1: INTERLUDE

Hello dearest reader. This bold text can generally be ignored if you're not a person open to 'small talk'. As opposed to the general part of the story, this text does not contribute to any importance for the story itself. It is merely a mix of my comments and some introduction to what I'm up to.

With this first chapter (which in turn is a very short one) I take you on a journey to let you see what it would be like if the anime ran for a second season. For a few reasons. The most important being the fact that, even though it was planned, the anime will never officially get a sequel. The other reason is because I'm so unsettled by the manga (even though it has an end tied to it and it was still great) that I would like to have the cliffhanger in the anime unfold. Is Lucy alive? What happens now?

To give you an idea of the primitive storyboarding I've done so far, let's just say this sequel be even more horrid, dramatic, ecchi and funny/cute. It'll get set on a more global scale. I've carefully studied the characters but I feel like it's never enough. On top of that some characters are extremely hard to extrapolate on. It's going to be very challenging to put them into the situations I've planned them to be in. If any OOC's were to occur, sorry for that.

I also like to state that there's going to be a project tied to this story once it's finished. I'm an illustrator and would like to get into creating manga. As far as graphic design, it's been part of my life for about 50%. Then again I'm only 21 years of age, non-native English speaker. In all honesty writing this story is a far greater challenge. In a nutshell, I would plan a full-color manga chained with this story. It will be beautiful. Probably the only fan-made manga sequel that will run for quite some chapters.

For now I hope you do enjoy this story. I'm fairly sorry about this small interlude. It's more like a hook element. For all the manga fans, sorry. I'm deviating from the manga. I'm completely focusing on continuing the anime from episode 13 off.

Enough said, enjoy.

Nothing is left anymore. 'Things are said and done', Kouta thought as he made his way back up the steps. But saying goodbye to her, was a bit more than what he thought he could handle.

He shortly recalled to himself, what happened just moments before he turned away.

"Promise me...", Kouta said. "Promise me you won't kill anybody anymore", as the two hugged each other passionately.

Implicitly, Kouta, by saying that, declared that he understood that she was not planning on staying with him. Even though it was hard for him, he eventually let go of her when she loosened her grip on their hug.

"I promise". The hardest thing of them all; the realization of not being able to be with the only boy she actually had feelings for. It twisted her mind, for she disgusted even herself. A vicious killer. How could she have developed feelings as beautiful as those for Kouta?

She closed her eyes, and turned away. Descending the stairs towards her final battle.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he turned around to look if she would still be there. But as expected, all traces of her were gone. Erased. As if she was never there in the first place.

...

MAPLE INN

Ecstatic was a good way to describe the mood Yuka was in. Overly worried and fatigued by stress, she couldn't bear to sit still.

'What were they up to', she thought to herself. The inn was more empty than ever with most of the members being out. Only Mayu sat with Yuka at the table.

The only thing Mayu knew, was Nana's sudden departure paired with her strange behaviour stating that somebody was going to 'kill' her. Having heard that kind of unsettling news when she came back to the inn with some soumen really bothered the two.

"Y-Yuka-san?", Mayu said softly, noticing Yuka's discomfort. Yuka looked up to her. "Yes Mayu?". She answered, not noticing Wanta's barking. Mayu looked up towards the courtyard entrance. 'The keys', she thought. 'They forgot the keys'. She jumped up and stormed towards the front door to open it.

She slid it open and before her stood Kouta, looking kind of sad. "Kouta!", she cried and fell into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Don't leave me like that", she said while in tears.

But Kouta did not seem to be his former self. In fact, he seemed rather different. Something had happened to him. "Are you ok? W-Where Nyuu?". He looked down for a second. Yuka covered her mouth with her hand, anticipating that something horrible must have happened.

But all Kouta could do was step in forward. Something very bad had happened and both Mayu and Yuka knew that very well. But what?

A moment later, the three sat at the table. Discussing what happened.

"Did you find Nana-san?". Yuka asked.

Kouta was really out of words. How should he explain Nyu's sudden departure. How should he explain that, he remembered everything? For the sake of the peace at the inn, he would have to keep this quiet. Who even knows where Nana is.

"Nyu got her memory back. Unfortunately", Kouta mumbled. "She didn't remember me anymore. So I-".

-"Hee? W-What Kouta? Why?".

-"I don't know why! She was suddenly able to talk and all that...".

Yuka's eyes shrunk. "N-No, it can't be!", she said in disbelief to what happened. But Kouta remained still and looked down to avoid eye contact.

"I don't know where Nana is, we never found her".

Yuka and Mayu looked at Kouta, then downwards, sort of feeling sorry for the situation. Suddenly Yuka bursts into tears. "Y-Yuka", Kouta shouts. He goes up to sit next to her. To streak through her hairs. Stroking her caringly.

"I liked her so much. She was like family. Why did she have to leave like this, without goodbye".

Kouta felt something hurt inside his heart, for only he knew the truth. Nyu left because she no longer deserved to be with Kouta for her own account. She had killed his family. But in all honesty, Kouta cared less, because he... loved her. And the longer she was away, the more he started to miss her.

Life in the Inn would just continue from this point. With or without Nyu. Though somewhere in Kouta's heart he was not sure if she'd feel just the same, and eventually return. If she was still alive. She had met him with some serious injuries. One of them being a torn-off horn.

A few minutes later, they get an unexpected, but severely injured visitor! "Nana-san", Mayu shouts when she suddenly spots the girl entering by the courtyard.

Yuka and Kouta storm over. "What a relief", Yuka said. They all went up to her to help her inside. "Those are some heavy injuries", Yuka mentioned. All Nana could murmur was: "Pa-pa". She took her inside while Kouta and Mayu stood there with some sort of relief in their hearts. At least she managed to get back. Her horns instantly reminded Kouta of Nyu.

He tried not to think of it too much, and let life in the inn just flow the way it always did.

...

The day thereafter was a bright and sunny one. Kouta was up very early, which in turn was very unlike him. He sat in his chair, staring dully into the garden.

As Yuka set the table, Kouta noticed something.

"Yuka, there's one bowl too much".

"She would have wanted to eat too", Yuka answered.

When they sat back at the table, it seemed as if life just went on. They turned back to part of their former selves. And enjoyed their food.

"It's delicious", Nana cried out of joy.

It turned quiet for a second...

Nana paused eating, and thought deeply.

"There are so many wonderful things... So many". She sheds a tear before being adressed by Mayu, who got a little worried about her trance-like gaze.

"Nana-san?"

"G-Gomennasai!" she said, being slightly embarrassed.

Kouta is distracted by his own line of thoughts as the rest continue talking, but he suddenly noticed Wanta's barking.

"Oh, I wonder if we're having visitors?", Yuka said.

"I'll go look", Kouta stated, and jumped up.

As he walks into the courtyard, clearly noticing there's a person standing behind the paper slide door, his attention gets caught by the grandfather clock that suddenly started working again.

"It's working?", Kouta remarked, looking in the direction of the clock.

Noticing himself being distracted, he quickly turns around to open the front door, but to his utmost disbelief, the unexpected visitor, was no longer standing there! He could swear there was a person standing there before. Did he imagine it all?

Somewhere in his heart he expected 'her' to return. Not wanting to leave this strange situation as it was, he opened the door anyway to check if there was really nobody standing there. But indeed, it had seemed there was indeed nobody visiting them. Or they had to have at least been good at running away, to get out of sight.

Could she still be alive? Would she come here if she was? Kouta sighed, and went back inside the inn, to finish his meal with the rest of his family.