[multichapter] Space Wonderland; Chapters 10; 11; 12

[noella84]

More NaNo chapters. Chapter 10 is Kitayama-centric, with Nakai guesting. Chapter 11 is Nikaido and Yokoo-centric, another oc guesting to be the bad guy in their story. Senga's story is mentioned, but I was planning on writing more of it, maybe as an extra chapter, since after this there was no space to fit it in. Once again, sorry about the weird English, but no beta. Enjoy! Comments are ♥

CHAPTER 10

Life in a space circus wasn’t easy. There was a lot of practice to do, a lot of things to think about. Fujigaya was glad they had so many people on board. Even Kento and Fuuma were starting to be useful around, being bossed buy the young pilots and helping them around with the spaceship and equipment management. Now that Fujigaya was relying on the others more, even for the skate act, he started to feel more relaxed.

Space could be less boring when you enjoyed the company of other people. Fujigaya liked to talk with Kawai a lot. They always managed to spend a lot of time talking about nothing in particular and having a laugh together. But he also liked to be silent next to Yokoo. While the other was reading he could just relaxed in the room they had started sharing to make space for the newcomers. People on the spaceship liked to tease them saying that they were an item now, but Fujigaya didn’t care and apparently Yokoo didn’t too. Yokoo was clean and the room always smelled good, so Fujigaya thought he ended up with the best roommate ever. To tell the truth, Kawai’s room had a free bed as well, but he ended up choosing Yokoo’s, because he liked the quiet once in a while.

He liked spending time with Marius too, despite the age difference. Marius came to like him a lot and admire him because of his ability during the show.

Pretty much everyone liked Fujigaya, as a colleague and as a friend. Precious memories were starting to accumulate from planet to planet, like a pile of gold in a treasure box.

They were preparing to land to Lomkon 5 and Fujigaya was starting to feel excited about taking the show to a new planet, and a new audience. Marius had contacted the skyport, and they obtained the permission and the directions on how to land on a safe place to install their circus, and they were supposed to start the landing process in about one hour. Fujigaya decided to spend this time in the observation deck, sneaking a peek of the new planet from above and imagining how it would be like.

He entered the observation deck and noticed that someone was already there. He was surprised that the lonely pose and longing expression actually belonged to Kitayama. When he noticed Fujigaya was there though, he put on his usual smile and relaxed attitude.

“You came to take a look at the planet?”

“I wonder how is it like,” Fujigaya said.

“It’s a nice place. The cities are grey and polluted. They still use petrol to run their vehicles, so that makes the air unbreathable. The main city is full of bridges made of iron and concrete, and there are also electric trains that run on the elevated railways. The roads are a mess of people and signs, and it’s full of scum in almost all the districts.”

“Wow, that sounds really nice,” Fujigaya said, curling his lips in disapproval. Kitayama giggled.

“I’m not joking, it is really nice, to me at least.”

“Why someone would not like a slum planet, really.” Fujigaya commented sarcastically. He didn’t ask for further explanations, nor Kitayama seemed to want to give him one. He sat on the bench and stared at the planet. After a couple of minutes, he started wondering why Kitayama was so silent. He was never silent, he never had that pained look on his face.

“Are you okay?” Fujigaya tried to sound like he actually cared, even though he and Kitayama had never talked about things that weren’t the show and ordinary daily routine.

“Mh,” Kitayama muttered, raising his arms to stretch them. “I am. We should probably get ready to land soon.”

Fujigaya nodded and continue staring at the planet. It was coming closer and closer every minute that passed. Kitayama stared at the same thing in silence for a while, then he got up and went back inside without a word.

--

Fujigaya asked Senga and Nikaido about the planet that same day, after landing. They said that it was the planet where Kitayama used to live when he was younger, but they didn’t know much about his childhood. Also, he left the place when he was about seventeen years old, and he didn’t have a family there apparently. They told him that every time they came back there, Kitayama disappeared for a while and no one ever knew where he was going. Nikaido had tried to follow him once, but Kitayama found out and ended up getting really upset.

“What’s with Kitayama and this place?” Fujigaya asked Yokoo. Fujigaya had bought a lot of new stuff on the planet they had left, but the bags of shopping still lay on the floor untouched. Shopping on different planets was just too tempting and Fujigaya wasted all his salary in this or that accessory. Yokoo had spent the trip to Lomkon 5 trying to convince Fujigaya to put away his new things and pretending to trip on the bags to make his point clear. Fujigaya had finally decided it was time to listen to him so he asked him for help in tidying up and Yokoo couldn’t say no.

“I’m not sure what it is,” Yokoo said, rolling a leopard print something on his hands.

“It’s a hat.” Fujigaya said snatching it from Yokoo’s hands to place it on his head. Yokoo looked at his reflection in the mirror, made a face and took the hat off to pile it with the other hats in Fujigaya’s cupboard.

“I didn’t mean that. I was answering your question. I’m not sure what’s wrong with Kitayama and this place.”

“I mean, it sucks right?”

“Yeah but...”

“I’m sure you know something.”

“I don’t know if I can talk to you about it.”

“Sure you can. I won’t tell anyone. Well, maybe Senga.”

“So he will tell to Nikaido and everyone will know.”

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone. Please, tell me?”

Yokoo sighed.

“Why is that I can’t never say no to you?”

“Because you like me?” Fujigaya smiled teasingly.

“Right,” Yokoo answered unimpressed.

“I remember the first time Kitayama arrived here. It was many years ago, the circus had just started travelling and I had just been recruited. We found him on this very same planet. He was an energetic kid, with very direct manners. Takizawa told us to take care of him, to make him feel at home. Of course, I didn’t like him, but I don’t like anyone at the beginning. I didn’t trust him, because there was a rumor that he was involved with criminal organizations on this planet.”

“But you trust him now.”

“I do. I believe every year he goes to see his old friends or something, but he’s doing nothing bad.”

“It still sounds suspicious. What if he’s stealing money? What if he’s on a mission to get in contact with the other criminal organizations on other planets? What-”

Yokoo placed a hand on Fujigaya’s mouth and looked over Fujigaya’s shoulders. Fujigaya turned around and Kitayama was standing by the entrance.

“I just came to ask Yokoo if he had spare batteries for my music player,” Kitayama said, simpering and pretending he didn’t hear. Fujigaya bit his lips, but then he decided that there was nothing wrong in having doubts about his position.

“So what’s this story about?”

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

“I don’t understand why I should. Apparently you are hiding something from everyone.”

