Karneval: Pyromancy

Pyromancy

Cover Art By : ChaelRi Reika

Synopsys & Author's Note: Pyromancy is a story that focuses more on Circus utilizing Gareki's natural skills to pick locks, hack computers, and use explosives and guns. In the course of training for this, Gareki discovers a detailed relationship between himself, Karoku, and Hirato & Tokitatsu. It starts around Manga Chapter 66. In fact, the first couple of chapters will follow Chapters 66-73 for the most part, but the raid on Kuronomei won't take place, so once we reach that point, it will trail off into its own thing, and I will most likely just gloss over Yanari's party. If you go here: : / / w w w . fan fiction my forums / Salt-the-Catgirl / 239962/ (delete the spaces), you can find my fan fiction . net forums, where you will find a whole section dedicated to this story for feedback. I have questions set up for whether or not there should be a shipping, whether or not the story should be T or M rated, and for whether or not there should be a Yogi and Tsukumo side story involved as well as Gareki's back story. If it's decided to focus on the Yogi/Tsukumo/Miumarie story as well, I'll write a chapter a piece to show their side of things for every chapter. Polls are open until somewhere between Chapters 3 and 5. This may be the only chapter I get for this story out before August 15th (my husband's birthday) and August 16th (our 11-year anniversary). I expect to have Chapter 2 out sometime after that. I may go and work on Chapter 1 of the Shiki & Karneval Kimonomimi Crossover until then, but I won't post it until the polls have been closed.

Chapter 1: I Want to Return So That I May Return

Gareki sat on his bed, deep in thought. He was alone in the room, Nai was most likely down the hall with Karoku. "I BLEW IT!" he thought angrily to himself. He wouldn't admit it out loud, not when he knew it would make the little Niji cry, but he had been worried about Nai when he learned the kid had gone missing. He'd trusted Yogi and Tsukumo to keep the boy safe while he was gone and had never expected that Nai and Karoku would simply disappear from the Second Ship. When he requested permission to leave and help with the search, he'd been refused. Students weren't allowed to leave for any reason. Gareki told the headmaster that he would do so anyway. However, before he'd had the chance to leave on his own free will, he received a phone call from Nai, and upon answering it, was somehow teleported to Satanika. He'd unintentionally broken a rule he'd been planning to break. He still wasn't sure how it happened. However, this meant he'd been expelled from the Circus Course at Kuronomei, and lost his chance to become a Circus Member, which would have allowed him to make the Second Ship his permanent home.

His whole life had been a series of not fitting in. He had no idea who his real parents were. His foster parents sold him to a slave ship at the age of eight. When the ship had sank, he was the sole survivor and a young woman named Tsubaki had taken him in. She and her younger siblings Yotaka and Tsubame adopted him as their brother. But Tsubaki was killed, and their grandfather fell ill. They had been a poor family to begin with, they had no one outside of each other. Gareki left them for a life of crime, stealing to get the money he needed to pay for the old man's bills.

He took on several partners during those two or three years, but would always leave them if there was any sign of trouble. It was dangerous to let people get close. They always got hurt, or killed, or abandoned him if he let them get close. Tsubaki and Yotaka being prime examples of the second scenario. Tsubaki, innocent goddess that he saw her as, the woman who'd given his name, the first person to ever act as if she gave a damn about him, had been brutally murdered, betrayed by someone she was in love with. Yotaka, betrayed by the same person, had been turned into a monster called a Varuga and was dead now, too. The man who had betrayed them both was also dead, but had tried to put all the blame for Tsubaki's death onto Yotaka. This only left Yotaka's twin sister, Tsubame, who was now a student in Kuronomei, under Circus's care, and her grandfather's hospital bills were being paid by Circus. They no longer had any need for him. He had nothing left outside of Circus. But, here with Circus, he thought perhaps he'd finally found somewhere he could fit in, somewhere he belonged. These people cared for him, these people supported him. He couldn't remember anyone ever so willing to keep him safe. The captain of the Second Ship, Hirato, had even gone out of his way to make the necessary arrangements to get him admitted to Kuronomei the first time. "I have to figure out some way to get them to take me back in."

With that resolve in mind, he stood and left the room. "Gareki-Kun?" a familiar voice greeted him.

Gareki closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh before he turned to face the speaker. It was Yogi, the violet-eyed blonde lieutenant of the Second Ship.

