The Misadventures of a Human, a Robot, and a Furry

by Sypy

Summary:

Made in Abyss Oneshots mostly centered around the OG Trio, I'll update this whenever I write new ones.

Notes:

I wrote a bunch of ideas for oneshots down and had my (now ex-)friend pick one for me to start with, and she chose this one.

Chapter 1: Zoomies

Summary:

Meinya gets the zoomies

Through the sound of mechanical whirring and rushing water, the tiny pitter patter of four soft paws skittering along the concrete floor of the elevator for one’s last dive could be heard. Every once and a while, the swift paw-steps would stop but then start up again as Meinya would either change directions or lift itself off the ground with its wings for a moment, mewing every time it did so.

“Naaaa… Riko, I think something’s wrong with Prushka’s pet…thing.”

Nanachi, who was the only one currently standing out of the three, had their hand on their hips. The tip of their kangaroo-like tail tapping against the ground in slight amusement. Riko followed the hollow’s gaze as they watched the little pink creature run around the enclosed space, a smile forming on her lips.

“I think Meinya’s just pent up. I don’t like sitting in one spot for too long either.” Riko suggested, leaning forward from her earlier position and setting her arms on her legs -which were criss-cross-applesauce- to support her upper body.

Tripping slightly as Meinya rushed in between their legs, Nanachi sighed, “I feel like it’s gonna break something.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything overly fragile in here.” Reg observed, giggling a little as Meinya lost its balance and rolled onto the floor in a seemingly drunken state, “Plus, Meinya’s probably too weak and light to do any damage.”

“Yeah…” Nanachi agreed, “How long is it going to be like this?” They looked back at Riko for an answer. Reg seemed to have had the same question on his mind because he glanced to his side to look at Riko as well.

The newly promoted White Whistle lifted her good hand up to her chin, making her usual thinking face, “I’m not sure, actually. Prushka would probably know how long Meinya’s zoomies last. But that’s guessing that it has had the zoomies before.” She concluded.

Squinting their chartreuse eyes, Nanachi stared at Riko, “Zoomies…?”

Meinya mewed from a few feet away, jumping onto the party's bag and unsuccessfully clawing at it as if it were a cat. It fell off of the backpack after a moment though and continued its inconsistent laps around the elevator.

“Oh!” Riko exclaimed, “Wait, Reg, do you at least know what zoomies are?” Turning to her right to face the aubade.

“No…?” He hesitated, thinking, “I don’t think I do…?”

A look of disbelief flashed across Riko’s green eyes, genuine disbelief. “For real??”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my god…”

Nanachi and Reg shared a somewhat concerned glance. Meinya squeaked again as it flapped around the Altar. Riko suddenly shot up before abruptly grabbing Nanachi by the shoulders, shaking them a bit.

“How do you guys not know what the zoomies are?!”

“Naaa!” Nanachi groaned, pushing Riko off of them, “You need to remember that I’ve never been around people like you before! And I don’t know about these…new words from the surface.”

“You’ve only brought up that word once in the time I’ve known you; which was just now.” Reg added, still sitting on the floor, his hand in his lap, “And I’ve never heard anyone else say that back on the surface. Or in The Abyss.”

The look of disbelief was still glued to the human girl’s face, albeit a bit less intense than before. Meinya suddenly jumped onto Reg’s head, mewed, and scrambled back down to the floor to continue its ‘zoomies’. And through the whole affair, the aubade didn’t flinch, his gaze fixed onto his friend as he and Nanachi waited for a response.

“Ok.” Riko muttered, sighing briefly and readjusting her glasses, “Nanachi, sit down. You two get to learn something new today.”

“What about Prushka?” Reg asked.

The team leader brought her right hand up to the Life Reverberating Stone tied around her neck, touching it gently, “I refuse to believe that Prushka doesn’t know what ‘zoomies’ are. Now Nanachi, take a seat and get ready to listen.”

With a quiet ‘naaa…’, the hollow did as Riko said, walking past her and heavily plopping down to the floor next to Reg in the same spot Riko had been sitting in just a moment ago. Their arms were crossed as their tail twitched again.

Clapping her hands together, Riko cleared her throat, ignoring the continuous tapping of Meinya’s paw against the cold asphalt floor of the Altar of the Absolute Boundary. “You two need to be educated.” She started, trying to sound as smart as she could, “And if you’re friends with me, you absolutely need to know about zoomies! ‘Cause we all get them and it’s common knowledge.”

Nanachi slowly leaned over the Reg after Riko had started her unnecessary lecture, “Apparently not, seeing how neither of us know about it.” They whispered. Reg just chuckled silently in response.

“So! Zoomies! What are they? Well…!” Riko continued, acting as if she were talking to a whole group of people rather than two of her friends and giving a lesson on an actually important topic. “Zoomies are a thing people and creatures get where they’re so full of energy that they need to just run around and be in constant motion until their zoomies are gone! Zoomies can be completely random sometimes, but Meinya seemed to have gotten them because we all have been stuck in here for like…an hour now!”

Nanachi and Reg looked at eachother again, Reg just shrugged.

“Do you guys get it now?” Riko asked, her hands on her hips as she looked down at the two.

“...Kinda?” Nanachi responded after a moment. The girl had said all of that so fast that they barely understood any of that.

Reg just slowly nodded with a somewhat nervous smile on his face.

Riko sighed, pressing the fingers on her right hand to her nose bridge for a moment. “Built up energy is released through big runnys.” She simplified, gesturing to Meinya, who had slowed a little bit compared to how it was a second ago.

“Oh! Ok, yeah, that makes sense.” Nanachi chirped nonchalantly, their paws resting on the ground behind them as they leaned back.