“The stowaway is judging me,” Kitayama stared at him, angry face responding to Fujigaya’s frown.

“Kids please, stop fighting,” Yokoo interrupted before things could degenerate. “Fujigaya, we all trust Kitayama. There is nothing wrong in having friends in his old home planet. Besides he’s been with us for years, and, despite the fact he’s himself, I consider him to be quite reliable and so does everyone.”

Kitayama nodded, even if he looked unsure about the meaning of that “he’s himself”.

“And Kitayama, you know we don’t blame Fujigaya for that thing any more. And we trust him too.”

Kitayama and Fujigaya looked at each other and decided not to bring the argument further. Kitayama grabbed the batteries that Yokoo gave him and stepped out of the room, leaving Fujigaya with his doubts.

--

Kitayama wrapped himself up in his coat and walked outside the spaceship while everyone was asleep and the night already crept with his somber fingers in every little corner, stealing the light away. Lomkon 5 didn’t have any satellites and the night was pitch black, especially in the places that the light of the city couldn’t reach. The abandoned area in which they landed was just one bridge away from the city. The lights were shining on the other side of the river. Kitayama started walking with his torchlight pointed in front of him, against the wind, to reach the streets with their colourful signs and their dodgy crowd.

He was pretty sure landing on this planet was a utter waste of time, and he knew Takizawa kept on coming there, year after year, just for his sake. But maybe the circus will save the kids of this forsaken planet from despair, maybe it will give them dreams and things to believe in.

He remembered his childhood, the grey days after his mother died and he was left alone in the world. Taking jobs from criminal organizations was just too easy on Lomkon 5. All he had to do was avoiding to ask questions, and do what he was told to do, like delivering things, or messages to people in certain places. He soon was noticed by a local gang and their boss took him under his protective wings.

Nakai was a local boss who had quite an influence around the city. The first time they met, Kitayama was a bit intimidated, but Nakai talked to him and somehow he came to like his witty replies. He was convinced the kid had talent, but he also liked to tease him. Kitayama’s reactions always caused hilarity.

Kitayama started living with him, in his big mansion. He started following a training since Nakai wanted him to learn about his business. But the more they got to know each other, the more Nakai felt pity for him.

“I see myself in Hiromitsu,” he confessed one day to Takizawa, when he arrived with his brand new circus spaceship looking for people to hire. Takizawa had known Nakai from a long time. They had met when Takizawa was still a child, working in the circus of one of Nakai’s friends. Despite the fact Nakai was a criminal boss now, he had always found him a reliable person. Nakai had always been helpful in allowing the circus to land even when he wasn’t the boss yet. Kitayama knew he also helped Takizawa a lot when he started his own circus, lending him money and workforce.

Later that day, Nakai talked to Kitayama alone. He told him he was going to be part of a circus, that he would travel around the galaxy and have a nice, respectable job. Kitayama didn’t understand why he couldn’t stay there and actually become one of Nakai’s people like he was supposed to be at the beginning. He cried a lot the night before his departure but he couldn’t say no to the person who saved him. Nakai was his boss, every order he gave him must be performed. That’s why he considered going with the circus like his new mission.

Kitayama looked at the dark river flowing under him. Dark and heavy waves cracked the surface of the water. Everything was so heavy in that city. Time had passed but it never really did pass.

“Why are you here?” Nakai asked, one year after Kitayama’s departure. He found him in front of his house, one cold night. He had waited in the dark and freezing night air to tell him that he had done what he asked. His mission was complete. He was now working in a circus. He even knew how to do trapeze and he was starting to think about another act involving beasts with Yokoo. But no words came out of his lips as he gazed at Nakai’s shocked expression.

“You shouldn’t be here, you should be with the circus. Go back now!”

Kitayama ran away, feeling like he had failed something. Maybe he didn’t have to come back because his cover would be broken if he did so. Maybe he was going to fail his mission.

The next day he saw Nakai in the audience at the show. He looked very proud of him, although that could have been just Kitayama’s imagination. He didn’t know if he was really proud of him, but feeling that he was, knowing his eyes were looking at him, he could do his best during the show. Nakai came to talk to him after the show.

“I’m sorry,” Nakai said, looking really repented. “I didn’t mean to scare you away yesterday. I’m actually glad you came there to say hi.” He paused and he looked suddenly serious, any hint of kindness faded from his face in an instant.

“But you are not part of our organization anymore. I can’t let you inside my house. You belong here now.”

That was the moment when Kitayama started to realize that maybe he hadn’t been sent on a mission. He had been sent away.

“Why can’t I stay here with you?” the boy asked.

“Do you really want to stay in this place? You have to be brave to survive on this planet. This is no place for a kid. You better scram now.”

The young Kitayama was deeply hurt by those words. He wanted to reply that he was brave, he wasn’t a kid anymore, he was eighteen and he was ready to sacrifice everything for his boss and his aims. All he wanted to do was to be useful to him. But he felt like he wasn’t anymore. Without a word they parted but the next year Kitayama went to see Nakai again. He didn’t ask to stay, he just told him that he was brave now, he was growing up, and he would make him proud. That if Nakai wanted him to stay in the circus, that’s what he would do.

Kitayama realized only years later that Nakai was actually doing what he felt was the best for him. Takizawa told him that Nakai had grown up inside the organization. He had worked hard and had learnt all the secrets and had fought his way through the harsh life and now occupied the most important position and led the criminal organization. The first time he saw Kitayama, he had thought of making him his successor, but then he started realizing something was wrong. He remembered himself, he remembered about all the things he had to sacrifice to become what he was. And those things were something that he didn’t want the boy to lose. His enthusiasm would soon fade into resignation. He would start to want more and the price for it would be the highest ever. His affection for Kitayama was the thing that drew them apart. To save him, he had to send him away.

Kitayama had reached the city. Rivulets of dirty water flowed from the sewer grids; smoke materialized from pretty much every air vent on the walls, and it was mixed with the steam coming from the food stalls on the streets, with the breaths of cold vapor emitted by people’s mouths. Questionable people crammed the roads. None of them one looked like they knew where they were going; they were just entities guided by the lights and wrapped in coats to protect themselves from the drops of rain and the sight of strangers. No one trusted each other in that city. Screams, gunshots and sirens could be heard at any time of the day and night. Kitayama checked the surroundings. Broken glasses on the uneven pavement, smell of fried food, dirty children playing gangs in the alleys: it was all exactly as he remembered.

