Author's Note: I apologise greatly for the long update. Too many responsibilities and a bad case of writer's block… Going to start cycling fanfics so this one won't be updated in a while. In a while longer than the time it took for me to update this story from Chapter 1.

Chapter 2: Fateful Meetings - Verhängnisvolle Sitzungen

"Will she be all right?" Mayu asked.

"She should be able to recover by using her vectors on herself," Nana replied, "But we should do what we can for her too."

"How do you know that, Nana?" Mayu asked.

"I heard one of the scientists at the facility mention it," Nana replied, "She's the only one I know of that can do it. I can't…"

Kohta had carried Nyu inside when she fainted at the gate; she'd been gone for a month. It had been 5 hours since then and night had fallen. She was now asleep on a futon with two blankets over her and her temperature was rising. Mayu placed a wet towel on her forehead as Yuka and Kohta entered the room. Yuka knelt down next to Nyu, lifted the wet towel with her right hand and placed her left palm in its place. None of them seemed to have noticed that her horns were no longer visible. Nyu opened her eyes when that palm touched her skin, and tried to speak…

"Kohta…"she whispered, reaching out to him.

Michiko opened her eyes slowly. She felt as though a simple task as that required every last ounce of her strength to accomplish. She looked around and learnt that she had landed on a beach and that it was still night. She closed her eyes and lay there, drifting into slumber. She did not know that a naked 18 year old girl was a beacon in the outside world and sure enough, 3 men with less than noble intentions came upon her.

"Hey check her out," One of them, Hasegawa Takumi, said aloud, brushing Michiko's long hair off her body, "Woo… She's got a nice ass."

"And a great rack too," Another, Inoue Shun, continued, turning her over for a better look, "If she weren't so bruised I'd have her by now."

"Are you crazy?" The last one, Fujiwara Ibuki, almost shouted, "It's because she's beaten unconscious that we can have her! This is the perfect opportunity for us! Come on, what are the odds that we find a naked girl on the beach? There's nobody around, too."

Takumi, abbreviated as 'Taku' by his friends, slightly overweight and wearing a hoodie with baggy jeans, looked over at Shun, unsure of what to do. Shun, the tallest of the trio, decked in a grey T-shirt and shorts, was busy staring at the unconscious girl's chest to notice. Ibuki, the apparent leader of the group, in a black T-shirt and brown trousers, was hastily removing his belt. It was at this moment that Michiko stirred…

"Shit! She's waking up!" Shun shouted, "Let's get out of here!"

"W… wait," Michiko said feebly, reaching out to the three men before her, "H… help… me…"

The trio looked at her, stunned, especially Ibuki, seeing as how his trousers and his boxers were at his ankles. Normally someone would be yelling out that a flasher was in the vicinity if someone was showing off his family jewels, but she was whispering for help. It was as if she had no idea how to react when something like this occurred and when the realisation hit him, Ibuki grinned.

"Sure… We'll help you," Ibuki assured her, moving closer, "What's the problem?"

"P… pain…"she whispered, looking up at Ibuki, "Please… it hurts…"

"I can make the pain go away," Ibuki told her, his erect penis now 6 inches away from Michiko's face, "All you have to do… is suck on it."

Michiko's eyes glazed over. It looked as if she would pass out at any moment. She moved closer to Ibuki's appendage, mouth open, but then she hesitated for a moment. Ibuki, impatient, grabbed her head and was about to shove his penis into her mouth when it exploded, sending a small burst of blood and flesh in all directions. Michiko's eyes widened in shock as Ibuki let out a howl of immense pain. A man in his mid 30s, with short, brown hair wearing brown trousers, a red shirt, a brown jacket and a pair of sunglasses had a Desert Eagle aimed at them. It was Bando… and he'd just shot Ibuki's manhood off.

"Ibuki!" Shun and Taku screamed in unison, kneeling next to their comrade, "Holy fuck!"

"That's no way to be treating a lady," Bando spoke, gun raised, "This is my beach. Now scram!"

