Another tale of Elfen Lied : Prologue – Lucy's story after the Bridge scene.
Note : A story I made a while back that I never posted. I have always thought the last scene at the bridge needed something extra. the last scene of the Elfen Lied anime with Kouta has been altered slightly.
Lucy stood on the bridge. Ahead of her and behind her, SAT teams had risen up from behind barriers. I have to do this for Kouta Lucy thought as loud order "FIRE!" rang out. The bullets came in a hail. Forcing her vectors up and away, a bullet hit her remaining horn. The pain of the hit made her loose concentration and her vectors disappear. It also knocked her to the ground.
Lucy winced at the pain, but it would soon be over when they killed her. Goodbye, Koute, I love you.
"Stop shooting at my witness!" came a voice over the loudspeaker as helicopters descended near the ends of the bridge. Coming down in front of the SAT teams, the helicopters opened up briefly with chain guns, stitching a path in front of the men on the ground. Bits of concrete flew from the impacts.
"Cease fire, put your weapons down now!" The loudspeaker barked.
Confused by the helicopters and the demand, Lucy lifted herself up to see what was happening.
.
On both ends of the bridge, men looked up at the low hovering helicopters. Seeing the multi-barreled chain guns aimed at them, they slowly laid their guns down. One of the helicopters landed. A man in a long black overcoat got out and strode towards the SAT commander. Digging a paper out of his pocket, he held both ends against the helicopter's backwash and showed it to the commander.
"I am Inspector Yuma from Tokyo, this is an order of investigation from the Emperor himself. That girl on the bridge is MY witness, withdraw you men," he stated loudly over the engine noise.
"Inspector, that 'girl' is a dangerous monster!" The commander yelled back. "Our orders from the Director are to kill her before more people die!"
"I do believe orders from the Emperor override your director. If not, these helicopters Will chew your men to bits. Withdraw your men and standby," Yuma demanded. He handed the paper to the commander and walked onto the bridge. Stopping briefly, he pointed a finger at him and said, "And no more shooting!"
The Commander looked at the paper, then asked, "What are you going to do?"
Yuma motioned to the helicopter. It rose up and flew away from the bridge. He then said, "Go talk to my witness."
"Are you insane? You'll be killed! She is extremely dangerous!" the commander yelled.
"So is my wife when she's in a bad mood," Yuma replied, then strode toward the middle of the bridge where Lucy was getting to her feet.
Yuma kept his stride until he got six meters from the red headed known as Lucy, who was bleeding from both sides of her head. Her horns had been shot off. She watched him with angry red eyes. He held up his hands and said, "Excuse me, I am Inspector Yuma. I need your help."
"Why would I help you?" Lucy spat.
Yuma pulled a picture out of his pocket and held it out to her and said, "Because I can't put this guy away without you." Squinting from the many spotlights, he pulled out his radio and said, "Can we get those spotlights doused?"
"Your problems are of no concern to me," she growled.
The bright lights went out. As Yuma tried to refocus in the dim light, he said, "Actually, they are. You see, this guy is a murderer and likes torturing and killing girls like yourself. Let me guess, you were put in an orphanage that was known to have bully problems. This voice in your head prodded you to think killing humans is why you were born." Pausing, he asked, "May I come closer, I'm not use to talking this loud."
Lucy walked toward him. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.
Studying her as she approached, he said, "Your name is Lucy, right?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked again.
Yuma held the picture out for her to take. "Have you ever seen this man?"
She glanced at the picture and shook her head. "Tell me what you know!" she yelled.
Yuma held his hands up and said, "Easy, Lucy. I told you I need your help. This guy put those thoughts into your head, years ago. There's only two of you left that can help put this guy away."
Lucy stared at Yuma, then with a sneer, she asked, "Who is he?"
Yuma put the picture away and said evenly, "Lucy, we need to expose what he's done. I have the records, but I need a first hand witness. He's killed hundreds, and screwed up many more lives. Help me get this bastard."
"Or what, you'll shoot me?" she asked with acid in her voice.
Yuma shook his head. "No," he said softer, "Not that a gun could kill you anyway. Look, I can't force you to help me. But if you don't, you and every girl like you will continue to be hunted down and abused or killed. If you do help and tell me what I need to know, then you will be free. You can go live at that Inn with your friends and not be bothered by anyone."
