Chapter 10: First Day

Synopsis: The first day of school for most people can be rather unnerving to say the least. But it is usually the first day which will reflect the rest of your life within the rest of one academic career. So in this event how will Kaede fare amongst "normal" people and will she be able to leave a good impression without killing someone in the process.

Reminder: I do not own Elfen Lied or any characters associated with it

"talking"

thoughts

"What?" was all Kaede could say at the ludicrous question that she was asked.

Her mother had just suggested that she should attend a public school with those 'monsters!' But Mikomi stood her ground about what she said. On that note Kaede started feeling as if her own mother was being insensitive to her feelings towards people who weren't 'special'. So with this in mind the youngling had no problem saying what was on her mind.

"What are you talking about? Why do we have to be around such people?" demanded Kaede. Now although Nyu wasn't being vocal about the matter she was still in agreement with her sister.

Mikomi didn't like forcing her kids through such a burden, but she knew if they were going to live out their lives in relative harmony then they needed to learn to how better associate with the people around them.

"You do know that Kohta-kun came from such people" said the elderly women with sharpness in her voice.

At that statement Kaede had to bite her tongue. Her face then started to twist in not knowing how to approach this matter. The fact was her mother was right about the situation. Before she could say a rebuttal her mother had more to say.

"Listen Kaede, you can't live your entire life in seclusion. If you ever choose to live out there in the world with others you need to be able to know how to approach people" said Mikomi.

Kaede still wasn't buying her argument. "I don't need other people".

"Oh and what if someday you want to get closer to Kohta?" she then asked.

The young disclonius blushed at that thought. Mikomi then looked to her other daughter. "How do you feel about this?"

Nyu didn't really have much to say, but she was still distant from the idea. Years before when Mikomi had attempted to get her near other children she was immediately picked on due to her horns. During Nyu's time with other kids she was mercilessly and viciously bullied to almost the extent of being beaten half to death because of her unique features. After that event Mikomi immediately pulled her out and did home schooling for her. Since Mikomi job was a programming technician it allowed her to stay home and take care of her full-time.

But with the recent exposure to having a sister now and meeting Kohta, she decided upon one action. "I'll do what oneesan decides to do".

This forced Kaede to form a dumbfounded expression on her face. "No pressure right".

After some thought the young girl came to a conclusion. "Alright . . . . I'll give it a try".

Mikomi smiled towards her daughters. Now she knew her earlier statement was a low blow since she was aware of how her kids felt about their special male friend. However after what she had witnessed a week ago with Kohta she knew she couldn't keep her children sheltered forever. Even if she did, when she was gone her daughters would then be forced to face the world where things would be socially awkward for them. So it was better now that they face the world when they are young rather than being old and unable to adapt.

"Starting tomorrow you two will begin elementary so be prepared" smiled Mikomi as her children agreed with her to the following day.

The day soon came as the twins were now going to be enrolled into the Nishi Kamakura Elementary school. Now the girls were nervous as hell to say the least at being entered into a public school. Kaede strangely enough was still dressed in her usual attire, but for now her mother decided not to bother her on it. As for Nyu she was dressed in one of her nice dresses with a sleeved shirt underneath it. Now as the girls and their mother made their way to the main office they felt as if spiders were crawling all over their bodies. Almost everyone on the black top were looking at them. But one couldn't really blame them since they exhibited some interesting features. Both Kaede and Nyu had their horns covered with a beanie and ribbon respectively. But what caught onlookers eyes were their "human" characteristics. Pink hair and crimson eyes wasn't exactly something that anyone would see in Japan. Some speculated they were foreigners while others believed they just had their hair dyed. But nonetheless it was going to be an interesting start for the girls.

After registration with the main office the twins were then assigned their home room to which they would begin their academic career. Now the fact that they were transfer students entering the fourth grade, their sudden appearance and unique looks were pretty much the talk of the school about whom they were and where they had come from.

