Elfen Lied and its characters are property of outside companies; I claim no ownership of them.
Elfen Lied: Neue Pfade:
June, XXX1 – Experiment Lucy Age 11
On a warm June evening in the very outskirts of the Kanagawa prefecture, a remote house living room window flashed with bright, vibrant colors unknown to even a rainbow. The flashing lights separated the house from any other on the street, and the annoyed glances from neighbors that walked across it symbolized the family inside wasn't a particularly social one.
"Didn't I tell you to turn that off?!" A woman's piercing scream reverberated from the front door, scaring a young couple that just happened to be walking in front of it.
Inside the house, a young man of no more than fourteen was sprawled across an armchair, with a black controller in his hands, the wire connected to a game console underneath the television.
"Yeah yeah…" he muttered, showing no signs of disconnecting himself from the game.
The woman who had just yelled at her estranged son was young in body, but old in spirit. A thirty-five year old going on forty-four, she found the family dinner which her son only attended for five minutes and her husband found to be distasteful and boorish was ten times more excruciating to clean then it was to make.
"For the last time Ono turn that damn thing – Ichiro talk to your son! That damn thing is driving me crazy!"
Ichiro, a forty-two year old man going on fifty-seven, looked up from his newspaper at the dining room table. His first thought was to tell her to do something about it, the unagi was extremely dry and the rice overcooked. But the noise was annoying, and as much as he hated confronting his rebellious son, he found it his obligation as a parent to…
"Thank the gods, someone's at the door," he thought when he heard a soft knock. He was already halfway to the western-style storm door when his wife screamed at him to get it. Rubbing his eyes, he couldn't believe how tired he was this early. Whoever it was, he hoped he'd only have to act neighborly for a moment so he could turn his son's game off then go straight to bed.
But when he opened the door, nobody was there. At least he thought nobody was there. When he heard a soft cough, as if to grab his attention, he peeked down towards the ground. There she was, a young girl with pink hair and a wool cap, who barely rose above his waist.
"What can I do for you?" He asked in an uncaring tone. He didn't know this child and therefore had no reason to be neighborly to her.
The girl looked up at him, her eyes filled with sorrow, "Please sir…I was wondering if I could spend the night here. I've been wandering the area for some time now and…"
"Listen kid, I don't even know you. Why the hell should I let you into my house, much less spend the night? So you can steal my money or my wife's jewelry? Go home you little bitch, your parents are probably worried about you."
He let go of the storm door and slowly it began to close. Turning away, he began to walk more fiercely than before, wanting more than ever to just break his son's game in half. But the door didn't click shut. And when he looked back, noticing that something was stopping the door from closing. Even though the girl was still there, she wasn't the one who kept it open. Well, it didn't look like it was her…
"What did I tell you?" He said as the tone of voice increased, "Go home now before I call the…"
The door was ripped off the handles by an invisible force, which sent the man to his behind from the shock of what just happened. Looking at the hovering, crumbled door, then at the girl, he realized that her sweet, innocent and sorrowful face had transformed into a cruel, demented, evil shell of the young girl that was on his doorstep moments before.
"I'm sorry…I didn't hear you. I said I need a place to stay for the night. Or…" the door that hovered above her pressed tightly together, resembling a ball of trash paper, "I could stay until the police catch on…"
Ichiro's mouth moved like a broken automaton, large beads of sweat running down his face. The girl stepped into the doorway, closing the large wooden door behind her and setting the crumbled storm door inside, all with her invisible hands. He could hardly hear her footsteps over the beating of his own hearts. What could he do? She was getting closer to her, and his voice had lost him.
Suddenly, something very strong and powerful grabbed his leg, and he miraculously found his voice. It was only a quick yelp however, and all much too late, as he dug his fingernails into the carpet to stop himself from being dragged towards the girl.
His wife had heard the yelp above the loud explosions coming from her son's video game, and after furiously drying her hands, stormed towards the door. Oh how she hoped it was a "business partner", she had been looking for any reason to divorce him for two years.
That became completely unnecessary, upon viewing the mass amounts of blood that now claimed her a widow. In the mess of blood, clothes, and flesh was a young eleven-year-old girl who glared daggers into her eyes.
