whooooa look it's a new chapter! this one kinda just easily flowed out so I just typed...and typed... it was a slightly absentminded process...weird right? Anyways, I do not own Karneval but I do own Shi and all her adorable little antics. ^^

Please enjoy!

They had walked for a while before they stopped to rest in an abandoned warehouse. Shi sat leaning against some blue sheets bundled together by one of the more broken windows while Nai sat directly across from her, holding his stomach. After a few moments of silence, Nai looked up and meekly told Gareki he was hungry.

"Why?" was Gareki's response, glancing at him, "It's not like you haven't eaten for a while…"

At his statement, his noticed both twins blankly staring at him, causing him to realize it.

"You two haven't had anything to eat?!" he snapped, bewildered at the odd pair.

They both shook their head at the same time.

Gareki clicked his tongue and cursed. "Fine, I'll go get you two something to eat."

He glared at both twins as he turned his back. "Don't go anywhere, understand?"

Once he left, Shi tenderly took of Nai's hands into her own. "Nai…" she spoke softly to him.

"Ah! Sorry Shi, is your head still hurting..?" the white haired boy asked her, turning to her worriedly.

The younger girl shook her head slowly, "Let's rest together…" she took her other hand and gently placed it on her brothers cheek.

At the mere suggestion of resting, Nai's eyes started drooping closed, not realizing his own desire to sleep until Shi had mentioned it. But before he could completely fall asleep, he laid down next to Shi, holding her hands in his for comfort.

Shi laid with him, her eyes watching his, despite her own eyes drooping closed as well.

Eventually, the twins fell into an uneasy slumber, their minds both focused on one person.

It was like there was a dark haze clouding her vision, shadows trying to eat away at her.

And yet it was so clear…

Seeing the red water puddles coming from the place they stayed at, her brothers hand in hers as they stared curiously. Slowly they followed the little puddles all the way to the ocean, where there was more blood scattered everywhere.

Right by the shore, was a bracelet, which Nai had let go of her hand in order to pick up. Shi stared before spotting another one close by. When she had picked up that one, she realized it was too big to fit around her wrist, but after a bit, she figured she could wear it around her neck.

She glanced at her brother; staring at the bracelet he had picked up, then returned her gaze to the one she held in her hand, wondering what it was, and ultimately, where Karoku had gone.

Finally, the black shadows won out, and streaked across her vision, leaving nothing but darkness.

Shi could feel herself being roughly shaken awake.

"Hey! HEY!" a familiar voice shouted.

Her eyes slowly opened, and it took all of 2 seconds to realize that something was wrong.

"Nai..?" She asked, paying no mind to the irritated Gareki in front of her. "Nai?"

Her breathing quickened, realizing he was nowhere to be seen, had he left her to go look for Karoku without her? She had never been separated from Nai before; they were always together. They always had to be together!

Gareki didn't have the patience to deal with her anxiety, so he grabbed her wrists and made her look at him. "Do you know where Nai is?"

Shi just shook her head, her eyes getting glassy as she tried not to cry.

This display was enough for Gareki to sigh and pull her up to her feet. "That brat… I'm going to kill him." He muttered.

"Hey, we're going to go look for him." He told the girl before turning around to walk off already.

Even though it was implied that she come along, the sight of him leaving was enough to throw herself at his back, cleaning to his coat. "Wait!" she cried out.

It was a first for Gareki to hear her voice be louder than barely audible, so he did as he was told and glanced over his shoulder.

"What? I said we're going to look for him, now hurry up." His tone was impatient and he continued walking forward.

This time, Shi followed quickly, keeping pace behind him for a time.

When they got to areas that had more people, her anxiety caused her walked closer to Gareki, occasionally getting on his nerves by treading on his heels every so often.

To remedy this, he made a grab for her wrist and placed her hand on his sleeve. "I'm getting tired of this… Just hang onto me and stay close, but not too close to the point where you keep stepping on me!" He snapped at her.

Shi nodded and gripped his sleeve. "Okay…" she looked at him and smiled a little, trusting him a little more since he was still looking out for her.

Eventually they came across a parade, so they had to wade through the sideline crowds.

Shi looked into the center and immediately saw him running past. "Nai!" she shouted, releasing Gareki's sleeve and running after him.

"Stu-!" Gareki immediately whirled around, feeling her touch disappear, and saw her running after her twin. He was going to shout at them to stop, but then he saw a man chasing after them.

"Damn!" He growled as he gave chase.

He almost missed the soft call of his name since his attention was so focused on the man in front of him. Gareki turned and saw the twins hiding in an alley.