“We need this city to improve, but it never will if we are not the only people controlling it,” Nakai had said, one day.

Kitayama suspected he just wanted more power. Everyone only wanted more power and never actually wished to make the planet better. Nakai had grown up desiring more power and he was determined to obtain that. Kitayama sighed as he reached the big building where Nakai lived, in a luxurious apartment equipped with all the comforts and surrounded by all his trusted henchmen.

He understood now, he knew why Nakai had sent him away although he didn’t quite send him away completely. Kitayama was not gone yet. He didn’t feel like he had left completely, some part of him was still on that planet.

Kitayama was still on a mission.

He opened the doors of the wrought iron lift, placed in the middle of a twisted staircase, and pressed the button. There was a metal cling as the lift started to move up, and Kitayama could feel his heart lifting too.

He had visited Nakai every year since he left. He just showed up and Nakai never sent him away like he did the first time. Kitayama believed him when he said he missed him. They usually had a drink and something to eat together while they talked like old friends. Nakai had always found the time for him, even though he was busy with his shady business. He had been surprised every year, watching Kitayama grow up. “But you’re still so short,” he would say to Kitayama when he asked him to stop treating him as a kid.

Kitayama entered Nakai’s room and found him, a glass of spirit in his hand, ready to smile and inviting him to sit on the sofa.

“So Kitayama, what’s new?”

“We have quite a lot of new people in the circus this year,” Kitayama said, sipping on the drink that Nakai made for him. Whiskey and soda, his favourite. He was glad Nakai never forgot how he liked his whiskey.

“I’m not surprised, Takizawa always gathers all the people in trouble around him, right? Tsk, and he acts like he’s not a good person,” Nakai smiled shaking his head.

“I won’t be coming back next year.”

Silence fell between the two of them. Nakai looked surprised but his expression relaxed the moment after.

“Not now that we won the war against the other clan, boy. This place is only starting to get better.”

“It hasn’t got much to do with this place being good or bad.”

“I understand. Must be boring spending your time with this old man.”

“Shut up, you’re not old.”

Nakai smiled. “Watch your language, kid.”

Kitayama breathed heavily. He wanted to be firm with his decision, even if he knew he was hurting them both. But he was not the puppy who wiggled his tail around his master anymore and he had realized long ago that Nakai needed him just as much as he did.

“I want to tell you something before leaving.”

Nakai looked into his eyes, waiting for him to talk.

“I know you sent me away to protect me. I know you didn’t want me to become like you and rust on this filthy planet. But remember this: it would have taken only one word to stop me. It was all that you needed to have me back here and never leave your side. I was still thinking, as I always thought that you are my boss and that I’m on a mission for you.”

“Kitayama, I...”

“But I’m thankful you never said that word.”

stay

How many times Kitayama dreamt that Nakai would say that. How many times, when he felt lonely on the spaceship, he hoped to be back to the side of the person he admire the most, of the person he wanted to please the most. But now he realized that it was time to move on. He realized how much he actually liked the circus and all the people he had met there. He didn’t remember since when he started to feel that way. He just remembered that at some point he had started dreading the time in which Nakai would call him back, and he could never be part of the circus again. At the same time, he wanted to be back, he wanted to rot on that planet with him. But it was time to decide what to do of his life.

“I didn’t want you to become like me,” Nakai said. “I could do nothing about myself anymore, I could do nothing about this planet and the stupid fights that were bringing us down. But I could do something for you. I’m glad you exist, because you saved my soul from rotting completely.”

Kitayama grabbed Nakai’s hand and smiled. “There is always time to do something. Like I said, I won’t be coming back next year, but I want to hear you actually did something good for this planet. You said you won the war right? Well now it’s the time to start fighting. It’s the time to actually show the people on this planet, there is someone they can actually trust.”

Nakai nodded.

“You would have been a much better boss than me.”

“It’s not true,” Kitayama smiled.

He left the man on his sofa, while he was clutching his glass of whiskey and looking blankly at the emptiness in front of his eyes.

When he reached outside, Kitayama looked back at the building then turned around to start walking back. The circus, his real home, was waiting for him. There were people who relied on him, that trusted him even if he never had actually shown he wanted to take responsibilities. But responsibilities had come to him nonetheless, and now he had to face the fact he needed to be ready for them. Ten years in the circus didn’t change his core, didn’t change his affection for this planet and Nakai, but had forged him into a different person. Year after year he realized there were things he wanted to protect and he had even more things he wanted to achieve.

He was still immersed in his thoughts when he bumped into Fujigaya. His aggravated look fell on him and seemed to judge him. Kitayama didn’t want to be judged, especially since the other knew nothing about him.

“What are you doing?” Fujigaya asked staring at him with a questioning look.

“I just came to visit an old friend.” Kitayama looked off to his side. He didn’t want to give any explanation to someone who had just arrived at the circus. How dared Fujigaya doubt him when he didn’t even know who he was? Why does he had to be questioned by someone that had just arrived?

“If you are doing something behind Takizawa’s back, if you are putting us all in danger I...”

Kitayama looked at Fujigaya’s face. Wasn’t this guy just showing how much he loved the circus? Kitayama felt a link with him, and for the first time he thought they actually had something in common.

A hand fell on his shoulder, warm and familiar. Fujigaya stopped talking and looked over Kitayama’s head. Kitayama turned and saw Nakai, a sweet smile on his face.

“I’ll change this planet Kitayama. You won’t recognise this place when you’ll be back.”

“Nakai-san...”

Nakai grabbed Kitayama’s hand and put something on his palm. Kitayama looked and saw a cherry blossom petal shaped pendant. It was hanging from a thin silver chain.

“Sorry it’s nothing special,” Nakai said, still smiling. “But it somehow reminded me of you.”

“I can’t accept-”

“Stop being so formal. You have given me a lot of hope and moments of relax during all these years. And I never gave you anything in exchange. Just take this, as the symbol of the promise to change this place.”

You gave me much more than that, you gave me freedom.

“I’ll see you soon,” Kitayama smiled, embarrassed from the fact that too many feelings were probably showing on his face and were starting to form tears on the corner of his eyes.

“Soon enough,” Nakai replied, then to Fujigaya “are you new at the circus? Please, take care of Kitayama. He’s a good guy.”

“Well, I...” Fujigaya started to object but Nakai had already turned his back and waving a hand he walked fast towards the building.

“What was that?”

“Just... a friend,” Kitayama smiled in Nakai’s direction then turned to face Fujigaya. “I’m not a criminal, Fujigaya. And my only mission now is to do well in the circus. It has always been.”