Shun and Taku shouldered Ibuki, whose lower half was almost completely drenched in red, and took off swearing as they went. At one point, Shun turned around and flipped Bando the bird. He lost his finger immediately afterwards when Bando pulled the trigger. In five minutes, they had gone and Bando turned his gaze to the girl. It was at this moment that he truly realised what she was.

"So, you're one of them," he said, ejecting the clip from his gun and reloading it, "To think I saved your sorry little ass. Ah well… I've got some… special… bullets for you."

Michiko had been frozen in shock since Ibuki lost his manhood and was staring wide-eyed straight in front of her. Bando walked over to the spot where her eyes fell on and took aim. She finally snapped out of it and moved her gaze to his face. He smirked… and a large wooden barrel came down over him. Now practically blind and with both arms pinned to his sides, he was at the complete mercy of his assailant, who spun him around and gave him a kick where it hurt. Dropping his gun, Bando grabbed his groin in pain and staggered off blindly, barrel still over him.

Michiko gasped when she saw her saviour. It was the man in black. Half of his face was covered in blood, which was seeping out of a deep gash on his forehead. A chunk of his facemask had broken off, revealing most of his right cheek and the corner of his mouth. In a way, he looked more terrifying than before. He picked up Bando's Desert Eagle, ejected the clip, and tossed the now empty gun into the sea before falling on his knees. Michiko crawled to his side, her face drenched in Ibuki's blood.

"You… are a… really… stupid girl…. You know that?" he asked, breathing heavily in between the words.

He wiped off some of the blood from his eyes and ripped off a part of his trench coat, using that piece of cloth to try and wipe the blood off Michiko's face. When he was done, he grimaced in pain and put his hand to the gash on his forehead, seemingly trying to prevent any more blood from seeping out of it. Michiko then used the cloth he'd used to wipe her face and tried to wipe the blood off of his. She only succeeded in smearing it all over his face, seeing as how the cloth was already covered in it and couldn't soak anymore.

"No. Stop! Stop it," he said, pushing the cloth off his face.

"I'm sorry," Michiko apologised, "I just wanted to… I'm…"

"Injured," the man in black concluded and then, as if realising a mistake, said, "Aren't you?"

Michiko had intended to apologise again, but the man in black made her realise something. The pain was gone. She hadn't really noticed a lot since Ibuki's penis exploded in front of her face and couldn't really tell how it had happened. Most of her bruises had gone. It was almost as if she had healed completely. She lost herself in her thoughts, wondering what was going on. She only snapped out of it when she felt warmth. The man in black had taken off his trench coat and draped it around her.

"The first thing… you need to learn," he started, "is that out here… people wear clothes."

"Th… thank you," Michiko said, ignoring how he'd seem to forgotten that she'd healed so quickly.

"You're… welcome," the man in black replied, taking off the flak jacket he'd been wearing under the trench coat.

With the trench coat and flak jacket gone, he looked like any ordinary civilian wearing a black T-shirt and trousers. The only things that set him apart were the holsters for his guns, the guns themselves, and the facemask, which he soon took off. Michiko finally saw his face and was kind of shocked. He looked no older than 28 and she was sure he'd sounded a lot older back in the facility. He leaned against a nearby barrel and started to drift off into sleep. At least that was what Michiko hoped.

"Excuse me, sir," Michiko said, shaking him.

"Eh?" the man in black responded, trying hard to keep his eyes open and still breathing heavily, "Oh… that's right… I haven't introduced myself… My name is… Matsuo Taiki. People… usually call me 'Tai'."

"Matsuo-san, you're hurt" she said, "Tell me how to help you!"

"You can't," he replied, giving a wan smile before losing consciousness.

The man stood before his superior's desk in the darkened office, waiting for a response. He'd just informed him that the diclonii had arrived; but two members of the team, the only ones they'd sent into the facility, never came back. One of them never arrived at the rendezvous point; the rest of the team were waiting on a boat nearby, ready to move in should the two fail, and the other one turned around and went back towards the facility after the diclonii were in safe hands.