When he walked into the alley, he immediately began snapping at Nai grumpily.

"You…you wandered off by yourself and got yourself chased?!" Gareki told him off, annoyed that he had to go after him in the first place.

After a few moments, he exhaled and relaxed, seeing the look on both of the twins faces and how tightly Shi was holding onto her older brothers hand.

After a moment, Gareki looked out at the parade still taking place, then turned his back on it, walking towards the other end of the alley.

"Let's go." He spoke shortly.

This time, it was Shi who led Nai as they followed him, more willing and relaxed around Gareki. Of course, this made Nai curious as to what had happened but happy nevertheless.

The sun was just setting when they had finally gotten to the center of town.

"Hey…Gareki..?" Nai spoke up after being snapped out of his thoughts.

"I was thinking…if we go to Circus…Maybe Karoku…" the white haired boy started.

"Not now," Gareki answered swiftly. "I have to find out who that man wa-"

He didn't get to finished what he said, as they hadn't noticed a man stepping out in front of Gareki and tazering him, making him collapse to the floor.

"Gareki!" Shi was the first to respond and run to him, with Nai close behind.

"Alright, I've incapacitated him." The man announced.

Another man stepped out and immediately grabbed Nai, easily picking him up despite his struggling. The other man who had initially tazered Gareki grabbed Shi by her arm, who struggled and desperately called for Gareki.

Both twins called his name, panicking and worried for him.

"These two are the one he wants." The man holding Nai said.

"What? So what do we do with this one?" The one holding Shi asked.

"Just kill him." Was his reply.

Shi struggled, reaching out for Gareki, actually wrenching out of the mans grip and throwing herself on top of Gareki as the man pulled a gun out his jacket and pointed it at him.

Nai struggled, reaching for them both, "Gareki! Shi!" he cried.

"Hey~! What are you guys doing?" A muted voice called out to them. "Using such a dangerous thing on innocent children…"

The men looked up to see a fancy looking yellow cat. Or…to be more accurate… A man in a fancy looking yellow cat costume.

"You're such bad guys." It called out.

The man changed the direction of his gun, now pointing it at the stranger. "Who the hell are you?!"

The two men didn't even wait for the man in the costume to answer, and just began shooting at him.

The man easily jumped up, dodging the bullets and reached into the basket he was carrying.

"Eat this! Candy Bars!" He shouted as he threw several at the men with amazing precision.

The man landed to the ground in a manner that was as if he was floating. "Why are you chasing these boys?" he asked, a hand on his hip in an intimidating manner (even if he was STILL in the cat costume).

"In any case, I can't just ignore such wicked deeds happening in front of me."

He threw his paws (err…hands?) out and began making sound affects. "Ba! Ba Ba!"

"Filled with the power of mans spirit! I'm the sparkling prince who makes your heart throb!"

Finally, the man threw the costume off, revealing messy blonde hair, blue-gray eyes and a mischievous smile. "The second ship fighter of the National Defense Organization, Circus, Yogi, is here!"

With that he raised the two rapiers in his hands, the guards on both covered in thorny vines.

With that they all stared in shock at the man, even Gareki had regained enough energy to turn a little to look at the man and somewhere along the lines, Nai had been released and had gone over to Gareki and Shi's side.

"Come, I will be you opponent." Yogi announced grandly, pointing one of his swords at the two men. "Which one will first….huh?"

The blonde man lowered his sword when he saw the men were running away.

"What the…?" He lifted his swords slightly and they disappeared, just like that, into small pieces of light.

"Phew… What a relief, I get so nervous when I fight…" The man sighed and began picking up his yellow cat costume. "Oh no, nyanperona got dirty…"

After a moment, Yogi went up to them and smiled in a friendly manner. "So, are you three okay?" he asked Nai, directing his attention mainly to him. Shi, on the other hand, was helping Gareki sit up at least.

"Listen, I was told to bring the three of you along with me." Yogi lifted up his hand and immediately a phone of some sort appeared in his hand. "So please follow me at once."

"U-Um! I want to ask you something!" Nai began.

Yogi looked at him, his face friendly. "Hm? One sec okay?" He placed the phone to his ear and turned his back.

"Gareki…?" Shi spoke to him softly, holding him be his upper arm despite it not helping him much.

Gareki glanced back at Yogi, "Circus was looking for us…? What does that mean?" He thought

"Okay, lets go!" Yogi announced as he raised his hand to the sky. "Welcome to the Circus Ship!"

Yogi hesitated and looked at the three of them. "Hm…Hey, do you mind getting on my back?" he asked Shi, smiling.