Nodding, Reg’s cat-like eyes were set on Meinya as it steadily slowed to a stop next to Riko’s foot, lazily setting a paw on her boot with a quiet ‘meeyaaa…’

“5 minutes.” Reg muttered.

Riko noticed Meinya after a second, reaching down and gently picking up the harmless primeval creature, cradling it in her arms. Watching as Meinya snuggled into the sleeves of her faded green coat. “What?” She asked, turning to Reg, having heard his almost silent comment. Nanachi looked over at him in confusion as well, raising one of their eyebrows.

“Meinya’s zoomies lasted 5 minutes.”

Chapter 2: Bedtime Story w/ Nanachi

Summary:

Nanachi reads Riko a bedtime story.

"Hey, Nanachi?"

"Hm?

Nanachi looked up from their sewing. They had started repairing the hole in Riko's glove from the Orb Piercer attack, she'd still need her glove under her grip support after all. Once the hollow met the girl's eyes, they saw her looking at the array of books they had in the sideroom where Mitty used to sleep. Even from her spot on the cushion positioned in the center of the hollow’s living room, the girl had spotted them, not that the hollow minded, but mentions of it brought back memories. The sight put a needle in Nanachi’s heart, but they quickly shook away their grief as Riko looked back at them. The hollow’s gaze snapped to Reg for a moment; he had fallen asleep earlier, curled up on the same makeshift-mattress that Riko was sitting on with the blanket she had shabbily laid over him covering his nose. That was a trait Nanachi had noticed for a while. The aubade almost always seemed to instinctively cover his nose when he slept, be it with one of his hands, a blanket, or something else. Kind of like a cat or dog would. Since he was sleeping though, Nanachi would have to remember to stay quiet through the upcoming conversation, because god forbid Riko receive an answer to a question and stop talking afterwards.

“How haven’t I noticed all of those books before?” The red whistle asked, pointing to the bookshelf with her good hand, “What’re they for?”

Nanachi blinked, “They’re just story books. I used to read them to myself and Mitty a while back.”

“You read them to her?” Riko asked to clarify, curiosity shone in her eyes.

“Yup. I knew she couldn’t understand, but it helped pass the time… and it also kind of made me feel better as well.” They whispered that last part, looking away for a second.

The girl was silent for a moment, looking from book to book, presumably reading the titles. Child-like innocence filled her expression, her neverending hunger for knowledge was something Nanachi admired.

Padding over to the star themed tassels and drapery, the hollow stood by the entrance of the sideroom. “I never really read them to her during the day, since I was usually out and about doing-”

“Like bedtime stories!”

Riko’s sudden, excited shout startled Nanachi as well as disturbed Reg since he tiredly squeaked and adjusted his position a bit, but he otherwise didn’t wake up. They saw Riko turn around and whisper a quiet apology to him, even though he couldn’t hear it.

With a hand hovering over her mouth, Riko turned back around to face Nanachi, “Like Bedtime Stories?” She asked again, quieter this time.

“Naaaa… I guess, if you wanna put it that way.”

The red whistle smiled, pulling some stray blonde hair away from her face, “I miss getting read bedtime stories at the orphanage. That’s the one thing I missed from being a bell.”

The hollow’s ears perked up at that, an idea popping into their fluffy head. “Well…” They started, catching Riko’s gaze and looking back at the books, “You’re not in the orphanage anymore. And we’ve got nothing but time right now… soooo…?”

Some extra shine came to Riko’s emerald eyes as Nanachi said that, her smile growing wider, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?!” She whispered excitedly, not shouting like last time.

Smiling as well, Nanachi sighed, pushing the drapery aside with their left arm as they looked at the girl ahead of them, “Do you want me to read you a bedtime story, Riko?”

The girl put her hands into fists and shook them up and down, smiling even wider than before, “Yes please!!” She whisper screamed, eye’s glowing with anticipation.

“Naa, alright. Does it matter which book I read?”

Riko just shook her head in response, still smiling from ear to ear.

“Alright.”

Entering the sideroom, Nanachi ignored the shuffling of fabric behind them as they scanned through the several books in front of them. Suddenly, their goat-like eyes fell upon the book they always used to read to Mitty. That one would do.

Softly grabbing it, the hollow turned back around, their tail dragging across the mossy floor. Exiting through the drapery, they saw that Riko had already laid down and gotten comfortable; a blanket held up to her chest with her hands that were still slightly shaking with excitement.

“Geez, calm down will ya?” Nanachi chuckled, making their way over the the cushion and sitting down next to it, book in hand, “If you’re all excited, you’re not gonna be able to fall asleep. Have you forgotten what bedtime stories are usually used for?” They joked. “This isn’t that big of a deal.”

"I knoooooww! But still!" The girl excitedly whispered, kicking her feet around under the blanket a little.

One of Nanachi's ears twitched, "I'm not gonna start reading until you chill out."

Riko pouted, but quickly stopped as she realized that Nanachi was serious. Settling down, the girl looked at the hollow expectantly.

"You done?"

Riko nodded vigorously.

"Ok."

Adjusting their position a little, Nanachi wrapped their tail loosely around their crossed legs, opening the book and setting it on their lap. After that, they cleared their throat.

"Unnoticed, the shooting stone leaves a trail…" They began, having this particular story almost memorized by now. This wasn't the beginning of the story, but the hollow always liked to start here. This section used to be Mitty's favorite after all.

Out of the corner of their eye, Nanachi saw Riko untense slightly; getting comfortable on the makeshift-mattress.