Lucy's eye narrowed. "What do you know about Kouta?" she snapped.
Yuma pointed up. "Satellite. We've been watching the facility where you've been kept for a long time. We had no solid proof, no reason to move in until you escaped. When you escaped, we tracked you. We've been looking for a chance to talk to you and not give away the location of your house. We know another Diclonius lives there, and we didn't want those idiots," he said, jerking his thumb back at the SAT team, "to find out where you lived. Someone else was on their way to contact you, but then today happened. When we saw what was happening we got here as fast as we could. I only wish we were faster."
"And you want to help me, someone made to kill all humans?" Lucy asked in a hard tone.
"Are you really?" Yuma asked. "When you escaped, you killed. If I was held without so much as a trial, and condemned to life in a steel box, I'd do the same if I were capable. What happened today? I'd call what you did self defense. In every record I have of since we've been watching, they have shot at you first." Pulling out a picture showing the roof of the Maple Inn, he said, "You live here with three humans, and another diclonius. If you were truly born to kill humans, you wouldn't be doing that."
Looking away, Lucy said, "Kouta is different."
"From what we seen on those stone steps, that's true. But the two human girls there aren't. And if you did want to kill me now, there is nothing to stop you," Yuma explained.
"Maybe I'm tired of the killing," Lucy said softly.
"But this Director isn't," Yuma said, then added, "He made sure you believed all humans were your enemies. We're not, Lucy. I want this madness to stop, but I can't do it myself. I need your help."
Tipping her head, Lucy asked, "Why do you care what happens to diclonius like me?"
Yuma dug into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Let me show you my family," He said, then extracted a picture and showed it to her. "This is my wife and two daughters. We don't live on mainland Japan. Nayoko, our eldest, is 22. Ten years ago, it was on our first trip back to Japan that she started having nightmares about something 'whispering in her ear', telling her she should kill. It was a couple years after that we found out what she experienced was mental prodding. We tracked the source to a machine that was in the attic of a closed orphanage. Guess what, going through the records there, it was the same one you were at."
Lucy glanced at the photo of him and his wife with their two girls in front of them. His wife was a pretty dark haired Asian woman, as were both girls. She looked again and saw his wife, and the older girl both had horns.
"Nayoko has been a big help in locating the facility. I need more though, I need you to tell me your story," Yuma insisted.
Lucy's jaw dropped. She stared at the photo as her mind worked. This man's wife and his daughter were diclonius, yet they were a happy family. Did that mean there was a chance for her and Kouta to be together? Or would be, if that man in the picture was gotten rid of? "The man you showed me, he's responsible for the death of Kouta's family ... for all those others," she whispered.
"That's right," Yuma agreed. "I need you to help me let everyone know that. Come with me, tell me your story so I can get this guy. Once we have full access to his facility, I'm sure we'll have enough evidence to put him away forever. Everyone will know he is the villain, not you."
"And what happens to me then?" Lucy asked.
Yuma shrugged and said, "You go home. No charges, no one to hunt you down any more. I'm sure you'd like to go to school and live a normal life like everyone else."
"What about my impulse to kill?"
"Now that you know it came from a scumbag like that, do you think you'll ever act on it again?"
Frowning, Lucy said, "What can be done?"
Pointing back over his shoulder, Yuma said, "Nayoko is here with me. She won't let her 'handicapped dad' go anywhere without her. I don't know exactly how she suppressed her desire to kill after our previous visit, but I am sure she'd be willing to help you."
Lucy eyed him. "You're handicapped?" he asked warily.
Inspector Yuma shrugged and pointed to his head with a smirk, "I don't have horns. I'm just a normal human."
A mirthless grin cross Lucy's face. "You better be telling the truth," she warned.
Inspector Yuma nodded and said, "I am." Looking at the blood on her head, he said, "Let's get you over to the medics to get those wounds taken care of. I think you've been through enough pain for a while."
"I can deal with it."
"Do it for me, I'd hate for you to get an infection and not be able to testify."
Inspector Yuma started walking slowly, looking to see if Lucy followed him. She did, a few steps back.
.