Shi looked at him for a moment before shyly nodding once and climbing onto his back, gently wrapping her arms around his neck. After she was situated, Yogi easily picked up Nai and Gareki then flew up towards the ship.

Both twins were amazed by this, and looked around as they flew in awe. Nai was obviously having fun, while Shi was more reserved, but allowed herself a hint of a smile.

Yogi flew up into the ship happily, "I'm home!" he announced happily.

"Welcome back." Responded many short little lambs with top hats, they all carried some type of spear that somehow suited them adorably. "Welcome back."

The floated down gently, allowing Yogi to gently set down Gareki and Nai while Shi slid off his back.

"Answer, 'I'm home', okay?" he told them. Nai did it without hesitation, excitedly walking up to the sheep.

"I'm home!" he told them.

Shi followed close behind Nai, speaking quietly. "I-I'm home." She spoke quietly.

Yogi smiled "Louder." He told her then forced Gareki closer to one of the sheep. "you answer too."

Shi struggled, her voice a little louder. "I'm home!"

Gareki cringed a little and answered grudgingly. "I'm home…"

The horns of the sheep began to spin, "Voice recognition registration is completed." Its answered back in its squeaky voice.

Yogi smiled happily and led them down the halls of the ship.

Nai, who was excited and looking at everything kept up with Yogi easily.

Gareki, on the other hand, walked at his own pace. There was no way he was going to get caught up in someone else's pace. Shi stayed close to Gareki, clinging to his sleeve with one hand just like before in the crowds earlier. The dark haired boy said nothing about it, only registered her grip on his sleeve by glancing down at her, and allowing her to do so.

When they got to one of the further rooms, a man who looked quite familiar greeted them.

"I'm happy to see you all again. Gareki, Nai, Shi." He greeted them as they all sat down on the couch across from him.

The man looked at them all squarely, "Let me introduce myself again. I am with the Supreme National Defense Agency, Circus. My name is Hirato, captain of airship two."

Hirato crossed his legs and folded his hands on his lap as he continued. "I am one of the members who are in charge of eliminating crimes from this world. Though actually, our specialty is to pursue certain crimes, regular crimes are under the jurisdiction of the Security Force-."

"Um!" Nai immediately stood up and went of to Hirato. "Excuse me… is Karoku here?" he asked, the worry clear on his face.

Shi tensed at Nai's question and looked to the man in the top hat, waiting for his answer. She was just as desperate to find Karoku as Nai was, but she couldn't just interject the question into the conversation just yet, despite it constantly nagging at her since they got into the airship.

"Shi and I…we only found what we have, " Nai pushed up his sleeve to show his bracelet while Shi immediately got up to stand by her brother and lifted up her chin to show her choker. "And there was this crimson liquid- I mean, blood…"

Shi cut in, Nai's nervousness heightening her own. "Gareki said we should ask Circus since these belong to Circus…"

Hirato answer immediately, looking directly at the twins. "You've got it wrong." He stated flatly, earning a sad glance from Yogi.

"There is no one named Karoku among the members of Circus… That bracelet and choker are certainly circus ID's, but they are older models that should have been destroyed." He went on.

Nai's face fell and Shi looked away, trying to replace her disappointment with a blank look. Gareki noticed both the twins' reactions. Even though Nai was more obvious with his feelings, Shi seemed to have the habit of hiding her feelings or trying to be passive while trying to think through what she was being told.

It felt odd to Gareki for being able to relate more to the younger, female one between the two.

Hirato smirked slightly, seeing their expressions, "Depending on the cooperation of you two, however, we may be able to find some clues about that person, Karoku."

Immediately Shi took Nai's hand, "We will cooperate." Her voice was steady for once as Nai nodded his agreement.

Hirato smiled then finally turned his attention to Gareki. "By the way, Gareki, you know a woman named Mine, don't you?"

The black haired boy looked at him evenly, giving nothing away as he answered. "No, I don't."

At this the older man in the top hat couldn't help but chuckle. "I find it really adorable when young people act tough." He commented lightly, although the implication of what he was saying was more uncertain. "There's no need to be scared."

"Who are you calling scared-" Gareki began, obviously offended before Hirato interjected.

"We found traces of blast marks at Mine's house. Your skill of disposing of the bombs on the train was superb too." Hirato rested his face on the back of his hand, not even bothering to hide his amusement.

Caught, Gareki glared at Hirato as he continued to talk.

"Is it your way of showing consideration by choosing wealthy targets who had gotten their riches through ill-gotten gains?" Hirato asked, though he sounded like he already knew the answer. "I wonder why you need such a great sum of money."