"...Which falls as red-hot iron rain. The ice-covered trees transform into clouds…" They continued. The gentle sound of the nearby riverbed along with the far away calls from the creatures of The Abyss added a soothing background ambiance as they read aloud. They hoped Rilo found the sounds soothing as well. And with her love and passion for The Abyss, she probably did.

"Extending their necks through to the skies, the colossal turtles gather together to gaze at the amber sky-" Nanachi cut themself off as they heard soft snoring in front of them, causing their rabbit-like ears to perk up.

Looking up from the storybook, their eyes fell onto Riko. She had fallen asleep surprisingly fast, her golden hair was untied and sprawled around her head and shoulders. Her hands were still weakly grabbing the top of the blanket as she slept, the sheet itself slowly rising and falling as the girl it covered slowly breathed. Reg was still asleep next to her, on his side. Nanachi couldn't help but smile at the sight, their heart filling with warmth. Even over such a short period of time, the hollow really had gotten attached to these two kids, huh?

Closing the book slowly, Nanachi slowly stood back up, careful to not make any noise if they could help it. They turned around and headed back into the side room, gently putting the book back in its usual spot. Brushing away the drapery, the hollow padded over to the gas lantern hanging from the ceiling of their hideout, turning the knob and dulling the light slightly. With a sigh, they sat back down by Riko's still ripped up glove, grabbing their homemade sewing materials and continued to carefully repair the small piece of cave raiding gear.

Chapter 3: Teeth

Summary:

Riko notices something that differentiates her from the rest of the group, and she's not happy about it.

Riko never thought she'd think about teeth this much.

Back at the orphanage, mostly everyone had normal teeth. No interesting details. Nothing noteworthy. Not that she really thought about it back then anyway. But then she found Reg. When she first looked him over, she noticed an oddity with his teeth. He had sharper canines than the regular human. They were akin to fangs. It fit him in a way, seeing how he wasn't a human, so his teeth didn't technically need to meet the biological human standard. But she still found them interesting.

And then they met Nanachi. She had spotted them when she first saw the hollow eating, but they had sharp canines as well, fangs if you will. Back when it was just Reg and her, she felt they were even; 50 percent sharp canines 50 percent normal canines. But now that Nanachi was part of their team, there was an imbalance. ⅓ normal teeth, ⅔ fangs. In a way, Riko was jealous.

"It's not fair…"

"Naa?"

Riko blinked, had she said that out loud? Her eyes shot up from her plate of food as she caught Nanachi's gaze. They were looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"What isn't fair?" The hollow asked, one of their rabbit-like ears flicked slightly.

Next to her, Reg finally looked up as well, his gaze also fixed on Riko. He didn't say anything though.

"Oh! Don't worry about it! It's nothing." The red whistle stuttered, waving her good hand back and forth dismissively. That didn't work too well though, as Nanachi just squinted their eyes in slight annoyance.

"You can't just say something isn't fair and not elaborate." The hollow sighed, their tail thumping against the mossy floor of their hideout.

Defeated, Riko sat her plate on the ground, scooting around to face Reg slightly. Without warning, she grabbed the aubade's face and forcefully opened his mouth, causing his fangs to be in full view.

"You both have cool fangs! That's what's not fair! I want cool teeth too…"

Using both his hands, Reg pulled Riko's arms down, causing her hands to be removed from his mouth as well. "They're just teeth, Riko. It's not that cool. Plus, you're already cool the way you are!" He tried to reason, using his right hand to rub a commissure of his mouth. Riko doing that kinda hurt if he were to be honest.

Green eyes met cat-like yellow ones as the two looked at each other for a moment. But then Riko shot up again, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Your guy's eyes are even cooler than mine!!"

"Naa!?"

Reg only groaned in response.

 

● ● ●

 

White fur covered Reg's body as Faputa animalistically crawled all over him, her tail swishing back and forth, occasionally brushing against the grass and other flora of the 6th layer. As the group took a detour around the field of eternal fortunes they knew was infested with Amaranthine Deceptors, Riko couldn't help but watch the newest member of their team.

"I wonder what kind of relationship those two had." Nanachi muttered beside her, they had apparently also been watching the other two. Riko felt kind of relieved at that

"Dunno. But I'm glad they get along!" She found herself giggling a little.

The newfound gold highlights of the hollow princess's hair glistened in the pseudo light of the Capital of the Unreturned as she slithered up to rest on top of Reg's head, laying on her stomach and swinging her upper body down so that her face was next to the aubade's. She bit down on his cheek, which was in character for her, but Riko couldn't help but find it odd. But suddenly the white whistle noticed something she somehow hadn't noticed before. Barely paying attention to the sound of Reg's startled protests to Faputa's current action, Riko zeroed in on the sight of the juusou's teeth.

Every. Last. One of her teeth were sharp.

The look of pure shock and irritation that suddenly covered Riko's face must've caught everyone's attention as everyone when silent.

"Naa…uh.. Riko? You good-"

"Come on!!"

Faputa shot up in alarm at Riko's shout, sitting up on Reg's head with all four of her arms held up slightly. Even Nanachi and Reg found themselves flinching a little.

"How is this faaaiiirrr….." The girl groaned, becoming less angry and more defeated in the blink of an eye, her shoulders slumping.

With the tilt of her head, Faputa hopped off of her only remaining haku's head and trotted her way over to the other girl. "What isn't fair, sosu?"

With a facepalm, Nanachi groaned, "Not again… Riko! It's just teeth!" Their paws were held out in exaggeration.

"Teeth, sosu?"

Pivetting to the side, Riko's eyes met Nanachi's, "It's 3 against 1 now, Nanachi!! It's not fair!"

"It's not some sort of sport, Riko! It's just teeth!"