“Yes, but...” Fujigaya looked still doubtful, but he seemed to have lost all the arguments.

“You can ask Takizawa if you don’t believe me,” Kitayama continued. “He knows Nakai and he was the one asking me to join the circus.”

“I... I don’t care. It’s not that I don’t trust you. After all if the others trust you...” Fujigaya didn’t look convinced, but somehow he had to admit that it was silly to have doubts about someone who had been in the circus for so long. “I just wanted to know why you had to be so secretive if there is nothing wrong in what you do.”

“I won’t lie to you, Nakai is involved in some shady business. And Takizawa received some economic help in the past.”

Fujigaya stiffened. He knew that there were still things he didn’t know about the circus and Takizawa.

“But I’m not involved in any of these things anymore. And besides, everything he’s doing now it’s for the sake of this planet, and anything Takizawa did was for the circus,” Kitayama continued.

“I’m not judging their methods okay? I was just curious as why does it all have to be a secret for the rest of us. If there wasn’t anything wrong, why don’t you just say it instead of sneaking away in the night?” Fujigaya still seemed at loss. Maybe he was upset he didn’t find out exactly what Kitayama had been doing, or because he found out he wasn’t doing anything remotely as bad as he thought.

“I appreciate your interest in me then.” Kitayama sniggered.

“I have no interest whatsoever in you!” Fujigaya looked outraged and embarrassed. “I really thought you were up to something bad.”

“Let’s go home now, Fujigaya. We still have a show tomorrow.” Kitayama said, smiling. Fujigaya shrugged and followed him on the way back to the circus.

--

Kitayama was looking at the planet from the observation deck as it drew farther away and soon it would be a small sphere among others, a planet that didn’t glow as much as others did, but that definitely was a shiny place for him.

Fujigaya didn’t question him again. He suspected he had asked more about him to other people and had been satisfied with what he had found out. Kitayama didn’t show any particular change in his behaviour, but it seemed like Fujigaya started to trust him more by the day. They never said sorry to each other for the misunderstanding, they just went on as nothing had happened. They just silently agreed in their contract of mutual trust and whenever there was a problem within the seven of them, they’d refer to each other as before. Fujigaya didn’t even realize, but they started to walk the same path, finally at the same speed.

--

CHAPTER 11

Six months passed in the blink of an eye, and life aboard the circus spaceship was as hectic as ever and they were about to land on one of the biggest planet of the tour. It was actually a place where the circus had never landed before. They considered it to be out of their league, despite the fact their circus was the best in the universe, but this time Takizawa wanted to give it a try. In this planet, entertainment was on a completely different level. Big concerts, majestic shows, amazing sports competitions took place every day. All of them were huge and meant to amaze an audience that got bored very quickly if there wasn’t enough violence, enough adrenaline, enough risk.

They were all preparing the best show they’ve ever done. Everything must be grand, the dream must be bigger, the show more spectacular than ever.

Fujigaya was not the only one stressed, and he was taking his anger out on everyone. Especially with the six people involved in the skating act. He couldn’t bear the sight of Miyata and Tamamori being lovey dovey in their weird awkward way everywhere they went, or Nikaido and Senga plotting yet some other stupid prank instead of focusing on the show. Kitayama wasn’t of much help, since he seemed to condone their behavior most of the times and didn’t want to listen to Fujigaya’s complaints. Certainly not when he was napping, or eating or... napping or eating; and unfortunately, that was all he seemed to be doing when he wasn’t practicing. Fujigaya started to think he was just another animal that Yokoo had found somewhere, or at least, he behaved like one.

“I’m not going to the front,” Yokoo said when Fujigaya told him to move his position during a part of the show.

“Are you shy?”

“I don’t want to do it. Tamamori can do it. Someone else can.”

“But I need you to do it this time!”

“I still don’t want to.”

“Well then fuck you too.”

Fujigaya had never been so nervous with all of them at the same time. He left the spaceship, storming out, and headed to the city, hoping to find a way to relax, but instead he just found Nikaido, walking a few meters behind him.

“Are you going to the city, Fujigaya?” he asked running close to him. “You didn’t take your hoverbike?”

“I wanted to walk and I fear this is the only way to the city,” Fujigaya said rolling his eyes.

“We can go together. I need to buy spare parts for the motorbikes. If something stops working during the show I’ll be in trouble... again.”

Fujigaya wanted to ask him if there was a time in his life when he wasn’t in trouble, but instead he sighed resigned.

“Okay, we can walk together.”

“I’m honoured,” Nikaido teased.

Fujigaya actually liked Nikaido most of the times. He knew he annoyed the hell out of Yokoo with his messiness, but that in fact, even Yokoo liked him. After all it was Yokoo who found him and brought him on the spaceship many years before.

“I think I never asked, but how did you join the circus exactly?”

“Didn’t Yokoo tell you?”

“He told me he was the first one to meet you but...”

“At that time I was in real trouble and he saved me. Kind of a long story.”

“Okay if you don’t want to tell me...”

“I do, it’s just a bit long.”

“We have all the time till we reach the city centre.”

--

At fourteen years old, Nikaido Takashi was already part of a team for the exploration of a planet. He didn’t know how he got the job, he just went to an interview and they hired him. The only question they asked him was if he could use a rifle. Nikaido obviously lied and said yes, so they told him to show up the next day for the first exploration job on a planet called Ysh89. Their mission would be apparently to classify animals and bring back some specimen.

Nikaido realized it all sounded very suspicious, but his situation wasn’t so good he could be picky about his first job. He lived with his sister, but she was the only one working and sometimes food wasn’t enough on the table. Now that Nikaido was old enough to look for a job, he had to help with the life expenses.

Nikaido was actually glad he could do that, since he didn’t like school so much. His sister insisted for him to go, but now that he knew how to read and write, he decided it wasn’t necessary to continue.

The day after the interview, he got ready for his job. He was in a team of ten people, all older than him. They all looked wild and some of them also had scars on their bodies. They teased him a lot for being so young and thin.

“Hey, that’s all we get when they hire new people nowadays?”

“How long do you give him? I say that he’s done the second he steps outside the capsule.”

Nikaido sulked and was determined to show that he was able to do the job. How difficult could be to go on a planet full of wildlife and find specimen to bring back? But when he managed to take a better look at his colleagues, and noticed all the scars on their skin, he started to the fear they weren’t going to catch rabbits.