"I don't suppose you'd mind if I stayed a couple nights?" Lucy asked her with a disturbing smile.
There were no weapons in her hands, there wasn't anything except for her evil face and being drenched in blood that could mean she had killed her husband. Still, she was sure that she did.
In the living room, the boy completely fell out of his seat when his mother screamed for only a short second, and was immediately silenced. Lying on the ground, he listened for a moment, the dripping faucet and soft tapping of feet the only audible sounds.
"Oka-san…?" he asked nervously. No answer. He slowly got up and walked past the doorway leading to the door hallway. A quick peek couldn't hurt.
But it did. A fresh coat of blood covered one wall and the floor, and covered half of the ceiling and the other wall. The dripping faucet happened to be none other than the blood that ran from his mother's torso onto the floor, as it dangled helplessly in the air. His father was completely dismembered, and spread across the length of the hallway as if some disgusting designer had planned it. His eyes shrunk into his head at the grisly sight. Then he looked at Lucy.
His body plowed into the dining room table while his head careened off the kitchen sink.
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Lucy took a whiff of the shampoo in the family's house. It was strong, strong enough to erase the pungent smell of blood that emanated from her. The water ran that ran over her body thoroughly washed most of the traces of blood that clung to her skin, she had to use a little elbow grease to get the older stains. Now how to clean that mess in the hallway? There would be more time for that later, it had been over a week since she felt the comfort of a hot shower, and she could take her time to enjoy it without fear of being caught.
Her thoughts turned to the family she had just slaughtered. They weren't happy, obviously they weren't. She had been watching them from a variety of locations the last day, the father was a busy-body who wanted nothing more than to get away from his wife and son, his wife was a temperamental hag who wanted nothing more than to get away from her husband and son, and their son was a lazy, rebellious drama queen, who also wanted nothing more than to get far away from all of this. Lucy thought, for a moment, that she did them a favor.
Then she wandered again…what had happened over the last year? For almost two months, she lived off stale food and swiping small items from convenience stores to survive. Then it started to get cold. She remembered the first time in more than two months since late summer that she barged into a small house that was directly on the border of Yokohama and Kamakura and asked the family, a couple no older (physically) than the one in here with no children. When they too refused her care, several times, she murdered them too. She remembered how…scared and horrible she felt afterwards. She just wanted someplace warm to stay and she ended up doing something so horrible as to kill them for it. Was it horrible? At the time it was, but now she was glad she did it, she could have frozen if not for their house. But she remembered being sick for days as she ate the large amounts of food and meals they had stored away in various places across the house. She couldn't even stay in the house during the day; the thought of those poor souls haunted her the longer she stayed in there. Incidentally, it was the longest she had ever stayed in one house (which was the reason that brought the concern of cleaning the mess in this current house's hallway). For months after she left that house, she sparingly killed, even attacked other human's in their houses. She relied on breaking into abandoned houses or large, heated stores to sleep during the night. When had her heart hardened, and that little voice that told her to kill returned? It had been gone for good she thought, after she restrained herself from killing a little girl. Kouta's cousin…
"KOUTA!" She screamed. Her feet wet from the shower, she barreled out of the shower and straight to the floor in a mad attempt to find a calendar.
"Itai…" she moaned as she grasped her head. Her body staggered and swayed as she forced herself up, finding the strength to run barefoot through a pool of blood into the kitchen, where to her luck a calendar hung. It was on June, but on what day?!
She ran again from the calendar into the quickly drying hallway. One of these people had to have a cell phone. The father?
"Lucky!" She yelled as she removed the cell phone from the soaked pants. Flipping the screen up, she pressed several buttons and searched desperately for anything that looked like a date. Her foot brushed against the hair of someone, probably the mother, so she took one arching step over it to avoid tripping. Lucy bit her bottom lip, she didn't have a damn clue how to work this contraption.