"Yeah! But-"

Trotting back over to the only boy in the party, Faputa settled next to Reg with her arms crossed, the sound of the other two arguing became background noise. "What's this about teeth, sosu?"

"Riko doesn't like how she's the only one in the group with 'normal' teeth."

"Normal teeth? What kind of teeth are considered normal, sosu?"

Sighing, the aubade's shoulders slumped as he brought his remaining hand up to put his fingers on his nose bridge.

"I don't know anymore."

Chapter 4: Monopoly

Summary:

The gang and Prushka play a fun game and absolutely nothing goes wrong!

“I don’t know what that is.” Nanachi sighed, their tail thumping against the sheets of the rock hard bed in the room Bondrewd had given the trio.

“It’s a board game!” Riko chirped, “Basically, everyone gets a set amount of money and you all get a piece to move around the board. You roll some dice, move the number of spaces, and depending on what you land on, you can either buy what you land on or draw a card if you land on that kind of spot.”

“It’s really fun!” Prushka shot in, her gloved hands clasped together in excitement. “I played it with Papa once and it was great!”

Squinting their eyes, Nanachi looked from Riko to Prushka, confusion written all over their face, “Is it real money? Also do you have to buy what you land on?”

Emerald eyes met Fuchsia ones as Riko and Prushka shared a glance.

“How about we just show you.” The red whistle suggested, “Hey Prushka, why don’t you go grab the game and bring it here?”

Prushka nodded in reply, a smile glued to her lips as she turned around and skipped out of the room. The pitter patter of her shoes hitting the asphalt floor slowly dissipated as she got further away. “No, it’s not real money. And no, you don’t have to buy what you land on, but you can! I’ll read the instructions from the box when Prushka gets back.” Riko explained, her eyes shining in the fluorescent light coming from above them.

With a sigh, Nanachi ran a paw down their face, turning to their left side to look at Reg, “Do you know what they're talking about..?”

A nervous expression was etched onto the aubade’s face as he fiddled with his own hands, “Yeah…but…”

“Reg, it’s not gonna end up like it did last time.” Riko sighed, getting both of her non-human friend’s attention. Reg’s amber eyes only widened at her statement.

His hand shot down to the mattress under him, landing in between his folded legs as he leaned forward towards where Riko was standing, “You threw a chair at Nat!” He exclaimed, anxiety filling his tone.

“He took the last railroad!” Riko argued, shoving her arms out to the side in short-lived anger.

With a blink, Nanachi slowly turned to look back at Reg, “She did what…?” They hesitantly asked, worry now evident in their expression.

Sighing, the boy leaned back into his earlier position and started fidgeting again, “Riko threw a chair at a friend of ours back at the orphanage after he bought one of the things. Riko needed that specific thing so…” He didn’t finish, expecting the hollow to get the rest of the picture on their own.

Furrowing their eyebrows, Nanachi turned back to face Riko again, “You… Maybe we shouldn’t play this.”

“It’s fine! It’s fine, that was a one time thing. Reg’s just exaggerating.” Riko stuttered, waving her hands at them frantically. The soft tapping of footsteps down the hall were slowly returning.

“I’m not exaggerating! If I hadn’t moved Kiyui out of the way he would’ve gotten hit with the chair too!” Reg shot back, his eyes full of disbelief.

The footsteps got louder. “That never happened.” Riko dismissed, crossing her arms and looking away.

“Wh-...?” Reg stuttered, but quickly gave up on the argument with a sigh. Nanachi stayed quiet as they looked back and forth from Reg to Riko. They had a feeling this game was going to take a turn for the worst.

As the footsteps became as loud as they were going to get, Prushka entered the room, Monopoly box in hand. “I got it!” She chirped, holding it up on display.

Forgetting all about the ordeal from just a second ago, Riko perked up, “Great! Set it on the floor. You two, get down here!” She instructed, patting the floor beside her as she sat down next to the other girl as she opened the box. Without a word, Reg and Nanachi shared an anxious look before the aubade got up off the bed and sat down where Riko was patting. With a quiet ‘naa’, Nanachi slowly followed suit.

 

—---------

 

“NANACHI?! I trusted you!!”

“It’s you or me, Riko! And I refuse to lose!”

Meinya mewed in Prushka’s grip as she backed away from the board slightly, repeatedly scratching a spot on top of her pet’s head. “It wasn’t like this when I played it with Papa…” She whispered to Reg, who had his knees held up to his chin as he sat next to her. Both of them had gone bankrupt, leaving them to just watch the other two play from now on.

Curling in on himself a bit more, Reg muttered, “I’d rather have played this with Bondrewd then. I thought I’d only have to deal with this once.”

“‘This’?” Prushka asked, “Have you played Monopoly with Riko before?”

The aubade only nodded in response.

“That is the THIRD TIME you’ve bought the last property I need!!” Riko yelped, glaring daggers at the hollow in front of her.

Nanachi simply smirked deviously, “Naaa, perhaps the Abyss took some of my humanity after all.” They teased, holding up the orange property card they had just obtained.

“I’ve never seen Nanachi act like this before…” Reg murmured into his knees, watching the temporary two person war unfold before him.

Prushka looked over at him, Meinya still in her grasp, “Let’s…Let’s agree to not play this again.” She whispered, letting Meinya go as it squirmed to get back under her hat.

Again, the aubade only nodded in reply.

Suddenly, a loud gasp briefly echoed through the room, causing the Prushka to look back at the ongoing game.

Nanachi had bought the last railroad.

An almost silent “Oh no…” was all that managed to escape Reg’s throat.

Riko quickly brought a hand up to her chest in disbelief, “I can’t believe you…” she gasped.