It was too late to back out, he climbed on his designated seat, fastened the seat belt and got ready for take off.

The planet Ysh89 looked like a uncontaminated jungle. There was vegetation anywhere you looked. The branches of the trees created a ceiling that let a few rays of light pass through, like stained glass windows in a cathedral. The trees were all linked to each other by a thick net of creepers that reached the undergrowth and tangled in the plants and bushes beneath.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Nikaido asked his team leader, a man called Changu, who had a long scar on the right side of his face.

“Beasts.”

“What do they look like?”

“Oh don’t worry. You’ll find out. Actually they will find us. That’s what they usually do. Get your rifle ready.”

“Don’t we need to catch them alive?”

“No one ever said that.”

“But it’s cruel!”

“That’s how it works. Those things have fangs and fur that are valuable. People go crazy for stuff like that. We get those, we get the money. And then I can start my own business.”

Nikaido clinged to his rifle. Not only he didn’t know how to use it, but he didn’t want to use it. He asked himself how could he have been so stupid to accept a job like that. For the rest of the day, nothing relevant happened. They couldn’t find any beast around, no matter how much they searched, so they built a camp to spend the night, hoping that the next day the beasts would show up.

What happened next, Nikaido could not remember clearly. Something attacked their camp. The beasts were not alone as they were supposed to be, but they attacked them in a pack while they were sleeping. Maybe they were tired of being killed, maybe they were smarter than they looked. Nikaido thought it was a nightmare. There were shots, blood, wounds everywhere he looked. He ran through the jungle, trying to avoid the striped beasts and the gunshots, and hid in the forest until he saw the capsule spaceship leaving the planet and leaving him there with the beasts.

He crouched under a tree and held his face between his forearms, trying to think about nice things, trying to forget he was surrounded by those monsters and that those people had left him there.

And then he saw one, its teeth glinting in the darkness. Its eyes two bright slits that were looking straight at him. He took his rifle, but couldn’t do much apart from hugging it in despair.

The beast looked at him, sniffed him, stopped and retreated. Maybe it realized that Nikaido wasn’t much of a threat.

Nikaido couldn’t move for a while. His legs felt heavy. The fear and desperation weren’t doing much to his survival instinct, and the only thing he could try to do to save himself was to remain as still and hidden as possible. The light of day started spreading over the leaves and the grass that were tangled everywhere around him. He was lost, abandoned in a dangerous place by people who weren’t reliable and probably had already forgotten he existed.

He heard a rustle in the bushes and crouched again, thinking that the tiger had come back for breakfast, but instead of an animal, a human being came out from the vegetation. A thin boy, wearing camouflage clothes. He was holding a machete and a whip.

“Are you one of them?” he asked, looking at him with resentment and pointing the baton of the whip to him.

“They left me here,” Nikaido sobbed.

“What, aren’t you just a kid?” the stranger couldn’t have been much older than Nikaido, yet he was calling him kid.

“Hey, you are a kid yourself.”

“I’m eighteen, I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I’m not a kid either! I’m fourteen.”

“You’re just a brat. Besides, I’m not talking to beasts smugglers. You’re just scum.”

“I’m not a beast smuggler... or maybe yes. I don’t know, I was told we were here to get specimens. I didn’t know we had to kill them.”

“You didn’t know you had to kill them even if you’re holding a rifle? I don’t believe you. You are a murderer.”

Another rustling of leaves and the tiger that looked exactly like the one that had found him during the night came out from a bush. The older boy didn’t move and just looked into the animal’s eyes. “I can’t believe you wanted to show me this.”

The tiger went closer to Nikaido as his eyes looked terrified.

“Don’t move,” the boy suggested.

The tiger looked into Nikaido’s eyes and then rubbed its head on him, like a cat that wants to be petted.

“Jeez, are you telling me you like him? He came here with the people who wanted to kill you and your friends!”

“Are you talking to... this?” Nikaido said shifting his look from the boy to the beast.

“Of course I am. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Aren’t those actually scary human killer beasts?”

“Does she look scary to you?”

Nikaido looked at the big cat just waiting for his attention.

“Not now.”

“What’s your name? Where do you come from?”

“Nikaido Takashi. I’m from Kilghar. And you?”

“I’m Yokoo Wataru. I’m here to ask one of my friends if he wants to come and work with me in my circus.”

“You have a circus?”

“It’s not mine. I work there as animal trainer.”

“So the friend you are talking about is... this tiger?!”

“It’s not a tiger. She’s Tush and she’s a toriagon. You can only find them on this planet and frankly, they are tired of you people coming to kill them.”

“I didn’t want to kill them. I didn’t know we were going to kill them.”

“Did you think you had a rifle just for fun?”

“I was deceived!”

“You must be really stupid.”

“Hey!”

“Anyway, I need to go now. Looks like this toriagon decided to come with me, and now that they scared off the hunters, I don’t think they’ll come back in a while.”

“Where will you go?”

“Back to the circus of course. I left them on a nearby planet to come here on my own with a capsule.”

“Are you going to leave me here?”

Yokoo seemed to actually think about it.

“Are you?!” Nikaido jumped up worried, his sudden movement startled the toriagon, that jumped back.

“I can give you a lift home I guess.”

They walked till they reached Yokoo’s capsule spaceship. The toriagon was following them happily, leaping among the leaves.

“I can’t believe you tamed this beast. Do beasts actually listen to you?”

“It’s not that. Maybe, it’s because I listen to them.”

“So you can actually talk to animals?!”

“Are you idiot? No one can do that. It’s not that they talk to me, I just understand them.”

“Like telepathy?”

“Well, not exactly,” Yokoo shook his head, smiling. “I know how they feel. And I try to help them.”

“Sounds amazing to me.”

“It’s not,” Yokoo giggled. “We are almost at the capsule.”

A noise interrupted the silence of the jungle. Nikaido and Yokoo turned their heads to the sky and saw five capsule spaceships landing not too far from where they were standing. Nikaido recognised the same logo of the organization that hired him.

“They are back.”

The toriagon started growling and the boys looked at each other.

“What do we do now?” Nikaido asked, looking scared.

“We must stop them. They are definitely here to get the toriagons. We mustn’t let them.”

“We need to run!”

Yokoo and Nikaido froze as they heard a whizzing sound.

“That was... a laser gun?” Yokoo looked shocked. “They are using laser guns on the toriagons?! Do they want to kill them all?”