There! June fourteenth! Summer hadn't even started yet officially. The phone landed far away from her as she jumped and pranced around the house, singing Kouta's name loudly. One final squeal escaped her lips and she galloped passed the bloody hallway back into the shower. So much to do! She would have to leave early tomorrow to get to Kamakura as soon as possible, she didn't want to waste any time spent away from Kouta. She wasn't sure when he was coming back, but considering how late it had been last year it was almost certain that it would be the same this year! Oh god, if she'd already missed Kouta she would just die. She would…just…
She stopped several feet away from the bathroom door, the shower continuing to run. Looking back, she saw her bloody footprints had made one violent line dance across the house. Heart pounding, hands trembling and voice shaking, she walked back towards the hallway that a massacre had happened minutes before. When she looked inside, their faces, the faces of all the people she had killed over the past year all poured into her mind.
"What have I done…?" she strained to get those words out. Inadvertently, it felt as if she had just killed Kouta himself.
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With a knife, Lucy drew another slash mark into the trunk of the tree that watched over her dog's grave.
"Five weeks…" she thought.
He's not coming.
The day's only seemed to become longer with each unsuccessful day of waiting for him. She didn't dare move from this spot for long. Her first instinct was to wait for him in front of the train station, but without knowing when he would arrive or the kind of stares she would receive from being in front of a crowded section for so long, she found it a bad idea.
He's forgotten about you.
No, her dog's grave was the best place. It was the first place they met, the place they met every time afterwards, the place that Kouta would remember. He would come, it would just require a little more patience on her part. After all, there was no definite time he gave her to when he would be back.
He's already been here. Came early this year. Didn't even come to look for you or leave you a note.
It really wasn't so long. It wasn't like the beginning of the fall last year, goodness were those days harsh. When she wasn't crying she was as mobile as a vegetable. Only the thought of staying alive to see Kouta again kept her active. It was staying alive that forced her to kill all those people.
He knows what you've done. That's why he won't come.
All those poor, innocent people…murdered simply to give her a comfortable place to sleep for the night. They hadn't done anything wrong, sure some of them may have been bad people, but did they deserve to die the way they did? She could say it was to survive until she was blue in the face, but the fact was she killed them. She killed them, and they could never come back.
He hates you.
"Kouta…" she whispered softly into her knees, "Gomen…I'm sorry Kouta…"
The tears came forth from her eyes again. She mourned the lives of all those people she killed, she mourned for their families that would never get to see them again, and she mourned for herself. For her dying sanity and her failing heart. She mourned for her love, wherever he was. The only comforting thought she had was that ever since the incident on the outskirts of Kanagawa, that little voice that had told her to kill had been completely, and utterly, silent.
Bringing her head away from her arms and knees, she wiped the tears away from her eyes. It wasn't as late as it had been the last few weeks, but she was tired. She would call it a day today, and tomorrow she would be back to ponder Kouta's return. Wondering what they would do together, what new things she could see with him, what…
"Surprise!" A voice startled her as somebody's hands suddenly blinded her vision.
Had it been anyone else. Had he not had yelled before he covered her eyes, there was a good chance he would have been slaughtered on the spot.
But no. It was him. His voice was so comforting and his hands were so warm.
"Kouta…" she gasped out.
"Nope! Guess again!" He said quickly and mockingly. To him it was a fun game, at least, until Kaede turned around. Her eyes were drowning in tears, and her lip trembled so violently he could have sworn she was having a seizure. Before he could say anything, she leapt out at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and tackling him to the ground. "Woah! Kaede stop! What are you doing?!"
Kaede was nothing but a blubbering mass of flesh and bone, practically strangling him in her arms and drowned him in her tears. So many things she wanted to say to him and in so little time. She had to apologize for everyone she hurt, she had to ask for his forgiveness.
But now, she only wanted to be embraced by him, overwhelmed with joy that he remembered her.
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It took Kaede a long time to settle down to a normal tone of voice, although she continued to sniffle and let out a sob every now and then. For the most part Kouta had no idea what had happened or what was going on, did sneaking up on her upset her that much? He couldn't imagine how it would; but then again this was the second time he's gotten that reaction in the last week.
"I never thought you'd be such a crybaby," Kouta said finally free of the guilt of comforting her, "You're almost as bad as Yuka."
Kaede shot him a glare that signified she did NOT want to be muddled into the same category as her. But he was right, no matter how much she told herself earlier that she wouldn't cry upon seeing him she knew deep down that she would. Boy did she cry.