Now as Kaede and Nyu entered the classroom they were being greeted with curious eyes from the students who had been at the school since kindergarten. Mikomi could only look from outside the doorway hoping things would turn out okay. As the door closed in front of her she waved good-bye to them to which they responded with the same action. Now this event was one of the hardest things she had to do. It felt like they were leaving her all over again. However she knew this was for their future and couldn't have second thoughts about this now. So she then turned around to head home in order to prepare a warm meal for her children upon their return.

The twins then stood before the class with their names written on the black board. The teacher of the class stood forward to give them their introductions.

"Now class, we have two new transfers entering this room I expect you all to treat them warmly and respectfully" the teacher then faced the twins. "If you would introduce yourselves now".

Kaede gave a half bow in show of a respectful greeting while keeping a neutral expression. "Greetings, my name is Kaede Hikaru. I am in your care."

Nyu then stepped forward with a big smile on her face for her introduction. "Hello! My name is Nyu Hikaru. Please treat me well".

After their introduction the teacher then assigned them their seats which were on opposite sides of the room. Now the class session was relatively normal for the most part. They went through the work of what an elementary class would do. By lunch the girls were immediately surrounded by the entire class who were curious of their origin. The questions they asked were common to what any kid would ask such as their ethnicity, their age, their natural hair color, what they like to eat, and etc of other things.

Now the twins felt uneasy about the sudden attention. But for the most part it seemed positive without any perceivable notice of incoming physical or mental abuse. However one girl out of the entire crowd caught Kaede attention when she spoke.

"You have really pretty hair" said a chestnut haired girl.

Kaede looked to the said girl but was still very wary from her past experience. "Thank you".

The said girl smiled to her. "My name is Suki, it's nice to meet you".

"Yeah" was all Kaede could think of as a response.

Soon enough as the interrogation began it came to an end along with the lunch period. In Kaede mind she could only think about the peculiar girl she interacted with moments ago. "Hmm, something seems odd about her".

After some time had passed, class was officially over for everyone to head home. Now in the twin's case their home was in easy walking distance to return too. But before Kaede and her sister could leave she was immediately stopped by a familiar face from earlier.

"Kaede-san, do you have some time? I was wondering if you could help me with something?" asked Suki.

The pink haired girl could only look at her with anticipation. "Why is she nervous?" thought Kaede as she stared into the girls eyes, but decided she was just being paranoid about this matter. "OK, sure"

She then looked to her sister. "Nyu, wait for me at the gate. I'll be right back"

Nyu nodded to her sister's request. "OK oneesan". But little did either of them know that things were going to become ominous for them very soon.

As Nyu made her way to the front gate it was close to closing hours as most of the students had already left for their homes. With little adults and administrators around the school was pretty much abandoned for the day until tomorrow.

"I wonder when oneesan is going to come back" thought Nyu. However, unbeknownst to the young disclonius a dark figure with malicious intentions came right behind her. If Nyu had noticed a moment sooner she would have had time to scream.

Kaede followed quietly behind Suki curious at what she had wanted. But what made her more curious was why they were moving to such a remote area. At first she thought they were going to visit a garden. However that thought was removed as they had passed it moments ago. Now Kaede with her experience was getting a bit paranoid about what was going on.

"Is this going to take any longer? I really need to take my sister home" said Kaede.

Suki flinched at this statement. "Do . . . . Don't worry, we're almost there" she said with a stutter

Kaede ignored her reaction thinking it was just part of who she was.

After some time Suki had stopped walking and had arrived to a seemingly deserted area within a park near the school. Kaede looked around to possibly see why this girl had wanted her here in the first place. "So why are we here?" she asked.

"It's about time you showed up. What you took you so long?"

Kaede then looked a few feet a head to see a familiar male from her class walk out of the brush. But soon followed by him were other boys who were most likely from the same school as they started to appear around her. After a quick assessment it was obvious they were all delinquents.

The pink haired girl then looked to Suki. "What's the meaning of this?" she demanded. However Suki didn't bother to answer as she walked out of the flanking circle without looking back.

"The name's Kaido, you better remember it" he said as he started to approach her. As he approached reaching distance of her he then began to scan her. "You're such a freak".