They run towards the sounds, and hid in the bushes, listening to laser sounds all around them. The beasts were growling and howling, there seemed to be a huge fight going on, but they were still far away.

“How do we stop them? We only have this rifle,” Nikaido whined. Yokoo was clutching his fist so tightly his nails actually cut the flesh of his palm.

“We can’t stop them... we...”

The toriagon dashed forward but before he could disappear Yokoo grabbed it and held it tightly not to let it go in the direction of the laser gunshots.

Countless laser gunshots sliced the silence with their echo. Yokoo was fighting with all his might not to let the beast go, and he was crying, clinging to its fur. Nikaido jumped to help him and held the beast with him.

It seemed like an eternity before they heard the capsules taking off again and disappear in the sky. Yokoo let the toriagon go and he followed, running as fast as he could among the brushes, Nikaido trailing behind, his eyes shiny of tears.

When they reached the clearing where the capsule had landed, they saw a pile of toriagon corpses amassed there. Yokoo fell to his knees.

“They killed them all.”

“It can’t be...” Nikaido froze and looked at Thush, that started to howl in despair.

Yokoo stood up and went close the dead toriagons. Nikaido remained silent looking at the poor creatures. He saw Yokoo’s sorrow blooming into indignation then wrath.

“They are coming back. There is no way they’ll leave them here. Probably there was no more space on the capsules and they had to leave with the first load.” Yokoo sounded extremely collected even if Nikaido could feel the aura of rage coming out of him.

“We should run. We should take this toriagon and run away. We should save at least her.” Nikaido observed and Yokoo nodded, but then he looked at the toriagon’s corpses and shook his head.

“I don’t want those people to set their hands on them.”

Yokoo went to pat the toriagon’s back.

“We need to run to my capsule. Nikaido, stay here and keep an eye on them, please. I have something in mind. It was really silly of them not to leave someone here to guard the toriagons. I guess they thought there was no one else on this planet beside them. But they were wrong.”

Nikaido was about to stop him and ask for an explanation, but Yokoo swiftly jumped on Thush’s back and they quickly started running in the direction of the capsule.

After a not so long time Yokoo was back, holding an oil tank and suddenly his intentions were clear to Nikaido.

“They won’t get them. They won’t touch them with their filthy hands.”

--

Fujigaya was now walking in silence. The story of how Nikaido and Yokoo had met, made him feel suddenly sad. He could imagine a young Yokoo suffering so much for the terrible destiny of the animals he couldn’t save and he didn’t like the idea of it.

“Fujigaya? Are you okay?” Nikaido asked.

“Mm, so you were telling me about...”

“So me and Yokoo left with his capsule. I arrived to the circus and liked it. I asked Takizawa if I could get a job and he told me to start training for the trapeze with Kitayama. My sister was happy I had finally found a place to stay.”

“You just asked him.”

“We all just asked him, didn’t we? We all somehow wanted to be part of the wonderland show no matter what.”

“Now you sound deeper than you actually are. I bet you are here for the salary.”

“That was one of the things that got me in the first place,” Nikaido laughed. “Although it keeps on decreasing every time I do something bad.”

“So basically now you’re working for free.”

“That’s not so bad Gaya-san!”

Fujigaya laughed and Nikaido smoothed his pout in a silly grin as he saw the other’s laugh. They had reached the city already and were walking among the giant buildings on the wide streets. There were many huge pillars of skyscrapers and among them, less tall buildings all crammed together in the vast net of streets and alleys. Advertisement boards were hanging from almost every building, showing spectacular and colourful commercials of this and that product, or this and that amazing new show. Suddenly they felt the competition in that place was really high.

“Have you been here before? Do you know where to go?”

“I know a place where I can buy what I need. I looked up the address online. How about you Fujigaya? Please don’t get lost, we have a show tonight.”

“Hey, you are the one who usually gets in trouble, not me.”

A hover car suddenly stopped next to them and the window lowered, revealing a man with sunglasses and a scar covering half of his face.

“Looks like we meet again, Nikaido-san.”

Nikaido froze and looked around him.

“Changu!”

“How is Yooko-san? When I’ve heard your circus was in town I couldn’t wait to meet my old friends again.”

“Who is he, Nikaido?” Fujigaya asked. “Wait a moment... wasn’t Changu the one of the toria-”

“Damn, I didn’t know you were on this planet now,” Nikaido said, not paying attention to Fujigaya.

“Business is going well. But you know, I don’t forget my old friends. My dear friends that ruined things for me every time we met. I’d really like to have a chat with you and especially with Yokoo. And I guess Senga is still with you too. ”

Two big men in suits and sunglasses got off the car and walked towards Nikaido and Fujigaya.

“Run Fujigaya, run now,” Nikaido said and started running away. Fujigaya realized only half a second later, but started running after him as fast as possible. The two huge men ran after them. They were incredibly fast despite their size.

Nikaido entered an alley and continued running among the buildings in the labyrinth of narrow streets under them. Fujigaya followed, and managed to keep up with him, even if he was jumping fences nimbly and cutting corners suddenly.

Unfortunately in one of the alleys, they found themselves facing a wall; a dead end. Nikaido pointed at a fire staircase. It hovered in mid-air, just above them. He pushed Fujigaya up and then climbed it himself, and they started going up the steps.

“Why Changu mentioned Senga?” Fujigaya asked, looking back at Nikaido climbing after him.

“Keep going!” Nikaido incited him. “It’s just that after that time me and Yokoo met Changu several other times.”

“And I guess he was up to no good.”

“Good guess. And Senga was one of the not good things he was doing and we couldn’t let him do as he pleased.”

They reached the roof but they noticed the two men were still behind them. Nikaido was panting and Fujigaya was completely out of breath. Nikaido grabbed Fujigaya’s hand and dragged him among the vents on the roof till they reached the edge of it.

“We need to jump.”

“Eh?!”

Nikaido ran dragging Fujigaya back with him to take a leap.

“One, two...”

three

They both jumped and found themselves on the other roof. They started running again and jumped onto the next roof, rolling over on the floor. The men were still behind them, never falling, never losing their pace.

“This is a big jump, if we make it, we’ll leave them behind.”

“Nika... it’s impossible.”

Fujigaya stared at the distance that separated them from the other building. Then he stared at the distance that separated him from a terrible death. Beneath them, the concrete seemed the hardest thing in the world and looking down didn’t help gain the courage to jump.

“You can do it Taisuke! Trust me.”

“It’s impossible!”

“I’ll jump first, then you jump and I’ll grab you.”