When Kaede finally got a grip on herself and settled down, she peeked up at Kouta, "So…(sniff) when did you get in?"
"A couple days ago," he said, uncertain of how to answer that question, "I stopped by yesterday but you weren't here. I figured if I missed you today that I'd leave you a note."
Kaede sniffled, "Really?"
Relieved that she believed him, he exclaimed in a loud voice, "Really! Look I even have a note here." He turned away from her for a second to pull out a folded note tucked into the back pocket of his shorts. He was telling the truth, written in black and white was a message to her saying when he'd be able to return to this spot next. Kaede felt like she was going to cry again, and Kouta wasn't sure if he could handle it again.
"You-You're not going to cry again are you?!" He asked in a panic. She shook her head, and wiped the tears away from her eyes.
"No I'm not…I'm…just so happy that Kouta remembered me…" she smiled at him, feeling a calming heat rise in her cheeks that had not been there for a long time.
"Did she always look this cute?" Kouta asked himself as he too blushed deeply. The following silence didn't last long with Kaede breaking the barrier by asking what he had been up to.
Kouta was more than happy to tell her all about his experiences over the past year. His sister, Kanae, had embarrassed him by following him to his school and yelled a fellow female classmate for talking to Kouta (Kaede tried to get her name but Kouta said it wasn't important). He got into a fight later in the year with a couple kids who were picking on his sister (again, she asked for names but he wouldn't disclose them). A zoo was brought up again, which eventually lead to a side conversation about visiting the same zoo they did last year. Kouta could have went on and on for hours if he wanted to, and Kaede could have listened and laughed for hours if not for the question…
"So what did you do?"
Her mouth gaped open in shock of the question, she blinked twice. How could she answer this question? She had thought so long and hard about what her and Kouta would do now that they had more time together, she all but forgot about her year.
Of course her year was horrible. Living in hunger the first quarter of the year, and then resorting to breaking and entering until finally murder for a couple days of relaxation in a warm house. No matter how hard she tried to see her actions as justifiable, there was no way she could. Remembering full well the promise they had made last year, she bowed her head in shame.
"Kouta…what would you say if…I told you I hurt some people?"
Something about the way Kaede looked at him made Kouta think that she might have actually done someone wrong, "Why would you want to hurt anyone?"
"I wouldn't!" That was a lie, "At least…not at first I…" she trailed off, unsure if Kouta believed she hurt someone or not, "I was just scared…and alone…I didn't know what else to do. I didn't mean to but, I just….really…"
It was terrifying for her to look at his face, who scowled with frustration. There was no denying it now, Kouta had known what she had done, and now he was going to hate her and Kaede would never.
With one quick flick of his finger he seemed to force out all of the sad feelings in her mind, although it did hurt.
"Baka!" He yelled, "You know it's not okay to hurt anyone!"
Rubbing her head, she felt kind of peeved at him. Not for flicking her in the temple, but for telling her what she already knew, "Wakarimashita…but…"
"No buts." Kouta gently grabbed her underneath the arm and helped her up, brushing off her dirt-soiled skirt and knees, "I don't want to hear anything about hurting someone again, alright?" Kaede nodded, surprised how well he was taking it, "Now then…" he held out his hand to her. Like a puppy looking at the mess it just made, she looked at his hand, then at his face. He was blushing slightly, almost embarrassed to do this, "Come on. Aren't you going to walk with me back to oba-san's house?"
This was it for Kaede, she could die right here and she couldn't be any happier. She tried to act reluctant to take his hand but there was no hiding her glowing face as her fingers wrapped around his and hand-in-hand they strode off away from her dog's grave.
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For the first time in ages, Kaede couldn't remember having this much fun just walking and talking with someone. It was as if she had lived for this very moment as both her and Kouta swung their clasped hands high into the air and high again on the rebound, laughing and giggling as the other tried to break the others grip. There was no breaking Kaede's and she didn't try to break his grip on her.
"Kouta! When can we see each other again?" She asked excitedly. The day was nearly gone and Kouta was nearly home, so she knew the both of them would go their separate ways. But not for long, hopefully.
"Etto…" he placed a finger to his chin as he thought about it, "Tou-san and oba-san wanted to go to the beach tomorrow so I'll be there most of the day…and then we're coming back here to open some watermelons…how about the day after that?!"