Kaede could only tense at that statement, but immediately calmed down not wanting to show her emotions. "What kind of person has pink hair?" Kaido then asked as he lifted his hand to her hair. Upon feeling it he then grabbed a handful and began to yank on it. In response to the sudden pain Kaede pushed the boy away to get distance away from him. However due to the counter Kaido ended up tripping and falling on his rear. The delinquent winced at the slight pain and then felt irritated about her defiance.

"So you want to play like that huh?" and with a wave of his hand another boy came out with a scared girl in tow.

"Nyu!" screamed Kaede.

"Oneesan!" called back Nyu but was then gagged by her captor

Kaido then looked to Kaede with a sneer on his face. "You better stand there and take what I give you or else your sister is going to take your place".

Kaede froze solid at this threat. She knew all the possible choices she could make, but none of them were acceptable to take. One, she could take them all on by fighting each of them with a vector enhanced body. But doing so she would take too long and something could happen to Nyu. Another option was to use her vectors to knock them all out simultaneously. However there were too many to get at the same time plus with viewing eyes she dared not to reveal her powers to such people. Her final option was to simply silence them for good. But she immediately shook her head at that idea since such a thing would go against her promise. So she then came to a conclusion to what she must do as she lowered her hands to her side while looking down.

"That's a good girl" Kaido said as he smeared a handful of mud in her face. At that action his friends started chucking and throwing any garbage they could find at the defenseless girl. After a good while she was covered from head to toe in filth. But it wasn't over yet as Kaido pushed the young disclonius to the ground and proceeded to kick her. Soon enough his friends started to join in. However Kaede was OK with this since her vectors protected her and her attackers were none the wiser to know the difference. But then . . . .

"What 's up with this ugly hat" said one of the boys as he attempted to pull it off

"No!" exclaimed Kaede as she tried to keep it on her head. At that outburst a kick managed to hit her stomach. On reflex she had to let go of the beanie while protecting herself from the continuous attacks. The group of boys was astonished to what they saw.

"She is a freak" said one of the boys in the group.

"Hey she has horns too" said Nyu's captor as he yanked the ribbon off her head.

With that, both verbal and physical insults started to fly, but Kaede made sure their attention was solely on her in order to protect Nyu from the pain. However Nyu was still hurting as she was forced to watch her sister be viciously attacked and unable to do anything about it. But after some time the boys got tired and had their fun for the day. As they left they threw Kaede beanie to the ground while throwing Nyu in front of her. During this time Kaede could only think back to her life in the orphanage at how the children had treated her. But more recently to Rika and the boys she was with. However when she started to see Suki in the same way something didn't seem quite right. She was uncertain why, but it was something she would think about later.

"I'm so sorry oneesan" cried Nyu as she tried to help Kaede back to her feet. "If I weren't here you could have beaten them all". The sad child then felt a pat on her head. She looked up to see her elder give her a reassuring look.

"Don't worry its fine. As long as you are alright" said Kaede, and with that Nyu began to cry deeper.

After some duration of time the twins walked home thinking about the terrible first day they had. But as they reached the front door they were immediately confronted by their mother.

"Where were you two?" exclaimed Mikomi with worry in her eyes. She then looked to the most serious of the pair to see her in a deplorable state. "What happened to you? Why are you like that?"

Kaede at this point saw a perfect opportunity to leave school for good. For with recent incident of the terrible children, the discovery of her horns, and how Nyu was placed in a dangerous position it wouldn't take much to convince their mother for them to leave. However something still bugged her about how this all happened.

"I . . . . I kind of ran into a trash can and I got really dirty because of it" said Kaede. "Isn't that right? Nyu?"

The ditzy girl jolted at the sudden involvement. For her sister had just told their mother a big fat lie. But she decided to play along for now. "ye . . . . yes that's right" stuttered Nyu.

"Hmm OK then, but please come home as soon as you can next time" she then gave the child another look down. "Well go get yourself cleaned up and ready for dinner".

"OK okaasan" said Nyu as she began dragging her twin towards the bathroom.