Nikaido jumped and his body hung from the opposite ledge before he hoisted himself up. He then leaned as much as he could from the ledge and stretched his arms to welcome Fujigaya. But Fujigaya didn’t move. The men were getting close. Apparently they were the least bothered with the jumps from roof to roof.

“Jump Taisuke!” Nikaido screamed.

“I can’t!”

Taisuke said before actually taking a leap and jumping, but one of the big men grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him back on their side.

Fujigaya was pushed to the floor, but he got up and he tried to fight them, until one of them punched him in the stomach and grabbed him, taking him away as Nikaido screamed his name.

--

CHAPTER 12

Fujigaya was tied in what looked like an abandoned building, or maybe it was a construction site. The city lights blinked around him, but the sound of hovering cars and crowds was muffled and far away. Only one of the two huge men was guarding him. He tried to ask for an explanation, but apparently that man didn’t even speak his language.

“Can you understand me at all?”

“He can’t, he’s not programmed to,” the man with the scar, Changu, entered the place, with the other giant guard at his side. “He only answers to my voice.”

“He’s a cyborg!” Fujigaya realized. “That’s why we couldn’t get rid of them.”

“Well well. Looks like you circus people are not so fast and nimble as you should be.”

“Hey, what the hell do you know?”

“I suppose you are Yokoo’s friend, am I right?”

“What do you want from him?”

“I’m an old friend. I’m also friend with his toriagon.”

“You are the one who killed the toriagons, right?”

“Oh you know that story? You must really know those two quite well then.”

“You jerk, let me go immediately or you’ll regret it.”

“No way. It seems like finally I can sort out things with Yokoo. That guy is always meddling with my business. Every single time I have something good going on he appears and ruins everything. Why does he even like those beasts so much? Why does he want to protect them?”

“What right do you have to kill them? Of course Wataru wants to protect them from people like you. You only think about money and...”

“You’re right kid, I’m an immoral person. But thank you, now you opened my eyes and you changed me,” the man mocked him. “I’m sorry, but you’ll stay here until your friends come to get you. And then you’ll all pay for the damage Yokoo and his friends always caused me.”

“They won’t fall for it.”

“Those people? They managed to convince Senga to come with them even though he was making a lot of money with me. They always come to ruin my plans.”

“Senga?”

“Senga used to work in a show I organized with beasts. It was a really good idea, having him fighting against them accepting bets. That guy looks harmless but in reality he’s strong and could fight those beasts putting on a nice show. The trouble came when I asked him to kill them. People were not satisfied and wanted more blood.”

“And did Senga do it?” Fujigaya asked alarmed.

“Tsk. He seemed to be doing fine and then he met that brat, Nikaido. He and Yokoo convinced him to leave. He was mine! How dared they steal him?!”

“Senga is not a beast.” Fujigaya thought about a younger Senga forced to do what he didn’t want to. “How could you do this to him?”

“I found him when he was young and trained him. What’s so different between him and a beast?”

“You...” Fujigaya was at loss for words. He couldn’t believe Senga had lived such a terrible past. And now he was such a sweet, polite young man. He felt the hate for this man rising inside of him.

“I used to keep him chained. He was well behaved before those two arrived.”

Fujigaya tried to move forward as if he wanted to hit him, forgetting all about being tied.

“That’s why I believe they’ll come to get you. They always steal the stuff I have.”

He’s not human, Fujigaya thought. He couldn’t believe someone as horrid as the person in front of him existed and he hoped Yokoo and Nikaido had caused him a lot of problems in the past. He surely deserved them a lot.

Changu threatened to kill him if his friends didn’t show up in time. Fujigaya thought about the show that was supposedly taking place at that moment. There was no way they would have stopped the show just to save him. Fujigaya believed his friends wanted to rescue him, but he knew the show was just too important. Especially this show. Changu had sent a message to Yokoo, telling him to come to that place alone if he wanted his friend alive. Apart from the robots, the place was surrounded by thugs. Fujigaya thought that Changu’s business wasn’t so badly damaged after all, if he could waste all those resources in a revenge plan.

“We haven’t heard from them, so I guess they don’t really care about you. After all, all Yokoo seem to care about are those stupid beasts. And that includes Senga.” Changu laughed in a distasteful manner.

“It’s not true!” Fujigaya yelled, but deep in his heart he felt abandoned. They were friends, and he didn’t want them to get in danger for him, especially Yokoo, but he couldn’t help to feel betrayed. He shook his head sending away that thought, because it simply couldn’t be true. He remembered Yokoo’s smile and his funny way of talking. How he could get serious about everything and be silly pretty much about the same amount of things. He couldn’t really believe he would let him fall in the hands of his archenemy. He couldn’t believe anyone in the circus would.

“Taisuke!”

Yokoo’s voice called his name and he saw his figure standing on the doorframe, roller skates at his feet.

“How did you get here?” Changu asked, just when a bunch of thugs came running into the room. Yokoo dashed forward and stopped in front of Changu.

“These are very useful.” He said, pointing at the skates.

“I see, I’m sorry they won’t stop my robots from shooting your friend then,” Changu said as one on the androids pointed a gun to Fujigaya’s head.

“Always the same filthy methods, Changu. You never change no matter how many times I try to teach you some manners.”

“Do you think you are funny? You are friends with the beasts, what do you know about manners?”

“I know that sometimes people should be called beasts. Especially when their desire to kill innocent creatures is not dictated by needs, but only by greed.”

“Oh but I really feel the need to kill you. Your friend can go away if you kneel down and apologize to me.”

“Changu, I’m sorry,” Yokoo snapped his fingers, “but that is not going to happen.”

Suddenly the building site was surrounded by darkness; the lights went all out at the same time.
“Shoot him.” Changu said at the robots, but the robots couldn’t move. “What the-”

Suddenly Nikaido and Senga, on their skates, rushed into the room holding a rope and making the thugs trip down. At the same time Kitayama came in and cut the ropes on Fujigaya’s chair with a knife.

“Your skates,” he passed a bag to Fujigaya who quickly unpacked the skates and put them on. Yokoo was fighting against Changu, running away from his gunshots. Changu was screaming at the guards to get up and catch all of them, but Senga and Nikaido started rolling around, dangerously near them with the cutting wheels, throwing sparkles everywhere, and knocking them down. The robots were starting to move again and were about to shot Fujigaya, when something metallic dropped next to them and exploded.

Miyata and Tamamori entered the room.

“Hurry up! The effect of those electric bombs won’t last long.”