Two days, much longer than Kaede had hoped to wait. But she had waited longer for him, and she always knew she could "accidentally" run into him if she got really lonely. Still, with cheeks puffed out and a tone that told him she didn't approve, she said "Wakarimashita."
"Don't be like that," Kouta said, worried he had upset her. When Kaede didn't immediately respond he began to feel bad about upsetting her. That all changed when he saw her peek at him from the corner of her eye and smile slightly. She pulled down the bottom eyelid with her finger and stuck her tongue out at him, which caused them both to laugh.
"Ah! There's my house!" He yelled and pointed to the Maple Leaf Inn (to Kaede's surprise and delight, thinking of how an inn was named after her).
"C-Chotto matte…" Kaede said as she quickly fell to her knee and began to "tie" her shoelace. It didn't actually become untied, and there was nothing in Kaede's mind that told her she was in the wrong for keeping him a couple minutes…
"Wouldn't it be easier to let go of my hand Kaede?"
A couple seconds longer to herself. When she had pushed the shoe-tying limitation she stood back with a perky smile and immediately seized his hand. Her smile disappeared as the Maple Leaf Inn became taller and taller to the both of them, eventually she dragged behind so much that Kouta had to stop in the sidewalk so they didn't break their grip.
"Kaede-chan…" he said, half-flattered and half-irritated, "Would you like to come inside and stay for a little while longer? I'm sure my father and aunt wouldn't mind."
What did she love more? That he was so comfortable around her now that he could call her –chan, or that he had invited her to spend more time with him in his own house?
She smiled, blushing, "Hontoni? That would be…be…"
As they rounded the corner to the inn, the Japanese architecture reflecting the setting sun, Kaede was surprised (and upset) to find a girl no bigger than Kaede herself, sitting on the front step of the inn, looking exhausted and on the verge of tears. Immediately, Kaede recognized her.
By the look on Yuka's immediate reaction to seeing them, Kaede figured she had seen the both of them holding hands. When the look of shock turned slightly to fright, she must have seen Kaede herself scowling at her.
"Tch!" Kaede scoffed, low enough so not even Kouta could hear her. She felt his body shift to wave at Yuka, but the mood was already lost, "Gomen nasai Kouta-kun. But I really should be going."
"Ehh?! Do you have to?" He said with a disappointing tone. This made leaving him ever harder, but among other things, Kaede didn't want to deal with his cousin right now.
"Uh-huh…ka-san will probably get worried if I'm out too late, and I don't know how to get a hold of them so…" she didn't want to say the last part, there wasn't anything needed to be said.
Kouta could tell there was something Kaede wanted to do. She kept looking at him, then away to the ground. She was being very hesitant, the way he'd seen the actors on soap's doing the same thing. When she raised her hand to touch his cheek, or what he thought she reached for, he flinched. Surprisingly enough, she patted him on the shoulder, almost as if they were long-time drinking friends. Her face gave off her disappointment in herself, but before he could say anything she smiled and gave a "Ja ne!" When she was well out of sight, Yuka finally got up the courage to yell his name and rush to his side.
In turn, when Kaede couldn't see Kouta or the Maple Leaf Inn for that matter, she finally let loose her sadness of leaving Kouta. The tears came but not the crying, she knew she would see him again in a couple days and they would have the next week and a half together. It was for the better, if she had gone in she would never have left. In fact, she was more upset that she didn't get up the courage to kiss him.
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"That one's a log! No that one is!" Kaede yelled as she leaned over the crocodile pit and pointed at the floating figures in the water.
"Kaede-chan, don't lean so far over the edge," a worried Kouta told her, tugging slightly on her shirt. She obliged his request and jumped down, grabbing his hand and dragging him to another section of the zoo. He had trouble keeping up at first but only due to the initial shock of the pull. They bolted to the zebra's, lions, and other animals Kaede missed on her first trip last year, and repeating some of her favorites from the year before. When it started to get late, they realized how hungry they were.
"Two please," Kouta asked an elderly lady running a cotton candy stand, who with a smile handed the both of them two large fluffy pillows of cotton candy. Kaede looked at it nervously, unsure of how to eat it.