Gareki had hoped he wouldn't run into Yogi so soon. Not because he didn't like the guy. In fact, he'd never admit it out loud, but he actually rather admired him. Annoyingly happy-go-lucky as Yogi appeared to be on the outside, he was strong and more courageous than he gave himself credit for, and extremely loyal to those he called friend. Gareki secretly admired that in him. No, it wasn't because he didn't like Yogi that he wanted to avoid running into him, but because he wasn't sure how to act around the lieutenant at the moment. The twenty-one-year old was rather clingy, overtly affectionate, and sometimes possessively protective. Not that he could blame the Circus fighter, after all, Yogi would be just as alone in the world as he was if not for Circus. The blonde had a sad past, one that Gareki, Nai, and Tsukumo had all recently been informed of.

It felt awkward to know that the lieutenant standing before him was actually the prince of a country that no longer existed. Even more awkward to know that said lieutenant remembered nothing about it, thinking his family was still safe and alive somewhere. Kafka, the people who where responsible for creating the Varuga that Circus fought had raided Yogi's home country eleven years ago. They destroyed the country and killed Yogi's family. Capturing the young prince, they ran experiments on him and then showed him the video of his younger sister being ripped apart by the Varuga. Hirato and his partner at the time, Tsukitachi - now Captain of the first ship, had rescued the boy. Unable to deal with what had happened, Yogi had repressed the memories and even now was still very childlike in nature.

This was why Gareki was apprehensive about being around Yogi at the moment. How was he supposed to act, knowing all this? "Just act natural," he told himself as he finally faced the blonde. "Yo!" he greeted him.

Yogi smiled. "Where are you heading?" he asked chipperly.

"I'm looking for Hirato," Gareki answered.

"Eh…? Hirato-San?" Yogi blinked, noticing Gareki adverted his eyes. "Is there something you needed to discuss with him?"

Gareki could hear the concern in Yogi's voice. Somehow, no matter how much Gareki tried to hide his emotions, Yogi always seemed to be able to read him like a book. Nai could do it to, but with the Halfling, it was understandable; Nai had super human hearing, he could invade Gareki's dreams from several miles away because of it. Yogi, on the other hand, wasn't empathic at all. He simply… KNEW.

"No…" Gareki answered flatly, trying again to advert his eyes, as Yogi leaned in closer, "Nothing like that. I just had some questions about Kuronomei is all."

"I see," Yogi nodded quietly. "You're considered to be missing from school right now. I'm sorry, Gareki-Kun, I can't be of much help for you on the issue of Kuronomei…" Yogi smiled and balled his fists into the air, his usually cheerful self coming back into play. "But if there's anything else I can help you with, let me know!"

Gareki hoped the smirk on his face wasn't as obvious as it felt like it was. He tucked his hands into his pockets. "Where's the ship headed now?" he asked curiously.

"We're headed to Research Tower," Yogi answered.

"Research Tower?" Gareki parroted, sounding slightly confused.

Yogi nodded. "After the intense battle at Merumerai, everyone has to have a thorough health examination," he explained.

"Oh," Gareki blinked. That made sense in hindsight, he figured. Gareki was not prepared for what came next.

Yogi smiled, and bent forward, gently catching hold of Gareki's arm. "You need it too, Gareki-Kun," he said softly, "for the fractures in your arm. If we use the unique focused-healing machines at the research tower to heal it, your arm will be better in no time!" Yogi, still holding Gareki's wrist, looked up at the raven haired teenager and smiled warmly at him. "You suffered a lot of pain in Merumerai, Gareki-Kun. I was worried about you."

"Huh!?" Gareki's stormy blue eyes blinked and he took a step back, rubbing his shoulder. "You… Remembered what happened…?" Gareki felt a chill run through him all of a sudden. Gareki remembered all too well what happened in Merumerai. The little girl and her cat had been the stronger Varuga controlling the lesser ones. Yogi had fought until he was unconscious, as the lesser Varuga rushed toward the unconscious lieutenant, Gareki stood in front of him, trying to defend him. The result was a fractured arm, and Dr. Akari rushing in to unleash the strongest fighter Circus had at their disposal; Yogi's other self.

This had been the price of Yogi shutting away his memories, the blonde Prince of Rimhakka developed an alter ego, a silver haired entity that possessed his body once he'd used up all his energy during battle. The other Yogi was reckless and almost frightening. He was stronger than any Varuga and had even attacked Hirato on sight. He'd also attempted to throw Nai across the ship, and had broken Yukkin, the ship's robotic snowman. Gareki had encountered this entity once before, and found himself enclosed in a cocooned in a mess of rose vines. At the time, Yogi didn't seem to recognize him, but had actually saved him by trapping him in the vines. This second time, the entity had recognized him, promising to make the Varuga pay for injuring his arm. Actually, now that he thought about it, he may be the only person the other Yogi hadn't tried to harm. "But… But Yogi isn't supposed to remember what happens when THAT personality takes over…?" he thought.