Lucy watched Yuma closely to see if this was some new human trick. As they approached the nervous looking SAT team, he ordered them out of the way. She now sensed another diclonius. Searching, she saw it was a young woman who was talking sternly to one of the SAT team. The woman wearing a policeman's style hat held up a paper to him. From the bit Lucy heard, she was insisting he take no action, not even making a report until he cleared it with her first. From Yuma's photo, it appeared that this was his older daughter.
Yuma guided Lucy over to a white helicopter where two men had medical bags. "This girl needs medical assistance. She's my witness, tell both of us what you're going to do, before you do it," he said sternly.
Intrigued by another diclonius giving orders to the same men who'd been trying to kill her, Lucy sat down and let the men give her an anti-biotic, then a wound sealer before they put a white cap on her head. As they were fitting the cap carefully on, the other diclonius came over.
Wearing a smile, she said, "Hello, you must be Lucy. My name is Nayoko. Once these men are finished, I'll take you to my hotel room for the night. There are guards at every entrance, no one is getting near you. You'll be able to rest peacefully."
"Guards to keep me in?" Lucy asked.
"To keep others out," Nayoko corrected. "You are not being arrested or held against your will. You can leave any time you want to."
"We would strongly suggest you stay with us. At least until the director is in custody. For your safety, and for others," Yuma said.
"And in the morning, we can record your story," Nayoko added.
"My desire to kill, you can help me get rid of that?" Lucy asked Nayoko.
Nayoko took a seat beside Lucy. In a gentle tone she said, "From everything I have learned, you and I grew up completely different. I had loving parents, and was taught early on that it was wrong to kill unless there was no other way. It was easy for me to resist, I knew better. Don't get me wrong, at times some people irritate me so much that I'd like nothing more than to rip them apart. I don't because I know it is wrong. It will be harder on you, but you can resist the impulse as well. We will work on it, but for the moment, the best I can say is there is always a better way than killing."
Lucy thought about the lunatic on the beach. Yes, disabling hurt him far worse than if she had killed him. "You may be right," she mused.
"The other diclonius that lives with you, does she have this killing impulse also?" Yuma asked.
Nayoko coughed an "Ahhhum!" as she looked at her father. "Excuse me, Dad, we prefer 'Improved' human," she said semi-sternly.
"Sorry, hon, my mistake," he said apologetically.
"No, Nana has never killed. I don't think she would, unless it was to protect our family," Lucy said.
"At the Inn," Nayoko concluded.
"Yes. Are you going to want Nana's story too?"
Yuma nodded. "In time, but first we need your story so we can get the director put away. Once he's in custody and his organization is disbanded, we can continue to gather evidence. If there is anything you'd like to tell us about Nana, we would like to hear that too."
Thinking about a chance with Kouta, and to let him know WHY his family died, Lucy asked, "Where do I start?"
"We'll start in the morning, after you've had some rest," Yuma said.
"No, we'll start now," Lucy stated. "I want to get this going as soon as possible. I want my friends to be left alone."
"Kouta and Nana?" Nayoko asked.
"Yes."
"All right, we'll start as soon as we get to the hotel," Nayoko assured her.
Lucy went with them and had her first ride in a car. Inspector Yuma sat in the front seat with the driver, Lucy sat in the back with Nayoko. Watching the city go by through tinted windows, Lucy found herself wondering if this was too good to be true. She listened as a phone rang. Nayoko talked with someone, then handed the phone to Yuma. It sounded like Nayoko's little sister was on the phone. Then an older woman's voice came on. Yuma talked with her, then passed the phone back. Nayoko assured her mother that she was watching over her dad, then said good bye and folded the phone up.
At the hotel where men in suits stood at the entrance, Nayoko got out first and scanned the area before she let the others get out. They went in, up an elevator, and into a hall where suited men stood at each end. By one door, two more suited men sat to either side. Lucy was guided though this door and into a plush sitting room. Yuma and Nayoko became busy with setting up a video camera and recording equipment. As Lucy waited, a glass of juice floated over to her. She sensed a thin vector from Nayoko holding it up.
"Drink this, extended talking is going to make your throat dry," Nayoko explained as she laid a pad of paper down on the table.
Lucy accepted the glass and took a drink. The tangy juice soothed her thirst. "You vectors appear to be thin," she noted.
Nayoko checked the video camera, then said, "They can be whatever I want them to be. Long, short, thick, thin, or split into many ends. Please face the camera."