At this, Hirato began chuckling a little at the sight of Gareki face, seeing as he was still trying to act tough and just let whatever the older man say pass without too much a care.

"Sorry, I have no intention of persecuting you." Hirato went on, a smile still on his face. "When you were in contact with Mine, did her blood splash on you?"

Instead of answering the question, Gareki asked his own. "What was that monster?"

"Varuga."

At the sound of the word, Shi instinctively stiffened then relaxed just as quickly. It was a strange word she was sure she had never heard before, but it still made her wary regardless.

"We are after the organization that have created those monsters for the sake of 'evolution'. If their blood gets into your body, you will become like Mine."

Hirato spoke his next words firmly, "We will examine the three of you. I regret to say you have no right to refuse."

Shi opened her mouth to say something, but instead Yogi stood up and began to complain about how the conversation was much too serious and Hirato was speaking weirdly again, to which Hirato only responded that he didn't realize Yogi was there before getting up and walking away.

"Oh, by the way Gareki." Hirato spoke over his shoulder, a smirk on his lips. "You did not kill Mine. Are you relieved?"

Gareki glared at him before looking down embarrassed at the older man's next words as he left. "You don't like killing, do you?"

After their talk, Yogi and the sheep showed the three to their room. Initially, Shi was supposed to have her own room since she was a girl, but she had vehemently refused and stubbornly clung to Nai, forcing them to share their room with her. However, she did have the option of switching to the other room whenever she wanted.

Nai was looking around happily while Shi stared out the window, seeing some blue light shine and fly away towards the town.

"Gareki…something was flying…" She informed as she leaned closer against the glass to have a better look.

At her statement, the black haired boy stood over her to look through the window as well.

"Speaking of which…the ship has landed…" he muttered softly, more to himself than to her then turned and walked to the door.

Nai stopped examining the room to look at Gareki curiously. "Gareki…?"

The moment Gareki's hand went to reach the doorknob; Yogi opened it, with Tsukumo beside him.

Yogi smiled, "What are you doing Gareki?"

"Going into town."

At this, Yogi panicked and pushed the younger boy back into the room by his shoulders.

"No no no no, it's so late!" he exclaimed, keeping a hold on his shoulders. "If you want to go shopping we have everything you need here! So you don't have to go out."

Gareki looked at him boredly, "Well there's nothing to do."

"Then let's play hide and seek!" Yogi shouted, trying to find every reason to keep Gareki on the ship.

"What? How old are you?" Gareki asked, still trying to get out of it.

"I'm 21 years old!" Yogi cried childishly, still hanging onto his shoulders.

"I'll be 'it'," a girlish voice said, making Gareki turn his attention to Tsukumo, who had been silent up until now. But ordinary people usually cannot keep up with me, so you don't have to play if you don't think you're up to the challenge."

Gareki narrowed his eyes at the implied challenge, and ultimately found himself agreeing.

Yogi smiled and turned to the closest sheep on hand and began winding something in its ribbon. "The time limit is one hour. Ready… set… go!"

Gareki ran in one direction, vaulting over the edge of one of the platforms while Yogi ran in another direction smiling happily. The twins looked at each other for a moment before realizing that they were supposed to be hiding.

Nai grabbed Shi's hand and led her down one of the halls. "We have to hide where we can't be found." He told her as if she didn't know.

In all honesty, they had both been told the rules a few moments ago, so what he knew, she knew already.

Eventually they came across an air vent, giving Nai an idea when he spotted it.

"Shi, in here." He told her as he pulled off the cover off.

Shi stared at it for a moment then looked at her twin. "You'll be behind me…right?"

His expression mirrored hers for a moment before smiling. "Yes."

With that affirmation, Shi nodded and crawled into the vent with Nai close behind.

After a while of crawling further in, Shi hesitated when she felt a breeze blow on her face.

"What's wrong..?" Nai asked, trying to see her.

"Let's hide somewhere else."

"Huh?"

At this, Shi turned to face him, their eyes meeting for a moment before the bottom of the vent gave out from beneath her.

"Shi!" Nai didn't even hesitate to reach out to her, but in the process of grabbing her hand, he fell out too.

The fall felt like forever, with them landing ungracefully and rolling in the dirt, yet somehow they still found a way to keep their hands linked together.

Shi winced and opened her eyes slightly, trying to assess any injuries on her or Nai.

"Whoa, I found red seeds…"

Finally, she looked above her, her eyes widening as she saw a tall figured with icy cold blue eyes and a cruel, sharp smile.

annnd that's chapter 3 (a whole 10 pages on word... I feel so accomplished ^^)

I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and criticisms are always welcome.

See you all again!

~Tokala