As they left a sorrowful look came about Mikomi face. Call it her powers of empathy or a mother's instinct, but she knew they were lying to her about what had happened. She may have not known exactly what occurred, but she did know it was rather frightening and sad. However Mikomi slowly turned about and went to the kitchen to prepare the meal they will share. "Just don't have any regrets about your choices".

Meanwhile as Nyu and Kaede got cleaned up she became curious to why she had lied moments earlier, and so she asked. "Why did you lie to okaasan?" Nyu said with a sad look in her eyes.

Kaede placed herself on the rim of the tub looking at nothing in particular. She then leaned her head on her forearms pondering that same question. "There's just something that I feel isn't resolved yet" and with that they simply ended the conversation got dressed and went to dinner.

As the next day came things turned from bad to worse at school when rumors were being passed around about what Kaede and Nyu were. For the rumors then turned to gossip about what they were hiding and in turn what they were. In relation to this Kaido and his gang of punks made life much harder than it had to be with either there pranks or physical beatings. But the next day is when things were going to change depending on the choice Kaede makes.

A week after their first day of school the twins walked into class to see something written on the blackboard. With chalk and in big read letters it read "get out of here you freaks!" with emphasis on the last word. At seeing this Nyu clasped her hands over her face ready to break down and cry from the cruelty of such words. However Kaede looked to the back of the class as Kaido simply smirked at them with pride at what he had written. Anger then began to contort on her face at the sheer malice of such an action. Without even thinking she stomped her way towards the front and center of class and pulled her beanie off for all to see.

"Yeah I've got horns on my head! Is there a problem with that?" said Kaede in a outburst.

At that sudden exposure some were shocked at what they saw. Immediately after, whispers were then bounced around between the classmates at what it meant. Some of the audible whispers were questioning if the horns were real or if she and Nyu were even human. But what stood out the most was a laughter coming from the back of the class.

"You've exposed yourself for the freaks you are. So why don't you take your ugly sister and get out of here!" shouted the arrogant punk as he walked to the front of the class.

However Kaede didn't back down from his advancement because if she was going to forced to leave then she was sure as hell going to give this loud mouth jerk a beating as a good-bye present.

"You, me, today at lunch, back of the school" she challenged.

Kaido not wanting to look weak accepted before going back to his seat to start class. As the twins took their seats Kaede took a glance at the girl who led her into a trap, but she didn't look back. Furthermore she just sat there in her seat quietly as if nothing happened just moments ago.

Soon enough class began, and as things progressed she would give her opponent an intimidating glare to which he would return as well. But after what seemed like an eternity lunch came to which many of her classmates ran out the door. Her guess was that there were most likely going to spread what they saw as well as tell everyone about the fight. Also at that time Kaido had gotten up to head to the back of the school. For as he strode there he had an overwhelming confidence that he would easily win since his opponent was beaten so easily the last time not to mention it was a girl.

As soon as he left Kaede had also gotten up to make good on her personal promise of beating the living crap out of him. But before she could walk out the door a hand latched onto her. Expecting it to be Nyu she was surprised to see someone else.

"You shouldn't go" said Suki.

Kaede simply looked at the girl as if she was stupid or something. But as she looked into her eyes she saw something she wasn't expecting to see. The pink haired girl simply pulled her arm away. "I have issues to solve with that monkey. So don't interfere" Kaede said harshly and soon enough was out the door following the prick.

As she walked she saw several kids run by her towards the back of the school. Curious to why, she eventually arrived to practically see the entire school there minus the adults wanting to see this scuffle. Upon her arrival an instant pathway was made to allow her entrance to the circle where Kaido stood there waiting for her. Kaede slowly walked to the center as the mass of kids began to close behind her as if to prevent her escape. But finally in the center the two combatants stared each other down as most fighters would do at school. In the background chants could be heard for them to fight with most of the audible cheers going to Kaido telling him to beat her back to hell or things along that line.

"So I see you didn't run away" smirked Kaido.

"And I see you had enough brain power to know where the back of the school was" provoked Kaede as she removed her beanie once again revealing her horns. Talk immediately started to fly.