Nanachi smirked again, wringing their hands together. The array of cards and money they had was chaotically laid out on the floor in front of them. “Are you gonna throw a chair at me or somethin’?”

Brows furrowed, Riko abruptly stood up; her hands clenched into fists. Prushka and Reg shared another look of concern as Riko walked over to where the party’s bag sat. The red whistle quickly unzipped it and started rummaging through it, a determined look on her face. And soon, without warning, a pot flew across the room, almost hitting Nanachi in the face. They dodged it of course, but they were still shocked. A metallic thump echoed through the room as it hit the stone wall, causing Reg to cover his ears.

“JESUS CHRIST!!” They yelped, apprehensively standing up to face the girl.

With her hand still in the bag, Riko continued to rummage through their stuff without looking, “I may not have a chair, but I have other stuff!”

“You’re gonna break something!!” Nanachi countered, throwing their arms out.

Meinya mewwed loudly from under Prushka’s hat as she scooted a little farther back. She wondered if she should get her father, would he know how to fix this? No… These three didn’t seem to like him very much.. So what could she do? Talk them out of it? It probably wouldn’t work, but… She could give it a try.

Prushka’s boots squeaked against the floor as she swiftly stood up, stepping forwards a few steps. “Don’t you guys think this is getting a little bit too… intense for a board game!?” She asked, almost having to yell as the two in front of her continued to argue with each other. But before she could continue to try and talk some sense into them, she froze. Nanachi had dodged out of the way of another piece of handmade silverware, leaving the unlikely projectile to head straight for her. Oh no…

Prushka didn’t even have time to shriek before Reg tackled her to the ground. The bowl hit the wall with a thunk a millisecond later as the two lay there on the floor. The room was silent after that. Meinya wiggled its way out from Prushka’s hat, hopping to the floor and mewwing at its owner. The girl smiled slightly, gently grabbing Meinya and holding it in her arms.

“I’m fine Meinya…!” She whispered, nuzzling her cheek into the creature’s fuzzy head, “Are you ok?” She asked her pet, as if it could understand her. Meinya mewwed in reply, so Prushka took that as a yes. “That’s good!”

“Naaaa!” Nanachi groaned, whipping around to face Riko, who was still crouched down by the backpack. “You almost hit Prushka!”

“I wasn’t aiming for her! If you hadn’t moved out of the way, she wouldn’t have been in danger of being hit!” Riko shot back after giving the other girl an apologetic look.

The hollow’s hand shot down to their hips, their tail slamming against the floor in aggravation, “Oh! So it’s my fault now?!”

Prushka heard Reg make a frustrated sound beside her, but before she could look down at him, he stood up.

“Both of you, stop!” He yelled, genuine anger in his eyes, “It’s BOTH of your faults that that happened!”

Both of the accused stared at the aubade, silent. He’s never yelled like that. At least, not at one of them. Nanachi’s eyebrows furrowed after a second though.

“How could this be my fault?! Riko, I understand, but me?” They angrily asked, ears twitching.

“You,” Reg pointed at the hollow, “kept egging her on! I told you about how she gets, but you still went and pissed her off!”

“Yeah!” Riko sassily chirped from across the room.

The boy’s glare turned to her after she did that though. His expression not softening at all, his cat-like pupils contacting into even smaller slits. “You’re just as guilty as Nanachi is! I was right to think we shouldn’t’ve played this! You always get way too competitive! No more Monopoly!”

From her spot on the floor, Prushka stared at Reg before looking back at the other two and nodding in agreement with his statement. “Never again.” She ordered.

Standing up next to the boy, Prushka brushed off the skirt of her dress, letting Meinya crawl back on top of her head. “Now!” She started, moving her gaze back and forth between Riko and Nanachi, “Apologize to each other and hug it out!”

The two previously fighting kids looked at eachother, muttering out quiet ‘sorry’s to each other. Prushka decided that that would suffice. “And, hug it out…!” She repeated, crossing her arms as she watched the two share a glance. Eventually, they did apprehensively walk towards each other and hug. It was a really awkward hug, but it was still a hug. “There! Now, that wasn’t so bad was it?”

“I’m sorry Prushka…” Riko started, anxiously wringing her hands together.

Smiling, Prushka tilted her head as she giggled, her white hair falling to the side slightly, "It's fine. I'm just glad we got that settled up. I'll go put the game away-"

"No."

Both girls turned to look at Reg, who was standing just a few inches away, "Huh?" Prushka muttered.

"Riko and Nanachi should clean it up. You're gonna have to put it fully away though Prushka, cause none of us probably know where you got it." He explained, his gaze had softened from before, but he still looked kind of pissed.

"And what will you do?" Nanachi grumbled, their arms crossed.

"I'll make sure you guys didn't break any of our stuff." He replied dryly with a blink.

"Sorry…" Riko muttered again, looking down at the floor.

Sighing, Reg's eyes met Riko's and he let himself smile a little, "It's fine. Just…no more Monopoly."

Chapter 5: Tangle

Summary:

Faputa tries to fix a knot in Reg's hair

From her perch on top of Reg's head, Faputa delicately worked at untangling a snarl she had found in her haku's bangs. Though, with her claws, this proved to be a difficult task.

The group was currently taking a break in a cave they had stumbled upon, and to be honest, Faputa was pretty sure they'd be staying the night here. Not that she minded, of course. Turning her attention back to the brown hair in her claws, the princess continued her efforts to fix it. The soft sound of Riko and Nanachi conversing over their equipment provided Faputa with a sort of soothing background noise. She never quite liked silence. Speaking of those two, they had decided to give the two fighters of the party a chance to just relax while they reorganized their materials. Seeing how much Faputa and Reg had fought and exerted themselves just hours ago, Faputa enjoyed this opportunity.