After watching Kouta eat it, she peeled off a flake and placed it in her mouth. At once the overwhelming taste of sugar bombarded her tongue and gently trickled away.
"It's gone!" She yelled, feeling as giddy as ever. With a nod from Kouta, the both of them dug into their own…
"Let me have a piece of yours!" Kouta yelled, leaning over to grab Kaede's.
"Wah! Eat your own!" She said despite the fact she too leaned in to grab a piece of his. The cotton candy struggle lasted for several moments, the both of them and several on-lookers getting a kick out of it, and the rest of the day went as well as it had the last several hours. Until…
Kouta and Kaede huddled together in the fiercely cold winds of the surprise storm that had, from nowhere, assaulted the coastline.
"Are you cold Kaede…" Kouta asked her as she buried her head into his chest to protect herself from the cold. She shook her head.
She was half-lying of course, the both of them were wet from the heavy rain and the wind had a dangerous chill to them. But there was something to be said about the warmth of another person.
"Are you?" She asked.
To her surprise, he nodded, "A little. But as long as you're not cold."
This warmed Kaede all the more, but not enough unfortunately. Then she got an idea.
Extending her vectors from her body, she formed a tiny half-circle with them and immediately solidified every one of them. Although she could feel touch, pain and temperature were unknown to them, and the protection from wind and slight protection of rain helped considerably.
"Hey it's clearing up!" Kouta observantly said. Even though she knew he had no idea she was doing it, in effect he felt like he was praising her. "Where's that damn bus?"
Kaede loosened her grip on Kouta's shirt, "I wonder if a tree is blocking the road."
"It still shouldn't take that long, there has to be other roads leading up here."
When a pair of headlights rounded a corner and flashed in their eyes, they shone with excitement. Kaede dismissed her vectors, to which brought a strong force a wind that nearly knocked them on the ground, and they jumped from the bench to the sidewalk. Unfortunately much to their dismay it turned out to be a car, a dark red sedan.
And much to their surprise, it stopped.
"What are you two kiddies doing out this late at night?" The driver asked as he rolled down the window. He was older, in his early to mid thirties from what the both of them could tell. His face was jagged, more so than they'd ever seen a Japanese man's face, and he smiled in such a way that Kaede knew he was hiding something.
After all, she had smiled like it so many times before.
"Hop on in, I'll take you to a nice warm place."
Kouta knew what his father had told him countless times over and over again, never get in a car with strangers. But this storm was refusing to let up and the both of them were wet and very cold.
"Kouta…" Kaede said as she glared at the driver, "Let's wait for the bus. I don't think we should-"
As she was speaking a crackle of lightning hit a nearby telephone pole that send a shower of sparks towards them and the car. While Kouta yelped, Kaede screamed and jumped into Kouta, more terrified of the initial shock of the noise.
"Don't got much else you can do now, is there?" The creepy driver asked them, continuing to smile.
Kouta knew what he had to do, "Okay! But don't think of trying anything funny!"
"Kouta!" Kaede yelled, "Don't be a he-" Another bolt of lighting and blast of thunder made her yelp again, which made the driver smile all the more.
It was only a year ago that she found her vectors could tear humans in half, and now she stared into the back of his head hoping to rapidly develop heat vision.
"Where to kiddy's?"
They told them where to go and with all-too-fast assurance, replied with he knows where the Maple Leaf Inn was. Did he really? Kaede had serious doubts.
"Kouta…" she whispered, gripping his shirt and leaning next to his ear, "A-About the other day…what if someone tries to…to…" she thought her next word carefully, the wrong one could deny her the pleasure of ripping this mans throat out, "…to hurt me?"
He thought about it for a second, "I'd rather not see Kaede hurt anyone…" the driver chuckled, they weren't whispering soft enough, "But I don't want to see Kaede-chan hurt either."
His blush only made her blush, and she scooted closer to him still. She dared this man to try anything to either of them. Secretly she hoped that he would prove her wrong and make her feel foolish.
The rain that splattered against the windows was calming, and despite the cars ragged appearance was a fairly smooth ride. Comfortable cloth seats made it easy for anyone to snuggle right in and fall asl-
"Wake up Kouta!" Kaede hissed into his ear. He snapped awake for a moment, a sliver of drool running down his mouth.