"Inform our contacts living in Kamakura," his superior spoke, "The city's just a stone's throw away from the facility; it'll be easier for them to keep an eye out for our missing agents. I also want you to inform Dr. Minamoto. If they've been captured by Kakuzawa's goons, she ought to know. She might even be able to tell us where in the facility they're being held."

"Understood, sir!" the man responded, giving a small bow before turning to leave the room.

Once he was sure his subordinate had gone, the superior picked up a photo frame from his desk and held it up to the light of his desk lamp. It was a photo of Ishimaru Kazuma. He placed it back on his desk and rubbed his temples as if he'd had a headache. He looked at the photo once more…

"Brother… I hope you're still alive…"

Kohta had moved closer and held Nyu's hand firmly, as if not wanting her to slip out of existence. She had closed her eyes again, but a name escaped her lips before that had happened, "Kaede". He seemed to be the only one who heard her say it, and assumed it meant she remembered the inn was her home. The entire room was silent; Yuka was trying hard not to butcher Nyu's arm off in an attempt to break the two apart, Mayu was sitting there quietly and Nana had gone into the kitchen to refill the small basin of water they used to soak the wet towel in.

The silence was broken by the loud clang of metal against a wooden floor. Everyone turned towards the open door into the hallway. Nana had dropped the basin, spilling water everywhere and her eyes were wide in alarm. Before they could do anything, she had bolted down the hallway and out the front door. Mayu rushed after her. Kohta wanted to give chase, but remembering Nyu's hand was still clutching his, he asked Yuka to go after them instead. He didn't need to, of course, for she was planning on doing so.

"Nana, wait!" Mayu yelled, trying to grab one of Nana's arms.

They had run down the long flight of stairs from the inn and were quite a distance along the road below the inn when she managed to stop Nana. Yuka had already caught up with them by then and, breathing heavily, demanded an explanation for Nana's behaviour. Nana looked further down the road, as if there were no more time to spare, and then decided to tell them.

"I can sense someone," she said, almost screaming, "Another diclonius! And she's in distress! We have to help her!"

Mayu agreed immediately, but Yuka took a few moments to mull over the situation and only agreed when Nana started running down the road without waiting for a response. They only stopped when they had reached an area of the beach which was quite familiar to them. The only things that were different about it were the sobbing figure in black with long, flowing crimson hair and two prominent horns atop her head, the splatter of blood and flesh on the sand nearby and… the body she was sobbing over.

Mayu covered her mouth, eyes wide in shock. Yuka held on to her, obscuring the body from her view. Nana, meanwhile, approached the diclonius girl. Kneeling down next to her, she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl turned to look at her, tears still streaming down her face. Without warning, she grabbed onto Nana, sobbing harder into her bosom.

"He… he's dead!" she told her, "It's all my… my… I couldn't… save…"

Nana placed her arms around the girl, assuring her that all was well, that whatever happened wasn't her fault. Mayu and Yuka moved closer to them; it seemed that Mayu had gotten used to the body, and they too offered comfort to the girl. Yuka then mustered the courage to grab one of the body's wrists, just to be sure. She felt a pulse…

The phone had been ringing for a while, but Kajou Momoko took her time. It was past midnight, she was sure the person would either understand why she took so long, or hang up and call again in the morning if she didn't reach the phone in time. She considered it unfortunate when she managed to pick up the transceiver and the person hadn't hung up.

"Hello?" she said, sleepily.

"Momoko? It's me, Masahiro," the voice on the other end spoke, "How are you?"

"Sleepy, it is past midnight after all," she replied monotonously, "What is it that you want?"

"I need you to keep an eye out for two people," Masahiro told her, "I've sent his photo to your e-mail."

"Wait, you said there were two people," she said, suddenly more alert, "Why is there only one photo?"

"Because you only need it for one of them," Masahiro responded, pausing for a moment before continuing, "The other is your husband after all."