Some of the children "ohh"ed at the sight while others did it for the trash talk that was exchanged. Kaido not wanting to lose face then gave his female opponent a shove. But as he began to apply force he found that he couldn't make her budge.

Kaede smirked at this while taking one hand and easily pushed Kaido to the ground with a little assistance from her vectors. As he landed he was immediately laughed at for the clumsy move and the fact he was overpowered by a girl. The delinquent feeling enraged about this embarrassment instantly got up and started throwing punches at the pink haired disclonius. But easily enough Kaede parried each of the attacks with her vectors while under the ruse of appearing like she was dodging each blow. With that barrage she then took advantage and kicked him in the shin which then sent Kaido onto one leg in order to grab his sore spot. The crowd laughed again at his expense. But not wanting to take any further shame Kaido waved his hand to which his gang of friends then entered the circle. Some from the crowd cheered for the fight while others called it unfair due to the numerical odds. However Kaede wasn't intimidated to say the least as she then focused her vectors to wrap around her body to give her that physical boost once more. As the fighting heated up again the young disclonius was like a tank, for whatever the other kids did they were either blocked or hit back hard enough to have them coughing up spit or vomit for a while. But Kaido then saved his trump card for last as one of his friends then moved to the front of the circle with his leverage.

"Nyu!" called Kaede seeing as her sister was captured again. For she then berated herself for allowing harm to once again come to her innocent sister.

Kaido gave a chuckle at this. "Now why don't you be our good punching bag" and soon enough the rest of his delinquent pals were up and ready to break the one who had just hurt them badly moments ago.

At the sight of the situation Kaede shivered between her choices of fighting or allowing herself to be beaten. But soon enough the young girl could only submit to their demands as she rested her hands to her sides in a show of compliance. She knew she couldn't use her vectors for protection as that would expose a secret she didn't want anyone to know. So whatever they had in store for her she had no choice but to take it head on.

Some people who were aware of the current situation even those who were cheering for Kaido's group thought this was really dirty to do. But none of them dared to take any action as they were also afraid of being beaten for helping the strange girl. Soon enough Kaede found herself in a full nelson lock by one of the bigger boys of the group leaving her front completely open to attack. At this point the rest of the boys were deciding who would take turns hitting her first. Now some of the kids who were watching this were either bored or disgusted how things turned out and soon left.

After some deliberation Kaido was chosen as the first to take his shots. The pink haired youth then watched with anticipation at the beating she was going to receive. As Kaido approached her with an ugly smile on his face the young disclonius could only close her eyes on reflex to endure what she was going to receive. But Kaede was soon going to be surprised at the unexpected help she would receive.

"Let go of her!" yelled a brown haired girl

The boy who had captured Nyu was trying to shake off Suki who was attempting to save the poor kid. Within a moment of chance Nyu then bit down hard on her captors arm resulting in her release and soon to be escape.

"What the hell are you doing?" yelled Kaido who saw this action.

Kaede seeing the break she needed rewrapped her vectors around her limbs once again and kicked the ground forcing her up. The sudden movements made the bigger boy release his arms to which Kaede followed up by flipping over him while grabbing his shoulder, she then proceeded to allow gravity to take over as she then slammed her captor to the ground. Kaido and his miscreant buddies were shocked at what they saw. The horned girl then slowly walked to them while cracking her knuckles.

"You not only show me one heck of a greeting party, but you torment me for the entirety of this week. You didn't just wreck my desk, my backpack, and any other belongings I had, but you also had to hurt my sister too. These are things I can't forgive" said Kaede in a disturbingly dark tone as a comedic dark shadow covered her eyes while she cracked her last knuckle. In that instant the fight ended with her easily coming about as victor as she stood upon her pile of victims.

After the whole fight, things were quickly swept under the rug to keep things quiet and not allow teachers to make a headache of the event. Because of the fight not only was Kaede and Nyu seen as horned monsters but freakishly strong too which then led them to be called things like demons or ogres. In the end of the day Kaede didn't care about any of that as she was satisfied with showing some primitive minded people their place. Furthermore Nyu was simply glad that things turned out OK.

