What is going on my brothers and sisters? So as I already mentioned previously, with chapter 10 done you could say I finished the introductory half of the story. With this chapter we start the second half, which takes place during the events of the anime. So, without further ado, I give you Elfen Lied!

CHAPTER 11: TWO YEARS, TWO DICLONI

Wow. Two years. Just... wow. It sure felt like much longer. Now I had returned and as I gazed on Kamakura from a distance I noticed that nothing and I mean nothing, had changed. Of course I knew that it wasn't just the place that had stayed the same; people were obviously just as prejudicial as they always had been. If you think about it, the one that changed the most was me. Both my body and mind had matured a lot during this time. Contrary to my expectations, I ended up growing well and reached the height of an average 18 years old boy. I also decided to let my hair grow and now reached the end of my neck. The control over my powers had become close to total. There were some things about me that would never go away: one being my obnoxious sarcasm, and the other was my will in finding Kaede. Yes, my mother told me that she would be in town around that time and finding her was my primary goal. The other thing I was determined in doing was killing the ones that took her, starting with Kakuzawa. Like my father before me, I was now able to sense the presence of any diclonius in the same area. At the moment I could tell that one was close by, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.

I kept walking until I finally got back to my so-called home town. Nothing had changed indeed. As I neared the place where the diclonius was supposedly located I noticed that the zoo that my sister loved so much was nearby. I decided to make a temporary stop at the gate. I could hear the various noises from many different kinds of animals. A grim expression crossed my face.

"Kaede... I know that I failed to protect you. I also know that your life must have been a living hell in the past two years. Thinking of you every time I tried to use my abilities kept me sane, your memory made me endure the pain of my training. As a sign of gratitude, I will make sure that those who hurt you suffer before dying the most horrible death." Talking to myself wasn't going to do anything, but it made me feel at peace with myself. Well, 730 days of solitude succeeded in making me feel lonely sometimes.

I turned around to resume my walk, but ended up bumping into someone. As we both fell on the ground, I quickly tried to apologize. Even if I was some kind of mutated revenge-thirsty killer, it didn't mean that I forgot my manners.

"Sorry, I didn't see you. I was..." However, I had to stop mid-sentence as I noticed that the other person had pink hair and red eyes: The basic traits of a diclonius. For a second I thought it could have been my sister, but then came the realization that she was too young, probably around 3 years younger than me. She was wearing a black dress and on her head she donned a... tie? Whoa, were ribbons not used anymore?

"Oh no, it's my fault. I am... new to this town and I am still trying to get my bearings, so I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking" As she talked I noticed that this girl was the one I sensed earlier. This dropped my hopes to a level way below zero. On the other hand, I was glad that this one was not aggressive, or at least for the moment. I helped her up.

"No worries. It can be pretty hard to understand where you are going the first times, but you'll get used to it eventually." After checking that she was ok I turned to leave, but was stopped by a noise that sounded an awful lot like the roar of a lion, only much stronger in intensity. I turned around to face the girl and noticed that her cheek had turned red. Realizing that the noise came from her stomach I sighed heavily and walked back towards her.

"Let me take a wild guess: you're hungry"

"I couldn't find any food around here and so I haven't eaten anything since yesterday..." She kept looking down in shame.

I kept looking at her wide eyed. Was this girl functionally retarded or something? Didn't she try in the shops? Only then I realized that this could be her first contact with the human world, so she probably had no idea what shops were. I took yet another heavy sigh. This was gonna be a waste of time, but leaving this girl to starve would never do my conscience any good. Then again, she could be useful to me. If this diclonius never saw the normal world before, it could mean that she came from the facility and had escaped or something like that. Maybe I could extrapolate key information about other diclonii who managed to escape, which might lead me to Kaede. Moreover, leaving someone of her kind free to roam around without supervision was risky.

"Wait here. Literally, don't move from this very spot." Hopefully she was gonna listen to me. I did not wait for her reply and walked away.

Thank god I hadn't lost my pickpocketing skills. In a few minutes, I had accumulated enough money to buy some food. Then the money was to be spent on one sandwich... actually two, the girl wasn't the only one who was hungry. To my relief she had not moved while I was away.

"Catch" and with that said I threw the newly bought sandwich in her direction, which she was able to clumsily grab.