Tai was lying down under a sakura tree, gazing up at the sky from its shade. He sat up, brushing his jet black hair to make sure nothing was in it when what appeared to be a pile of dried leaves rained down upon him. He gave a small sigh and brushed his hair again. Without looking back, he spoke…

"I know it's you Haru-chan," he said, standing up.

He turned around to face a young woman with flowing crimson hair. She had an angelic smile upon her face and a playful twinkle in her eyes. He couldn't help but smile himself after staring at her and somehow, he found himself stifling a laugh. Sticking out her tongue, she tossed another handful of leaves at him.

"Haha!" she laughed, "You've got leaves in your hair!"

"Oh yeah?" he replied, picking up some leaves, "Well, you're going to get some in yours!"

They spent the next few minutes running around the sakura tree, tossing leaves at each other, laughing. Eventually, they tired enough to lie down under the tree. Their laughter turned to silence as they looked at each other. She smiled, he smiled back and he ran his hand through her hair and then his fingers found themselves twining around one of her horns. It was a moment he wished would last an eternity; to see her like that forever.

The silence was broken by a gunshot. They were still under that same sakura tree, but there was something different. It was dark, the tree seemed to have been splattered with blood and he was no longer staring into the eyes he had come to love. Those eyes staring back at him were hollow… and lifeless. He reached out for her, but some unforeseen force seemed to be dragging him further away from her. It was then that he felt it; the excruciating pain that seemed to erupt in his head.

And he awoke… screaming…

Gasping for air, he sat up and looked at his surroundings. He wasn't on the beach anymore. He was inside a room; one that was akin to those of an inn. He took a moment to pull his thoughts together, trying to remember what had happened. He knew he passed out shortly after saving Michiko on the beach, but he couldn't remember anything prior to that. He soon realised that he was shirtless and had been bandaged in several places including the wound on his head, which was pounding. Wondering how he had ended up in his current position and where Michiko had gone to, his eyes continued to survey the environment and finally came to rest on some clothes, neatly folded, next to him.

He put on the clothes; a green T-shirt and a pair of jeans, concluding that his screams were just a part of his dream… his nightmare… seeing as how nobody had come around to check on him, when he heard footsteps outside. The tatami door slid open and Michiko stood there for a moment, looking at him. She was dressed in clothes, proper clothes as compared to just his trench coat; a T-shirt and shorts. Tears formed in her eyes and she suddenly ran forward and glomped him, forcing him backwards. He felt that searing pain in his head again and could barely hear how she was relieved that he was still alive.

"I see you're awake," Yuka spoke, carrying a tray with a small kettle and a cup into the room.

Michiko wiped her tears and excused herself, happy with the knowledge that the person who saved her wasn't yet dead. Yuka poured some tea into the cup and introduced herself. He took a long sip from the cup before doing the same. She informed him that Michiko had already told her his name and that he'd been unconscious for a couple of days. She informed him that his personal belongings were in the top drawer of the cupboard in his room, save his guns which she had locked up in a safe.

She knew tossing them away was irresponsible; someone might pick them up and do something dangerous. She did, however, throw away his clothes which were stained in blood. Tai crossed the room and opened the drawer, retrieving a wallet, a wristwatch and what appeared to be a mobile phone card in a small plastic case. She then mentioned that her cousin wanted to discuss some things with him and got up to leave, carrying the tray with the kettle. He downed the rest of his tea and followed her.

They passed by the front door of the inn on their way to the dining room. Michiko was outside, playing with a small dog in the mid-afternoon sun. He stopped for a moment to take in that image of her so happy and free before following Yuka again. The dining room wasn't what he'd expected; normally inn dining rooms were large and had several tables for the guests, but it was just a normal sized one that had the appropriate furniture. There was someone already there…

"This is my cousin, Kohta," she told Tai, proceeding to sit next to Kohta and setting the tray down on the dining table.

"Nice to meet you," Tai spoke, sitting across the table from them, "My name is Matsuo Taiki, but I'm sure you've already been told that."