"I'm sorry Ka-" he yawned loudly, "-chan…I'm just really tired…" And with that he collapsed against her shoulder and closed his eyes one more time. She shook him and hissed his name again, but to only receive a jumble of nonsensical words. It wasn't until she took the time to realize how close he was to her, just how handsome he looked. For a while she forgot where she was and, gently leaned her forehead against his. When his head rolled so did hers, until her head rested on top of his. His wet hair tickled her nose while her lips pursed themselves inward to prevent her from kissing him. Why would this guy what they did back here? It wasn't like she was going to kiss his lips or his cheeks, but the thought made her try to reposition his head to no avail. Just on the top of the forehead, she had seen it in several TV shows and cartoons, and she always wondered how it felt…how it tasted like…. She puckered her trembling lips, just on the forehead, it's not that big of a-
They went by the Inn so fast that Kaede hardly had time to recognize it. But it was there if only for a second, it was imprinted in her mind, everything about Kouta was imprinted into her mind.
"That was the Inn! Kouta wake up!" She shook him again, he stirred but never woke.
"No it's not," the driver said quickly and defensively.
Bull. Kaede wrapped Kouta's arm around her neck and hoisted him up, "Stop the car. We want to get out."
"I'm sorry but I can't let you kids off in this weather."
More bullshit. The rain had considerably let up since they got in the car, "I said stop the car, we can walk the rest of the way."
There was a pause, not in the driving, but between Kaede and the driver's conversation. When he came to a stoplight not long after that, he looked back at Kaede and she heard a click of the door locks.
"Well…YOU can get out if you want to. But the boy stays with me."
That was the only thing she needed to hear. The light had no sooner turned green than she launched her vectors outwards and gripped a hold of the man's neck in a breath-taking "oof". His hands grasped at invisible ones that he just couldn't seem to touch, and if not for his foot that was firmly planted on the brake, would have sent them rolling into the intersection. He saw Kaede's face in the rear-view mirror, who glared daggers into his skull.
"Park it." Obviously she meant the car and loosened her grip on him slightly so he could obey her. He did with amazing speed. "Get out." When he was hesitant on this command, she tightened his grip on his neck that sent him barreling out of the car and face first onto the street. Finally free of her grasp, he coughed and hacked his way from the car, crawling on all fours. Until he heard a second car door slam that is.
Another invisible hand grabbed tightly onto his ankle, and with the pressure she forced on it he thought she was going to rip it off. She wanted to, but didn't. Instead, with amazing force she lifted him nearly two meters off the ground until he swung like a pendulum, and immediately she whipped him back and slammed him face first into the ground. That was more than enough to get her point across, now it's time to put the fear of God into him.
With a looser grip she grabbed his ankle again and lifted him in the air to dangle like a piece of meat. His beaten and bloody face spit droplets of blood on her clothes and neck, and she held him like that until he opened his eyes to meet hers.
"The only reason I didn't kill you is because I have no idea how to work this thing," Kaede pointed to the car, "I will, however, rip your lungs out if you do not take him home this instant." A second vector gripped at his left pectoral and squeezed, causing him to screech in pain, "And don't think I can't do it."
"Wakarimashita!" he yells were wrought with pain, "Wakarimashita!"
"One more thing…" In an act of mockery, she reached out with her real hand and gripped onto his nose hard. She had also seen enough movies to know how to do this properly, and she snapped her wrist away from him to hear the cartilage snap. Again he howled in pain and began to thrash violently in her grip. She dropped him, satisfied that he realized the situation he was in and opened both doors with her vectors. When she sat next to Kouta, who was still sound asleep, she brushed aside his hair and stared lovingly into his face. Her compassionate stare altered when the driver, whom Kaede knew without a doubt was a pervert, closed his car door shut. From behind his seat she could see his entire body tremble, so much that he could hardly shift the car into reverse. When he peeked in the rear view mirror, Kaede was satisfied to see how much blood was covering his face, and smiled.