The next day soon came as the twins walked into class to which an unpleasant sight came to Kaede eyes. For it seemed Kaido hadn't learned his lesson as he was now venting his anger on the poor chestnut haired girl who had helped them yesterday.

"It's your entire fault Suki. If you hadn't interfered we would have easily beaten that b**ch" said Kaido as he was yanking at his victims hair. But before he could get another good pull he found that he couldn't move as his wrist was being grabbed by the girl who had beaten him down viciously the day before. Kaido jerked but was unable to move back.

"Let go of me" he pleaded.

However she ignored this and stared him right in the eye as would a vicious animal would do to an invader in its territory. "Let's make one thing clear. You are to leave everyone out of your apparent stupidity, and if you so ever bother me or anyone else in this lifetime I'll make sure you never walk again".

The delinquent didn't know what it was, but some part of him instinctively knew to take this warning to heart as he found himself close to peeing his pants. As soon as he was released he immediately got back to his desk and from that point on Kaido would be known for his submissiveness and immediate apologies for many years to come.

But back in the present Suki looked up to her pink savior, "why did you help me?" she asked.

"Just repaying a debt" replied Kaede.

"Then why are you treating me so nicely now?" then asked Suki as she averted her eyes to avoid looking into those of the girl in front of her. But upon asking the school bell rang to which signaled the beginning of class. So at this time the child disclonius then took her seat.

But before she was out of hearing range she did have one last thing to say. This was the reason why she wasn't able to leave school in the first place. "Because you were a victim of hate too" and with that Suki became wide eyed and close to tears at that response. Somehow Kaede understood she was also being bullied and was forced to do those terrible things to her. As class began a faint smile could be seen on her face as she thought about what she could do for her savior and her sister.

Soon the next day came with people still referring to the twins as monsters of many sorts. However something was different today as it stood out in full view for the entire class to see, and that was a particular girl wearing giant ribbons in her hair in representation to rabbit ears.

"What are you doing?" asked Kaede as she looked upon the brown haired girl's new feature.

"Kawaii!" said Nyu as a bit of a shine came to her eyes.

Suki simply looked up and smiled "I just thought it looked cool".

Tomorrow then arrived with more kids having animal appendages on their head to which some thought was odd at first. But soon enough, day by day more girls in school started coming in with a little extra on their head be it either cat ears or extensions for elf ears. In the span of half a month, it was the latest craze to have. Even some boys were getting into it by wearing mecha head pieces. But nonetheless this action warmed a place inside Kaede's heart in which she didn't feel so ashamed anymore about her horns. Heck, she was kind of estranged yet happy she started an odd fashion trend. Although some kids still thought it was freaky for the twins to have real horns it didn't really matter much to the majority since some were envious not being able to stand out like that. But as time passed, the trend began to die as both Kaede and Nyu slowly returned to the precious items that covered them. Though it was public knowledge they had horns it didn't really seem to matter anymore as the girls themselves glowed with a special spark which entranced the people around them. For Nyu quickly became quite popular with many groups of people being either boys or girls due to her innocent and pure nature as well as her curiosity for the unknown. Even Kaede became a bit of star amongst the girls because of her strength and fighting ability. Although she acted a bit distant and cold at times she did have her warm moments in certain occurrences. When it came to putting the boys back in line any girl in the school knew who to come to in order to straighten them out.

However on this day Suki was the first to start the ball rolling for the rest of their school lives and eventually the day came to an end with little to no trouble. As they returned home, they were met by the warm smile of their loving mother.

"How was your day at school today?" asked Mikomi.

Kaede and Nyu looked to each other with a smile and then looked to their mother. "It was great!" they said in unison as they laughed together. Mikomi simply watched on with a smile as she prayed that their happiness would never disappear again. Soon enough the family of three sat to have dinner together with of course Kohta (the dog) next to the table.

To be continued . . . .

Author's notes: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and yes Nishi Kamakura Elementary is a real place. Now as for the character Suki I'm not certain if she will be appearing in any future chapters. But that will have to wait to be seen. However I hope this chapter seemed realistic to a certain extent, but then again what do I know.

So I thank you for your time in reading this fic and further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.