Kohta gave a small nod and asked several questions regarding Tai and Michiko, such as why and how they were on the beach as well as why he was in possession of firearms. Tai was unable to answer, explaining that his memory from before the beach was extremely hazy with the last vivid recollection of events happening nearly 3 years ago; an incident that he made clear he did not want to share, noting it as a 'painful experience that shouldn't be relived'. It was as if a large chunk of his memory had been erased.

Yuka and Kohta whispered to each other several times throughout the conversation, finally agreeing to believe what had been said. They told him so and also told him that he would be free to stay there for as long as it takes for his body to heal. He thanked them and asked where they were and why they'd saved him. Kohta told him that he was currently in the Kaede Inn, located in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture and jokingly mentioned that if it weren't for Michiko, Yuka might have actually left him for dead. Yuka's icy glare soon made him realise he had made the wrong joke at the wrong time.

She said that they saved him because it was the right thing to do and then excused herself to prepare dinner. Kohta got up soon afterwards, saying he needed to check up on Nyu. There was no further explanation as to who Nyu was, which left Tai baffled. With nothing else in mind, Tai looked through his belongings. The watch was useless now as it wasn't waterproof, the money in his wallet had disintegrated and he had no clue as to the significance of the mobile phone card.

The only thing left was a laminated photo tucked in the see through pocket of his wallet. He looked at the photo for quite some time and then put the small plastic case containing the mobile phone card in his wallet and pocketed it, having removed the remains of his money and thrown them away along with his watch. Looking outside; the sun had already begun to set, its red hues increasing the beauty of the scenery, he gave a small smile.

"We're home!" Mayu said.

"Welcome back!" Michiko replied, rushing to meet them at the gate.

Mayu and Nana had just gotten back from school; it was a Monday and the start of Nana's 3rd week at Mayu's school. Even though they had very little time with Michiko, they had managed to teach her a few things before going off earlier that day. Greeting others was one of her lessons. The three of them gathered in front of Wanta's doghouse, playing with the dog. They were so busy having fun with it that they didn't notice Tai had come and was leaning by the front door, cup of tea in hand.

"Ah! Kuro-sama," Mayu spoke, noticing their guest was nearby, "It's a relief to see that you are well. My name is Mayu."

"My name is Nana," Nana introduced herself, "We were worried about you Shinobu-san."

"Erm… Kuro? Shinobu?" Tai inquired.

"Well, we didn't know your name and decided to give you one," Mayu explained, "Since you were wearing black, I felt that Kurogane was an appropriate name, Kuro-san."

"And since black is often associated with ninjas," Nana continued, "I felt that a name similar to shinobi would be perfect. Hence, I decided to call you Shinobu."

"Then we put the two names together and formed a full name," Mayu said, smiling sheepishly.

"Shinobu Kurogane!" Nana concluded, raising one hand as if about to answer a question in class and grinning, "Of course, it was only then that Michiko decided to tell us you already had a name."

"Ah I see," Tai spoke, before sipping his tea; an attempt to suppress his urge to laugh, "Well, Nana, Mayu, nice to meet you. And please… use my real name…"

Kakuzawa stared at the monitors playing looped recordings of #8's containment level during the security breach. One of them was causing him great discomfort; the confrontation between #8 and #6. He was certain the silpelit would have been dead after sustaining that much damage, diclonius are just as fragile as normal humans, but later footage from outside the facility clearly showed that she was still alive. He needed to know exactly what was going on and for that, he needed her to be brought back for testing. It was just a matter of time now; he had already sent several groups of men out to recover her as well as #8. They were ordered to capture him alive if possible and to dispose of him by any means necessary if it weren't, but the girl... it was essential she be brought back unharmed.

#8 opened his eye. It was night again, but the vessel wasn't rocking as if in water, it was still. He guessed that he must have been brought ashore by a current, having been drifting for 3 days. He closed his eye again, focusing and then he felt it. She wasn't close, but he could sense her, meaning that he would be able to find her soon enough.

"Lucy…" he whispered, drifting off to sleep.

End of Chapter - Ende Des Kapitels