With her tail brushing against the wall Reg had his back against, Faputa managed to slip a claw tip in the middle of the snarl. Progress! Her tail wagged a little faster at her small success, this should be easy from here on out! Using one of her other hands to try and detangle some parts near the bottom of the miniscule rat's nest, the hollow scooted a little farther forward so that she was now hovering slightly over Reg's face. His eyes were closed, he wasn't asleep, Faputa knew that, but the aubade seemed relaxed. Be it from Faputa's preening or from just the moment to rest itself, it didn't matter. She was happy to see him content.

A faraway cry from some of the abyssal wildlife caused Faputa's ears to perk up. Turning her head to the cave entrance, she saw the other two looking out as well, but nothing else. It was nothing. When she turned back, to her annoyance, her claw had slipped out of the knot that had formed in Reg's hair. She let out a groan, clawing at the snarl again, a little more aggressively this time around. Soon enough, the sounds of the others faded to nothing as all of Faputa's attention went to this one irregularity in her final haku's hair. Small particles of debris and blood came away from the snarl as she continued to pick at it, slowly but surely detangling it.

A soft tap on her shoulder caused her to flinch rather violently. She saw Reg quickly open his eyes out of the corner of her eye as she turned to see who had touched her. Faputa had been so in the zone that she hadn't noticed Riko make her way over to them. The princess's fur quickly unbristled once she saw the other girl, and she let out a small sigh.

"What is it, sosu?" She asked, one of her ears flicking momentarily.

Smiling, the white whistle held her hands up to the hollow, presenting a comb. A wooden one Nanachi had carved a long time ago. "Try using this! It should be more efficient than using your fingers…!"

Faputa's golden eyes squinted at the object. She had…never seen anything like that before. She was intrigued, but she was sure she was fine with how she was doing it now. "No thank you, sosu. Faputa has got it, sosu."

Riko's shoulders slacked a bit as she let out a playful huff, taking an extra step forward and sitting down on her legs next to the two. She gently took the section of Reg's bangs out of Faputa's grasp (much to the princess's annoyance) and brought the comb up to it, gently brushing through it. It was indeed a much faster method. Faputa's eyes sparkled at this new technology, to her, it was amazing. She couldn't help but let out a quiet "woahh…" as she watched Riko untangle another knot in Reg's hair that she had not noticed earlier. Through the whole ordeal, the aubade had been silent, currently leaning into Riko's touch slightly as she brushed his hair.

Hopping off of her haku's head, Faputa swiftly sat down next to the human girl, her tail wagging excessively. Riko giggled, finishing up with the current tangle she was brushing before turning her attention to the hollow next to her. The girl held the brush out toward Faputa, waiting for her to grab it. "Here. You can use it! Just, just try not to break it, ok?"

Eyes glittering, Faputa quickly snatched it out of the white whistle's hands, holding it in her claws and replying with a small "mhm!'. In the blink of an eye, the hollow was back on top of Reg's head, brushing out his hair again, a wide smile on her face. Riko watched the two for a few stretched out moments before slowly getting up and making her way back over to Nanachi, who was still working on organizing the group's stuff.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to give Faputa that?" They asked, not taking their eyes off of their hands.

With a blink, Riko giggled, shrugging slightly, "I have no idea. But she seems to be having fun."

One of Nanachi's rabbit-like ears flicked as Riko sat down next to them. The two worked in silence for a while, the only sound being the occasional whisper or giggle from the duo behind them. Riko soon decided to break the silence though.

"Do you think the hair under Reg's headband thing needs to get brushed?"

"Oh, most definitely."

Chapter 6: Braids

Summary:

Nanachi braids Riko's hair, but ends up remembering a moment with Mitty by doing so.

Nanachi’s fingers carded through Mitty’s scarlet hair as she began to split it into 3 sections, untangling any snarl she caught as she did so. Mitty, who was sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the floor in front of Nanachi, was giddily patting her legs. The noise of the other children in the room provided to them in Ido Front acted as a soothing, familiar background noise. After sectioning the hair into separate strands, Nanachi started to delicately braid it.

“Hehehe!” Mitty giggled, swiftly turning her head around to look at her self proclaimed partner, “This is gonna look so pretty! Thanks Nanachi!”

“Ah!” Nanachi gasped, losing her grip on Mitty’s carmine hair, “Don’t move! I’ll mess up…!”

Mitty’s red eyes widened as she smiled shyly as an apology before she turned her head back around to face the wall again. Once she did so, Nanachi began to start the process again. Parting the hair into 3 sections, and then starting to braid it. A determined and focused expression took over Nanachi’s face as she worked to make the braid look as neat as possible. After a minute or two, Nanachi took her hands off of her friend’s hair and leaned back, “Alright, it’s done…!”

Gasping excitedly, Mitty stood up quickly and spun around a little, watching the new braid in her hair fly around briefly with her and as it landed on her shoulder after she turned. Grabbing it gently from her shoulder, the girl examined it happily, jumping up and down after a moment and skipping over to where her friend sat and tackled her into a hug. “ I love it!! Thank you so much, Nanachi!!!” She squealed, slightly nuzzling into her friend's cheek with her own.

“I’m glad!” Nanachi struggled to mutter, blushing somewhat, “It’s probably not the best but…-”

“You made it so of course it’s the best!” Mitty giggled, tightening her hug, “You’re the best, Nanachi!”

Chartreuse eyes widened as Nanachi took in what Mitty had just said, a few tears brimming in her eyes. But she pushed them back and smiled, “Thank you…And… I also think that you’re the best.”

