Kohta:

I looked for Kaede for almost an hour in the nearby woods before finally going back to the house. It had begun to pour rain, and I felt my hands clench as thunder cracked loud outside, illuminating my windows with a flash of lightning. I couldn't understand… what had I done wrong? Had I hurt her? Offended her? Guilt swam over me, and panic was slowly setting in. I had meant it when I said I couldn't lose her again, and I knew I would never stop looking for her. I couldn't bear to be apart from her… She was apart of me.

Kaede:

I couldn't burden him any longer. It was obvious he had forgotten, or maybe never fully understood, my role in the fate of humanity as a whole. I couldn't take on the pretense of a human girl any longer. If he wanted a mate, his… his Yuka would fare fine.

Easy enough to think, but my insides churned with envy. Deep within I knew that I wanted to be with him. But I knew it was wrong, not that morals had ever stopped me before.

I promised him I wouldn't kill anymore. I promised him I would be good now. Could I so easily turn my back on something I had promised him? Yet, I knew my reasons were just. Those monsters couldn't be allowed to live, not anymore. It was insufferable to know that they were still breathing the same air as I, and tainting the hearts of the planet itself. They were impure, even in my eyes. How could they dictate what was and was not worthy of life?

I could remember being younger, wanting nothing more than to be normal. Guilt constantly rushing through me, threatening to tear me to pieces, and trying to contend with it daily. Nights filled with longing as I watched the other children with their families and peers. Feeling so alone, always so alone. I wouldn't ever admit just how alone I always felt, and even now I felt the familiar longing panging somewhere in my chest. A burning sensation in my eyes as they blurred, and I wrapped my arms around my knees. My vectors hovered over me, serving as a reminder of just how little humanity I possessed.

What if everything they stood for was right? What if the Diiclonius didn't deserve life and truly was monstrous? Something to be exterminated in a single instance? A numbness overtook me, and I could hear footsteps not far from me. I took off then, agiley leaping onto a low tree branch almost silently. The crack of thunder made the low noise I made inaudible, which was to my paranoia's liking. Straining my hearing, I could make out a conversation out of my eye's reach.

"It has been years sir, what makes you think she would still be alive? And even if she were… what makes you think she would be stupid enough to stay in this area?"

I determined it was a male, and from the hesitation in mid-sentence, I could judge fair enough he was younger than his colleague. If anything he was likely something of a new recruit, still trying to get his bearings.

"Do you understand who we are talking about here?" A slightly louder and certainly more gruff voice responded. His voice sounded incredulous and there was a long pause before anything else was said on either side. I waited, hardly daring to breathe. They knew I was here. "I told them it would have been better to have someone with more experience…" His voice trailed off. So I was right, the other person was a recruit of sorts.

"N-no sir. I just don't see why she would be s-stupid enough to stay in the area." The novice responded, his voice shaking a little. My face flushed red in frustration upon the comment of me being anything along the lines of stupid, but I remained still and silent, thus undetectable. I could almost feel the tension between the two of them, and I could hear them coming closer, but nearby trees and shrubbery blocked my view even still. My muscles tightened and my vectors stretched further around me as I took a slow deep breath.

"Something we have noted with Diiclonius, they become attached to select humans fairly easily. It is a personality flaw, at least in my opinion, but it makes capture and extermination fairly simple."

His words made me think of Nana. I hadn't thought to ask Kohta what had become of her, and my facial features softened upon the memory of her. Although I wasn't initially fond of her, she was one of my kind, and because of that a certain level of fondness had grown for her within me. She had truly loved the man she believed to be her father, and I could only imagine the grieving she must still have in his regard.

"But who would she be attached to sir?"

The novice's confidence seemed to have grown a bit upon receiving information without a stern reprimanding. I wondered how much he actually knew about me, how much either of them knew.

"There was a male she was spotted with several times, we believe she may have taken a liking to him. He is married as of now, but his residence is nearby."

Anger filled me with such intensity that I almost fell off of the branch I perched upon. They were talking about Kohta. I was right, I had put him in danger. How could I? This was all my fault. I needed to fix this. But would killing these two fix it? How many others knew of him?

"What actions do we take sir?"

They were now growing further away from me, and I had to strain my ears to hear the response.

"We wait and see. Either way, he and his wife will need to be sacrificed, because it is too much of a risk. They know too much. After th-"

And then his voice faded. Fear filled me. They couldn't kill Kohta. I couldn't lose him.

I refused to lose anyone else I cared about. I couldn't bear it.