Fujigaya had his skates on and they were all ready to run away, while gunshots banged around them.

“I’ll kill you Yokoo, I swear!” Changu fired and Yokoo tumbled behind a pile of bricks. Everyone shouted his name. Fujigaya was about to run to him, but he saw him getting up again and as he boosted the skates at full power, he launched himself on Changu, knocking him over with a side kick.

They all started running away from the building, but now the robots were fully restored and were running after them, together with some of the thugs on hoverbikes.

The construction site was the perfect place to run away on roller skates, so they glided on the ramps; the grip of the skates was perfect to climb on walls and beams. They jumped out the building site and ran on the streets, trying to avoid cars, people and every obstacle on their way. The robots were following them, but no one dared to shoot in the middle of the city. Police was on them in a matter of minutes, and so were helicopters and tv stations’ crews.

Suddenly they could see themselves on the screens of every building.

“Woah look how cool we are!” Nikaido was screaming, just before Senga rescued him before he tripped himself on a bench.

“Guys, we need to run to the circus! Don’t stop,” Kitayama urged.

They all kept running avoiding their pursuers, police, robots and Changu’s people. When they reached the Bubble, they barged inside and flew over the audience right in the middle of the ring. It looked like the show was just waiting for them. The people started to scream excited and clapped their hands, jumping up on their seats. They weren’t scared by the robots, the hoverbikes and the police that followed them inside. The police robots immobilized the androids, and the men who hadn’t ran away yet surrendered to the police after a short fight. Fujigaya and the others were still rolling around on their skates, waving at the audience, like it was all part of the show.

Later, when all was over, and the police understood they were the victims, and when they told them about Changu, they left without seeming a bit bothered by the situation. After all this planet really liked adrenaline-filled shows, whether they were they real or not.

“That was a great show!” Takizawa bursted out. “But next time let’s try to keep down the costs, the damage list looks horrible.”

“We didn’t damage anything, they did!” Senga complained.

“I don’t know whose idea this was, but...” Takizawa continued.

“We were just trying to help...” Kitayama started saying.

“...well, it was great. Amazing! The perfect show for this bored place!”

The seven guys looked at each other, smiling. Takizawa was enthusiast. He didn’t mind that he had to pay part of the damage - though Kawai was a bit grumpy about it. The most important thing for Takizawa, was that they mesmerized the audience. They were able to hit the right chords of the people on that planet.

--

Fujigaya looked for Yokoo in their room, but he wasn’t there. He waited a bit, lazing around on his bed, but it was getting late and he never came back. He decided to go and check if he was loitering somewhere else. He looked in the others rooms, in the canteen, in the Bubble, in the animals depot, but he couldn’t find him anywhere on the ship. He started to freak out, thinking that he went back to find Changu or something like that. But then he entered the observation deck and Yokoo was there, staring at the starry sky. Glimmering tiny dots of light reflected in his dark eyes.

“Wataru, you’re here. I looked everywhere for you,” Fujigaya said going to seat next to him.

“Taisuke...”

“Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know how to say sorry. Because I put you in that horrible situation.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“But Changu hates me. I really don’t know what I would do if he hurt you.”

“Wataru, thanks for saving me.”

“What are you talking about? I’m the one who put you in danger,” Yokoo stared at Fujigaya and the other just smiled.

“Stop being so serious. That man was horrible, I would have done the same thing. I’m actually proud you always stood against him. I can’t believe what he did to Senga too.”

Yokoo smiled softly, a smile that was barely visible. “Senga is fine now. I’m glad we found him.”

“You know, Wataru?” Fujigaya continued, looking into his eyes. “For a moment I thought that the show was the most important thing, that you wouldn’t come to save me, but I was wrong.”

“What are you talking about? Taisuke, you are ten thousand times more important than the show... you are ten thousand times more important than everything!”

Taisuke felt a warm feeling in his chest, as his surprised expression relaxed into an embarrassed smile.

“Sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t trust you for a second. I really am sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I believe you are important and so do the others.”

Fujigaya wanted to actually know the extent of his importance for Yokoo, but he didn’t dare to ask. Of course he was talking about him as a friend, and he also mentioned the others. Fujigaya tried to remember since when he had began to feel this affection for Yokoo. Maybe it all happened without him noticing. Day by day something had drawn him closer to Yokoo without him realising all he was waiting for was his smile. He had given his presence for granted and grew accustomed to the peaceful atmosphere that created when they were together. But Fujigaya had started to wish he could reach out for him, hug him, feeling him closer than ever. The fact that he was always there, in the same room, didn’t help at all. He always smelled nice, and Fujigaya was resisting the urge of touching his hair in that moment. If he looked into his eyes for another second, he would set himself free of all the chains and finally seize his lips.

But he didn’t. He got up and walked away. “See you in our room.”

Yokoo nodded and then turned back to look at the stars. Fujigaya took another look at the other before walking through the door. In the corridor, Kitayama and Senga were leaning next to each other against the wall.

“Gaya-san!” Senga shouted, taken by surprise. “I told you we should have locked the door, Kitayama!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Why are you going away?! Go back in an talk to Yokoo a bit more. Take your time. Look at the stars!” Senga continued.

“What is he talking about?” Fujigaya asked Kitayama.

“I have no idea,” Kitayama replied. “By the way, we wanted to tell you that Yokoo didn’t ask us for help to save you.”

“Oh.” Fujigaya looked confused.

“Because Takizawa threatened to fire us if we weren’t back in time for the show,” Senga said. “Yokoo didn’t want to tell him he knew you weren’t back because of Changu. He told Nikaido not to tell too.”

“And he wanted to go rescue you alone.” Kitayama continued, “of course we didn’t allow him to. He was going to get killed.”

“What Kitayama is trying to say is that he was ready to risk his life for you.” Senga summarized.

Fujigaya couldn’t utter a word and just stared at them.

“Just this. Of course we wanted to save you too. But we are not so crazy to go without a plan.” Kitayama said.

“Well, thanks guys. Really.”

Fujigaya was about to pass them and go away when Senga grabbed his arm.

“Are you leaving Yokoo there?”

“I think he knows the way back.”

“That’s not what I mean... I thought you two...”

“Kenchan, they live in the same room. Do you think nothing ever happened?” Kitayama said. “In this circus where everything always happens?”

“Hey...” Fujigaya complained without energy. He didn’t care about the teasing, he didn’t care about anything else except to know the reason why Yokoo was ready to risk his life for him.

--