Lucy did as she asked, sitting across from Inspector Yuma, who sat in a chair across the low table from her. "Your mother taught you how to mold them?" she guessed.
"And some experimenting on my own. I can even form tool ends, hammers, screwdrivers, whatever I can think of and concentrate on," Nayoko said cheerily. "I can teach you how, if you like."
"I would like that," Lucy admitted.
"OK, we're set," Yuma said with a clap of his hands. "Lucy, if you get tired or irritated, we'll stop for a while. Whenever you want, we'll call it quits for the night."
"I'm ready ... we're on," Nayoko announced as she sent out vectors to start all the recording equipment at once.
"Lucy, what is your earliest memory?" Yuma asked.
Lucy told them everything as well as she remembered it. A few times, she nearly came to tears at horrid memories, and slowed to savor her best memories of her time with Kouta at the zoo. By dawn she was telling them of her capture, and the innocent girl who was shot. As she relayed these memories, it occurred to her that maybe Yuma was right. Her desire to kill came from the man in the photo. She wanted that girl to live, that was why she gave herself up.
The juice in the glass gone and the sun shining bright in the sky. Between the painkillers wearing off and fatigue , Lucy was finding it hard to think. Yuma called a halt to the session. Nayoko made breakfast, and after they ate, she showed Lucy her room.
Gazing at the comfortable looking bed, Lucy said, "But we need to keep going. Kouta isn't safe yet."
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Nayoko gave her a gentle smile. "What you told us so far is proof of your kidnapping and incarceration, as well as the wrongful death of at least one minor. That's enough to get a warrant and go pick him up, as well as get into his facility. You're doing well, get some well deserved rest."
.
"We're IN!" was the happy cry Lucy woke up to. Flinging the covers to the side, she snapped up a white hotel robe and wrapped it around herself as she strode out to see what was going on. In the sitting room, Nayoko was on the edge of her seat, talking on the phone.
"Yes, two teams are entering the facility as we speak. ... Inspector Yuma is getting it now. ... Not right away, I'll go right after I get the rest of Lucy's statement. Right, see you then." Nayoko flipped her phone shut. Upon seeing Lucy she smiled and asked, "Care for some lunch?"
"Your father has that man?" Lucy asked as she came over to the table.
"'That man', Director Kakuzawa, has escaped capture, but we do have his staff and our men are inside his facility. Kakuzawa has made the most wanted list and all his finances are frozen. For a while anyway, he is no longer a threat to us." Nayoko explained.
"We are safe then?" Lucy asked tentatively.
Nayoko looked over at the counter. A box, chopsticks and a glass of juice rose up and floated toward Lucy. "Safe as can be. Let's have some lunch, then we'll continue when you are ready," Nayoko said brightly.
Watching Nayoko's vector, Lucy noted that this time the end of the nearly invisible arm looked like a tray. "I'd like you to teach me to do that."
"You are born with hands, so you know what hands look like and how they work. This is why your first vectors appear to be hands. It is a form you have learned to use," Nayoko said as she sat the food down in front of Lucy. Holding her vector up between them, the end melted into a globe, then took the form of a small shovel. "Once you use a tool and learn what it does, you can concentrate on it's form and make your vector match that form. I have an idea! Try to make a pair of chopsticks."
Lucy brought out a vector. She closed a fist, then brought two fingers out. Frowning in concentration, she made the fingers longer.
"Visualize them as chopsticks, make them thinner," Nayoko prodded.
Slowly, the fingers shrunk in diameter until they looked like chopsticks.
"Very good! Now use them."
The first time Lucy put her vector chopsticks into the food trying to grasp a piece of spare rib, she sliced the rib in half. She tried again, and cut up another piece.
"GRRRR!" Lucy growled as she chopped a third piece in half.
"You're doing good, just be careful of the force you put into it. Concentrate on just picking it up," Nayoko coached.
On her fifth try, Lucy pulled a piece of rib up out of the box.
Nayoko gave her a nod of approval and said, "All right, you did it!"
Lucy brought the rib to her mouth. Just before it got to her lips, it fell in half to the floor. She glowered at pieces. "This isn't as easy as you make it sound," she grumbled.
"You did very well for your first time," Nayoko assured her. "You will do better with practice."
