Yuka lightly patted Kohta's shoulder, looking at him with concern. He was visibly shaking in his seat, though the expression on his face made it difficult to tell what emotion drove the trembling.
"Don't worry, Kohta. I'm sure she's alright. Luna said that she was being brought here even now."
"That's right!" exclaimed the ever-excited mercenary, standing in the middle of the room facing a doorway, holding her hands behind her back like a little child. "I can hear them coming now!"
True to her word, within seconds, the sounds of people talking could be heard through the door. It opened and the voices went silent, and through the entrance came two people who looked remarkably similar. Lucy was in a wheelchair, looking down at the ground with a small smile on her face, and she was being pushed by a man with a very similar hairstyle to the one Lucy had, albeit a little more well-kept. He'd apparently made an attempt to hold it out of his face with a hairclip, though now, the clip hung sadly on a few strands, the rest covering one of his eyes.
Lucy looked up, and her eyes went wide as her gaze met with Kohta's. "Koh-" she said, jumping up from her seat, and broke her gaze when she nearly collapsed onto the ground, though she was quickly caught by the man, arm wrapping around her torso.
The man sighed. "Calm down there, Kaede, I told you you can't walk on your own yet." he said. "Look, I'll carry you over there."
She glanced at him, and nodded, wrapping her arm around his shoulders so that he could lift her up, holding her to his side and continuing to walk, her feet dragging on the ground behind them since he was only just taller than her.
"Nyu!" Kohta shouted, standing up in his seat and all but running towards her.
She looked at him and smiled, an expression of both happiness and sadness at seeing him again, and she grimaced as the action sent a small bolt of pain through her skull.
"I...didn't think you'd ever want to see me again." she said. "After what happened on the bridge."
Kohta didn't hesitate to shake his head. "I can't hate you for that!" he shouted, making her flinch. "I mean, it was a shock and you scare me now, but I don't hate you!"
"If you don't mind, would you please turn down the yelling a bit?" the man asked. "It's not a big deal, but Kaede's still recovering, as evidenced by how I have to hold her up, and you could end up giving her a migraine if you continue screaming. She's not going anywhere, you have plenty of time to play catch up."
Luna stepped forward to him, and for the first time since the group had met her, she seemed genuinely nervous, as if just being around the man scared her. "K-Katsuragi-sama, I brought them here, just like you asked…" she stuttered. "So, can you…?"
The man looked at her and grinned. "Right. Good work, Luna." he said, laughing and holding his free hand out to pat the top of her head. This resulted in a low purr coming from the girl's throat, closing her eyes and leaning into his hand.
He laughed. "And of course, you'll get your actual pay too, once everything's taken care of here."
"Wait...Katsuragi…" Nana said, stepping forward, her eyes wide. "A-Adamu-kun?!" she asked in surprise once she could see around Kohta's body to the person carrying the Diclonius she'd originally been sent to kill.
Katsuragi glanced at her, and his smile broadened. "Nana!" he exclaimed. "How have things been since we last met? From what I heard, you've gotten into a lot of trouble over Kaede here."
Nana stared, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "You're the new Director?!" she stammered.
"You know him, Nana-chan?" Mayu asked, and the pink-haired girl looked at her and nodded.
"Adamu-kun was one of my keepers while I was here…" she explained. "He was one of the few other than Papa who actually seemed to care about my wellbeing."
"He cares about more than just yours, it seems." Lucy said, making the other Diclonius look at her. "Supposedly, he takes care of every one of us in the Institute."
"It's great how you're talking about me like I'm not literally holding you up right now, Kaede." Katsuragi said, though his tone made it obvious that he didn't really mind. "And yeah, Nana, I am the Director now. Tatenashi-sensei says that I was the obvious choice, but really, all I've done differently so far is visit kaede while she's in the infirmary and give a couple orders directly to Luna and the soldiers. Tatenashi-sensei does most of the 'Director' work for me."
"You...You still are a better Director than Kurama was." Luna said.
"Don't be so quick to deny Kurama. He was less forgiving, but he had his own strengths."