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"Kouta, wake up we're home…" Kaede's gentle voice cooed into his ear. He stirred some more, finally getting up after seeming what was a lifetime of sleep. Not enough in his opinion. He yawned and felt Kaede lift his arm around his neck, opening the door soon afterwards and tasting the salty air of the receding storm. When his feet finally touched the ground, the door slammed shut, and the car's tires screeched. It was gone before he knew what happened.
"Ay, one, five, you, double-you, nine…" Kaede whispered. When he asked what that was she said it was nothing.
The Inn was a comfortable sight to the both of them. More so to Kaede than Kouta for reasons he would never know. Even Yuka's tiny face peeking at them through the door didn't displease Kaede.
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The following days went by too quickly, for the both of them. Every day when Kouta went home she worried incessantly what she would do when he left. Again she thought of ways to keep him here, but they all lead to roads she had promised him she wouldn't tread. Finally, the day came when he left and knowing how much he hated it, sucked up her tears.
"You'll…You'll be back next year won't you?" She asked. He nodded in reply, "And…and we'll meet here as before…okay?" Again, a nod. Neither of them wanted to say much, Kouta would have preferred that she met him at the train station rather than her dog's grave, but he figured she couldn't keep her composure if she saw him left. Either way, he dreaded as much as she did to see leave.
Kouta scratched the back of his head, the silence was deafening. He wanted to stay a little longer but his father and sister were waiting. Something, just say something!
"I got to get going Kaede…" he smiled at her nervously hoping she would smile as well. Her face was hidden from him, "I had a really great time this summer, so, I hope you'll be around again…"
Her tackle almost brought him to the ground. For a moment he thought she was going to start sobbing again, but she was stronger than that, instead taking fast, shallow breaths into his chest. This was the only thing she could think of to keep him.
"Do…do you have to leave…?" She asked, "Can't…can't you stay here and live with your cousin? We could see each other every day, and, and I'd never have to be sad again…"
This time Kouta felt the tears well up in him. It wasn't like he didn't want to stay, but he missed his mother and friends at home. What he wanted to ask was for her to come with them, but he knew that could never happen. He noticed that she had detached herself from his chest, and removed her wool hat that hid her horns from the world. Her eyes screamed of sadness, ready to break loose the dam that held her tears. Sorrowfully, she shook her head and asked.
"No?"
Kouta looked at the ground, shaking his head as well, "No…"
Their eyes met one more time, both doing poorly to hide their anguish from the others. Kouta felt as a man he shouldn't cry in front of a girl, and Kaede felt that Kouta would hate her if she cried. Being the case, that was the one thing they wanted to do most of all.
Except…
It was fast, and completely unexpected on Kouta's part. Her sorrowful eyes disappeared underneath her thin pink eyelids and for a minute all became a blur underneath his tear-soaked eyes. He hadn't prepared himself for it but how quickly it was over with neither did Kaede. That is not to say he didn't like it.
Slowly…Kaede's soft, pink lips separated from his.
She bolted away from him, about twenty meters away leaving him in a state of complete shock. When she turned around, he could see the large drops of salty tears launch from her cheeks, finally letting loose from all the frustration she had built up. She didn't want to see him cry, at least not for very long.
"You'd better come back next year! You just better!"
And so, this time, she refused to see the back of his head disappear into the darkness. She didn't want to spend the next year thinking only about his fleeting image, just the feel of his soft kiss. It would prove to be a long year for her…
Shall we look for a place to stay?
END
Author's Note: Due to time restraints coming up, I will be unable to proofread this fully. I apologize then for any and all grammatical and spelling errors I made in this draft and hopefully will fix them at a later date.
I leave for training in less than a week. By that time, I hope to have chapter 14 of Shuffle!Hope up, and chapter 3 of Elfen Lied: Neue Pfade posted for everyone's enjoyment on I do not know if I will be allowed computer access at Camp Grafton in North Dakota, but expect at least a month between chapter 3 and chapter 4 of Neue Pfade. If you're following Shuffle!Hope, a month between 14 and 15.
Chapter 13 of Shuffle!Hope is in the process of being proofread. I hope to have it up by Thursday.
Chapter 3: Lucy struggles with the harshness of winter, and with no place to keep herself warm, she might perish with Kouta on her mind.