Through lunch, Lucy kept at trying to use her vectors to pick up food. The spoon shape she made worked well for the rice, but she still had a tough time with the chop sticks. She did pick up her glass and drink from it using her vectors without breaking the glass. By the time she finished lunch, she had a good idea of what Nayoko had showed her.
After lunch, Nayoko got the recording equipment and Lucy continued with how she broke out of the facility. It was then she told about her blackouts, finding herself with Kouta, and having no idea how she got there. Telling some of it was hard, but she kept going right up until the helicopters arrived, and shot at the SAT team.
Nayoko, who had been listening intently, said, "Thank you Lucy. These blackouts, you never had any until after you escaped?"
"That's right."
"And when you woke up in that lab, the man there said he had freed you, and wanted to be your mate?"
"Yes"
"He did this by drugging you and stripping your clothes off."
"That's right."
Nayoko let out a sigh and said, "Can't say I feel sorry for him. If he was alive, he be up on charges of kidnapping and attempted rape, and anything else I could think of. It is another case of self-defense."
"What if it wasn't?"
Tipping her head, Nayoko asked, "Why do you ask?"
Eyeing her, Lucy asked, "If you thought I was guilty, would we have to fight?"
Nayoko let out a chuckle, and said, "No, if we had thought you may be guilty, I would have disabled you back at the bridge. You'd be in handcuffs, and your vectors would be immobilized."
"Like Nana did to me when we fought."
Nayoko nodded. "Yes. I'd like to met this Nana soon. She appears to have some knowledge for a girl who's been locked away and experimented on."
"Can all of us do that?"
"If you plan on being a mother, that's one of the first things you need to know." Nayoko said firmly. "Otherwise, you'd end up fighting with your child instead of disciplining them."
Standing up, Nayoko announced, "Well that is all we need for now. If you have something else you'd like to talk about, we can do that later. I have to get over to the facility to help with the search."
Standing up, Lucy said, "I want to come with you."
Nayoko eyed her and asked, "Why? That place has to have bad memories for you. It may be better for you to stay away from there."
Casting a stern look at Nayoko, Lucy said, "I have to see there is no one else there who can hurt us."
"Can you promise me NOT to kill anyone, no matter how much you want to?" Nayoko asked as she eyed Lucy.
Lucy pondered on the question briefly. If she did see that man in the picture Inspector Yuma showed her, reflexes might get the better of her. "No, I can't."
"Very well, then. This is for your own good."
By the time the words registered with Lucy, Nayoko had fired a vector at Lucy's forehead. Lucy felt a small sting right above her eyes, then the vector faded away. Lucy tried to bring her own vectors out, but nothing happened.
"The part of your brain that controls your vectors is numbed, and will be for the next few hours," Nayoko explained. "Have no fear, I won't let anything happen to you. Shall we go?"
.
A trip by helicopter took Lucy and Nayoko to the Island facility. On the way, Nayoko explained that they were going to search for any 'Improved humans' that may be hidden inside. Once they landed, Nayoko had Lucy walk back down the path she took during her escape. Making their way back down to the isolation chambers, they scanned the area for any diclonius.
Every large set of steel doors were open. Walking slowly, Nayoko and Lucy searched carefully as they went. Lucy noted the men also searching were armed not with guns, but with boxy like objects than only slightly resembled guns. "What are those?" she asked, pointing to a black suited guard they passed.
"Stun-guns," Nayoko said as she looked into another chamber. "They don't shoot bullets, but wires that stick into skin, clothing, just about anything. A powerful electrical field runs through the wires, disabling but not killing the person hit. Much more humane than guns, and unlike real guns, they do work on us."
"We can't stop the wires?" Lucy asked.
Nayoko tapped her head and said, "If they hit your vectors, the shock goes straight to your brain. Lights out, nap time."
"You've tried them on diclonius?" Lucy asked.
Nayoko pulled out her stun-pistol and showed it to her. "Before we can carry these, we have to be fully aware of what they do. That means taking a shock from one. I tried to stop the wires. I was out for two and a half hours, and I felt like a wet rag for the rest of the day. It wasn't fun."
Surprised by this, Lucy said, "You go to great lengths to keep from killing."
Stepping up to her, Nayoko said, "We, especially, must go to great lengths to keep from killing. We are more powerful, therefore we also must be more responsible to those around us."
