"

Luna watched the two leave with a somewhat confused expression. She had thought the two had met up just then by coincidence, but the familiar way they were acting together…

"'Subaru-kun'…?"

0-0-0-0-0

"Chief, do you know about Mu?"

"My, aren't you direct, child," chuckled the chief. "We were indeed a colony of that ancient civilization. We still carry a lot of the same traditions from those times, so anyone studying Mu would observe enough of a similarity to make a connection. Of course, we're a small, isolated community, so not many people know to find us…really, your young friend found us by luck, looking for ingredients rather than people."

"Heh…"

"So, you want to see the temple, eh? Well, I have some preparations to make in there before the offerings are complete, so you can come along so long as you take care, ah?"

"Yes, of course! Thank you, chief!" Subaru said, bowing.

"Ne, chief," Misora asked. "I get that the best of the harvest is always offered, but what's this about sone person also giving something precious?"

"Ah, you see that's one of the things that has changed over the years," admitted the chief. "Long ago, along with the harvest, we would offer human sacrifices to our god."

"What? No way!" Misora yelped, horrified by what she had heard.

"You sacrificed…people?" Subaru murmured, unable to imagine the kindly old man doing such a thing.

"We knew it!" hissed the voices of Berserk, but before Subaru could question it, the chief began to speak again.

"Yes, long ago, the belief was held that he human heart, the source of our lifeblood, would make the best sacrifice. Over the years, that has changed…the heart itself may pump our blood, but it does not give us life as we have come to define it. Our experiences, our relationships, our hopes and dreams…those are what make our lives worth living, those are what gives them meaning and significance. To give something from those memories stored in our hearts, something with prupose-ist hat not a wondrous gift? Look there," and the shaman pointed to a field in the distance. Nothing grew in that grass save for a sea of bright yellow flowers, blooming prettily as their petals opened to taste the sun. They had taken over the entire ledge that they had been grown on, giving the cultivated and domestic flowers a touch of wildness. It was a truly beautiful sight.

"Last year, a small child was chosen to give her heart to our god. She chose to offer this field of flowers that she had cultivated with her mother. To her, the memories shared with her mother represented the best of her heart. When those flowers bloom every morning, they reflect the heart of that little girl. There truly is no better offering than this."

Both Subaru and Misora were unable to keep themselves from constantly looking back at the breathtaking view long after they had left the field to visit the temple.

0-0-Episode 013 End-0-0

Episode Preview: I thought we could just enjoy the festival, but then another Murian showed up! Why can't things just be simple…? But maybe we can find more information about the OOParts this time around, if we can beat it…Next time, on Ryuusei no Rockman Tribe: The Terror of God!

Eh? Fighting a god...

(A/N): You might have noticed that Subaru's a lot less anxious to get going. Well, that's because thanks to Kizamaro's involvement, Subaru found out about Nanska quicker than in canon, which means he gets to avoid his mom proposing going out to the new restaurant for dinner. That being done, he wasn't in such a big of a hurry to get back home before dinner, so while he still is more straight-to-the-point and more serious and less distracted than Misora, he's not disinclined to participate in the festival or look around a bit.

next chapter we'll go into the totally not obvious details that Berserk seemed to know about beforehand and other things. and maybe give Condor some character other than "HAW HAW I AM GOD BOW DOWN TO ME PEASANTS I WILL EAT THE HEART OF THIS LITTLE GIRL OFFER IT TO ME HUEHUEHUE" rampaging things

or the chapter after that. not sure how this is getting divvied. but I WILL CONTINUE THE ANIME TRADITION OF DEVELOPING ANTAGONISTS MORE THAN PROTAGONISTS. WATCH ME.

okay yeah bye see you in like three months