Gareki looked at Yogi. "Does that mean… you could see it?" he asked, still holding his shoulder. He noticed the look on Yogi's face. Clearly, the blonde quickly realized something was amiss. "The you at that time…" Gareki muttered this last part, looking down, away from Yogi's face, as the image of the silver haired entity stirred in his mind.

"Huh?" Yogi blinked confusedly. "Eh? That I could see what? What do you mean?" he asked.

"Forget it!" Gareki said, turning away from him, "It's nothing." He glanced back over his shoulder. "It's true, he doesn't remember," he thought. "I'll be going now!" he announced walking away, leaving the blonde lieutenant toughly confused.

"Gareki-Kun!?" Yogi called out after him.

Gareki refused to look back. The further he could distance himself from Yogi for the moment, the better. "That's actually rather worrisome," Gareki thought, "The way he acted last time, what's to say he'll have any self control the next time if this keeps up?"

Gareki heard whistling down the hall. He looked to find Nai helping one of the ship's robotic Sheep mop the floors. Well, that was unexpected. He thought Nai would be glued to Karoku's side. "Oi, Sheep?" Gareki called.

"Gareki!" Nai greeted him cheerfully.

"Baa?" the Sheep returned.

Gareki quietly nodded at the Half-Niji, acknowledging the child's presence, but kept his focus on the Sheep. "Hirato's not in his room, where did he go?"

"Hirato-San is on the ship's deck, baa," the Sheep replied.

"Wow, it's cold out here!" Gareki grumbled as he stepped out onto the top deck.

Hirato, the dark violet haired captain of the Second Ship was outside, alone, taking in the scenery. Probably, the most notably unusual thing about the twenty-seven-year-old male was that he wasn't currently wearing his signature black top hat. He smiled when he saw the raven haired fifteen-year-old stepping outside. "Gareki-Kun, is there something wrong?" he asked. "Oh," he noticed how the wind pushed against the boy, after all, Gareki didn't come topside much. "Mind your step, okay?" he warned.

"Nothing's wrong," Gareki said, approaching the captain, "It's just that I have a request. I need to contact Kuronomei. On the way to that place called Satanika, my phone was damaged during take-off. I want to contact them and let them know I wish to return to the academy. Of course… I know I can't enroll in the Circus Course again. A student who leaves the academy before graduation loses their right to continue their courses, right?" Hirato gave a quiet nod. "However, they can continue studying other courses right?" Again, Hirato nodded, a quiet smile gracing his features.

"Yes, that's right," Hirato confirmed, "Because they are talents gathered for the purpose of working for the government. However, you have lost your right to remain in the circus course, which means you are no longer eligible to become a combatant. I know you wanted that, so you could stand with the other Children of Circus in battle," Hirato said regretfully, "How do you plan to fulfill your goal of returning to the ship and battling along side us?" he asked.

"IT CAN'T BE!" Gareki exclaimed. "That can't be the only way for me to return to the ship!" He lowered his head. He hated sounding desperate, but this was important to him. "Damn it…" he growled under his breath. Images of Nai, Yogi, Tsukumo filled his head. They had given him so much, he wanted to be able to do something that would make himself proud to stand beside them. "Even if I can't become a combatant, I can still fight against Kafka with everyone can't I?" he insisted. "I won't follow annoying orders, but at the same time, I won't give up on my dream of joining the Second Ship, either!" Hirato looked at the boy for a moment, before stifling a laugh. Gareki raised an eyebrow. "Did I say something funny?" he asked.

"Not at all," Hirato answered, "I'm just happy to hear you have such resolve." The dark haired captain reached over and ruffled his hand through Gareki's black hair, playfully fidgeting with the teenager's goggles in the process. "Gareki, if it's you, then I believe it's possible," he assured him fondly, "Do your best," he encouraged. Gareki froze. He couldn't recall the last time someone had encouraged him like that, the last time someone showed faith in him like that. Hirato left him standing there, as he headed back inside the ship. "By the way, I've already contacted Kuronomei," he said, "Now, you might want to come back inside before the wind sweeps you away."