Lucy walked through the facility with Nayoko pondering what she meant. Watching Nayoko, she noted the woman seemed very at ease with the humans around them. Many of the men grew wide smiles as they greeted Nayoko. The only problem came was when they went into a room where a group of former staff that had been gathered for questioning. As they walked in, one of the staff shot up and cried, "It's LUCY!"
Terrified, the former staff looked about frantically for a way to flee. Another tried to wrestle a stun gun from a guard. Nayoko shot a vector out and pried him off the guard and forced him to the floor. At the same time, she grabbed another man who was charging a guard, and yanked him backwards off his feet.
"ENOUGH, calm down!" Nayoko roared.
It took a few moments, but the ex-staff were returned to their seats, still eyeing Lucy fearfully.
One ex-staff in a lab coat went up to Nayoko and said, "Don't you know what she is? Her kind KILL humans!"
Nayoko pulled her hat off and asked, "And what 'kind' is she?"
The man gapped at her horns and turned pale.
"Sit down and answer the questions," Nayoko ordered. The man backed away and sat down under Nayoko's gaze.
"Officer Yuma, did you find anyone else hidden here?" A man with a gold trimmed uniform asked as he approached.
"No sir. I believe all survivors have been accounted for. If I may, I was going to take Lucy home then finish my reports," Nayoko explained, and put her hat back on.
"Very well. Inspector Yuma mentioned a girl named Nana that was held here. Have you questioned her yet?"
"Unless it is vital to question her right away, I was going to wait a day or two. These girls have been through a rough time," Nayoko told him.
"Have it done by next Monday morning. The charges are going to the court Monday afternoon. I want to be sure we have an iron-clad case." The man then bowed to Lucy and said, "Thank you for your assistance. If you need anything, Officer Yuma here will be available to you."
"My report will be on your desk, first thing Monday morning," Nayoko assured him with a bow.
.
They left the facility though a side door. Walking along a balcony outside facility, Lucy wore a thoughtful expression. She finally said, "This is all very strange."
Casting her a smirk, Nayoko asked, "You mean me working with normal humans?"
"Yes, you are very strong and have complete mastery of your vectors. I would think you could do whatever you like."
Nayoko nodded and said, "I am. I am working to ensure everyone can live together, in peace. I do want children, and the last thing I want is for them to grow up in a world where they have to fight to survive. Myself and mother also help those people who unexpectedly have Improved children. Mother runs a facility where parents who find themselves with Improved children are taken so they learn how to deal with them, and the precautions they must take. Isn't that better than killing infants because they have horns, like what has been happening here?"
"Or locking us away," Lucy added.
Nayoko's tone became firm, "Make no mistakes, Lucy. More and more children like us are being born. You may think normal humans are our enemy, but keep in mind they are not dumb. They have perfected the art of war, and can be very dangerous. It is as much to our advantage, as it is to theirs, that we do not become consumed with fighting each other. All of humanity will eventually become Improved humans. That does not mean this shift has to be a bloody one."
"And Kouta will be able to live his life," Lucy said quietly.
"I take it you like this Kouta?" Nayoko asked. "Possibly as a father to your children?" she added, nudging Lucy with an elbow.
Lucy blushed at that thought. Slowing her step, she pondered the idea. The more she thought about it, the more it appealed to her. The thought of living her life with Kouta, of holding hers and Kouta's baby in her arms. Yes, she very much liked that idea.
"Just be careful with your vectors, any human you touch with them will receive your DNA. If you noticed, I made sure I only grabbed those men's clothes. I don't want strangers having my kids," Nayoko explained.
"I'm not sure how to go home," Lucy said tentatively. Kouta knew everything, and even if he truly forgave her, she didn't know how to deal with Yuka. Yuka liked Kouta very much also. If she hurt Yuka, it would surely cause big trouble between her and Kouta.
"You said that like you have doubts if you'll be welcomed or not," Nayoko said.
"I don't know if it can work," Lucy admitted.
"Then just go," Nayoko said with a shrug. "Things have a way of working out. That is, unless you're worried about killing someone. I can always come by now and then to give you another shot to your forehead if that is what's concerning you."
Lucy looked at Nayoko to see she was grinning. The small bit of humor lifted Lucy's mood, but not enough to return the smile. "Kouta likes Yuka too," She stated.
"Ahh, I see. So, who's this Yuka?"