Giggling once more, Mitty let go of her friend and sat up, placing her hands on Nanachi’s shoulders, “Yup! We’re the best!”

Looking at each other eye to eye, they both couldn’t help but smile. Truly, this was an amazing friendship.

● ● ●

Nanachi’s fingers carded through Riko’s blonde hair as they split it into 3 separate sections. Their eyes widened for a moment as they got hit with a feeling of déjà vu, gasping slightly as well, their breath forming as a small cloud in front of them before it quickly dissipated. Riko hummed quietly as she turned her head around a little to catch a glimpse of Nanachi’s shock filled expression.

“Nanachi? What’s wrong?” She asked, keeping quiet since Reg was currently asleep with his head in her lap. He had fallen asleep a bit after the party had set up camp in a cave in the 5th layer, having been promised that he’d be woken up when the other 2 also decided to go to bed to he could put his arms up for defense; but for now, since Riko and Nanachi were still awake, he was able to sleep normally for the time being. Nanachi was still dreading re-entering Ido Front, but at least they still had some time to relax with their new friends before they got there. Blinking, Nanachi shook their head, shaking off that feeling of déjà vu.

“Nnaa…Nothing, don’t worry about it. Just remembered something.” They sighed, going back to messing with the girl’s hair, “Also, turn your head back around. Do you want a braid or not?”

“Oh! Yeah, hehe…” Riko nervously giggled, turning her head back around and turning it down slightly so she could look down at Reg, playing with his hair as he slept.

Working steadily and carefully, Nanachi slowly entwined Riko’s long golden hair into a cleanly made braid. “Alright…” They sighed, removing their hands and leaning back, crossing their fluffy arms, “All done…!”

Beaming, Riko moved her hands up to take the braid from behind her back and moved it over her shoulder to look at it. “Woowww!!” She gasped, quickly standing up, completely forgetting about Reg, and turned around to give Nanachi a hug, tackling them, “Thank you!!!”

“Nnnaaaa!! Heyy!!” Nanachi groaned, struggling to get back up as Riko rubbed their fur, giggling.

Out of the corner of their eye, the hollow watched as Reg softly groaned and sleepily propped himself up on his elbows, his eyes barely open as he struggled to stay awake. Nanachi shot him a somewhat apologetic look that they knew he probably didn’t even notice.

“Rikooo…!” They tried again, their tail slashing from side to side, “I get that you’re happy and all but isn’t this going a bit too far?!”

“Maybe. But I gotta express my gratitude somehow! You’re the best Nanachi!” The red whistle chirped as she fluffed Nanachi’s cheek. The hollow couldn’t help but think about how similar her and Mitty were.

“Thanks…But could you get off me? Besides, look at who you woke up.” Nanachi groaned, struggling to push Riko off of them, using one of their paws to point behind the 2 at Reg, who was still struggling to wake up.

Whipping her head around, Riko’s green eyes widened as she saw the aubade in question, finally getting off Nanachi and crawling over to him. “Oh! Sorry…!!” She whispered as she grabbed him under the armpits to help him up a little.

Yawning, Reg rubbed at his eyes as Riko leaned him against her side. “What’s going on…?” He sluggishly murmured. If Nanachi had even slightly worse hearing they wouldn’t have been able to even pick up what he said.

“Nanachi braided my hair! Look!” Riko beamed, taking the braid and slinging it over her shoulder again so Reg could see it.

He was silent for a moment as he looked at it, slowly blinking as he took it in. “Wow…” he muttered, “Looks nice…”

“I know right!!” Riko excitedly squealed, bouncing up and down a little.

‘Naaa’ing slightly, Nanachi made their way over to their friends and sat down in front of them. “You can go back to sleep Reg, I feel like Riko’s too hyped up now to sleep anytime soon.”

With another almost silent “ok…”, the boy slowly lifted himself back up off Riko and began to lay down once more. Riko directed his head back to her lap and he passed out again in just a matter of seconds.

“Thank you Nanachi. For the braid, I mean.” Riko whispered, sincerity filling her tone.

“No problem.” Nanachi chuckled, a genuine smile forming on their lips. They were happy they met these 2. No one could replace Mitty, but these kids had quickly made it up their 'favorite people' list. And with all Nanachi's heart, they wished they could all be friends forever, and with all their heart, they wished for them to stay safe. But with all their heart, they knew with where they were headed, that could very well not be the case. But they had to hope.

They just really needed to hope.

Chapter 7: Thunderstorm

Summary:

Reg experiences a thunderstorm for the first time.

Notes:

WE'RE SO BACK! Sorry there haven't been any new chapters in a while... I kinda got out of Made in Abyss for a while, but now I'm back! However, I am in college now, but I'll still try to post things, I have plenty of ideas!

Dark clouds filled the sky, blocking all light that tried to pass down to the earth. Riko had seen this enough times to know that it was most likely going to rain for a long time based on how dark the sky was, but that didn’t bother her. As she sat on the edge of her bed and stared out through the balcony, the red whistle rested her head in her hands. If it rained for long enough, maybe some dirt would wash away and reveal more relics for the next time she went cave raiding. She smiled at the thought.

The sound of a bell ringing sounded behind her as Kiyui adjusted his position on the floor. Riko had decided that Kiyui should come over to her room for the evening to draw for a little bit with Reg. Even though the aubade wasn’t even drawing and just watching as the young bell messily drew on a piece of old paper on the floor, he seemed to be enjoying himself. Removing her gaze from the clouds, Riko looked behind her. Kiyui had moved to sit upright, sitting on his legs but still leaning over slightly to scribble. Reg was still laying down on his stomach across from the other bell, which was the same position he started in.