The look on her face as she started tasting the food was one of pure joy and relief. I also enjoyed getting something to eat, but never got my eyes off her. The fact that a diclonius was so calm around normal humans was suspicious; she could become aggressive at any minute.

"Wow that was amazing! Thank you mister!" she said in an overjoyed tone

"Humph, don't mention it" was my rather cold reply.

"Well... I should really go now. If only I knew where..." She looked around worryingly, frightened by her lack of familiarity with the place.

"And what is it that you are supposed to be doing exactly" I asked raising an eyebrow. What was this girl after?

"Oh nowhere special! J-just want to check out the rest of the town." Right, and I'm a two years old who is in search of Fairyland. Nevertheless I could not let her go on her own. She would end up hurting either herself or others.

"I'll come with you, don't want you to get lost again. After all, I know this place pretty well."

She gave me a huge smile "Thank you! I really appreciate that!"

No caution whatsoever in approaching a stranger, this girl must have seen very little of the human world. For quite a few hours, we roamed around Kamakura visiting shops and other places. The diclonius constantly marveled at everything around her as if it was gold. Throughout the day, I had not detected the presence of any other dicloni. Where could my sister be? My mother had assured me that she would be in the town in two years time. Was she wrong about that? Babysitting this kid was just a waste of time.

"Wow it's beautiful!" screamed the young girl as she sighted the beach and made a run for the sea. One of the very few things that were famous in Kamakura was actually the beach.

I looked at her as she played with the water and the way she smiled happily. Suddenly, I was brought back to the moments I saw my sibling smile and have fun like that. In a way, they were a lot alike. That thought made my lips curve upwards as well. This person was nowhere near a monster, o doubt about that.

"Someone's having fun." I said while chuckling. I had been kinda cold towards her up to this point, so it was only fair for me to warm up to her.

"I had never done this, it feels wonderful!" she said while laughing "Why don't you take a bath as well?"

"Nah, I think I'll keep watching you from here. You just make sure to enjoy it." She smiled warmly at me and kept playing. Yes, definitely the same expression. Nostalgia was starting to touch my heart at the thought of the one person I was on the lookout for.

Then suddenly I felt something. I could feel a diclonius was nearby in the town. This presence felt very different from the girl's. It was cold and menacing, as if the one emitting it was ready to kill every living thing on this planet. It was threatening enough to send chills down my spine. This could not be Kaede. The other diclonius must have felt it too as she had jolted upright and her eyes went wide.

"I have to go" agitation evident in her voice as she started to walk away.

"What's wrong?" I needed to act clueless.

"I just remembered there's something I have to do." she said dismissively.

"Do you want me to come with you?" When I said that, she turned around and smiled again.

"No, it's better if I go alone. Thanks for everything you did"

"No problem. I'll see you around then." I said smiling back.

"Sure. Have to go, bye bye" She then sped off towards the general direction of the new diclonius.

As soon as she left, my expression grew cold again. This new individual was most probably not Kaede, so the reason why the little girl was after her didn't concern me. I was aware however about the mess that two dicloni would make if they were to fight. So I ran as fast as fast as I could in the same direction.

Not wanting to meet the girl again, I took a couple of different turns. My greater knowledge of the streets allowed me to get there first. The enhanced agility my body possessed allowed me to quickly jump on a tree. I kept on leaping from tree to tree until a long stone staircase came into sight. I kept myself hidden between the branches as I looked around. Then I saw her. She was sitting on one of the steps, wearing a pink shirt with a yellow skirt. A green hat covered her horns. She appeared to be deep in thought, but also ready to kill the first person to walk by. Thank God dicloni couldn't detect my presence.

I kept staring at her for a while longer. The urge for killing evident in her presence made it easy for me to not regard her as a simple girl. A few minutes later the clumsy female teenager from before walked in behind her.

"Excuse me…of course you knew I was coming and I knew you would know. I am going to go home… and you are going to come with me"

Oh man was hell gonna break lose!

Whoa writing block sure is a bitch! Anyways I do have to admit that a part of the wait was intentional. I wanted you guys to feel the time skip (I am so evil). I guess you can tell that the next chapter will be filled with action so I advise you not to miss it!