"His cousin. They have been together as long as I know, ever since we were all children."
"First cousin?" Nayoko asked, as her face crimped up.
"What is that?"
"Was Kouta's father or mother, brothers or sisters with Yuka's father or mother?"
"Yes, I think so."
Nayoko bit her lip and shuddered. She then said, "Well, then most likely, Kouta sees Yuka like a sister, of course they are going to like each other. In any case, you shouldn't worry about that too much."
"I just can't stand any other girls near Kouta," Lucy said with a growl.
Nayoko burst out in a short laugh and said, "You got it bad for him, all right. Just look at Yuka as a relative you have to put up with." Coming to a set of stairs Nayoko leaned over and noticed a piece of cloth down near the bottom of the cliff. Nayoko thrust out a vector. It went a few meters, then became thin and stretched like a rubber band until it got to the cloth. She picked it up and drew it to her. Pulling out a small plastic bag, she dropped it in.
"How far do your vectors reach?" Lucy asked as she watched.
"However far I want." Pointing down at the base of the cliff, Nayoko said, "That small rock down there, try to pick it up."
Lucy reached out as far as she could, two meters. "That's all I can do," she said.
"Nonsense, make it longer and thinner like you did with your chopstick fingers."
Focusing on her vector, Lucy reached further. Seeing her vector arm as a rubber band like she envisioned Nayoko's, her vector stretched farther and father down the cliff. Concentrating with all her might, she got it down to the rock. She wrapped a thin tendril around the rock and tried to pick it up.
The rock shattered.
"GRRRR!" Lucy growled.
"At least you reached it. That proves you can do it with practice," Nayoko said cheerfully.
"How can you do things so easily?" Lucy asked in frustration.
"I'm older, plus while you spent much of your childhood locked away, I was learning to control my vectors. Don't worry, like I said, you'll get better with practice," Nayoko assured her.
From the top of the stairs, Inspector Yuma called down, "Nayoko! Lucy! The chopper's ready to leave. Are you coming, or are you planning to spend all day here?"
"Coming, Dad," Nayoko called back. Casting a grin at Lucy, she said, "Vector-walk!" She then jumped up and used her vectors on the handrails to propel herself up.
"I can do better than that," Lucy said with an evil grin. She slammed her vectors down and shot herself into the air. She landed on one side of Inspector Yuma as Nayoko came to a stop on his other side.
Inspector Yuma looked at them and shook his head. "It's a tie," he announced and walked to the helicopter.
.
It was late in the day when Nayoko dropped Lucy off at the steps up to the Maple Inn. She assured Lucy she would be by in two days to talk to Nana and the rest of the family, and give Kouta paperwork that officially gave him guardianship of Nana and Lucy, if that was what they all wanted.
Lucy walked up the steps, pondering all the things she had learned from Inspector and Nayoko Yuma. Cooperation with humans, the restrained power that Nayoko held, the love between a human man and his diclonius, or rather 'Improved' human daughter. She smiled at that. She liked the term Improved human, it somehow made her feel a little bit closer to Kouta.
As Lucy climbed the steps, she took off the white cap and looked at it. Humans had healed her, and gave her this white cap. In a way, it reminded her of the time Kouta gave her that knit cap to hide her horns. The people she met while she was with the Inspector and Nayoko were more like Kouta. Perhaps there were many more like them once she got away from the directors' gun-wielding killing freaks.
Coming up to the gate, she had a sudden urge. Stopping, she focused on reaching out over the gate. Feeling with her vectors, she found the clock. The clock that was as broken as she was. If she could fix that clock, then surely she could fix her life, and live with Kouta and her new family.
Tracing carefully, she found the workings. Seeing them in her mind, she put gears and springs together. Sweat beading on her face from effort, Lucy concentrated with all her will. Splitting the ends of her vectors as Nayoko showed her, she screwed in screws and pushed small nails in place with great care. Far off, she heard Wanta start barking. Cute little Wanta. Not wanting to become distracted, she ignored Wanta's bark and concentrated on winding the springs, and feeling for anything else that might be broken. Finally, she was sure it was ready. She gave a slight push to the pendulum and retracted her vectors.
After a few seconds, she heard the chimes ring out. Right after than she heard Kouta exclaim, "It works?"
Her heart leaped with joy.