“What are you drawing now?” Reg asked as he eyed the paper laying a few inches ahead of him, watching as Kiyui doodled out a crude oval.

“Uhm… One of the rock things Riko has.” The smaller boy replied, still looking down at the paper with a smile on his face.

Reg blinked, looking around the room for a moment before looking back down at the work-in-progress sketch, “...Rock things?”

Nodding in reply, Kiyui finished up his doodle and held up the paper for the aubade to see. “Mhm! This thing!”

Making her way off the bed, Riko set her feet on the cold floor and walked the extremely short distance to where the two bells were sitting. Sitting down criss-cross-applesauce next to Reg, Riko looked at what Kiyui had drawn. Even though it looked like any drawing a small child would make, the shapes made it clear that he had in fact, drawn one of Riko’s ‘things’.

“Oh!” Riko exclaimed, beaming as she reached into her pocket to grab the Sun Sphere she had stolen acquired, holding it out, “It’s a Sun Sphere!”

“Mhmm!” Kiyui nodded giddily.

“It looks really nice!” Reg praised, “It’s almost like I’m looking at the real thing.”

Still smiling, Kiyui held the paper to his chest, “Thank you!” He chirped.

Right after he did that, the pitter patter of rain hitting the roof of the orphanage made itself known. Both Riko and Reg turned to look out the window to see that it was raining now. And it was raining heavily at that. This wasn’t the first time Reg had seen rain ever since he lost his memories, but he still felt somewhat entranced by it. Kiyui sat the paper back on the ground and began drawing again.

The bell tied around Reg’s neck jingled as he sat up, still looking out the window. “How long is it supposed to rain for?”

“By the look of the clouds, it’s probably gonna rain for a while.” Riko replied, looking down as she watched Kiyui draw another relic.

Reg didn’t reply, he just simply looked back down at the floor where the younger boy was drawing. He quickly forgot about the rain as Riko started to enthuse about the relics Kiyui drew. With a smile, the aubade relaxed his shoulders.

• • •

It continued to rain as Kiyui began to draw a random primeval creature he saw in a book once. As he finished drawing one of the ears, a flash of light erupted through the window for an extremely brief moment, causing Riko to quickly turn her head to the side. “Oh. It’s thunderi-”

Her comment was cut off by a loud crash as the sound of the lightning finally arrived. Reg violently flinched beside her, catching her attention. She turned to look at him, he was breathing heavily, his eyes wide and unfocused as he wrung his metallic hands together anxiously. He calmed down rather quickly however, as after a few seconds of only the sound of rain pitter pattering against the orphanage's roof, his shoulders slacked a little. He blinked and shook his head after a moment before noticing that both Riko and Kiyui were staring at him. One gaze with concern and one with curiosity.

His eyes took turns between looking at Riko and Kiyui, slightly embarrassed. They weren't scared? Was that a normal thing that happened? "What.. What was that…?" The aubade hesitantly asked, bringing one of his balled up hands up to hover over his mouth as he looked back at the window.

With a blink, Riko smiled, bringing her hand up to rest on one of Reg's shoulders. His gaze slowly shifted from the window to Riko after a moment, and the red whistle took that as a sign to start explaining.

"That was just thunder! It happens sometimes when it rains. You don't have to worry about it!" She tried to elucidate, noticing as Reg slowly started to relax a bit more. Kiyui, who had seemingly forgotten about his drawing, crawled over the two bigger kids to simply try and be part of the conversation.

With another nervous glance to the opening in the wall, Reg squinted his eyes, “But…What does it do…?”

“Uhhm…” Riko mused, “I'm pretty sure it's just the clouds letting out electricity? I never really knew the whole in depth deal behind it. It just sorta happens, y'know?"

Reg didn't seem all too comforted by her explanation, that nervous expression still clear as day on his face.

“The loud noise can't get us in here!” Kiyui piped in, leaning forward a bit to get a little into Reg's personal space; not too much to be overwhelming, however.

The aubade eased a bit at the shallow comfort given by the younger bell, although he was obviously still on edge. His fists had somewhat unclenched, yet his posture still remained a little rigid. His right hand coming up to hold his left bicep as he looked at the eternal fortunes that lay at Riko’s windowsill as they got pelted by the rain.

Only the tune of the rain pitter-pattering against the roof filled the silence for a heartbeat before Riko suddenly sprang up.

“Here!” She exclaimed as she grabbed the blanket that sat on her -and now Reg's too- bed and in one swift movement draped it over the aubade’s head, it basically covered his whole body yet his face stayed visible, “Now it really can't get you!” She said as she sat down once more and coerced him to lay his head on her shoulder. “And Kiyui and I will protect you, too!”

“Yeah!” Kiyui chirped in response, going to sit right in front of the two with a determined look on his face.

Giggling a little, Reg let himself relax against Riko, just a little.

• • •

“It's weird that we haven't seen her for a few hours now…” Shiggy mused as he and Nat made their way to Riko's room for one of their nightly meetings. They hadn't seen the girl for a while now and the orphanage has been strangely quiet.

“She probably just snuck in another relic from the last cave raid and is messin’ with it or something.” Nat sighed once they approached the girl in question's door.

As they opened the door with a quick knock and creak, they heard a loudly whispered ‘shh!’. Taking a few steps into the room, they saw their fellow red whistle sitting on the floor with a finger to her lips.

“Be quiet…!”

There on the floor, along with Riko, were Reg and Kiyui, both asleep. Reg still with his head on the girl's shoulder and a blanket messily thrown atop him, and Kiyui asleep across both of their laps, quietly snoring.

“You'll wake them up…!”

Notes:

Comments greatly appreciated btw!